Chapter I: Echoes of Sparda
In the demon realm Makai, the shapeshifting high demon Vireth tears through a wave of lesser demons with effortless brutality. As silence briefly returns, a towering figure in black armor—Nelo Angelo—emerges from the shadows and ambushes her. Though she repels his initial strike and wounds him, she's left stunned by what she senses: he carries the blood of Sparda, the legendary demon who defied Hell and sealed the infernal gate between worlds.
Her momentary confusion becomes perilous when Vulkrad, a ruthless general of Mundus, launches a surprise attack, gravely wounding her. Desperate, Vireth morphs into a winged moth-like demon and escapes as Nelo Angelo gives chase. She reaches an ancient portal, slipping through the Barrier of Sparda, and disguises herself as human before crash-landing into Earth.
In modern-day New York City, 20-year-old Ben Tennyson juggles college life and a night shift job. While taking a shortcut through an alley, Ben stumbles upon Vireth—barely conscious and bleeding. He offers help, but she refuses medical attention. His persistence wins her over, and he brings her to his apartment to tend to her injuries.
Back in the alley, Nelo Angelo arrives, surveys the blood trail, and coldly mutters, "She couldn't have gone far." He assumes a human form—his true identity: Vergil.
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Chapter II: Agents of Hellfire
In the shadows of bureaucracy, the interdimensional agency DARKCOM, led secretly by Vice President William Baines, intensifies its crusade to eradicate demonkind. At their headquarters, Dr. Fisher monitors recent disturbances. The frequency of demon crossings has spiked. They're not invading... they're searching.
Meanwhile, Ben tries to learn Vireth's name, but she feigns amnesia. On a whim, he calls her Selene, finding the name fitting for her mysterious aura. She insists she needs nothing else.
Vergil, masked in humanity, scours local hospitals for signs of her—but finds only cold trails.
At college, Ben meets his best friend Kevin Levin, and shares news of his secret guest. Kevin warns him against playing guardian angel and lectures him for trusting a stranger with such ease.
Back at the apartment, Vireth considers fleeing but crosses paths with Vergil just in time. Alarmed, she retreats to Ben's place, deciding to stay until her wounds heal fully.
Later, Ben and Kevin return, worried to find the apartment empty—only to discover Vireth in the bathroom, struggling to change her bandages. Ben helps, relieved, while she murmurs, "There's nowhere else to go."
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Chapter III: The Weight of Humanity
Agent Mary Arkham leads her DARKCOM squad through a scorched warehouse in pursuit of intel. A trembling low-tier demon offers information—they're all searching for the Shapeshifter, whose power would let high ranking demons to crossover. Before the creature can say more, Vergil, cloaked in menace, slays it in a blur. Mary strikes—but he's gone, evaporated like smoke.
A week passes. Vireth, now a quiet tenant in Ben's apartment, struggles to mimic human behavior. Ben attempts to teach her basic social norms, but cultural and gender gaps throw the lessons into chaos.
Realizing he's out of his depth, Ben reaches out to Gwen Tennyson. She arrives with caution, scolding her cousin for playing protector—but relents. Gwen bonds easily with Vireth, gifting her new clothes and quietly warning: "Don't make me regret trusting you."
Elsewhere, Vergil commands a scent-sensitive demon to track Vireth. That night, Ben unknowingly serves Vergil at the diner. They exchange cryptic words—Vergil's gaze piercing, his words laced with unspoken menace.
Back home, Vireth confronts Ben about his kindness. She's convinced humans help only when they seek gain—perhaps sex, perhaps status. But Ben's sincerity cuts deeper than any blade. "You don't always need a reason," he tells her. "Sometimes, you help because it's the right thing." The words crack open something buried in her: was this the essence Sparda once saw in humanity?
The next morning, Vergil breaks into Ben's apartment—but Vireth has already vanished.
