And The Devil Did Learn Fear (Star Wars x Devil May Cry)

[Gladiator]

Chapter I: As I Drew Breath Again

"Do your demons, do they ever let you go, when you've tried, do they hide, deep inside, is it someone that you know?"

- Ronnie James Dio

Charred.

Burnt out from the inside. All I felt was pain. In the very marrow of my bones flowed power like magma. I had become something else.

This power wasn't anything like I was used to. It wasn't the d̶̗̂̿̽̕a̶̳̪̦̽͗͊͜͜͠ṛ̶̯͔̩̀̚k̵̺̥̠̞͜͠ ̸̟̇̚s̸̻͚̖̲̓̒i̴̟͕̮͊̍̀͑̑d̷̠̼͆̑̕͠e̴̦̦͐͝. It wasn't even the l̶̟̗͔͛̇̊̐̂i̷̫̥̮̣̮̇̏̈̀̅͝g̸̜͇̩̈́̆̓̈̐̃̇̔̈͗ḩ̵͔̬̥̪̙͒̀͐͂̉̎̓̒̑̕t̶̞̘̘̼̫̠̋̾͌̽̀͋̎͊͜ ̷̙̤̤͐̓́̓s̷͈͓͖̪͔̤̥͔̺̄̀̓̈́͌͒i̷̢̨̘̠̱̪̫̒̑͐͛̌̋̍̍̋̕d̶̢̡̙̗͉̼̠̙͉̄̔e̷̹̟̭̜͌̒̂͝͝ͅ. It was simply the f̸̨̨̢̧͙̙̰̪̩̣͙̬̤̻͈̙̻̖͎̊̑̊͂̆̋͊̌̾͊͘̚͝ͅo̸̬̬̳͛͆̒̂̈́͐r̶̡̝̻̪̮͔͚̲̬̤̻̰̫̙͖̪̞̪͓̰̘̟̦̒͐̆̈́̋́ć̸̛̭̪̭͖͚̘͌͒̎͌̆̋͑͌͘ę̸̢͇̟͕̖̹̜̥͉̯̮̭̖̖̬͇̃͛́̈́̇̔̅͛̉̎̀̂́͑̐͛͌͒̋̈̋͗̒͂̕̕͠͝͠͠. The way it was supposed to be. Untouched by anyone or anything.

Pure. Incorruptible. The overarching power by which the universe was governed. Where all things became connected. Where things became set in stone.

Including my death.

I saw it. It was in front of me. This was it. I had a choice. Either I sacrificed myself, or I would become that monster's pet.

I chose my freedom. I chose the r̴̡͇͉͙̼͔͈̻̣̃͌̆̄̕̕͘͠ẻ̶̡̼̦̜͔̒́̒̋b̸̛̖̬̠͈̫͗̌è̸̞̙̥̱l̸̤̹̽́̄́̍́͂s̷̳̃́̾̌̌.

I chose J̴̰̼̣̝̰̪͗̈́͋͘u̷̧̞̻̤̝͇̹̰̾̀͂̈́̈́̊͜͝͝n̶̻͉̅̐́̌͐͂ǫ̴̨̦̥͉̦͙͍͕͚̌̊͛͋͝.̵̨̝͓͖̼̦̮͆̌̏̓̎̽͆̇̕͠

“In doing so he has become more powerful than we can possibly imagine.”

I could hear his voice as I began to drift away into the embrace of the f̸̨̨̢̧͙̙̰̪̩̣͙̬̤̻͈̙̻̖͎̊̑̊͂̆̋͊̌̾͊͘̚͝ͅo̸̬̬̳͛͆̒̂̈́͐r̶̡̝̻̪̮͔͚̲̬̤̻̰̫̙͖̪̞̪͓̰̘̟̦̒͐̆̈́̋́ć̸̛̭̪̭͖͚̘͌͒̎͌̆̋͑͌͘ę̸̢͇̟͕̖̹̜̥͉̯̮̭̖̖̬͇̃͛́̈́̇̔̅͛̉̎̀̂́͑̐͛͌͒̋̈̋͗̒͂̕̕͠͝͠͠. I felt my body disappearing as I was submerged into the white current.

I was lost in it but I wasn't dead. Not yet.

I muster what power I had left in my broken body, and reach out for anything. Anywhere I could find respite, and perhaps heal from this.

It was a fool's errand. In this state I could hardly even recall my own name.

I had to try. If only for my friends.

If only for her.

I grasp hold of it. A possibility. The shatter point where things could change. I don't let go of it, and I feel myself hurled across the ether. Through realities. Through dimensions.

Pasts, and futures. Diverging timelines.

A galaxy that was so far, far away.

I hit the ground with a sickening crunch, and the darkness takes my mind from me.

<<X>>​

I drift in and out of the void. There are faces I can't recognize. I could hear something in the distance. People I can't prescribe a meaning to. Their existence escaped my cognizance. They were strangers I didn't know. Nobodies as far as I was concerned, and who exactly was I?

"We have a John Doe here. The burns are severe. It's like someone force fed him an intravenous with hydrochloric acid. How is this person even alive?" There were people surrounding my bed. "He was brought in by a man named Nero, and his girlfriend by the name of Kyrie. Apparently they cooled him down with some liquid nitrogen. I am not sure how he survived that either. I have absolutely no idea what I am supposed to do with this! There is no way we can save him--"

I spit in the man's face. The blood coating his glasses.

It was even sizzling.

"I will be... the judge... of that." I growl. "I am not dying in this bed." I reach for something I wasn't sure what but it began to heal my less severe wounds. "Get to work."

"Alright, great! Another freak. He better not be a demon like last time because I swear--"

<<X>>​

"So, what do you think?" The woman was beyond beautiful. A brunette whose bronze eyes held within them an unconditional kindness. She was one of the people who saved me. Kyrie was her name, and this was her orphanage.

"It's great!" I was still on crutches. Honestly, I am not sure how I survived either. I was covered in badges, and there was a cast around my left leg, and my right arm. "What more could I ask for? A warm bed, and a ceiling over my head? It's a steal."

I felt like I was taking advantage of her.

"You didn't have to do all of this though. I can find my own place--"

"Do you have any money?"

"No, but I can find a job--"

"In your condition? You're barely clinging to life as is. You need someplace where you can heal. It's alright. Nero makes enough for all of us."

I couldn't help the feeling of shame.

"I'm not some deadbeat. When I get better? Just tell me what you need done around here. I can help clean, and cook. If you need something fixed? I will try to figure something out. Whatever you need. I will make it up to you."

I swear her smile could brighten up anyone's day.

"I will keep that in mind."

<<X>>​

“Hey, how are you doing?” I hear his voice in the doorway by the hall. I was doing the dishes. It was the least I could do after everything they did for me. “You settling in alright?”

“I am doing great.” I don't bother to turn around and face him. I focus on the sink in front of me. There were a few stubborn stains that refused to go away. “How's Kyrie?”

“She's putting the kids to bed.” I hear him walk up beside me. He rolls up his sleeves, and grabs a few dishes. A sponge in his left hand, and his right hand...

Yeah, I never could get used to that. I felt a shiver run down my spine. I always felt something was wrong about it. It was a familiar kind of wrong.

It always gave me a headache.

“So... you remember anything yet?” The man's name was Nero, and I owed him my life.

“No.” I lie. There were bits and pieces coming back but nothing important. I still couldn't even remember my name. “ I'm just another John Doe.”

He frowns at that but continues to help me wash the dishes.

“Are you sure that's it?”

He could see through the lie. I knew he could. I could feel it. I knew that's what he was thinking. I don't know how but I knew.

“I...” I put aside one of the plates. “I have been hearing things lately.”

He raises a brow at that.

“What kind of things?”

“Secrets.”

I turn, and face him. “Feelings. Emotions, and impressions. It's hard to describe.” I close my eyes. “I get glimpses sometimes. It's not of the past. It's like I am seeing the future. My future.” My face scrunches in frustration. “I can see your past but I can't see my own.”

“It sounds like you might be hallucinating--”

“When Dante gave you the Yamato why exactly did you think that was?”

I hear the shattering of a plate.

“How did you know that?” There is something dangerous in his voice. There was a tinge of suspicion.

“I told you, Nero. I have been hearing things. I have been seeing things. It was in my dreams mostly but it's gotten worse. It's every day now even when I am awake.” I lean against the sink. “I don't know what I am. I don't even know if I am a human being.” Those demons... perhaps I was one of them?

“You're human.” It was after a pause that he answered me. “I would have sensed it otherwise.”

“The Devil Bringer?” I nod my head. It would have reacted to any demonic power.

“Yeah, the Devil Bringer.” He goes back to washing the dishes. “I guess I am not the only weirdo in this house anymore.”

“No, you're not.” I smile. “So, you up for some sparring later? I am feeling better now. I could probably go a round or two.”

“I think you need to rest. The last time you almost got yourself killed.”

It was an agonizingly slow process. I hadn't healed completely. I still felt like I had been hallowed out by something. It wasn't just my memories. My body was in shambles.

I had almost died when they found me on their doorstep. Just outside their orphanage.

I was a bloody mess. The broken bones were nothing compared to the fact I had almost been cooked alive. I had a temperature of over two-thousand degrees Fahrenheit. My brain should have melted. Along with the rest of my body.

There was something that kept me alive. I am still not sure what but I could feel it.

It was everywhere. It was in everyplace. It didn't matter where I was. It was there.

It was suffocating. I couldn't escape it.

“What the--” I feel someone catching me as I collapse to the floor. “Damn it, Kyrie call the ambulance!”

Ģ̴̧̠̫͖̱̘͔̍̌͑̑͜ͅa̷̟͛̈́̅͐̔́͊̃̏͐͂̕l̸̢͑é̸̡̨͇̜̹͓̳̘̱̮̲͊͑̽̾̈́́̐̒̍̅̈́̍̄͝ͅͅn̷̡̻̜̝̪̲͈͓̰̰̭̞̠̠̄͋́̍ ̸̝̞̯̙̼͍̟͉̣̏͗͠M̷̨̛͚̳̜̝̙̗̰͓̲̋̍͛͆̏̊̂̃̾̆̊a̴̜̦̕ͅŗ̶̼͙͔̬̣̗̹͍̯̭̦͂͂ͅȩ̷̧̛͍̰̺̰̲̲̮͇͙̱̈́̏̌͌͆̉̎̉̏͂͘͝k̷̡͈̱̱͔̦̫͓͖̬̲̙̱̒̽͠ͅ

A voice? I could hear a voice. I felt a surge of fury. I hated this person more than anyone else.

T̵̝̙̫̿͌̓̎̓̔͐͋̀̚h̵͙͔̯̟̾͛̀̀͌͝a̷̝̓͗̔͋̊̊̓̀̀͛̄̚̚t̶̨̡̘̫̭̆̎̓ ̸̧̰̪͙̤̲̅̈́͌̏̅̔̈͂̃͗̄͝i̶̛̛̺̤͛̇̂̒̈́̀̉̂̓͆̒̄̕s̴̛̛͖̰̤̯̹̙̯̯̠̫̝͓̘͑̓̒̇͂͐̇͑̃͝͠ ̷̥̟̥̜̪̅̀̀̂̿̈́̉̓̋̓ý̸̥̻͋̈́̈ǫ̸̠̱̜͑̾̅̈́̎̓̆̌͘ư̷̪͎̱̩͔̩͖͑́̑̊̈͌̄̀̃̄͒͗r̷̨̛͎̜̬̦͈͕͙̓̽͂̄̀̒̐̏̇̌̀͒͝͝ ̵͚̥̟̆̐͜͜n̸̢̮̣̳̙͔̤̝̘͎͒͌͘ȁ̷̭͉͓̮̘̩̗̪̲̙̂͛̈͒̚͝͝m̶̛͚̻̹̩̥̤͕̾̈́̐̏̊͆̈́̌̃̎̒͘e̸̠̮̤̤͌̀̒̆̊̒.̶̞͚͈͍͍͖̆̕͜

“You bastard! You took everything from me!”

I lost everything because of that man. My... master.

“D-Darth Vader.” I ground the words out. If I had looked in the mirror I would have seen my eyes flash a brilliant amber. “I will kill you.”

I fade back into that abyss. It was threatening to devour my very soul.

