FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Dante felt hopeless, just sitting there watching his team edging closer and closer to defeat. The score hadn't changed so they were keeping up their defences. He wasn't even in the mood to cheer them on because he felt he had let them down.

Most of the home crowd were feeling almost as glum as Dante. They knew they were never going to catch up with the other team. Not at this rate.

Cat and Mary were still positioned either side of Dante, both of them on the edge of their seats as they watched the ball make it's way to John but, he just barely missed as one of the defenders barged him as he took the shot.

The crowd roared but soon went "AW!" in unison as the ball flew past the side of the goals.

Dante still couldn't focus tidy. His walking had improved a little; he could stand but, not for too long or walk too far. What made Dante's guilt worse is that Leon and his posse were sitting right behind him and were quite disappointed that Dante was off.

He didn't want to turn around as to avoid their gazes and stares that would tear into him. They could be just as enthusiastic as they were before but he didn't want to take the chance of any unwanted arguments. Especially because Cat and Mary; were there. You wouldn't here the end of it if they started to argue with them.

The coach was standing on the side-lines as he usually does, screaming his lungs out, turning brick red in the face as he tried to control the team by screaming orders at them. If they missed a pass or got tackled, he would grab his head fur in frustration and mutter insults under his breath.

One or two of the subs in front would sometimes turn around and try and get a quick glance at Dante, hoping not to be seen by him during their sympathetic stares. If he saw any sign of their heads turning around, he would hang his head low; resting his elbows just above his knees so he would lean forwards while staring at the floor to avoid direct eye contact.

His head was still pounding. He had been given an ice pack to put over his forehead where he received the hit to the face which was also throbbing very irritatingly. His neck was aching from resting awkwardly so much and the ice pack he was given had now melted.

There were more boos as the opposing team had tackled one of their players and had sent him flying to the floor while the visitor stands were roaring and cheering as their team ridiculed the others. The player was given a warning as Cat joined the coach in cursing about a clear foul.

"Hey! Will you keep it down! It's bad enough that I have to listen to everyone around me, not to mention you screaming in my ear," Dante breathed, as his face contorted, his head felt like it was going to burst.

"Sorry. You know, I think you should go and have a lie down somewhere. Maybe go back to your quarters and have a rest. The screaming and tense atmosphere must be getting to you," she suggested, scratching his ear apologetically.

Dante looked down at the field where Jack had now received the ball and fed it through to John again, before being tackled and the ball continued it's way back up the other end. He then looked to his left and right, considering the possibility.

If he stayed, he would get to see the entire match and hopefully won't miss any kind of miracle that might just happen.

If he went to his quarters to rest for a while, he wouldn't have to put up with the stares from the others. He could calm down too. His head still hurt quite a bit. The tension was way too much for him now.

"Yeah...good idea. I think I should go. My head hurts a lot and all this shouting isn't doing me any good...Uh...Can one of you guys help me? I'm still pretty beat, and can barely keep focus on you guys. You can tell me how the match went later...I don't want to see anymore. Plus, I'm pretty tired," he finally decided.

"Yeah sure. I'll help you, could do with a walk myself actually. I'm sick of all this sitting and the ref is being a total asshole," Mary offered, swearing under her breath ash she gritted her teeth. He could see she was ready to go on a killing spree with that look of frustration.

"I think I'll come with you. By the looks of things we aren't going to even score another goal," Cat moaned as she got up and stretched her legs as she stood up. She wobbled a little and held her head a little as her eyes flickered a little.

"Oh...head rush!"

*******

Mary and Cat said their goodbyes as they left Dante to have a lie down in his quarters.

He had made his way over to the bed and was now in the process of sitting on it. He sat there for a few moments, just to settle down a bit before putting his feet up on the bed and laying an arm over his eyes to block out the light.

The glare of it was unbearable and was making his head pound even harder.

He laid there for a few minutes with his eyes closed and his arm covering his eyes before opening them again and looking around the room. The room was very plain.

The walls were painted a very dull green, and the ceiling was supposed to be white but was getting stained a yellow colour. His door seemed quite tatty; many cracks covered the edges of the door.

The facility must have been around for quite a few years; it seamed older than the Major. He never really took notice of it until now; maybe the pain was keeping him on his toes.

He laid there for a few moments before nodding off to sleep where he could be rid of the worries and stress of the world outside his head.

*******

Blackness shrouded him in every direction. There was no-one there to comfort him or give words of hope to him.

Dante tried to move but his feet were slowly being swallowed by the darkness beneath him. He struggled to pull himself free but the darkness just kept advancing and overwhelming him, creeping slowly up his body.

He tried to call out for help but his voice was silent, not even a whisper emanating from his muted muzzle. The black shroud was now creeping past his waist and was still advancing upon him, paralysing every inch it covered.

He was still trying to call for help, his arms flailing over his head as he tried to break free.

At chest height, he stopped trying to uselessly call for help and started to try and brush and beat off the darkness that seemed to consume him so menacingly slow. All he'd accomplished was making the situation worse as the darkness had now clamped his arms to his body and had sped up it's consumption.

Now up to his neck, he'd lost all hope of ever seeing anyone again. He felt so alone. The darkness seemed to not only consume him but also any positive feelings he once had.

Quickly devoid from any hope, he began to become filled with depression and sadness, tears slowly starting to form before he was completely engulfed in the darkness.

