In the Cage
A Devil May Cry FanFic by Kevin Mann
2004
~*~

Chapter 1

There is a small town in the middle of nowhere. There are very few residents and even less technology. In a nondescript place like this, only one place can take people's minds off of the futility of life. That place is, of course, the bar.

A dark, run-down building, with a flickering neon sign reading "Steely Phil's" is about the only life ever seen in this town. Not because of the drinks, but because of the entertainment. There is live action every night for hours on end. There is plenty of excitement from dusk until dawn for everybody.

In the middle of the one-room bar is a steel cage. Every night there are fights that go on. Some are between two drunkards who can't settle an argument any other way, but there is one regular fighter who ensures everybody has a good time.

He's a laid back kind of guy, wearing a smile most times and drinking anybody under the table. He accepts every fight, no matter what stipulation there is. Hand-to-hand, knife, sword, 2-on-1, 3-on-1, any fight this guy accepts and every fight he wins. He gets by on the money he bets on himself to win.

Everybody thinks they can beat him, either by being stronger, being faster, or pulling a fast one. They always end up unconscious, in a pool of their own blood. When they finally wake up, they scream from the trauma of the man with silver hair and black pants, handing their ass to them.

Tonight is starting out no different. A bunch of drunks are pounding the crap out of each other and the rest of them are shouting their heads off. The man gets up from his bar stool, takes off his long, red trench coat, and casually steps inside the cage. He waits for the first victim to cross his path.

The owner of the bar doubled as the announcer for these fights. He was shouting above the roar of the crowd, trying to find an opponent.

"A prize of one thousand dollars goes to the winner along with any money placed as a bet. Who here has the guts to take on the raging inferno, Dante?"

The crowd was excited but hesitant. They loved a fight but nobody was brave enough to get their butt kicked. After some persuasion from friends and beer, one of the bar patrons got up and walked into the cage. The door was closed and locked and the fight began.

Dante barely looked up at the man and he waited for the first punch to be thrown. The drunkard threw a punch that moved like a snail to Dante. Dante sidestepped out of the way, grabbed the arm and threw the fighter to the ground. The fighter got up and charged at Dante. Dante stood his ground, pulled back his arm, then shot it forward and punched the man square in the head. The fighter flew backwards and landed on the ground, bleeding heavily from a fresh cut. The cage door opened and the fighter was carried out.

Before Dante could lean back against the mesh wall, five men walked in and surrounded his shirtless body. They all ran at Dante at the same time hoping to crush his body. Dante, instead of jumping out of the way, decided to stand his ground again. He punched one person right in the head like his first fight, then bent his knees and ducked down to avoid the other four men.

He leapt up, giving a devastating uppercut to another man, twisted his hips and backhanded another in the jaw. Dante grabbed one man by the shoulders and tossed him head first into a corner post. The last person threw a punch with all his energy. Dante threw a punch at the same time and their fists connected. Dante shattered his opponent’s hand and landed a punch that made him fly back and burst through the cage wall and onto a table.

Dante opened the door and threw out the other four fighters. He walked out, strolled back to the bar and picked up his trench coat. He walked back into the cage and dug into one of his pockets. He pulled out a substantial wad of cash and said, "I will give every dollar I have won this week to anybody who can beat me."

The whole bar murmured. They saw that this silver haired psycho was at his peak for the night and nobody wanted to leave the bar in a body bag. One man made his way through the crowd and walked into the cage. He was a scrawny guy, even compared to Dante. He was kind of pale and had long brown hair. He was dressed all in white, a buttoned shirt and pressed pants.

"Put your money away, it's irrelevant. Money and combat are two completely different things that should never be linked together. "

Dante put the money in his coat and threw it in a corner. He started to smile at this weirdo. "A fight for fight's sake? I like it. Let's rock."

Dante charged at the guy, stopped two feet in front of him, and launched himself into a flying kick. The formal fighter turned out of the way and hit Dante in the back as he flew by. Dante landed, turned around, and threw a three-punch combo at the man, connecting with none of them. The man got to Dante's back by the second punch and gave Dante a strike of his own on the back again. Dante got mad and reached into his pant pocket. He threw a straight punch with his left hand and followed through with the knife in his right hand.

The man knocked the left hand out of the way, grabbed the right hand, and wrenched it so the knife was at Dante's throat.

"I'd shove this so far down your throat that you'd feel it in your toes, but I don't want to get any blood on my clothes."

The man shoved Dante to the ground and started towards the door. Dante was furious and started burning inside. He ran at the man with his fist ready to put a hole through the man's head. The man didn't even turn around. He braced himself and threw his elbow back, connecting with Dante's stomach. Dante fell to his knees and lost his breath.

The man walked out of the cage and started towards the door, leaving some parting words for Dante. "I know you can beat any man in this town, but that's about it. Try getting stronger so you can compete with a super man."

Dante was now confused more than he was angry and he sat in the cage for five minutes before finally standing up and walking out. He grabbed a beer and headed for the door. He punched out every jerk that came up to him to laugh. He walked out of the bar and started walking home, thinking about what happened.

Dante was torn up inside. Not from the blows in the fight, but the shock of the loss. He was walking towards his home, a little hole in the wall where he killed time and roaches. It was the dead of night, few people walked the streets and that's the way he liked it. A number of puddles lined the streets and sidewalks, the remainder of a good day's rain.

"I know you can beat any man in this town, but that's about it. Try getting stronger so you can compete with a super man."

Dante kept playing these words over in his head. It made him more confused than anything else. He couldn't understand what that guy meant. He was muttering to himself as he walked.

"Super man? What did he mean? He wasn't just being cocky; he was too good for that. Damn it."

Dante kept walking, his head hanging low. He was planning to go home and beat the first thing he sees into a pile of dust. Out of nowhere, a scrap of paper floated in the wind and landed on Dante's shoulders. He picked it up and read words that only confused him further. The paper read, "Hey, look over there."

It didn't have anything else. No directions, no arrows, nothing. Dante wadded the paper and tossed it behind him. He kept walking, and another piece of paper landed on Dante. This one said, "This is your last chance."

Dante stopped and looked all around. He didn't see anybody anywhere. Stores across the street, all empty. Houses on his side, old and dirty. Dante rubbed his head and then stretched his back. It must've been some joke, so he started to his home once more.

A voice came from an alley darker than the night sky. "You have a lot of questions. I have the answers you are looking for."

Dante walked into the alley and saw the shadowed outline of the man. He walked up to Dante and extended his hand.

"Take this and meet me tomorrow night the same time you go to Steely Phil's. I think the bar will last for a night without you there."

Dante reached for the man's hand and took a card from it. He stuck it in his pocket and turned away. He started toward home once again and made it there without any more interruptions. When he got inside, he turned on the light, walked to his bed, took off his stylish red trench coat and crashed on his bed for a number of hours.

A table sits in the middle of a cold and dark room. A group of figures sit in shadow. Out of the darkness, a voice asks the question, “So, how did it go?”

One of the figures tapped the table and leaned back in his chair. “It went well. He got a good beating and an invitation to train. I’m sure he will accept it and grow strong.”

A new voice chimed in, “How can you be sure? He’s a young punk by human standards, let alone ours.”