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Chapter IV: Crimson Reckoning
Vireth senses the approach of an oppressive aura—Vergil. Leaping from the fire escape, she flees into the city, blending into the chaos of New York's crowds. But she knows they're tracking her by scent. She steals perfume, fresh clothes—anything to rewrite her trail.
But her thoughts spiral: If he can't find me, he'll find Ben. Vireth bolts to Ben's college.
Meanwhile, Ben splits from Kevin Levin after classes. Vireth intercepts him, urgency in her eyes. "Trust me, like you've been doing," she begs. As he reaches for her hand—Vergil impales him from behind.
Coldly disgusted by the dishonor of his own strike, Vergil blames Vireth. Before he can drag her away, Kevin's muscle car slams into him, breaking his grip. Vireth hauls Ben's dying body into the car. As they speed off, Vergil slowly begins to recover.
Inside the car, Kevin demands answers—but there's no time. Ben's heart was pierced. Hospitals are pointless.
Vireth tries to shapeshift—but her powers falter. She screams in rage at Sparda, begging for strength.
In desperation, Vireth transforms into a Devil Bringer, merging her essence with Ben's. Flesh, magic, and soul intertwine into something... new.
Unseen, above the city skyline, a winged bat-demon watches.
Chapter V: Legacy of the Corpse Reaper
A series of fragmented memories unfold—visions clawing through darkness.
In the brutal wastelands of Makai, a young Vireth and her sister navigate a savage world where death hides behind every shadow. Scavenging for scraps, they live in fear of higher demons.
On a supply run, the sisters are ambushed by a vicious predator—a hulking Vulpimancer, drawn by their scent. The beast slaughters Vireth's sister mercilessly. Before it can finish the job, a wandering demon swordsman slices it down in a blink of steel and silence: Sparda. He says nothing. He simply walks away.
Grief-stricken and starving, Vireth touches the corpse. Pain rips through her—the Vulpimancer is absorbed into her flesh. Her body twists, bones crack, tendrils flare. She becomes something... other. Something terrifying.
In time, she hunts again. Her prey: a savage Appoplexian. Overpowered, she transforms mid-battle into the Vulpimancer form, narrowly slaying her enemy. Another feast. Another transformation gained.
Vireth learns her truth: she can devour demons. Consume their essence. Grow stronger.
She joins Mundus's army, earning a reputation across infernal battlefields. Her name echoes: Vireth the Corpse Reaper. After each war, she roams the dead, absorbing the "useful." Among her allies: Sparda, Vulkrad, and twin warriors Baul and Modeus. In time, she becomes Sparda's student.
Then, rebellion.
Mundus, the Prince of Hell, prepares to conquer the human world. Sparda defects, choosing justice over tyranny. A clash brews between mentor and pupil.
When Vireth stands before Sparda, he pleads for her to abandon the path of domination. She scoffs. "Only the strong deserve power. That is the law of Makai." She invokes the pact they once made: live by your ambition. "Mine is to surpass even you."
Sparda defeats her—but spares her. He seals away her strength, her Devil Trigger, her transformations. "See things from a different angle," he whispers.
Stripped of power, Vireth begins a search to break the seal. News spreads: Mundus has fallen. The Barrier of Sparda stands.
Vireth learns a loophole: if she shapeshifts into a lesser demon or a human, she can bypass the barrier. She enters Earth—but finds only rot. Greed. Envy. Betrayal. Disgusted, she returns to Makai.
There, she meets the Horned Demon—Nelo Angelo. He offers a cure for her seal. But it's a trap. A horde surrounds her. Nelo reveals Mundus's plan: consume Vireth, steal her shapeshifting power, and walk through Sparda's seal unchallenged.
Vireth refuses death.
She erupts in violence—ripping through demons, painting the battlefield in blood. This is the memory we saw at the start. A cycle of rage and survival.
And then the perspective shifts.
Ben Tennyson jolts awake—his body resting, his mind reeling. He's been seeing Vireth's memories.
