A/N: Hey all! This chapter is me trying to bring the story back down closer to Devil May Cry 3, and the Vergil personality displayed in DMC 3. P.S. The named of the chess piece stage in DMC 3 (Chapter 18?) are called Damned Chess Pieces, so I'm not calling them 'damned' for no reason.

[Source Of Power]

"I never struck you for much of a coward, Mundus; running away to hide in your castle..." Vergil Sparda muttered beneath his breath as he dragged his tired body forth. While he had forced his body through Spartan training in the past, whatever that had happened within the span of a single night ever since the start of his attempted ritual had taken a toll on his body. Much as he wanted to deny this disgusting piece of weakness, this was the human side of him complaining. This was the side of him that he held with utter contempt.

Vergil only wished that there was a sword out there that could cut out the human half of him away from this embarrassing body. That would leave him fully demon, and with complete hold of his demonic side, Vergil would finally be able to redeem himself from all the mistakes that he never should have made in Temen-Ni-Gru, and at the Gateway of the Demon World. Those foolish decisions: trusting Arkham, tolerating Dante's irritating presence, giving Dante an opening during their last fight because he knew that Dante would continue to bother him until he pretended to lose once... all those decisions were made when Vergil's human side had been disturbingly noisy, and he had foolishly allowed himself to act according to those thoughts.

These mistakes –as Vergil had come to call them –only made Vergil doubly desperate to find something to prove to himself; to prove that his demonic side was still strong and perfectly capable of erasing the mistakes created by his human side. And what better way was it than to challenge and overcome the Prince of Darkness in the exact same way his father had?

That had been the best course of action that Vergil had decided upon since waking up in the Demon World following his separation from his brother, but this decision was proving to take more time than he had intended, because Mundus had apparently deemed Vergil not important enough to come out of his castle for the battle.

For now, Vergil had to grit his teeth and suffer the shame of being looked down upon by his opponent as he trudged through the ruins of the Demon World, which had been left largely in shambles ever since Dante's meddlesome arrival in his attempt to close the tunnel. Soon; Vergil promised himself. Soon, he would reach Mundus's castle, and he would show the Prince of Darkness exactly how much one would regret undermining a son of Sparda like him. Prince of Darkness? Well, Vergil looked forward to see how this demon would be bowing down to him, the Dark Slayer.

But perhaps, a break every now and then would be good. His human side craved for some sort of rest, and he did not want to be faced with this irritating need while in the middle of his imminent fight.

Vergil picked his way through the broken pieces of what he suspected used to be chess pieces to a rather enlarged and twisted version of a game of chess. Evidence of Dante's break into the Demon World was disgustingly obvious, and Vergil once more turned up his nose at how his brother seemed to be fond of leaving trophies around for others to clean up his mess. If Vergil once thought that years would make his little brother grow, he now refused to entertain that thought. It was impossible.

Sensing an intruder not meant to be on the Damned Chessboard, the Damned Chess Pieces began to rise again, stirring in an attempt to trap the 'helpless intruder'. Vergil did not let his footsteps falter a single bit, one foot steadily in front of the other in a beeline path for the mirror hanging in the air. There was no sign of tension as the Damned Chess Pieces began to reform, it's broken parts flying back to glue back together magically on its appropriate base.

"I have no time for nerds." Vergil told the rook that stood nearest to him, which had begun its move to attack.

Vergil dodged the attack very simply, no rush in his steps as he continued his undisturbed path to the portal still awaiting him and bringing him further and further down into the Demon World where he would find the Prince of Darkness. The strikes continued to rain down on him, but Vergil refused to stray from his original path as he dodged by effortless shifts of his body.

The sounds of high pitched laughter filled his ears, and a purple-blue light suddenly lit up around him. A 'whoosh' sounded as the Damned Queen came rushing towards him at break-neck speed, and even Vergil knew that there was no hope dodging this strike. Well, if he could not dodge, then he could just get rid of these useless things once and for all...

"No!" A cry in the silent, unintelligible noises that the Damned Chess Pieces were making took Vergil by slight off-guard, but it did not stop whatever that had been coming at him.

