Shaw Industries Underground Hangar – Salem
The hangar roared like a furnace as the Sentinel Infernal MK-I stood upright for the first time.
Its molten eyes burned gold, Hellfire leaking from its joints. Every step cracked the floor, molten slag dripping from its heels.
Cyclops raised his hand. "Everyone, spread out! Contain the thing before it reaches the surface!"
Dante cracked his neck and grinned. "Contain? Nah. I'll handle this."
Before anyone could stop him, he was already moving—Rebellion blazing in a streak of crimson light. He sprinted straight up a collapsing catwalk and launched himself at the Sentinel's chest, slashing a molten line across its armor.
The sword bit deep—then stopped. The cut sealed over instantly, glowing red.
A pulse of light rippled across the Sentinel's plating, forcing Dante back mid-air. He flipped and landed hard, boots skidding across molten metal.
"Okay," he muttered, smirking despite the heat. "Guess we're doing this the hard way."
The Sentinel turned, its massive frame humming with energy. Red glyphs spread across its body, converging into a barrier that shimmered like liquid glass.
Cyclops fired first—a full-power optic blast that hit the shield and splintered into a dozen smaller beams. They ricocheted off the walls, cutting through consoles and steel.
Jean raised a telekinetic barrier just in time to deflect the blasts. "It's redirecting our energy!"
Storm's eyes flashed white. "Then let's change the weather."
Lightning slammed into the Sentinel's shoulders—but the arcs bent mid-air, wrapping around the shield and spiraling into its core. The creature's chest reactor glowed brighter, pulsing with stolen power.
Elsa steadied her pistol. "You've got to be kidding me."
She fired her last Bloodflare Round. The bullet cut through the smoke and hit dead center—but instead of detonating, it froze mid-air for a heartbeat, then shattered like glass. The energy was sucked into the shield and converted into molten fire that rippled back toward them.
Elsa barely ducked behind cover. "Well, shit—that's all I had that might've worked."
Colossus roared, charging forward. His fists hammered against the barrier, each blow ringing like a gong. Sparks flew—but the more he hit it, the stronger it burned.
Nightcrawler blinked in and out, trying to reach the inner frame. "I cannot breach it—it moves with me!"
Dante holstered his pistols, eyes narrowing. "So it eats energy, huh? Guess that makes you one hell of a glutton."
He flipped Rebellion into a reverse grip and lunged again, Ifrit flaring around his arms. His flaming punch struck the Sentinel's knee joint—metal cracked, the hangar shook—then the fire died instantly, absorbed into the glowing sigils.
The Sentinel retaliated. Its arm cannon glowed crimson, charging stolen lightning and optic energy into a single sphere.
Jean shouted, "Incoming!"
The blast fired—a wave of Hellfire and plasma that slammed into the far wall, tearing the hangar apart.
Felicia vaulted over a broken railing, landing beside Elsa. "Okay, tell me your plan—the one you were about to tell me?"
Elsa switched back to her launcher and fired at the giant, only to see no result. "Yeah, no, that plan went out the window when I saw it could absorb energy."
Cyclops fired another burst from his visor, but the beam ricocheted off the Hellfire shield and slammed him into a support column.
Colossus tried to hold the line, but a single backhand from the Sentinel sent him crashing through a wall.
Jean's telekinetic barrier shattered like glass.
Storm pulled back, shielding the others from a wave of reflected plasma.
Even Nightcrawler couldn't get close—the instant he blinked in, the shield repelled him, throwing him across the room.
Elsa crouched behind a console, pistol smoking and useless.
Felicia cursed under her breath, claws sparking but fading. "Everything we throw at it just makes it stronger!"
Elsa's reply came through clenched teeth. "Then we're running out of options."
The ground shook violently. A shockwave rolled through the hangar, hurling them backward. The Sentinel's core opened wider, the light inside burning brighter—a miniature sun tearing itself apart.
Elsa hit the floor hard, skidding against broken metal. She looked up through the smoke—the machine loomed like a god over them.
Felicia stood beside her, panting, one arm bleeding through a torn sleeve. "I'm out of claws, Red."