I̶̠͚̝̩͍̼̰̮̫̊͌̊̌͌͜͜'̸̢̢̣̻̬͇̯̹̘̜͕̮̯͉̹͙̰̺̥͂̔͒̈͊͐̏̌͆̂̾̓̽̍̂͊̂̇̽͝m̸̧͚̹̮̣͕͔̉͒͑̎̏̍͛̎̈́̐̓̏̄͘ ̷̞̺͍̝̜̪̟̤͖̻͈̗̱̣̻̘̐͋̈́̕ͅś̷̨͇͕͙̞͎̼̞̗̩͓̰̖̤̐́̌͗̑̅̂͋̈̄̂̇͛̆̑͛̄͌̈́̏̏̋̆̚o̷̲̹̘͚̼̱̦͍̳͎̗̭̗̫̍̓̾̆͛̄̿̈͐̚ŗ̴̧̯͇̻̥̝̺͔͍̜͓̭̤̺͓̼͙̹͓̗̗͙̜̇̅̾̓͐̍̄̈́̿̽̔̾̀̏͆̽͘͝r̶̨͎̲̞̰̺͇̙̟̩̺̺͉̬̠͔͔̮̘̤̠̟̤̱̰̟̻͔̬̀͐̆̅͊̎̓̆̓̑̎̑̊̏͐̈́̈́̿͆͛̚͘͘͠͠ŷ̵̨̨̨̬̦̼̭͇̦̺̤̭̝͖̬̩͖̯̯̩̈̑̀̆̂̒̏́̊̏̕͝.̵̢̢̛̮̙͓̻͚̟̰̝̻̘̞̫̖͈̓͐̃̓̾̈́͌̅̆͊̑͂͌̋̓̅̈͋͊̌̄̔͆̾͌̚

<<X>>​

This was the second time I found myself in the hospital. The first time I didn't think I was going to make it. They had to employ some drastic measures to cool my body that time. By making use of liquid nitrogen. Of course the problem was getting anywhere near my body with that kind of temperature.

It wasn't a problem for Nero. He dealt with worse before.

As I said before I owed the man my life.

Comparatively, I was much better off now. A mild temperature of a hundred and four. The headache was the worst part.

However, the painkillers took care of that quickly.

When I push myself back out of the bed. I could already feel the rest of them here. Nero, and Kyrie. They were asleep.

Did they really stay here overnight? I shake my head, and I couldn't help but let my face break into a grin. I was lucky that I found friends like them.

“Galen Marek.” I experiment with the name. It was mine. I was sure of that. “Galen Marek.”

Darth Vader.

I grab my head.

How could I have forgotten about him?

“What else is there?” It was still murky. I knew he was important to me. I hated him but there was another feeling.

Reverence. Worship.

He was my master. I served him dutifully.

I shouldn't have. I feel that same burning sensation in my chest. That hatred was directed inwards this time. At myself.

I did horrible things. I knew that much.

“I just wish I could remember what they were.” I stand up, and grab a blanket from the closet. I move towards the duo. Nero was snoring but his Devil Bringer was tightly clasped around Kyrie's hands. They were leaning into each other.

Dead asleep.

I cover them with the blanket. They would catch a cold otherwise like that.

“I have a name!” I smirk. “Guess I am not a John Doe anymore.” There was something that sounded like relief in my voice.

I was somebody again.

<<X>>​

“Galen Marek, huh?”

“It's a good name. I think?”

I swing the sword a few times. It was a remnant of the Order of the Sword. One of the mass produced blades they used. It wasn't anything as elaborate as Red Queen but I made due. I was sparring with the devil hunter, and I was getting better.

I could remember the forms in my head. They were coming back to me. The Juyo variant of Form VII for acrobatics and aggressive offense not unlike Ataru from Form IV but not as restrained when utilizing the dark side, and the Shien variant of Form V for defensive and coordinated maneuvers. I excelled in both but I couldn't say I was a master in all forms of dueling.

My master made sure I at least knew the basics of all of them. It was useful for hunting the remaining members of the Jedi Order. I couldn't go unprepared against any of them.

“You've certainly gotten better.” I was actually holding my own. If it wasn't for his demonic power? I would be pushing him back.

I had to test myself. How far exactly could I go now? I was crippled but not completely.

In the first time for what seems like forever. I allow the force to flow through my body, and I become the instrument of it.

“Stop holding back, Nero. If you don't I might hurt you.”

He tilts his head, and gives me a cocky grin.

“Yeah, sure--”

I don't let him finish before I become a blur. The force greatly accelerating my movements beyond that of any human being. When my sword clashes against Red Queen's edge? The devil hunter is hurled backwards surprised by the force of the blow.

He underestimated my power.

“What the hell was that?” The devil hunter pulls himself out of the new hole in the wall.

“You remember how I am psychic? Well, I can do more than just read minds or tell you your fortune. I can make myself faster, and stronger.” I dash forwards clearing the distance between myself, and the young man. “I can even--” I slam my palm against his chest. The force explodes outwards knocking the air out of the devil hunter's lungs, and sending him tumbling out of the garage. “--do this to you.”

“So, you're telekinetic?” He coughs. “Interesting.” The Devil Bringer begins to glow, and a spectral hand hurls itself forward. I leap backwards, and allow my instincts to take hold.

Any distractions would be a mistake. I couldn't afford to think. I didn't have the time. I simply had to let the force guide my movements. I had to let it become an extension of myself.

After all, it was. It existed within and without. It surrounded, and penetrated. It kept the world from falling apart.

Rahm Kota had a great deal of wisdom to share.

I was becoming myself again but I was changed. Juno most of all saved me--

That was when a ghostly fist propelled me through a brick wall.

It seems that I had forgotten my own advice.

“Ouch.” I was laid flat on my back. I groan but manage to get back up. I look through the hole in the wall. Nero had a cheeky grin. “You know, this could have been someone's house.”

“Not after everything that happened but you already know that don't you?” The devil hunter approaches me. Red Queen levied onto his shoulders.

“Yeah, I do.” The corruption within the Order of the Sword. Sanctus, and his hunger for demonic power. It was the same regardless of where I went. There would always be people like that.

I am a blur as I swing the sword upwards, and deflect several bullets from Blue Rose. The devil hunter was starting to take me more seriously. He was treading the waters just like I was.

In order to test what my limits were.

Admittedly, I don't think I am as powerful as I used to be. The damage I had done to myself might even be irreversible.

It would have to be enough.

I make use of that frustration, and turn it into power. As electricity crackles around my fingers, and erupts forward as lightning from my fingertips.

Nero is surprised but only for a moment, and he brings up his Devil Bringer to shield himself from the blast of electricity. The ghostly specter of an arm materializing in front of him.

It doesn't stop it. The blast of lightning tears through it, and forces the young man through at least a dozen buildings.

I drop the sword in my stupor. I wasn't expecting it to be that powerful.

“Nero, are you okay?” I run towards him but long before I can reach him I am blown back by an explosion of demonic energy.

“Not bad.” His voice was distorted. His eyes were glowing a bright carmine. A figure stood behind him. It wasn't just some ghastly appendage anymore. It was a demon.

I felt it again. The dark side.

Perhaps demons were but another manifestation of it? A product of the dark side in their underworld.

Their hell.

I could only theorize on what exactly the truth was. It didn't help that my memories were still a convoluted mess.

I close my eyes. I felt for it.

It fell into this world clenched tightly in my hand. I reach outwards, and from the orphanage my lightsaber flies back into my hand.

“I should be more serious about this myself.” I turn it on. It was Rahm Kota's lightsaber but I had exchanged the crystal for another. The cerulean blade hisses to life. The weapon could cut through nearly anything. In the right hands not even phrik could stop it.

I wasn't sure I was that powerful anymore but I was once. Perhaps I could be again.

“Is that--” Nero looks disbelievingly at my weapon. “--is that a fucking laser sword?”

“Yes, it is a fucking laser sword!” I look at the weapon, and for the first time I enjoy the sight of it. Before it only reminded me of everything I lost. “You can't have it. It's mine.”

Now it reminded me of the friends I gained.

The blade crackles with electricity. As the dark side flows through it. I move, and the building I am in explodes.

The gravel beneath my feet erupting from the epicenter of the shock-wave, and showering the dilapidated buildings around me in shrapnel. I move so quickly that the world around me seems to slow to a crawl.

The devil hunter tosses Red Queen aside, and reaches for his katana. Yamato. The sword that had separated the human world from the demon world.

It was thousands of years ago but for these people it must have felt like yesterday. What with all these demons running amok.

Assuming an Iaidō stance? The devil hunter is ready for me. He quickly unsheathes his weapon the moment I am in reach, and my light-saber clangs against it. As we cross swords? Whatever magical properties of the blade kept it safe from my lightsaber. It would not let me through. I allow the force to fill every fiber of my being, and I push harder.

A normal person would have been reduced to paste.

Not this devil hunter. No, he was cut from a different cloth than the rest. Instead he pushes back. The demonic power desperately trying to match the endless reservoir that is the force.

There was but one problem. Both of our bodies had their limits.

That is when we crash, and fall to the ground. Almost destroyed by the very power we wielded against each other.

“Uh, how about...” He pants. Absolutely exhausted. “W-We call this a tie?”

“Nonsense, I won!” I hack a wad of blood into my hand. “Clearly.” I start to wheeze. My everything was acting up. Is that one of my kidneys starting to fail?

“Really?”

He gives me an annoyed look. As if to say he wasn't buying it for a second.

“Alright, fine. A tie.”

 

[Gladiator]

Chapter II: Devil Hunter

"The dark is generous and it is patient and it always wins – but in the heart of its strength lies its weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars.”

- Matthew Stover

“What do you say?” I flip the pancakes. “It's a great idea, isn't it? There are demons everywhere lately, and going commercial will help draw in the clientele.”

“I don't know how much would the advertisements cost?”

“A lot for anything national. More than anything we can afford.”

I take the gloves off.

“If I had to wager just for local television it wouldn't be that much, maybe a couple hundred per advertisement, and we only really deal with the demons in Fortuna.”

“I deal with them.” Nero is quick to correct me. “You guys just stay at home.” He leans back into his chair, and his headphones hang around his neck.

“That needs to change. You're taking unnecessary risks going out there alone.”

“Did you clean out all of the blood from the bathroom sink the last time you had one of your coughing fits?”

I groan at that.

“It's nothing I can't handle! I am past the point where my life is in danger.” I could use the force to mitigate some of it. Then there was meditation for the excruciating side-effects. “I am tired of being stuck here, and the children are slowly eating away at my sanity. I need to get out. I need some experience in the devil hunting vocation.”

“How enterprising. Didn't you say you had to figure out a way back home?”

“I reached out with the force, and it's nothing I have to worry about.”

They were gone. Darth Sidious, and... Darth Vader. I couldn't feel them no matter what I did. They had expired somehow. Which means a lot more time had passed than I thought.

Juno was safe, and that was all that mattered. I had all the time in the world now, and I had a debt to repay.

These people needed me.

“The force.” Nero snorts at that. “Who exactly came up with that name?”

“I don't actually know. My master never bothered to teach me anything other than how to best flay my enemies with a thought.” I didn't exactly have a typical childhood. “It's kind of sad, really.”

“That does get unnerving sometimes.” He grabs a magazine, and starts to read it. “Speaking of that what happened to the tax collectors?”

“Oh, I dealt with them.” It was surprising how a few subtle nudges here and there in a person's mind can change them entirely. “The bills are taken care of as well.”

“You did that thing again, didn't you?”

“What thing?”

The devil hunter puts the magazine down. He theatrically waves his hand in front of his face. “'This is not the orphanage you are looking for.'”

“No.” I lie through my teeth. “I would never use the force in such an underhanded way. I am not a Sith Acolyte anymore.” I feign outrage.

“Yeah, you did. In fact, I have seen you do it at least a dozen times.” He shakes his head. “That Rahm Kota guy must have had his hands full with you.”

“He did.” I nod my head. I couldn't really argue that point. “I'm better now though.” Just ignore my body count. I really try hard not to think about it.

“Honestly, that's what everyone has always called it. Whoever did originally is probably lost to history. It's not the only name for it either. Every civilization had a word for it. Some of them even worshiped it.” The white current came to mind. I am sure there were a lot more though. Not that my master ever cared enough to teach me that.

It was always about all the best ways to assassinate a target.

“So, it was a religion for some people?”

The devil hunter actually sounds interested.