Chapter VI: Fused Souls, Shattered Paths
Ben jolts awake inside Kevin's apartment, dazed and unsure whether the battle—and the pain—was all a dream. But then he sees it: a glowing mark pulsing across his arm. The Devil Bringer.
Just then, Max Tennyson storms in, demanding answers. From thin air, Vireth materializes, her voice calm but heavy. The truth stuns Ben, Kevin, and Max.
Max accuses Vireth of nearly killing his grandson. Ben defends her, insisting it was his choice to help—that she saved his life.
Ben then questions how Max and Kevin know so much about demons. Max reveals his hidden past: a former member of the Order of the Sword, a group that revered Sparda as a divine figure and hunted demons. He explains that Kevin's father served alongside him—until he perished in a mission against Mundus's forces.
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Ben thanks Vireth. But sorrow creeps in when he learns she can no longer regain her physical form. Vireth explains: "If I leave, we both die. You were already dead before the fusion... we literally became one."
Max grimly confirms: Ben is no longer fully human. He's a hybrid—half-human, half-demon.
Meanwhile, Vergil speaks to the bat demon, who informs him of Ben and Vireth's location. At DARKCOM, Dr. Fisher uncovers an ancient folklore: the Corpse Reaper, a demon said to carry the souls of the dead within her. He connects the dots—Vireth is the legend. He reports his findings to Baines, who issues a kill order.
Vergil, cloaked in vengeance, leads a demonic horde to Kevin's apartment, now transformed once more into the armored warrior—Nelo Angelo.
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Chapter VII: Confrontation at the Brink
( From this point on, any time an alien name appears in brackets—like (Big Chill)—it indicates that Ben has partially transformed, usually morphing just his left arm into that alien's form.)
At Kevin's apartment, Vireth explains the nature of their fusion. Though their bodies are one, their minds remain independent—able to communicate telepathically. Suddenly, Vireth senses a massive demonic presence approaching.
She warns Ben, but it's too late.
Demons swarm the apartment.
Max and Kevin arm up, launching into brutal combat. Ben tries to escape—but is cornered. In panic, the Devil Bringer flares—his arm mutates into the form of a past-consumed demon: (Big Chill). Intangibility kicks in and Ben phases through the wall, stunned by his new ghostlike power.
Vireth's voice echoes in his head: "You're accessing fragments. With a full transformation, you could wield ice... but you're not there yet."
Ben pushes forward. He forces the Devil Bringer into a new form: (Heatblast). Flames erupt. Demons are incinerated as Ben fights his way down the corridor.
Meanwhile, Max and Kevin hold their ground—until Nelo Angelo himself arrives. They clash blades and fists in a desperate standoff.
Ben shifts into (Diamondhead), raising a crystalline barrier. For a moment, he laughs—he's enjoying this. Another attempt gives him (XLR8)—but only partially, he's unable to use it power, as he needs the leg's for that.
Vireth instructs him to Use her memories and Visualize the demons. Ben concentrates—but manages only partial transformation. His arms are the only transformed part.
The fight crashes onto the highway—live cameras catch it all.
At DARKCOM, Dr. Fisher watches the feed. He freezes the frame, zooms in.
"That's the demon," he whispers. "The Shapeshifter."
Chapter VIII: To Be A Hero
Confused by the thrill he feels mid-battle, Ben searches inward. His memories unfold like echoes in the void…
At age eight, Ben watches a Sumo Slammers superhero movie with Max and Gwen. The film ends on a resonant line: "To be a hero, one must never hesitate when another is in danger." Inspired, Ben declares his dream: to be a hero.
Two years later, Ben—now ten—witnesses classmates bullying Kai Green over her family's belief in the supernatural. He intervenes and breaks the lead bully's nose in the scuffle. Kai later insists she didn't need saving—but still thanks him.