“I could feel it in him. He can grow strong if he trains and trains hard. He has the potential for greatness; he is the son of Sparda.”

The room roared with murmurs. It took minutes to restore the order it once had. As soon as it became quiet, one of the figures asked, “You’re sure of this?”

“Yes, I’m sure. This child will train and grow strong. He will be worth the time and effort when the time is right.”

“And how sure are you of this?” asked another figure at the table.

“I’d wager my seat at this table on it.”

The table went quiet again and all the figures just sat there. After minutes had gone by in complete silence, one of the figures got up to leave the table. Before the chair had been pushed back, a voice in the shadows said simply, “You’re on.”

“What do you mean ‘you’re on’?” cried a voice in the shadows.

The reply was calm and cool, “You said you’d wager your seat here on your confidence; I am calling your wager. If your prodigy doesn’t fulfill our expectations, we will remove you from the table permanently.”

“And if I win?” came the reply with a note of anger and tenseness.

“If you win, nobody will need this table. Everyone but you will be removed permanently and you will not need anyone else to confer with.”

The table roared with murmurs and refused to quiet down. The figure slammed his fist on the table and released a thunderous sound. The table returned to silence and the figure said, “Then it’s a deal.” The figure stood up from the table and said to everyone, “I believe this session has concluded. We can do nothing more than wait to see what happens at this point.”

Dante woke up around noontime the next day as he usually did. He got out of bed, poked around to find something for breakfast, and wolfed it down. He reached into his pockets and took out the money he made the last night. He put it on his dresser and a card fell out of the pile. He picked it up and all of the events of last night started coming back to him. He pulled a chair and sat down, contemplating the card.

The card said, "The park at the edge of town." Dante was thinking about how the message was short and simple, like the scraps of paper he found. Dante began to wonder if it was just a coincidence or a bad magic trick. He killed time for the rest of the day as usual, throwing darts, shooting pool, and watching television. It started getting dark, so he got ready to go out. He put on his coat, put a few weapons in his pockets, and walked out.

It was after sundown when he got to the park. It was old, dirty, and torn apart, like most of the things in the town. The only problem was that the park was also empty. Dante got angry and punched an iron bar that used to hold a swing. The bar shook and rattled hard as it flew out of the earth and to the ground.

"When I'm done with you, you'll turn that into pile of shrapnel."

It was that same voice from the last night. Dante turned to find the owner of that voice in enough light to see his features.

Standing before Dante was an old man who looked very unimpressive. He had a white beard growing halfway down his chest and he was wearing a tattered old robe with a cane in one hand. Dante stared at him, not sure of what to say, so the old man continued to talk.

“You have a lot of power and you know it. All those bar fights have shown you that. What you don’t know is how much power you really have. You have a lot of potential flowing through your veins, I can help you tap it.”

Dante thought about these words and how they paralleled what he had heard in his last cage match. He smiled and said, “What do I have to do?”

“Dig deep and draw out your true power.” Replied the man.

Dante looked at him with curiosity. “That’s kind of vague old man. If you’re going to help me, could you say something helpful?”

The old man started laughing. It was a full voiced laugh, it seemed odd coming from such a frail man. “Kiddo, you don’t know who you are, do you?”

Dante was steamed at the comment, feeling like he had been insulted. “I don’t think you know who I am. I am Dante. I am the raging inferno. I am the strongest man in this pathetic town.”

“You’re wrong on two counts kiddo,” replied the man. “You’re not the strongest, as evidence from your last fight, and you’re not a man, as evidence from every other fight you’ve had.”

Dante couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He asked with contempt, “What are you talking about old man?”

“You really don’t know who you are, eh? Fine, I guess I’ll be the one to tell you. You are the son of the legendary dark knight, Sparda.”

The story was too ridiculous for Dante to stand anymore. He turned around and walked towards his home. The wind picked up and his trench coat started to flap about. The old man started to talk again. “Whenever you get angry, you start burning up inside.” Dante slowed his step and the man continued.

“Not figuratively speaking. You feel a strong heat burning inside. When you stay angry, the heat rises up and you can feel it through your whole body.” Dante stopped walking.

“The air around you seems to burn. You feel stronger and faster. You destroy whatever it was that made you angry in one shot.” At this statement, Dante turned around.

“Who are you?” Dante could think of nothing else to ask.

The old man chuckled and replied, “I am Randall. I will be your teacher.”

Dante looked at the tattered old man and didn’t know how to think of him anymore. He looked at Randall and asked, “Who is this Sparda guy?”

The old man began to tell a story; the story of a powerful demon that fought against the underworld almost two thousand years ago. He told about sealing away the ruler and he told about the demon’s wife and children.

“That’s who Sparda was. Now, his demonic blood flows through you.” The man concluded and waited for Dante’s response.

“Yeah right. Demons and the underworld and one guy who defeated an army. You’re a good story-teller, but that’s about it.” Dante turned around once more and headed out of the park.

The old man turned his cane around. He now held the narrow end in his hands and the blunt end rested on the ground. He then picked up his cane, which was now more like a club, and charged at Dante with an incredible speed, shouting at the top of his lungs. Dante turned around and threw a punch at the old man. His hand collided with the club and the two people stopped dead in their tracks.

A thunderous sound came from the point where the two connected. As the sound dissipated, everything became dead quiet. Dante and Randall stood in place, neither moving nor making a sound. Dante’s body was now flowing with a burning energy. It flowed through his body and got him ready to fight.

The old man withdrew his club and turned it around to support his body. “Not bad kiddo,” replied the old man. “Come back tomorrow at the same time and we shall continue.”

Dante was surprised that it was over already. He was so pumped up to fight that it angered him to end it so abruptly. He walked to a broken lamppost and threw a punch with full force. The lamppost stood firm, but it now had a dent the size and shape of Dante’s fist in it. He turned to look at the old man, but couldn’t see him anywhere.

Dante was confused. The idea of demons and underworlds and everything else he had heard was nothing more than fairy tales to him before, but now it was realer than real. The more he thought about it, the more everything fell into place for Dante. He barely tried and beat everybody he knew in a fight. The less likely a fight was to win, the easier he won it. Being able to beat a super man now made perfect sense to him.

Dante stood in the park alone. The wind blew his white hair around. It brushed across his black pants and was caught in his red trench coat, making it flap around. He fastened his coat because the wind was cooling down his bare chest. He finally snapped out of his deep thoughts and started to walk back home.

Dante had an uneventful walk home. He had no contact with anything living and no supernatural phenomena occurred. When he reached his home, he dropped his coat on the ground and crashed on the bed. At that point, something unusual happened. Dante didn’t fall asleep. He was lying in bed and many thoughts ran through his head. The whole day seemed surreal and Dante suddenly felt small. Demons from the underworld, two thousand-year-old wars, and a crazy old man talking about them like they were common knowledge was all so much to take in at once. Dante didn’t move a muscle and simply thought for hours on end. In time, he fell asleep and woke up his normal self.

Dante wasted his day as he usually did and waited for dusk to come. When the sun finally set, he made his way to the park and looked for the old man. He found he was alone and started to get bored. He picked up a stone, threw it up in the air, and punched it as it started coming down. The stone arced up slightly and flew forward, landing towards the outer edge of the massive park.