“In a way but what we knew for sure was that it was where everyone went when they died. So, I guess you can also think of it as an afterlife of sorts.” I crack a few eggs, and start frying them on another pan. “Most of all it is an energy field that surrounds and envelops us, and without it we would be lost. It makes the universe go round, and round.” I ready the plates. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausages.

Oh, and almost forgot the french toast.

“Anyway, the kids need to eat. Just don't leave without me.”

Nero grumbles.

“Hurry up.”

The young man wouldn't admit it but he was worried about my health.

<<X>>
​

“This...” I crouched near the end of the building. “...is incredibly boring.” I look around. “Where exactly are the demons?”

The devil hunter was nodding off himself. It had been over an hour. The lead we had said that the target. A particularly large Cerberus? Had been prowling the remains of a church to Sparda.

The Dark Knight.

“It's not always exciting.” He sighs. “The information isn't always good.”

I close my eyes, and try to feel for anything. Nothing but a wild goose chase.

I couldn't sense anything remotely hellish.

“Is there any way we can draw it out?”

“Yeah, sure. Just let me get my giant dog biscuit that I keep in my pocket right here.” He pretends to reach into his coat. His sarcasm wasn't appreciated.

“...” I glare at him but quickly inspiration strikes. “That gives me an idea.”

<<X>>
​

“Is that what I think it is?”

The t-bone steak at least had to be the size of a bus. It wasn't real of course. It didn't need to be. It was hanging directly over the church.

“No, actually. It's a mirage. An illusion. I am not exactly good at it but it should work.” I had learned to twist the thoughts of my enemies. This was an extension of that. It was through the force that a person could cloud someone's mind or make them see things that weren't there.

“I can even smell it.” The devil hunter scrunches his nose. “How the hell are you doing that?”

“I told you already. The dark side is a pathway to many abilities that some may consider unnatural--”

It started with an earthquake. The sound of buildings being crushed underfoot, and every abandoned automobile being hurled into the distance.

It had taken the bait.

The beast was an intimidating sight. Not unlike a rancor it was gigantic. Every inch of it was covered in ice, and it had not one but three heads. It was salivating. Obviously, it had not eaten in a while.

I could sense so many different things from it. Desperation, and confusion. It didn't even understand how it got here. Perhaps it was a leftover from one of the experimental hell gates made by the Order of the Sword.

It was angry most of all. I understood that emotion more than any other.

“Alright, it's time to figure out a plan--” Before I could even finish talking the devil hunter had already leaped down from the building. He wasn't in the mood for any sort of plan. “I guess charging forth with reckless abandon is the plan.”

I shake my head. He reminded me of myself in that regard. I jump down after him, and gracefully land on my feet.

I ignite my lightsaber. The cerulean blade hissing as it made contact with the frigid air. No pointing in waiting. I am a blur as I dash forward. Quickly catching up to the devil hunter.

“Any advice?”

“Don't touch it.” Nero grabs Red Queen in one hand, and Blue Rose in the other. “Unless you like the idea of being a Klondike bar.”

The hellhound wasn't just nearing temperatures of absolute zero. It had already hit them. It could freeze nearly anything that came into contact with it.

Hopefully, the force would be able to protect me from the brunt of that. I had already survived the vacuum of outer space.

Which was after I had already been impaled in the back by my master, and nearly beaten to death by him. After everything I did for him. After everything he took from me. I was just a means to an end.

That itself was just another ruse. I can only imagine whatever Machiavellian ploy the Dark Lord had concocted. It was just to draw out any dissidents. That's all I was worth.

The whole charade about overthrowing the emperor? I wonder if it had all been a lie. If decades of my life had been fostered in hardship for a cause I wasn't even privy to.

I make use of that hatred, and electricity arcs down the length of my lightsaber.

“W-Why can't I touch the damned thing!” The Cerberus was frustrated to say the least. It was leaping upwards at the t-bone steak. However, every time it almost succeeded? The beast's claws would pass through it. Now it lay perched atop the church's entrance.

I almost felt guilty. Almost being the keyword here.

I hurl my lightsaber at the beast. It twirls around as if guided by something, and flies towards my target. Just as I intended it to. It slashes against the back of the creature. Cutting and cauterizing the wound in the same instance, and the electricity tore through it. It spasms, and falls backwards.

As it hits the ground I give the devil hunter my attention.

“Now that wasn't so difficult--”

“Who dares attack the great Cerberus!”

Well, that was fast. I thought that would have put it down.

“Demons are not like people, Galen. They don't die easily.” Nero walks forward, and points Red Queen at the hellhound. “Always make sure to hit them when they're down.” The way he lectured me? It's as if he was trying to teach me.

“Ah, sound advice!” I stand beside the devil hunter. “I was already planning on it anyway...” Darth Vader did not allow me such notions as mercy. That was for the weak.

“Do not speak as if I am not here!” The beast was furious to say the least, and practically starving. It was easy prey. “Who are you?”

“Galen Marek.” I reach outwards, and my lightsaber returns to my hand. “Assassin, formerly. Apprentice to Darth Vader. Student of Rahm Kota. Not quite a Sith Lord, and definitely not a Jedi Master. Leader of a rebellion of sorts.” I smirk at the beast. “Now I am just a devil hunter!”

“You want this one, or should I handle him? You know, show you how it's done?”

“No, I think what I need is experience. I will handle it.”

The beast laughs at that. As if it found amusement in what I just said.

“It will make no difference, mortal. An army would not be able to stop the mighty Cerberus!” The overgrown mutt roars in defiance. “It does not matter if you both try to take my life together!”

“Oh, you always were the runt of the litter weren't you? Never did match up to your brother. The only one who ever became a King Cerberus in your family's bloodline, and he was felled by Sparda was he not?” I look through the beast's memories. Probing for anything I could use to crush whatever confidence he had.

“How did you know that?” The dog backs away, confused by my examination. “What are you?”

“How you must disappoint him. You're about to die at the hands of some nobody.” I walk forwards. The lightsaber held forward, and in the stance of Form VII. Juyo in particular. “Shameful indeed.”

“Silence! I will break your bones, and feast on the marrow within!” Yes, that was perfect. That anger would make the beast brazen.

“Come now, I will put you down. Just like Old Yeller.” I punctuate my statement by pointing my lightsaber at him.

That was all it took. The beast charged forth, and my fellow devil hunter jumped out of the way.

I held my ground, and gestured with my hand just as it was about to chomp down on my head. It is hurled backwards by the force. Careening through the air, and smashing into the church.

Colliding directly into a statue of Sparda.

“This humiliation will not go unpunished!” The world is frozen. Oxygen crystallizing as a frigid gust of demonic power flash freezes everything around the building.

I had crafted a barrier with the force at the absolute last second. It protected me from the cold at least.

It was not force absorption or tutaminis as some people called it. I did not want to risk what adverse effects demonic power would have on my body.

Especially in the condition as it was now.

“What was that about something going unpunished?” I mock the demon's pitiful attempt at revenge. “I am beginning to see why only your brother was doted on. The effort would have been wasted on you.”

A storm of icicles the size of automobiles fall from the sky. However, I was already moving. The hyper-intuitive reflexes granted to me by my force sensitivity guiding my every action.

I knew every move the beast would make before it actually did. By instinct no less. It was what made fighting any force user a nightmare. How do you battle an enemy who knows your every strategy?

Well, it was simple. It was a matter of clouding their vision. By making them distrust their own feelings, and perverting the force.

Darth Sidious was ingenious in that regard, and Darth Vader made sure I learned that lesson. Order 66 was perfectly executed.

The Jedi Order would have never distrusted their beloved clones even if the force told them otherwise, and through various subtleties? Darth Sidious maligned the foresight of the rest that would have.

A two-pronged attack to catch them unaware. Both within themselves, and in the force they trusted so much.

Sheev Palpatine was a person who could have appeared before the Jedi Council, and not a one would have noticed the dark side lurking beneath his countenance.

The Sith Acolyte I once was couldn't help but admire it. It was what all people who wished to become Sith Lords aspired to. That measure of deceit, and cunning. The ability to cloak yourself in the force even from your worst enemies.

As you make preparations to dismantle them from within.

I frown at that. When I realize there was a feeling of genuine mirth blossoming in my chest.

No matter how much I tried? The dark side would always be a part of me.

Darth Vader left his mark on my soul, and I had blood on my hands. I clench my lightsaber tightly, and my focus returns to the fight at hand.

Do not forget the rebels. Do not forget Rahm Kota.

Do not forget Juno.

In the darkest and blackest night? There will always be a spark of hope.

A light in the dark.

There it is again. That feeling from before. A warmth within my body, and the cold disappears entirely. Just as the hellhound was about to mount another assault?

I am set ablaze.

Flamusfracta. Force Combustion.

Of course. That would be perfect here. This time my body is not burnt. It's not the same as when I achieved oneness with the force. I wasn't ready for that.

I was ready for this.

The air around me crackles, and I toss my lightsaber to the ground.

I would not need it now. I dash forward everything evaporating in my path, and the Cerberus has only a fraction of a second to contemplate his mistakes.

Before I collide into him with the force a thermal detonator.

The resulting explosion reduces the church to molten lava. The demon screeching in anguish as I grasp hold of him with my hands, and strangle the life from him. The other heads were already destroyed. There was only one left.

“W-What manner of being are you?”

“It's as you said.” I chuckle at that. “I'm mortal.”

I break his neck, and the flames consume his corpse.

There would be only ash.

<<X>>
​

“So, is there anything else I should know? I mean let's see here you have got telepathy, telekinesis, electrokinesis, and now pyrokinesis?” Nero was impressed more than anything else. He kept calling me Chris Angel for some reason.

I have no idea who that person is.

“I can heal minor wounds, and absorb energy to an extent. What you saw there was Flamusfracta or Force Combustion. My former master had a tendency of using it to make lightsabers explode. Usually when an enemy was wielding one against him.” I learned the basics from him but I never mastered it to the point where I had the precision necessary to do something like that.

Becoming the humanoid equivalent of a thermal detonator on the other hand? Yes, that was within my purview.

“I swear. I am starting to feel inadequate now.” The devil hunter shakes his head. “If there's anything else you can come up with? Don't forget to share. If we're going to be working together? I need to know everything you can do.”

“Don't worry, I am not one to keep secrets.” Well, anymore. The past would be best left where it was. “Who was this person we were going to meet?”

“She's a friend.” Nero reaches for the door, and pushes it open.

The moment I see her I am bemused by all the grease on her face. It seems that she was working on something. A van if I had to wager.

It wasn't nearly as impressive as a speeder, and actually rolled on wheels. Just like the rest of the automobiles on this world.

These people were a long way from colonizing any other planets. I wonder if they ever would.

Another thing that confused me was the myriad of languages. When I first arrived, and was consigned to a hospital bed? I had to rip the information from the mind of one of the doctors. What I had learned was English. It was only one of many languages.

No wonder these people had a history of war with each other. I could only begin to humor what sort of misunderstandings had happened in the past.

Then of course there was that point of history when they were slaves to demons. They were ruled by a being known as Mundus. The Dark Lord. The Prince of Darkness.

I chuckle at that.

There were parts of this Earth that didn't even believe in the existence of demons. Despite all of the evidence.

It made me question whether they were either insane, or in denial.

“Well, what do we have here?”

Nicoletta Goldstein. The force whispered the name into my ear.

“Galen, this is--”

“Nico.”

The devil hunter gives me an annoyed look, and presses his lips together. “That gets kind of creepy sometimes.”

“Sorry, I can't help it. Galen Marek. Devil Hunter. Psychic.” I reach out with my hand. It was a common gesture. “Nice to meet you.”

The young women shakes my hand.

“Psychic, huh? Does that mean you know every one of Nero's dirty little secrets?”

“Yes, actually. All of them. You wouldn't believe some of the things he does with Kyrie--”

“Hey, hey! I thought you said you weren't going to mention that?” There was something dangerous in the devil hunter's tone.

“Oh, right. Nevermind what I said.” I fold my arms over my chest. “I know nothing at all.”

“I like this guy, Nero. Well, what do you have for me?” Nero pulls something out from his coat. It was the devil arm that spawned from the Cerberus after I had galvanized it. A pair of nunchucks.

“Is that what I think it is?” The young woman grabs it. “Oh, you shouldn't have.”

“How much is it worth, Nico?”