The Damned Queen rushed past where Vergil had been standing milliseconds ago, the man in topic having stumbled backwards in surprise. The man –the being –that had cried out in a distinctively English word, stood in Vergil's place, a fearless hand outstretched and holding the Damned Queen back without a single ounce of effort. The high-pitched laughter did not continue for long when the intruder closed his palm into a fist, and the stone chess piece exploded.

"Vergil Sparda, hear me and do not devil trigger." The man spoke in a grave tone. "In return, I will deal with these Damned Pieces to ensure you a smooth journey."

"Get out of my way." Vergil answered coldly, thumb pushing against the hilt of his katana in an issuance of a warning through the bright glow of blade peeking out from scabbard.

"Do not devil trigger." The man repeated carefully, but moved out of the volatile half-demon's way obediently.

Vergil did not let his sword go completely back into the scabbard as he stalked past the strange man that he was very sure was not human. Still, Vergil had very little care for any human, demon or simply just any being as long as they did not provide any important information in his quest to take Mundus down. If Vergil had no time for nerds of the Damned Chess Board, then he had even lesser time for intruding beings.

Without a second look back, but hearing sounds of stone crumbling into rocks behind him, Vergil jumped through the mirror-portal and out of the area of the Damned Chess Board.

The intruder appeared once more when Vergil jumped out of the area that had been labelled 'Road to Despair'. This time, the intruder was waiting patiently for Vergil, and there appeared to be no other demons or whatnot waiting for him.

"Vergil Sparda." The man tried to greet, but Vergil simply brushed past him with no sign of acknowledgement.

"Vergil Sparda." The man had learnt his lesson, as he tried a second time, this time standing directly in Vergil's path.

"Get out of my way." Vergil repeated, again with the warning.

"We need to talk."

"Do not blame me for being nasty." Vergil closed his fingers over the hilt of his sword.

"As long as nasty does not involve you triggering." The man answered with his hands raised, palms out in a show of surrender.

"What does my triggering have to do with you?" Vergil blurted out his question before he could help it. Half of him was curious as to why someone would try to approach him about his devil triggering, but the other half of him just wanted to ignore the man and get a move on. He suspected that the curious half of him was the human side.

"The more you trigger, the weaker I become."

Vergil spared the man a second's worth of stare, then simply moved to sidestep the obstacle standing in his way without a second word. The small interest that the intruder had struck him was now completely gone, and Vergil desired to spare no more time for this being that was not a human, but at the same time also not very distinctively demon.

"Wait, Vergil Sparda." The intruder tried a 3rd time to stop him, and Vergil spared no mercy. Sliding his sword back into his scabbard, he let his cold blue eyes see the wreckage he had made of their surroundings... and the intruder standing unscathed in front of him. The hard line that was Vergil's lips pressed even harder, his form resembling more and more of a statue as he stared at the intruder.

"You cannot hurt me, Vergil Sparda, because I am a part of you." The intruder explained without his asking, palms still outward in surrender. "Please hear me out, and I promise to help you in your quest for Mundus."

Vergil was ready to test theories as he pointed Yamato at the base of the intruder's throat, inches away from flesh.

"You have one minute that I will stop for you. Do not make me regret my minute wasted on you."

The relief that flooded on the intruder's face made Vergil slightly wary, but he did not show it, simply glaring down at the man whose lips immediately became loose, words spilling forth.

"My name is Ronove. I'm not sure if you have heard or read of me, but my twin brother Daevas and I were Demon Lords in the time before you were born. We were third to only Mundus and your father Sparda, and had little fear. Eighteen years ago, Sparda defeated us. In exchange for damning us in prison on this plane, we struck a deal with your father. Because his new-born sons were suffering sickness brought about by the chaotic energy of his own demonic energy within half-human bodies, he needed the demonic energy of strong demons to help balance your energies out. Essentially, I am the reason behind your devil trigger, and Daevas is the reason for Dante's. This is why I am a part of you, Vergil Sparda, and the reason why you cannot harm me because you cannot harm your own energy."

A short moment of silence continued as Vergil stared down at the ex-Demon Lord named Ronove who claimed to be part of him. While his mind rolled over the explanation, part of him knew it to be true. He had long known that his devil trigger worked on a different level of demonic energy as to his usual skills. He had always felt that there had been an outside force lending him strength when he triggered, and had always known that the said force could not be credited to his father's bloodline.