Elsa gave her a grim look. "And I'm out of bullets."
For a moment, it was quiet—just the hum of Hellfire and the faint drip of molten steel from the ceiling.
Illyana stood a few steps back, her hand tightening around the Soulsword. The golden light at its edge flickered, deepening into crimson. She felt the mark under her skin begin to burn—the familiar whisper from Limbo echoing in her mind.
Let me out.
Her breath caught. The heat from the Sentinel bled into her veins, mingling with the darker warmth rising inside. She could feel it—the other side of her—clawing at the edges of her control.
You can end this, the voice whispered. All it takes is one step.
Her grip trembled. She shut her eyes, forcing the thought down, burying it under layers of willpower.
Not here. Not in front of them.
Before she could steady herself, Dante's voice cut through the chaos.
"Man, I really hate doing this to myself."
He stood near the wreckage of the upper platform, blood dripping from a cut on his chest. His coat was torn, his breath steady but low. Rebellion lay embedded in the floor beside him.
He raised a hand. The sword began to tremble, then ripped free of the ground and flew toward him. Instead of landing in his grip, it drove straight into his chest—halfway to the hilt.
"Dante, no!" Felicia shouted, her usual flirtatious tone gone, replaced with panic.
Illyana's eyes widened.
He smirked faintly. "Relax. Just kicking things up a notch."
The impact echoed through the hangar—a deep, resonant sound that wasn't just metal, but something alive.
Energy burst outward from the wound in waves, crimson light spilling through his veins.
Felicia stumbled back. "Dante—!"
The air around him twisted. The floor cracked. The Hellfire in the room began to spiral toward him like a vortex, drawn in by something primal. His blood burned into pure energy. His shadow stretched long across the molten ground—horns where there were none.
Then came the change.
Crimson light erupted from his body, wings of energy bursting outward. His skin hardened into pale steel, demonic markings crawling up his neck and arms as his human features burned away. The air shimmered around him—heat, pressure, raw power coiling into form.
Felicia stepped back, eyes wide. "What the hell… are you?"
The fire dimmed. Where Dante had stood was something no longer human—his body encased in burning red armor, eyes glowing gold, wings of flame unfurling behind him.
Devil Trigger.
Rebellion dematerialized from his chest and reappeared in his hands. The wound sealed instantly, Hellfire coursing through the blade like liquid flame.
"Alright," he said, voice deeper, layered with something unearthly. "Let's try this again."
Dante stood at the center of it all—his Devil Trigger form radiating crimson light that made the Hellfire look dim. His wings of flame flared once, scattering embers across the wreckage.
He exhaled, energy crackling around him. The floor beneath his boots glowed red-hot as his aura surged.
Ebony & Ivory, Gravemind, Rebellion, and Ifrit all flared in response—Hellfire veins lighting up across their forms, pulsing in sync with his heartbeat. The power wasn't called; it answered.
The ground split beneath him from the force.
He moved faster than anyone could follow. Rebellion sang through the air, carving molten trails across the Sentinel's armor. When the sword bit, Hellfire gushed like blood.
Cyclops could barely keep his voice steady. "What—what the hell is he?"
Jean, straining to hold debris back with telekinesis, whispered, "He's not human. Not anymore."
Elsa crouched behind a scorched console, watching through the heat haze. "That's the demon form of Dante," she muttered under her breath. "Try not to blink—or you'll miss the world ending."
Dante blurred upward, landing on the Sentinel's shoulder. He drew Ebony & Ivory, firing round after round of red-tinged bullets that detonated in bursts of infernal light. Each shot blasted chunks of molten metal from the machine's neck, the sound echoing like thunder.
The Sentinel staggered but didn't fall. Its shield flickered, then reignited—brighter than before.
"Persistent bastard," Dante growled.
He holstered the pistols, letting them vanish in a swirl of crimson sparks.
With a flash of red light, Gravemind materialized in his hand—its bone-like frame pulsing, alive and eager. He gave it a spin, feeling the weapon's energy sync with his Devil Trigger. With a twist, the scythe folded into its rifle form.