“It's going to make for a pretty penny. A couple million from any collector I wager.”

I raise my brow at that. That is a lot.

“If it had been a King Cerberus? Now that would have gotten you enough moolah to buy a country.”

The devil hunter looks satisfied at that.

“That much money, and we might be able to expand the business outside of Fortuna.” I interject. “The stakes grow, and so do the contracts.” I smirk. “What do you think, Nero?”

“I don't know.” He scratches the back of his head. “I would have to ask Kyrie, and if I start working overseas? I wouldn't be able to see her, or the kids.”

It was something to think about at least.

“That's fine.” That was why I liked him. It was always his family that mattered the most. Anything else wasn't as important. “It's not like we're in a hurry to get rich.”

If only I had known that things would never have been that simple.

<<X>>
​

If I had been faster. If I had been stronger.

Maybe things would have been different.

“What did you do to Nero!” My lightsaber clangs against Yamato but this time Nero was not the one wielding it. The hooded figure would not be dissuaded. He had a purpose.

If my body had not been crippled? This would have been a chore. Instead I stood before an enemy I could not defeat.

Not as I was.

“What manner of power is this?”

The truth would not remain obscured. I reach out with the force, and gasp when I see it.

Impossible. It was--

“Get out of my way.” Yamato had pierced through my side, and the blade had penetrated one of my lungs. I grab tightly onto the hooded figure's ascot, and force him to meet my face.

“Vergil.” I speak his name. “I know.”

I know everything.

I release everything that I had left. The explosion of ethereal energy sends the hybrid flying backwards, and he crashes into a truck before bisecting it as he is hurled through it by another wave of power. The force repulse was the only thing I could manage.

The rest of my power had to be focused on closing the gaping wound in my side. I hack another wad of blood, and slowly crawl towards Nero.

I had to stop the bleeding. If I didn't?

If I didn't...

No!

I couldn't lose consciousness now. The devil hunter needed me.

“It will be alright.” I grab the stump where Nero's right forearm used to be. Where the Devil Bringer used to be. The warmth of the light-side erupts from my hands. The feelings of love I had fostered in this house.

Nero. Kyrie. The kids. Heck, even Nico.

I had a family again.

I wasn't going to lose them. I wasn't going to lose them like I lost my father!

As the wounds are sealed, and the bleeding finally stops?

I am haunted by his voice again.

“Your feelings for them are not real.”

The rage I felt was insurmountable. The dark side bursts forth from within.

“They are real to me!”

I could never escape myself.

 

[Gladiator]

Chapter III: Reunion

“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing.”

- August Wilson

I could not tolerate this weakness. This broken body had betrayed me. This was the third time I had to be consigned to a hospital bed.

I wasn't alone.

I look to my side, and see him. His white hair matted with blood. His right arm, or what was left of it covered in bandages.

I had saved us both.

“The food here tastes like garbage.” The devil hunter got used to being left-handed quickly. “They really forced you to eat all of this?”

“Yes, they did.” I answer him but I couldn't look at him. I had lost, and the only reason we lived was because Vergil didn't want our lives. He just wanted his sword back. “Do you have any idea who--”

“No.” So, he didn't know.

I didn't know how I was going to broach that subject.

“Well, at least we're still alive!” I lean back into my bed. “That's something, right?”

“He took my fucking arm!” Nero knocks the tray aside. It hits the wall with a splat. “I got my ass handed to me, and he took my fucking arm!”

At one point in his life? The young man had despised that appendage with all of his being. It had isolated him. It made him different. A monster.

Then he realized it was an important part of him, and he grew to accept it. He even grew to rely on it. It was what made him into the man he is today.

Now it was gone forever.

There was a profound loss in that. I could sense it. He could have tried to hide it, and I still would have felt it.

“Story of my life.” I turn to face him. “I have been there.”

“At least you still have both arms! I can't exactly say the same.” He waves his stump of an arm at me, and I wince at that.

“I have been a mess since I got here, Nero. If it wasn't for the force I would be dead. It's the only thing keeping me alive. Every breath is labored. Every movement aches. If it hadn't be for the fact I was used to this? I would start screaming, and I don't think I would be able to stop.” The pain was a constant. No matter what I did. It was only through determination that I continued to live.

The brunt of my power was always amassed for the sole purpose of holding what was left of my body together.

This must have been what it felt like to be my master.

Darth Vader knew this pain, and he used it to his advantage.

I would have to do the same. I would have to turn this torture into something I could use.

“You could keel over at any moment?”

“I could.”

The devil hunter had been correct. I really shouldn't be doing anything strenuous in this condition.

“I knew it. I shouldn't have let you go out like that.”

“It was my choice to make. It's my life to do with as I please.”

I had control now. I could become whatever I want. I didn't have to be anyone's servant. I was the master of my own destiny.

“Guess we're two peas in a pod!” The devil hunter gets out of his bed. “Come on, we've got work to do.”

I smile at that. I think I managed to get him out of his rut.

“Alright, just let me steal a few of those doughnuts...”

It was the only thing in this hospital that was even remotely edible.

<<X>>​

The garage was a mess. The van was there as per usual. It had undergone a lot of modifications. Nicoletta Goldstein took after her father, and couldn't stop tinkering with anything she could get her hands on.

My lightsaber being the only exception. If only because I was terrified of the notion of her misaligning any of the components. A lightsaber was a delicate thing. It required a practitioner of the force to make adjustments down to the microscopic scale. It was impossible to construct otherwise.

No one had been able to replicate the process without the help of a Jedi Knight or Sith Acolyte.

If the young woman made even the slightest mistake? It could abruptly erupt into a devastating explosion that would disintegrate her.

Yet, no matter how many times I explained that to her?

“Hey, Galen. Mind if I see that laser sword of yours?”

Well, that time she wasn't talking about my lightsaber perse.

“No.” I give her a disgusted look. “Keep your hands to yourself.” I was working on the engine. Head first underneath the hood. What improvements I could make involved increasing the “horse power” of the vehicle.

The mechanic pouts at that.

“Say you've been acting weird since Nero lost the Devil Bringer.”

“What do you mean by weird?”

“I don't know like you got some sorta secret you gotta hide.” I wish she wouldn't get so close. I could practically feel her breath on my ear. “It's alright to share...”

I could tell immediately. It was a measure of concern. Perhaps even fear. A familiar sensation indeed.

“It's just that I think we're in over our heads.” I lie. How could I break it to them? How could I explain it to Nero? I wasn't sure if it was even my place to say anything.

It was a family matter.

“I think we should contact Dante.” I could force the man in red into a position where he has to tell him the truth. “This might be something above our pay-grade. Whoever that person was? Neither of us stood a chance.”

“That bad, huh?” The young woman shakes her head. “I never thought I would see the day either of you would get your butts handed to you like that.”

“Yeah, well; there's always a bigger fish in the pond.” I got used to lying. It became second nature. “That speaks true for everyone. No matter who they are.”

I had thought I was so close to Darth Sidious. In truth, if I had taken his bait? I would be his servant. His slave. I was outmatched.

Despite that there was somebody out there that managed to bring his life to a close. I have no idea who but they have my gratitude.

The galaxy would never have to fear that tyrant again.

“By the way, if you see him...” The mechanic reaches for something in the van. “It's ready.”

I stood back from the hood of the car, and gave it a good look.

The Devil Breaker.

“Overture, right?”

“The first of many.” The mechanic had that same cheeky grin. “If it doesn't explode.”

“It won't.”

<<X>>​

“Is there something on your mind, Galen?” The brunette was tucking them in. Those children were lucky to have a mother like her.

“It's...” I was at the door. The shadow I cast leaves the room veiled in darkness. “...nothing. I am just worried about him.”

“Nero?” Kyrie smiles at that. “It will be alright. He's been through worse, and he's the strongest person I know. He will make it through this.” The brunette turns towards the door, and I meet her face for only a second before turning away from it.

“What's wrong?”

“I'm afraid I will lose this.”

I couldn't lie to her.

“I've haven't had something like this in over a decade. It was all just a struggle to survive. The training was harsh. I felt like I was going to die every day, and I forgot. I forgot that the person I was beginning to admire... took everything I loved. He took everything I loved, and made me into a monster. Just like he was.” How did I ever come to revere that bastard? How had he twisted my mind like that?

How many people died because of my actions? At the orders of Darth Vader?

My master.

I slam my fist into the wall, and leave an indent. Despite everything what comes to my mind is that.

Not monster. Not villain. Not murderer. Not devil.

My master.

“I'm sorry. I lost my temper.”

“It's alright.”

It hurt when she said that because I could feel it. That unconditional love. The love a mother had for her child. The love a sister had for her brother.

There was no dark side to be felt. There was only the light. In all of its splendor, and it was blinding.

“Goodnight.”

I had to leave. I couldn't bear to see it.

<<X>>​

I had to adapt. I had to complete my training.

I already had as a Sith Acolyte but I had yet to become a Sith Lord. That path was behind me. No, it was the road towards becoming a Jedi Knight that I sought. I would need all the power I could get, and the dark side wasn't enough. I needed the light-side just as much.

I couldn't do this by myself.

So, I sat atop the orphanage and I meditated.

It was through focus that I could control my visions, and it was through this I hoped to contact Rahm Kota. Wherever he was.

I needed to finish what I started.

When I opened my eyes it was not Rahm Kota who appeared before me. It was someone I didn't even recognize.

The force ghost was translucent, and had a vague hint of azure to it. The young man had long hair, and a scar over one of his eyes.

When he saw me? It was almost like he recognized who I was, and there was a profound feeling of regret.

“Who are you?”

“...” He doesn't introduce himself. Instead he sits down. Assuming the same position I was in. He musters up the courage to speak.

“When I lived? I was known as Anakin Skywalker. I was a Jedi Knight.”

The name didn't ring any bells.

“Did you die during Order 66?”

“I did.”

There was something clouding my foresight. The man was a mystery I couldn't decipher.

Well, he would have to do.

“I need to complete my training as a Jedi Knight.” I tilt my head, and try to get a closer look at him. “Can you help me?”

“I can.” There it was again. That feeling of regret. As well as something else. Familiarity perhaps?

“Do you know me?” It was eating at me now. I had to know.

“No, but I do know Darth Vader.” The translucent figure seems to frown. “He was the one who ended my life.”

“I see.” I nod my head. Of course. My master played his own part in Order 66. It was only natural that he had a body count of his own when it came to Jedi Knights. “I'm sorry that he did.”

“Don't be. It was my own fault.” He slowly rises up, and approaches me. I do the same. He reaches out with his hand, and I extend my own. “I was a fool, and a reckless one at that.”

“I was much the same. It's nothing to be ashamed of.”

When I grasp hold of his hand I could swear I had been here before. Déjà vu, I guess.

“Now let us begin...”

<<X>>​

It was about time to test it, and I was the perfect guinea pig.

“I'm not sure I like it.” Nero had attached Overture where his Devil Bringer once was. “The Devil Breaker...”

“Sounds intimidating at least.”

“Yeah, but does it work?”

Nero swings it around a few times. Just to get used to the weight. It was a lot heavier than the Devil Bringer. It had a generator installed that allowed it to fire bursts of electricity.

“It's based on what I can do. The range is limited by comparison though.”

I had involved myself in the development cycle. That generator drew on the force. However, rather than the dark side? It produced something akin to Electric Judgment. Which I had been learning with Anakin Skywalker.

It was the light-side variant. The Jedi Master Plo Koon, or so Anakin Skywalker claims, made use of it. His lips had loosened in death, and he allowed the Jedi Knight to learn.

“Besides that, there is also a grappling hook. Which I imagine will be useful in drawing enemies toward you.” A suitable replacement for the Devil Bringer's own ability to grapple anything.

There was however one problem. It broke easily due to overuse.

Which means the devil hunter would have to carry spares on his person.

“Now I am going to erect a barrier around myself. I want you to use the primary function of Overture, and break it.”

“Are you sure that's a bright idea? I might hurt you.”

I snort at that.

“I will be fine.”

The force encases my body in an invisible force-field. The devil hunter doesn't waste any time, and I let him close in. Nero extends Overture forward, and as it crackles with electricity I brace myself--

CRACK!

It sends me careening backwards. I don't stop until I plant my feet into the ground, and use the force to regain my balance.

Alright, it was a bit more powerful than I expected.