He could feel the shroud now creeping over his face, and as it was about to completely cover his face, he closed his eyes tight and clenched his teeth as it finally washed completely over him.

Completely paralysed in his own sorrow and heartache, he slowly became filled with more and more depression and sadness, the darkness so cold and unforgiving...he felt like dying.

"Dante...You'll be OK,"

His ears perked at the soft voice calling out to him, a sweet yet strong voice which sounded so loving, so powerful that he felt like he was wrapped in a warm blanket.

Dante opened his eyes in shock and was now surrounded with nothing but a blinding light. With a gasp, he shielded his eyes with his hands, trying to get a glimpse of the owner of the heavenly voice.

The confused and startled 'roo paused, stopping on the spot as he managed to focus on something that caught his eye.

Standing there, in the midst of the bright light, emitting a light just as bright as the one surrounding them, was an unknown figure hidden within; the light being bright enough to only reveal their outline. With slight hesitation, he curiously walked towards it.

"Hmm...look at you. You've grown so much. You've always been a handsome little devil, you...hehe" the voice playfully sighed. Dante still continued to advance on the figure. Was it really...her?

"Mom?" he dreamily blurted out, though feeling confused more than ever before. As he got closer, a slight expression of a melancholy smile was upon the figure's muzzle.

"It's so nice to see you," the voice said again, almost a slight hint of sadness was present yet still emitted the warm glow that washed away Dante's sorrow the more he heard the soft murrs.

"Good luck after the game...they're counting on you. Though, I don't think you need it," it said with a soft chuckle which hit Dante with a powerful wave of warm euphoria.

He still made his way towards the figure, picking up his pace into a jog. He had to see her; he had to see what she looked like. With a soft sigh, almost seaming tearful and regretful to leave, the figure slowly floated mysteriously away.

"Bye hun...I hope I'll see you again sometime," it sighed again; waving it's outlined arm towards him as it glided away. Dante's eyes opened in shock as he realised it was leaving. In desperation, he started to run to try and catch it, holding an arm out to grab a hold of the heavenly figure.

"Mom! Wait!" he yelled out. As he got closer and closer the light got brighter and brighter. It got to a point where it was absolutely blinding and caused him to stop in his tracks, gasping again as he once again had to shield his eyes.

He tried to look out in front of him where he managed to see the figure looking back at him, though he could now see her smiling at him before the light got brighter and brighter and engulfed him. He was shielding his eyes the whole time, the feeling of falling through the air suddenly making his stomach lurch...

*******

Suddenly, Dante hit his bed with a thud and woke up, jolting upright and was swinging his head left and right, as if to grab a second glimpse of her. Dante was sweating a little and gasping for breath. He confusedly looked about, thoughts flashing though his mind.

As he finally came to his senses once more, he swivelled his legs to the left so he sat up on the bed and rested his head on his arm, which was resting on his right knee. He closed his eyes as he panted softly.

He didn't know what he was feeling; he was too confused to put everything together.

He wiped his face from the little beads of sweat, and then stood up, making his way over to a wall where he rested his forehead onto it as he tried to decipher what had gone on.

This was new. He'd never had that dream ever before. It didn't seem to be part of the memories he had managed to recall. Was this one of his memories he hadn't remembered creeping into his dreams? Was it a memory at all?

Was the figure really his mother? If it were, how could it be a memory? He was told that he was orphaned too early for him to remember.

He just stared blankly at the wall, questions racing through his mind. He slowly picked his forehead up off the wall, cold sweat lining the wall where it once rested, still staring confusedly as he tried to answer questions he asked himself.

He was snapped out of his dream-like state abruptly as his door opened with a very large cracking squeak. The door slowly squeaked opened to reveal Leon and one of his friends standing in the doorway, hopeful smiles on their faces.

"Hey, you any better?" he asked him, his tail curling and un-curling enthusiastically.

"I...I-uh. Yeah. Yeah, I feel much better." Come to think of it, his splitting headache was now almost gone and he could stand upright too.

"Enough maybe, to play the game!" he stated confidently with a smile. Leon and his friend smirked at each other before giving Dante an excited expression as he made his way towards them.

"I think it's time for a little payback!"

*******

The coach was still sat there on the edge of his seat. It seemed to be that there was no way they were going to even draw with the other team. But the coach sat there, excitedly as he had hope that something would come up that would create an opportunity for them to win.

Leon and his friend had now re-entered the grounds with Dante and were making their way over to the coach. Leon prodded the coach's shoulder gingerly.

"What...what do you want? Go away, I'm trying to watch the game," he grumbled, not bothered to turn back and motioning his hand to shoe them away.

"But coach, look who's here." Leon indicated gleefully. With a loud, deep sigh, the coach turned around rather reluctantly.

"Look, I'm trying to concentrate on the game...Dante?"

With an innocent, little smirk, Dante gave a little wave.

"You're up! Are you OK?" the coach fumbled around, jolting up.

"Yeah, I feel much better now. Head still hurts a bit but, other than that, I feel fine."

"Well...that's great! Uh...uh...hang on," the coach stumbled for words as he instantly began to excitedly plan his decisions. He stumbled over the bench he was sitting on, looking back and forth from the field to a large notepad he kept, skimming though it page-by-page.

"I got it!" he blurted out after a short while, almost making them jump.

"Dante...warm up! You'll be going on now."

