While Evan was making his way down the tower, Orfevre, Ben, and Gwen were steadily making their way upward, pushing deeper into the structure as the air around them grew colder and the strange, unnatural silence of the place pressed in on them from every side. Unfortunately for them, the tower apparently had no interest in making the climb easy, and it did not take long before the three of them ran into the first boss guarding the path ahead.
"This game is so unfair!!" Ben shouted at the top of his lungs while sprinting across the frozen floor as fast as his legs could carry him, his boots slipping slightly on the icy surface as he tried to keep his balance.
Behind him, Cerberus roared loudly. The gigantic three-headed demon dog slammed one of its massive paws into the ground, sending jagged spikes of ice erupting upward in Ben's direction. The attack chased after him across the arena, forcing him to throw himself sideways at the very last second, and the ice spikes exploded from the ground exactly where he had been standing only moments before.
"See!? This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Ben yelled while scrambling back to his feet, his voice already full of frustration. "How do we even fight that thing with no weapons!?"
The enormous beast lowered all three of its heads and unleashed a freezing breath attack that swept across the chamber like a blizzard, filling the room with sharp white mist and freezing wind that made everything feel even more hostile than it already did. Gwen immediately rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding being turned into a human popsicle, and the icy breath passed so close that frost instantly formed along her sleeves.
"How did Evan even come up with this?!" Gwen shouted while ducking beneath another wave of ice, only to look up and find an entire row of ice spikes racing straight toward her.
"Oh come on!" she exclaimed, diving to the side again before the spikes could pin her in place.
Nearby, Orfevre was doing her best to keep the situation from collapsing completely, firing Ebony and Ivory nonstop while sprinting across the battlefield with far more control than either of the Tennysons had at the moment.
"At least we aren't playing Dark Souls!" she shouted back as the twin pistols barked repeatedly and bullets slammed into Cerberus's body.
The massive demon turned toward her and let out a loud roar.
One of its heads immediately lunged toward her, its jaws snapping shut with enough force to shatter stone, but Orfevre dashed backward at the last possible second, and the giant teeth slammed together inches from her face instead. She wasted no time switching from her pistols back to Rebellion, bringing the massive sword upward in one quick motion before the blade collided against one of Cerberus's fangs with a loud metallic clang.
The impact traveled through both of her arms and nearly sent her skidding backward.
"Damn, this thing hits hard."
At this point, calling it a team battle was being incredibly generous. Orfevre was doing all of the fighting while Ben and Gwen focused primarily on the difficult, deeply unglamorous task of not dying, and neither of them was particularly grateful for how accurate that arrangement was.
Although Ben and Gwen had been transported into the game world wearing their Sumo Slammer outfits, neither of them knew anything about the game they had actually ended up inside. This was not Sumo Slammer Smackdown. This was Evan's bizarre Devil May Cry remake, and unlike Evan, neither of them had any idea of the layout, or every the bosses.
To make matters worse, Orfevre was not much help when it came to the story either, because she only ever played the PvP mode with Evan, and as far as she was concerned, Devil May Cry was just a game where she got to repeatedly stab her brother. Everything else was secondary.
Ben had already tried activating his Omnitrix several times earlier, and every attempt had ended the same way. His gauntlet would not even light up properly, refusing to transform him no matter how many times he slapped it, jostled it, or glared at it like that might somehow help.
"My Omnitrix is useless!" he snapped, smacking it again in frustration.
"Your Omnitrix is always useless!" Gwen shouted back.
"Hey!"
Before Ben could argue further, Cerberus slammed both front paws into the ground. The entire arena shook violently, the impact sending tremors through the ice-covered floor and making everyone stagger as large chunks of frozen stone broke loose from the ceiling and crashed down around them. One particularly large chunk smashed into the nearby wall, and the stone shattered apart in a burst of debris that revealed something green hidden behind the rubble.
Ben's eyes widened.
"No way."
The familiar green symbol practically sparkled in his vision, and without hesitation he sprinted toward it.
"Ben, wait!" Gwen shouted.
A blast of freezing breath shot directly across his path, but Ben dropped into a slide, the icy attack passing over his head by mere inches as he rolled across the floor, scrambled back to his feet, and launched himself toward the glowing icon with a level of determination that would have been impressive if it were not also incredibly reckless.
Cerberus immediately noticed.
All three heads roared at once, the sound shaking the entire chamber as the giant beast lunged forward, only for Orfevre to intercept it again and force it back long enough for Ben to reach his target. His hand shot out, his fingers closed around the glowing Omnitrix symbol, and the moment he made contact, green light surged through his gauntlet.
The familiar activation sound echoed through the chamber.
Ben nearly cried tears of joy.
"Yes!"
The display lit up, and for the first time since arriving in the game world, an alien silhouette appeared.
"Ball Weevil?"