“When you tap your full power, you’ll be able to turn that into a pile of ash.”

Dante turned around to find the old man standing up and smiling. “So tell me old man, do you actually plan on training me like you said, or are we going to have another story day?”

“You should have more respect for your elders kiddo. After all, your whiskey bottle can’t teach you how to grow stronger.”

“Well, at the moment, you’ve taught me about as much as whiskey has, and you don’t smell as good.” Dante wasn’t planning on losing tonight. Not a fight or an argument.

Randall smirked at Dante in amusement and turned his staff around to hold it like a club. He came at Dante swinging his club back and forth. Dante was dodging every attack but couldn’t find an opening to counterattack his teacher. Randall began to speed up his attacks and Dante couldn’t play it safe any longer. As Randall swung his club from the right, Dante brought his left arm up to absorb the full power of the attack. Dante took a hold of the club and struck the old man right in the face with his right hand.

Randall let go of his club and flew backwards several feet. Dante stood where he was when the fight ended. He looked at Randall lying on the ground. Dante’s head fell down and looked at the club. Without thinking, Dante tossed it towards Randall and just stood in place.

Randall grabbed the staff and picked himself up with it. He rubbed the area where he was hit and started to smirk again.

“You took my attack in a small area of your arm. That attack would shatter most people’s rib cages, but you seem fine. You probably won’t even get a bruise.”

Dante felt his left arm and was astonished. He didn’t feel anything more than a tingle where he blocked the attack. He rolled back the sleeve of his jacket to look at the skin and found the man was right; it was its normal shade with a slight tinge of red to it.

Randall was still smirking when Dante looked up at him. “So, have I taught you more than whiskey has now?”

Dante unrolled his sleeve and said, “Yeah. Come on old man, one more time.” He got into a fighting stance and started dancing back and forth like a boxer.

Randall ignored the invitation and said, “That’s enough for tonight, kiddo. Go on back home and get some sleep. Come back here tomorrow at the same time.”

Dante gave Randall a smirk of his own and turned around. As he was walking away, he saw a steel bar that once held a swing and punched it. At the point of impact, the metal cracked and the top half of the bar fell to the ground.

Dante walked home in the dead of night as usual. Unlike the previous days, Dante was confident and pleased with what had happened. When he got home, Dante got to his bed and went right to sleep.

Dante woke up the next day and leapt out of bed. He was feeling great and looked forward to his next session of training. He looked at his clock to see how much time was left before he headed out and was astonished to find that it was well into the afternoon. He had time to take a shower and get a meal before he started out the door.

Dante started walking to the park and broke into a slow run from the excitement. He got to the park but didn’t see his teacher. “I must be early.” he told himself, so he decided to explore the ruins of the park.

The plot of land used was massive; it was the size of a city block. There were four different terrains in the park, each mixed with the other. The far end was mostly blacktop, complete with several basketball hoops and track lines along the perimeter. From there, the solid ground became soft dirt. Children once played baseball and tag there, but the ground was now dry and cracked, unsuitable for anything. As it went along, the dirt stopped being barren and grass was growing. The grass grew, thought it was wild and untamed from the years of upkeep that it was neglected. Where Dante entered the park was mostly concrete ground. It had most of the buildings of the park there and all of the other three terrains touched it at some edge.

Dante walked up to one of the buildings and looked it over. It was made of red bricks and was still solid, though the inside was abandoned and the windows were all broken. While he was admiring what was once the information center, Dante had an odd feeling. He jumped to his right and landed on the ground. Where he was standing, the brick wall was now cracked and broken, with a small hole going all the way through it.

“You should learn to roll so you aren’t vulnerable when you dodge.”

Dante got up and brushed himself off. He turned to find his teacher smiling the same smile he’s used since the two met.

Dante’s mood changed slightly, getting a bit gruffer. “Thanks for the advice old man. Oh, and trying to kill your students, that’s always a great idea.”

Randall walked toward the broken wall and started poking around in it. “Kiddo, if you couldn’t dodge that, there wouldn’t be much reason to teach you at all. I’ll be a little more obvious in the future. Catch!” Randall threw something at Dante. It simply looked like a blur as it flew through the air. Dante barely caught it before getting hit in the face with a rather sharp piece of metal. “Tonight’s lesson is swordplay. Attack me.” Randall turned is staff around like a club and readied himself.

Dante gripped the sword by the handle and ran at his teacher swinging. Randall blocked every attack with his club and finished by hitting Dante in the ribs and knocking him to the ground.

“This is stupid,” Dante said, as he got up frustrated, “Why do I need a sword when I can just shoot someone with a gun? And why hasn’t that staff splintered from the abuse it’s taken?”

Randall lifted his staff in the air a bit and said, “Well, the staff is made from a special wood. As for the sword, there’s no reason not to learn it. Some things aren’t as easy to kill with bullets as you may think and sometimes a sword does the job much better. Besides, your daddy used a sword and you know what he accomplished. Now enough chat, attack me like you mean it.”

Dante was burning up. This was not the night he had been hoping for all day and Randall was really starting to bother him with his words. Dante readied himself and ran at the old man. He started to swing, but stopped at the last minute and kicked him in the chest. Randall took most of the power of Dante’s boot, but lessened it by turning on his foot and swinging at Dante’s ribs with the club. Dante jumped straight up in the air before the club reached him and swung his sword downward at his teacher. Randall moved out of the way, but where he was previously standing, the sword left a clean cut through the concrete. Dante pulled the sword out immediately and dove at the old man, striking with all f his power.

The sword made contact with Randall’s staff and broke in half. The metal rang as it hit the ground and Dante dropped the other half of his sword when he saw this and stood in shock. He looked up at Randall and all he could think to say was, “That is one hell of a piece of wood.”

Randall smirked again and said, “You have no idea kiddo. Well, I think this session is over.”

Dante nodded and turned toward the exit. Before he took a step forward, he turned his head back and shouted, “Wait!” When he looked for his teacher, he saw only an empty park. “Damn,” Dante said to himself, “who is this guy, Batman?” Dante continued to the exit, walked home, and went to sleep.

The shadowy figures sat down at the table once again and started by getting right down to business. One of the figures asked what everyone was thinking, “How is your prodigy coming along?”

“He is doing well. He learns quickly and adapts without having to be told how. It seems he still doesn’t know how much power he has to tap and I’m not sure if he believes what I’ve told him of is lineage. Regardless, I think he should be ready very soon.”

“I would hope so, Garrack. We’re not giving you much more time on this project.”

“Well, that won’t be a problem, Skyker,” the figure snapped in a harsh tone, “and you better enjoy this table while you’re still here to sit at it.”

Although there were a number of figures at the table, it was as if there were only the two. The others were completely silent the whole time and watched the tempers flare. After Garrack’s last remark, the room went dead silent. Skyker simply studied the figure in the shadow. He stood up from his seat and said in a calm voice, “Well, I believe this session has concluded.”

Dante woke up in the morning and felt horrible. His body felt like it was sapped of its energy. Dante crawled out of bed and looked for something to eat. Before he reached his refrigerator, he fell to the ground and went to sleep again.

