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Dante stood in the cleared area in front of the Fallen Sky headquarters. He was wearing his "Clothes Armor" (That's what Sere called it at least), had his rifle on his back, pistol on his left, Anima on his right, and a large knife in his boot. It was only a matter of time before someone came out to greet him, and luckily he didn't have to wait long, "About time, I was feeling lonely."

One of the generals/leaders came out with ten well armed Fallen Sky mercenaries, "I'm curious as to how you got here without hitting our radar. Nonetheless, time to die traitor. I'll make sure to hang that stupid gun above your head once I mount it onto a wall." Dante twitched, "I should have known that taking a risk on someone like you, a human from an undeveloped planet, was a waste of time and resources."

Dante took a breath, "Never say that again."

The mercenaries laughed, "Calm down men, he's sensitive. The Beast is a softie. Pathetic."

"Call me what you will, call her stupid again and I will make you suffer. Now are you ready for death?"

The general snapped his fingers and the men raised their weapons, "Her? Superstitious hairless ape. Fire." Dante didn't budge as the rounds hit around him, but a few did hit, and the general could swear he felt something fly by his face. Then his men began to scream. Then thuds took over as weapon fire ceased., "What is this?"

Dante raised Anima, "An idiot trying to make a speech, now THAT is pathetic." He fired, and the general hit the ground, "Come on! I know you have more than that!" There was a silence, "Be on guard, I don't expect too many yet, but keep an eye out. Don't fire until I give the word."

"Roger Dante. All units in position."

It was only another minute before the other leaders made their move. One ship flew directly into space. It was a large ship, but Dante didn't care. Another air-to-ground ship hovered above the headquarters. It was large, heavily armored, and bulky. Definitely not for space travel. The third leader led a small battalion of men just in front of headquarters and set up a portable shield in front of them, "We won't be stupid like that fool!"

"Neat. But I don't have much time here. Where are the others? On the ships?"

The man on the ground snarled, which could be heard from a distance, "Our Goddess will stay safe. The traitor left this morning, but she would be useless anyway. As for you, we'd like to take that armor from you, so surrender now. I'd hate to have to destroy it."

Dante sighed, but didn't say a thing. The bulky ship's speakers boomed out, "Just insult that pathetic Anima of his and he'll get sloppy." Dante twitched again, "See? He loves that gun so much, even though its useless here. No power against our armors. And yes, this isn't that shitty armor, our men are equipped with armor that could reflect cannons! Anima is just a toy to us."

Dante's special earbud buzzed on, "Dante, ships closing in. Also, your heart rate seems elevated beyond normal parameters, everything alright?"

"Listen up you cowards, you caught me at the worst possible time. Everyone! No mercy!" Time froze for a moment as fire and steel fell from the sky, which was riddled with explosions. On the ground, a nearby hill seemed to fizzle as a hundred people holding everything from rifles to bows. Titus and Marie were up front, and began to fire at anything that wasn't on their side. Meanwhile, Dante stood there, fuming. When the confusion had settled and Fallen Sky began to return fire, they notice Dante holding Anima and the knife, "Sere, I want on the ground ship. Break the window, and give me a lift."

Sere's voice was confused, "Wh-what? Uh... what?!" The AI took over though. Dante had been secretly busy over the past few days, but nobody knew what he was actually doing. This was only one of the things.

The Albatross swooped down from the sky, and repeatedly fired the burp cannon at the ground ship's front windows. It wasn't enough to damage much of the ship, but enough to briefly override their shields. Dante hopped on a lower wing area of the Albatross as his ship fired the main cannon, completely destroying the window. Some sirens could be heard through the new entrance.

"Come on! You think they call me a monster for no reason?! Suffer!" The Albatross swooped up again, and Dante jumped off, through the opening, onto the ship.

......................................

"What is that psycho doing?!" Marie returned fire from the Fallen Sky members, but things seemed to slow down when Dante made the leap that nobody expected was possible.

Ratchet laughed after a shot, "Ha! I knew he had something up his sleeve! What I wouldn't give to see what he's doing." She fired again.

Chey sighed, "Why could I blow it up?"

"Chey? How about some focus! I don't like getting shot!" Titus was shouting. Neither side was gaining ground, but with the Angel Grenades Dante's team was in better standing.

It wasn't long before screams erupted from the ground ship. Some soldiers seemed to be blown away, others were jumping. Dante was only one person, but they were jumping from everywhere, "Uh... they want to commit suicide rather than fight Dante? What is he doing up there..." Jill was firing at the ground units, but staring at the ship. More and more men jumped to their deaths. Then, the ship started to turn, "Dante has control!"