Of all the aliens he could have gotten, it had to be Ball Weevil. Ben stared at the silhouette for a second, then glanced toward the giant three-headed demon dog still trying very hard to freeze them to death, and then back at the silhouette again, as if hoping the result would change just because he looked at it long enough.
"…You know what? I'll take it."
Without another second of hesitation, he slammed down on the Omnitrix dial.
Green light erupted across the arena.
When it faded, Ben had transformed into the small yellow insect-like alien, and compared to Cerberus, he immediately looked far less impressive than before. Standing on four stubby legs, Ball Weevil was a tiny target in a room full of ice, monster claws, and one very angry demon dog, but he wasted no time proving he at least had something useful to contribute. He spat out a glowing green plasma sphere, and the ball bounced across the ground before beginning to collect everything it touched, sweeping up chunks of ice, broken stone, and loose debris as it rolled across the battlefield.
The sphere rapidly grew larger and larger.
Meanwhile, Orfevre continued keeping Cerberus distracted.
She dashed beneath one snapping jaw, ran across an icy wall, leaped off it, and drove Rebellion straight into another head, forcing the beast to stagger as she kept the pressure on without giving it even a second to fully recover.
...
On the upper levels of the tower, Evan was now inside a large chamber, standing across from an enormous dark-hued horse whose mane and tail burned with blue flame, while its hooves, mouth, and eyes all gave off the same eerie blue glow. The creature loomed over the arena like something pulled straight out of a nightmare, and even before it moved, the pressure it gave off made the room feel heavier and more dangerous.
Geryon, a demonic horse capable of localized control over time.
"Okay, why did I design this map larger again?" Fasttrack murmured to himself as he sprinted across the expanded arena, the sound of the Geryon's pursuit closing in behind him.
He was already starting to regret the extra space.
The original version of the boss fight had only been a straight path, where the player mostly just had to jump at the right moment and avoid getting trampled by the charging beast. This, however, was a much bigger arena, and while that gave the player more room to move, it also gave the boss far more ways to keep up with him. That meant more maneuvering room for both sides, and unfortunately for Evan, the Geryon was still more than fast enough to make use of it.
To make matters worse, the horse no longer dragged that massive black steel hearse behind it, which meant it was moving far faster than the original version and losing none of its threat in the process.
Seeing the arena wall rushing toward him, Fasttrack immediately planted a foot against it and ran upward, his body shifting into a smooth wall run as he used the circular shape of the chamber to swing into a wide U-turn. The maneuver was quick, clean, and normally would have been enough to throw off most enemies, but the Geryon reacted almost instantly, shifting its own position and turning sharply to follow him with disturbing precision.
The demon was not going to be shaken off that easily. Fasttrack clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He launched himself off the wall, while flipping through the air, he bit into his left hand hard enough to draw blood.
Red spilled from the wound.
Without wasting a second, he clapped both palms together and gathered the blood in the center, compressing it and shaping it through his Blood Manipulation until it became something far denser and more controlled, contained in his palms.
"Piercing Blood!"
A crimson streak shot forward through the gap created by his fingers, racing across the air like a spear turned into light. The blood condensed into a sharp crimson arrow that flew straight toward the demon, and when the Geryon tried to shift out of the way, the attack followed it, striking its left back leg and driving deep into its body before melting inward.
The Geryon let out a pained roar.
Evan had used Acidic Blood Modification on the projectile by the time it left his body, which meant that the blood was no longer just an ordinary attack, but a corrosive weapon designed to eat away at whatever it touched. It made the shot far deadlier than normal, though it also meant he had to be careful whenever he used it, because he was definitely not acid-proof and could still be seriously hurt, or even killed, by it. That was why he only ever used it on blood that had already left his body.
The demon screamed again, one of its back legs now badly damaged as the acidic blood continued to soak deeper into the flesh and wear it down from the inside. When Fasttrack landed back on the ground, he could clearly see that the Geryon's movement had already changed. Its speed had dropped noticeably, and the injured leg was no longer able to support its weight properly.
Fasttrack tapped his Omnitrix, and golden light burst outward around him.
"Vigil!"
The light faded, and his form shifted once more.
Now in his Half-Devil state, he looked mostly the same as before aside from a few striking differences: his height was different, his hair had turned snow white, and his eyes had taken on a sharp ice-blue color. He now wore Vergil's clothing, but the Another Omnitrix symbol now rested at the back of his left hand, glowing faintly.
He summoned the Yamato into his hand and immediately took up a stance.
Vigil unleashed a series of Judgment Cuts, each one slicing through the air and carving into the horse demon with terrifying speed and precision. The attacks struck in rapid succession, cutting across the Geryon's body before it could fully recover from the earlier hit.
The demon tried to charge him.
Vigil quickly dashed to the side, slipping away from the attack with practiced ease.
Then, with his right hand raised in front of his face and his fist clenched, he swung it out to the side and summoned his Doppelganger.
