Dance with the Devil [Chapter IV]

[Sparda]

Already the familiars were being decimated, yet as his companions assaulted their mistress below, a new arrival came to the Dark Knight's aid - Amoura's brother, Michael.

"About time you paid your dues on the battlefield," the transformed demon chuckled, lagging back for a moment to watch the vampire charge into the fray and set about merrily slaying still more familiars. Sparda prepared to dive back into the attack and join him... but a familiar sensation of power stopped him.

"Catch!"

He looked down at Sazan - then his jaw dropped as he laid eyes on the blade she tossed upwards at him. Quickly passing Revelation into his off hand, he reached out with his right and caught the weapon, then raised and examined it. For what felt like an eternity the Dark Knight hovered in place, scrutinising every last detail, even this inhuman visage making his awe clear. It wasn't the original, certainly, but it was perfectly identical... For all intents and purposes, this was his namesake sword.

Gripping the hilt tightly, the demon gave a smirk.

"Thank you, Sazan my dear."

He disappeared into the fray in Michael's wake, and more soul-rending explosions ripped across the sky. This time, though, they came in two colours; a rich blood red as well as violet, now that the legend's original blade was contributing to the massacre.

He was naught but a blur of purple and red, twisting through the familiar hordes with two great plumes of hellfire raging in his wake. However many millions Maya had at her command, they would stand no chance against him and Michael. Even the nagging dread that tugged at his mind with the release of the Vlad Effect upon the field - one of Alucard's many deadly tricks, he noticed - could not curtail the Dark Knight's rampage.

[Maya]

Maya stood perfectly still before the warriors on the battlefield, even the strain placed on her soul from the above familiars was no longer enough to shake her. Amoura was the first of many to come at her, singing a song as The Joy is so accustomed to doing. An unfriendly image was about to cross the Night Angel's mind when she got closer to The Joy's position. Images of Ranka and Maricul drinking each other blood, feeding off one another's desires, would flash through her mind before she saw herself going mad at the images of them flashing through her skull. The Joy didn't even look up when Amoura appeared above and started raining down hell in the form of silver cross shaped bullets. As they drew near the bullets would freeze in place and then shatter while Amoura would be pushed away by a powerful aura that threatened to eat her alive. Black eyes would soon fall upon the summoning of the Sparda blade as it was delivered to it's master after eons and eons of being apart.

Maya called back her familiars to prevent further strain to her soul. The ones that remained in the sky on the defensive could no longer be found as they beckoned at the call of their mistress on the ground. Still the vampire remained unmoved as Sazan went on the attack shooting one of her own spikes forward to impale her while Miracle provided the overwhelming power of Yahweh onto the spike but it too would be frozen in place as darkness took over the surface and it shattered into pieces. A wave of groundbreaking energy shot forward through the air, ripping apart the branches wrapped tightly around her legs and making it's way towards both Sazan and Miracle forcing both warriors back and even after all of this, Maya never moved a single muscle.

[Clash]

Groundbreaking was right. Clash's remoraz all had to pull back to avoid the aura, and Clash, sharing everything he could with Amoura, had to dive quite deep to avoid the sudden rush of energy shaking the ground around him. It was a two way door, though, Clash started to see what Amoura saw, he saw the energy pushing back, he saw the waves and the familiars... He saw Maya having not moved. Clash triangulated with his Remoraz again, he lined it up, he launched. The depth decreased, he got closer and closer to the surface, The aura had pushed so many people back, Clash noticed a gap in The Joy's defenses. It would require perfect timing, but it certainly wouldn't be a Joyless attack. (YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!)

Clash emerged from the ground below the ground, directly under Maya, her aura was powerful but there was that one gap, depressingly enough directly between her legs. Clash knew people were gunna call him perverse for this but it was a sacrifice he'd need to make to get close enough for this to work. As soon as he started to leave the ground his body began to change, a very dangerous maneuver, the dirt exploding outwards around him as he moved up directly beneath Maya.

Shark and Awe flashed in his hand. Maya's aura could not touch him, he was grounded in normalcy as his blade was.

The sword flashed, the darkness of Maya's power unable to touch Clash or his blade as he moved, the ground around them forming a dust cloud as Clash's human form got beyond too close for comfort. "I am The Clash, look upon me and despair! For I am the sexiest mofo who ever stood before you and I shall be the last thing you see!" Clash rocketed up, under Maya's skirt, stabbing upwards with Shark and Awe as the ground under Maya's feet was flung away.