The fallout is severe. Ben is expelled. At home, his parents—Karl and Sandra Tennyson—reveal it's his fourth expulsion in two years. Trouble always follows him.
One week later, Ben meets Kai again while shopping with his dad. They talk—briefly. Suddenly, a baby stroller rolls into traffic. Without hesitation, Ben rushes in and saves the child—but he's struck by a car.
He slips into a coma for six months. His recovery takes another year.
Concerned, his parents send him to boarding school. There, he meets Kevin Levin, his future closest ally. But even there, justice calls to him.
Ben stops bullies JT and Cash from tormenting a student. But the next day, the same student shows up beaten worse than ever. "Your interference made it worse," the boy tells Ben bitterly.
Ben returns to his dorm, crushed. Kevin finds him and offers his own philosophy: "To protect someone… you need power that's absolute. Power they can't defy."
Ben buries his naive sense of heroism. The world is cruel. His choices come with consequences—and his family has paid the price.
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Chapter IX: Bridge Encounters
Back in the present, Ben realizes why he's smiling during combat: For once, he has the power to protect.
The Horned Demon—Nelo Angelo—launches a relentless chase. Max and Kevin follow in the Rust Bucket, trying to flank the threat.
Ben uses (Lodestar) to magnetize and scale a speeding truck. The pursuit crashes onto the Brooklyn Bridge, where DARKCOM agents join the chase.
A family vehicle swerves across lanes—slamming directly into the path of an oncoming trailer.
In desperation, Ben fully transforms into Big Chill. His body fades to mist. He passes through the car and renders it intangible, letting it phase through the trailer unharmed.
Ben turns invisible and flies off into Manhattan, disappearing from sight—leaving demons, DARKCOM agents, and even Vergil, seething in his wake.
Chapter 10: A Name with the Face
Big Chill rockets into Manhattan, trailing frost through the night sky, before crash-landing into a building. Attempting to phase through the wall, he fails—slamming hard and reverting back to Ben. Vireth appears, her expression unreadable. She explains that transforming into a full demon places immense strain on the human body. The fact that Ben could wield so many demonic abilities in rapid succession is nothing short of miraculous.
She then reveals a secret: Sparda had placed a powerful seal on her, one meant to suppress her transformations. Yet Ben seems unaffected. One of the sealed forms—Lodestar—was used by Ben without resistance. They realize the seal was designed for a full demon. Ben, being only half-demon, is able to bypass it entirely. This means he can access all of Vireth's transformations—and even her Devil Trigger.
Seeking refuge, Big Chill flies them to the Sahara Desert. Ben questions the choice of location, and Vireth explains that it will take time for their enemies to track them here. More importantly, they need to train. Their last victory was pure luck, and luck won't save them again.
Despite her efforts, Ben struggles to master his transformations. Meanwhile, in Makai, Nelo Angelo meets with Vulkrad. Vulkrad criticizes him for allowing an injured Vireth to escape. When he questions Nelo's loyalty to Mundus, the two clash violently—neither gaining the upper hand.
Back in the desert, Ben continues to fail. That night, Vireth asks why he can transform into the moth but not the others. Ben admits he nicknamed the moth "Big Chill," and simply thinks the name when he wants to transform. Intrigued, Vireth urges him to try this with another form. Ben focuses and instantly transforms into Heatblast.
They discover that naming the forms helps Ben visualize and access them. Over the next three days, they bond—naming transformations and experimenting. Though Vireth refuses to admit it, she enjoys the process. They learn that Ben can access only 50 of the 10,000 demons Vireth has consumed.
At Darkcom, Baines reprimands Mary for letting Vireth escape. Dr. Fisher deduces that Ben's power is channeled through his left arm—the Devil Bringer. He detects infernal energy emanating from the Sahara.
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Chapter 11: This Is War
Darkcom mobilizes. Dr. Fisher warns Baines that Ben is likely a Level 6 demon—the highest and most dangerous classification. He urges caution, but Baines presses forward.