The ground leader looked up, "Run! Everyone run!" The men wanted to flee, but they didn't have much of a choice. Either back into the sealed off headquarters, or run through the shield and get slaughtered. The two were split down the middle. Some ran, others backed away. Dante's team took out who they could, while the ground ship tilted downwards. Dante was going to crash it, "What is he..."

"Chey! Grenade! Everyone take cover!"

The ground ship began to explode on impact, and there weren't any remaining Fallen Sky members on the ground. The deafening sound shook the ground itself as fire and shrapnel flew all around. There was a shadow of a man in the one area not on fire. Ratchet used her scope to see better, "It's Dante alright. Covered in blood, rage in his eye, eyepatch on the other... why doesn't this shock me?"

Dante simply stood among the flames as their intensity diminished. With Isa taking care of the sky, not much remained. Fallen Sky did not put up a fight like he had hoped. But there was one major target left.

The main gate for the headquarters slowly opened. Dante didn't even need to look, the sounds of emergency alarms were deafening, "About time you showed up."

There she was, the Goddess of Fallen Sky. She was filled with rage, but as soon as Dante made eye contact, some of that turned to fear, "You truly are a man worthy of that unflattering title. I will end you now." Without a moment of hesitation, she dove at Dante with a hand outstretched. He rotated his body and delivered a knee to her gut. She grunted as her body was lifted into the air, but landed gracefully and went in for another attack.

Dante easily evaded the attack, but this time his counter failed. His fist went right through her body, and he was quick to remove it and dodge the quick succession of attacks, "For someone named after a divine being, you're a quick little bitch. But not quick enough." Her method of becoming ethereal was as much a disadvantage as it was an advantage. Dante was great at dodging her attacks, but some didn't need effort as they just went right through him.

She was beginning to get frustrated, and Dante saw what appeared to be sweat forming, "Why won't you die?!"

"I think there's a rule that says you can die more than three times in one lifetime." Dante pulled out Anima and aimed at her head. Nothing happened for a moment, which she used to knock his arm away and continue to attack.

Dante was returning each attack, and after what seemed like an eternity they were both very bruised and beaten. Dante was in much better shape though, and his face seemed disappointed, "What's... what's wrong? Giving... up...?" She was out of breath and her attacks were considerably slowed down. She waited for some sort of response, but nothing came, "All out of-" She froze as he forced his forearm into her throat, pushed her back, and pinned her against the wall of the headquarters.

"You have no idea how much I want to kill you. How much it would please me to see you as nothing but a bloody stain on a rock. And it would be so easy... but she said no. She won't let me kill you."

"She? That defective gun?"

"NEVER SAY THAT!" He pushed harder and the Goddess was gasping for air. She seemed to have forgotten that she could become ethereal, "She is the only one that ever cared for me, the only one that didn't fear me!"

The Goddess stopped. Usually mercenaries name their guns and give them stories, but this was different. The anger that Dante was emanating was something unlike anything she had seen. One of her powers came to mind, so she gingerly reached out her trembling hand to touch Anima.

.......................................................

She was standing in a dream-like world. Everything was hazy and cloudy, but she could see something. Better with a person, but if Anima brought up that sort of emotion in Dante, something would be here.

She was on a ruined skyscraper, on the top. Rather, what is now the top as much of it seemed to collapse. Still many stories above the ground. A group of men ran past her, rifles at the ready. They paused on the side of a doorway, so she decided to walk through the wall to see what made them stop. Dante. A younger Dante, who had both eyes and no scars. Maybe 17 years of age. A little girl was behind him, maybe 9 years of age. They were not in the best predicament. The wall behind them was completely gone, and all they had was a desk as cover. Still, Dante seemed as brave as ever, ready to fight off anyone who wanted that girl. The Goddess didn't know if that was good intentioned, or bad intentioned.

Suddenly, a grenade. She flinched, though she was safe. The desk did not hold up well and both Dante and the girl were flung back. She screamed, and a bloody Dante abandoned his gun to reach out and grab her. The Goddess peered over the edge and saw that the only thing saving the girl was Dante, "Just hold on!"

The girl looked down, then back to Dante, "It is okay Dante. I'm glad I met you and could make you be happy."

"No! Don't talk like that! You won't die here!"

The Goddess could see a weak smile, which turned to horror as gunfire erupted. The Goddess looked back and saw the armed men firing at Dante. Blood poured from his body, but he didn't let go of the girl, "Let go! You'll die!"

"Not... gonna... let... die..."

The little girl smiled, "It is okay, I'm ready Dante. They need you to help them." She wiggled free of a weakened Dante, and continued to smile as she fell.

"ANIMA!!!!"

