Fan Fiction ❯ Devil May Cry: Damned Souls ❯ An Omen ( Chapter 4 )

Trish checks the time in her wristwatch. It reads eleven-thirty in the late morning and still, there's no sign of Dante or the angel. She sighs heavily at the train station, tapping her foot and swinging her large bag carelessly by her side. Bored and tired, she accidentally lets go of the bag's handle. The bag hits the floor with a heavy thump. Trish curses, hoping that the bag's fragile contents haven't been broken. Immediately, Trish unzips the bag to check inside. A look of relief comes over her face when she realizes that everything is still in place, specifically an adorable and very large robotic toy that Dante gave her the day of her arrival to DNC.

Dante handcrafted the `toy' the same way he handcrafted his Ebony & Ivory pistols. It's modeled after a favorite anime show he likes to watch when he ain't doing much in the afternoons. No matter how many times he tells her to take this "bad ass" character seriously, she still sees the robotic toy, named `Pluto' by the way, as "cute". In fact, they constantly have fights when the anime show comes on, ending with her telling him how much of a child he is.

Slowly, she picks up Pluto, bending `his' arms, legs, and demon-like wings to see if he's intact correctly. He's made out of stainless steel and is pretty heavy. Two hours ago, the cops had a field day when her bag kept ringing as she passed through the metal detectors near the train station's entrance. They didn't want her to take Pluto onboard, seeing how heavy and potentially lethal he could be. (Like she's going to take out the train operator by throwing Pluto at him? Yeah. Right.) But a little "convincing" on her behalf made them change their mind. If only those guys knew that the number she gave them was actually a psychic hotline number. Ha!

She tests Pluto again; making sure that nothing is broken. Good, she thinks, he's still intact and good to go. She zips the bag and stands up again. Waiting.

Trish practically growls when another twenty minutes pass by. She's been standing here, looking out for their train, for nearly two hours already. Her feet hurt and her mascara seems to be running. Worse, she thinks she started her period. Man, it sucks being a woman. And the people here are just as twisted too. She tries to ignore the twenty-something man next to her, who's trying really hard to direct her attention to the large thing between his legs. But even as she looks away, her eyes find a couple of teenagers passionately making out on the wall next to her, using tongues and everything. Trish shakes her head, finally having enough of it. Forget Dante! Let HIM look out for the stupid train while she can go off on her own adventure until it arrives!

Suddenly, she hears a familiar laugh.

"Dante," she recognizes, her voice heated with anger. The bastard. She turns around to gripe at the source of the voice, only to gasp at the man next to her partner when she does.

Socrates' bulky, nerdy suit is gone. In its place is a tightly fitted gray shirt and black leather pants. His wild red hair is jelled back and the black boots make him appear cool. The glasses are still in place but they don't compromise the new `look' by much. Overall, he looks retro and kind of cute. Nice ass too.

"I thought I'd show wing boy how to dress like a man," Dante explains to Trish, patting Socrates on the shoulder and grinning, " `Sides, I didn't want him to scare away any of the babes we might find on the train."

Socrates nervously smiles, adjusting his glasses.

"I tried to get him contact lenses but wing boy didn't want to let go of those dorky glasses of his." Dante walks next to Trish.

"Hey, they look cool," Socrates says and meets the two near the wall, nearly startled by the heated teenagers. He moves away from them. "And Dante, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me `wing boy'?"

"When hell freezes over," jokes Dante.

"It might just happen. But, honestly, Dante, why do you keep calling me `wing boy'?"

"Don't angels have wings?"

Socrates just looks at him.

"So, where are we going again?" Dante asks.

"To Arizona," Socrates plays with his necklace as he converses. "There's a certain location there that we need to go to. The mountains, actually."

"Why do we need to go there?" inquires Trish, swinging the bag to her side again.

"Because that's where the gateway to the Underworld is."

"I thought the only portal was on Mallet Island and that place's been destroyed."

"Yes. But there are several gateways in other locations that will grant you access to hell. And like this train station, each will take you to a different place. The portal we're taking is going to take us directly to David's lair."

"David?" Trish cocks an eyebrow.

"Yes..." Socrates hesitates, "That's his real name. David."

"What happened to `Satan'? I thought that was his name?"

"No. That's just a made-up name humans created for him, right next to `Hades'."

"David..." she tests out the name, hearing its sound.

Funny, how a terrible creature like Satan actually has a name like David. Jeez, if they can't even figure out `his' real name, then how are they going to figure out what `he' really is capable of doing? Let alone, WHAT `he' is?

"Ha," laughs Dante, "Who'd have figured? David. And I thought I had a terrible name."

"Is he really the King of Hell?" Trish wonders.

"It depends," Socrates answers calmly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it depends on which God you believe in. You see... there are several realms throughout this universe and beyond. Each of them contains dark and light for balance. Other religions have their own realm. Meaning, they have their own devil and God. But they call them a different name than the ones we use here. They also have their ideas of the end of the world. Depending on whom they believe in, their souls will be taken to THEIR God or THEIR Devil."

"But what if someone doesn't even believe in a God?"

"Two things. The `good' souls, if I may, enter a realm similar to Heaven but with no God. Or... the bad souls are recycled into the chain of life. Meaning, their souls will drift on forever, dying and reliving into different forms until they can make things right."

Trish nods, understanding it a bit.

"Going to Heaven or hell isn't about what you do during this lifetime, you know," Socrates continues. "It's about how well you treat yourself and others. Suicide is the greatest sin to commit, right next to murder. But since the hands of humankind have manipulated many works from these Gods and Devils for self-gain, several people misinterpret and even rewrite the laws. They kill innocent lives, claiming that it was for so-and-so God. Religious men, even of high standards, justify their actions against women as an act of God too, seeing that man will always be superior. Crucifying people who haven't converted to THEIR God is also a common and unfortunate thing. It seems that one group always thinks that THEIR God is better than any of
the others. Overall, these are just misinterpretations and because of that, many people are being misled."

"And what about dogs?" Trish asks, "Cats? Animals? Do they have souls? A Heaven? A Hell? Can they be misled too?"

"Of course they have souls, Trish. And while they're unable to call their Gods names, they feel it in their hearts. In fact, some of the resurrected souls come in as cats or dogs, so they already know whom God and the Devil are. And, yes, they can be misled too, as funny as that may sound to you."

"All right," Dante breaks in, "I think I've had enough with this `soul' business. Fact is, my folks are stuck in hell and I'm gonna get them out. So what can we expect from David? I don't suppose they'll be a tour and almost bare naked Hawaii-like girls waiting for us where we're going, right?"

"I think the most important question, Dante, is how are we going to open the portal there?" Trish asks very seriously.

"We won't," Socrates says. "The Book of the Dead is the only way in opening it."

"Wait a minute," Dante starts, "I thought we were going for the book. If we need the book to open the portal and we don't even HAVE it, then what's the point of this trip?"

"We ARE going for the book, Dante, but we first must find its location. And its location is found by solving a riddle."

"Excuse me? I think you lost me, wing boy."

"The riddle is," Socrates begins, oblivious to the confused face Dante and Trish make, "`In order to find the Book in the now, one must first look for the Book in the yesterday.' "

Socrates smiles, pleased at how knowledgeable he is. It's certainly nice being the guy with all the answers, he thinks boldly of himself. He frowns, though, when he notices the two strange glances from his companions who keep quiet. He sighs, seeing they have no desire in answering it.

"The past!" Socrates answers disappointedly. "Jeez, you guys need to read a book and work out on your brains as much as you do with your bodies."

"And you need to give it to us straight, wing boy. What ARE you talking about? And what's with this riddle you give us all of a sudden?"

"The riddle is the key to finding its location," explains Socrates, "Fortunately, I've already answered it for you two. In order to find the book's location, we have to go through the past and see where it's gone up to the point when the angel hid it."

"Okay..." remains a still confused Dante, "So we're going to Arizona to go through the past? That right?"

"Yes. NOW you're hearing me," Socrates smiles. Pleased. "We're going back through time to see where the angel hid it. That's why the book is so hard to find. Everyone's so busy looking for it in the present and they come up short. The ONLY way to find its location is through the past, Dante."

