Devil Bring It On!
Chapter 3
Double or Nothing
After a little rest and a practice run on some more small fry I started to get a proper gauge of my limits. And as a bonus, I got a cool scythe out of the deal to replace my cleaver. It was the standard fair used by the hell caina, low-level skeletal undead demons (there were a lot of different demons of that type in hell for some reason) but it was better than nothing.
I could only bring out the spectral arm for a few seconds at a time, with a short cooldown between uses. Seems I couldn't just use it constantly. Not yet at least, probably needed more practice with it.
Still awakening the Devil Bringer properly allowed me to finally get the Yamato shard out of my arm. Maybe my drive to live in that last fight made it see me as worthy? Something to inquire into later.
So I held the shard in my right hand like a razor blade or guitar pick and swung it through the air a couple of times, changing my stance each time. Never saw Nero cut space with it but I knew this body had the potential to pull it off. If Balrog could use a Yamato shard to get out of the Demon Realm, then one with the body of Sparda's grandson, Vergil's son definitely could.
"Well technique seems to be out of the question as to how to pull it off," I said to no one in particular. "Perhaps I just need to put in more power? It's only a shard after all, might need some more out of me to match the full package."
And put in more power I did. I poured every drop of demonic power I could muster into the fragment, which drank it up like a man dying of thirst. I focused my thoughts on imitating Vergil's ability to make portals with the blade, keeping those scenes in my mind's eye. And then I slashed with all my might. Once vertically and another horizontally.
There was a noise as if metal was grinding against metal and I felt the resistance from space itself as I tore at it but I pushed on through. I did it!
It was murky at the edges and all I could see was blackness on the other side but I made a portal!
I hurriedly reabsorbed the shard for safekeeping and stepped into the portal.
Only to find myself still in Hell on the other side. Well, to be exact it seems I was still in hell but another section of it of it.
Instead of a red rocky wasteland, I found myself in an obsidian desert with volcanoes and lava flows strewn all over. The temperature was unbearable. Instead of a sun in eternal eclipse, I saw several moons peak out of a cloudy sky all in different phases. And as a cherry on top of it all my nose was assaulted by the smell of rotten eggs.
Seems like the first try won't cut it. I'd need to do a bit of practice to get it done right. Though first things first I needed to sit down for a bit, the shard might have drunk too deep into my reserves to pull that off so I needed a breather.
As I sat on a nearby jutting rock like a bench, I found something peculiar. The portal wasn't closed yet, which was strange as I recall Vergil's portals closed quite shortly after he made them. Maybe because my cut wasn't as "clean" so to speak, the fabric of space needed more time to heal? Or maybe it's just portals lasted longer while in the Demon Realm? I could theorize to the reason all day.
I entered the portal again to find myself back on the other side in the same place I entered it initially, back on the rocky plateau. Well better here than in that oven of a new hell.
I looked back at the portal and then decided to try something different. As I stood in front of the portal, I brought out the Yamato shard again poured power into it once more and tried to visualize the portal closing in my mind. And nothing happened.
'Well if the Yamato shard won't be able to close it maybe the Rebellion could?' I thought. 'It seems to have the opposite powers, unifying and binding instead of dividing and cutting. At least that's what Dante implied before he awakened his Sin Devil Trigger.'
So I reabsorbed the Yamato shard and pulled out my locket from under my hoodie. I opened it up and took out the Rebellion shard.
I imitated the stance I took when making the portal with the Yamato shard and poured power into it, again this shard drank deeply of my reserves. This time I placed it at the edge of the portal and pulled.
There was a similar resistance to when I opened the portal but just like that time I pushed on through. And like that the shard acted like a zipper pull and slider mending the hole in space.
"Okay, that's good to know," I said. "I won't be accidentally leaving a bunch of portals for demons to jump through now."
As I placed the shard back in the locket, my mind drifted back to thinking about said locket and what put me here.
That locket was the only clue I had about how I got here, so I had to ask myself why I was given it. Sure it contained the shards of two very useful swords in it and was even able to hide their presence but there had to be more to it than that. If they wanted to just give me the shards they could have just had them pre-absorbed into my Devil Bringer or given me a letter or something with them in a box. Was it all part of some test to see if I was worthy of what they gave me?
I looked over it a few times since I got here and all I saw was that emblem of the lion and the hourglass and that it was a smooth golden oval with a golden chain. It felt like it could have been placed on a Divinity statue and it wouldn't be out of place.
This was the first time I examined it since the fight with the blitzes.
"So Deity of Time and Space, huh, at least I think you're the one that put me here" I said to the sky. "Does anything carrying your symbol act as a divinity statue? I remember Nico had a small one in her van that seemed to function like the big ones. Is this necklace meant to be a portable one?"
Wait, that could just be it.
'How did they activate divinity statues if they weren't just gameplay abstractions for the ability and item shop?,' I thought. 'Tried praying already, however half-heartedly. Maybe it needs some demonic power put into it?'
Seems like infusing things with demonic power was the veritable hammer that made all my problems look like nails. Can you blame me though? If you got superpowers wouldn't you want to try them out at every opportunity?
Still given how variable demonic power proved to be it was worth a shot.
So I held the locket in my right arm and gave a push of power into it. The locket started to glow golden, going ever brighter and brighter as I pumped more power into it. Even the Devil Bringer started to glow golden as it resonated with the locket. Shit, it'd act as a beacon for a bunch of demons to find out where I am. I tried to cut the feed, tried to let go but the locket kept on draining me of my power and forced my arm into a death grip.
I fell to my knees and blacked out. The last thing I noticed was a storm was approaching.
I don't know how long I was out for. A few minutes? A few hours? What I did know was two things. I didn't wake up where I fainted and I was by some miracle still alive.