Dante woke up later in the day and still felt exhausted. He was able to eat a meal and take a bath, but on the way to his dresser, he fell on his bed and went to slept a third time.

After his second nap of the day, Dante was starting to feel awake. He stretched his body, played some games, and headed out to the park when it was time. He reached the entrance of the park well after sundown and didn’t see his teacher. He was too tired to really care though, so he wandered around, looking at all of the old and dirty remnants of the area.

“It was a beautiful place once,” a voice said quietly from Dante’s side. “The park was lush and green. Children ran around and played, parents rested and admired their work, young couples thought about having kids of their own. These people gave the park life and it in turn gave life to them.”

Dante knew the voice belonged to his teacher and simply stood in place and kept looking off in the distance. “How did something like that become something like this?” he asked in a solemn tone.

“Devils,” was Randall’s simple response.

Dante snapped out of his passive mood and turned his head toward the old man. “What do you mean, ‘devils’?” he asked.

Randall didn’t look at Dante, but instead stared at the park as a whole. “Long ago, in the dead of night, a portal to earth was created. This park was the unfortunate location of that entrance. A small group of demons were sent to scout the area and cause some damage. If successful, the plan was to open larger portals and have the demons take over the world. Fortunately, immediately after this scout team made its way here, a group of rebels followed them.”

Randall now turned to look at Dante and continued his story. “The two groups of demons clashed here. They used all of their demonic powers, the devils because they could and the rebels because they had to. That is what destroyed this park. The odd part was the other results of this battle. A cloud of depression covered this town and it remains here today. That is why the park was not rebuilt, why people let buildings go into disrepair and simply ignore it, why they do their job and nothing else. The only thing that seems to help them is poisoning themselves with alcohol, which is why the bar is so rowdy, as opposed to everything else in the town.”

Dante took a minute to fully take in what his teacher had told him. He looked at Randall straight in the eyes and said, “So, demons destroyed a whole block of life and depressed the town that housed it? Demons like my father destroyed this place as a first step towards destroying human civilization?”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Randall quickly answered, “Your father was a rebel. He was the one who sent the second team of demons to stop the scout team. As terrible as it was that so much damage had been done, it was the best that could have happened. Those scouts would have spelled certain doom had their mission been successful. Your father helped protect the earth on that occasion, as well as many others.”

Dante’s mind was reeling. He was becoming light-headed from a combination of the day’s trials and the stress of the story he had just heard. He felt torn up inside and he fell to his knees. He had his hands to his head and he was shaking uncontrollably.

Randall looked at the kid and felt sorry for him. He placed a hand on Dante’s shoulder and felt it go limp. Dante had fallen down and was fast asleep.

Dante rolled onto his back, stretch out his body, and woke up with a yawn. When he opened his eyes, he found the familiar surroundings of his own home. He thought back to the night’s events and remembered dropping to his knees in the park. He didn’t remember getting to his home, but he obviously got there somehow. He opened his fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs. He opened it up and found four good eggs remaining. He cooked them up and poured himself a big drink.

Dante sat down at his table with breakfast and worked through it methodically. He took his time with it and finished every bite. After breakfast, he took a shower and got dressed.

It was midday by this point and Dante stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. He took a deep breath and stretched out his body. He felt the sun shine down on him. The sun covered his body and warmed it all over from the outside in. He was completely refreshed and relaxed.

Dante was feeling so good that he thought he would take a walk around the town. This was quite unexpected of the regularly antisocial fighter and he realized it. Regardless of the uncharacteristic idea, Dante decided to go around town and check out the buildings and people he never saw in daylight.

Dante was exploring his own back yard at this point; he was taking paths that led to parts of town he had never visited. Even the parts known to him seemed different under this new light.

The most interesting things seen by Dante were people. Although the people of the town were working, some who didn’t work were on the street. Most of them were doing business, walking around town to buy groceries or clothes for their families. Dante saw these people and saw the same dull expression he found on most people’s faces. He continued on his walk, now a bit more thoughtful. Dante didn’t care for the depression of these people forced upon them for no reason and wondered if there was a way to free them of their unhappiness.

As he reached the center of town, Dante thought of the bench outside of the grocery store and thought he would take a break there. He walked to the store and approached the bench, but when in sight, he noticed it was occupied. Dante saw a woman on the bench who seemed tired out. Upon further inspection, he found the reason was a small child, bursting with energy, running around the bench where her mother was resting. Dante saw something odd about the woman, but he couldn’t place it.

Dante noticed it was starting to get dark, so he looked across the street from the grocery store at the clock on the roof of the post office. He saw that it was getting late, so he started to walk to the old park.

Dante walked clear across town and reached the park a few minutes after sunset. As he entered the park, he saw a dark figure sitting on the ground. Dante walked up to it out of curiosity and found it was Randall.

“This must be a first,” Dante said, “you got here before me.”

Randall stood up and turned to face Dante. His face was light-hearted and solemn at the same time. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling good kiddo. Let’s talk.”

Dante wasn’t sure what to expect from his teacher. Every time he thought he knew what was coming, something different happened. He decided to simply see what he had to say and kept quiet.

“Dante, I know a lot of weird things have been happening to you lately.”

“You got that right old man,” Dante interjected, “Some crazy guy has a field day with me without breaking a sweat in the bar, you send me these magic notes, then send me here to train with you. You appear out of nowhere and leave just the same. I gotta ask you, is there any point to all this?”

Randall kept his composure and replied. “First of all, that’s not what I meant. I know that after your second day with me, you were bursting with energy. The day after that, you felt completely drained of even minimal energy and you probably lost consciousness a lot. Today, you seem to be back to your old self, but generally stronger.”

Dante stopped being so full of himself after hearing the exact description of the past week flawlessly. He returned to being quiet and listening to Randall.

“What you’ve gone through is far from uncommon. That’s simply what happens when anybody starts to tap his power. It usually takes a full week for it to happen, but you’re a fast learner.” Randall stopped his train of thought and moved on to the main thought. “In any case, to answer your question, there is a point to this. I’m done teaching you and now you have to put your skill to good use.”

“And how exactly do I do that?” Dante asked incredulously.

“Simple,” Randall replied, now with his usual grin, “I taught you to fight. You are going to fight.”

“Oh, of course, you asked me to stop fighting so I could train and then fight again,” Dante said sarcastically, “right, that makes perfect sense.”

Randall swung his arm, clenched his fist, and contacted Dante’s chest, forcing the wind out of his lungs. Dante hunched over and gasped for air. In that time, Randall began to explain further. “You were fighting nothings. They would decrease your skill at this point. You will have to fight opponents stronger than you. It will be possible for you to lose, but you aren’t allowed to. If you lose, untold atrocities will occur.”

This shook Dante out of his quiet demeanor and he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Remember the story about Sparda and his followers stopping the demon scout team? Well, the portal they went through was never sealed. At any point, any demon can go through it and start trouble. Fortunately, few demons know about it and even fewer know where it is.”

Dante couldn’t believe what he heard. The thought of a demon going through the portal and causing more damage got him riled up and burning with energy. “Well then, how do I seal the portal?”

