“Dante...” began Twilight.
“Sup.”
“We’re stuck on a bridge…..”
“That we are, Twily.”
“And both doors are locked….”
“Yes they are, Captain Obvious.”
“I’m simply reaffirming the situation, it helps me come up with a solution.”
Right now, as Twilight helpfully summarized, the group stood on a suspended iron bridge in a large connecting corridor. All around them lie similar bridges or varying length each going in a different direction, toward a different door, connecting to different sections of the tower.
Twilight had sent Dash to scout out the hallway to see if there were any open passageways, on the off chance that they had taken the wrong one.
“Well, you don’t have to do that out loud.”
“Don’t worry,” Rarity interjected, “You get used to it. But, the question for right now, is what to do with this garish thing.” Rarity held up the fairly large light blue orb that they had picked up awhile after beating Nevan.
AJ stopped looking around to turn and scrutinize the orb. “Well, you wanted tah bring it. You said it matched your eyes.”
“Well at first, but seeing it in this light, I find that it’s actually light blue, more Pinkie’s color.”
Pinkie popped up in front of her, and stared deeply into the ball. “Ohhhh, pretty. I wonder if I could use this to predict the future. Can I Twilight?.” she asked, eagerly looking over at her.
“I doubt it,” said Twilight, still looking around for some kind of switch, “but I’m still glad she brought it with her. With every locked door so far, we’ve needed some item from another part of the castle.” Twilight looked down and began to furrow her brow in deep thought. “I'm not sure whether to compliment or berate the architects for such a design method.”
“Seems needlessly complicated if you ask me,” said Rarity, looking down at the potential key.
“I like it, makes things fun and all puzzily,” beamed Pinkie as she pretended to see the future by waving her arms over the ball mystically.
Dante turned and smiled at the girls. “You’d be surprised at just how many towers are built like this. Some even have stupid block puzzles that make you move a large boulder of a rock to a specific place to open some door. We should really count ourselves lucky.”
All of the girls looked at him with equal mix of astonishment and confusion.
AJ put her hand to her forehead in an attempt to make sense of what she just heard. “Now, why in sam hill would someone do somethin’ like that. Ah mean, to reset the puzzle, wouldn't they have to move the rock back? An iffin they did, how would they get further in?
“Maybe they know some secret passage that goes past the puzzles all together?” Twilight guessed.
“Maybe it’s some kind of puzzle party?” Pinkie wondered.
“Pinkie, darling, no one want’s to solve puzzles at a party.”
“Well what if it’s a party for egg heads like Twilight?”
“I am not an egg head!”
Dante just stood and watched his stalkers engage in a fierce debate about the purpose of puzzles and eggs, already beginning to regret bringing up the topic. To his relief, the debate was soon dropped by the return of the prismatic flier.
“What the hell are you all arguing about, I could hear you all the way on the other side of the room, and trust me, this room is huge!”
“Oh, we were just talking about-”
Pinkie couldn't finish due to Dante covering her mouth. “Don’t worry about it, you find anything?”
“Yeah, there’s a weird looking skull over there with it’s mouth wide open. Other than that, nothing.”
Twilight’s eye began to twitch when she saw the mirrored grins on both Dante’s and Dash’s faces. “So…… what you’re saying is…”
Dante was the first to say it. “That we gotta stick our ball, in it’s mouth?”
Rainbow nearly fell out of the sky laughing. Rarity blushed slightly while Twilight and AJ could only facepalm. Pinkie merely scrunched her face in concentration, eagerly trying to find the joke so she could laugh too.
Rainbow finally managed to stop rolling around in the air long enough to hold her arms out. “Here, gimme the ball, I'll toss it over there.”
Before Rarity could do so, it was snatched out of her hands by none other than Dante, who began lightly tossing it up and down. “Nah, I’ll do it. It’ll be more stylish this way anyway.”
“Oh really? Is that a challenge.”
“Ohh, are we gonna play catch, toss it here!”
“Guys, this isnt a game,” Twilight interjected, gesturing toward the ball that Dante was now twirling on his finger. “Dante be careful, if you break that, we won’t be able to get through.”
Dante began spinning the orb from one finger, across his back, over to the other. “Another astute observation, Captain Obvious.”