[Silver Eyes]

What the-?! Where did the familiars go?! Michael snarled and cast his charcoal eyes down to Maya--she had refused her familiars to her body. Frustrated at this sudden turn of events, he nodded at Sparda and flew down to join the others on the ground.

However, he was going to give a nice little gift to Maya.

Like earlier with the familiars, black threads shot out and trapped her. This attack was finished by the large, black mass of energy in the likeness of a crow attacking her.

---

The memories of Ranka and Maricul's intercourse ravaged through her mind and it threw her off. Completely. A mix of emotions rushed through the already angered vampire. Maya's attack began to tear away at her body, demolish her life.

And that was the break she was looking for.

The rest of Maya's attempt to destroy her dissipated immediately to reveal Amoura in a different form. Gone was the vampiric heritage she took great pride in--humility still hurt even now--replaced with something Maya wouldn't be familiar with: her devil trigger. Amoura couldn't fight as a vampire nor as a normal demon--the memories of Ranka would have expected all the attacks; her Devil Trigger was unknown territory. Unfortunately, it wasn't the form that everyone knew of from the encounter with Aper.

From corners of her eyes, black veins crawled out at a short length. The woman’s hair lengthened and looked unkempt. Her wings, bright and fragile looking in appearance, became grey, worn and tattered—the silken veil ripped in shreds and billowed helplessly from the frame as did any fabric that hung loosely from The Night Angel.

Amoura wanted her dead. The rage-consumed hybrid wanted that bitch stone-cold dead! How dare she show that horrible memory to her! It kept replaying in her mind over and over and over. Her sharpened teeth gritted at this. She didn't know what else to feel other than anger in its purest form.

She removed her sword and stabbed it into the earth, either not wanting extra weight on or or she had something else in mind.

Get behind me.

The transformed hybrid pointed at Maya and uttered one word:

"Annihilate."

From the sky, a massive pillar of light dove down to Maya and made impact. Everything it made contact with vaporized. Now the purpose for the sword was made clear: she had set up a barrier to protect everyone from the aftermath which was a powerful shock wave. When the light subsided, a massive crater was left in the wake of her attack.

[Sazan]

As the battle raged on outside the Victorian era city of Hallowton it became clear that this new enemy was as terrifying at a standstill as she was while moving. Sazan didn’t show any signs or intention on dodging out of the way of the fast-approaching energy. Instead she outstretched her right hand, the left now holding onto the silver scythe, absorbed the energy and nullified its power while never slowing down in her charge. Miracle would now not have to worry either until Maya was foolish enough to incite the rage of Mundus’ heir. Sazan came to a stop and beckoned Miracle to stop as well, behind Amoura. The Hybrid was ready to use her power to protect all of them but Amoura already had that cover, thankfully her anger did not blind every aspect available. Even if Maya moved out of the way the shock wave would still come for her and in an attempt to ensure further overkill Sazan began hacking into the enemy’s Witch Within abilities.

She didn’t think of doing this before because at first she thought it would just outlast one another with no results, but now that she knew it was nothing but an intimation weakening and rendering the ability useless would be much easier. But even if for some unknown reason it didn’t work the pressure Maya was about to feel would be like having gravity slamming you down to the ground, therefore bounding her to the very surface of the earth that the pillar of light was coming for. In the aftermath of the blast as the crater came into view and the shock wave began to subside Sazan looked towards the site of the explosion for any signs of Maya. Was it finally over?

[Miracle]

"It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect."

Miracle continued on her path uninterrupted, not even flinching to the energy wave as if they somehow knew it would be stopped.

"He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places."

The High Priestess' body began to glow and soon grew transparent becoming like that of a ghost as she charged towards the vampiress. Nothing could stop her. Not even the pillar of light crashing down from the heavens.

"He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms."

While one could not see it the child has faded outside of all existence, defying physics through the power of the archangel so that her next impossible move would be dragged into the realm of possibility. Her eyes looked through that of Maya's form and into the Familiars that rested within her soul and her bloodstream.

"Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great."

With the edge of the Claymore now aimed for Maya the angel possessed child rushed straight on through her, releasing waves upon waves of holy energy inside of her body, that holy energy going straight through her bloodstream and attacking the souls, ridding her of the demons that laid within, AKA the Familiars.

"Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip."

The same power that drove out Legion eons ago were now driving out the demons of the vampire as Miracle stood on the opposite side of the crater from Sazan. Waiting.