"Prove it."

"Trigger." Ronove answered without fear. "But short and quick."

Vergil calculated the risks quickly, and decided that there was no disadvantage for him to trigger as per instruction. The moment it happened, however, Ronove gasped and doubled over, falling to the floor as if his legs had lost strength. Vergil blinked, surprised to see purplish blue aura fading from Ronove's frame and entering Vergil's triggered self.

"Please... Stop it." He heard the weak plea from a raspy voice, taking short moments to realise that it belonged to the man in front of him who had more or less crumpled to the ground by now, turning ashen.

Following instructions not because he felt pity for the man, but because he had more questions now that needed answering, Vergil de-triggered and watched as Ronove stopped struggling with whatever pain that seemed to have struck him.

"What is wrong with you?" Vergil demanded. The man was wasting time just lying on the ground, catching his breath. "And what does this have to do with me?"

"As... you can see... when you trigger, I suffer badly. You take more and more of my energy with every time you trigger, and I become less and less of a demon. I am sure you must have sensed it by now that I am not entirely demonic anymore. This is why I have been begging you not to trigger; the more you do it, the weaker I become until I eventually die."

"That does not matter to me."

"I know." Ronove answered, climbing slowly back unsteadily on his feet. "But it matters to me if you trigger. And now that you are in the Demon World, you will definitely meet more troubles that require more triggering than you ever did in the Human World. This is especially so since you are seeking out to challenge Mundus."

"And if you are daft enough to try dissuading me out of the thought, save the time and effort." Vergil balked, turning to continue on his journey through the area because he had wasted enough time entertaining Ronove who had not offered him very important information after all. In fact, Ronove had only introduced himself as a liability; a liability that Vergil unfortunately could not cut into piece because the ex-Demon Lord was 'a part of him'.

"I am not trying to dissuade you, Vergil Sparda." Vergil was not surprised to hear that Ronove was chasing up and keeping pace with him, keeping the conversation alive despite how Vergil had clearly tried to shut it down seconds ago by walking away. "I am trying to help you achieve your goal."

"I don't recall requesting your assistance."

"You have nothing to lose. All that I propose is that you let me accompany you in your journey for Mundus. I will do my best to keep troubles away from you in return for the promise that you will not trigger unless in dire situations. The less you trigger, the stronger I am, and the better I will be able to help you ensure a smooth journey to Mundus." Ronove justified, and though Vergil was completely abhorrent to the idea that he needed any form of a protector, he could not deny that this idea suggested suited his needs very well. He couldn't be bothered with many of the low-levelled demons trying to come after him, and if someone was volunteering to come along with him and help him get rid of these troubles while he concentrated his efforts for Mundus...

"Do not expect me to wait for you. You are the one who choose to stay by me, and I have no care whatsoever happens to you. Stand in my way and delay my path, however..." Vergil trailed off, knowing that the ex-Demon Lord probably had to be smart enough to connect two and two together. Vergil could not hurt Ronove by slicing him into small pieces. But this son of Sparda had just learnt that he could hurt Ronove by triggering, and history had already made things clear on how much of a damn Vergil gave to the people, demons, and beings around him.

"Would I stupidly come into your path, go ahead and do whatever you wish. I impose no rules on you, Vergil Sparda, only wish that you refrain from triggering as and when you wish." Ronove answered honestly, and Vergil looked into the man's eye for one moment longer.

There was the tell-tale of a demon hiding behind those black eyes, but there was strange sincerity that should not belong to a demon as well. And despite the fact that all demons could lie without giving away a single sign of remorse, Vergil found that he could find no reason to not trust Ronove.

Besides, Vergil was strong enough to go on with or without Ronove.

He walked on, and behind him, began trailing his newest companion.

________________________________________________________________________________

"You once said you have a twin brother who entered the same type of deal as you. What happened to him?" Vergil asked nonchalantly as he cleaned his blade with the leaves of a nearby tree, sitting against the trunk with a pose of relaxation.

Ronove knew better than to trust Vergil's outwardly show of relaxation, because he had previously witnessed how fast Vergil could wake up and react in the face of danger. Ronove guessed it was safe for him to say that Vergil was never completely relaxed. The man was always cautious, and that was something Ronove was glad his companion had particularly since they were already in the deep pits of the Demon World, and set to go even further down, where no simple demon would enter willingly.