"Oh..." Dante looks at Trish with a weird expression. "I guess I should be grateful that you helped us out on that one..."

"Yeah. No problem. We're all friends here." Socrates smiles. He's too proud of himself to not notice the expression Dante makes.

"But there's one thing you left out..." Dante continues softly, calmly.

"I did? What?"

"It's really nothing... I mean, we probably don't even need to know. But it'd be nice..."

"Sure, go on. Tell me. I'll be happy to answer any of your questions, Dante."

"Good... because I'd like to know... HOW YOU PLAN TO WARP US BACK THROUGH TIME, WING BOY!" Dante suddenly rages. "Jesus, how stupid do you think we are! No one can just ZAP back through time, y' know! This ain't the movies and I ain't Marty Mc-fucking-Fly from that `Back to the Future' flick!"

"Oh..." Socrates says. Understanding now. "Uh... sorry... I guess I got carried away."

"You guessed?" Trish remarks sarcastically, her eyes rising behind her dark shades.

"Well, um," starts Socrates, "Remember I said that the amulet held special powers?"

"Yeah," answers Dante. "What about it?"

"That amulet is the main key in activating a ripple through a vortex, or `time' as many put it. You see... that amulet can't really help us find the book directly. But we can use its powers to give us CLUES to the book's whereabouts. With that amulet, we can activate a portal and `zap' ourselves, as you say, into the medieval times where the book was born."

"Medieval times...?" Dante asks slowly, realizing something. He looks away.

Sweet mother of mercy... This is during the time when his father... His heart rapidly races inside his chest with anticipation. His father... Trish suddenly glances at him. Their eyes meet... She knows exactly what he's thinking right now.

"Did you bring your Bangle of Time gadget, Dante?" Socrates breaks in.

"Um... Yeah," Dante tries to keep his cool.

The white-haired hunter reaches deep into his trench coat's jacket, removing a silver watch-like gadget. Yeah, he thinks to himself, Mallet Island was just full of treasures. Not only did he find out-of-this-world-weapons, but he also found this cool little thing called the Bangle of Time too. Of course, he had to take out a demonic dragon to get to it and a couple of Ice-like creatures, but it was so worth it. It holds the power to LITERALLY freeze time. Apparently, the Holy One must've been looking into his visit in Mallet Island since Socrates already knew he had this gadget. In fact, he told him before leaving DNC to take it with him. At least now, he can see what this baby can REALLY do. Dante hands the device to Socrates.

"So? What are you going to do with it?" he asks.

"Give us a three-hour head start," Socrates replies and receives the device.

"What do you mean?"

"We've got less than three days to find the book, Dante, and the angel holding it could be anyone at any place. Which means, it might take us awhile to find the book. If we don't get it before the eclipse, then your mother and brother's souls will be lost to David forever. Believe me, I've seen this happen before. You really DON'T want to play around with this guy. At least with three hours, we can find the book and have time to open the portal to hell and free your family's souls and then hide the book again before David even knows it was found. That's what I'm hoping for, anyway. Boy, am I going to get it from the top guy..."

"You mean to tell me that you can't simply find the angel who's hiding the book?" Trish inserts in curiosity.

"No. This angel is far more superior to any other, so powerful that it can mask its own appearance. This angel could be a rat, for all we know! No, he, or she, was the perfect person for the Holy One to choose to hide the book and this angel wasn't going to risk being spotted by ANYONE, including by fellow angels."

"Huh? Angels can betray their own kind?" inquires Dante.

"Unfortunately, yes. And that's why they call them, `fallen angels.' Once an angel disobeys the Holy One or commits betrayal, there isn't a chance for the angel to return to Heaven until he or she does something EXTRAORDINARY. In fact, David, himself, is a fallen angel until he took the throne of the Underworld to give balance to the universe. It's his sole responsibility to represent darkness and condemn souls in our realm."

"You make it sound that it's all right for him to condemn innocent people because of this `balance'," Dante says very uneasily, already hating Socrates' concept of the universe.

"No, Dante. Condemning souls for the sake of gaining the upper hand is downright wrong," Socrates quickly replies. "It goes against everything sacred to creatures of light and darkness. I just want you to REALIZE that David is an entirely different ballgame from Mundus. If you face David and possibly defeat him, be prepared to know that SOMEONE will replace him. No matter WHAT you do, evil will ALWAYS exist because there will always be light."

"So how many fallen angels have managed to go back to Heaven?" Trish quickly jumps in, seeing how Dante is about to throw a fit, not liking what he hears.

"If memory serves correct, there hasn't been a fallen angel that has been able to gain reentry to Heaven." Socrates smiles but it's a sad one.

"Figures," Dante ignores, "Listen, I've got to take a leak. I'll be back real soon."

"You'd better hurry," Trish warns, "The train's scheduled to arrive at any minute now."

"I'll be back," Dante says and walks towards the nearest men's room he sees.

Trish and Socrates stand all alone. Both of them try to ignore the heated teenagers and the horny man giving Trish nasty looks. It's a jungle here…

Dante enters the men's restroom. The restroom isn't as clean as he'd like it to be. In fact, there's graffiti everywhere and the floors are corrupted with toilet paper. There are three mirrors lined up against a wall, each accompanied by three sinks that are in serious need of some cleaning. The dryer is busted and some of the restroom stalls are crumbling with decay and moistness. The stench of human waste fills the air while the lights on the ceiling buzzes on and off again. A quick glance and Dante can see some brown mushy stuff at the left corner of the restroom, having no desire to want to know what it is. It's seriously gross here. But he's seen worse. This is kid's stuff compared to the restrooms he's been in before. The bars' restrooms he's been to can make a madman sane, that's for sure.

The janitor, the only man here, mops the floor from behind him. He looks old, pushing eighty years old easily and smoking a cigarette, causing the small ashes to fall on the dirty, dark floor. The smell of nicotine fills the air. Dante tries to breathe that in instead of the human waste stench coming from the toilets nearby. The white hunter takes off his gloves and places them near a sink. Soon afterwards, he stands in front of the nearest stalls. The one that has the words `Hubbard loves L. Ron' all over it. Whatever. He unzips his zipper to resolve his bodily urges.

"Tough day, sonny?" grunts the old janitor from behind, scratching his cheek.

"Probably will be in a few hours," responds Dante, peeing.

"Business or pleasure?"

"Huh?"

"Your trip," explains the janitor.

"Business."

The janitor nods, mopping the floor up and down. Dante wraps it up and goes to a brown colored sink to wash his hands. He can catch a view of the old man through the reflection. The water pours down from the faucet, splashing onto his hands.

"Got a girlfriend, sonny?" the janitor asks.

"No," Dante answers and begins soaping his hands.

"Why not?"

"Because girlfriends are a hassle," chuckles Dante, "My work comes first anyway. Women would only get in the way of things."

"Ever been in love?"

"Yeah. Several times. But nothing serious."

The janitor laughs. "Yeah. We're all like that, aren't we, sonny? Men, I mean. So are you interested in anyone right now?"

"No."

"I've got a nice girl who might be interested in you."

"That's nice to know," Dante rinses his hands, replying with a dull voice.

"She'll really like you once she meets you, no doubt, sonny."

"Yeah. Whatever." Dante glances up at the mirror so that the man can see his face, wanting to show the man that he doesn't want to talk anymore. However, he frowns.

Dante blinks. (He could've sworn the old man was smiling at him mischievously, revealing sharp black teeth.) No... It's probably just his imagination. Creepy. In any account, Dante turns to see the old man clearly. The old man just smiles at him, warmly, as if nothing happened. Dante returns to rinsing his hands. He turns off the faucet and dries his hands with the paper towels, still able to see the man through the reflection of the mirror.

"What do you do for a living?" the old man asks, resumes mopping the floor.

"I'm a private investigator."

"Yeah? So you're a detective or something?"

"Yeah. You can say that."

"So you're out to do some `investigating'?"

Dante nods, momentarily checking on the mirror to see the man. Again, he frowns. (He could've SWORN that the old man's eyes were red.) He turns around to the see the man once more. As before, the old man warmly smiles at him. Oblivious. Dante returns to the mirror. Nothing...

