Thank you all so much for your incredible patience. Good lord, well over a YEAR between updates!

I'm so, so sorry this has taken as long as it has. After my failure of the last two chapters, I felt pretty downhearted. I needed to work harder and more carefully on what followed to make sense and correlate better. I worked on it every chance I got, it just fought me a bit too long. I think I've scrapped and rewrote chapters 16 and 17 four different times. I was honestly getting sick of fighting with it, but didn't want to make something awful in my desperation for it to end, so I took my time.

This was going to be a double update, but after I finally got them finished in NaNoWriMo 2019 (YAY!) my computer crashed in December (BOO!) I managed to save 16, but I lost 17 and will have to rewrite it again.

So I'll put 16 up in gratitude for your patience and in celebration of a new laptop. Know that I'll interrogate the next chapter to finish faster than last time.

Thank you all for your kind reviews and patience all this time. I hope you're all happier with this update!

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A Token of Affection

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16 -
"Kings" [Emperors]

'Brain-Eater' Nougami Neuro was the most brilliant Demon in Hell. His Father had openly declared it so. Ever since he was a child, if there was ever something he didn't know, he did whatever he could to learn everything about it until he was satisfied. He had long-since devoured every book and scroll of history, science, mathematics the palace library had to offer. And several others the librarians didn't offer to anyone. Then he went to the cities and towns, although their libraries were rather pitiful in comparison there was the occasional piece he had not seen. When he finished reading, he set out to learn by experience. Before long, Neuro had fully earned his name as the most brilliant and set about devouring the Mysteries and Puzzles of Hell.

Confusion was not a familiar feeling to the Demon. It was an uncomfortable sensation when the facts before him didn't make sense. When something right in front of him was so relevant and at the same instant was so impossible.

In Hell, there was the Demon Court, comprised of the Lords that ruled each region, with the Emperor seated above them all. Neuro's Father was the Demon Emperor, the ruler of Hell. It was understood that Neuro, his own self, would one day become the next Demon Emperor after his eventual passing. There were no others.

So when his instincts, his very blood, told him that he was before the Demon Emperor and yet it was certainly not his Father, he was beyond confused. And in immediate response to this confusion, Neuro threw a handful of green and black energy right at his nameless opponent, knocking him back through the wall again.

It was not a terribly powerful attack, but it certainly wasn't weak. Any Lesser Demon might lose a limb; even one of the Demon Court couldn't come away without the burns from being in contact with such raw energy. The dose might at least allow him to measure this Other Demon a bit.

Or it should have. Instead, a similar yet stronger attack of black and green Hellfire came flying back to hit him. This retaliation actually threw Neuro back some ways, much to his shock and chagrin. He skid to a stop right back next to Aya Asia. The Songstress gasped at his sudden arrival, her wordless song cut to a rude halt, but maintained a rather cool demeanor in spite of the situation she'd landed herself in.

Yako, however, didn't react at all to his presence. She lay in Aya's arms, quiet and unmoving.

A lightning bolt of panic struck through him at her stillness and without thinking, Neuro caught Yako's shirt and hauled her up to him.

"AAAAHH!" Yako's scream of agony echoed through the aged structure, and was startling enough for the 'Brain-Eater' to drop her again.

Thankfully, Aya caught her again. Settling her back in her lap, the woman hastily resumed her wordless song, soothing Yako under the influence that would never affect Neuro. Yako's ragged breathing, her whimpers and tears, had a much more startling effect on him.

Once the girl was settled again, Aya glared hot at Neuro. For a moment, the Demon was reminded of his Mother's reprimanding stare and fought back a flinch.

"Mister Assistant! What were you thinking?" She hissed, careful not to use any power or volume that would disturb or hurt Yako. "I can only do so much! The Detective is too weak and her body's in terrible shape! How could you be so thoughtless?"

Neuro opened his mouth, only to shut it again. He didn't have an answer for her. He should have known better than to just grab her in her current state. This wasn't right. He was capable of thinking so many steps ahead of Humans, he shouldn't have been so blind as to ignore her state. That was the whole point of protecting her!

Shrugging out of his coat, Neuro wrapped Yako up in it. Not being of Human cloth, it would protect her from stray shots of both Human and Demon weapons, and hold her when he couldn't. "You must take Yako back to the hospital," he told Aya. "I can't fight seriously with her in such close quarters and dividing my attention to protect her."

"I made an anonymous call to the police when I found this place," Aya assured him. "Help should already be on its way."

"That won't mean shit if she's not found outside the barrier…!" Kasai hissed as he made his way over to the Demon and Songstress. "Even one step inside, even if she was bleedin' t'death right in front of 'em, they wouldn't give it a second thought…!"

"Oh! That's right! You mentioned something like that before, didn't you?" Aya offered a beautiful and sweet smile to Kasai. "Thank you very much for reminding me."

The arsonist grit his teeth. He was certainly charmed by the smile of a beautiful woman as anyone was, but was hardly in any shape to admire her. Especially when she made a point of shaking his bones with her courteous thanks, just to remind him of her own standing in their current relationship. "Please, stop that. It hurts like a b—AH…!"

"Language, Kasai-san," Aya replied easily, coolly.

Neuro watched this brief exchange with curiosity and fascination, but decided he would have to ask about their odd arrangement at another time. Yako's safety was the priority here, and he was unable to go with her to ensure she made it out in one piece.

"Otto. Can you move?"

The smaller Demon hadn't moved from where he'd fallen just some yards away. At first, he didn't respond to Neuro speaking his name. Then a twitch. Then another. Then a groan. Finally a turn of his head to try and see his young charge without having to get up.

"…Neuro…!" Otto coughed, somehow speaking with a dry throat and wet lungs all at once. "In-insides…feel shredded…! I'mma mess…!"

"Can you move?" Neuro queried again.

Grimacing and groaning, Otto attempted to do so. He tried with all the strength left to him, but rolling over, he couldn't raise himself any higher than his elbows allowed. He wasn't going anywhere in that condition.

"N-Neuro…!" Otto wheezed, determined to speak out while he had the meager strength. "Y-You can't fight…that Demon…! That's…He is…!"

"I intend to find out just what he is, Otto," the 'Brain-Eater' assured him. "Leave the rest to me."

"But…!"

"I'll carry him outside," Aya swiftly offered, all ease and friendliness as she moved to collect Otto off the floor. She turned to Kasai, her voice reverberating through the air as she told him, "You will carry Yako out of here. Gently, if you please."