In fact, high-levelled demons would think twice about entering these areas even with the promise of good rewards.

"Daevas and I separated shortly after we entered our own deals with Sparda. We never truly had fondness for each other, but our power were enhanced the closer we were and thus we used each other to our own needs. After we were defeated by Sparda, however, we could no longer hold our position as Demon Lords, and the need to stay at full power to hold on to that title was no longer needed. The need to stay close to each other also faded." Ronove answered honestly.

"Will that explain why my trigger felt strong when Dante triggered during our fight against Arkham?" Vergil questioned, thinking back now on the small peculiarity that he had written off as a one-off strength.

"Yes. It was the first time in a very long while that I felt Daevas's power near mine." Ronove answered. "I have no fondness for him, but I have envy now."

"Why?"

"He is stronger than me currently. Your brother connected to Daevas much later than you did."

"At the rooftop of the tunnel." Vergil commented.

"Yes. That means that Daevas still has a large portion of his demonic energy, and must still be strong."

"If Daevas is strong, then Dante's trigger is weak?"

"Yes. Our situations are reversed. Your trigger is strong, and I am weak because you have triggered many times, and have taken almost all of my energy." Ronove's answer held complete honesty, but what silently surprised Vergil was the fact that there was no complaint or no sigh. Ronove seemed to know that the end was near, and that his end would be by Vergil's hand. Still, Ronove did not seem to be trying to do anything to fight his destiny, and instead was trying to help turn the Wheels of Destiny by supporting Vergil's journey to face Mundus.

"How will I know if I have taken it all?" Vergil pondered –mostly to himself, but saying the words aloud anyway.

"No worries." Ronove gave a short, empty chuckle. The man was sitting in front of Vergil, his own summoned claymore sitting across his lap. Vergil could see how this sword could have once belonged to a Demon Lord, but now, that sword was only a tool of protection for a dying demon. "The next time you trigger, you will have taken it all. All that will be left of me is a shell, and memories... that no one will hold since nobody holds love for Demon Lords."

Vergil paused mid-wipe, attention drawn from his blade to the demon sitting across him.

"My next trigger is your last? What of all successive triggers after that?"

"You will have gained all the demonic energy you need to balance out the chaotic ones born from Sparda's blood. There will be no need for me in all successive triggers; you will have all the demonic energy you need."

Silence.

Ronove waited for a moment more, rather sure that Vergil seemed to have wanted to make a reply of sorts.

More silence.

"Vergil?"

"After my next trigger, all that will be left of you is memories?"

"Any possible memories that you may have created with me. I do not recall meeting much possibility of creating memories with anyone else." Ronove answered without a single inch of regret.

Once more, silence.

This time, Ronove did not try to bait an answer out of the man, but only sat watching the man silently while Vergil focused his full attention on his sword. The son of Sparda refused to look anywhere else, glaring at his sword as if it had done shameful disgrace to him and his name.

Seconds dragged to minutes, and minutes to hour. Ronove stood up eventually to scan their surrounding once more, checking to make sure that they were still unfollowed. They were almost at Mundus's throne room, and the journey here had been threateningly empty. It was as if Mundus knew that the both of them were coming for him, and was waiting for their arrival. If Ronove's impression of Mundus from years ago was anything to go by, Mundus's awaiting their arrival was a high possibility.

The showdown was going to be intense. Sparda had defeated the Prince of Darkness once, and Ronove knew that Mundus would definitely not take the son of Sparda well. Vergil Sparda could not stand a chance if he did not devil trigger, and the both of them knew it. But once Vergil triggered...

Ronove stood in front of the black valley that the both of them had just crossed, looking down at the many crevasses that they had passed and the many obstacles that they had crossed –mostly with Vergil walking past them and having Ronove deal with the remaining problems. He might have acted strong in front Vergil Sparda, but the truth could not be further away.