Randall smirked once more at Dante. “I said you were going to have to use the skills you learned. There are a number of demons that hold the power in the underworld. These are the ones who know of the portal and these are the ones who plan to use it once again. To stop them, you must fight them. To find them, you must fight their followers. By the end of this, you will be tired and you will be famous.”

Dante felt strong once more and his standard attitude returned. “I don’t care about fame and being tired never killed me. Let’s do this.”

“Soon, kiddo, real soon,” replied Randall, “I have a few precautions for you. You’re going to enter the underworld to do this. You’re going to stick out like a sore thumb with that human body of yours, so ignore as much as you can, but fight when you have to.”

Randall reached into a pocket and handed Dante a folded piece of paper. “Here, take this. It’s a map of the path to take. This is the quickest route to get to where you have to go, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy. Stay on your toes and be ready to expect the unexpected.”

“Right, right,” Dante said, anxious to start his mission, “let me go already.”

Randall went limp. He started focusing his energy and raising his arms. Dante felt a strange energy around him and started looking back and forth. Randall started glowing with a yellow aura. He grew brighter and brighter until the energy started to leave his body, though it didn’t go far. The energy stayed right in front of him, forming a large yellow sphere. It glowed and waved as though it were alive.

“This is the portal Dante. It will take you to the underworld, close to your destination. Follow the map and you should be fine.”

Dante was about to leap in, but he was held back. Randall grabbed onto his shoulder and turned him around.

“I have two more gifts for you. They’re from your father.” He handed Dante a pair of twin handguns, one black and one white. On the side of each, etched in gold were the words “Luce & Ombra.” “These were Sparda’s side arms. They are very special and will help you greatly. I’m sure you know how to use them.”

Dante smirked at Randall and he strapped the pistols to his body. Randall extended his hand again and gave the final gift. “This is Sparda’s sword. It will suit you well for the battles ahead. It is known as the Force Edge.”

Dante took the broadsword and felt a strong warmth as he held his father’s blade. “What about you?” he asked, “Aren’t you going to come along?”

“I wouldn’t be much help for you. I’m a known dissenter, so I wouldn’t last long in the underworld anymore. There are armies of demons whose only goal is to hunt down and kill known followers of Sparda like myself. I’ll stay here and watch the portal in case any demon pops out.”

Dante and Randall stood facing each other in the rundown park. Randall wearing tattered rags and a cane, hiding a library of knowledge and a ferocious power in a mendicant’s body. Dante wearing red and black leather with no shirt, his mind seeking knowledge and his body flowing with unknown power, all under the skin of a cocky punk. They were perfect opposites, but now had a common goal.

Dante turned around, faced the portal, and jumped right through without hesitation.

Dante leapt into the portal and rolled onto his feet in a seamless transition. He was in a cavernous stone hallway with dim lighting. He looked around for a torch to carry with him, but found none. There was no evidence of a light source; the walls themselves seemed to be emitting the light. Dante turned around to see if the yellow energy from the portal was the source, but all he found was stone wall. With nowhere to go but forward, Dante followed the path with guns at his side and sword in his hand.

The path seemed to stretch on infinitely and Dante was getting bored. He lowered his sword and scraped it across the ground as he walked. Out of nowhere, he felt his hand vibrate. He looked down and saw that his sword was shaking, as was the entire hallway that surrounded him. The walls in front of him started to crack and crumble. The fractured rock face seemed to melt into a liquid state. On both walls, a large creature came out. They were the same color and texture as the stone from which they emerged.

These creatures had a humanoid shape, though they were bulkier than any person Dante had ever seen. They turned and looked down at Dante with menacing purple eyes. One of them broke the silence by asking with a deep and grated voice, “Who are you and how did you get here?”

Dante, replied cool and calmly, “I could ask the same thing to you, Rocky.”

The previously silent golem now replied to Dante. “We are guardians here. We prevent unwanted individuals like you from going further than this.”

Dante cocked his eye at them. “Oh, is that so? Well, I’m afraid you better find a new job, or a mortician.” He raised his sword up and slashed at one of the golems. Dane cut right through its stone body and from the chest down, it crumbled into stones and pebbles. Before he could attack the next one, it swung a massive arm at him.

Dante jumped back to avoid the attack. He ran at the stone beast leapt up and swung his blade at it. Again, the metal cleaved the stone and the top of the golem’s head fell to the ground. It crumbled into dust and the rest of the body followed.

As Dante lowered his sword, a large spike flew at Dante, inches from his face. He turned and saw a smaller golem facing Dante. The rocks around its feet were moving and combining with it, increasing its mass to full size. It stared at Dante and said to him, “You cannot defeat us. We are invincible.”

Dante replied without missing a beat. “You sure about that? I did a number on your partner there.”

The golem roared and swung at Dante. Dante evaded easily and lifted his sword to the beast. He charged and cut off its head once again. He dropped his sword, pulled out his two pistols, and shot the golem’s head, suspending it in the air until there wasn’t enough mass left to shoot. The stone body dissipated into dust like the other.

Dante checked the clips of the guns to see how much ammunition he had left and found that they were full. He put them back in, pointed toward the end of the hall and shot his guns until he got bored. He checked the clips again and found they were still full. Dante was pleased with this information and holstered his father’s old pistols. Dante picked up his sword and was getting ready to start walking down the hallway again when he felt the ground rumble again.

The right wall crumbled and fell apart, exposing a new pathway. Dante wasn’t sure where to go, but he remembered the map that Randall gave him. Dante pulled out the map and found the starting point. He found his path down the hallway and saw that the path led through the new opening that he would have missed had it not been for the fight.

Dante followed the path on the map to see where to go, folded up the map, and put it away. Dante thought for a second, then took the sword and slid it down his back. The sword fit through a strap on his trench coat and acted as a sheath. Dante turned to the opening and walked through it onto the new path.

When Dante walked through the opening, he found a new hallway that was similar, but very different. It was the same size and shape as the first hallway, but the walls were covered with doors. Dante looked as far down one way and then the other; both directions stretched further than he could see and doors lined the entire lengths. Dante walked up to the door and tried to open it with no luck. The door was locked. Dante remembered the map, turned to the left, and continued walking in the same direction the first hallway took him.

As Dante walked down the corridor, he began to wonder what could be behind the doors. As he walked by each one, he reached his hand out and grabbed the knob. He tried to turn it, but found that each and every one was locked. Now agitated, Dante took out a handgun and shot off the handle. The door now swung open to reveal the rock that all the walls were made of.

Dante was greatly agitated and pulled out his second handgun. He proceeded to shoot off the handles of the next three doors, each one showing more rock face. Dante was upset to find that the doors were merely tricks, but he calmed down, put his guns away, and started walking down the path again. Before Dante took his third step, one of the doors ahead opened on its own.

“Who’s been shooting my doors?!” shouted a voice from the creature walking out. He turned and saw Dante. “You! Why are you destroying my doors?”

Dante shrugged and replied, “Because they were locked. Besides, why do you have doors that don’t go anywhere?”

“That’s none of your business,” snapped the hideous and loud mouthed troll. “You’re going to pay for those door replacements.”