Leon and his friend now looked back at Dante with smug smiles on their faces. Dante just put his hand up and made the taunt he had done for them earlier, and they both cheered and gave him a high five as they walked passed him and made their way back into the crowd.

Dante turned around and began to stretch for a warm up as the coach gave the linesman a substitute change. The game was still on but, it wasn't long before it came to a throw in.

The linesman flagged the ref with the board to change players.

All the players looked over at the cocky striker who had taken Dante's place. He seemed to be rather offended by the substitution that was being put into effect as he began to jog off the field, muttering under his breath.

Dante stood there, feeling full of anxiety as he shook his legs a little, almost as if he could shake it off. As the player made his way into the sidelines, all the other team-mates stared a little in disbelief as Dante strode on for a second time.

Many furs in the crowd didn't realise that Dante was walking on to take his place. They had lost interest due to the fact that they were losing so badly. They were all chatting to each other about what they had been doing in training and what was going to be on the lunch menu after the match.

As Dante jogged over to his position, he was met by the relieved sighs of many of his team-mates; the most relieved and happiest was John.

"Hey, nice to have you back," John said, giving each other a high five as he met up with him.

"It's nice to be back."

"You think we got a chance of even getting close to drawing?" John asked him.

"Draw? Nah...we're gonna win!" Dante laughed as he stared over at the bench where the player who hit him in the head sat. John just smiled at him and took his own position.

The referee blew his whistle and the ball was thrown back in by one of his team-mates.

It made it's way to John who had run to an open position where no-one was covering. Soon after he received the ball, he was making his way towards the edge of the goalie's area and was soon met by two defenders.

He passed the ball back to the player who threw it to him, and he began to make his way down the field. He was blocked by another defender but managed to pass the ball back to John.

John made his way to the edge of the box on the right side and was quickly being pursued by the last defender. As he just got in front of him, John chipped the ball to the left, sending it flying over to Dante who was completely open.

Everything seemed to flow in slow motion as the ball drifted through the air, endlessly floating as if it were filled with helium. In a sudden rush of panic, seeing the ball fly towards him, Dante let himself fall backwards, his back towards the goals. As he half flipped backwards, the ball made it's way into the path of his foot; bicycle kicking it directly into the goals.

Dante lay there for a second, time almost now standing still as he rolled over and saw the ball, placed neatly inside the net. It was only a few seconds later that some of the crowd and his team-mates had seen he'd scored.

Without warning, the crowd exploded with excitement and glee as they saw the ball laid in the back of the net, and hear the referee's whistle sounding. John and the other striker had sprinted over to Dante, before bouncing over to him and pilling him with absolute joy.

Dante had made a futile attempt to stop them by crawling backwards a bit, but ended up stumbling over himself making it easier for them to pile him. The rest of the team followed suit and all gave him a hug and or shake to show that they greatly acknowledged his achievement.

All the while the, the crowd was screaming and applauding Dante's name as they all chanted it and started to clap a rhythm in unison. Dante looked over to the coach between all the team and seen him picking up a short fox who was one of the subs and was spinning him around in the air, as if he were a child.

Dante just looked as if nothing had happened. He wanted to smile, to embrace the applause of being feeling wanted but he just couldn't. The only thing he did feel was embarrassment and his headache that he's had since his first attack, which had grown worse from the hit to the head he'd received.

It hadn't been long until the teams had gotten back to their positions and had kicked off. The crowd was now buzzing from their renewed hope of winning. They still had to score four or more goals though to win, and that was sure going to be hard.

All the players now scrambling around on the field as the ball made it from player to player; to each other or the opposing.

Dante's team had a renewed spirit now that he was back on. It was hard to believe that they would seek hope from a kid. It seemed to be working though as their playing had improved.

One of their mid-fielders had tackled one of the other players and was now in possession of the ball. He ran a few meters before feeding it through to John; who was waiting for it in the box. He turned around and was immediately met by the keeper, but managed to pick it up over the diving keeper before tripping over him and falling to the floor.

The ball rolled towards the goals slowly and was neatly put in to the back of the net by Dante who had beaten the defenders to it with amazing unmatched speed. The crowd bellowed and roared in excitement as they got closer, their hope renewed even more.

John got up off the floor and ran over to Dante; who was reluctant to see his team-mate running over to him again and buried himself under his paws ready.

"Hey! Great goal! We need you to do that a bit more," he said to Dante in a casual manner.

"I couldn't have done it without ya', buddy," he replied. John just smiled at him, giving him a respective high five.

Just before the next kick off, the game had paused to let on two fresh defenders taking place of strikers on the opposing team's ranks. It seemed that they were getting a little scared now as the pressure increased.

As soon as the game started again, the team had possession of the ball straight away. Their mid-fielder had passed it back to Josh, their goalie. Before the lone striker could get to him, he'd hammered the ball down the field.

Dante took the opportunity and started to sprint to catch up with the ball. As he got to the spot, one of the other sides player's was there waiting for it. Dante just kept on running and let the ball fall to his heel, launching the ball over his head and the other player, before receiving it right in front of himself and continuing down the field.

The crowd was screaming to Dante, all shouting in unison; beckoning him on to continue. Ahead of him, their defenders were making their way towards him. John was running with him, barely keeping up with his pace. At the last few moments, Dante chipped the ball with the outside of his right foot, curling the ball in front of John. John received the ball and hammered it at the goals, curling it into the top left corner.