Kasai flinched as her words pulled at the leash she had place on him, her control tightening around his brain to make him move. "Ya don't hafta be so forceful 'bout it," he groused past the ringing in his ears as he carefully took Yako from Neuro and hefted her up into his arms. "Y'think I'm gonna try anything when I know you could make my head explode just singing 'Jingle Bells'? As a man, I'd rather die with a bit more dignity than that, thanks."

"Don't be silly," Aya scoffed as she struggled to haul Otto's arm over her shoulder and stand up again. While he was decidedly small enough for Aya to at least drag, the Demon was certainly heavier than she initially thought. The trek outside where it was safer would not be a swift one. "'Jingle Bells' doesn't set the proper tone for that. At best, it would just make you go blind. Now, 'Despacito'—"

The very beginning of their effort towards the nearest exit was suddenly halted by a wall of red stone bursting out of the floor just in front of their feet. No, not stone. Aya was startled to feel the cold breathing off of it and realize it was actually ice. Blood-red ice.

"No you don't."

The Black, Nameless Demon returned through the opening in the wall, looking just as composed as before he had been thrown out and walking as casually as ever as he dusted off his shoulders. But his focus was not on Aya, Otto, or even Neuro. His strange eyes were so intent and focused on the unconscious Yako, and it was as if no one else mattered. As if no one else was even there.

"I won't let you go, Yako," the other Demon said, knowing she likely couldn't hear him. "And your Gluttony can't stop me."

Neuro might have objected, to his self-assurance as well as the familiar use of her name, but the other Demon's arm shot out and caught him. The limb didn't simply stretch across the distance between them. It changed shape, turned a sickly white and grew so large he held Neuro like one would a doll.

This, too, was an unpleasantly familiar sensation that Neuro usually associated with his Father.

"The grown-ups are talking, Glutton," he sighed. "Go wait outside until we're done."

With that, he hurled the 'Brain-Eater' through the roof as if he weighed nothing at all, sending rusty beams and debris falling all around them. But before he could return his attention to Yako, he was snagged by the icy-burn of a certain barbed chain of silver skulls that caught his wrist without his notice.

Only Otto and the other Demon recognized it as one of 777 other Tools of the Demon Court, the Evil Shooter, before the chain hauled him after Neuro.

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The warehouse was coming down now. Aya and Kasai hurried to carry Yako and Otto outside, barely making it before the structure collapsed in on itself. A massive cloud of dirt and decayed metal rose in its place, making the small band shut their eyes and hold their breath to avoid hurting themselves as they fled the downfall.

Once outside, Aya turned to look back towards the destruction, if only to try and follow the path the two Demons. But it was too dark to see anything past the dust cloud against the night sky.

Her eyes finally found the familiar blue of the Assistant's suit some ways off, shooting back and forth and all around like a bolt of lightning. Aya could do no more than watch as Neuro moved, supposedly against the dark assailant, darting back and forth across the sky. They exchanged blows and shook the air with heat and cold before they finally disappeared further up the mountain. Aya watched after Neuro as long as she could, barely a blur and a heartbeat before his small form vanished into the night.

"Not that I'm in a position to make demands here…" Kasai limped over to them, Yako still secure in his arms, "…but can I at least suggest that we move to a more comfortable spot? The view here isn't that great. Plus, we should at least put the girl down near the road so someone will find her."

Aya made a show of thinking about it, tapping a finely manicured nail against her lip. "I don't know. I think the view is rather nice. I can see everything from here," she replied. "Besides, I should do what I can for the Detective's injuries. She's been through too much today for her condition."

Kasai groaned, from frustration as well as his various injuries as his body moved to settle Yako on the ground for Aya to hold. "I'm the sorta guy who sits in the back of the movie theater. If the speakers at the front are too loud, it's impossible to enjoy the show," he said, looking in the last direction he saw the two Demons disappear to. "Besides, we can't even see them anymore, anyway, right?"

"Still," Aya shrugged lightly, "I would hate to miss how this fight ends if I have the chance to see it. Besides, we'll have to wait here until help arrives. We might as well make ourselves comfortable."

Kasai groaned loudly. Really, he wanted to scream at the unfairness of this entire mess. But he knew he had no room to complain or request anything from anyone right now. Not when he still felt Aya's voice wrapped around his brain like a silk ribbon seeped in arsenic.

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Thrown high into the air, but his trap set and his opponent caught, Neuro was content to wait until his opponent followed after him to meet him with a kick that would shatter every bone in a Demon Lord's body. The stranger in black couldn't counter the hit in time, couldn't catch the blow with more than his pale, unprotected face. But he was swift to come about and return it to Neuro's stomach. Neuro was not vitally concerned when he was thrown away, as the chain connecting them ensured that where one Demon went, the other would not be too far behind.

But the Other Demon surprised him when he caught Evil Shooter's chain and his gloved hand actually started to burn against the Hell-born metal. It shouldn't have been possible for any Demon to injure any of the 777 Tools—it usually took another Tool or Weapon to injure the first one—since standard spells weren't strong enough to match them.

It wasn't a weapon or even a spell; it was just his own miasma concentrated into his clenched fist.

Neuro shot back to his opponent with a hasty, "777 Tools of the Demon Court: Evil Stringer!" hissed under his breath to charge the Tool before he threw it ahead of him.

This forced the black-clad Demon had to let go of the chain to catch the Tool in his red-gloved hand. While this succeeded in interrupting his attempted escape, more than the earlier blow to his stomach, Neuro's own thoughts also stalled for a quarter of a second at the sight.

Because it took time and skill to master the Tools of the Demon Court. Because if anyone besides the user even tried to touch them, they risked losing an arm to the volatile Tools.

And this Demon caught it effortlessly. Albeit, his pale face finally pinched in annoyance at having to do so.

Before Neuro could possibly take pride in finally breaking his opponent's calm, the Demon was quick to turn and meet his approach with his boot in face. Sending the 'Brain-Eater' out further into the air with another hard kick, he seemed content to throwing him away rather than return him to the earth. Neuro could see that this was because the Other Demon moved to return himself to the ground much sooner. He wasn't about to let Yako go. And Neuro wasn't about to let him go after his Human again.

Neuro dragged his opponent after him, using the chain to bring him closer and punch him in the face. Of course, with the chain connecting them Neuro was, in turn, dragged after the other Demon as he plummeted to the ground. And of course, Neuro anticipated this and turned to ensure he would land with his boot on his opponent's throat.

While the result of getting the Demon on the ground, beneath Neuro's boot was certainly pleasing, that it had taken two different Tools to put him on his back was not. This Demon was even able to counter his Tools with his Miasma and skill alone.