“As I thought it works surprisingly well.” The force had great synergy with technology. The lightsaber was just one example. “I would say that it's an improvement over the Devil Bringer.”

“Careful with the crazy talk, Galen.” Nero is examining the cybernetic limb. “Nothing is better than Ol' Betsy.”

“It would be in your best interest to hope that it is.” If we ever encounter Vergil? Nero would have to be far more powerful than he was before. “If we ever encounter that hooded figure again...”

The moment I say that I could feel the atmosphere change. The devil hunter is quiet. Which is an odd occurrence to say the least.

“I won't lose next time.”

“Neither will I.”

I ignite my lightsaber.

“Now let us move on to sparring.”

It was time to test the endurance.

<<X>>​

“I had another apprentice.” Anakin Skywalker walked circles around me. As I use the force to float in midair, and balance variations contraptions. Rearranging, and rebuilding them. I was meditating. Attempting to quell the tumultuous storm of emotions within myself. “A Togruta who was raised within the Jedi Order.”

Darth Vader had taught me to embrace my feelings. Anakin Skywalker was teaching me to control them.

Lest they would control me. Just as they once did.

“What was she like?”

“Brash, and brazen. Quick to jump into the fray. Got into a lot of trouble. A spitfire.”

Those would typically sound like condemnations but he said them with such fondness.

“It sounds like she meant a lot to you.”

“If I could have adopted her as my own? I would have.”

He was incredibly frank for a Jedi Knight.

“A daughter. I wonder what that would be like.” I open my eyes. “Why didn't you?”

“The Jedi Order forbade any sort of emotional attachment. Only on rare occasions did they allow them. Any sort of romance was forbidden.”

“They were celibate?”

“Absolutely not. I said emotional attachments. Not physical ones. However...” There is a certain bitterness in his tone. “One of the Jedi Masters did have a family, and he was allowed to see them. A wife, and children.”

“That sounds incredibly hypocritical of them.”

“It was.” He grumbles. “It was.”

“So, there were reservations you had about the Jedi Order?” The question was an important one. I wondered whether they were as bad as my master said they were.

“Everyone has reservations about something. They were flawed but they tried their best, and they most certainly did not deserve what happened to them.” He looks at something in the distance. A memory of the past perhaps. “They were good people. They were my friends.”

That's when I noticed it. He was hiding his feelings.

“What are you afraid of?”

“It's personal. That's all.”

I frown but I decide to leave it be.

It was his business.

<<X>>​

I swing my lightsaber through the air, and it burns against Red Queen. Nero is hurled backwards, and has trouble keeping up.

If I hadn't of held back the sword have been cleaved in twain.

“There is something different about you.” The devil hunter noticed the changes. “Have you been practicing lately?”

“I have.” It was partly true at least. “I even learned a few more tricks.” I don't give him any time to prepare before the force reverberates through my vocal cords, and I roar.

The sound is deafening, and shatters every nearby window. It even melts a few pieces of rebar in the surrounding buildings before hitting the devil hunter, and flinging him into the air.

He quickly uses Overture to hook onto a nearby building, and swing back down. He reaches for Blue Rose in his coat, and fires a few shots at me. The bullets slow down to a crawl as I use the force to hyper-accelerate my movements. I weave in-between the pieces of lead, and jump towards the devil hunter.

He only has a fraction of a second to look surprised.

“What the--”

I thrust both of my palms into his chest, and the resulting shock-wave sends him torpedoing downwards into the ground.

“Okay, I am calling it quits.” The devil hunter crawls out of the crater. His clothes were a mess, and Overture had broken into pieces.

“I win.”

“Yeah, yeah. Enjoy it.” He hits the pavement when he falls. “I am going to take a nap.”

“Do you really expect me to carry you back home?”

“...”

I fold my hands over my chest. He was certainly a handful in his own way.

Yet, he kept complaining about me.

<<X>>​

“Ahsoka Tano. That was her name.”

Anakin Skywalker decided to be more liberal with what he decided to share.

“Interesting. What brought this up?”

“It's just that teaching you has reminded me of her. In a lot of ways...”

“I remind you of her?”

The Jedi Knight shakes his head.

“No, it's not her you remind me of.” He looks away again. It was usually when he was trying to hide something. “It's... nevermind. It's nothing.”

“No, I am curious now. Who do I remind you of?”

“Darth Vader.”

I open my eyes at that, and the contraptions that I had been levitating are crushed into scrap. Reflexively I draw on the dark side of the force.

“I'm nothing like him.”

“I wish that was the case, Galen. I really wish it was.”

I reach for my lightsaber, and it flies into my hand.

“What did I say?”

I ignite it. The cerulean blade flickering a deadly crimson.

“Don't think that just because you're already dead? That doesn't mean I can't hurt you.”

“...” He is silent at that, and his face falls into a visage of shame.

“I'm sorry. I won't do it again.”

Just like that the rage disappeared.

“Apology accepted.” I get back up. If I had a mirror? I would have seen the amber my eyes had become. Those of a Sith Lord. “I think we're done for today."

“Goodnight.” Anakin Skywalker didn't bother to hide his emotions this time. The regret from before was back, and it was threatening to swallow him whole.

I didn't think to dwell on it.

 

[Gladiator]

Chapter IV: Confrontation

“Only when I fall do I get back up again.”

- Vincent van Gogh

“I will be back. I need to go deal with something.” I wiped the sweat from my brow, and grabbed my jacket. It had been a difficult session with the Jedi Knight yesterday.

It gave me a lot to think about, and I decided it was about time to get some answers.

“What exactly, honey?” Nicoletta Goldstein's temperament certainly hadn't changed. The woman was already working on another Devil Breaker.

“I will tell you later. If I manage to convince him.” I close the door, and don't bother to answer any more of her questions.

It was something that needed to be addressed as soon as possible.

It didn't matter if it was a family matter. I had a vested interest in this now.

As I walk through the hallway I pass by a certain amputee.

“Dinner is almost ready. Kyrie already set up the table.” The devil hunter just had to get in my way. “Whatever you have got to do it can wait until tomorrow.”

“I have to do this today.” I don't stop moving. “Trust me, this is important.”

Nero doesn't leave it at that.

“Are you sure? The kids will miss you.”

“I will bring them back some souvenirs.”

I could practically feel Nero's glare bore into the back of my head.

“Is this trip of yours anywhere in Fortuna?”

“No.”

That confirmed his suspicions.

“Dante doesn't need to get involved. It's our business.”

I stop at that. I was that transparent?

“I'm sorry but I need his expertise on this.”

“His expertise?”

“He is the greatest devil hunter this world has seen.”

“Yeah, I guess he is.”

I had bruised his ego with that remark. I turn around, and give him a scrutinizing look. I gesture towards Overture. Where his Devil Bringer had once been.

“I won't see you lose another limb.” I tried to sound as convincing as I could be. “That's all.”

“I can take care of myself--”

“No, I don't think you can.” I shake my head. “I am just saying that we need to be prepared. In case the worst scenario comes to pass.”

“I've got you. That's enough.” He frowns, and he looks like he is trying to think of something. Anything really. That would convince me to stay. “You saved my life. You can take care of it if I get in over my head again.”

That caught me off-guard. I never felt this kind of trust before. Not even the rebels were that comfortable around me. After learning what I had done.

What I was.

“I was just paying back the debt I owed you. We're even now.”

“No, we're not.”

We were.

“Then consider this a request from the man who saved your life. I just want to be ready.”

“...”

He frowns but then turns away from me, and walks the other direction.

“Be back by morning.”

“I will be.”

<<X>>​

It wasn't exactly easy to get here. I had to make use of the force to propel myself at such velocities that my body almost tore itself apart.

It wasn't exactly used to the experience of swimming across an entire ocean on such short notice.

I was on a time-limit. So, I had no choice.

I had arrived.

Starting at 66 Slum Avenue? I could see Love Planet. A den of debauchery I could scarcely imagine, and Bullseye Bar. Where countless people went to drown their sorrows.

My clothes were soaking wet when I got here but with a subtle application of Force Combustion they quickly dried.

There it was in the horizon.

Devil May Cry.

It wasn't something you could easily miss. A gaudy neon light.

Burning the brightest shade of red I had ever seen.

I take a moment, and collect myself. Then I approach the door.

I rap my knuckles against it but there is no answer. I do so again but despite my effort there was nothing.

“Anybody home? I am here to see Dante.”

“...”

It was silence that greeted me.

I groan before using the force to pick the lock, and then I let myself inside.

The lights were out. Somebody didn't pay the electricity bill, and there he was.

I think.

He was lying unconscious on a chair behind his desk, and a slice of pepperoni pizza was on his face.

I resist the urge to wretch.

As I approach this mess that was supposed to be an office? I grab one of the boxes of pizza on his desk.

That was a mistake.

“Don't touch the meat lovers.”

“I didn't know you were awake.”

He had unholstered his handgun, and had it pressed against my forehead.

“I wasn't.” He puts the gun down, and leans back into his chair. At some point the slice of pepperoni pizza on his face disappeared. “I could sense a grave injustice about to be committed, and my body acted by itself.”

It was now stuck to the ceiling fan.

“Over pizza?”

“Over pizza.”

I couldn't help but laugh.

“You're an idiot aren't you?”

“I am.”

He smiles back at me.

“I think this was a mistake. I will be going now.” I take another look around his office, and the mess it was in. I don't think this person could help anyone.

Least of all himself.

“Wait, wait!” He gets up quickly. “If it's a demon you need taken care of? I am the man you are looking for!”

“...” The disgust from before is back. “I will take my chances.”

I slowly back away from the nutjob.

“Bye.”

“Now hold on a second! I know this looks pretty bad--”

“It's not just bad. It's catastrophic.”

He cringes at that, and gives his abode another glance.

It was as bad as it looked.

“Where are all the Devil Arms? I heard you had a lot of them.” I sort through his thoughts. Trying to find an answer. When I do? I groan. “You sold them all for a pittance, didn't you? Most of those are worth millions. I am certain a least some of them are even worth a billion.”

“They are?”

“They are!”

I wasn't even angry anymore. I was impressed by his incompetence.

“I imagine you haven't paid any of your bills either.”

“...” He scratches the back of his head. A gesture I recognized in another devil hunter I knew. “No.”

I nod my head.

“Oh, well. It can't possibly make things worse. I am here in regards to a family matter.”

That's when I notice it. This person's posture changes completely, and I see something of the devil hunter people were terrified of.

“That so?”

I take another step back. The man was prepared for anything. I could sense him already thinking of all the ways he could eviscerate a person like myself.

“I'm not here to collect on any grievances if that's what you think. I came here to ask whether you knowing anything about your--”

“My father? If you want a history lesson? Just grab a book from a library. I'm not a professor.”

“No, this is not about him. It's about your brother.”

The atmosphere changes entirely. If before he was cautious? Now he was about to pop like a balloon. There was a lot of grief. A lot of misery.

A lot of regret.

“What about my brother?”

“I almost died at his hand. As for your nephew he lost his Devil Bringer.” I meet his eyes. “Vergil wanted Yamato back for some reason.”

There was bewilderment. Then a stark realization. He never did check to see if his brother's corpse made it out of Mallet Island or not. He just disappeared.

Then he realizes what else I said.

“How did you figure it out?”

“Oh, come on! White hair? Blue eyes? A descendant of Sparda? If he was your son? I imagine you would have taken him in. You didn't. Which means that it could only be Vergil.” A nasty sneer stretches across my face. “I think you should have anyway. You could have at least told him.”

“That's none of your business.”

“It's my business now! My friend almost died because you weren't there for him!”

I grab his desk, and hurl it at him. He leaps backwards into the air, and lands on it as it falls back down.

He was pointing both Ebony and Ivory at me now.

“I know what you're thinking. It's a bad idea.”

“I happen to think it's brilliant!”

I could feel the dark side of the force surge within every cell of my being. When I ignite my lightsaber? It wasn't cerulean anymore. It was a bloody crimson.

There was a voice in the distance. It was begging me to stop. Somebody or something within the force. I didn't care.

I wasn't here to listen.

“Is that a laser sword--”

He doesn't even have a second to block my attack but he manages to do so anyway. It was a Devil Arm that stopped my lightsaber. I could hear it in my mind. The sword was called Rebellion.

I take advantage of his surprise, and make use of a force repulse to send him flying backwards into a wall. He quickly gets his bearings, and teleports out of the way.

