“Dannazione che fa male.” I grunted.

The dust started to settle and my head stopped shaking. I sat up and looked around, I was in some kind of factory. Rubble was scattered around me, and I found a hole in the ceiling. More than likely where I came from. I need to get back to Stryder and Zack.

I forced myself up and looked around a bit more. I noticed a lot of pipes and container machines. This was some kind of chemical factory. I needed to be careful.

“I see you’re as tough as ever. Even when you get blasted by Dad’s fire, you still come back in one piece. Leo.”

His voice bounced off the walls around me, and the faint taps of his footsteps started to grow louder and louder.

It was Elo, I took a breath and turned toward the sound. Then I watched him emerge from the shadows.

“You can’t kill the Alley of justice that easily.”

He stopped and stared, his eyes grew wide and he tilted his head to the side.

“Father’s going to rip your friends apart.” He started to laugh. “Bit by bit! Piece by piece!”

“Stryder and Zack aren't going to die that easily,” I said firmly

He abruptly stopped laughing and stared again.

“That defiant attitude is finally gonna come back around. Father told me I can do whatever I want to you. As long as there’s a corpse when I’m done."

“Let me ask you, do you want to kill me because father told you to? Or because you want to?”

I clenched my fists and morphed into my draconic form. Elo looked at me and smiled. His body slowly being consumed by his blue scales.

“I think this is the first time you’ve asked me how I felt.” He croaked and held out his hand, displaying his claws to me. “And if I’m being honest, I’m Itching to kill you”

I pit formed in my stomach as he said that. I never realized it. I never once asked how he felt about anything. When he cried I just told him to suck it up, when he got tortured I told him to just be a man and when mom died I forced him to make a decision.

‘Don’t forget your brother’

My mother’s words slithered into my mind. I always thought he was just dead weight. I looked into his eyes and stared at a feral beast. Not even remotely resembling the brother I knew. I created this.

“Elo, right here, and right now. I promise to listen to you.”

I took a breath and thought about Icarus. He was right, I was no better than him. Those deaths he caused, I have my own hand in all of them too. I started to smile and stepped forward.

“What're you smiling about!? You Getting cocky!?”

'Face him without a mask.'

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Lux's words came into my mind, and I let my scales down. I looked over to him and shook my head.

“As a representative of the bad siblings club, I promise to face you without my mask. I’ll look at you for who you are, Vergil.”

His entire body shuttered as I said that name. He stumbled back and glared at me.

“Father killed that name.” He grumbled, and let his scales fade away. “But after I kill you, father said I can be the new Leo!”

“You can never be me,” I replied. “No matter how hard you try, you’ll always be Vergil, and that’s okay.”

“You’re mocking me right!? That’s why you took off your scales! You think you can just kill me without them don’t you!?”

“Honestly, I don’t think I’m going to win this.” I held up my fist to him.“But I want to face you, as I am. The real me.”

“That cocky attitude is what got mom killed in the first place!”

He charged at me and I prepared myself. He came in and threw a left hook. I went to block but immediately felt him slam his right fist into my face, it was a fake! I stumbled back and he immediately followed up with a barrage.

“I’m not weak anymore! I’ll prove it! My existence matters! I’ll become you! And it’ll finally end!”

He punched me in my jaw and I fell to the ground. I quickly rolled back onto my feet and spit the blood out from my cheek. My face stung, but I was used to pain like this.

“Vergil, I don’t even want to be me. I was always jealous of you.”

“Lies!” He roared and charged me again.

I could tell he was getting flustered. He came at me with his fist already raised. So it made it easy to counter. He swung at me and I grabbed his arm and flipped him over my shoulder onto the floor.

I looked down at him and he winced, he raised his arms up to protect his face. That’s when I remembered. When dad made us spar, I’d always drop down and wail on him. I could kill him right now. Stryders face came into my head, and I stepped back.

“W-what?” He stammered.