"What inspires you to do that kind of work?" the old man continues.

Through the reflection, the old man waits patiently for an answer. Dante doesn't say anything, instead looking at the reflection. Frozen in place. A minute or two goes by and still no word from Dante.

"Well, I hope you have a great day," the old man replies after awhile, a bit distraught.

Dante continues to look at the man's reflection. Still nothing. (But he could've sworn...) No... He chews on his lower lip. No. He saw nothing. (But...) No. He didn't. Figures. It must've been something in his eye or that horrible sandwich he ate from the vendor machine an hour ago. Or maybe he's still suffering from this morning's hangover. Yeah. That's got to be it. What else could it be? Everything seems normal enough. There's nothing out of place. It must've been inside his head. Yeah.

"I'm heading out," Dante mutters and starts to leave. However, one quick glance from the mirror seriously worries him.

This time, the old man... he's soaked in blood!

"Hey!" Dante turns around immediately to look at the man again.

"What?" the old man asks very puzzled when he sees Dante glaring at him weird, "Something wrong, sonny? You sick?"

"But... You..." Dante points at him, then gives a brief glance at the mirror. Nothing. "But... how...?"

"Are you all right?" the old man asks, very concerned. "You don't look so good."

"No..." Dante replies, uncertain. He looks at the mirror. The man isn't soaked in blood anymore. There's nothing wrong. "No, it's nothing..."

Dante slumps against a wall, rubbing his eyes very hard with the palms of his hands. Sweet mother of mercy... what is WRONG with him? He's seeing things!

"Are you sure?" the old man asks worriedly. "Do you want me to call the docs?"

"Um... no..." Dante answers quietly. "I... think I should get going."

"Yeah, you don't want to miss your train, sonny." The old man grins, "Besides, you'll be meeting my girl real soon."

Dante just nods, a bit exhausted and a bit frustrated, not really hearing what the man says.

"Do good," the old man says, "And be careful. Unexpected things happen, even when it IS expected to, sonny."

"Sure..." Dante says bitterly and leaves the room.

Outside the restroom, Dante covers his face with his hands. Man... what's going through his head? He's seeing things that don't exist. He must be insane! Is it from the pressure? After all, he's going to take on the biggest assignment he's ever taken before. Maybe it's all getting to him. (His mother. Vergil. Father...) Is that why he's acting up like this? Shit, he just doesn't know anymore. Dante lowers his hands to his side. Suddenly, he remembers that he left his gloves back inside the restroom. Sighing, Dante opens the door and spots his gloves on the sink. Strange enough, the old man isn't here.

"Hey," Dante calls out, "Anyone here?"

Silence.

"Hello?" Dante looks around, opening each of the closed stalls. Empty.

Jeez, where'd the old man go? There isn't a window here, or another exit. How did the old man leave then? He was right where the door was. Surely, he'd have seen the old man leave. Yet... Something catches Dante's eye, interrupting that last thought. He sees the bucket with the mop the old man was using. Something about it wants to draw him near it. Slowly, Dante approaches it, walking steadily toward the bucket. He hears something coming from it, a buzzing sound. The devil hunter swallows hard, wishing he had his guns with him right now. (It feels wrong.) Damn regulations...

The buzzing gets louder than before as Dante approaches the bucket. Louder. And louder. And louder... His eyes widen in horror once he reaches a point where he can look down at the bucket. From that moment on, everything running inside his mind abruptly stops. It's unable to register the surreal image. It's unable to do anything except look. He's seen some pretty awful stuff in his line of business but this takes the cake.

Instead of water inside the bucket, millions of bloody maggots and flies scurry about. They begin to pour out, almost reaching the tips of Dante's boots. Dante takes a step back, seeing a large hill of maggots and flies begin to build again, causing them to spill outwards. Before he can even ask how these insects got here, his mind gathers another irregularity. There's something underneath the insects, something hidden...

Dante peers closer, trying to get a good look at it. Whatever it is, the insects momentarily cover it. Dante stares motionlessly over the bucket, watching the maggots and flies move away to see what's hidden deep inside. He thinks of brushing them off with his bare hands but the thought of it makes him disgusted. Sure, he's squashed oversized roaches and killer hornet-like creatures before, but something deep down his gut restraints him from touching THESE insects. They look weird and possess an appearance that could bring nightmares to just about anyone. (There's something evil going on here.)

Dante continues looking at the insects. Many of the ones dropping from the bucket scurry up the walls, to the toilets, and to the sinks of the men's restroom. The devil hunter has to keep from gasping since there are SO MANY maggots and flies coming from the bucket that they are consuming the entire restroom! The hunter remains silent and calm, though, hoping that an unsuspecting man needing to take a leak doesn't come in here right now.

The buzzing gets louder and Dante peers into the bucket again. Whatever is inside the bucket, it's slowly being revealed. The insects are now moving away from it. He swallows hard, seeing piece by piece of it being revealed to him, like some puzzle.

Five maggots crawl out. Dante can now see, what looks like, a human eye. It's tightly closed. (See no evil.) Three flies fly upwards. Dante can see another human eye. It, too, is closed. Two maggots start to descend deep into the bucket, entering a hole of some sort. Dante has to keep from grimacing in disgust since he realizes that what the maggots are entering appears to be a human mouth. (Speak no evil.) By the looks of it, it's a woman's mouth. Shortly afterwards, Dante can see five maggots crawl out of an ear. (Hear no evil.)

A... A head? Dante realizes. A woman's head... Slowly, the entire face unravels itself. When a white colored and well-decayed neck is revealed, Dante can see that an extremely sharp object severed it. (Like someone chopped the head off.) Once the entire picture is shown to Dante, he turns pale. All blood that runs through his veins stop.

"Holy... shit..." Dante stutters, finally seeing the woman's entire face. "Trish!"

Trish! Jesus, it's Trish's head! No! Trish! Immediately, Dante turns around, facing the mirrors' direction. Thousands upon thousands of insect creatures flood the ground he stands on. He tries to lift his feet to run but their powerful numbers prevent him. He tries again. It's like his legs are made out of clay!

The insects keep his feet planted to the ground, trapping him. Some of them bite deep into his boot, reaching the core and nibbling off his flesh. He grunts, trying to brush them off with his hands. Several of them leap and fly to his hands, quickly consuming the rest of his body. Dante moans, feeling sharp teeth stab into him. More insects invade his body, their massive weight causing him to lose his balance. He tries to keep from falling into the pit of insects below but eventually he does.

Falling, the insects run over his face, squeezing and sucking blood from their victim. Dante curses but soon closes his mouth once he realizes that several maggots are trying to enter his mouth. He sways his head left to right, trying to prevent them from entering his ears and nostrils. Facing the mirrors, their reflections blink to life, instantly catching his bewildered gaze. The insects momentarily stop attacking him, instead holding him down to the floor.

At first, there's complete darkness channeling from all three mirrors. Nothing in the restroom reflects on the mirrors, just blackness. Slowly, the darkness clears and each mirror starts to portray different images on their screens. The images begin to move inside the mirrors, as if playing a movie. The first mirror shows the first scene, the second mirror shows the scenes after that, and the third shows the finale.

Dante's mouth tries to open but several maggots enter inside. Dante gurgles wet sounds, feeling the slimy creatures crawl from his tongue and into the moist canal of his throat. The sensation is painful. He can literally FEEL tiny teeth devouring the insides of his throat, nibbling piece by piece of his vulnerable flesh, soon moving down. Another heat of agony erupts and he grunts. His mind tries to make sense of this phenomenal but it can't. Mater Christi, why is this happening to him? It feels so real! Is this really happening? Is it a premonition? Is it a dream? He just doesn't know or understand!

Meanwhile, the first mirror reveals a "movie clip" to the devil hunter. Through it, Dante can see Trish yelling, her voice mute. Her eyes are wild, mouth gagging. She lies on the ground, which seems alive. Moving. Hungry. Her clothes are torn, grimed with both sweat and blood. She has a nasty slash across her arm that's bleeding uncontrollably. Trish screams again, trying to flee but large tentacles coming from the ground wrap around her wrists and ankles, keeping her in place.