Again, something only the Demon Emperor had ever done.

And still, despite being thrown to the ground, the Nameless enemy looked not the least bit winded.

"Who are you?" Neuro demanded, grinding his heel into his opponent's throat. "What are you?"

The Other Demon remained on the ground, seemingly unperturbed by his current position beneath Neuro's boot. "From a rather outdated standpoint, one could say that I am your Father's younger brother, as well as your older brother."

Neuro's confusion did not abate at this answer and his hair bristled in renewed anger.

He had always known that his Father was withdrawn. Neuro only recently learned that his Father had never touched a woman before his Mother, though he had always suspected as much. Everyone knew that the Demon Emperor never strayed from his courtship or his marriage, devoting all he possessed to Neuro's Mother. The 'Brain-Eater' also knew his Father had no family besides his Wife and Son; whomever had given birth to him had disappeared when the he was so young, even with his great memory, the Demon Emperor couldn't even recall their scent or voice.

While it would certainly take the most bizarre circumstances for one to be a brother to both the Demon Emperor as well as his Son, whoever, whatever this Demon was, he couldn't be related to him as the Demon said, or as his instincts demanded.

"And what is the basis of this claim?" He asked, his tone full of ice and acid.

The Other paused a moment, before his pale face finally shifted from disinterest. Finally, he smiled, showing off his sharp teeth. "The claim of blood, bone and soul, boy. You already know that. You've felt it from the very beginning. From that day I shot Yako." He added, not the least bit contrite.

The lingering discomfort of that day was still too fresh. And that this Demon would remind him of it, and dare use his Human's name so casually yet again, made Neuro's temper flare hotter and hotter.

"You want to say it's impossible," the Demon said, before Neuro could answer or deny anything. "You want to deny my very existence, because it does not fit into the mold of Hell's knowledge. But anyone with two brain cells already knows that what survived the cataclysm was not even half of what Hell once was. The home of all Demons has long fallen from its true glory, and should have remained so until our race faded from memory of all the worlds Above."

That was…curious.

Most Demons in Hell didn't have much drive outside the norm, settling everything on 'Fate' and just lived their lives. But the idea of the return of Hell's glory was a daydream any and every Demon possessed. While no one truly acted on these daydreams, not even the Court, Neuro couldn't say he had ever met who would desire the ruin or extinction of Hell Blood. After all, Demons were a proud sort.

"I have no siblings, and I would kill my Father myself if he ever strayed from his union with my Mother," Neuro finally said. "What's more, how can you also claim to be my Father's brother? Never mind that he's never had any other family, it would take some juggling to be claim both of us as siblings."

Another sneer from the Demon beneath his boot. "You're too immature, Glutton. Once, there were seven Demon Emperors, all born from the lifeblood of Hell itself to be the very embodiment of the Demon race. Brothers and sisters by the oldest, purest blood. That is the truth behind the Demon Emperors. That is the truth behind the three of us."

Neuro felt a shudder go through him. The Demon had said it all so simply and easily. It was like hearing something he had never heard before…and yet somehow always known. Something that was so important, so pivotal to who and what he was, but also hazardous to who and what he was that he never wanted to hear it. He didn't want to listen.

"There's only one Demon Emperor—"

"That you can't accept it only proves your immaturity," the Nameless Demon sighed. "Closing your eyes and covering your ears doesn't change the truth. It just makes you a fool."

Before Neuro could object further, the other Demon grabbed his ankle, shooting a great bolt of gold lightning through the Brain-Eater's bones. Stunned, Neuro was easily thrown aside as his opponent stood back up again. This time, the nameless Demon summoned his own power in the form of red ice bursting from the ground. Neuro was able to dodge that, but the second strike of gold lightning came so suddenly it was enough to catch him by surprise.

Neuro fell back to the relative support of the trees, but didn't move to hide, despite how numb his legs and tongue were left feeling after just the two shots. Instead, he slammed his open hand to the ground, lighting the nearest tree with his energy. The trees were strong. Neuro was his Mother's son and he could feel the power in their age. It shot from roots up into the leaves, taking all the fire and burning earth surrounding it to surround him and create a heavy blade twice as big as he was tall. To a normal person it would look as impossible as someone holding an entire tree as a weapon.

Whether 'No One' shared the idea or simply copied it, the Demon also gathered the yellow lightning and red ice around him to form a blade of his own. This was done with significantly more elegance and resulted in a blade three times his size, yet he carried it as if it weighed nothing at all.

They charged at one another, blades clashing in the dark with the intent to kill. They danced around each other, cut through the trees and stones of the hillside, risking fire and lighting up the night each time they met.

"I suppose I shouldn't expect much from a brat like you," the Other scoffed, drifting just out of reach. "You can't even touch me. It's no wonder, born and raised with barely any idea of what you are or what you've done. You're a half-wit, Glutton!"

Neuro's rage burned hot and he struck harder and faster than before. Much faster. The Other Demon didn't expect the blade cutting straight through his wrist, didn't even feel it until his left hand was already on the ground, so he couldn't dodge the attack.

The Brain-Eater's triumph was barely formed before the Demon charged at Neuro with as much ferocity as the Brain-Eater had struck with, coming away with similar results. Similar, yet more severe. Neuro's whole right arm, not just his hand, fell away and disappeared into the (growth).

Neuro spared only the brief thought that he would have to recollect his arm when this was over—he'd have to remember where it had fallen—before charging back into the fight. More than the hassle of his missing arm, his rising irritation at his opponent had become a roaring blaze, unlike anything Neuro had ever felt before.

He wanted the Other Demon down and in pieces. He wanted him dead, regardless of Neuro's need for answers.

They attacked back and forth and around again, until finally the blades shattered. Splinters of wood and shards of ice exploded in all directions and the two Demons jumped apart again. Far enough that there was no immediate contention in the air, but near enough they could still see each other. Neither of them actually intended to hide.

"Had enough yet?" The 'Brain-Eater' sneered at his enemy. In truth, Neuro was cripplingly out of breath and he hated himself for it. He was the Son of the Demon Emperor and he was being worn down by this nameless Demon who claimed to be kin. Some relief came from the fact that the Other finally appeared winded and sweating after so long.

That was something that never happened to Neuro's father. As much as he hated to admit it, the 'Brain-Eater' was a river, where his Father was an ocean. His power was unfathomable.

While it had certainly taken effort, this Demon's strength was not so vast. He could be worn down, his energy could be burnt out. Neuro just needed to persevere long enough to get him to his limit. And just that thought, acknowledging that this nameless foe was possibly stronger than him, was enough to keep him upright. He had the spite to face this Demon for as long as needed.