The locket that drained me dry was still around my neck and my right hand was still clasped around it. The glow had faded and I could move my arm again it seems, well I would have had I not been held down by a couple of demons.
Surprise surprise turns out blacking out in the demon realm wasn't a good idea after all. The storm cloud delivered demons to me again, and it wasn't just blitzes again this time. Instead of was a group of plasmas. Large one eyed bats made out of electricity that could shapeshift in electric doppelgangers of their opponents and rapidly replicate themselves, oh yeah they could shoot lasers from their eyes too. There were four of them and they currently took on a form imitating my body having electric copies of the scythe I held each pointed at me ready to tear me apart.
What really caught my eye however was the woman in front of me. Well she was a demon obviously but the form she took was very human. She sat on a jade throne surrounded by mist that hovered a foot above the ground, she had black hair, pale skin and piercing green eyes that looked like they almost glowed in their intensity. She wore a green toga with silver trim and had I been in another situation I probably would have noticed her almost ethereal beauty more. The only thing that made her stand out as something more than human were the large silver wings she had tucked behind her back.
"Ah, so you've awoken. So my subjects did not deceive me. A human in the demon realm, and such a handsome one at that. Truly fortune smiles upon me," I heard her speak.
I found my throat dry and my voice horse but I was able to struggle out these words.
"Yeah, and who are you lady?," I said
"Oh, how rude of me. Introductions are in order. My name is Talaria, known far and wide as the Witch of the Winds. And it seems you, my little struggling morsel, are my ticket out of this drab realm."
"If I knew how to get out of here lady, I'd have been gone a long time ago," I said.
I had no clue where the confidence was coming from given my situation but maybe it was a coping mechanism, maybe it was anger at being captured like that. Either way, I wasn't feeling the most cooperative with this demon.
"You're a human within in the demon realm and you're saying you don't have a way out? Please, child, I wasn't born yesterday," Talaria said. "How did you get in then little one? I saw you make that portal young man, every demon within a great distance was able to sense you make such a thing. The light show you provided afterward didn't exactly help either, it was like you wanted to be found. You're lucky it was I that found you first or else you'd have ended up as a snack for my more… uncivilized brethren."
'Don't really feel all that lucky,' I thought to myself, though I knew on some level she was right. 'Still gotta think fast or else she might decide to act like those aforementioned brethren.'
"You may be right miss… Talaria was it? But I probably can't help as long as I'm restrained like this," I said head gesturing to the plasmas that were holding me at scythe point.
"Oh that was just a bit of insurance, I saw what you did to the blitzes I sent at you earlier. I don't want any more of that behavior." She said.
She snapped her fingers and her honor guard stepped back, their scythes still ready for combat but I now had a little breathing room.
"See, I can be reasonable. Now, chop chop, get to making an opening to the human realm. I did save your life after all." she continued.
"Oh yeah, and what do you plan on doing there?" I asked. "Gonna gobble up a bunch of people like candy"
"Perhaps, perhaps not. I know my subjects would partake in such festivities but I have a more refined palette than them."
I was afraid of something like this happening, it was only a matter of time before I bit off more than I could chew while stuck in this realm. Guess it was time to use that, despite how little I wanted to. And letting this demon out into the human realm guaranteed people would die, die because I wasn't strong enough.
"Okay, okay I give. I don't know how to break out of here yet but I'll give it a try for you," I said.
I got on my feet and dusted myself off and took a look around again.
Seems we were at the precipice between different kinds of hell. The same red rocky plateau I was used to was meeting up with what seemed like a beach of green waters and purple sand.
I opened my locket, and took out the Rebellion shard again, I put it in my right arm. Gathered all the will I could, charged it with demonic power and then…
I stabbed it into my left palm.
Why'd I do this you ask?
Well, it was because of a few things I knew. Getting stabbed by the Rebellion helped Dante unlock his demon form. Getting injured in his right arm helped Nero awaken the Devil Bringer. And demonic power followed one's intent.
My circumstances were very different and I didn't have the full thing on me, I knew that but it was worth a shot anyways.
There was a soft red glow at first in my closed fist, then a swell of blinding blue light enveloped it.
Of course, my audience wasn't exactly cooperative with my little show.
"You stop that this instant!," Talaria screeched batting me with hurricane force winds knocking me on my back.
The plasmas each embedded a scythe into my body and flooded it with electricity.
I should have been dead several times over but with what was going on inside my soul, I barely noticed.
As the surge of electricity stopped and the light faded, I raised from the ground as if lifted by invisible strings.
The shard was still in my left hand, but the hand itself was now changed.
My left arm had become a mirror to my right arm, my gambit worked, I'd awakened another Devil Bringer. The left arm glowed a red while the right arm glowed blue.
I summoned two spectral arms out and batted away the plasmas. I looked Talaria directly in the eyes and then smiled.
"Alright lady, change of plans. You guys either leave me alone or get to meet the fate of the last demons that decided I was an easy meal," I said.
"A pity, I would have liked to have had your co-operation. You'd have made an excellent consort," Talaria replied. "But if you won't obey then it seems I'll need to discipline you myself."
She got off her throne, standing a good 8 feet tall she looked down at me.
But that didn't matter, I felt on top of the world.
"Let's Dance!," I said, beckoning her to come at me
Author's Note: Well here's chapter 3.
Did the ending make sense to you?
Or was it too sudden?
I hope things are okay.
Honestly every chapter I'm worried I've jumped the shark so to speak.
Please air out your concerns or hopes in the comments.
Had the image of Double Devil Bringers stuck in my head since I first played DMC4 and wanted to see them realized in some way outside of how DMC5 did it and how this mod did it. 