In the desert, Ben is ambushed by Darkcom agents and military forces. He transforms into Heatblast but is wounded by an anti-demon bullet. He flees, pursued relentlessly. Vireth is furious, demanding they retaliate. Ben refuses to kill humans.
Vireth snaps. "This is war," she growls, seizing control of Heatblast. She unleashes devastation—obliterating helicopters, wounding soldiers, and killing ten. She transforms into Humongousaur, growing to 60 feet tall. Armored vehicles are crushed beneath her feet; helicopters are swatted from the sky.
Only the core Darkcom unit remains. Mary opens fire, but Humongousaur barely flinches. Even anti-demon missiles fail to pierce his hide. Baines orders a retreat.
Vireth relinquishes control. Ben, horrified by the carnage, confronts her. They argue bitterly.
"You're a child pretending to be an adult," Vireth snaps.
"And you're a bloodthirsty bitch," Ben fires back.
Their fight is interrupted when Nelo Angelo emerges from a portal, striking Ben unconscious and dragging him into Makai.
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Chapter 12: Revelations
In Makai, Ben struggles to breathe the toxic air. Vireth quickly transforms his face into Diamondhead to protect him. Nelo Angelo shackles Ben with a magical cuff that suppresses full transformation.
Ben is stunned by the desolate, war-torn world. Vireth explains that centuries of conflict have reduced Makai to ruins.
Nelo meets with Vulkrad to escort Ben to the Marble Vault. But Vulkrad betrays him, wounding Nelo and forcing him to retreat. Vulkrad turns to Ben, revealing harsh truths: Vireth didn't save Ben out of compassion—she did it to save herself. She could consume him at any time. Vulkrad calls her a selfish power-hungry parasite, and Ben a naïve fool.
Ben is shaken. When Vireth asks if Vulkrad intends to deliver them to Mundus, he scoffs. He wants Vireth's power for himself.
(Vulkrad's Quote to Ben:
"Mundus? MUNDUS?! Who gives a rotting ember about that throne-squatting fossil! This was never about him—this was about me! I was this close—this close—to becoming a god! I'd siphoned enough infernal energy to vaporize half the underworld! One more step and I would've swallowed Mundus whole! And then... that self-righteous bastard Sparda grew a conscience. Sealed him away. Poof. Just like that. My empire of fire—ashes. My ascension—stolen!"
(Vulkrad lets out a distorted, echoing laugh, his containment suit trembling with molten energy.)
"But no matter... You, boy—you're the key to finishing what I started.")
Vulkrad removes Ben's cuff, claiming to give him a fair fight. Vireth senses deception. Ben transforms into Diamondhead and battles Vulkrad, slicing into his body with crystalline blades. Vulkrad collapses—but then a being of pure energy emerges. What Ben destroyed was merely a containment suit built by Mundus to imprison Vulkrad, whose true form is now free.
Ben fights using eight different forms, but none succeed. Vireth offers to take control, but Ben refuses. Vulkrad mocks them.
Desperate, Ben activates Vireth's Devil Trigger. He transforms into Humongousaur, then evolves the form into what he dubs the "Ultimate"—becoming Ultimate Humongousaur. Now evenly matched, Ben defeats Vulkrad.
At Vireth's urging, Ben kills and consumes him. He gains the ability to transform into Vulkrad's form, renaming it N.R.G.
Ben confronts Vireth about her lies. He decides they should find a way to separate, leaving Vireth quietly heartbroken. As Ben walks away, he begins coughing blood. His hair turns snow white.
Vireth kneels beside him. "This is the price of pushing your demonic power to the edge," she says softly. "Rest now. All will be well when you wake."
Back on Earth, a demon known as the White Rabbit hires mercenaries to infiltrate a museum. His plan begins to unfold.
He smiles darkly.
"And now, we all go down the rabbit hole."