"I know all the stories about you, you know," his Nameless opponent sighed, insufferably bored and strangely solitary in spite of his fatigue. "I've heard them say you're a truly cunning Demon Lord. That you're brilliant and powerful, for all your youthful arrogance. That you're well and truly the only Demon worthy to take the throne of Hell when your Father finally passes."

Neuro didn't see the spell coming. Didn't feel the gathering of any power. Wasn't alerted by any movement whatsoever. He was suddenly and flawlessly encased in red ice, frozen solid, before he could do more than throw his remaining arm out in a futile attempt to strike out against the Demon with his bare talons.

The Demon passed his immobile form as easily as one would pass a bench on an easy walk through the park. "It's a pity that they're all so wrong about you."

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When Yako awoke again, it wasn't as cold as before.

Yako still woke to a definite chill, but this time there was also warmth to hold it off. There was the comfort of arms around her. The fragrance of peaches and cream, accompanied by the faint traces of brimstone and sulfur, wafted all around her. The distinct hum of a voice in the air and against her cheek had her prying her eyes open, the world a blur of shadows and colors until she managed to focus on the mess of gold before her. Golden curls of beautiful hair, never once out of place even years after her arrest.

"Aya…san…?"

The woman's wordless song came to a halt as dark brown eyes, prettier without her usual shades, met Yako's own.

"Welcome back, Miss Detective," Aya smiled down at her young friend, carding her fingers through Yako's filthy hair with such kindness it made her want to cry after everything else she'd been through. "Don't worry, you're going to be all right."

Yako sighed, relieved that she had been saved. She might have drifted back into a dreamless sleep, had Aya not drawn the blue coat she was wrapped up in tighter around her. Yako was beyond happy to see that familiar, 'perfect-blue', felt that much safer to be wrapped up in it. But she was startled by the sudden realization that the owner of that coat was nowhere in sight.

"Neur—AH!" Yako had barely moved before she was biting back a scream as her all too recent wounds protested her moving with white-hot pain. Yako collapsed back into Aya's arms, a fresh flooding of tears burning down her face. "Hurts…! It hurts…! Momma…! Neuro…! Wanna go home…!"

Aya didn't poke fun at her request to leave as she had Kasai's. She couldn't. Not when she sounded so small and alone. "You'll be okay," she assured her, gently rubbing her shoulders to comfort her and keep her warm. "We have to wait for the authorities to arrive. They'll be here soon to take you back to your mother, I promise. You're going to be okay."

"Okay…" Yako whimpered, sinking gratefully back into the woman's arms, comforted and protected despite the lingering pain and cold. "But…where's Neuro…?"

"Fighting the other guy," Kasai grimaced as he sat down beside the two women. "Best that we stand clear of that mess."

"That's…th-the best we c-c-can do…" Otto wheezed from his place on Aya's other side, opposite of Yako. "We can't…f-follow…"

"Otto…" Yako reached for the smaller Demon, but only managed to barely brush one of his outstretched fingers. "Are you okay…?"

"I feel awful…!" The 'Tongue-Eater' grimaced. "I really need to get some sleep…! Mark my words, when we're done here…I'm taking it elsewhere…for days…!"

Yako's heart went out to him, but was glad he was still alive. She would be happy to let him have those days to sleep so long as he woke up at the end of them.

But Yako didn't want to just lie there, she wanted to see Neuro. She was so tired, the pain in her chest throbbing alongside her heartbeat, she had no choice but to settle down and wait. But she wouldn't wait in silence. She wanted to know what this fight was really about. She wanted to make sense of it all. She needed something with insight enough to answer her. Otto was her only lead right now.

"Otto… Who is that other Demon…?" Yako asked. "What did he do to you…?"

Whether Otto was simply worn out or used that as an excuse, he didn't answer right away. He took some time, breathing and gathering his thoughts before looking back at Yako. "In Hell…there's no greater force…than the Demon Emperor…" He sighed. "He embodies all…that makes the Demon race what…what it is…! No Demon can ever disobey…an order from the Emperor…! Beyond instinct…our bodies…our very blood…would never allow it…!"

Yako took this in, but was still confused. "I thought Neuro's father was the Demon Emperor? How…?"

Otto laughed, groaned from the pain of it, and settled down with a wheeze again. "I don't know how…but everything in me tells me…that upstart…is a Demon Emperor…! I just…don't know how…!"

That seemed the best Otto could do, the most he could tell her when he himself didn't fully understand. So Yako let him rest and instead thought about what her Demon kidnapper had actually wanted from killing her. What little information she had picked up added up to some sort of vendetta against the Demon World, not just one person in it.

But if he was the—a—Demon Emperor, why would he want to destroy his own people? And what did Yako have to do with it? Why target her and not Neuro directly?

"All right, then," Aya said with a clap, bringing Yako out of her thoughts. "We should move further away where it's safer. Kasai, pick Miss Detective up again and carry her to the edge of the barrier. Miss Detective, you just rest for now."

But as Kasai moved to obey, he suddenly stopped.

"Someone's coming…" He hissed, drawing all eyes to the mountain.

Yako saw the blurry shape of someone emerge from the trees and for a brief, hopeful moment, relief sparked in her heart that her Demon had returned safely.

It died quickly when she felt Aya's arms tighten around her and saw the Diva's pretty face pinch with alarm. That was enough to tell her that the Demon walking towards them was not hers.

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'Move!' Neuro demanded his useless, frozen body. 'Move! Move, you fool!'

There was no one else who could face the Nameless Demon. Otto couldn't oppose him, he'd already fallen. Kasai was unreliable, at best, even under influence of another. And while Aizawa Aya was truly powerful, she couldn't truly exert that force when facing a Demon. It had to be Neuro to challenge him, and the Brain-Eater had let him catch him in a simple trap and walk right by him.

Although his body had been frozen, solid as stone, Neuro's mind remained as sharp and aware as ever. His thoughts were unhindered by his imprisonment, burning hot in his skull as he fought relentlessly simply to move the very tips of his fingers. Neuro had pushed as hard as he could, but his body would not obey his nearly desperate commands. Not even the arm the Other Demon had severed responded to his call. He was left unable to so much as twitch a single hair on his head. He was trapped, and he knew the other Demon was going after Yako. His Yako.

After struggling for more minutes than he should have, unable to break out, Neuro turned inward. He considered something that he had not since his childhood. If he was meant to become Emperor one day, some of that incredible power his Father had possessed even in his far younger years must dwell somewhere within the 'Brain-Eater' also.