I just barely avoid losing my head. When he lands a helm splitter from above. One of the many benefits of anticipatory reflexes. He couldn't get past my prescience.

I gesture towards the “legendary” devil hunter, and he is hurled upwards towards the ceiling. Crashing into it, and through it. He lands on the roof of the Devil May Cry.

I quickly follow after him. Jumping through the hole, and onto the roof.

“Is that all you've got?” I had become so much more powerful. Anakin Skywalker had seen to that. The light-side, and the dark-side? I would master them both. “I'm disappointed but I am not surprised.”

“I've been holding back.” He grumbles. “That body of yours... it's dying.” He picks himself back up.

I frown at that. How had he noticed?

“I get it. He needs to know.” He runs his fingers through his hair, and plucks the pieces of plaster out of it. “If you keep pushing yourself like this? It won't help anyone.”

“Reserve those concerns for yourself. I am not done.”

Not yet.

“Don't make me do this.”

“I am not giving you a choice!”

The dark side cloaks my body. I was in the throes of Force Rage. I was faster, stronger, and more relentless. It came at a cost. It sublimated my connection to the light-side.

The devil hunter tosses his sword to the ground, and assumes another stance.

It was familiar in a way. I couldn't pin how exactly. Whatever it was? It relied on hand-to-hand combat.

I chuckle at that.

Very well. I will play your game.

I do the same, and holster my lightsaber on my belt.

“Cocky, aren't you?”

“Absolutely.”

I quickly close the distance, and try to land haymaker to his jaw. He blocks the blow with his hand, and there it was. Now I realized what it is that this reminded me of.

It was some variation of Force Absorption or Tutaminis. It absorbed the energy from my attacks, and relocated it elsewhere.

“What do you call this?”

“Royal Guard. Not bad, huh?”

I chuckle at that.

“It's a parlor trick.” I quickly grapple him, and throw him over my shoulder. Before he can even land I reach for him with my hand, and savagely tear the power he had stolen from me out from within him. His stomach is torn open, and his intestines spill onto the ground.

His vaunted Royal Guard betraying him.

“A-Alright, kid. If that's how you want it.” It doesn't faze the devil hunter in the slightest, and the wound immediately closes. He healed at quite the miraculous rate.

If I was being honest with myself? I was jealous of that kind of immortality.

I reach for my lightsaber. Just as he reaches for his sword.

The world around us slows down to a crawl. The crows around the building are frozen in mid-air, and at this point everything goes quiet. It would be impossible to beg for mercy.

After all, we were both moving faster than sound.

It was something called Quicksilver. Not unlike Force Speed? It drastically increased the processing speed, and reflexes of the person who utilized it. In his case through some sort of temporal devilry.

In my own case? I was simply allowing the force to hyper-accelerate everything I did beyond the norm.

The resulting shock-wave as we clash causes the Devil May Cry to crumble. There was no chance anyone could stop us.

The sonic-boom echoing throughout the neighborhood.

Then one became many. Thousands of strikes land but none of them are fatal. I deftly avoid them, and he does the same. It seems that we were evenly matched.

I back away from him. He does the same.

We both stand at the epicenter of the crater where the Devil May Cry used to be.

“Just had to ruin my place. Didn't you?”

“I will ruin a lot more if I have to.”

He growls.

“Fine.” He tightly clenches his sword. “Get ready.” That's when he changes. It was different from Nero's Devil Trigger in every sense of the word. The difference between pretending to be a demon, and actually being one.

This was no apparition.

This was the Son of Sparda.

“I was getting bored!” If I had not been consumed by Force Rage I might have realized sooner.

That--

“Stay down!”

I still didn't hold a candle to what I once was.

As the madness is banished, and I am brought back to my senses? I see Dante standing over my body. He was tired but he had won.

“It's been a while since I had to go all out.” He kneels down by my side. “All this when you're in what amounts to a corpse? I bet you were a monster back in the day.”

“No, I was a nightmare.”

“Scary.” He nods his head. “Alright, you made your point. Let's go.”

“Where?”

“I think you already know.”

There was only one problem.

“I can't move anything. I am gonna need you to carry me.”

“What? Really?” He frowns. “By the way, I never got your name?”

“Galen Marek.”

“Fancy.” He picks me up. “I like it.”

<<X>>​

Kyrie had a look on her face like she had just seen a ghost.

“D-Dante?”

“Hey, how has Nero been doing?” He was helping me stand up. The damage done to my body from Force Rage was extensive, and I couldn't stop bleeding. The blood ran down my mouth almost constantly. “A friend of his paid me a visit, and... destroyed everything I owned. I am gonna have to sleepover for a few days.”

“I b-beat his ass.” I manage to say in-between gurgles. “Ain't nothing but a punk bitch.” I was also delirious, and hallucinating.

Mostly due to the blood loss.

It was a good thing that Dante could fly. Otherwise, we might have never made it back.

“O-Oh, I see.” The brunette gives the devil hunter a concerned look.

“He's wrong. I won.”

“D-Don't believe his lies!”

<<X>>​

“I got something I need to say.”

I was on a crutch. Standing watch to make sure Dante went through with it. It had to come from him.

“What's this all about?” Nero had a look on his face that made it clear that he had a bad feeling about this. He wasn't entirely wrong.

“The person who took Yamato...” Dante has some difficulty putting it into words. “H-He...”

“Spit it out already.” I blurt out from behind him. “He needs to know.”

“He was my brother.”

Nero looks surprised at that.

“What?”

“He was my brother, Nero.” He repeats the words. It was starting to become easier. “Yamato belonged to him. His name was Vergil.”

“A-Alright, I am not sure why you had to come here to tell me yourself.” He goes back to making some adjustments to Red Queen. “Anyway, we will pay for the repairs--”

“That isn't everything.”

Nero pauses at that, and looks back at him.

“How many people in the world are descended from Sparda? Precisely, I mean.” I interject. Perhaps I could make him come to the conclusion himself.

“A handful, I guess.”

“Now who else besides yourself is related to him?”

“Dante...” That's when I feel it. He was beginning to connect the dots in his head. “Vergil.”

“Do you know who your biological parents are?”

“N-No.” There was a part of him that didn't want to put the pieces together.

Dante took care of that.

“He's your father, Nero.”

“...”

Nero drops Red Queen at that. He backs away a look of abject confusion on his face. That slowly morphs into fury.

“Why didn't you fucking tell me?”

“I didn't know how.”

I snort at that.

“What he means to say is that he was a coward.” I smile at him. “A disgusting slob to boot.”

“I'm not that bad!”

“Yes, yes you are.” I walk towards him. “Which reminds me so long as you are a guest in our house? I will not clean up any mess you make.”

He gives me a dirty look.

“Your friend is something else, Nero--”

“Oh, this coming from you of all people? Do you want to go another round?”

“Shut up!” The young man glares at us in a way that didn't betray his emotions. “Both of you!”

They were painted all over his face.

“I know it seems unusual but at least you have your family.” I couldn't hide my bitterness. “I have got nothing.”

“Did you know?”

“I did. It was why I contacted Dante.” I don't hesitate. “I felt the truth needed to come from him.”

Nero presses his lips together.

“Okay.” He nods his head. “Okay.”

That was when he fainted. He hit the floor with a thump.

“He took that better than I thought he would.”

“That was better?”

“Yeah, Dante. That was better.”

“I would hate to see what bad looks like to you.”

 

[Gladiator]

Chapter V: It's Just A Job

“A Je’daii needs darkness and light, shadow and illumination, because without the two there can be no balance."

- Tim Lebbon

“I was wrong.”

Rahm Kota's lightsaber was dismantled into pieces, and I closely examined the crystal. It had been stained crimson.

They floated in front of me, and I had to be careful. One piece out of alignment could lead to cataclysmic results.

“It's impressive. There are few who could change the very nature of a crystal that has been attuned to a particular wavelength of the force.” The translucent figure of Anakin Skywalker was giving the weapon a closer look. “It's the hallmark of a Sith Lord in this case. They even made synthetic crystals for their Sith Holocrons.”

I was like Darth Vader.

“I was the one at fault before. I should have seen it.” It was my rage that blinded me. “I am like Darth Vader. Despite everything... he still holds sway over my actions.”

“No, I had my own part to play in it. I pried where I shouldn't have.” The Jedi Knight backed away from the lightsaber, and took a seat.

We were on the roof of the orphanage as always.

“How do I fix this?”

“I'm not sure exactly. In order purify a crystal it required complex rituals I never got to learn.” Anakin Skywalker muses on it. “What you did is called bleeding. Whether you know it or not you have been influencing the crystal. It may change back by itself.” That is when an idea sprang into being.

“Have you considered healing the crystal?”

“Do you mean with the force?”

Anakin Skywalker nods his head.

“It is a technique rooted deeply in the light-side. Perhaps if you counterbalance it. If you feed the crystal the exact opposite of whatever feelings you had when you corrupted it.” He gestures with his hand, and the withered flowers around the building are revitalized.

“I thought you said the Jedi Order did not believe in that sort of thing? That any feelings could lead to the dark side of the force? There is no emotion? There is peace?” I open my eyes, and reassemble the lightsaber. Carefully as to not make any mistakes.

“I do not think it fits. In your case you need something different. There is passion. Yet, there is also peace.” I was bemused at that. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

“Are you sure that you're a Jedi Knight? What you just said sounded like blasphemy.” I had grown fond of this mystery. Who exactly was Anakin Skywalker?

“It is, and the dark side is a distortion of the force.” He freely admits to it. No shame what to speak of. “The problem is that you have lived with it for so much of your life? That it is forever a part of your being. It can't be removed without destroying part of yourself. In a way it is like a tragedy. It gets easier to bear the burden of it but it never goes away.” There is a twitch. Somebody was trying to communicate to him. Somewhere within the force.

“There was another. A person like yourself. Who lived between the boundary between the two. In the service of the Jedi Order. A Jedi Master by the name of--”


“Mace Windu.” That is when he appears. A man of color. Whose head was shaven, and who had a steely gaze that could pierce stone. “That is my name. I do not need you for any introductions.” There is an unusual measure of disdain in his voice.

This Mace Windu did not like the Jedi Knight.

“I thought as much.” Anakin Skywalker begrudgingly leaves. Disappearing back where he came from.

“There is something you need to learn, Galen Marek. It is a legacy I intend to see you inherit. Just as you do? I despise Darth Vader, and all Sith Lords like him. I crafted a form of dueling made explicitly to deal with them. It utilizes the dark side of the force but not within yourself. That which is within your enemies instead. It is something that will come to you naturally. As you already learned Juyo. It is a variant of Form VII known as... Vaapad.” He takes a seat where the Jedi Knight used to be. “In learning to control the dark side not only within yourself but also in those around you? I believe the solution will reveal itself, and the crystal will become whole again.”

“I'm grateful but is that true? I was a Sith Acolyte before. I may fall to the dark side of the force--”

“Since arriving here you have done nothing but rely on it. If it could have driven you into becoming a monster again? It would have. No, even when you fought that devil hunter you were in control. When you threatened the louse? It was brought to heel by you, and by you alone. That is the only reason why I am even willing to teach you Vaapad.” He pauses at that. “That, and because I do not wish for it to be forgotten.” There is a certain complacency about how he worded that last bit.

“The louse? That Jedi Knight is not--”

“He is, and a Jedi Knight is all he ever will be.”

I felt like I was missing something.

“I am not about to say no. If this can help?” I grab my lightsaber out of the air. “That basically settles it. I will learn this Vaapad.”

“A wise choice indeed.”

<<X>>​

“So, I was thinking we should order pizza tonight.” The white-haired couch potato did not follow my advice. He already made a mess in the guest room. There were wrappers on the floor. A lot of them from candy bars. He had a sweet tooth. A few empty bottles of soda. A ton of boxes from Pizza Palace. Not to mention all the stains left behind by the strawberry sundaes in the carpet.

“No, that was yesterday.” I wish that I could kill with my hate. I am certain that there is at least one Sith Lord who can. I should probably investigate whether they left behind a Sith Holocron. “It's Taco Tuesday, and it's staying that way.”

“Oh, come on! I mean you even blew up my place! I think that's worth my weight in pizza!” He leans back in his chair. The only thing he could salvage. Besides Sparda, and a few other Devil Arms. Which were tossed somewhere underneath his bed.

I actually felt sad for them. Nobody deserves that kind of abuse.