Dante patted around his body and said to the troll, “Sorry, I must’ve left my wallet in my shirt.”

The troll sneered at Dante. “I’m going to take it out of your hide.” With that, he swung a fist at Dante.

Dante jumped straight up in the air and pulled out his sword. On his descent, Dante swung it down with all of his power, but he only connected with the ground. The troll had evaded and counterattacked with a backhand that knocked the sword out of Dante’s hands. Thinking quickly, Dante pulled out his pistols and fired at the monster with incredible speed. The troll was pushed back by the force, but regained his composure and charged towards Dante.

Dante jumped up and jumped again by kicking off of the troll’s broad shoulders. He was behind the troll and holstered his guns. When the troll turned around, Dante crouched down low and pushed off into a powerful uppercut. Dante’s fist was building momentum as it rose and delivered a shattering blow when it made contact with it’s target, between the troll’s legs.

The troll immediately hunched over and roared in pain. Dante pulled back his arm and delivered another punch to the side of the troll’s head, bringing him down to the ground.

After a minute, Dante was getting tired of waiting. “Just tell me how to get out of here or I’ll have to do that again, even harder.”

The troll grimaced in pain and fear. He got up and reached into a pocket. He pulled out a single key and tossed it to Dante. “Go through the door across from mine. P-please, don’t do that again.” With that sudden change of attitude, he scurried away and ran into the door he came from originally.

“Gee,” Dante said to himself as he picked up the key, “I’m glad demons keep their jewels in the same place humans do.”

He walked up to the door opposite the trolls and put the key in. He turned it and heard a clicking sound. Dante opened the door and found the path indicated on the map. Right as he was about to walk through, he remembered his sword. He ran back to retrieve his sword and slid it onto his jacket. He walked back to the door and was surprised to find that the scenery had changed.

Dante closed the door and opened it again, finding yet another path to take. He tried time and time again with each trial showing different scenery. Dante closed the door and pondered what the right choice was.

In the room filled with darkness, the shadowy figures sat once more at the table. “How far has the prodigy gone?” asked one of the figures.

“He slew the two golems, defeated the doorkeeper, and is currently trying to figure out the warp path door.”

“He is fairing as expected.”

“Well, Garrack, it seems you still have your life.” Said one of the figures.

“Don’t you forget it, Skyker,” replied Garrack, “you should worry about your own life and how painful it will be when you lose it.”

Skyker released a small laugh. “We know he has some brawn, we saw that from his first two fights, but we have yet to see if he has any brains, which we will find the answer to by how he deals with the door.”

Dante was looking at the door in deep thought. He was trying to figure out what exactly was going on with the door, so he retraced his steps.

“Let’s see, I blasted the doors, beat the troll, picked up the key…” Dante reached into his pocket and picked up the key. After examining it closely, he noticed some markings on the key. They were words in an unknown language, but Dante could read them like they were in English. “One turn will open to any place with uncertainty. Two turns will open to the true destination.”

Dante looked from the key to the door. “Why does every old language write stuff in riddles?” He put the key in and relocked the door. He then turned it around and heard a click, continued to turn it and heard another click. He opened the door and found yet another new path. Dante pulled out the map and looked it over. The area shown on the map was the same as the one he was seeing with his eyes. He pocketed the map and the key and continued down the path the map led him.

This third path was different, but similar to the ones before it. The door led to another hallway made of stone and glowing with no light source. The main difference was that there were four different path choices; one path at Dante’s direct right and left, and one at his upper right and upper left. Dante took the upper left path as shown on the map and walked at a steady pace.

As Dante walked down the stone corridor, he was surprised to find no demon trying to stop him; he was all by himself. Dante started to notice the echo of his shoes hitting the ground. He found comfort in the rhythm of his pace. After some time, the echo got softer. It continued diminishing until it was gone. Dante noticed this and looked at the ground. It had become soft and gritty. Dante leaned down and felt a pile of dirt covering the ground.

Seeing no harm in the transition, Dante continued the path. Eventually, the floor changed consistency again and the dirt made way to metal. Dante saw a bright light coming from the end of the tunnel. Dante walked to the opening and his jaw dropped when he saw the sight.

He was in a bar. It was a large room filled with demons. They were all drinking and talking with each other. Some were sitting at the bar and others were sitting at tables. Dante got a weird feeling that reminded him of Steely Phil’s. He cautiously started walking forward and, after he was outside of the cave, the entrance closed up, looking like any other part of the wall.

Dante continued forward and walked up to the bar. On the way, demons caught sight of him and stared. Some slinked away, but others approached the half human with contempt. The largest demon of the group stared Dante in the face. “What do you think you’re doing here, human?”

Dante showed no fear because he didn’t feel it. He replied, “Relax, I’m just here for a drink.”

Dante started to walk by, but the group started to hassle him. They circled around him and the leader said, “We don’t know how you got here, but you aren’t going to leave.”

Dante’s face perked up and he smirked. “Oh, you want to fight? Well why didn’t you say so? Get your goons to back off and we can settle it right here.”

The large demon grew confused and angry. “You are a strange one,” noted the demon, “a human who doesn’t fear imminent death. What a shame you will not live ling enough to impress others.”

Dante started to get cocky and replied, “After fighting two golems and a giant troll, a demon with some muscles, dark skin, and a horn doesn’t scare me. Now, are we going to finish this or not?”

The group started to close in on Dante, but was broken up by another demon. He shouted at the group, “Hold it. Hold it. Stop this right now. I’m the owner here. I don’t mind fighting, but not just anywhere. I don’t want my customers getting hurt because of somebody else’s business. There is a place for fighting and it is right there.” The barkeeper pointed towards the center of the room. Dante found a cage in the center of the bar. It looked just like the same metal contraption Dante knew on earth and he was surprised that he didn’t notice it as soon as he walked in.

Dante made his way towards the cage. When he stepped inside, he felt like he was home. He was relaxed and felt like he had the advantage. When the group of demons got to the entrance, the leader didn’t step in. Instead, one of the others came in alone. Dante didn’t show much interest, so the demon roared to try to intimidate Dante. Dante reached to his back and walked up to the demon. Dante whipped his hand forward, unsheathing his sword and attacking with it at the same time. After feeling the sword touch the ground, he looked up. The demon’s body split in two and fell to the ground completely limp.

The cage door opened and two more demons rushed in before the corpse could be removed. They ran up and moved to Dante’s right and left. Dante wasn’t given a chance to think, so he relied on instinct. He held his sword out and swung around full circle. Both demons got a small cut on their chest and stopped in their tracks for a split second. Dante used the time to drop his sword and pull out his guns. He aimed a gun at each demon, an inch from their forehead. He pulled the triggers and the demons flew back, hitting the cage walls. Anything resembling a face no longer existed on their heads and their bodies no longer moved.

The crowd watching the fight was screaming at the top of their lungs. They were loving it and cheering for the half-human.

Dante faced the diminishing group of demons and shouted, “Well, we have one thing in common. We both bleed red blood. Who’s next?”

One of the small demons started to the cage door, but the leader held him back. The big demon looked at Dante and said calmly, “Your next fight is with me.” With that, he entered the cage and closed the door.