While seemingly out of reach by many ages still, it might be his only hope of protecting Yako.

Could he find it? Could he force that power to the front?

He had no time to doubt.

Neuro's thoughts twisted and turned every which way like a hive of bees, there was too much to be done to immediately calm himself.

It had been a long, long time since he had looked inside for a solution of any sort. Not since his childhood, when his Mother and Father both encouraged him to meditate, to reflect on himself and his nature, and simply exist in the quiet of the moment. While he often thought of himself in the most egotistical of ways and as often as possible, Neuro had long ago cast the activity of meditation aside in favor of getting things done as expediently as possible.

Neuro thought on himself now. Without ego, or great knowledge, or even the faintest idea of what would arise from within. His thoughts slowly quieted. He clawed through to expose the raw nerves of his soul and the sole driving force of his life.

Hunger. It had always been his appetite that set him out into the world. And he followed it now. Even farther than ever before, despite it always being himself and within easy reach. Following his hunger to its source, he tunneled past all knowledge and dreams, past thought to take another breath, Neuro found something. Or more accurately, he recalled something.

This something, this presence, had always been watching and waiting. Long before Neuro had even been born, it had been there. Long before his Father had ever set forth to re-establish Hell as a major power, it had been there. Long before the unknown cataclysm that laid the Demon world so low, it had been there. Long before anyone could ever remember it—

No.

Not it.

He.

He had been there longer than anyone could remember. He was just waiting to be found again.

And Neuro had finally felt him. Neuro could now listen and hear the song in his blood that had been silent for so many generations.

Though trapped, the air became filled with miasma and Neuro could suddenly breathe easier than he had since coming back to the Human World. It felt like a piece of Hell had suddenly risen up around him, through him. Everything started to burn, freeze and change around him. The plants seemed to fall dead, only to burst up again with renewed life, changed. The scars in the mountainside seemed to fester as bizarre plants burst to life. They were all bizarre and hideous by Human eyes, but in truth they were the rarest, most terrifying plants to grow in Hell's gardens.

Strangling the life out of many of the nearby trees and sending any remaining animals running for their lives. Unfortunately, many didn't get far, either ensnared by the Demon plants or choked by the Miasma filling the air.

But Neuro noticed none of it. His thoughts were not on his surroundings, or his opponent, or even his Bride. There was only the hunger, ancient and unending.

And with freedom so close for the first time in a Demon's millennia, there was no stopping Him this time.

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"Aw, Hell…!" Kasai hissed in pain and frustration. He really wasn't up for a fight in any way.

"Aptly put…!" Otto grimaced in reply, unable to move. "Irony…!"

Neither man could really stand in their defense. Aya, however, didn't hesitate to open her mouth and sing. She had always known that her voice would never affect the Detective's Assistant, and therefore this creature was also immune to her influence. She could never truly explain how she knew that, it had always simply been a fact to her. But the ground beneath his feet, the trees at his back, even the very air around him would move to her song. They could all harm him where her pitiful human hands could not.

The ground opened up and the stranger stumbled. He was honestly surprised by this, never expecting such power to belong in the human world. But he was quick to catch himself before he fell down the opening, leaping back out of the ground and into the air.

He went completely over Kasai and Otto, landing directly in front of Yako and Aya. And with a loud snap of his fingers, a pins-and-needles feeling hit the group of four and dropped them each to their weakest. They could still move by the barest degree, but none of them could find the strength to raise a fist against the Demon now. It was like those nightmares where one couldn't move fast enough or hit hard enough to fight off the monsters. There was nothing else to hide behind or fight with. He had them cornered.

"I want you to know, I'm not doing this because I hate you," the Demon told Yako, his voice quiet and melancholy. "I have no desire to see you suffer."

"Then why are you doing this?" Aya demanded, holding Yako closer. Even if her strength had left her, she still had her will to keep her moving.

"In all honesty, I'm afraid I'll come to like you as much as the Glutton does," the Demon went on, ignoring Aya as he reattached his hand to his wrist. Unlike that time with Neuro some years before when Yako had to hold his hand in place through the night, it only took a couple moments for bone and muscle to bond back together. Yet another testament to this Demon's power. "You're an ideal Emperor's Wife. I honestly wish that you had died that day, rather than prolong this."

Aya held Yako tight against her heart, as if to protect her from the Demon's words with the sound of her heartbeat. But Yako heard him clearly, even if she didn't understand.

"Emperor's…Wife…" She recalled Neuro telling her something about that before.

The Demon gave a resigned sigh. "He really hasn't told you how he'll steal you away from your world, everyone and everything you love, all so you can give birth to yet another Demon Emperor," he replied dully, rolling his wrist and flexing his fingers to assure there were no issues with his own mobility. "This is for the best, really. Best that you not suffer in the dark, thrown away once you've fulfilled your purpose for their pedigrees. Best that Hell Blood dry out, that the Circle of Emperors never be rebuilt."

So Yako was right in thinking this was a serious hate-crime, against his own kind, against himself. She couldn't really understand what he was trying to tell her, or maybe she did but wasn't willing to believe whatever he was trying to tell her. She couldn't let herself listen, not when he was so clear in his intent to end her life, not when his aim was still far from clear. Not when she didn't know what had happened to Neuro.

"Where's Neuro…?" She whimpered.

"Alive. Try as we might, we can't actually kill each other," he sighed, some measure of annoyance bleeding into his tone. "Rest assured, he fought well for you. You're worth that much to him, even if he's too young to really make it count."

The Demon reached out for Yako, his long fingers stretching out so much like Neuro's that she wanted to cry. Because she knew she was going to be killed. There was no question that there was nothing to be done now that could save her.

So when a strange sound ripped through the night air, something like a roar yet so much more shrill, that rang across the entire mountainside, Yako was only filled with more terror and dismay for what could ever make a sound like that.

The earth trembled with the sheer might of that horrible sound. It did not move the world the same way Aya's music could, it couldn't control it or shape it according to will or whimsy. But it reached into the brains of all who heard it and tore their thoughts to pieces. A noise that shook them all to the core, their most basic instincts begging to run away and hide. To jump in a hole and pull the ground in overhead. But there was nowhere to go.

Yako had never heard anything like it. It was almost like thunder without lightning, but so much more alive. It had certainly been a roar of some kind, shaking the earth and sky and scattering the birds in the forest into the night, but it didn't belong to any animal or beast Yako knew. It was unlike anything she had ever heard before. It met the dread in her heart and darkened it with too many feelings to decipher.