Ronove and Daevas might have been twins, but they shared no love. They might have been powerful Demon Lords, but they had no lovers, no family. There had never been anyone worthy for them, and even after their defeat at the hands of Sparda, Ronove had never found a proper purpose in his life. His thirst for power and blood had stopped when Sparda had thrown them into a humiliating defeat, and he had been left with nothing else, except to wander around. In fact, the only thing Ronove had felt happy –even excited for –had been when he first felt his powers connect to Vergil.

It had been a terrible pain that started from his heart and spread throughout his body, and he had been caught off guard so badly that Ronove had collapsed to the floor gasping like a fish out of water. It was only days after that Ronove finally understood what the piercing pain had meant, and from then onwards, he had always been guarded, always ready and waiting for the next wave of pain.

It had been pain, but it had given Ronove a signal; a signal that his life was diminishing away; that he was giving himself for the betterment of another. And though he had never been saintly as a demon ever before, Ronove had looked forward to it. Even though Ronove had never been tired of his life, he looked forward to the end –when Vergil would take everything, and him with nothing.

All that he hoped, all that he wished to leave... was memories. He wished that Vergil would at least remember him –that the devil trigger that Vergil possessed was only possible due to his help. A tiny appreciation; that was all he wanted. Somehow, seeing Vergil's frigid personality, however, he was not positive.

"I will still trigger. I will do it to take Mundus down." The statement of firmness sounded behind Ronove, and he did not bother to turn around since he knew that Vergil's face would now hold one of grim determination.

"I never expected otherwise." Ronove answered. "I only ask you try to remember me."

"Waste of effort and memory space." The cold and curt reply came.

"I thought you would say that." Ronove chuckled. "But you know what, Vergil?"

"No."

"You sounded like your father for a moment there. You reminded me of him."

"I am my father's son." The answer came softly and though Ronove's back was still to the son of Sparda, he had no doubts that a slight blush had coloured the half-demon's face. Vergil Sparda might show distaste for his brother, but Ronove could not be fooled into believing that the man held the same contempt for his parents. No, Vergil Sparda was still a little boy in his heart; though Ronove would admit that this heart of his was probably encased in layers and layers of ice that even the strongest Fire of Hell would not be able to thaw.

"Sparda was a good demon." Ronove could not help himself but comment. "It is a shame about his passing. I cannot claim to know your mother, but she must have been a brave one if she mated with a demon of your father's calibre."

"She was a good woman too." Vergil replied in the same soft tone, but Ronove knew that their moment of softness was gone when the hard, sharp and icy edge returned to the half-demon's voice when Vergil spoke again. "Rest yourself and enjoy your last day."

Ronove looked down at his hands.

"I would have enjoyed my last day more if I met someone like what your mother was to Sparda." He answered, but Vergil had already walked away.

________________________________________________________________________________

Ronove gritted his teeth, swinging his claymore in frustration. The feel of his blade tearing through multiple mid-level demons used to give him satisfaction, but now all Ronove felt was confusion and utter frustration.

He was not in the worst of the fight; no, it was very clear from the start that the main target belonged to Vergil Sparda. This meant that Ronove –while being kept too busy to help Vergil out –had enough time to keep an eye out for the man. And what Vergil was currently doing in the most important fight ever since coming down to the Demon World was a complete disappointment.

Red balls of pure energy, crackling with threatening purple lightning flew towards Vergil at the wave of Mundus's hand. It was a classic 'no effort' move from Mundus, one that clearly undermined his opponent. It would have been completely insulting, and even Ronove would have been able to bat the balls back to Mundus without too much of an effort at all. But, as he watched, Vergil did not counter the balls of energy, but instead pushed them to the side instead, letting the dangerous balls crash into the pillars near them. Ronove waited for a counter-move, any move that Vergil could easily make with his demon-enhanced speed. This was what they had come here for, after all –to challenge Mundus.

Ronove paused in the middle of cleaving another demon into two, staring in shock when Vergil only jumped back and raised his katana in a way that Ronove both recognised and could not understand why. Another rush of frustration boiled through Ronove's bones as he swung his sword, hitting a demon on the skull with the flat of his blade and watching it fly off like a baseball on a bat.

Ronove monitored Vergil, watching as the man block and fend off a few more moves before he decided that he had had enough. Seeing his next opening, Ronove sent out an explosive swipe around him to push back the demons keeping him busy, then jumped lithely to his companion's side, grabbing Vergil by the elbow and dragging the man out of the path of yet another energy ball. Mundus was still undermining his opponent, and Vergil still wasn't giving the Prince of Darkness any proper reasons to think otherwise.