"I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed."

[Sparda]

Smart vampire. Suffering at the hands of Sparda and Michael's assault, she had chosen to recall her remaining familiars before they too were destroyed; yet she continued to stubbornly outlast the attacks being thrown at her. At least their part was done for now, until another task arose for them.

Sparda continued to hover, flaming swords at the ready, waiting for an opportunity to strike at the nosferatu - but Clash, springing up out of the very ground beneath her feet; and Amoura, her body twisting into a demon form he had never witnessed before; beat him to it. A white flash from above caught the demon's eye and he looked up in time to lay eyes on a colossal pillar of energy thundering down from the skies above the vampiress. Blinking, he banked aside and made sure he was clear... but then an idea struck him.

The Dark Knight turned to face the pillar of light as it roared past him and extended his left hand, pointing the transformed Revelation at it. The violet flames engulfing the blade receded, shaping themselves into a dozen or so large runes written in an ancient demonic tongue, before a bolt of pale amethyst light shot forth from the central blade and fused with Amoura's colossal attack. Those same runes flashed across the surface of the entire beam for a split-second before it crashed down upon the vampiress.

Sparda could only hope the spell he had laced it with would prove effective.

Backing away from the aftermath of the Night Angel's onslaught, the demon spilled air and touched down gently behind her, reversing his grip on Revelation and roughly slamming it into the ground. He stepped forward, laying his now free hand on Amoura's shoulder and squeezing reassuringly.

"Are you alright?"

[Maya]

Dread and terror began to wrap around the planes like that of serpents around necks before gradually squeezing and choking it to death.

Until that goddamn shark rose out of the ground.

The ground beneath Maya's feet went off like she just stepped on a landmine. Her feet blew off and she sank into the ground while the sword impaled her Vlad "The Impaler" style. Ironic.

The Joy, after being reduced to a standstill while releasing her overwhelming abilities into the air finally moved, looking to shatter the blade inside of her and go on the offensive but she couldn't. Her abilities, all of them, had been negated by the blade

of a goddamn shark.

The attacks to follow suit was like twisting the wound already in her body. Maya clothes reverted to their default attire as she could no longer hold onto the Vlad Effect, the Witch Within, the abilities of the vampire or any of the abilities she had yet to unleashed upon the group of fighters. Now the Witch Within and her familiars were lost for good no thanks to Sazan and Miracle and it was all made possible no thanks to the intervention

of a goddamn shark.

As the pillar of light came crashing down to finish the job Clash had so cleverly started Maya would see her life and all the memories flash through her mind, and it would invade the minds of all the warriors on the battlefield. They would see Maricul cradling a new born baby underneath her breast.

They would see the crimson vampire Ranka walking towards them once they were older.

Memories flooded them all now. Images of Ranka overwhelmed by insanity and mating with The Seductress was now apparent before they all saw Amoura giving into the madness and abandoning Devil May Cry in their hour of need.

The great White Devil would be seen ripping his hand into the chest of the Night Angel and pulling out her cold, broken, unbeating, heart to gaze upon with his dark green eyes.

The White Devil would be seen again from the first person view of a furious Ranka as the Quicksilver roared through the air. When the battle seem lost Silver Bullet impaled himself with his own weapon, the demonic powers of Amoura going into him as a great beast with large wings overshadowed the White Devil.

Validus was the first Council to fall.

Tajna's eyes grew bright in the next image as the combined effort of Red Devil and Ajerian would slay the beast once and for all. His powers stolen and making quick work of Dranex and Touzuko until only three Council members remained.

In another flash they would see Dante's body pealing away to unveil the First Aspect. Veran. His defeat would be illusory – for the final gambit would have yet to be played.

The champions of justice would see the Lord of the Abyss, Amon, marching towards a united front of Hellsing and Devil May Cry warriors as the final battle has begun.

They loss.

Amon stood victorious before the warriors of Helling and Devil May Cry. Now standing over Ranka as his foot came to crush the crimson vampire beneath it like an insect, until his eyes looked off to the distance.

The will of God shined brightly in a godless world as Aper "The Arashi" collided into the Lord of the Abyss and forced him back into the Demon World. What happened next could only be guessed, but one thing was for sure.

The Legion of Abyss was forever lost.

The last thing they would see before everything went back to normal was the tower rising from the ground in Maya's world and a great evil coming forth from within it. An evil called "Arashi". Once the memories were done one thing would become clear.

She was not a cheap intimation.