Through the second mirror, someone approaches Trish but Dante can't see the figure. All he sees is a dark figure moving toward her, holding something. The figure advances slowly. Trish's face turns pale. Her eyes look worried. She tells the figure something but he can't hear what she says. No sounds come from the mirrors, only images. Gagging from the maggots descending further down his throat, Dante notices how Trish seems to recognize the figure. She isn't screaming anymore but instead, talking. Her eyes become worried once more when the figure continues walking towards her, oblivious to her cries.

On the final mirror, Dante realizes that the figure is carrying a sword, large and made of black metal. It looks a little like Sparda but also like Alastor too. The dark figure rises it above his head. Right as Trish covers her face, Dante sees the figure strike and chop off her entire head.

"NO!" screams Dante and immediately stands up from the ground.

Surprising enough, all the insects are gone. The walls, the floor, and the sink... they're all gone now. They've vanished as mysteriously as they appeared. Dante checks the bucket and mop. There's only water in the bucket and the mirrors now reflect parts of the restroom instead of a dark abyss. About the only sound coming inside the restroom is the sound of dripping water from the water faucet. Dante immediately storms out of the men's restroom.

"Jeez, Dante, what were you doing in there? Were you constipated?" jokes Trish once she spots Dante a few meters away.

A puff of air shoots up from the now-arrived train, making her voice hard to hear over its sound. Several people rush in to take their seats. Trish patiently stands near the train, still holding her bag. Warmly, she smiles at her partner. She was beginning to get worried for a second. She thought that the sandwich he ate from the vendor machine caused him some serious stomach problems. She warned him not to eat it. The fool.

"Your timing couldn't be any worse, could it?" she continues light-heartedly. "The train's here and Socrates is already onboard."

Dante takes a step forward, stopping soon to stare at his partner. Trish breaks away from talking, seeing how strange Dante is looking at her. It isn't the typical `hey, doll, miss me?' look she's so used to seeing. This is different, terribly different. It's like he just came from hell.

"Dante... are you okay?" the woman asks very concerned.

The white-haired man doesn't say anything. He just stands there like a statue. Eyes stone. Face hard. Hands clenched. His jaws dance a bit, as if he wants to talk. However, nothing comes out and his mouth remains shut. He doesn't seem to make an effort to do anything else but just stand there. Still. Quiet. Unease. Even when a person accidentally bumps into him he stays still.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, Dante moves. He abruptly walks pass Trish and starts to board the train without saying a word. Trish frowns. Funny, he left in a happy mood. Now, he looks... Trish stops, observing Dante enter the train more carefully. She senses something off. But... what she senses is fear. No. That can't be right. She's probably off by a mile. Or maybe Dante's possible fear stems from his visit to the restroom. Yeah. Lord knows, there's nothing worse than needing to go and finding no toilet paper around... And the smell! Don't get her started on THAT! Trish shakes her head, soon entering the train after her partner,
giving him a break.

Inside, Trish sees that Dante has already located their seats. She eyes Socrates who's already seated, gazing in amazement through his window. He looks more like a six-year old ready for his first carnival ride than an angel on a mission.

"You can sit with Socrates," Trish tells Dante who's now putting one of his bags inside the cabinets above their seats. "I'll sacrifice myself and take my chances on the guy sitting next to me. Hopefully, he's a sleeper."

Trish grins at her joke, but notices how Dante immediately stops putting his luggage inside the cabinet. He glares at her so cold that he could break stone itself with that stare of his!

"Don't you fucking talk like that," Dante orders roughly.

Trish is immediately taken aback by Dante's harshness. At first, she thinks that Dante is playing along, pretending to be a hard-ass. But the face he has... it's drop dead serious. Obviously, he didn't like her joke but why does he have to be so angry? What did she do to get on his bad side? Sure, she still needs to work on that poor sense of humor of hers but...

Dante resumes putting in his belongings and then snaps the cabinet's doors to secure it.

"You're sitting with Socrates." Dante's statement sounds more like an order.

Before Trish can say anything, Dante takes a seat at the opposite role across Socrates'. He rests his head against his window, putting on his earphones to listen to his portable CD player. He shuts his eyes. Trish scoffs, not knowing what to say. Okay... now he's being a jerk. What's the deal? Dante can be an asshole to people, but he's never been like that with her. Now, he's treating her like she's one of his worse demons.

"Everyone," the train's announcer says. "Please take a seat now. We will begin moving very shortly."

Sighing, Trish sits herself next to Socrates. She glances at Dante to her left. Whatever is going on in his head, he'd better snap out of it. She doesn't need his bullshit right now, especially since this entire trip feels so... wrong. Again, that uneasiness has crept over her like a cold winter night, tingling her skin with some unseen revelation. Even finding the book about David and the book was bizarre. She half expected to find nothing at the library and decided to leave after rigorous searching. Strange enough, however, a black book caught her eye. Was it by chance that she found this particular book? Coincidence? Or is there something else going on, some hidden layer she and Dante have yet to discover?

Trish abruptly feels the train beginning to move, hearing its whistle out loud. She sags down against her seat's cushiness, trying to relax.

The hours pass and the train continues forward. Socrates watches the outside scenery change from empty plains, to wonderfully green forests, to the rural area of cities. It's all so magnificent. Once in awhile, they'd stop to pick up new passengers, thus, bringing them to new locations and new people. And each time they did, it'd bring new adventures. At least for him. He talked to both old and young people, even when Trish would repeatedly tell him to keep a low profile. He'd eat the meals served during the trip. He'd smell the air of the train and grin foolishly. When the train would begin to move forward, he'd immediately press himself
against the window like a leech, eagerly ready to see the new stuff for the trip ahead. His heart would skip a beat as the train traveled from one place into the next. He'd lose himself to the gorgeous wonders of the sun, staring at it regardless of its blinding light.

The angel awes at it all. Sure, he's been on the other side, but it's not as beautiful as this. No wonder many angels and anyone alike want to convert back to human form, he thinks. He never understood why many of them wanted to become human again until now. The food... the clothes... the air... everything adds new sensations. Socrates sighs in satisfaction, playing with his pearl necklace. Next to him, Trish wakes up.

"Hey," she mutters, heavy from recent sleep. "Did I miss much?"

"Nope," Socrates answers softly, gazing out his window.

"What time is it?" she yawns and stretches out her arms.

"About two o'clock. We're almost there."

Trish nods and then glares at Dante to her left. He, too, is awake, reading a magazine featuring a woman on top of a sports car. She can hear his heavy rock music blurting out from his earphones.

"I'm surprised he isn't deaf already," chuckles Socrates, twirling his fingers around his necklace, looking at the tall trees surrounding them.

Trish doesn't say anything. Instead, she wonders if her partner has come back to her or if he's still the jerk that entered the train with her a couple hours ago.

"He's such an asshole," Trish tells Socrates, saying it out loud in purpose to see whether or not Dante is listening to her.

"I hope you're talking about the guy serving the crappy food, doll," Dante replies easily, even with his music on full blast.

He looks up from his magazine and grins. Trish slowly smiles back, noticing that the grin comes from her Dante. Dante puts his feet on top of the empty seat next to him and snuggles in very nicely. He seems better now, Trish thinks. Whatever happened, he must have gotten over it during the trip. He probably slept it off or something. Relieved by that notion, Trish turns her attention back to Socrates. Her eyes fall to the enchanting chain around the angel's neck.

"That's really pretty," she points, "Where did you buy it from?"

Socrates stops playing with his necklace. "Um... I didn't buy it."

"What do you mean? Someone gave it to you?" Dante laughs as he shuts off his CD player and lowers his earphones around his neck, thinking that Socrates might have a lover back home. "She must think you're really special to have given you that."

Trish laughs, agreeing.

"She?" Socrates asks puzzled. He laughs when he finally understands. "Oh! No, no, no. No, I don't have a girlfriend, if that's what you're thinking. No. In fact, this was given to me by the Holy One."

"The Holy One...?"

"Yes," answers Socrates gently, almost sad, "The Holy One gives each of his angels these necklaces. They're called, the Pearl of Heaven. They're actually his tears in the form of pearls though."