Dante's head ached even worse than it had when he woke from his unconsciousness as the crowd cheered from John's superb goal. John punched the air in celebration and shouted loudly as he ran around the boundaries of the pitch.

Dante just watched him unbelievably as to how much he could milk the crowd.

As everyone calmed down once again, things began to get extremely tense as it was getting close to the end of the match. They were still six to five down and they needed to score at least two goals for a chance of winning, and they only had ten minutes left.

Their scoring streak had calmed down once again. The ball was going from team to team, each side having the ball taken from their possession. Each team had a few breaks but, it was quickly ended by the goalies saving their shots.

Luckily before long they had another chance. John was running with the ball and had made it into the box once again. As he went to shoot, a defender came sliding in from the left and caught him flat on the side of his foot.

John choked in pain as he was taken off his feet and his foot clicked as the player slid straight under him. The ball was sent flying in the air and Dante had luckily been in the vicinity as it bounced his way, finishing off the play with a roundhouse kick, sending the ball grinding into the back of the net.

The crowd screamed once more and Dante flinched as his head ached from the roars. The referee hadn't noticed John as Dante scored the goal and allowed play to continue but, he soon noticed when he saw John rocking on the floor with his face contorted with pain.

Dante ran over to him as he noticed him, just hoping that it wasn't serious. A crowd gathered soon around John, and things got worse as they found out he'd broken his ankle.

As John was helped off the pitch, most of the team's players were complaining to the referee about a penalty but, he wouldn't give one because he didn't see it clearly enough.

Dante just watched John get placed on the side and have a large ice pack put onto his swollen ankle. He couldn't believe how close they were to winning and now John had been taken off. It's not like Nick, the other striker was bad but, John had been helping most of the time.

It seemed harder than ever now as Dante and Nick were left alone. There was only three minutes left; that was including injury time and they badly needed to get at least one more goal. If they drew, they'd have to go to penalty shoot-outs. And as great a goalie Josh was, he'd had a lot of trouble with that in practice.

Once more the ball was being passed from one team to the other. The other side seemed to just want to waste time. They knew what they were doing and were playing it safe.

Suddenly, their mid-fielders went in for the attack as they managed to break through.

All the players ran to their end of the pitch to aid each other. Josh was feeling the tension a little as the mid-fielder in possession with the ball had now passed it to their lone striker. He was in a very good position as well.

He ran to the edge of the box kicked the ball with a fast pace towards Josh. Keeping calm, Josh made a superb save as he acrobatically dived for the ball, catching it and rolling as he landed on the floor. Following through with his roll, he quickly got up off the floor, looking around for any unmarked players.

"Dante!" he screamed, as he punted the ball down the field.

Dante had stayed back, barely keeping on side. Dante hesitated for a moment, seeing the ball flying towards him, as well as realising that there was probably less than a minute left. He was going to have to shoot off this...

As the ball bounced next to him, he followed it to it's second bounce, volleying it above himself. He watched the ball fly above his head for a moment, then took aim at the goals.

The goalie was on the edge of his box and didn't realise that Dante was even planning on shooting. He timed his swing right and spun around, round-housing the ball and sending it pummelling through the air, over the goalie and curling into the back of the net.

The whistle sounded...

Dante cringed in pain once again as his head almost felt like bursting as the crowd screamed louder than they had throughout the match.

The 'roo had even more of a shock as he was grabbed from behind and lifted up into the air by his team-mates. He pleaded to them to let him down because he was upside down but either they couldn't hear him over their cheers or were messing about with him playfully.

Once they put him back down, he keeled over from head rush; a consequence of being hung upside down for too long. The crowd was still cheering along with his team-mates and, as he looked over in the crowd, he could see Cat and Mary jumping up and down, screaming and holding each other in a hug.

Dante sat there feeling more embarrassed than probably had been before until someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind. He turned around and saw John standing there, offering his hand out to him to help him up with a smile on his muzzle. He picked up his arm and grabbed a hold of John's.

"That was some nice striking. Look's like you're finally learning something," he said sarcastically, wobbling slightly.

"Yeah, but I already knew how to avoid being tackled like that. I'll have to teach you sometime," he retorted. John laughed and gave him another high five, before they both began to walk off the pitch, John holding onto his shoulder as he hopped off.

They'd only taken a few steps before a weird noise filled the air. The buzzing of the crowd was dying down, soon beginning to realise it as well. Dante and John had stopped in the middle of the field, wondering where the noise was coming from, their heads reeling left and right.

Screeches and squeals were just blaring from all around them. As Dante took another step, red lights began to glow all around them and the sudden sound of breaking glass was heard as creatures burst out all around them from these red light portals.

Dante spun around, looking all around him to find that they had completely surrounded him and John, their disfigured bodies slowly rising. Dante backed up to John, both of them back to back, turning on the spot, John more awkwardly from his injured ankle.

"Uh...John...What the hell are these things?" Dante asked him, feeling very intimidated. One of the reasons being was that they were wielding seven foot scythes.

They looked like zombies; their flesh worn away but still had entrails attached to them, even withered fur at random areas. They were attired in filthy rags that looked like they had several years of grime and decay growing over them. They were bent double as if they couldn't support their own weight, not to mention the scythes and the colour of them was almost completely black.

They had emotionless expressions on their faces although their mouths were agape as if they had no control of their jaws anymore; their eyes had a blood red glow to them which made them look menacing.