Dante picked up his sword and sheathed it. He brandished the pistols and said, “One shot took down one of your goons. Do you really want both of them aimed at you?”

The demon laughed at Dante. “You’re not the first human that’s ever been here. You also didn’t bring a better gun.” The demon pulled out a double-barreled shotgun and looked it over. “This was an impressive weapon,” reminisced the demon, “I saw it separate a demon at the waist. I killed the human that was using it and have made some modifications since then. I was wondering what it would do to a fragile human body.”

Dante replied, “Let me know if you find a fragile human.” He fired Luce and Ombra at the demon’s right shoulder to disable his arm. The bullets hit their mark, but had no effect. The demon laughed again, raised the shotgun, and fired at Dante.

Dante dove to the side to evade the blast, holstering his guns at the same time. He threw a punch and hit the demon in the chin. Again, Dante had no effect. The demon swung his fist at Dante and grazed his chest. Dante stepped back to get some room and he took out the Force Edge again.

The demon started to taunt Dante. “Your bullets couldn’t pierce my flesh, what makes you think your sword can?”

Dante simply replied, “Maybe I don’t.”

Dante charged at the demon with his sword ready. The demon fired the shotgun at Dante, but he dove out of the way and swung as hard as he could. The sword made no cut, but the demon fell to the ground.

“Another thing we have in common, we have knees. And when they break, you can’t stand up.” Dante’s face changed, becoming cold and menacing. He pointed the sword at the demon’s throat.

The demon lost all confidence and started begging for his life. “P-p-please don’t kill me. You’ve won, I give up, let me go.”

Dante sheathed his sword, knocked the gun out of the demon’s hand and picked him up by the throat. “You are a decent fighter and I respect that, but if you ever pick a fight like that again, I promise I won’t be so lenient.”

Dante opened the door and threw the demon out onto the ground. He turned around, ready to remove the other bodies from the cage, but found they had disappeared. In their place were tiny red orbs. As Dante walked up to them, they started to float and move toward Dante. He picked them up and placed them in a coat pocket.

Dante walked out of the cage and up to the bar. “Hey, can I get a drink here?” One of the bartenders handed a drink to him.

“Complements of the house,” said the bartender, “that was a mighty impressive fight there.”

Dante took a sip of the drink. “Wow,” he exclaimed, “this stuff is great. I wish I could get this where I’m from.” He finished the drink and set the cup down on the bar.

The bartender leaned over to Dante and whispered to him, “The drink may be good, but I think you’ll find this a lot more helpful.” He passed a green object to Dante. “This is called a Vital Star. When you’re feeling weak, this will give you a boost of strength.”

Dante pocketed the star and asked for one more drink. Another demon walked up to Dante. “Excuse me,” he said softly, “I was told that somebody else wants to fight you.”

Dante got up from his seat and looked at the timid demon. “I’m guessing it’s not with you.” He chuckled, “OK, well, you can tell the demon that I’ll be waiting for him in the cage.” Dante walked back to the cage and stepped in. He picked up the shotgun, holstered it, walked to the far wall, and leaned against it, waiting for his opponent to show up.

After some time, Dante grew impatient. He started walking to the door, but when he was halfway across, the ground started to emit a bright light. The light grew stronger and enveloped him. Dante shut his eyes and covered his face from the brightness.

Dante felt the light die down and he slowly uncovered his eyes. He was still in the same cage, but all of his other surroundings were different. Instead of a bar filled with demons drinking and carrying on, he found himself in what appeared to be an arena. There were several rows of demons all along the perimeter. When they saw Dante arrive, they started to shout and cheer madly.

When Dante got a full grasp of his surroundings, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “What’s going on here? Who did this?”

The coliseum quieted when they heard him. In the furthest row back, one figure stood up. Dante couldn’t make out whom the figure was, but when the figure spoke, the booming voice was loud and clear.

“I did this. We have known of your objectives and set trials to test you. You have passed them all so far. This is the next trial for you. You must defeat all of your opponents to continue.” The crowd began to cheer once again after the proclamation and the figure sat down.

Dante called out to the coliseum, “I accept the challenge. Bring on my opponents.” He drew his sword and readied himself for the upcoming fights. He looked around to see where his first opponent would come from, but he found no entrance to the coliseum. Dante turned around and saw a demon standing in front of him. “Where did you come from?” asked Dante.

“What are you talking about,” laughed the demon, “I’ve been here the whole time. It’s not my fault your feeble human eyes can’t detect me.”

“Is that so? Well, why can I see you now?”

“Simple,” replied the demon, “because I am allowing you to.”

Dante swung his sword at the demon’s neck. The demon ducked and punched Dante in the chest. Dante hunched over to catch his breath and when he looked up, he found nobody else in the cage with him.

Dante readied himself to attack the demon. Dante felt sharp pains in his back, but couldn’t see the attacks hitting him. Dante tried moving around and swinging his sword, hoping to get lucky. When he jumped in the air, he felt another pain like a fist hitting him square on the chest. Dante collapsed onto his hands and knees gasping for air.

While he was trying to regain his strength, Dante heard a clicking sound. It grew louder and louder. Dante clenched his sword and, when the clicking seemed right in front of him, he lunged forward with the sword extended. It looked as though blood was spraying from the sword itself until the demon reappeared, impaled on the Force Edge.

“How? How could you have done that?” choked the demon as he fell to the ground.

“Simple,” Dante answered, “my ‘feeble human eyes’ couldn’t detect you, but my ears could. And with those giant feet of yours, it wasn’t too hard to hear you coming.”

Dante pulled the sword out of the demon’s chest and saw the corpse disappear, leaving behind a pile of tiny red orbs. These orbs floated up to Dante like the last ones he found, so he picked them up and placed them in his pocket with the others.

Dante looked up at the crowd and taunted them again. “Is that the best you’ve got? Come on, if you have to rely on cheap tricks to score some cheap shots in, this won’t be too much fun.”

The crowd roared with cheers at the victor. Dante saw the ground start to brighten up. This time, only a small, circular portion of the ground opened up. From there, another demon materialized.

The new demon was different from the ones Dante had seen before. This demon was very reptilian, with green, scaly skin, a lizard like head, and a tail. The only differences between it and a real Lizard were the size of it and that it was standing on two legs.

“Well, scaly,” Dante said to the demon, “It looks like your next.”

The Lizard hissed at Dante. It spoke in a raspy voice saying, “Your tongue has stung me. My tongue will do much worse to you.”

With that, the Lizard opened its mouth wide and its tongue shot out. The tongue stretched far, hit Dante on his upper arm, and returned to the demon’s mouth. Dante laughed at the undamaging attack and began to lift his sword. Dante felt a painful burning and he dropped his sword. He looked at his arm and found a hole where the demon’s tongue hit. The flesh was burned and left his right arm essentially useless.

The Lizard gave Dante no time and charged at him. The Lizard lowered his head and struck Dante’s chest, knocking the half-human to the ground.

Dante reached into his coat and pulled out the shotgun. He fired in the Lizard demon’s direction but it had disappeared. Dante looked back and forth and didn’t see it anywhere. He looked up and saw a blur of green drop onto him. The Lizard dug its foot claws into Dante’s thighs and slashed madly at Dante’s chest. With no armor to protect Dante, the demon’s claws cut through his skin easily. After several swipes, the demon kicked off of Dante.