"How beautiful..." Trish comments.

"Yeah. But the Pearl of Heaven is more than something to be admired. It actually grants angels wishes."

"What?" Dante asks.

Socrates nods. "You see, each angel is given one wish during their entire existence, mainly to settle personal matters. Some of them use it to make themselves human again. Others use it to see their still living loved ones."

"And how long have you kept yours?" Trish inquires.

"Since I became an angel."

"And how long has that been?"

"For about five thousand years."

"Whoa! That's a long time, wing boy," laughs Dante, "Why haven't you used it? Don't you have family you'd like to see? Or things you'd like to do as a human?"

"Well..." Socrates glances down, slightly sad. "I've... I've never had anyone. My mom and dad left me. Even though I saw them when I died, I still considered them strangers. And as for being human... as much as I like the stuff here... I'm a bit afraid that I'll be living a life similar to the ugly one I lived last time."

Trish and Dante look at Socrates. They never knew that angels had the same problems humans did. They always figured them as people dressed in white, playing harps and all that other stuff. But it seems that certain expectations always fall short these days.

"So, is Heaven better?" Dante asks very softly. "You feel accepted?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah."

Socrates slowly shakes his head. "No... The Holy One was about the only one who loved me. But all the other angels... Let's just say that I felt left out of everything there too. In fact, I only took on simple assignments like this. No one thought I was ready to be a guarding angel or savior. I usually stayed in Heaven and waited around while others took on assignments that were really big."

Socrates stares up at Dante.

"I... I guess I kind of wanted you to force me to help. I guess... I don't only want to do this to help your mother and brother, but to prove to everyone and to myself that I can do it." Socrates looks away from his companions, disgusted at himself. "I'm sorry. I'm being selfish."

"No... You're being human," Dante replies quietly, "Devil... angel... crossbreed... it doesn't matter where we stand, wing boy. We all have something human in us. Whether it's passionate love or pure hatred it's all the same"

Dante greets the man with a warm smile. Socrates slowly smiles too. Trish can't believe it. She won't ever get Dante. One moment he can be an asshole and then... a decent and compassionate human being. No... it wasn't his powers that lured her to his cause. It was his humanity. He's pure inside, prevailing odds because of his ability to show emotion. If only that was enough for her. There's just so much about this man that's a mystery to her. She can only wish that Dante can let her in his world, to trust her.

"Dante," she begins very softly, "Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Date stares at her. Confused.

"I mean... before we left for the train, you weren't yourself. You were such an asshole."

Dante chuckles at her choice of description. Though, he doesn't blame her for saying that. He really WAS an asshole back at the train station. But can anyone blame him? Who wouldn't be pissed off, seeing someone special getting his or her head chopped off? If anyone thinks they can take Trish down then they're entirely mistaken. They're going to have to go through HIM. Fuck the consequences or how strong and important David is. If that was Mr. Satan's way of scaring him, then he'd better do better than that. It'll take more than insects and
magic mirrors to stop him. Besides, it might've just been an illusion. A prank. It might've been something to ward him away.

But... why did it feel so real?

"Sorry about that, doll," he finally replies. There's a hint of uneasiness in his voice. "I... met a guy at the restroom and I got a little ticked off. I didn't mean to get you angry."

"You're not holding out on me again. Are you?"

"No... of course not." Dante tries to smile, tries to make it look sincere.

Once again, Trish gets the feeling that he's not telling her the whole deal. He's holding back. Why can't he let her in? Why does everything he keeps secret have to be sealed off?

The train jerks hard, breaking those last thoughts. At first, she thinks it was just her that felt it. However, several passengers frown as well, even the woman serving the drinks. The train jerks again. This time, it's harder, as if something penetrated the transporter.

"What the...?" Trish begins and sits up.

"We must've hit something," Dante says and puts his feet down from the empty seat. He notices how stiff Socrates suddenly is. "Wing boy, you okay?"

Socrates' face is stone.

"Socrates?"

Socrates remains silent.

Dante is about to ask him what's wrong until he hears something echoing into the train. At first, he can't explain what it is, but the sound gets nearer. Small. And then louder. It's... it's a woman's voice, he figures out. Sweet. Beautiful. Exotic. Someone's singing beyond their cabin.

The voice sounds both sad and cheerful. Melancholic. Single melody notes play in and out through the train. Playfully. The rest of the passengers look at each other very confused.

"There once was a love that was strong to hold," a beautiful voice sings, echoing from somewhere, "Her lover was handsome, sweet, and bold. Then, alas, a storm had come with the ring of a bell. It stole him away and damned her to HELL!"

The voice gets nearer. Fierce, though... There's a sense of anger and frustration mixed into one. Both Dante and Trish grimace, receiving a bad vibe from this.

"Trish," Dante says very low from across her, "You got your bag of goodies close by?"

Trish's foot pushes forth a bag underneath her seat. She opens it, carefully taking out Pluto. Socrates cocks an eyebrow at her. Jeez, this is a terrible time to be playing with toys. What's the deal? He soon sees, however, Trish breaking apart the robot and then assembling it once more. Instead of assembling it as a robotic warrior toy again, though, Socrates sees her rearrange the pieces into different form.

Disassembled pieces slide into new slots, clicking together smoothly. Joints lock together and metal scrapes against metal. Screws tighten and things bond to become one.

Trish snaps more parts together with ease, all the while making sure no one is watching her. Socrates views amusingly at the new shape Pluto transforms into. It's a gun, a custom-made magnum gun to be exact. Nice cover... he notes to himself.

"She screamed and withered in deep terrifying pain!" the enchanting and hypnotizing voice continues, "But her king promised her love again and gave her a cane!"

Trish finishes assembling her magnum. Seeing how Dante is a faster and better shooter than her, she decides to let him do the honors. Trish pushes the safety device off and hands the weapon to Dante without attracting the attention from nearby passengers who are all looking at each other in surprise. Dante receives the gun, checking the silver bullets inside the casing of the gun. He nods in satisfaction. Granted, Trish's Pluto isn't Ebony & Ivory, but it can kick some serious ass all the same. `Make my day,' y' know.

"And now," the mysterious woman sings, still invisible, "a new champion has arrived this wonderful day. Ha! Her love will be renewed and the bitch shall play!"

With that last note, the passengers scream in terror the moment they see the walls begin to ripple, moving like water. The wonderful scenery outside turns abruptly pitch black. The white clouds turn gray and then completely dark, moving fast across the sky. Electricity and wind surges, striking and roaring loudly. All of a sudden, the lights inside the train turn off. Everything inside the train turns into complete darkness. The only light coming in is from the thunder of an unexpected and sudden storm. The passengers immediately panic and try to scramble to the next cabin, fleeing away from this menace.

Dante, Trish, and Socrates stand up to get a better view of what's going on, all three getting pushed abusively by passengers trying to escape this horror.

"Socrates?" Dante snaps, "What's going on?"

Before the angel can say anything, the train jerks again and all of them feel it going at full speed ahead, the outside scenery flashes by the roles of windows very fast. Everyone screams as they feel the pressure course through their bodies. The sound of a wicked laughter emerges within the dark cabin.

"Come, friends," the voice appears again, "Let us play!"

Dante sees the back part of the cabin ripple even more. Suddenly, the ripples begin to build into awkward shapes, taking the form of a woman!

The woman's body slowly becomes solid, touchable. Her face forms, revealing pale-like white features, seductively red lips, and shockingly green eyes. Her extremely long golden red hair flows around her fairly thin neck, towards her nearly exposed bosom. Her revealing black dress contains slits, allowing her long and slender legs to be shown to her admirers. She is beautiful, utterly beautiful.

Dante raises Pluto at her, seeing the evil in her eyes. The mysterious woman laughs softly and starts to hum her beautiful song, hugging herself with both her arms. She later stretches them out to Dante, wanting to embrace him. Her humming continues and in doing so, Dante slowly lowers his weapon, feeling drawn to both her music and appearance. A stirring within his body longs for her, longs to be with her. He... he can't control it!

"Don't listen to her!" Socrates yells by Dante's side, "It's a spell!"

The humming continues. Dante takes a step forward... wanting to express his total devotion to the red haired woman.