With a slow, almost lazy pace, they shifted slowly around to face Dante and John, low growls rumbling from them before they roared out and began to stalk their way towards them.

"I don't have a damn clue...man are they ugly though."

They got closer and closer towards them, some people now calling for help as the two furs were trapped in between the hoard of monsters. They had gotten close enough for Dante to make out the dried marks of blood that must have stained it from any previous victims they must have killed.

"I don't like this one bit. What the hell are we gonna do?" Dante urgently squeaked.

"I don't know. But we'd better come up with something fast. These guys are getting a little too close for comfort."

Dante watched as the monsters continually advanced upon him and John. They had quickened their pace a little although they were moving very slow to start with; not even a walking pace.

Dante then heard someone behind him shuffling along. He turned around to find John had limped head first into the crowd of monsters behind him.

"John! No!" Dante yelled but it was too late. As John reached them, he went to hit one of them, only having his arm caught by the one he was about to attack, then effortlessly thrown into the crowd stand.

"Oh...crap!" Dante cursed. They could have probably killed John and they were still making their way towards Dante. This pointed out that they were either trying to get rid of them both or, that they were going for Dante.

Some one called out to Dante to watch out. Dante turned around to find one of the monsters had reached him and had its scythe in mid swing.

The little 'roo just watched in terror, drooping his ears as it built momentum for its swing before a distorted, booming voiced called out.

"Stop!"

Without any question, it halted at Dante's neck, the blade less than an inch away from decapitating him.

"You know what the plan was, you leave him for me!" it bellowed.

The monster leaned back and seemed to cower as it left Dante alone, dropping and dragging its scythe along the floor as it retreated. As he looked around to see that they had all stopped advancing, heavy footsteps could be heard behind him.

He slowly turned around again to spot a large black figure walking towards him. As it made its way through the dense crowd of creatures, they moved like a black sea to allow it to pass through them.

The ground shook slightly with every step it took towards him, too scared to even retreat as he watched the dark figure stomp it's way through the crowd, stopping barely a meter away from him.

Dante being only about five foot; was towered over by the massive figure. It stood about six and a half foot tall. It had black armour with engraved patterns all over it. Now and then, blue light would serge through the engraved patterns.

Its head was very pointy and black, as if it was black marble, glinting in the light. It too had glowing eyes but it was a blue light emanating from the seemingly empty sockets.

At its left side was a scabbard that held its samurai sword. But the sword was extremely big; at least five foot in length. The metallic hand guard glinted dangerously as the blue surges lit it up.

Dante was trembling at the sight of the figure in front of him.

"So...we've finally found you. I must admit, you were difficult to find. We thought you were already dead," it grumbled.

"W...W-What?" Dante fumbled for words.

"Ha...Not what I was expecting; though. What do you expect though, when you're raised by these," it said as it raised both its arms and turned on the spot, to point out all the furs in the stands. It sounded disgusted.

"What...what are y-you?" Dante asked, still trembling. It turned back around to face Dante.

"That's not your concern. What should be is the reason why I'm here," it said, now sneering at him, though hard to see from it's expressionless armoured face.

"OK...but...who or what are you? And what are these?" Dante asked, pointing to the monsters that surrounded their position.

"Silence! I've already wasted enough of my time trying to find you! I'm not wasting more by conversing with such a treacherous being!"

Dante began to tremble a little and was also getting confused.

"Ha! How could such a powerful warrior create such a cowering piece of meat like this?" it laughed, now slowly advancing towards Dante.

"Huh?" Dante choked, now retreating from the advancing black knight, shaking in fear.

"I said silence! Stay still and I'll end your pathetic excuse you call a life, clean and quick!" it roared and grabbed it's sword, unsheathing it from its scabbard.

Dante just seemed too confused and scared to think things through. He was now being advanced upon by this insane Black Knight and was going to be killed if he didn't get away soon.

Furs in the crowd now sounded distressed, shouting out for someone to help. Dante just continually walked backwards as he watched the menacing figure advance upon him.

As Dante quickened his pace, he had reached the edges of the surrounding monsters, bumping into one. He turned to face it and was pushed flying back towards the Black Knight who swung his sword.

It connected with Dante just barely, but created a big gash going diagonal up his torso. As he hit the floor, he screamed in pain as the slash he'd received had been very deep, staining the floor with blood.

Dante hugged his body in pain on the floor as the Black Knight heavily stepped over to him.

It laughed malevolently down at Dante and raised his sword in both hands with the blade pointing downwards. As it brought up the sword to impale Dante on the end, gunfire suddenly blasted out as someone at the edge of the pitch was now firing at the crowd of monsters, tearing them apart and cutting a path through them.

The Black Knight looked up, very annoyed, roaring as his sick game was being interrupted.

"Fools! How dare you make a challenge like this!" it roared, now turning his attention to the attacker. As the sounds of the gunfire got closer and closer, the last few monsters fell as the attacker burst through the horde.

"Hey! Leave him alone!"

It was John! He was now aiming at the knight with an assault rifle he had taken from the armoury. Not far behind, Nick and Josh came running up behind him, they too armed with rifles.

"FREEZE! Step away from Dante or you'll have an entire clip unloaded into your sorry ass!" Josh yelled.

"You think your weapons can kill me! HA!" the knight bellowed. The three of them looked at each other, confused and slightly intimidated at the distorted laughing. Dante was looking up at John with a painful expression and trying to signal to get away.