With force of a righteous anger, Ronove dragged Vergil behind a pillar, forcing the both of them to crouch.

"What are you doing?" He hissed, not very surprised to find himself glared at in reply from the man who had always made it very clear that Ronove needed to stay out of his way. "What is up with your wimpy acts?"

"What are you doing?" Vergil demanded in reply. "I told you to stay out of my way."

"To hell with that!" Ronove shouted angrily. "Is this how a son of Sparda is supposed to act? What happened to proving your worth? What happened to proving that you are stronger than what you always believed you were? What happened to needing to find a value that you can put yourself to?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Vergil was clearly guilty, because the half-demon had never tried to escape from conversations; he was always the one to close it sharply with his one worded replies. Ronove watched as Vergil straighten again, withdrawing his sword from the scabbard and looking ready to rush out from behind the pillar again.

"You are on the defensive! Does facing Mundus really scare you so much?!?" Ronove demanded, grabbing Vergil's elbow again and keeping him in place.

While Mundus was the Prince of Darkness, Ronove had once been an ex-Demon Lord, and even though he was much weaker now, Ronove could not feel that much fear in the face of Mundus. He knew that Mundus was far superior to him and could crush him to bits anytime he wanted, but Ronove also knew that Vergil was powerful enough to escape the paralysing sense of fear; particularly giving Vergil's experience on dealing with demons, Vergil's power level and bloodline as a Sparda.

"He doesn't scare me any more than you do, and you pose as much threat to me as a child does." Vergil's answer was righteous and prideful; every bit of the Vergil that Ronove knew very well. This was a good sign that the usual Vergil was here... so what the hell was he doing being so defensive during the fight? There was no hope of defeating Mundus by being defensive.

"Then explain..." They paused when the pillar shuddered with the weight of another of Mundus's energy ball, but thankfully did not collapse on them, "... Explain to me why you are fighting defensive. You are here to challenge him, not trying to survive a fight with him."

"There is no need to remind me of what I am here to do. I know it perfectly well." Vergil answered evenly. "Now let me go and return to the task at hand."

"You know you can't hope to win unless you unleash a quick offense to catch him completely off-guard." Ronove refused to let the man go. "I told you that Mundus's weakness is his pride. All you have to do is to trigger and channel all of your energy on that."

"I am trying to find an alternative way to take him down." Vergil replied coldly. "I don't have to explain myself to you, so get. Out. Of. My. Way."

It struck Ronove just as Vergil shook him off, then ran around the pillar, restarting the showdown again, which was turning out to be Vergil blocking blows and being defensive.

Where there had been frustration in Ronove, this time he was burning in fury when he chased after Vergil, intercepting another energy ball, and recklessly throwing it back at Mundus, who actually seemed caught by surprise for only a slight moment.

"You're not triggering because of me! You're scared that I'll die, isn't it?" Ronove accused, pointing his claymore at Vergil who was still glaring at his interruption. "Just do it, you wimpy son of Sparda! Take him down with the trigger!"

On any normal day, Ronove would never try to risk the wrath of Vergil by calling him a wimp and baiting him. But today was Ronove's last day of living, and he didn't really care anymore as he jumped up to give Mundus a few satisfying slices –though with little success. The Prince of Darkness certainly held up to expectations, though it seemed like Mundus was a little slow in recognising him as the weaker but more aggressive attacker in comparison to Vergil.

"I refuse! I will take him down without your help. I will take him down without my trigger, so stay back and be obedient." Vergil ordered, but Ronove was past listening.

"If you will not trigger, then I will force you." He promised in reply, swinging his sword with all his might at Mundus.

Ronove could not decide if he should be proud or embarrassed that he managed to keep Mundus busy for at least 5 minutes before he exhausted himself, and that Prince of Darkness effortlessly overpowered him.

"Ronove!"

He never thought a day would come where he would ever hear someone call his name in concern and worry –and never imagined that the person calling him would be the icy son of Sparda. But being close to death was a good reason to change his perspective on what he thought would never happen, as he felt his bruised body get lifted by invisible strings, as if he were a puppet, and Mundus the puppet master.