“Vergil, I’m not the same person I was before. I’m sorry I forgot you. I wasn’t a good brother.” I held out my hand to him.

He slowly lowered his arms, and looked me in the eyes. He tilted his head and reached out for my hand. I went to grab his, but he shot out and grabbed my forearm. He hopped up and pulled me in, then slammed his fist into my stomach. I vomited and immediately felt him ram his fist into my face and I was sent flying back. I crashed onto the ground and started rolling.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You abandoned me! You left me to die! You beat me! You only think about yourself! That’s why mom died you selfish piece of crap! It’s because you wouldn’t listen! Because we wouldn’t just obey!”

I coughed up the vomit in my mouth and forced myself back up.

“I am, I am a monster, I am a piece of crap. I did only think about myself, and I did have a hand in Mom’s death. Because I let my anger consume me. But Vergil, we can do this. We can both change.”

“How dare you talk like that! It’s been my dream for years! I killed, I stole, I destroyed. So I can be more like you!” I saw tears start to flood down his face. “I was torn apart every day so I can become Leo!”

“And I helped destroy you because I was jealous. I hated how close you and mom were. How after a job you could still cry for the people we killed. After I let that part of myself die, I was desperate to feel again, I wanted to know what it was like to not see people as objects. I wanted to be like mom, I wanted to be like you.”

“You should’ve just obeyed!” He ran at me and punched me in the face.

I flew back and crashed into the ground, blood leaked from my nose like a broken faucet. My mind faded in and out. Then it was like I was in a dream. I saw my mother. She was pushing herself off the ground after my dad hit her. Yeah, this was from when I refused to kill that girl. She gave me a smile as I cried over her. She just kept telling me it was fine, that it didn’t hurt. My dad tried to beat her into submission. But she kept standing up and telling me that it didn’t hurt.

Yeah, your right mom. This doesn’t hurt.

I pushed myself off the ground.

“When her face was down in the dirt, and she was getting beat to death. She said this doesn't hurt.” I grunted and forced myself to stand up.

“Huh?”

“No matter what dad threw at her, she never stopped fighting." I faced him and glared into his eyes. “She said this doesn’t hurt.”

“Shut up! If she’d just listened she’d be alive right now!” He roared.

He charged and punched me in the face, but I held my ground and swung back with a headbutt to the face.

“She fought so we wouldn’t turn into this!”

He quickly shot back and punched me in the gut.

“There’s no way we can win!”

I reached down and grabbed his head and rammed my knee into his face.

“We don’t know unless we try!”

"Mom didn't want us to die like idiots!”

He came back in and punched me in the face. I tanked the hit and came back at him with one of my own. Then we started trading blows, tearing into each other with all we had. Staining ourselves and the ground with our blood.

“Do you think she’d like what you became!? What we became!?” I came in and kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying back. He crashed and rolled onto the floor. “Even when mom was getting beaten, tortured. She never stopped fighting for us. So why should we stop fighting!?”

I heard him growl and his body started to change. His blue scales shined and started to poke out like a porcupine.

“SHUT UP!” He roared and charged at me. Slashing his claws at me in a frenzy.“She was a fool! She died because she couldn’t see how powerful he was! She was a fool like you!"

I summoned my scales and clashed with his arm. The porcupine scales stabbed into my arm, but I swung hard enough to make him stumble back. I dashed at him, and my mom’s face came to mind. I opened my mouth, and with everything I had, I blasted him with fire! A crimson explosion went off and sent him flying back into the wall. I panted and started to walk over to him.

“I’d rather die than let everything mom stood for go up in smoke.” He coughed but didn’t move. “So tell me, are you ready to let it all go to waste? When you have your answer come find me.” I turned and started to walk down the hall he came from.

The warmth of the sun suddenly wrapped around me. I strolled and stared at the windows in shock. There was a clear blue sky outside. Was it morning already? No, couldn't be. I bet those idiots have something to do with this. I smiled and took a breath.

“Don’t worry guys, I’m coming.”