The machine howled, its voice a mechanical shriek mixed with demonic rage. It swung its massive arm downward, barely missing him.
Dante leapt clear, landing beside Illyana and Colossus. The heat warped the air around them.
"Big guy's getting cranky," he muttered. "Good sign."
The Sentinel's claws clenched. Its core pulsed once—a surge of molten energy building inside.
Colossus's voice rumbled. "We cannot let it fire again!"
"Working on it!" Dante shouted back.
Ifrit materialized around his arms and flared to life, molten gauntlets sparking as he charged. He launched upward like a comet, flames trailing behind him. He hit the Sentinel's chest, fists slamming into the reactor plating over and over—each impact cracking the surface, each roar louder than the last.
Then, with a sound like tearing thunder, the reactor casing split. Hellfire poured out in rivers.
For the first time, the Sentinel hesitated. Its movements stuttered—sluggish.
Jean gasped. "He's… he's actually hurting it!"
But Dante wasn't done. He dropped back to the ground, landing in a crouch, smoke rising from his armor. For a heartbeat, everyone stopped to watch. Even the Sentinel seemed to hesitate.
It raised one massive hand—its shadow falling over the group. Its claws locked on Illyana, the only one not moving.
She should have been ready. But the sight of Dante's demonic form froze her. That power—the aura, the sheer presence of it—it felt familiar.
The energy coming off him wasn't just demonic; it resonated with Limbo itself, with the same pulse that had once crawled through her veins when she'd lost control.
For the first time in years, Illyana felt that pull again.
He's like me…
She didn't notice the Sentinel's arm until its shadow swallowed her.
Colossus's voice thundered. "ILLYANA!"
Dante's head snapped up.
In an instant, he was there—red light cutting through the smoke. He scooped her off the ground and vaulted backward just as the claw slammed into the floor where she'd stood. The impact sent a shockwave across the chamber, molten debris spraying in all directions.
He landed hard, still holding her. She blinked, dazed, meeting his golden eyes through the heat haze.
"Illyana?" he asked, breath rough but steady. "That's your name?"
She nodded slowly, still trying to catch up—the sound of her name from his voice anchoring her back to reality.
He stared for a heartbeat longer, something flickering in his expression. "Illy… from that small snowy town—the kid who used to hang out with me and Vergil?"
She nodded again.
Even in his demon form, a faint, genuine smile crossed his face—brief, almost human.
But the Sentinel didn't give them time to catch up. Its blade arm swung from the side, catching Dante off-guard and slamming him into a wall of molten steel.
"DANTE!" Both Felicia and Elsa's voices cut through the chaos, but the roar of the reactor drowned everything.
Illyana's breath caught. The sight of him falling—of losing him again—snapped something deep inside her.
Not again.
A pulse of crimson rolled out from her, rattling the wreckage. The mark on her collarbone blazed through her suit, gold bleeding into red. The ground around her cracked, heat rising in waves.
Jean shouted something—distant, muffled—but Illyana couldn't hear. Couldn't see anything except Dante lying still.
The whisper came back—old as Limbo, seductive as fire.
You can't save them like this. You know what you are.
She clenched her jaw, the Soulsword trembling in her grip. "Stop…" she hissed through her teeth.
But the voice only laughed.
Then show them.
Flames erupted at her feet. A sigil formed—rings of molten red carved into the steel floor.
The temperature spiked; even Storm had to pull back from the heat.
Elsa's eyes widened. "Oh… bloody hell."
The light swallowed Illyana whole. For a second, the hangar went silent—then the sigil exploded outward in a shockwave of fire and shadow.
When the smoke cleared, Illyana Rasputina was gone.
Standing in her place was something else.
Her skin shimmered like polished obsidian, run through with cracks of molten light. Horns curved back from her temples. Her wings—vast, blade-edged, alive—unfurled with a sound like tearing metal. The Soulsword had transformed, its golden glow twisted into blood-red fire.
The air bent around her power. Every ember in the hangar froze mid-fall.
Illyana lifted her head, eyes burning with twin suns of Hellfire and Limbo's darkness.
The Darkchylde had awakened.