She was a perfect one.

In the face of defeat came a small victory over the Night Angel. Amoura had allowed herself to give into the anger proving herself no better, and no different than the Council, the Sisterhood of Vampires, the Abyss and most of all, Maricul. Maya only smiled at the coming pillar before she sang what would not be her last song.

"There ain't no grave can hold my body down
There ain't no grave can hold my body down
When I hear that trumpet sound I'm gonna rise right out of the ground
Ain't no grave can hold my body down."

Maya laughed and then she was destroyed by Amoura's power. Defeated. Failed in her duty and all because

of a goddamn shark.

[Silver Eyes]

Amoura snapped a venomous gaze over her shoulder at Sparda and moved her shoulder forward to make his hand slide away. The Night Angel was far too deep in rage to care about anything but the annihilation of that bitch. But the unthinkable happened. From the ground, a familiar ally rose out and struck true! Amoura could hardly believe her eyes!

Clash ensured their victory. The goddamn shark had saved them and made Maya's destruction possible! At this, a bittersweet grin plastered itself on her lips. It wasn't over yet.

Maya's memories flooded everyone's thoughts--the one she didn't want to be replayed came back full force. The transformed hybrid stood there, quiet, her charcoal eyes staring at the destruction and witnessed the demise of Maya. If she truly was Maricul's daughter, she won't be gone forever.

Smoke rose up from the site of her final attack and she unearthed her blade to let the barrier down. If anyone said anything, it fell on deaf ears. Amoura's corrupted devil trigger faded and she was back in the form she was most familiar with.

That scene, that gruesome, horrible scene kept playing over and over and over. She could feel the sting of tears. Coupled with what happened, she saw herself succumb to madness. Teeth gritted, she gripped the hilt of her blade tighter and turned from the scene with these words on her lips:

"My strength is pain and I will never give in."

Then, she broke into a sprint back to Hallowtown. This might have been a victory to the others but it wasn't for her.

"I'm proud of you." Michael rested a hand on Sazan's shoulder and he smiled down at her. "We were victorious today, Hallowtown is saved..." The Crow frowned and looked where Amoura had run off. Most would expect him to pursue her but he knew better--she wanted to be alone.

"I'm going to let everyone know it's safe and they can return to their homes." Michael gently kissed Sazan's cheek and also ran back to the city. Instead of sticking to the ground, black wings spilled from his back and he took to the sky.

[Miracle]

The High Priestess watched as the battle has finally reached it's conclusion and victory was within their grasp thanks to their combined effort. Suddenly images of thing Miracle have never seen before began flashing through her mind, out of all the images she only recognized a couple of the people in them. Miracle brought both her hands up to her head while the images continued to burn their way through her skull. The essence of the archangel Michael left her body and she was left down on her knees as she witness horrible, yet, wonderful things. The Council of Legion looked to be as terrible as they came and just when you didn't think things could get any worse, they did. Was this the realm that her new friends came from? But it greatly contradicted what she knew from the others. That could only mean one thing. This was yet another dimension but simply an alternate to the one her friends came from. It suggested that choices created a whole new realm within realms, the idea alone was enough to give you a headache.

And she was already having a mind shattering one.

The images finally stopped playing in her mind and everything was starting to drift back to normal as Miracle stood up to her feet. Looking around to see if everyone else was ok she caught a glimpse of Amoura running off. Concerned for her friend, Miracle began chasing after her not knowing that it was a bad idea. Seeing another in pain, especially a close friend, was something the child could not bear.

"Amoura, wait! Come back!"

[Clash]

"There's no time for us
There's no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away
from us"

Clash was sitting in the rather deep hole he had created in his attack, stunned. He didn't think he'd pull that off, he figured the only pulling off that would occur was Maya pulling off his legs. He heard a song in his head, sung by a shaky voice, it took him a few seconds to realize it was his own.

[/color=yellow]"Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever....?"[/color][/center]

Clash was still holding his sword upwards, the blade was ringing softly, his arm exhausted but unable to lower itself. His muscles were locked, like rigor-mortis. His voice was shaking as he recited the old ballad.

"There's no chance for us
It's all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us"

[/color]

Clash felt his fingers relax with a level of effort akin to prying a door off a car, he felt the sword fall and slap down on his shoulder, the flat of the blade bouncing as the sword lay on him, the ringing stopping as Clash's hand spread, blocking the light above him, sunlight, his hand silhouetted before his face.

"Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?