“Twilight, chill out, he’s got this.”
"Skittles, point me toward the skull.”
Ignoring the nickname, Dash smirked, and pointed toward the wall behind her where the skull lay waiting. Twilight and the others looked over as well, only growing more nervous when they saw how far away it was.
“Dante….. seriously, I think we should let Rachelle carry it over there,” Rarity warned.
Dante sighed dramatically while he went back to gently tossing the ball gradually higher into the air. “Your lack of faith disturbs me, did you all not just see me- whoops,” said Dante as he missed catching the ball after a particularly high toss.
Just about everyone began to lunge forward at the rapidly falling sphere, only for Dante to quickly catch it with his foot, and continue bouncing it.
Twilight glared at him. “Dante that wasn't funny.”
“I agree. I swear, my heart skipped a beat at the thought of being stuck here.”
“Alright, alright, enough messing around.” With that, Dante kicked the ball high into the air, Rarity prepared to catch it with her levitation should he miss, and Dash floated a little higher into the air to catch it if he were to undershoot shot.
Jumping after it, Dante quickly spun into a successful roundhouse kick, slamming the ball directly into the skull, which lit up as it activated.
Everyone relaxed at the sound of the doors unlocking. Rarity let go of her built up magic, and Dash lowered herself to the ground. Dante only smirked, shrugged, and left through the newly opened doorway. The others following after him.
~~~
Inside the room, every girl gasped at the sight of a bloodied and battered figure of a man lying near the next door, a small red book lying next to him. Hesitantly, Twilight made her way over to the man, and instantly began trying to heal him. Dante also began to walk forward, but stopped when he had to dodge a bullet to the head from behind. All of the girls turned to see a woman with separately colored eyes holding a gun to Dante’s head. She wore a white blouse with black skin tight shorts, covered by a skirt that seemed to be entirely composed of pouches, satchels and compartments. Slung over her back was a large rocket launcher with a large serrated bayonet attached. And at first glance, seemed to be almost covered in weaponry.
Dante turned around to face his attacker. Rainbow noticed that at some point he had pulled out his guns, and took a few steps back as a result.
“Well, that was fast, really didn't expect you to catch up that quick there, Lady.”
“Really wasn't hard when you all stop to have random conversations every five minutes.” The lady took a few steps forward, gun still aimed at Dante’s head. Looking at Twilight, she seemed surprised to see her use magic. Turning, she began aiming her gun at the other girls.
“Are you all demons as well? I thought only demons could use magic!” she accused.
“Will you put that thing away!” yelled AJ.
“I agree, the only demon here is that one,” she said, pointing to Dante who only smiled and shrugged, “and maybe that one, but we aren't entirely sure exactly what she is,” she said, pointing her finger toward Pinkie who only giggled and rubbed behind her head.
“Awww, you.”
Not sensing any other types of demonic energy, the woman trained her gun back toward the only source of energy in the room, causing him to roll his eyes. “Can you heal him?” she asked, turning back to Twilight.
Twilight sadly shook her head as the green energy around her hands began to fade. “No, I’m afraid that he’s gone, whoever did this made sure of that.
Lady quickly turned back to Dante. “That man, did you kill him?”
“Hold on, Lady, if that is your real name, we just got here!” screeched Pinkie.
Dante shrugged, his smile never leaving his face. “So what if I did? Who was he to you?”
Immediately, the woman took a shot at Dante, who merely dodged. Pulling out her other gun she quickly tried her hardest to shoot him in just about every way she could. But every time, Dante would either dodge them entirely, or knock her guns off course with his own. It almost looked like they were dancing, due to Dante laughing and obviously having fun. Aiming her machine gun, she tried to shoot at his face, only for Dante to direct her gun toward the ceiling, and arching it over their heads. The bullets destroying most of the lights as the gun continued to fire.
The others, however, quickly huddled together under Twilights dome in order to save themselves from bullets, falling glass, and Dante’s fun.
“Ohh, I love a fast woman,” he said when he finally pinned the woman’s gun to her side. Turning, he quickly winking at Dash, who in return stuck both her tongue, and her middle finger out at him, causing him to laugh.