But more than that, the black Demon looked back into the trees with shock coloring his pale face for the very first time. Like he truly never expected to hear that noise. Ever.

It was the sound of something terrible being reborn.

The roar passed and night fell silent and still for just a moment. Then came the distinct sound of falling trees, splintering wood and the earth trembling to draw all eyes back to the mountainside. There was movement in the darkness, crashing through the woods and only growing larger as it came closer. It started small, but the shape soon reached over the trees by the time it broke through. It charged across the vast expanse, heading right for the small group with gnashing teeth and claws.

There was nowhere to go, still under the Demon's influence that kept the Humans and the lesser Demon paralyzed, and no time to even try with the speed and size of the creature. But it was the dark Demon who leapt into the air that drew the monster's glare and wrathful talons that caught him in the air. The beast then turned and threw him into the ground, shattering the earth upon impact. It was both amazing and alarming that the Dark Demon didn't get back up immediately, as he had been all night.

As the greater beast paused to circle and watch the hole in which the Demon had made on impact with the earth, Yako and the others could all see it clearly. Striding forward on four legs that ended in viciously clawed feet of a large bird of prey, the body was similar to that of a large dog. Two huge wings extended from its back, followed by a tail that was nearly as long as the monster was. Ferocious eyes glared through the darkness, glowing bright green, from within the face of a horrible prehistoric bird bearing twin horns like an antelope's atop its terrible head. It resembled the icons of griffins Yako had seen in England architecture, but was at least fifty times larger than a lion could ever be, it's body looming over them like a two-story house. Kasai was barely half as tall as the creature's foreleg.

But more importantly, so close to it now, Yako recognized it.

The monster's face was burned into her brain from their first meeting years ago. The creature's colors of blue, purple and green were just garish enough to be seen even in the dark of night. The body was different, but she knew it was her Demon.

"Neuro…!" She gasped and cried. She was still hurting, her confusion and stress making her ache more than any actual tremor from the Demon Monster's movements. "Neuro, what—what happened…!?"

The griffin beast didn't so much as glance her way. Glowing green eyes remained zeroed in on the other Demon at he emerged from the hole and attacked with what seemed to be a bow and arrows made of () lightning. Back and forth they raged once again. The beast's enormous talons tearing into whatever surface he struck whenever he missed his smaller enemy. It was like watching a cat fight with a bee.

"Ah, Hell…!" Otto groaned. "Of all the times…!"

"What?!" Kasai shouted, flinching every time Neuro's claws cut into the earth and threw a gust of wind up around them. "Huh? What 'of all times'?!"

"Neuro's…pushed past the pup stage…!"

That meant something, all three humans knew it, even if they didn't fully comprehend how important it really was.

The Nameless Demon charged again, over and over again. And was overcome each time with little more than a well-aimed strike of Neuro's claws or a whip of his tail. Their earlier paradigm had completely reversed with Neuro's incredible transformation.

And yet, something was off. There were no words, no barbs exchanged. His presence was a scramble of the beast's massive size and heavy breathing, but the pressure of his easy wit and glib tongue had gone silent. None who knew the Brain-Eater could say that he was here, even as they saw him in his new skin.

The Other Demon suddenly turned away from Neuro, creating a blade of red ice and gold lightning and went for Yako instead.

This proved fruitless, however. The griffin-beast snatched the Demon out of the air, crushing him in his mouth before turning and spitting him out again. This actually shot him across the perimeter and back into the trees. Aya and Kasai could actually see a few trees fall in his departure.

The beast Neuro had become moved to follow after his enemy turned plaything, but Yako couldn't take it anymore. She had to stop him and make him see her.

"NEURO!" Yako screamed his name with everything she had. Her body protested harshly, striking the wound in her chest with a new wave of burning hot and freezing cold pain that left her lungs desperate for their next breath.

But when she opened her eyes again, her whole body froze in fear. The beast had finally turned his massive head to acknowledge the small Human woman calling his name. His huge green eyes turned on her small and helpless form, but there was no light of recognition there. Nothing to tell Yako that the brilliant Demon she loved so much was even there.

As it loomed closer, he lowered his jaws toward Yako, showing teeth like swords dripping with gallons of acid saliva. His drool rolled down its toothed beak, setting the ground aflame for a brief moment before burning holes right through the stone and soil.

Yako knew he didn't know who she was. And sure as the black-clad Demon meant to kill her before, Yako also knew Neuro was going to eat her now.

He could have swallowed her without even having to bite her into more manageable morsels. He would have, there was no doubt of that. But it was that very moment a new colossal form burst out of the darkness and crashed into the griffin-creature. Throwing them both into the hillside and scattering dirt and trees into the air upon their impact, both giant beasts lay stunned long enough for the people below to see them both clearly.

It was a black-as-pitch snake, or something like a snake, with a wide hood like a cobra and the fangs to match. And yet no cobra had ever had arms or clawed, scarlet-red hands to hold anything. Or a mouthful of obsidian-black teeth along its massive fangs. Or six eyes, all burning bright with more intelligence than the griffin-beast now possessed.

With renewed anger and a new direction to send it, Neuro turned from Yako to charge at the snake-creature. The haste with which he tackled the new beast, the immediate bite to its face, as well as the serpent's black hide was enough to tell anyone that this serpent was the nameless Demon after Yako's life.

And indeed, still seemed to be. In spite of the beast's fighting the griffin, his attention kept coming back to where the small group of humans, plus one, stood huddled together for safety. He would throw Neuro aside and charge their way, likely to devour them all to avoid missing his true target. But every attempt the serpent made to get to them was stopped by the griffin-beast catching him by his long tail and throwing him all around before dropping him on the other side of him.

This continued, back and forth, until the serpent finally devoted all his attention to his opponent. Angry roars like thunder and violent hissing akin to the strike of lighting filled the night. There was something else, something almost like language, dark and sharp and humid spat from the serpent that the griffin did not answer beyond a bite or swipe of his claws. Back and forth, the monsters ranged all over, just as before. This time, however, with their massive size they were causing more damage than one could hope to survive.

"We have got to go!" Kasai shouted over the mess of noise. "We're gonna get trampled out here like this!"

"Let's hurry! We still have to get Miss Detective outside the barrier," Aya insisted, lifting Yako up and hurrying farther away from the fight.

"Otto…!" Yako gasped, tears rolling down her cold cheeks. She wanted to go more than anything, but she couldn't leave it this way. "What's happened to Neuro?"