The Black Knight began to advance upon the three of them. Without hesitation, the three of them opened fire at it; bullets were pummelling and deflecting of his armour. It still advanced, not even flinching.

His armour was deflecting some of the bullets but some seemed to penetrate it, piercing his armour with a loud thud as it blasted through into the flesh of the knight. Not long after, the three of them had run out of bullets and were in the middle of reloading when the knight had reached them.

Dante watched in horror as the knight swung at all three of them and slashed them all in one swing, sending each one flailing in pain.

"No! Guys, get away!" Dante yelled, barely projecting his voice due to being breathless from pain himself.

The Black Knight laughed maniacally, flicking flecks of blood onto the ground from his glinting blade, and sending a powerful gust of wind and a shockwave backward from the swish, showing off tremendous strength and power as the wave hit Dante and toppled him backwards.

The three furs were laying on the floor; now in pain themselves. John only looked up for a split second before they were all launched across the floor, driving a groove into the ground as the knight kicked them with tremendous force.

Dante couldn't take it anymore; he had to do something before the knight hurt them even more, or worse, killed them! He tried to drag himself up off the floor as he saw the knight making his way towards the three of them sprawled helplessly on the floor.

"So, we have a few mortals who think they can stop me with these crude pieces of metal you call weapons!" the Black Knight growled loudly. John and the others looked at each other confused but genuinely frightened.

It seemed that they couldn't understand a word it was saying but, how could Dante?

"Pathetic! Look at you, just lumps of meat. You shall make a good meal for my minions. Ha! Yes. Enjoy Hell!" it laughed, raising his sword to plunge it through John's chest. John could only watch and cringe in fear as the knight started to plunge his sword towards him.

Suddenly, the Black Knight was sent flying over John, head first before crashing into the ground.

The knight growled loudly, picking himself up off the floor, working from a growl to a roar of fury as it angrily jolted upright back onto it's feet.

"How dare you! You shall pay whoever you..." it roared, then paused as he turned around, surprised as he saw the attacker.

John looked up again, first at the knight, then in the direction the knight was facing and then gasped a little. Dante was standing, leaning forward a little, breathing heavily and the gash across his chest covering his torn clothes in blood.

Clearly, it was Dante that had hit the knight flying over John, and was clearly looking angry, staring right back at the Black knight, right in it's empty eyes.

Dante took a few steps forward, positioning himself in front of John and the others, not taking his piercing, enraged gaze from the knight.

"Dante! What do you think you're doing! Get away, now!" John choked in pain.

Dante took his gaze off the knight for the first time, and looked down at John with the piercing stare that showed he didn't care. He just shook his head at John, a flaming sense of duty suddenly alight in his eyes as if something had taken him over.

"No...fall back...I got this." he said calmly, now returning his gaze at the knight, who was now making his way towards them again with a quick, angry step.

"Dante! Quick! He's coming back...get out of here!" Josh blurted out. He had crawled his way over to the both of them, while Nick was laid out cold.

Dante just ignored them and started to walk towards the knight to cut him off from his injured friends, trying to stall him so John and Josh could try and get away.

"Go on...get out of here." he called to the two of them, just getting out of reach from their attempts to grab him by the foot to stop him from going any further.

After taking, not too many paces, Dante had made his way right in front of the much taller figure, his sword unsheathed and his breath drawling out loudly and long.

"DANTE!" was the only thing John and Josh could barely shout out as the crowd began to stir and all the furs began to shout and call out in distress because they didn't even know what to do.

"HOW DARE YOU!" the knight roared, his long blade glinting as he shook with rage. Dante didn't even flinch, staring right back up the knight into his glowing eyes with the same piercing stare and the fire within it that John had seen.

Without warning, the knight had suddenly brought his sword back to swing at Dante; John and Josh only able to scream his name within the few seconds he stood there and the crowd roaring and screaming as the knight finally swung at Dante who hadn't even flinched.

The knight roared as he swung the blade as hard as he could to hack as far as he could through Dante. At the last second, Dante jumped up high enough to dodge the flailing blade and his foot had made it's way into the face of the knight, sending him flying backwards.

There was another loud crash as the knight hit the floor and his sword lay next to Dante who was standing there, still looking at the knight with that fire in his eyes, fixated on it.

The entire crowd as well as John and the others had stopped calling out to Dante and were just staring at his position. The knight growled loudly and had aggressively got back up and thrust his hand with an out stretched finger.

"Kill him!" he bellowed, clearly enraged at the sudden attack. Not long after, loud, fast paced stomping could be heard all around. It was a few of the disfigured creatures making their way hastily towards Dante; their heavy scythes at the ready to cut him down.

He bided his time and took action just before they could swing at him, dispatching them one after another with ease, fists and feet flying and sending each one head over heals.

He managed to decapitate and break some in two as their fragile bodies almost burst into dust. As the creatures broke into different pieces, their dry, dusty bodies burst into blue flames and scorched the ground, though staining it with a blood-red mark.

A few more had managed to swipe at him but they were too slow for his agile manoeuvring. He made two attack another as he leapt up over it's horizontal lunge while the two behind slashed at him, causing them to tear the front attacker to shreds.

Screaming and yelling was exploding from the crowd, watching the sudden onslaught of attacks against Dante. John and the others were trying to crawl their way to the rifles that lay on the floor.

"Come on Josh! He needs our help!" John shouted hoarsely, clutching at his harshly slashed torso as Josh followed behind on the floor, Nick barely conscious from his deep wounds.