“Shut up!” she yelled, spinning her arm out of his way. As soon as she got one arm free, she eagerly tried shooting at him once more. Dante easily whooped and spun out of the way behind Lady. Still having the time of his life, Dante butt bumped her forward. Causing her to nearly smack into the girls’ shield.
Growling, she immediately recovered, and the two resumed their bullet dance. Twilight was about to yell for them to stop, but paused when the lady began talking.
“That man was obsessed with becoming a devil!" she said, still trying her damndest to hit him. "For that purpose, he even killed his wife, as well as hundreds of innocent people.”
Still toying with her, Dante locked both of her guns once more, this time by pushing them to her chest.
“That man was the most vial kind of creature!”
Lady violently pushed Dante, to which he responded by pushing back, sending them both flying backward. While Dante focused on spinning through the air and landing like a boss, Lady focused on shooting at Dante, and subsequently slammed against the wall.
Landing, Dante held up his jacket, only to see that several bullets had pierced through it. Rarity cringed at the sight, while Dante only sighed.
“Dante watch out!” yelled Dash.
Dante looked up to see the woman charging at him, guns blazing once more. Dante met her charge head on by jumping clear over her. Reacting quickly, she threw herself into a knee slide, aiming her guns directly above her. Unable to dodge in the air, Dante merely decided to block her bullets with his own. The second he landed, she turned and aimed her gun only to find that Dante had done the exact same, and he had done so while still wearing that same wide grin.
“To top it all off, that man, that filthy scum….. was my father,” she said, slowly rising to her feet. The girls gasped at that revelation, Twilight turned toward the dead body behind them and felt a new sense of empathy for the would be assassin.
“Well, join the club,” he said gesturing towards the girls, “looks like we all have something in common. I have a dysfunctional family too.”
“What would a demon know!” she screamed, pointing the gun closer to his face. “What would you know about family!”
“Even if he doesn't, we do,” Twilight said, dropping the shield.
Lady turned her glare toward the violet haired girl. “And what do you know? Why are you even here, with this demon?”
“We’re looking for my brother-”
Lady scoffed. “Whatever, unless your ‘brother’ killed your parents, don’t talk like you understand. You all just don’t get it. This was my problem, my family, this was supposed to end by MY hand!”
“Wahh wahh, Sucks to be you-OW!,” Dash muttered, only to quickly receive a slap to the back of the head from AJ.
If Lady heard, she didn't react. All she did was slowly lower her gun. Twilight looked into her mismatched red and blue eyes, watching her determined, revenge filled glare, slowly dim down into something that resembled sorrow, and disappointment. Lady began to walk toward her fathers deceased body. The girls moving out of the way as she did so.
“What’s wrong? You done shooting?”
“Dante!” Twilight chided.
Lady didn't even turn around. Her voice was subdued, almost sad. “Just go, I don’t care anymore…”
At that, Pinkie almost immediately leaped forward to comfort the woman, only to be held back. Turning around, she noticed AJ’s hand on her shoulder. Reluctantly, she turned toward the door and left with Dash and AJ. Dante soon followed after, muttering something about family.
Twilight remained behind, and instead, walked up next to her.
“Why are you still here, I said go.”
“…….....are you sad that he’s dead, or that you weren't the one to kill him?”
“What are you talking about, why would I be sad over this filth.”
“Because he’s your father.”
Lady scoffed. “What kind of father kills his wife right in front of his daughter?”
“I don’t know, maybe he was misguided, or possessed.”
“Sure, like your brother was?” she said sarcastically, “No, I don’t believe that, both of them are monsters and they deserved to die.”
“Now hold on-”
“In fact, you know what? You’re half right. I am mad that I wasn't the one to kill him! It was my right! It was my entire reason for being here!”
Twilight was taken aback by the woman’s volume. “But he was your dad-”
“Like I said, you wouldn't understand, you haven't lost anyone.”
“Yes I-”
“No, you havent. I can see it in your eyes, you haven't seen the ones you love die right in front of you……. Not yet anyway. So just go, keep following that demon,” she said with finality.
Twilight honestly thought that she could talk to her, maybe calm her down a bit, but now, it seemed like she really wasn't in the mood to listen. Without another word, Twilight turned and headed for the exit, only looking back once before exiting completely.