"He pushed for power he's…not mature enough to handle…! Probs felt it was…his only option…left..." Otto started laughing and groaning interchangeably. "The other one, too…! It might be…he had it already…but he doesn't have a firm…enough grasp…to control it…! This is incredible…!"

"I'll agree to that," Kasai grinned, although he wasn't amused at all. It was an easy default he supposed. "But what's so damned funny?"

"Ye don't understand…!" The Tongue-Eater laughed, groaned and laughed again. "They're both…so powerful…and they're both…SO STUPID!"

Yako had to agree. She was almost laughing with Otto. The rampant battle of the two monsters that shook the air and split the earth could be described as incredible, but the two Demons responsible could honestly be called stupid.

The Tongue-Eater's pained laughed suddenly halted, his eyes shooting the nearby road, overgrown and near-hidden by the woods. "I can hear…a car…?" He strained to listen through the miles ahead and the maelstrom behind. "I think it's Officer Tsukushi's…!"

"You can tell something like that?" Kasai gaped, and glanced back at the raging battle. "Over that mess?!"

This was both good and bad news. Good, because it gave them a way to get Yako out of the fight and back to the hospital. Bad, because if they didn't do it right, they risked exposing everything to someone in law enforcement.

"The police can take her back," Aya breathed a heady sigh of relief. "We'll pass you off to them and stay inside the barrier to avoid them."

Yako actually squirmed in the woman's arms. "No…! I won't go…! I can't…leave Neuro…!"

"Everything…will be okay…!" Otto insisted from his uncomfortable place on Kasai's back. "Getting you to safety is top priority here…! If we're lucky…the fight will stay inside the barrier and no one will even notice anything…!"

"We can't…we can't just leave him like this…!" Yako cried over the chaos of roaring wind and monsters.

"Do you seriously wanna get in the middle of that?!" Kasai snapped. "I doubt you could do anything even if you didn't have that hole in your chest! Think bef—AAAGH! SHIT! FUCKING! AH! O-OKAY!"

Yako didn't hear the sharp note Aya hissed under her breath, nor did she feel the lightning-sharp pain that cracked through Kasai's brain to silence him. All Yako knew was that her Demon was behind her, and yet nowhere to be found at all. She didn't understand how Neuro had changed his shape and his mind so drastically, only that he had done it for her. That simple knowledge made her happier and more miserable in the same moment than she thought possible.

"We have to leave Neuro to handle things for himself," Aya insisted, shifting Yako's weight a little to carry her more comfortably. "This isn't something we can interfere with anymore. This is their fight; at this point you're just the prize."

"The cops'll be here any minute!" Kasai ground out, still stinging from Aya's reprimand. "We have to go!"

She was too exhausted to keep arguing, Yako knew they were right. But she also couldn't just leave things as they were. There were too many questions and no one in their right mind who could possibly answer them.

"But…Neuro…!"

"No more of that, Miss Detective," the woman hummed, her voice soothing the ache in Yako's body down to her bones. It spread through her, made her drowsy.

"Everything will be okay now…" Otto insisted again, even as Yako drifted back to sleep. Her exhaustion, helped by Aya's quiet humming, drew her down and she was soon fast asleep again.

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He didn't have a name of his own. He had his memories, the memories of a few others, and the truth about Demons. That was enough to set him on the path that led him here.

He had only taken this form a total of three times before. He rarely changed to this shape, the last time it had only served to deal severe retribution against his worst enemies. Any more than that would have drawn attention before he was ready to act out. Any more than that and he risked losing himself.

The Glutton wasn't really an enemy to him; not even his intended Bride was his enemy. Neither of them warranted his full effort, because both of them were vastly weaker than he was. Neither of them were worth this shift in power and appearance. And yet he had been influenced by the Brain-Eater's transformation to summon up his own. With so much power at Neuro's disposal, the Other found he could only match it.

The tight rein he had kept on his reason and instincts had been lost in the fires of his outrage.

And he found he had never been happier. To let go, to lose himself in the instinct of the fight against a younger equal. He felt free of want, free of thought. There was just him and the Glutton in their contained war.

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Aya could hear the car approaching as she gently laid Yako down just outside the limit of the barrier. For a bare second, she almost forgot about the monsters raging war behind her as the spell worked its magic. Careful to cover her as best she could with Neuro's coat, Aya held Yako's hand and drew back to the safety of the barrier, until she finally had to let her go.

The cars came crashing down the overgrown road, screaming to a halt upon catching sight of Yako in their headlights. The doors opened and Officer Tsukushi and Investigator Higuchi leapt out.

"Katsuragi!" The hacker skid to a halt beside his fallen friend. Catching her hand in his own, relieved to feel her warmth and pulse, he gently brushed her hair out of her face with the other. "It's okay, we've got you! You're gonna to be okay!"

Officer Tsukushi pulled off his coat, passing it to Higuchi to cover Yako before he rushed back to his car for his radio. The brief communique was sharp and to the point. A call ahead to whoever was on the same frequency, either the police department or the hospital, asking for help as they returned to the city. Then he was hurrying back to help Higuchi and carry Yako to the car.

It was surreal for Aya to stand there, barely even two feet away, and be completely overlooked. She, who had stood upon the stage and been praised for her voice, her beauty and so much more, was more invisible now than her sunglasses had ever made her. It was strange and oddly nostalgic. It took her back to her life before the stage, before she had discovered herself, before she killed those she loved to keep herself.

Watching Yako be safely carried back to the car, Aya caught the younger man's intent to move back towards the barrier. It was plain as day on his face that he wanted to inspect the area, check for some sort of evidence. Possibly even cross the barrier in order to investigate further. With the barrier itself possibly not enough to deter him, Aya sang just enough notes to sway all thought of the two officers toward taking Yako and leaving.

Surprisingly, rather than immediately move to follow her will, both of them actually paused and scanned the air. As if they might have heard her. As if they had felt that they were being influenced.

Aya actually worried that they would both disobey and move against her. But both police officers shook their heads to clear their thoughts, returned to their car, blared the siren and sped away into the night with their precious cargo. Aya watched them go, relieved that her young friend would be safe and satisfied that she had helped the young woman as only she could.

In the meantime, the rumble of the on-going battle drew her eyes back to the two beasts raging across the hillside. Like her, so long as they stood within the barrier, no matter their form, they would remain unnoticed by anyone outside.

"Thanks you…" Otto sighed. "Ye were a great…big help… It'll be…okay now…"

"Do you need me to take you somewhere safe, Otto?" Aya offered.