The shadowy clone emerged beside him, taking on the same appearance as Vigil except for the darker color tone that set it apart. It moved like an echo of his own body, mirroring his moves.
The real Vigil and his Doppelganger charged forward together. Their blades flashed in unison.
They attacked from both sides, slashing and cutting down the horse demon with coordinated strikes that left it with nowhere to escape. The Geryon tried to push through, but with the two of them pressuring it from opposite angles, it could not keep up for long.
And as the final blows landed, Vigil cut the demon down completely. Without hesitation, he absorbed its soul into the Another Omnitrix.
[Data Upgrade Detected. Quicksilver Style is now available.]
[New DNA sample acquired!]
With another boss finished, Vigil continued descending the tower, moving deeper into the structure without slowing down.
...
The two bloodlines of Sparda continued their separate paths through the Temen-ni-gru, one climbing upward while the other descended deeper into the tower's twisted heart. By then, Orfevre's group had already crossed paths with Gold Ship, who was now strangely enough running through the game under the identity of Lady, and the four of them had pushed forward together long enough to face another of the tower's guardians.
Agni and Rudra had not been easy opponents, but they had managed to defeat them all the same, and in the end Orfevre had claimed their Devil Arms for herself, adding them to her growing collection.
Meanwhile, on his own route down the tower, Evan had discovered something far more unexpected. Somewhere within the game world, hidden among its strange data and impossible systems, there were icons containing alien DNA, and when he made contact with them, his Another Omnitrix absorbed them without hesitation.
That ended up unlocking the DNA of Eye Guy and Ripjaws, which confused him a little at first, because the main character of Devil May Cry was supposed to be Dante, and if he himself was playing Vergil, then that would mean Dante was most likely Orfevre.
So where exactly did Ben fit into all of this?
It did not take him very long to figure it out.
Looking down from above, Evan spotted the group moving through the lower sections of the tower, with Orfevre now wearing Dante's role and cutting through demon after demon while Lady, who now looked oddly similar to Gold Ship in this world, was helping her instead of trying to gun Dante down the way she did in the original game. He also noticed Ben and Gwen following behind them in what looked like samurai-style outfits, one carrying a sword and the other a spear, both of them trying to keep up while the rest of the group carved their way forward through the chaos.
"Huh, interesting..." Evan murmured from above, his attention fixed on the battle below while the others were still too busy fighting demons to notice him.
"So they also got sucked into the game world..." he concluded after a moment, the pieces finally starting to make sense in his head. Thinking back on it now, it had probably something to do with Upgrade and that lightning strike that somehow dragged all of them into the game world in the first place.
"So would Upgrade be the way out of here?" he muttered to himself, still thinking it through as he decided to transform into Ghostfreak so he could search for Upgrade's DNA somewhere in the tower.
As for the others, he had enough confidence in them to handle themselves for a while. They had already made it this far without his help, and if they kept pushing forward, they would eventually reach the top of the tower, where he would be waiting for them, or more specifically, where he would be waiting for his sister.
Now that he was using a Half-Devil transformation carrying Sparda's blood, Evan wanted to unlock more of that power if he could, though he also would not have minded finding Upgrade's DNA and cheating the system instead.
After backtracking and searching through several different sections of the tower, however, all he managed to find were the DNA icons for Skewer, Wildmutt, Rath, Diamondhead, and Heatblast, which was not at all what he had been looking for.
Still, after seeing Ben fight while in human form, which in itself was unusual enough, he began to suspect that Ben might actually need those icons in order to transform into his aliens in the first place, so Evan decided to leave them there for him to pick up later rather than taking them for himself.
With the search turning up nothing useful and the group already drawing closer to the top of the tower, Evan eventually returned to his place above them at the summit of the Temen-ni-gru.
After all, a part of him was genuinely looking forward to fighting his sister.
He could not tell whether that feeling came from Ever Gold or from Vergil, but at this point it did not really matter anymore. The twins were now taking on the roles and identities of the Sons of Sparda, which meant they were both capable of surviving being stabbed through the gut by a sword and still standing back up afterward, and if that was the case, then they might as well enjoy the battle to its fullest and settle things the way they wanted.
At the top of the Temen-ni-gru, heavy rain poured down from the sky while the wind tore across the open summit under the pale moonlight. Orfevre, along with Ben, Gwen, and Gold Ship, ran along the outer path as they made their way toward the highest point of the tower, their footsteps splashing through the rain as the storm wrapped itself around the entire structure.
When they finally saw the stairway leading up toward the open summit, they moved without hesitation and began climbing.
And when they reached the top, they slowed down.
Standing across from them, with his back still turned and his gaze fixed on the distant moon, was Evan.
His long coat moved violently in the wind, his white hair swaying in the rain as the storm whipped around him, while the Yamato rested calmly at his side. Then, at last, he tilted his head back just enough to face them, as though he had been expecting them all along.
"You showed up."