~~~
Afterwards, Twilight quickly caught up with the others and they moved on. Everyone asked where she had been, but Twilight simply waved the questions off. Shrugging they continued forward. Everything continued as normal for the most part. More talking, some arguments, and more of Dante threatening to shoot someone if they didn't shut up. Eventually, after riding some sort of train, and fighting off the demons that tried to hijack it, they came to a wide open chamber-like area, the sides were flowing lava that poured down to create a river around the raised central floor.
“Ugghhh,” Dash groaned, “Not another freaking orb! What is this, like, the third one so
far!” Like she said, on the complete opposite side of the room lie a small glowing purple orb, sitting on pedestal.
“This does seem to be getting repetitive,” Rarity agreed.
“Don’t be down,” Pinkie cheered, “maybe it’s a different one this time. Maybe this one has
some kind of magic orb that changes hair color and shoe size!”
Rarity looked utterly disgusted at such a power. “Dear maker, who would want that kind of power. I, for one, like my natural colors just the way they are, thank you very much.”
Dante scoffed. “Those are your natural colors?”
Rarity turned and glared at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
While Dante and Rarity sorted out their issues, Twilight and AJ had already began to make their way over to the orb.
“So whatcha think, Twi?”
“Rainbow might be right, it could be another key. We should-”
“SPARDA!” screamed a voice from above. Suddenly, the entire room began to shake and crumble. Pieces of rock began to fall from above, and one aimed itself directly at Twilight.
“Twi, watch out,” AJ screamed. Seeing that Twilight would not have enough time to react, she quickly pushed her out of the way, and slammed her fist into the oncoming rock, shattering it to pieces.
“Owwwww,” she said rubbing her behind, “if you were just going to punch the rock, why’d you push me away?”
AJ didn't respond, only continuing to watch the sky. Twilight turned and saw that the others had stopped arguing, and were also glancing upward. Just as she began to look up, whatever was up there, jumped down. In front of the group stood a enormous silver beast with glowing eyes and very sharp claws. It stood on two legs but seemed like it could easily get around with four. Roaring, it flared out the 4 wings attached to it’s back.
“Oh, you poor thing.”
“Didn't your mommy teach you how to use a door!?”
Dante, Dash! Stop teasing the enemy, it doesn't help! Twilight scolded.
Pinkie bounded to their defense. “But Twilight, it’s so funny. I get to tease the next one kay?” she said, turning to Dante and Dash, who either nodded, or gave a thumbs up.
While Twilight gave her face a palm print, the behemoth began sniffing the air.
“That odor…. I know it!”
Dash backed away from Dante. “Aint me man, today was my weekly shower so I’m good.”
Dante took a few sniffs then glanced at Rarity.
Rarity began to nervously avoid eye contact. “Well, I didn't want to say anything….”
“Give me a break, tell you what, how about next time I try and wear some cologne, kay?”
“This stench…… it is the stench of betrayal, the odor of that accursed Sparda!” he yelled. “I am Beowulf! I will annihilate every last blood relation to Sparda….”
AJ turned and began walking in the other direction, patting Dante on the shoulder as she did. “Guess this is your ride pardner, come on girls lets-”
“….and those who side with them!” Beowulf finished.
AJ’s shoulders sagged while Dante patted her on the head, squishing her hat in the process. “Oh come on, help a son clean up his dad’s mess, it’ll be fun!”
AJ reluctantly turned back around and summoned Scarlet Apple, taking her place with the others who had already summoned their keyblades. “Ugh, where’ve I heard this story before?” she groaned.
At the sight of their weapons, Beowulf fell down to all fours and roared ferociously. With speed that surprised everyone, Beowulf darted forward and swiped with his claw. Luckily, due to their honed reflexes, everyone made it out of the way. Dante then proceeded to charge in head first while Dash lifted AJ into the air.
Taking a few swipes, Dante found that he couldn't do very much damage to the beast, and was quickly knocked away. At that moment, Dash had reached enough of a height to drop AJ like a bomb at his blind side. “Bombs away!” she shouted.
