DMC4: The-Devil's Arm

The Successor

"Do what you gotta do, kid," Dante called into the Savior. "Cause I'm about to send this guy on a one way trip to hell!"

The Savior reached up to snatch him off the steeple. Dante leaped over the hand, hurling himself at the statue. He landed on the stone, burying Rebellion into it for support. The Savior reached down again, but he jumped the hand once again, scaling the arm. It then made the effort to rub him off, but Dante ducked back, skidding on his back along the stone. The hand passed within mere inches of his body. Somehow, he managed to stab his sword into it, going on a wild ride above the city as the Savior brought him around.

He dangled precariously from the palm of the behemoth. It smashed its hands together crushing him beneath its palms...only he was now standing casually on top of the fingers. The Savior flung him off, then tried to punch him out of the air with a wide fist. Dante kicked off of it, landing on the other wrist.

"Good luck...kid."

xxxxxxxxx

"Don't worry...I'm gonna get this done."

The air was rank and stale. It smelled like entrails, like blood, like a corpse. Nero tried to push those sensations out of his head. He had to keep moving. He had Yamato back, at least that was a start. Devil Bringer had gobbled it up, and already, he was feeling replenished. He let some of the energy radiate from his body, until it dried the muck he was covered in. His clothes were still damp with it, but at least his hair and skin were dry. That much he could stand.

Red Queen was still in okay condition. The blade was a bit greasy, but otherwise undamaged, aside from the nicks from the previous day of fighting.

Or was that even longer now? Who knows...

He gave her handle a tweak, and she responded with a low purr. The exceed system was still working, though it sounded weak. Either she was running low on fuel, or the moisture from the innards was screwing with the mechanism. He slung her back over his back, then wiped his hands on his coat.

The place was a cave, no two ways about it. The outside of the statue had been smooth, almost polished, but the inside looked like the face of cliff. He stood on uneven ground, stalagmites rose from the surface, stalactites hung from the ceiling. Odd bits of structure jutted out from the rock, as if the thing had been created from spare pieces cemented together.

From what Dante said, it sounded like he was fighting it head on. He felt the ground vibrate again and again, though he wasn't being thrown about.

So does that mean I'm so far inside of it that I can't feel the motion of it...then that means...

...he had to be close to the core. If he was going to stop this thing from the inside, then that's where he needed to be. The only problem was that Nero didn't have a clue to where it was. The path winded around a bit, but there weren't exactly signs pointing the way. And who knew if his initial guess was correct? For all he knew, he could be inside its ass.

Standing around thinking won't solve anything.

Nero held true to his thoughts and moved on. Eventually, the narrow, rocky path widened out, stretching into a great cavern. He was amazed at what he saw. Paths and stairs rose all around him, leading further up into the Savior's innards.

He began to ascend the steps. They stopped at a wide round landing. He took another step forward-

-when five gates materialized out of the air, disgorging five knights onto the platform, four white and a gold leader. As soon as the portals vanished, they snapped to life, forming the defensive phalanx behind the gold. The leader raised its sword arm, and the knights launched forward on their wings and lances.

Nero hopped out of the path of the first one, cursing as he stumbled past the second. He felt a little lanky from not moving for so long. Nevertheless, he was able to stay alive as the knights finished their charge and took positions around him. He lashed out with Yamato, the serpentine blade extending out of his arm and cutting first through the weapon of one, then bringing the sleek sword around to cleave it in half.

He parried the thrust of another, catching the lance with Devil Bringer, then shoved it back into the gut of the owner, following up with a quick, clean horizontal slash that took the head off.

When Nero spun to attack again, the gold knight was barreling down on him, sword raised and flaming. He ducked beneath the swipe, then spun away from the follow up. He slashed with Yamato, but poorly. The two blades clashed, but the knight had the upper hand. It shoved him back into the waiting path of the two remaining white knights.

They launched from opposite ends with the intent to spear him from the front and back. Nero saved himself with a perfectly time twist, managing to blade himself in between the strikes. In the process, he reversed Yamato in his grip, swinging as he spun. The knight he caught burst in half at the waist.

The remaining white knight went down fast. The gold leader attacked, and once again they crossed swords. This time, Nero knocked the knight off balance, then hewed it's right arm off. The arm and sword spun into the air as he jumped forward, clasping his arms around the stunned knight, then heaved. He suplexed the knight up and over him, smashing it face first into the ground. Nero kicked up to his feet just as the knight rolled to its knees, its faceplate and armor mangled and dented. He jumped and dropkicked the knight in the chest, sending it flying over the edge of the platform.

He tucked his jacket behind him and continued on his way up. More and more of the internal structure began to reveal itself. What looked like blood literally fell in waterfalls, forming small reservoirs that no doubt fed to the rest of the chassis. In a matter of minutes, he reached the top.

Before him lay a great doorway. As he stepped through it, the ground began to shake violently. Nero stumbled, almost falling over as the tremor surprised him with its intensity.

"Talk about shaking things up in here!" he muttered.

To his surprise, he heard Dante's voice. "Hey kid! You should see what I'm goin' through!"

Nero grinned. It sounded like he was having quite a party outside. "Guess we're in the same boat then!"

He swung Yamato to keep himself balanced, then marched ahead. It was time to finish this.