"Ronove? A familiar name..." Mundus's words boomed through the throne room. "One half of the twin demon pair that Sparda conquered 18 years ago? I assumed you and your brother dead."

"Sparda granted me grace more than you could ever have done." Ronove spat since he had no love or affection for the Prince of Darkness at all.

"I see that he has at least granted you companionship to his son." Mundus's reply was sneering. "Sparda always had a soft spot for anyone and anything that could do service to him."

"Ronove!" Vergil called again, and this time Ronove looked down to see Vergil's worry written clearly on his face. It was supposed to be touching, but Ronove was too busy currently to fill his head with any thoughts of those warm feelings.

"Trigger, now!"

"No!"

"I'm going to die anyway, you idiot! TRIGGER!" Ronove yelled.

"I said, no! I'm going to deal with him myself; you just find a place to hide!" Vergil yelled back, and despite all that he said he disliked and hated his twin brother's character, Vergil was acting strangely like Dante in this rebellion. This rebellion that unfortunately, had come at the wrong time.

"How cute. He cares for you. It will hurt him to make you mine." Mundus's small comment was shortly followed by an intense pressure in Ronove's head. Even dangling above ground by invisible strings, Ronove struggled, flinched and writhed in the pain that this pressure caused. He could immediately feel a presence down in his soul, leeching him off the last of his weak powers.

"Ro... no... ve..." The last moments before Ronove felt his soul lose completely to Mundus's creeping power, he heard a weak call of his voice and chanced a look down, only to find Vergil lying defeated on his side on the floor below him.

"Ver..."

The word was never completed as Ronove disappeared from existence, leaving a shell that now belonged completely to Mundus.

"Interesting." Mundus commented to himself as he let the soulless demon drop from his invisible strings. The shell that used to be Ronove fell heavily on the floor beside a barely conscious Vergil, who was still struggling hard. What surprised Mundus, however, was the level of demonic energy that was running rampant within the son of Sparda.

It was the same type of chaotic demonic energy that Mundus had once lost to –it was the chaotic energy of Sparda.

But at the same time, Vergil's demonic energy held something else; a cooling balancing feel that belonged to another demon.

"Very interesting." Mundus noted, testing out theories as he pushed a little of his power into the shell of what used to be Ronove.

Vergil screamed, a blast of dangerous potent energy exploding from his being. Mundus watched with surprise as the human figure of Vergil began to fade, and armour began to materialise from the demonic energy that surrounded the prone figure of the son of Sparda. It was something that Mundus would admit he had never seen before, and the process was remarkable as he watched Vergil form his own armour made from pure demonic energy... and this was all because Mundus had nudged a little energy into Ronove's body.

This time, Mundus did not nudge an energy into the body; he picked up the body once again with invisible strings until the body looked like it was standing.

Vergil –or what was supposed to be the son of Sparda –stood.

He made his puppet raise the hand that had been holding the claymore, and so did Vergil.

"Vergil Sparda?" Mundus tested, but there was no reply.

He had a sneaking suspicion he knew what had happened, but he didn't bother to ask further questions.

"Very convenient." Mundus approved, testing his puppet a little more, and seeing all respective movements come from Vergil Sparda's armoured self. He could no longer see the son of Sparda's face within the armour, but he didn't really bother. Demons and knights did not require a face anyway.

"Trish!" Mundus called his servant, and did not wait for long before she appeared into the throne room, not even looking a single bit surprised at the wreckage that had been left. She simply took point beside Vergil, bowing to her master reverently.

"This will be our new help from hence forth." Mundus announced. "He will be good use to us in getting rid of the remaining son of Sparda."

"As you wish, Master." Trish answered obediently. "Do we start with our plans now?"

"No." Mundus answered after short contemplation. "Visit Dante alone. I have plans for him."

"As you wish, Master. I will take my leave."

Mundus sat alone in the throne room following Trish's hasty departure, watching his newest recruit; completely silent. He had a sense that Vergil Sparda was completely unconscious beneath the armour. A million plans to get rid of Dante Sparda was now flooding his mind using this new toy.

But for now, Mundus knew exactly what to call this shell of Vergil.

Nelo Angelo.