“What happened to that job you mentioned? That contact of yours has been reliable.”

J.D. Morrison. The only thing about Dante I actually liked. He was helpful in his own way. Had connections that were useful. Mind you, they were unscrupulous but it comes with the territory.

“He will be here.” He swerves around in his chair. “Have faith.” He theatrically clasps his hands together in prayer. “The force will guide him to us.”

“Do not mock it. It is known to be quite vindictive.” I look around the guest room some more. That's when I find what I was looking for. “I need this for a moment.”

It appeared to be a pair of scimitars.

“Brother! We are being kidnapped!”

“Truly, our lot is a cursed one!”

“Keep them. Please.” If anything the devil hunter seemed to be relieved. “I never could get anyone to buy them. They always ended up giving them back.”

“I have no idea why you despise them so much. They seem to be harmless.” Agni and Rudra were in my both of my hands. “What do you say? I will make use of the both of you better than your master ever did.”

“I do not know. What do you say, Rudra?”

“I am not sure a mortal can wield us properly.”

“Then a demonstration is in order.” I go through the motions of Jar'Kai, and it quickly become more of a dance than anything else. As I deftly swung the blades in every illustrious motion I could think of. Agni bursting into scorching hellfire, and Rudra with razor sharp winds. The moment I finish? I face the both of them.

“How was that for a show?” I smile at both of them.

“That was an excellent display of swordsmanship!”

“I concur, brother!”

I needed a replacement until I fixed my lightsaber. They would be perfect.

“My name is Galen Marek.” I look between the both of them. “Just consider me your master now.”

“It will be an honor to fight by your side, Master Marek!”

“May our service bring glory to your name!”

The devil hunter groans.

“How about you order them to pipe down--”

“Talk as much as you like! I love a good conversation.”

I felt no truer joy than when I heard that white-haired delinquent grumble expletives under his breath.

I clip the scimitars onto my back, a makeshift leather strap holding them in place, and leave the devil hunter to his stupor.

<<X>>​

“What happened to your laser sword?” Nero had Red Queen hung over his shoulder. He was standing just out of reach.

“Lightsaber.” I correct him. “I am working on it. I will fix it eventually.” I grab Agni, and Rudra. “These scimitars will do for now.”

“A fight?”

“I believe so, brother!”

“They talk?” The grandson of Sparda looks annoyed at that.

“They do. It's great, isn't it?” I was the only one who enjoyed it. “Do you have anything you want to say?”

“No.”

“You're sure?”

The devil hunter looks like he wants to deck something. It was simmering at the moment. A rage bubbling beneath the surface.

“I got over it.”

“I don't think so.”

I could feel it. I couldn't pretend I didn't.

“What I think you need is some context.” I quickly move forward, and sweep Agni and Rudra around in a circle. The fire and wind quickly blending together into a maelstrom.

“Yeah, and how are you supposed to give me that?” The devil hunter back flips, and narrowly avoids the tornado.

“I'm psychic. Have you forgotten that already?” I draw the force around the blades, and amplify them. Agni's flames grow hotter, and Rudra's vortex becomes deadlier.

“Alright, let me hear it.” Red Queen clangs against Agni and Rudra as I bring them up to defend against it. Nero revs his sword, and the fuel injection activates. Propellant ignites the blade. I am pushed back but I hold my ground. “What do you know?”

“Vergil wasn't always like this.” I quickly twist both of my blades, and disarm the devil hunter. Red Queen goes flying, and lands on the edge of the roof. Nero jumps backwards before bringing Overture to bare against the assault. A blast of electricity hurls both Agni and Rudra out of my hands but I am not deterred. I use the force, and draw the blades back to my side. By the time I had done that? Nero had reached his weapon. “When both Dante and Vergil were children? Mundus had sent demons to destroy their home...” I put together what pieces I could understand. “Their mother, a woman by the name of Eva, died trying to protect them both.”

“Where was Sparda? Where had he gone?” The white-haired swordsman reaches for Blue Rose, and fires a few shots. “Why didn't he protect his family?”

“He disappeared. If I had to wager? One of the many demons he spurned managed to take his life. The Dark Knight wasn't as powerful as he used to be. He had sealed the brunt of his demonic power within a Devil Arm. It was known as Force Edge.” I frown at that. “A coward by any other name assassinated him. By attacking him at his weakest.” It's what a Sith Lord would have done though. They would always exploit anything they could.

I block the bullets with Agni and Rudra, and jump towards my friend. The scimitars clash against Red Queen once more, and this time the devil hunter loses his footing. I capitalize on that, and plant my boot atop his forehead. I smash his head into the chimney, and grind my heel into his face.

“Vergil had almost died. In fact, he probably did. That day he awoke a demon inside of himself. He thought that he had lost everything. His father, his mother, his brother, and his home. Which was put to the flame. He became someone else, and became desperate for more power.” That hunger reminded me so much of every Sith Lord I had met. They sought every bit of knowledge. Whatever Sith Holocron they could find. They wanted to best even death itself. By defying the natural order, and twisting the force to their whims. “Just so that he would never have to lose anything again.”

I leap backwards. An imprint of my shoe's sole on the young man's face, and he looks extremely annoyed.

“That was a bit much.”

“It was just enough.”

The devil hunter stabs Red Queen into the roof, and holsters Blue Rose.

“What happened after that?”

“A lot. It ended with Dante and Vergil fighting each other. Vergil getting stuck in the underworld. That's when things got worse. He had tried to fight Mundus, and he was defeated. He had his freedom taken from him, and the murderer of his parents had enslaved him.” I put Agni and Rudra aside, and try to focus on what else I remembered. “The brothers fought each other once more but this time Vergil was Nelo Angelo. He almost died on Mallet Island, and he came here to get back what was his.”

“Does he even know--”

“No, his memories are a mess. I don't even think he recognizes why you look so much like him.” It was certainly a tragedy in the making. “He did come to Fortuna. A long time ago, and he met...” I bite my lip. “Do you want to hear it?”

“A prostitute.” Nero nods his head. “Fortuna had a few brothels. I figured that much.” He was abandoned by the doorstep of an orphanage. Just like most of the orphans? He was the product of something truly unsavory.

“I could try to look for her.”

“Don't bother.” There is a bitterness I couldn't mistake in his voice.

“I understand.” I try to feel for what I should say next. “It's not blood that matters. It's who cares when you are gone. Kyrie, and... Credo.”

“Their parents were there. When nobody else was. They took me in, and I couldn't even protect my brother.” He takes a seat. It was getting to him.

“Yeah, that part is always going to give me the willies because I know what horrible things you do with Kyrie. You're the best big brother ever? I am beside myself with disgust, Nero.” I shake my head. “Mortified I am telling you.”

Nero couldn't hold it in anymore. He starts to laugh uncontrollably.

“It's not like that!”

“Oh, really? Then her parents didn't adopt you, and you didn't spend your childhood with her?” I wag my finger at him. “What would Father O’Malley say?”

“Shut up, Galen. It's complicated.”

“I mean at least you're not blood-related. That would be inconsolable.”

I could practically hear Anakin Skywalker's voice reverberate through the force.

It could be so much worse.

What in the world did he mean by that?

“So, what do you think? How are you going to handle this?”

“I don't know how but I am not losing anybody else.”

I could feel the conviction within him. His determination was unquestionable.

That's when I make my decision.

“I will be there. When the time comes?” I take a seat beside him. “I will be the bulwark. Whatever happens.”

“...” The devil hunter is at a loss. He wasn't ready for something like this. “Thank you.”

“Don't worry about it.”

I had a family again.

<<X>>​

The person at the door was impeccably dressed, and dandy beyond measure. I wager his clothing by itself costed a fortune. He had a dark complexion, and his cigar had a particular aroma. That you couldn't miss. He would stand out in any crowd.

As for his name?

It was J.D. Morrison. A contractor for people like myself. Anyone working as a devil hunter. He dealt with governments. He dealt with mobsters. Most of all? He dealt with a certain Son of Sparda. Who was far worse than the other two combined.

“It's been a while.” I meet him at the door. “It's about the job, isn't it?”

“Of course.” There was somebody else. Just behind the contractor. “I want you to say hello to a friend of mine.”

“Is that our employer?” I pay him a scrutinizing glance. “He doesn't look like much.” There were tattoos everywhere I could see. He had a book in his hand. Which I recognized immediately as a compendium of William Blake's written works. As for his hair it was like charcoal, and he stood only by the grace of a cane he used.

This person was dying. He was even in an even worse condition than I was.

“This employer have a name?”

The weirdest part of it all? Is that I couldn't hear or see anything. It was as if the force was contorted around him. Something horrible had happened to this person. It was so dreadful that the force could no longer recognize him.

“V.” He speaks, and the voice sounds familiar. I don't realize where exactly I have heard it before. “That is my name, and you would be?”

“Galen Marek.” I tread carefully with what exactly say. “Just another devil hunter.”

I could hear footsteps.

“Hey, Morrison! You're here!” It had to be that neanderthal.

“Dante!” The contractor quickly walks past me, and goes to meet him. “Lady Patty has been worried about you! Why haven't you been answering her calls?”

“Oh, yeah. About that. I am going to need a rain check on that birthday party. Then there's my place which this knucklehead blew up--”

“I'm working on it. I told you before...” He theatrically waves with his hands. “These things take time.”

“So, what exactly is the job?”

“A powerful demon is about to resurrect.” V makes his way inside. “If he is not stopped? The amount of lives lost will be astronomical.”

“I've lost count of the amount of times I heard that story before--”

“It's Vergil.”

V nearly trips over himself. Unprepared for what I was about to say. The white-haired devil hunter does the same.

“I can feel it.” The foresight I had wasn't entirely obscured. I couldn't make out the exact details but the feeling was nearly identical. “That's why you came. Of course he would want to involve himself. It's his own brother. He would be exactly the person you need for this job.”

“It seems that your friend has it all figured out.” V quickly regains his composure. “It's true but Vergil is going by another name now. Urizen. The demon lord. He has thrown away what humanity he has left.” V closes his book. “He is planning on unleashing the Qliphoth Tree. In a place I am sure you are familiar with.” He turns around in order to face me. “Redgrave City is the place where they both lived as children. The people there will be sacrificed to it. Then it will bear a fruit. Which will give Urizen the same demonic power that Mundus once had. It's something the Prince of Darkness did himself."

“I see. Alright, I will take the job.” I grab him by the hand, and shake it. “Consider it done.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” The devil hunter is quick as per usual, and pushes us away from each other. “It's none of your business. Stay out of this.”

“It became my business when your brother almost murdered my friend, and I am not about to let him hurt a bunch of innocent people. I'm helping you whether you like it or not.” I get into the devil hunter's face. “Otherwise, let's take this outside. I don't want to destroy the orphanage.”

“...” The devil hunter clenches his hands. “Nero isn't your brother, Galen.”

I don't lose it. I am in control.

“When he was bleeding out on the ground in the garage. Who was there to save him?” I grind my teeth. “It sure as hell wasn't you.”

“I am just going to take a step back--”

“Shut up!”

“Shut up!”

V nearly flies out of his sandals, and is hurled backwards.

The tension between us was about to reach a climax. A particularly violent one.

“Stop it.” That's when she arrived. “The both of you are acting like children.”

Kyrie had heard the yelling. If she hadn't things would have gotten worse.

“If Nero's father is about to hurt so many people? Then it stopped being about you, Dante. Those people need all the help they can get. Galen can handle himself. Let him help them.”

“That's--”

“No.” The young woman is angry. “No excuses. Those people will die. Those families will be gone forever.”

“You see, what did I say? I'm right!”

“Galen.” That's when she turned her attention away from him.

“Dante has made some mistakes but it's obvious that you hate him. You don't want to give him a chance. He's trying to do better by everyone.” She frowns at that. “If you don't let him? It will just push him away.”

“...” I didn't have a counterargument. “Maybe I have been hard on him.”

“If you could change? Why can't he do the same?”

That was the bombshell.

There was a time where not only was I worse than Dante? I was just as bad as Vergil.

If anything I had a body count that eclipsed his own. At least for the moment.

If this was allowed to transpire?

A whole city would be wiped from the map.

“So, what is going to happen?” I turn towards the devil hunter. “Are we going to take care of this together, or what?”

“...” He glares at me but doesn't answer.

“We're taking care of this together.”