Dante weaved in and out as the creatures swung madly at him, now and then managing to land a few of his own attacks squarely onto their unstable bodies. The monsters seemed to slowly stand off from him, they themselves becoming intimidated slowly as they watched him take down one after another in quick succession.

With an amazing feat of accuracy and skill, he evaded one monster's attack and came in close to throw the creature flying, disarming it as it hit the floor with a loud thud. Quickly looking up, Dante brandished the scythe he now had, swinging and spinning it wildly and cutting down even more with ease.

Dante was too busy to notice that the Black Knight had gathered up his weapon once more, the only warning was a loud thud as it stomped towards him quickly, heavy paces shaking the ground as it ran at him with it's sword at the ready.

As the knight got in reach, Dante turned at the last second, setting the scythe in front of himself and parried the slash, his body lifting from the immense strength and disarming him instantly as it got sliced in two. The knight followed up with a second slash only for Dante to roll out of the way.

"Dante! Get down!" John and Josh called out as Dante had just got up, only to dive on the floor again as John and Josh fired at a crowd of monsters behind him. They finally managed to give him cover fire.

"DIE!" the knight roared furiously, plunging it's sword down at Dante before just piercing a shred of clothing that loosely dangled from his body as he rolled out of the way.

Following up with a few slashes and stabs, barely missing him, Dante rolled across the ground quickly before jumping up from the roll to standing upright.

Before he could even get up properly, the Knight lunged at him with his sword, almost driving it through Dante's torso.

He barely managed to dodge as he bent backwards and as low as he could, once again quickly rolling to the side out of the very awkward looking position as the Knight's foot stomped at the ground.

"Stop this infernal attempt to save yourself; trai...!" the Knight bellowed, but was soon cut off as he was once again riddled with bullets from John and Josh's cover-fire.

It swung around in rage as he surged with energy, the blue engravings on it's armour shinning bright as he began to charge at them.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! DIE!" it bellowed, holding it's sword, ready to swing. John and Josh just kept firing, trying to subdue the mad run until Dante sprinted over like lightning and kicked the knight right in the stomach, causing it to bend forward from the force.

In quick succession, Dante swung and smashed the knight where it's face should have been with a fist, following up with a kick to the back of it's legs and finishing it off with a powerful elbow to it's chest, sending it flying backwards into the ground and creating another large groove on the pitch.

"H-holy crap!" Josh yipped, staring up at Dante and down to the knight who was now growling and slowly dragging itself up off the floor.

"W-what the heck have they been d-doing with you...?!" Josh continued, clutching his chest a little as his heart pounded away.

John just looked down a little, while Dante just seemed fixated on the knight who had now gotten up once more and was quickly but cautiously stalking his way towards them.

"Guys...get Nick out of here...now!" he firmly said, holding his stance and creeping just as cautious towards the knight.

Some of the crowd were also getting onto the pitch, mainly to go and help out John, Josh and Nick but they didn't even want to go near Dante or the Knight who were now battling it out once again, though Dante seemed to mostly be dodging or closely having his already torn clothes slashed to even smaller pieces.

As the crowd finally helped off John and the other, Cat and Mary went to run onto the pitch to help Dante. They were soon stopped as they were gripped by the shoulders by John and Josh.

"Come on...Dante needs help!" Cat cried out, struggling a little but John kept a grip on her as he was held up by the coach. John just gave her a piercing stare and shook his head slowly with his expressionless gaze. Cat whimpered softly, turning back to the scene where the fight was still occurring.

With a load roar, the knight swung vertically downwards, barely missing Dante as he moved to the side, a slither of head-fur floating to the ground. Instinctively, Dante took his chance and kicked the knight's hands, sending the sword spinning into the air, the blade gleaming and flashing as it spun before piercing the floor upright.

With a raging roar, Dante swung a fist directly at the knight's face once more, but was instantly caught in the knight's larger hand, gripping it tightly so that he couldn't avoid him.

With virtually no effort, the knight growled mercilessly and almost crushed Dante's paw in it's strong grip, the 'roo crying out in pain and slowly falling to his knees as he gripped at his own wrist. Yells and screams burst out behind him as they watched on in horror to see that he'd suddenly been subdued.

"You've become much more of a nuisance than you are worth, traitor...now I shall send you back to hell!" it roared once more, letting go of his paw only to send him flying with a kick to his chest across the pitch and crash onto the floor.

As Dante landed, he hit the floor with such force, his head hitting it just as hard and stunning him greatly in the process. He coughed and spattered blood over himself; the force of the kick must have broken a rib...or three, he felt he had punctured his lung.

As he writhed slowly in pain on the floor, hazily turning onto his side and coughing profusely, blood dribbling out of his muzzle and onto the grass, the knight trudged it's way heavily to it's sword, tearing it out of the ground.

Dante groaned loudly on the floor, still coughing rather messily as more blood sprayed the floor. Loud thuds caused the ground to vibrate once more, getting louder and stronger until the knight finally stopped at the cringing mess on the floor.

It kicked Dante roughly, rolling him over a few times before stopping on his back, then stepping up to him and holding Dante firmly on the floor with his foot as he stepped heavily on his throat.

More screams and cries of distress were occurring as everyone watched helplessly, John even trying to drag himself over there as everyone held him back.

Dante made choking sounds beneath the knight's heavy foot, weakly squirming beneath it as he desperately tried to free himself.