Who dares to love forever?
When love must die"

Clash relaxed and closed his eyes, his body slumping back a bit as he sank a little further into the muddy pit left from his final attack on Maya. She seemed to hold the entire world in awe, unleashing powers he thought unique to his comrades, yet he had met himself, he had found another Clash from another world, where was it written that such could not be said for those he knew? Clash shivered in the hole as his song stopped, he closed his eyes and rested, it was over.

[Sazan]

Sazan could hardly believe her own eyes at what she saw. The battle was finally over. They’ve finally won. Victory was always so relative when it came to the group that having a decisive victory over something for a change felt good, really good. Even though it was a copycat from beginning to end it was still no easy task taking the bitch down and they owed the tactics of Clash to being able to make that reality. Who knows how much longer the battle would have gone on for if Clash was not here to assist. The Hybrid didn’t even want to think about it. Of course nothing could ever just die, this vampiress had to get one final thing in before biting the dust.

The images burned through her mind alongside the others bringing The Hybrid down to one knee amidst it all. It felt like a slap in the face that the realm where Amoura abandons them and Ranka betrayal is even worse is the one where they actually manage to defeat the Council of Legion. Sazan felt a great wave of relief when the images were finally over and the comforting hand of Michael was on her shoulder. The Hybrid turned her head and smiled back at Michael. Once kissed Sazan would feel her cheeks burning a bright shade of red. All this time together and Michael was still able to maker her blush in such a way. Sazan would be interrupted from her more pleasant line of thoughts with Miracle calling out Amoura. The Hybrid was quick to run over to the child and stop her from giving chase to The Night Angel.

“No, Miracle! Amoura needs to be alone right now. It’s not wise to disturb her when she’s like this.”

[Sparda]

"Sazan's right."

Having not moved from where he'd been stood when Amoura sprinted away, clearly shaken more than the others by the images forced upon her by their opponent, Sparda sighed wearily and yanked Revelation from the ground. Victory was theirs - thanks to a surprise play from Clash, no less - but at what personal cost?

"This happens a lot, and it's best to just leave her alone," he continued, angular crimson eyes fixed upon Miracle, caring little at the moment for her opinion of his true form. "If anyone must, I will talk to her, but in her own time."

It was starting to irritate the Dark Knight, he realised, that Amoura suffered so in situations like this. She'd been through a hundred times her fair share of suffering; she didn't deserve to be shown such vile images. The Nightmare alone was enough of a burden, he sometimes thought. Perhaps it was so much the better for him that he hadn't experienced its horrors first-hand...

His wings drooping weakly as the adrenaline rush of battle faded from his system, he looked down at the curved blade in his right hand. Original or not, this weapon had been away from his grasp for far too long... Concentrating upon the flow of its legendary power, he banished it as he would Revelation, the mythical sword disappearing in a blaze of crimson fire to be sealed away within his soul. Revelation soon joined it, dematerialising in a similar violet plume.

Turning away from Sazan and Miracle, the Dark Knight set his gaze upon Clash, slumped unmovingly in the bottom of the crater left in the wake of Amoura's cataclysmic attack. Faint singing reached the demon's ears as he crossed the battlefield towards his sharky companion, cloven hooves leaving circular prints in the dust.

"Are you alright, Clash?" he asked when he'd reached the rim of the crater. Picking his footing with care, he stepped down into the pit to kneel next to the battle-winning shark, extending a tridactyl hand to help him up. "Come on, let's get back into the city. We've earned a little celebration, don't you think?"

The grim atmosphere that had fallen over the battlefield in Maya's presence was already fading, leaving in Sparda's mind the satisfaction of victory. Its costs would be levied from them in due course, but in the meantime, they had won peace for their new home and its inhabitants....

[Clash]

Clash looked over to Sparda, in his full demonic form. He still seemed pretty dazed, then again his human form was exposed to a massive amount of unnatural energies. Needless to say Clash was out of it, his body having to adjust to the massive saturation of power he was exposed to, mainly from Amoura's orbital ion cannon strike. Clash turned his head to the goat-legged being offering to help him up. "That's a nice look for you... It needs a cape..." Clash reached out to take Sparda's hand, feeling his body shifting in that hole.

"You have no idea how weird I feel right now." Clash's other hand grabbed onto the hilt of Shark and Awe, holding it to his chest as he, with assistance, extricated himself from the hole. His legs shook and he longed to once again return to his shark form, his clothes were filthy and his body was sore.