"Yes, my new love..." the woman soothes to Dante, urging him forward, her hair and dress flowing as she levitates above ground. "Come to me..."

Dante smiles. He drops Pluto as he continues to walk to her. Trish looks at this in dismay and screams for him to stop but he doesn't listen to her.

"Trish!" Socrates worries, "We have to stop Dante! He's been hypnotized!"

Trish doesn't need for him to tell her that. She looks around, trying to find SOMETHING to help her partner get away from the woman. She eyes Pluto not that far away from her and dives for it. Trish aims it at her, making sure her shot doesn't hit Dante. Right when Dante is about to fall into the woman's arms, Trish fires.

The blast from her magnum booms out loud. Clean. Fast. However, the moment the bullet gets within only an inch of the woman, it mysteriously vanishes. The witch laughs.

"Ha!" she says delightfully, "No human weapon can hurt me!"

Trish lowers Pluto to her side. Horrified. Mater Christi! What matter of power does this woman possess? Frustrated, Trish fires again, hoping that it was just blind luck that the woman went unharmed. The second bullet vanishes too. So does the third. Shit!

Trish's hopeless efforts seem to amuse the woman, making her laugh in full delight. She flies higher, spinning around and dancing in the air. No matter how much Trish tries, she fails. Yet, regardless of her shots being unsuccessful, the large noise of Pluto is just enough to kick Dante out of his trance. The mysterious woman is too distracted in taking pleasure on Trish's failed attempts to even notice. Dante's eyes narrow coldly. Angry.

"Then I guess we'll have to do this the hard way!" he yells and squarely punches the woman across the face.

The force of his fist sends the woman spinning to the ground. She lies there for a moment, holding the area Dante inflicted pain with her hand. The woman looks up at Dante, her green eyes glaring through the pitch darkness inside the train.

"I'm a woman!" she says, "How could you!"

"You're all the same," Dante grins as Socrates and Trish stand by his side, "that's how."

The witch screams in anger... Hatred fills her pools of green. Her cheeks are blushed with frustration. She looks like she's about to slash at them with her own hands. Strange enough, though, the anger subsides and she settles for a warm smile.

The enchanting woman slowly stands up, holding a seductive stance that nearly distracts Dante from the task at hand. Even as he tries to beat her, there's a part of him that wants her so badly, so much that he wants to taste her. And somehow, regardless of him hitting her across the face, he feels like she likes his abuse, which only strengthens his desires for her. (Strengthens? How? Where do these feelings come from?) No! He has to fight this... He has to...

The red-haired woman looks at Dante with complete admiration.

"Ah, I love it when men play hard to get," she murmurs softly, purring her words to him. "Yes, my new love, I'll play along and once you're ready I'll welcome you with open arms. But first... a test! Let's see if you're even worth my time."

The woman flies above ground again.

"One, two, hear my cry!" the witch announces out loud, "Three, four, time to DIE!"

The remaining passengers still inside the cabin abruptly yell. It isn't from horror, though. It's from a deep and agonizing pain, stricken with boiling heat over their bodies. Their skins begin to rip apart and their faces start to... melt...

"What's going on?" Trish wonders, looking at the people moan like zombies.

"She's controlling them with her powers!" Socrates answers as each of the people in the train start to transform.

Dante's eyes widen in disbelief, seeing innocent bystanders squirt and choke on their own blood and puss, spraying the floor with it. Their hands suddenly stretch and turn sharp, fingers like knives. Their skin complexion turns from gray to a sick green color. Cracks form over their bodies, breaking them apart like toys. Everything even remotely human is gone. They no longer have faces or bodies, just transparent forms like ghosts. The red-haired woman mutters something in a completely foreign language, raising her hands above her head and laughing softly. Suddenly, masks and overlarge scissors appear before the demonic creatures. Each of the contaminated people takes the items. They wear the masks and hold the scissors with both hands.
Once they do, they observe the three remaining humans inside the train, each of them having a lust to snap their pretty heads with their oversized scissors.

"Have fun, my darling..." the woman tells Dante before vanishing out of thin air.

"Shit!" spits Dante, realizing that the only weapon they have with them right now is the one Trish is holding. "We're outnumbered and all our weapons are in the storage area of the train! Damn it!"

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Trish replies hastily as she reloads Pluto. "Let's move!"

As fast as they can, Dante, Trish, and Socrates run to the other side of the cabin. The creatures wielding the ten-feet-long scissors take flight, chasing after them as they make a run for the door. One of them throws her sharp weapon at Socrates. He ducks down, barely missing it by a centimeter.

"C'mon!" urges Dante as he helps Socrates up from the floor. "MOVE!"

Socrates immediately follows Dante and Trish into the next cabin, trying to keep his balance as the train soars onward very fast. It jerks and he nearly collapses. He quickly regains his composure and runs, attempting to see through the pitch darkness of the train.

In the next cabin, they all freeze, seeing a pack of scissor creatures waiting for them here too. The creatures glare at them coldly, their masks glistening under the thunder's lightening. They all wickedly laugh.

"Fuck it!" Dante has had it.

He runs through the pack, pushing them away as hard as he can to create an opening for Trish and Socrates. The space is too narrow, causing Dante to take several stabs from the scissor creatures. One punctures through his rib cage. He grunts but quickly takes out the lethal weapon from his body, his healing factor kicking in the moment the foreign object is removed. Growling, Dante takes the scissors and smashes the mask of a nearby demon. The creature screams, suddenly vanishing.

"Go!" Trish orders Socrates, seeing a slight opening Dante has created.

The two quickly run through, ducking as the creatures try to snap off their heads. They see the door leading to the next cabin containing their luggage. If they can just reach it then they can kick some serious ass here.

"Hold them off for a couple of minutes!" tells Trish to Dante as she runs for it, "I'll come back with Alastor!"

"No... problem... babe," the white-haired man grunts as he holds off two scissor ladies, both trying to stab their weapons into his chest.

Socrates is the first to reach the door to the next cabin. Trish follows behind. The two freeze when they realize that another turned-human is here with them. There's only one of them but this time, the mask creature holds an extremely long and terrifying scythe weapon. The creature laughs as it swings the weapon at them like a bat. Socrates and Trish move out of the way. The demon goes after Trish, swinging its scythe at her. Trish runs up a wall and leaps from the ceiling to dodge the creature's attacks. She lands hard on the floor and fires a shot from Pluto. The bullet is deflected by the creature's scythe weapon. She curses out loud.

"Go! Get Alastor and Sparda!" commands Trish to Socrates. "I'll deal with this!"

Socrates nervously nods, quickly scavenging through the piles of luggage to search for theirs. He mutters many things, concerned since there are SO MANY bags here!

"C'mon, bitch..." Trish inserts coldly to the creature, slowly removing her shades and throwing them on the ground. "Show me what you got!"

The demon screams. Trish sees it readying its weapon. It flings it to her like a boomerang. Trish moves left to escape the spinning scythe. She rolls to right once it comes back to return to its owner. The demon screams again, angry that its attack failed to kill the woman.

Meanwhile, a cabin away, two demons push Dante across the seats of the train. Before even hitting the ground, Dante leaps from one of the seats, to the side of the train. He lands to get in between two scissor creatures.

"Is that all you have to offer?" Dante taunts, "Jeez, I had hope for something a little more challenging. C'mon! Give it to me! I like it hard!"

The two demons laugh as both of them lungs their weapons at him. Dante grins mischievously, seeing the creatures falling into his plan. He back flips to a seat in an instant. Going too fast to stop, the two demons clash head on, breaking their masks with each other's scissors and therefore, meeting each other in mutual death.

Before Dante can celebrate his small victory, he feels a whirl of movement emerge from below. He glances down and sees one of the scissor creatures there, going through the ground like a ghost. It later emerges on the left side of the train, soon circling around Dante's right. Another demon gangs up on Dante and also starts to circle the devil hunter into a trap. They disappear behind the walls of the train. Dante tries to get a fix on their location but five other scissor creatures are approaching him from both left and right directions. Jesus, this place is too cramped and he's still vulnerable. What's taking Trish so damn long?