AJ pulled her keyblade back to give a devastatingly overhead strike, thinking that Beowulf couldn't see her coming. Surprisingly, Beowulf did a complete 180 turn and blocked her attack, the force of which sent them both back aways.
Landing on her feet AJ regarded the beast with something resembling respect. “Yall’re faster than ya look, ain't ya?” Beowulf only roared and charged at her, swinging his arm into a punch. AJ smiled, and countered with a punch of her own. Their fists collided, creating a shockwave that threatened to break the stone floor under them. Mildly surprised, Beowulf continued to push his fist forward, in hopes of tossing her into the river a lava behind her. AJ, seeing his plan decided to do the same thing. Putting more strength into her punch, she slowly began to take a step forward. Beowulf's eyes began to widen when he felt his feet sliding backwards.
“T-this cannot be, am I being overpowered by a mere human!”
Twilight and Dash instantly appeared in the air behind him, both charging thunder strikes.
“You mad bro?” Dash yelled.
Just before they could release their attacks, Beowulf roared loudly, flaring his wings and releasing a cascade of bright energy, violently shoving everyone away from him. Dash caught Twilight once she recovered, while AJ flew directly toward the lava river.”
“Jackie!” Pinkie yelled, aiming her keyblade at the falling girl, Pinkie successfully transported her to where she was, causing her to land her butt on the harsh stone floor.
“Ahh, that’s smarts,” she groaned rubbing her behind.
AJ found herself telekinetically moved out of the way of a now berserk Beowulf. Now, his attacks were faster and even more devastating, leaving no room for anything other than defense. Every time someone thought that they had found an opening to strike, Beowulf would turn, block, and just as quickly, counterattack. Somehow, he had gotten them all on the defensive.
What was worse was that he seemed to be immune to most of Twilight’s higher tier spells. She had tried, firaga, thundaga, Firaga Burst and even some experimental spells or spells that she had not fully mastered, nothing seemed to work.
Eventually, she dropped back and let the others fight so she could come up with some kind of strategy. “Think, Twilight, think. He isn't like Spike, he isn't immune to attacks only highly resistant due to his massively think skin. So think, what doesn't his skin cover….. of course!”
Twilight teleported over to Rarity, who was busy trying to rain down a hail of keyblades, most of which bounced harmlessly off of his back. “Rarity, aim for his eyes!”
Rarity looked over at her friend in surprise. “Twilight, that’s cruel and dishonorable sword play. Master Luna said-”
“I know…. but trust me, this is the ONLY way to beat him.”
Rarity regarded her friend for a few seconds before nodding resolutely. Switching tactics, Rarity aimed a singular keyblade at Beowulfs eye just as he turned around from trying to swat away Dash for the 50th time. Instantly, Beowulf raised an arm to block the blade.
Dante saw this, and came up with is own plan. “Look at the big puppy dog getting beat by humans,” he taunted.
Beowulf instantly turned his attention to Dante who was leaning over and clapping his hands, mocking him. Roaring in rage, Beowulf launched a furious punch at the demon hunter. Just before the punch connected, Dante grabbed his sword and tossed it, directly at Beowulf’s right eye.
“Dante!” the girls yelled as the punch connected.
Dante was smashed into the ground, and Beowulf’s eye was sliced and unusable. Screaming in pain, Beowulf began to thrash around, swiping at anything and everything.
“Great, that just made things worse!”
Beowulf’s thrashing began to cease as he began to once more speak the language of man. “The odious blood that pumps through the son of Sparda. Though my sight is gone, I shall remember your scent, as well as those who side with you!” he said as Dante pulled himself out of his crater.
“I told you, next time I’ll wear some cologne or something!”
“I shall hunt you down through eternity if I must, until I rid this earth of your foul smell!” With that, Beowulf spread his wings and jumped toward the ceiling, making his way out through the hole that he had created.
“Jeez louise, stalker much?” said Pinkie, whispering over to Twilight.
“Man, what hell did your dad do to piss everyone off like that?”
Dante answered by shrugging his shoulders, and cracking his neck. “I don’t know, but cut me some slack, he’s after you too now.”
“Maybe for now, but once we leave this dreary place, he’s all yours,” Rarity reminded.