Nero gives me a pat on the back, and stands by my side.

“I got a score to settle. He took something of mine.” He was back in the game. “It doesn't matter what you want, Dante. Those people don't have anybody else.”

“About that...” J.D. Morrison is careful about treading these waters. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of anything he couldn't handle. “Trish and Lady wanted to be part of this gig, and I figured why not. It's a big job.”

“Just great.” Dante grumbles. “Lucia?”

“No, she is busy dealing with something in Russia. I couldn't manage to contact her.”

“It seems that you're outnumbered, Dante!” I couldn't hide how much I was enjoying this. “What a shame...”

“Did I mention how much I hate your friend, Nero?”

<<X>>​

Redgrave City.

It had seen a lot horrors. Due in part to the rampaging demons at the moment.

The rest of it had to do with the populace. Whether it was greed or lust? This place was rife with it all. It was the same with most cities. I could feel it in the force.

The dark side was around every corner.

“Is that supposed to be it?” It stood at the middle of the city. The Qliphoth Tree. It was far from being complete but it was already gargantuan, and overshadowed every skyscraper in the vicinity.

“I am going to need a bigger lightsaber.” I nod my head. “What do you say, Nero? Do you want to start at the roots or somewhere in the trunk?”

“What we need to do is take care of Urizen. He is the source of everything.” V was as sickly as ever. “If we stop him before the tree has a chance to mature? It will die alongside him.” He fixates his gaze my way. “Dante, Trish, and Lady are already fighting him.”

“Then I think we better hurry.” They were about to settle everything, and we weren't even there.

“At least everybody down here will be safe.” Whilst they went on ahead? We took care of the demons that came pouring out. Where a portal had been opened directly into the bowls of hell itself. That's where it began.

There were corpses all around us. Not a single human being to be seen. They were demons the whole lot of them.

I had used the force to keep the citizens from panicking, and had them swiftly retreat to the outskirts of the city. An application of battle meditation, and I combined it with the mind trick. Often employed by Jedi Knights. I gave them courage, and turned their focus towards escape.

“I gotta admit that's handy.” The devil hunter surveys his surroundings. “Incredibly freaky but handy.”

“Don't worry. I don't use it on commanding officers to have them butcher their own soldiers anymore.” It was a crooked grin I wore. “It's effective.”

“I didn't need to know that you used to do that, and now I am even more freaked out.” He frowns. “At least you're honest.” It was refreshing.

“That's why I am here!”

“Candor aside...” V looks ahead towards the entrance. “I will go on ahead.”

That is when V proceeds to summon one of his familiars, and seems to slide across the ground on a shadowy carapace.

"That guy is definitely weird.”

“This coming from a person who just brainwashed a bunch of people?”

I shrug at that.

“I am just saying. I don't trust him."

<<X>>​

The interior of the Qliphoth Tree was far more unusual. It could hardly be called a tree. There were veins, and vessels. Carrying gallons of blood. I hadn't managed to save everyone.

Our arrival wasn't nearly as timely as it should have been. It didn't exactly help that my prescience was on the fritz. It was like someone or something was obscuring my vision.

I could hear it. The sounds of battle.

They hadn't taken care of it.

“Alright, are you ready?” I turn towards the devil hunter. “This person may be your father but he is a monster now.”

“It's fine.” The devil hunter reaches for one of his Devil Breakers, and grabs Overture. “I'm ready.”

When we enter the chamber? That's when we see it.

The fight had ended.

Dante? Trish? Lady?

They lost.

“This isn't what I was expecting.” V was watching the proceedings, and he was as surprised as we were.

Urizen looks nothing like the hooded figure that had almost destroyed our lives. He was a contorted monstrosity, enveloped in tentacles and tendrils, and the vitae of the sacrifices were being intravenously fed into his body. He had not even sat up, and leaned against his throne.

Unfazed by whatever they threw at him.

“I had expected more from a Son of Sparda.” His voice reverberated through the chamber, and nearly ruptured our ear drums. “Disappointing.”

There was no way we could win.

I toss Agni and Rudra aside. They wouldn't be enough. I had no choice. I reach for my lightsaber. Which had been twisted by the dark side of the force.

“Nero...” I whisper the next words. “Run.”

“What?”

“I am telling you that we're going to lose! Now get out of here!”

I couldn't see anything. No way that we could win.

The force only revealed to me all the many ways we would die.

“I'm not letting you fight him by yourself--”

“Get out!”

The force flows through my voice chords, and my scream sends both Nero and V flying out of the inner sanctum.

“That was a poor choice.” The demon lord held me fixed in his gaze. “They may have helped you.”

“Sorry, but I am not risking their lives.”

“This is why I don't like you!” As if to punctuate the statement? A gunshot echoes in the chamber.

Dante had gotten back up.

“Just trying to hog all the glory for yourself!”

“I was protecting them.”

“What did you think I was trying to do?” He growls before transforming, and his visage is now that of a true demon. “Get Trish and Lady out of here!”

The Son of Sparda flies towards Urizen, striking against him with all of his might, but he is stopped by some sort of barrier. I could hear Rebellion begin to crack.

I quickly wave my hand, and send both of them soaring. Their trajectory would lead them out of the Qliphoth Tree, and near where the van had been parked.

Nico would take care of them.

I turn my attention back to Urizen.

I ignite my lightsaber, and the red glow illuminates the chamber.

I was too late.

The devil hunter is hurled backwards, and his prized sword is broken into pieces.

He was just a devil hunter.

This was something else entirely.

“I'm sorry.” I manage to catch him before he hits the ground. “I was a fool.”

“Y-Yeah, took you long enough to realize that.” He passes out in my hands, and I proceed to throw him outside.

“I will hold him back!”

Hopefully he would survive.

I remember what Mace Windu had taught me. Vaapad would be my only hope.

If I had a way to repair the damage that was done to my body--

No, there is no time.

“What do you hope to accomplish?” The demon lord seems amused by my efforts. “A mortal can never best a demon.”

“That remains to be seen!” I let go of my restraints. I delve deeply into the dark side of the force. I allow Force Rage to take hold of me, and I revel in it.

It would not be enough.

I assume the stance of Form VII, and eschew Juyo entirely.

I would take his demonic power, and use it against him.

I leap towards the demon lord, and my lightsaber clangs against his barrier. There was a crystal which perpetuated it. A familiar feeling emanated from it.

Yamato.

I am hurled back but I am not deterred.

“That's the trick behind it.” The barrier relied on Yamato to separate Urizen from the rest of reality. No wonder it was impossible to break.

The demon lord wasn't even there.

I had formed a connection, and I draw on it. The demonic power flows through my body, and somehow I manage to endure.

I jump once more, and my lightsaber now that it was imbued with the same properties as the katana? Tears through the barrier, and digs into the demon lord's flesh and blood.

I take his right hand.

“Impossible!” He leaves his throne. “How?” He clutches the stump where his appendage used to be. The wound was cauterized. It would take a while to recover what he lost.

“Karma.” I collapse. No. The strain of Force Rage, and the demonic power I stole from Yamato? I couldn't handle it. “How does it feel to be brought down by a mortal?”

“This transgression will not go unpunished!”

“There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.”

I give of myself. As Force Rage fades, and I regain my connection to the light-side. I ignore the fact that every fiber of my being felt like it was dying.

I hear the force. I feel the warmth of it.

I allow both the light-side and the dark-side to flow through my body.

“There is no fear, there is power.” The red-glow of the lightsaber starts to flicker. It begins to change. I bleed into it. The crystal greedily devouring everything that I was.

I weave between tentacles and tendrils. Only using the barest amount of movement to dodge every attack.

The demon lord can do nothing. He can't stop this.

Nobody could.

“I am the heart of the force.” No matter what he threw my way? It ricochets. It could not penetrate the barrier I had erected.

The red-glow of my lightsaber becomes an extravagant violet.

“I am the revealing fire of light.”

Urizen bursts into flames. They burned hotter than even the core of a star.

“This power?” The demon lord recognized it. “It's--”

At least the part of him that was Vergil.

“I am the mystery of darkness.”

That is when I tear the life-force from him. Force Drain was the most profane of the abilities available to a Sith Lord. The demon lord falls.

“In balance with chaos and harmony...” I gesture with my hands, and clench them into fists. I crush him beneath the weight of the world. “Immortal in the force.”

I was no longer Galen Marek.

“What are you?”





“Į̸̟̻̣̥̖͈̫̭̹̱̲̹̞̥̤̤̭̬͊̌̒̔̌͒͜͝ͅ ̶̛̙̳̳͕͙̣̥̯̲̝̜̲̖̦͍̝̖̤̤̺̅͑͑̂̆͐̕͘ͅͅa̵͕̗͚͓̦̟͉̘̮͖̤͚͆̉͌̉̏͌̅̈́̾̉͠ͅͅm̷̡̢̮̮͕̗̝̣̽̇̋̍̎̐̌̀̈́̈̈́͒̆̎̐̓̈́͋̿͑̈́͒͝ ̶̢͉̳̼̯̜̞͇̹̙̩̦̼̫̟͖̦͙͓͎̯͕͇͙̑̍̐͆͜͝t̴̨̢̨̛̝̺̹̜̻̪̟̫͙̯̖̫̖̺̣̫̟̝͉̥̼͑̐̈́̇̎̀̈́́̂̇̎̄̀̍̚͜͠͝͝ḩ̴̣̰̰͉̣͓̥̯͔̠͎̣́̇͌̓̈̿̎́̍̀͋̀̿̇͘͘͝e̷̡̢̨̢̛͔̭̙̝͖̣̜̗̱̥͙͂͑͛̾̏͊͂̆̀̏̋̋̀̕ ̶̛̛̛̘͙̟͕͙͇͉̜̲̺̳͂̌̔̄̋̃̈̈̋̌̂̚͝͝f̴̡̨̢̛̗̮̙̥͉̯̲̥̤̜̞͕̙̪̯̘̪͙͈̦͎̼͍͙͗̀̉̎̉̐͌̉̀̈́̍̿̽̈́̐̒͘̚̚͝͠͝o̷̺̺̤̯̜͓̙͎͈̖͚̜̺͔̺̘̭̘̓̈́̒͊̃̿̋̿͑̀̐̓̕͜͝r̷̦̤̀̍c̵͎̏̀̌͑̂̿͑̅̒̈́̍͆́͊̂̑̌̓͑̾̈͊͑͋̓̋̚͝e̵̲̰̳̤̭̣̤̹͇̗̤̘̬̍͌͗͊͛̿̊̈́̇͑̾̑́̐̈̎̀̍̑̿͝͝ͅ.̵̢̺͙͈̖͙͔̩̙̮̂”




It was just like when I had fought Darth Sidious.

This time I was in control. This was... oneness.

I knew I couldn't continue this for long but I had to do one last thing.

I couldn't end his life but I could give him one really, really bad day.

I release all of the power I amassed, and practically go supernova. I was a gleaming radiance.

What we needed was time.

The trunk of the Qliphoth Tree implodes. Delaying the growth of it by months.

I reach my limit, and concentrate. I reverse engineer the distortional properties of the Yamato, and I disappear into the ether.

I could hear Urizen's cries of frustration even as the force drags me through time and space.

"I fucked you, bitch!"

The last thing the demon lord sees is my middle finger.

As I flip him the bird.

<<X>>​

I crash atop the hood of a van.

One I was intimately familiar with.

The words Devil May Cry on the side of it were unmistakable. The blue-glow providing some reassurance.

I look back at the Qliphoth Tree. I did some serious damage. The trunk was caved inwards, and the whole thing was leaking blood all over the pavement around the city.

"Jesus Christ, is that you Galen?" Nico immediately gets out.

"I-It is!" I manage to say. This time oneness had not destroyed my body. That did not mean I wasn't exhausted. I almost died in that hellhole. "So, we weren't exactly ready for this."

Trish and Lady were unconscious but leaning against the back of the van, and Dante was unceremoniously dropped somewhere face first in a puddle. His behind sticking out.

My aim was true.

"I think Dante might be in a coma." He was so deeply asleep that I couldn't even feel anything coming from him. It was like he was dead.

"Are Nero, and V--"

"You bastard!" The devil hunter wasn't taking it particularly well.

"Save it, Nero. Everything hurts." I needed some morphine.

"Urizen is more powerful than I thought." V muses on it. "I'm not sure what you did but he's furious."

"Good."