Socrates yells in frustration as he throws one bag to the side after another. Hurrying. He hears Trish grunt as she fights off the beast behind him, shooting round after round with her magnum. The blast of it hurting his ears. Beads of sweat build on top of his forehead as he continues searching, trying to do this fast to save his friends. But all these bags! They look the same!

"Socrates!" he hears Trish from behind, "Have you found them yet!"

Socrates simply shakes his head, noticing how tired Trish is becoming. If he doesn't hurry then he won't have to worry about finding the bags... C'mon, Socrates... you can do it! He tries to motivate.

The demon Trish is fighting manages to cut a part of her arm. She quickly ignores the pain, realizing that concentrating on it accomplishes nothing. Besides, her healing factor should kick in. But her body... it's getting tired.

She could've invoked her demon powers a long time ago but they take too much time to charge up and the amount of energy it took from her always left her drained and vulnerable. She was grateful that Dante helped her tone up her fighting skills. It made her rely less on her powers. Still, she curses herself for not working on her demon powers too. In fact, both Dante and her share a kind of uncomfortable feeling about these powers. None of them want to use them since they are more comfortable with the notion of being human than devil. Using their unwanted gifts just reminded them that they came from the underworld. In a way, both of them are guilty for being in denial.

The demon strikes again. While the sharp blade from the scythe doesn't connect, a part of the staff does. It flings her up into the air and smashes her aggressively to the ceiling. Trish lets out a puff of air when she falls. Jesus... she's getting so tired... She can't concentrate!

"I found them!" screams Socrates in delight.

As if hearing him too the creature turns its attention to the angel. Socrates sees it raising its scythe at him, preparing to slice off half of his body. In an instant, Socrates pushes the extremely long and hard case containing Sparda and Alastor across the floor to Trish. Fast, Trish unlocks the lock bolts of the case and removes Sparda. Right as the demon throws the scythe down at the angel, Trish leaps up and smashes the mask of the creature midair. The demon creature screams and vanishes. Socrates remains frozen in place, seeing how dangerously close that was...

Back at the other cabin, Dante ducks once he sees two scissors moving over him. They miss him but a demon from behind catches him by surprise and guts him straight into his stomach. Before Dante can even get the blades out of him, the demon lifts him up, forcing the blade to penetrate deeper as he sinks downwards. He grunts in pain but opens his eyes just enough to see the two creatures circling around him earlier close in on his position. The remaining creatures fly forward too. Dante curses, realizing that they're all going to attack him simultaneously. One of them hovers from above, opening its scissors wide apart. It targets its
scissors at his neck...

"Dante!" he suddenly hears. Trish!
From behind, Socrates holds Alastor while Trish is equipped with Sparda and a sawed off shotgun. She fires both her shotgun and magnum simultaneously at the pack of scissor creatures, hitting them round after round as she walks calmly forward, a regular killing machine she is. One of creatures flies above her. Trish smiles in content as she pushes the demon back with a blast from her shotgun, soon finishing it with a bullet from Pluto.

The bullets keep coming, momentarily causing the demons to pause. Trish points and fires at the scissor creature holding Dante, making sure none of the shots hit Dante. The creature gutting Dante freezes when a part of the shotgun's shell sprays on it. From behind Trish, Socrates sees this as an excellent opportunity to throw Dante his sword.

"Here!" Socrates yells, "Catch!"

Dante grabs the handle of Alastor, feeling its overwhelming power feed him.

Alastor's electricity runs down the length of his arm, moving all over his body wave after wave. The dark train brightens with immense light as Alastor bonds with Dante, invoking the menacing devil within him. The blood of long dead and ancient demons paved over Alastor's metal calls for him, longs for him to become one with them. Gasping and convulsing, Dante feels his blood begin to boil, realizing that his body is preparing to enter Devil Trigger mode. Funny, he had no desire to transform into a devil but it's happening nonetheless, like a reflex. He continues shuddering involuntarily, head moving up, down, left, and right at inhuman speed,
causing his vision to become nothing but a blur. He feels his hot blood move up to the back of his neck until it reaches his head and builds. More electricity emerges from the sword.

For a brief moment, Dante can see the line of people Alastor has killed, even stemming from way back during the medieval times. Images of faces and places pop in and out of his head as fast as they come, with Alastor continuously revealing its secrets to him. In one image, he can almost swear that he sees his father. Smiling.

Dante's can feel his flesh and clothes ripping and tearing. He moans out loud, hurting from the pain as `new' flesh replaces his old. It's abnormally dark and extremely hard where it could break off the tip of a knife. His back aches too, sensing two tiny spikes erecting themselves outwards from his spinal cord. The more the two extend, the more he moans in agony. They stop stretching out once they reach one meter in length. Even then, the torture doesn't halt. Instead, the two thin spikes become thick. A black, fleshy glob spills out from the spikes. The glob turns solid, taking the shapes of fans.

The worse part of transforming was always this part, Dante knows. The birth of his demon wings was always a difficult procedure. Yet, he also knows that they're the last to be developed in his Devil Trigger mode. And he also knows that his Devil Trigger is near complete. Slowly, Dante loses conscience, ultimately allowing the Devil within to possess his body.

Where it might seem to take over an hour to shift into Devil form, it's actually one second. Dante's transformation happens extremely fast to onlookers that the scissor creature nearest has no time to retreat.

Seeking revenge on the scissor creature that inflicted pain during its human form, IT slashes Alastor across the scissor creature's face with lightening strength, breaking off the mask with just one hit. Both the scissor creature and its weapon disappear.

IT watches in delight. Happy. Eager. After its recent kill, IT slowly looks up at the remaining demons and humans here. IT notices the woman, hearing her devil blood flowing through her human veins. IT sees her looking at IT in a strange manner. IT notices the woman soon shifting her attention to the demons still occupying the cabin. IT can see them too. Good, IT thinks. More kills. More victory. More fun...

Pleased to see potential trophies, IT screams a high pitch and scary sound from its throat. IT raises its wings apart and holds Alastor up high. Without notice, IT starts its slaughter, laughing mechanically once IT hears the screams from its victims.

Trish gets out of its way, seeking cover along with Socrates. From behind a role of seats, Trish silently observes IT storm through the pack of scissor demons with ease and delight. In a way, Dante's Devil form scares her. IT takes pleasure in killing. IT only sleeps when its task is done or when there is no more `sport' to play with anymore.

She remembers how out of control the Devil was when Dante Devil triggered a little after the Mallet Island incident. Dante wanted to try it out since he had only discovered his hidden potentials during his visit to the Island. After that experiment, however, he seriously limited his use of the power. She understands why. IT took out a horde of these scissor creatures, including ones that ranked high in the demon list. Demonic lizard men, something Dante likes to call `Blades,' were its favorite prey. IT favored them the most since they put up more of a fight than the scissor demons or any other did. Shit, IT tore through them like tissue paper, laughing and bathing itself with their blood! Dante's Devil form didn't know when to stop. Dante was only able to regain control when IT got bored!

Invoking the Devil was as much a problem as it was controlling IT. IT wanted to be invoked all the time, especially when Dante got into the `spirit' of things, like taunting his enemies and successfully making kills. IT wanted to join in on the fun, like an eager dog ready to chase the Frisbee. IT also liked it when Dante got injured. In a way, Trish knows why. Basically, seeing Dante hurt was a reminder of how frail a human was. IT liked to show Dante that only the Devil within was the stronger of the two. Not human.

That concept scares her. It really does.

Strange, how she's always wanted to Devil Trigger like Dante despite how uncomfortable she is in using her powers. She's always wanted to gain that unlimited power. But, Dante, himself, has trouble controlling his gift. Keeping that in mind, does she REALLY want to? Does she want to have a truly dark side to her? She spent her first part of life in the hands of an evil person. Mundus constantly bathed her with horribly images in an effort to convert her to a true killing machine. Does she want to go back to that life? Does she really?

Before she can further ponder into that thought, she feels a breeze of movement from behind. Trish sets aside her shotgun for Sparda to deflect an attack from the demon she faces. Aggressively, Trish slices downward with her sword to cut a piece of the demon's mask. While the creature tries to recuperate, Trish points Pluto at the crack she's created and fires continuously until it widens. Once it does, she slices upwards with Sparda. The mask leaps up into the air and breaks in one fast motion. Trish smiles.