The small Demon sighed, but shook his two-toned head as he looked back. "I should stay here… He'll need me…"

The battle still carrying on across the hills, neither Aya nor Kasai could see how the smaller Demon would be needed at all. Just the same, the Humans had done what they could tonight. The rest was beyond their meager power. Their fight was over and done for the night.

Aya sighed, but clapped confidently. "Right, then! I should be getting back to my cell."

"Won't your prison sentence be extended if you go back?" Kasai groaned, settling down on the grass. "Those prison guards aren't exactly accommodating to escaped prisoners. I can't guess what sort of welcome you'll get."

"Not this time, I think," She smiled, dusting herself down. "I find I enjoyed these couple of days, being outside and in the world again. I think it's time I rejoined it. Would you mind giving me a ride back into town?"

They both knew it wasn't really a question when she had such influence upon the man, she simply wanted to offer him the opportunity to be polite. It took Kasai a long while to get back on his feet, yet again, but she waited until he was up and at her side again.

"Perhaps we might see more of each other, Kasai," she added bright and cheerful as they walked together. "Don't worry, I have your cell number, I'll be in touch."

The man didn't even try to smile at this bit of terrible news. "Oh, rapture…!"

Aya's smile only brightened at the possibilities suddenly opening to her. Not just the rising success of her career, but the influence she could command beyond the stage had become more and more appealing as the night wore on. Her days ahead looked promising.

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Otto watched the two strange humans disappear into the night. Truly, a strange people. The Tongue-Eater had acknowledged this when he met Neuro's Human, a small girl who could put up with his antics and even understand his endless appetite. But meeting such unique personages he had no direct connection with certainly made him curious of the future of this world.

Now, greater matters needed attending to. Even if Neuro might come out the winner of this senseless fight, he had no control to stop himself from potentially decimating the country in his rampage.

This was no doubt the crisis Otto had been told to prepare for. This was why the Demon Emperor had entrusted the Tongue-Eater with Neuro's keeping, as well as the round jewel in his pocket. It would take someone with Hell-Blood to recognize a threat on a Demonic scale and know when intervention was necessary.

Of course, he had no idea what would happen. But that just made him curious. It always had.

Otto took the gem from his pocket, rubbing it between his hands to warm it up. His insides still felt shredded from his ordeal, but he took as deep a breath as he could and blew it into his hands, into the gem to heat it. Then he raised his hand high over his head and threw it towards the beasts with as much strength as he could muster.

Even in the heavy gloom of night, Otto's Demon eyes could see the glimmer of the small stone as it hit the ground and continue to skip some ways before suddenly exploding. But not in light or fire. No, this explosion was all inky shadows, darker than blackness that just emerged from the small stone and took shape.

A very distinct shape. Known to any and all living in Hell, no matter how high or low their standing.

At first, Otto couldn't believe he had actually been entrusted with something so incredibly important and so unbelievably dangerous. didn't fight the weak laugh that bubbled up his damaged throat as he finally let himself fall unconscious again.

'Everything will be okay now…' That was what he'd told Yako to reassure and send her away.

He knew it for certain now, feeling more than seeing the darker-than-black figure slowly shift and change and grow, and finally let himself collapse and rest from his ordeal.

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They fought with tooth and claw, none of the incredible spells or weapons they possessed were called even once. They lunged for each other, acid saliva and tar blood raining down. Burning and melting whatever it touched without the slightest concern.

Their only focus was each other. Even the concern and interest in the Human whom they were first battling for was gone; she wasn't even an idle thought amidst the turmoil of their conflict. Neither even noticed the third greater, older, power to arrive on the battlefield. They could only carry on tearing up the mountainside without a thought between them.

Neuro's thoughts were scattered, screaming, and burning inside his skull. The unrivaled intellect he'd sharpened since he first learned to walk was gone, replaced by the raw instinct to fight, to hurt, to devour his enemy. To devour everything.

His opponent's derisive laughter—like the grinding of metal in a scrap yard—only spurred his anger to greater heights. He wanted to deal with this upstart challenger and then he could get back to the sweet-smelling presence he had been interrupted from.

He couldn't remember what it was, why it was important or how it was so sweet. Only that it was something that belonged to him, and that it was something he wouldn't let anyone else have.

His enemy, the Nameless Other was no in no better shape. But he was, strangely enough, just as happy.

Neither of them, with their tumultuous thoughts, even noticed the third presence when he appeared.

Even when he changed shape to his more comfortable beast form. Not until he charged into the middle of the fray, two of his three heads catching both younger beasts by the neck in his powerful jaws and halting their battle, did they recognize and acknowledge him.

The Demon Emperor watched his Son and their new, estranged Brother thrash and snarl in his grip with lazy tolerance and a weary sigh.

"Honestly, the impetus of youth can't be blamed for this," His middle head told them, his voice like the rumble of distant thunder. "You're both old enough to have sorted this out more reasonably than you have."

The beast his Son had at last become shrieked, wings beating hard to escape his jaws, no matter the damage his Father's teeth caused to his neck. The Other actually threw his claws into the face of the head that held him captive, but only managed a superficial scratch to the Emperor's face. Neither of them were as big as He was; neither possessed the strength to pry his jaws open and escape him.

"Perhaps it's not your age. What you both lack is the maturity to talk out your problems and feelings with each other," the Emperor sighed again. "Too proud, that is the real issue here."

Again, neither great beast responded beyond snarling. Neither of them could, so overrun by their emotions and power.

"Very well, then," Neuro's Father rolled his massive shoulders in a disappointed shrug. "We will simply have to wait until you are in a more talkative mood. I'm certain it won't take long. You both seem the type to enjoy your voices too much to remain silent."

And with that, the Demon Emperor dragged away his son and brother, unhindered by their thrashing and hissing and snapping, disappearing into the dark of night. No one would ever realize he was ever even there.

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Was this issue resolved too quickly? Was the fight and the finish really dumb? Hopefully not as disappointing as the boss fight in Iron Man 2? I just couldn't let it drag on or be split between two chapters without it feeling weird, but now I'm worried it feels really anticlimactic.

It's because so much of my darned Demon Lore is still in my head! So much needs explaining to make sense to others! I hate info dumps, but I'm probably gonna have to do one in the next chapter! Urghurgh!

Side note here: A lot of people were saying that Yako is being too weak or something. Keep in mind that Yako is still a human, not any sort of super being like Neuro. I remember recovering from my back surgery years ago, I'm sure recovering from being shot with a Demon rifle is significantly harder to get through. I'm not making her character weak, I'm just showing how stuff like this really happens to us fragile Humans.

Special thanks to emissary-architect for reading chapter 16 before I posted!

And thank each and every one of you for waiting so long!

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