The fresh wounds started to bleed profusely and Dante was losing strength. Dante got up to his knees and stared at the Lizard. “Is that all you got,” he asked the demon, rubbing his wounds, “I’ve been cut deeper by alley cats.” He stared at his right arm and said, “And what about your tongue? Wasn’t it supposed to do terrible things to me?”

The Lizard responded by hissing at Dante. It opened its mouth and released the venomous tongue again. In a split second, Dante grabbed the Force Edge from the ground and slashed at the incoming tongue, severing it from the demon’s mouth.

The Lizard shut its mouth and started to run at Dante. The demon slowed down and stopped after a few steps. It began shaking violently and let out are horrible scream. The Lizard fell to the ground and began to dissolve in a pool of its own acidic venom. The putrid pile turned into a pile of red orbs that floated to Dante.

Dante could barely hear the audience shouting and screaming at him. He was too engulfed in the pain from his last battle. He had enough strength to see the next combatant appear. The bars of the cage seemed to melt together into one big piece of metal. From there a demon walked out into the cage as though the metal was a door.

The demon was similar in shape to the first one Dante fought, but was very lustrous. He was silver in color and very shiny. He looked down at Dante and looked disappointed. The demon picked up Dante and punched him in the chest. Dante flew back several feet, leaving a trail of blood from his chest wounds.

The demon roared at Dante and taunted him disgustedly “This is it? You’re pathetic. You barely beat your second fight and won’t even pick up your sword to your third foe.”

Dante’s mind was reeling. All he could think of were the events of the past week leading up to this fight. In a matter of seconds, he had run through every tiny bit several times over. Suddenly, an idea hit him like his opponents fist. Dante dug into his pocket and pulled out the green Vital Star. He held it in his hand and felt it dematerialize. A green aura surrounded Dante and he felt his power return. Dante stood up and felt no pain. He looked at his chest and saw every cut on his body heal over and leave no scar. Dante’s right arm no longer hurt, so he held his sword in it.

Not only did his strength return, Dante had his cockiness back too. He stared at the demon and smirked. Dante charged at him and swung his sword at the demon’s chest. The sword moved through the demon as smoothly as air and made a cut through some of the bars in the cage. Dante felt proud of slaying a demon so easily, but swallowed his pride when he saw the demon still in one piece. Dante tried attacking again, jumping in the air and cutting across the demon. The attack had the same as the first, moving through the demon easily and cutting the cage.

The demon saw a bar fall to the ground, the total damage from his opponent’s assault. He laughed at Dante. “Well, your sword didn’t work too well, want to try something else?”

Dante sheathed his sword and pulled out his handguns. He fired constantly at the demon but had no effect. The demon started to attack, but Dante was much faster than him. Dante put away his pistols and pulled out the shotgun. He waited for the demon to come close and fired point blank at the demon. Once again, the attack did no damage. Dante threw a punch at the demon’s chest, but it was worse than punching a block of steel.

The demon roared with laughter. “I guess you’ve figured out the full extent of my body by now. Metal passes through my body without harming me and your puny body couldn’t hurt me no matter how strong you are.”

The demon swung his fists at Dante without hesitation. Although Dante evaded the strikes, the demon was sure that Dante would tire out first.

While Dante was leaping around, he was also trying to think of a plan. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tongue of the Lizard still in the ring and had a thought. Dante ran at the demon and jumped in the air. He kicked off the demon’s shoulders and landed behind it. Dante grabbed the rod he had cut from the cage and leapt over the demon again. Dante saw one end of the rod had a sharp point, so he stuck it through the severed tongue. He used the creation as a whip and wrapped the tongue around the demon’s head. Dante threw the metal bar, which flew through the demon and laced the tongue inside it.

The demon started to corrode from the venom, then began to melt. The product was a pool of silver metal and green acid, which turned into a pile of red orbs. Dante pocketed the orbs, which he figured were condensed demon blood, and felt very proud of himself.

“Are we done yet? Come on, I have places to go, demons to kill, and these guys aren’t on my list.”

Dante saw the circle of light appear and waited for his next opponent to enter the ring.

Dante was shocked to see the demon rise from the light. The metal demon appeared and it was at full power. “I killed you already,” Dante shouted at his opponent, whose eyes glowed a burning red, “What are you doing back here?”

The demon walked up to Dante and punched him in the stomach before he could react. Dante hunched over from the strike. When he caught his breath, he looked up and found another demon. This one didn’t look too difficult to Dante. The demon had a humanoid form; its skin was a sea green and seemed to wave naturally. The demon had no facial features except for the same burning red eyes as the new metal demon.

All of a sudden, its skin started to wave more violently and change shade. In a matter of seconds, it had turned into the first demon Dante had fought and it turned invisible like the first demon too. “Don’t worry,” said the invisible demon, “your last opponent is dead. I took his form to surprise you, much like I took this one.”

The demon charged at Dante. Dante listened for the footsteps and swung his sword fast enough to give a clean cut across the demon’s chest. The demon became visible again, then its skin started to wave and it became the reptilian demon Dante fought, only with glowing red eyes.

The demon opened its mouth and shot its deadly tongue out at Dante. Without breaking a sweat, Dante sidestepped the tongue and cut it off with one swing of his sword. The demon returned to its true form before the acid could dissolve it. The demon showed no damage because it healed every time it shape shifted. Dante was getting impatient with his opponent.

“Were you watching my last matches,” Dante asked the demon, “because you copied their bodies, but you didn’t learn from their mistakes. I’m not going to lose to a demon I already killed and I’m not going to lose to a goobag like you.”

The demon showed its outrage with its eyes and started to change shape. The whole cage rattled when the demon began to change. When it was done, the cage was housing a dragon that took a third of the area.

The dragon spewed fire from its mouth, aiming at Dante. Dante was fast enough to evade the flames, but not to attack with his sword. Dante pulled out the shotgun and fired at the dragon’s chest. Every pellet found its mark, but not one penetrated the thick dragon hide. Dante put the shotgun away and tried to think of something.

When the dragon closed its mouth, Dante saw the burning red eyes he found on every form. Dante took out his pistols and hoped his thought was right. He jumped as high as he could in the air, aimed his guns, and pulled the triggers. The bullets whizzed by in an instant and hit the dragon, one in each eye.

The dragon roared in pain and slunk down. It slowly deformed into the green form of the shape shifter, who was still wailing in pain. Dante drew his sword and ran the demon through on it.

“Next time, make your weak point less obvious.” Dante told his opponent, “Oh, never mind. You won’t have to deal with a next time.”

The demon fell off the sword and disintegrated into a pile of red orbs. Dante put the red orbs away and called to the crowd once more. “I am sick of killing your warriors. If you know why I’m down here, I demand you bring me to the person I seek.”

“Very well.” Dante remembered the deep, grave voice from when he was transported to the arena. “You have only one more fight,” said the, “and it is with me.” The figure stood up, dematerialized, and reappeared in the cage. Dante started to feel a bit nervous.