"So... Anima was that little girl. And it seems her memories, or perhaps her spirit, it tied to the gun. I'm curious as to how that happened, but that is for another time." She looked at a defeated Dante, who was left for dead. There were tears in his eyes, "He's... crying. But... that makes no sense! Is it Anima who showed him crying?"

The memory sped up, three days had passed, and Dante moved. Somehow. All that blood loss, no food or water, and he could still move. But there was something else with him now. That lack of emotion she saw moments ago when she was fighting him. He removed his vest, which didn't do much to protect his body, picked up a discarded knife, and removed the bullets without a mirror or a flinch, "I won't let you down again..."

..................................................................

The Goddess snapped back to the real world as she felt tears in her eyes, "Dante..." The skies above quieted down, either from Fallen Sky members not hearing the call, or the leader in charge is no more. The Goddess became ethereal for a moment and walked through Dante, "I'm... sorry..."

"Oh great. Pity. You're making it harder not to kill you."

Zero Unit and Marie approached as The Albatross and Isa's fleet descended onto the planet, "Everything alright?"

Dante walked towards the landing spot of the Albatross. But before he did, he cleared the chamber and tossed the bullet to the Goddess, "She spared your life today, not me. Be grateful, and never cross my path again."

Isa jumped off of her ship, "Hey! We won! I can't believe it, Sere is a fucking genius!" She paused when she saw the beaten Goddess in a dress, "Oh, you didn't know about the jamming device... ha. Too bad. I guess its time to take shit over. You, Marie, you're in. You, creepy lady, do you know how this place works?"

The Goddess pointed to herself in surprise, "Me? But... I just..."

"You know stuff, you're in. No Ms. All-powerful though." She turned to Dante, "You're in too. Welcome aboard!"

"Not interested."

Isa frowned, "You don't get a choice." She ran over to complain to Dante.

Marie stood next to the Goddess, who was kneeling on the ground, "Confused about the bullet? I was too, for a while." She pulled the necklace she made with her bullet out from behind her shirt. Anima's bullet was kept just how she received it, the necklace pinched it and it was dirty, "It's a good luck charm. Or a sign you owe Dante your life. A little of both, now get up."

The Goddess rose to her feet, "So much death in so little time... who is that man? He has passion and strength, but so much kindness and intelligence."

Isa smiled, "Got him to join, but he won't attend meeting... oh well. As for your question, Dante it the only man in the universe you never, ever, EVER want to cross. He could take over an entire planet with his planning. Not to mention he seems to have the right people. The little genius, the excellent doctor, that awesome negotiator... who made me pay twice as much somehow, I didn't even notice I was doing it until I looked at my account... and a crew of the best warriors in the galaxy, maybe the whole universe!" Isa looked around and made sure only Marie and the Goddess could hear, "He acts like it's nothing no matter how big the job. I don't know how he does it."

The Goddess was staring at the bullet, when Marie had to ask, "So... how do you do that fizzle thing?"

......................................................

Zero Unit was already celebrating. Dante picked up a bottle of whiskey he put behind the bar, "Hm, scotch instead." He opened it and drank the entire bottle as the crew partied, "Good work people. Enjoy the party. I'm a little tired, so I'll go lie down."

"Oh!" Sere ran up to him, "We had a hacking attempt on the ship, but they stopped soon after. I asked the AI, but it didn't know why. So what did you do?"

Dante smirked, "Ask the AI again, it seems my memory of something I may or may not have done was erased..." He walked away casually. The door to his cabin opened up, and his room was just as he remembered it. Except for the trophy wall, which was empty as of a few days ago, was now filled with things. Some flowers, trinkets, pieces of armor from Zero Unit. Most notably, Ratchet's bow, Angel's gun, one of Sere's old wrenches, a stethoscope from Rachel, Cratis' badge, Jill's binoculars, a deactivated grenade from Chey's collection (he hoped it was deactivated), and one of Mira's rings. Quite a collection. All he did was fall down onto his bed and fall asleep.

Only for a few minutes though. He woke up on his back, "My arms feel heavier than usual... and softer... and fuzzier... I should probably open my eye." Mira and Rachel were on one arm, Ratchet and Miss Star the other, "Like that nightmare, except I'm pretty sure this is real."

Ratchet smiled, "Mira got us together and we talked for a bit. She made a really good point."

Miss Star chimed in, "Right! We all want you, so we share!"

"This way, we can all pin you down so you can't escape." Rachel sounded a little more evil than usual.

Mira kissed his cheek, "I am a good negotiator. You did good, do just relax."

Dante grumbled, "I was trying to... if only they put up more of a fight you'd all be too tired to do this. I hate space so much..."