“Hahaaa, sucks to be you,” Dash said as she flew past him toward the small orb. “Now, lets get this thing and-AGGHHGHHHGGHHH!”
“Dash/Rainbow/Dashie!” all of the girls screamed. The second that Dash had grabbed the orb, she fell to the ground in intense, agonizing pain. Purple, demonic energy coursed throughout her body, causing every part of her to spasm and twitch. Her screams echoed off of the walls and tears began to flow down her cheeks. Everybody ran over to help her, only to be stopped by Dante.
“If you touch her, you’ll fall out too!” Dante warned, “We should-”
“Ohooho, this just too hilarious! I was hoping that the devil boy would grab it, but this is even better! The primatic pretty bird sounds like she’s getting her wings chopped off!”
Everybody turned toward the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Right behind them stood what looked like a clown wearing a violet body suit, in his hands he held a small golden yellow scepter topped with dull gem. His wide smile and extremely pale face made Rarity squirm uncomfortably.
Pinkie’s eyes grew wide, her smile growing to match. “Oh my cupcakes, it’s a clown!!”
He began to laugh, his volume matching that of Dash’s screams. “Oh, dear girl, I am a Jester, not a clown-WOAH!” Jesters laughing was soon interrupted by Dante grabbing his color and sticking a gun to his face, bending down his long nose.
“Woahwoahwoahwoah you’re not just going to let him shoot me are you?” he asked as he glanced toward Twilight and the others.
“I might consider it, unless you start tellin’ me what’s wrong with her!” AJ threatened.
“Don’t act so rashly, my dears, I’ve got a doozy of a story for you. And I can’t tell it if I’m dead, you know,” he pleaded, a wide smile still pasted on his face.
AJ took a few steps forward, fury growing on her face. “Unless that story’ll explain why mah friend on on the ground screamin’ for her life-”
Jester squirmed himself from Dante’s grip, and began to frantically distance himself from the tall blonde girl. “It will, it will I swear, just don’t kill me!”
AJ ceased her advance. Seeing her stop, Jestor quickly got to his feet and began fanning himself with his scepter.
“Whew, thought I was a goner for a sec. Oh yes, you all saw it when you came here, didnt you? The huge tower jutting out from the ground?” he began to eccentrically motion his words. “That thick shaft that cause women to shudder-” Instantly, he appeared behind Rarity, sliding his finger along her face, causing her to shudder violently. Before any of them could take a swing, he appeared back in front of them, continuing his story without missing a beat. “-is actually a tunnel, you see. Linking the demonic domain, to the human world!”
Applejack began to crack her knuckles as Dash’s screams began to grate on her ears.
Not paying her any mind, Jester motioned over to Dante. “And of course, your brother, Virgil is the one who controls it using your mommy’s amulet,” he said, patting his chest where the necklace once laid.”
“So that’s what he’s using it for,” Dante mumbled.
“He’s headed for the control room in the basement,” Jester sang, taking a few dance steps. Afterwards, he began to hop like a bunny, causing Pinkie to giggle. “If you don’t don’t hope down there, quick like a bunny, he’ll open the gates to hell. Thus unleashing every baddie that dear old daddy worked so hard to lock away!” he exclaimed with a flourish. “Isnt that a scary thought?”
“Ahm still not hearing anythin about that ball that’s killin mah friend….” AJ said in an eerily calm tone.
“Oops, yes, you are correct. That gizmo that tweety bird has- by the way could someone please shut her up? No? Alright.- is the key to getting down to the basement. The tricky thing is that it sucks the life out of those who hold it,” he pointed directly at Rarity. “And don’t even think about lifting it with magic, or it’ll suck you dry instantly, and I’m sure your wittle Master Woona told you all about what happens then.”
“Hold on, how do you-”
“So you’d better huuurryyy~” he said, dancing around. Eventually, he hopped on top of a nearby hook that rose him into the air. “However, in return, it’ll give you power. Why, I bet if that little girl could move, she’d be able to beat that overgrown lizard in the coat all~ by~ herself.”
If the Luna crack didn’t peak Twilight’s interest the lizard one did. Before she could call out to him, he began laughing at his loudest as he spun on the hook out of the room. Eventually his laughs faded, and the only sound that remained were Dash’s pained whimpers.