Nearby, Socrates views the two hunters work their wonders. Scared but excited. He's never been in the middle of a battle before. He's usually at arm's length away from anything. But, man, is this incredible! No wonder why many folks down here on Earth consider Dante and Trish to be the best of the best. Maybe they WILL come out of this okay. Maybe they won't have to worry about David after all.

Socrates abruptly frowns. He hears the melody of the red haired woman singing in the background of the battle. It isn't near like last time. It's a bit far away.

"Siren..." he whispers softly.

As Trish and IT continue to battle the demonic creatures, Socrates presses his face against a window, trying to find the source of the humming. Outside, he notices more lightening striking across the dark sky, booming out loud. It strikes hard to the point that the train, itself, trembles under its weight. Socrates hears the melody coming up above the sky, steadily growing louder. It echoes, the beautiful voice looming everywhere. The angel squints his eyes through the window, trying to see over the drops of rain now coming down. His eyes widen. In the midst of the thunder, he sees a woman flying, her dress and hair moving with the wind. Before he can call to his companions, a large bolt of electricity from the sky hits the rear side of the train.

Outside the train, the small explosion creates a fire. The fire starts to consume the rear part of the train, moving upwards very fast like a vertical whirlpool. But the fire, itself, seems alive and driven. Within the fury whirlpool, the shape of an oversized lion roars out loud. Its eyes shoot red, mouth open with lava spitting from its throat. Once the lion is settled in with its surroundings and objective, it runs up on top of the train. Fast. Everything it touches is boiled and incinerated.

"Uh, guys..." Socrates mutters, hearing the lion coming closer, realizing how the situation has changed. "I think we've got a serious problem that needs looking into..."

"Not now!" Trish replies, oblivious. She fires at two incoming demons that try to corner her. She spits and shoots crazily at them.

"But... Look!" Socrates points forward, toward the cabin's backdoor. The small backdoor's window shows a wall of fire coming for them.

Trish checks out the direction Socrates points to. She realizes all the fire building up outside and rapidly catching to their cabin. There's so much fire that they'll be roasted like a Sunday barbecue if they stick around here much longer!

"Fuck me!" she screams, "Dante! We need to get out of here!"

The Devil doesn't hear her. Instead, IT approaches one of four scissor creatures circling around. Soon, IT rams the creature up with Alastor, causing the demon to remain up in air for a second. Immediately, IT points its fist straight for the mask. A bolt of electricity shoots from its fist. The single blast immediately penetrates the creature's mask. The demon withers away, screaming as it does. Insanely, IT laughs again and again and again.

"Dante!" screams Trish again, "We've got to go!"

The Devil continues its rampage, not stopping for anything or anyone. IT grabs another scissor creature and smashes the mask with its bare fist. IT is getting out of control.

Frustrated and cursing, Trish runs next to IT. She grabs IT by its arm to gain its full attention, fully aware of how dangerous this is.

"Dante! Stop!" she pleads, seeing how dead its eyes are.

Indifferent, IT throws her across the train and screams out loud. Pissed. IT advances towards her, angry that she's disturbed its hunger for the kill. The woman may have demon blood but that doesn't give her the right to stop its hunger! IT needs to show her a lesson so that she won't do that again. Ever!

But before IT can get any closer, the Devil begins to moan. Immediately, IT drops to its knees, holding its head with its dangerously sharp hands. Alastor slowly falls from its possession, clanging out loud next to IT. Alastor's electricity begins to fade away. The black skin of IT rips, wings fluttering up and down very fast like a bumblebee. Trish slowly stands up, seeing that IT is in pain, seeing what's going on.

"That's right," she whispers gently, trying hard to ignore the fire coming. "That's right, Dante. Gain back control..."

Dante screams once his demon wings fold back into his back. His arms... legs... hands... everywhere, it all hurts as his body tries to restore back to its previous form. Small drops of blood appears from under his nose. He wipes them away, sweating. Once he's gain his human form, Dante lies on the floor. Naked. Exhausted. He's unaware of the fire coming. The only thing he's concerned about now are the sensations he just went through. They're evil. Mother of mercy... he almost killed Trish!

Before Dante can open his mouth to apologize, Trish grabs his arm to raise him to his feet. She forces him to run to the next cabin. Dante doesn't bother to ask why. He's too much in a daze to even think, let alone talk.

Socrates picks up Alastor and runs closely behind to the next cabin, hearing the fire lion approaching closer from above. Its gigantic paws rip through the ceiling. Its red eyes glare down at the three beings below. The lion puffs out large amounts of breathe into the hole it's just created. Fire shoots down, consuming the entire insides of the cabin. The lion demon soon leaps up on top of the next cabin to catch up to the three.

In the next cabin, Dante hears something thump above them. Trish gives Dante her shotgun while she checks to see if Pluto is fully loaded. Dante points the shotgun at the direction of the sound. A part of him wants to laugh. Here he is, preparing to do battle, wearing nothing but a shotgun in his hands.

"It's already here!" Socrates states nervously.

"What is?" Dante inquires, still not knowing what's going on.

"Does it matter?" Trish snaps, "We need to find a way out of here!"

Trish summons up her strength, trying to invoke her demon powers. Now is the time for her to unleash her own demonic powers. Yellow electricity showers over her arms and hands, her eyes flashing with the same color. She can feel the sting of ache reach her head, threatening to overload and explode. Trish tries her best to ignore the pain, knowing that this pain isn't as bad as the one she'll face if she stays here. No... she has to do this, for their lives!

Once her power charges to the max, Trish pushes her hands forth. She unleashes her energy at the side of the train. The blast of her powers causes a huge hole, destroying anything in its path. Exhausted, Trish stumbles backwards. Dante catches her before she falls.

"We need to jump," she tells her partner very weakly.

The ceiling above the three rips apart and Dante finally understands the situation. The lion roars at him, spurts of flames almost touching Dante. He moves out of the way and fires one shot before lifting Trish into his arms.

Hurriedly, Dante looks down at the hole Trish has just created, searching for a perfect place to jump. The scenery goes by fast with the harsh wind hitting against his face as the train speeds ahead. He glances to the side and realizes that they'll cross over a bridge with the ground well below fifty feet soon. Time to bail, he tells himself. With that, he leaps to the grassy hill he sees ahead, tumbling down and down and down. Finally stopping, Dante carefully puts Trish down on the grass and checks back to see if Socrates is following. He blinks raindrops from his eyes.

"Wing boy!" shouts Dante, seeing the train moving faster and Socrates going along with it. "Jump! Hurry!"

Still inside, Socrates can barely hear Dante's voice. All he can hear is the sound of thunder and fire, the fires of hell that is. Above him, the lion made of fire further tears into the hole, slowly descending down to meet the angel inside the cabin. Frozen in place, Socrates stares at the creature of darkness. He knows well that thousands of angels have perished into the clutches of demons like this. He knows that most become damned in the pits of hell where not even the Holy One can free them. He's seen many go to fight dark lords like Mundus only to never return. He has no desire in fighting this creature. But the train... it's moving too fast for him to jump! He's... he's so scared!

The fire lion approaches closer...

Outside on the grassy hills, Dante leaves Trish behind and tries to run after the lighting speed train. He feels already weak from his recent Devil Trigger state. And the thought of almost killing Trish is still on the back of his mind. But he summons the remains of his strength, chasing after the train regardless of feeling tired and the rain causing his vision to go hazy. He screams out Socrates' name one last time, seeing how the fire is spreading all over it. Jesus, the kid is going to die if he doesn't get out of there right this second!

"Jump!" he yells.

The train finally reaches the bridge and Dante stops running, breathless. Even with all his strength and speed the train is going too fast. His face turns pale when the train abruptly explodes, engulfed by flames and smoke. Shortly after, the bridge collapses underneath, sending the train below. Trish slowly walks by Dante's side. Rain continues to pour down from the sky. Both Dante and Trish slowly watch the flames reach the air, hearing only the sound of a wicked laughter from somewhere...