"HA! Has the blood of the warrior been spilled over the ages...you did put up a fight, I do agree..." it growled lowly. With a short pause, a flash of light appeared not too far from their position, only too soon a ball of fire burned brightly at the centre of it, a loud explosion followed and the ball expanded and framed a view of a horribly desolate wasteland.

Treacherous hot gusts blew clouds of thick dust and hot ash across it's desolate plains, the ground scorched and cracked, the sky itself filled with glowing red clouds that seemed to burn themselves. Loud whistling and screeching drowned out the screaming of the crowd at the sidelines.

"...but something as weak as this truly does not deserve to live, yet alone those pathetic beings," it growled, bending down low to Dante's head, the pressure increasing on his neck as it balanced over it's knee and looked over him.

Suddenly, it's growling became much louder and Dante felt a sharp, blood-curdling pain surge through his stomach. Choking out in pain, he placed his paw at the source of the sharp pain and felt the cold steel of the knight's blade.

The knight got up off of Dante's neck, twisting the blade to send sharp, agonising pain shooting through his body, Dante crying out in absolute pain.

He gripped the blade that was driven right through his stomach and shakily lifted himself slightly, coughing and shuddering as more blood poured onto his ragged shirt to take a glance at the damage.

He inhaled deeply, his face becoming red and a vain throbbed in his forehead as he tried to cope with the agonising situation; his vision becoming blurry and obscured as a warm wave of euphoria drowned out his senses.

Instantly, he was met with even worse, agonising surging pain through his stomach as the knight lifted him up with it's blade. Dante groaned and screamed out desperately, gripping so tightly at the blade that it drew blood from the palms of his paws, mixing with the small reservoir of blood that was tickling down to the hand guard and falling down to the ground to the freshly formed pool.

The knight laughed hoarsely for a short moment as Dante cringed and jerked on his sword, his breathing short and abrupt as he gripped tightly on the glinting steel.

"Ha...welcome back, traitor!" it bellowed at Dante, about to toss him through the fiery flames but pausing as he met Dante's gaze.

With teeth gritted, eyes once again burning with the fiery rage he had just earlier, he tightened his grip around the sword, blood starting to slightly gush from his paws before he slowly wrenched himself down to the hilt of the blade, not flinching at all as he was once again focused with his rage.

The knight laughed once again with disgust, watching Dante drag himself down the blade.

"Ha! Still have some fight left...you are strong willed, I'll give you that," it grumbled, following Dante as he gruesomely reached the hilt, his blood painting the blade.

The knight grumbled in annoyance before suddenly swinging at Dante with an armoured fist no sooner when he had gripped the handle of the sword.

It was suddenly taken by surprise as it's fist had abruptly stopped, a blood soaked paw gripping tightly at it's fist. Dante had caught it mid swing, panting hard with that fiery rage burning brightly in his eyes.

With an almost feral growl, Dante wrenched the knight's arm, twisting it backwards and causing it to tumble backwards, crashing to the floor while letting go of the blade and letting Dante drop to his feet.

He was doubled forward slightly, the five foot of steel still plunged through his blood-soaked form.

Everyone in the crowd was now just watching in utter disgust, fear and amazement at the sight, watching as Dante shakily gripped at the handle of the sword and gruesomely removing it, inch by inch, from his stomach, blood coating the ground, his stomach and paws.

The knight had once again, had gotten up for a third time from the floor, clearly enraged with it's growling filled with annoyance.

Dante just continued to slide the sword from his pierced stomach until finally, it was completely removed, blood dripping profusely to the floor. He just flipped it around, catching it by the handle with a blood-soaked paw and stood there, breathing the fire from his lungs.

He didn't even ready himself as clear roars came from the knight and it started charging at him.

Only until the last second, Dante reacted by upper-cutting it directly in the face and sending reeling into the air, taking stance as he held the sword with two paws and slashed upwards as the knight came crashing back down to the floor. With two distinct thuds, Dante had clearly and cleanly sliced the knight in two at the waist.

The now halved knight, grumbled and growled, seeming to find it hard itself now as the injury clearly affected it. It reached for Dante's hind-paw but was quickly kicked away and rolled over with the same kick.

Dante blankly just stepped up to the knight's upper half, stomped it hard to the floor, indenting it with such a force and jammed the blood-soaked blade through it's head simultaneously.

The black, metallic armour suddenly began to surge, blue lightning suddenly jolting across the surface before the body of the knight just imploded, then exploded with blue flames that scorched the ground, the floor black with a thick black substance that seemed to be thick tar or oil.

It was followed up with the fiery frame that lead to that land devoid of life, suddenly closing and it too bursting into flames before falling into smouldering ashes on the floor behind Dante, the deafening roar of the winds and flames disappearing to once again leave utter silence.

Straight afterwards, the blade just shattered into shards, spraying the ground with metal and suddenly burning brightly with hot flames, disappearing into the ground in a liquid state.

The entire furry crowd that gathered just fell still and kept silent, looking on in disbelief and amazement at the events, only to see the blood-soaked 'roo standing still.

Dante just seemed to instantly loose all control of himself, his once stable form collapsing, breathing out a short, blood filled breath before he suddenly keeled over onto the grass.

Blood oozed from every wound in his body; his eyes blankly staring into nothingness as his view was hazed up by blackness, his consciousness slowly slipping away till nothing was left.