Blade Master Alastor

Maybe I misjudged Dante. I didn't think I was going to get any kind of actual consideration out of him, but I was wrong.

It turned out that the Changeling queen had gotten her perforated paws on my sword. I don't know how she kept me from identifying it until now, but it's moot at this point. It went up for auction as part of the most exciting clearance sale ever. I was determined to win it, but Dante outbid me. I was pretty angry that he had the guts to try to reclaim me after all the time I'd spent as a glorified wall ornament in his service, but...he surprised me.

After he won the sword, he did the last thing any demon expects their master to do in the face of desertion. He released me from his service and returned my sword. He even admitted that he'd done wrong by me and was holding me back by not giving me proper attention.

So, that's it. I'm a free demon again, my entire soul belongs to me. It's been two thousand years since I could honestly say I was free...it's going to take a while to get used to. Right now, it just seems too good to be true.

It turns out they don't have Christmas here. Instead they have Hearth's Warming, a celebration of the founding of Equestria. There's some story about Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi fighting with each other and some things called Windigoes feeding on their hostility until they all learned a valuable lesson about friendship and blah blah blah. The less sappy version is a story against bigotry, which I can get behind a bit more, even if I didn't hear anything about Batponies.

More interestingly, apparently most of the 'newponies' here have unusual powers of some sort, even if they were human to begin with. Even in Movieland, the majority of the people were just background characters without any real abilities. It seems kind of strange that so many newcomers are outside the range of normal, unless there's something here specifically targeting extraordinary people. Maybe Lyra was right and I'm not just here out of bad luck or someone's lousy sense of humor. But that raises the question of who's bringing us here and why...

I'm not even sure where to start about today. For one thing, I'm somehow writing this with hooves. Actually, I think I'll start at the beginning. Viewtiful Joe wandered into the town I've been resting in and the same woman who's been helping me let him and his friends stay with her. I hadn't wanted them to see me in this condition, but it's too late to do anything about it now. They had Gedow's pet android with them and apparently they'd managed to reprogram her somehow, but that's not really any of my concern. Gedow seems to still be perfectly capable of interfering in movies, since they tried to ruin this one by blotting out the eclipse. Apparently the only time the preparations of the previous day won't be undone is on a solar eclipse. Still sounds pretty lousy to me, since that just means it'll be stuck on Halloween for years instead of the day before, but who knows what human writers are thinking sometimes.

Anyway, Joe and I teamed up against Gedow's monster this time. I was going to leave, since I'd rather try to get out of range of the light show than bank on Joe getting rid of it before the total eclipse, but I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that someone who had helped me was in danger. Some devil I am, huh? But Joe and I make a surprisingly good team...not that I'm hoping we ever have reason to fight together again. And even so, I almost got myself killed getting in the way of a bomb attack aimed at that woman. I guess I forgot about how fragile my body was. I'm still alive because someone managed to get rid of the lights blocking out the eclipse just in time and now I'm back in action for real.

Or, well, I was. We cleaned up pretty easily after that and Joe and I went our separate ways for now, but that's when it stopped making sense. I don't know how or why, if it's some elaborate prank or a summoning ritual gone wrong, but now I'm in a place called Equestria. It...doesn't seem to be a part of Movieland. Or at least, if it is, I've somehow lost the ability to return to the real world. On top of that, it's a world of magical talking ponies, of all things, and I've been transformed to match. I still have my wings and more power than I did when I was stuck as a human, but I also have hooves and my beautiful tail has been turned into a mess of hair.

And of course I didn't arrive during a quiet time. The place was full of fog so thick I could barely make out shapes five feet in front of me and crawling with monsters. But the most inconvenient part was the Shadows, manifestations of our repressed thoughts and emotions that were determined to get us to acknowledge them, even if it meant getting nasty. Mine was my better nature, the part of me that's more like a human than a demon. It took all those moments when I haven't really been sure what motivated me to act the way I did and made me really think about them. The conclusion I had to come to was that I'm not really the villainous type...and I never really was. I'm still the same softhearted, pale excuse for a devil that couldn't support the idea of dominating the human world. But maybe that's not such a bad thing. I never really liked the way things worked in the demon world and I doubt it would ever be safe for me to go back anyway, so why should I hold myself to their standards? So what if I happen to be more inclined to help people than to put them in danger? It makes me a respectable person by human standards, which I can feel a lot more proud of than being a proper demon. My Shadow seemed to be satisfied with that realization, since it rejoined with me as something called a Persona. But I'll talk about that a bit later.

The next thing I have to mention is that Dante's here, and he's a dragon, of all things. How come he gets to keep the ability to stand on two legs and I don't? Unsurprisingly, he and his Shadow were doing things their own way and getting along instead of arguing. He was a pain until I decided to show him the power I gained from accepting my Shadow. Then things got a little awkward, since my Persona apparently manifests with the appearance of the Dark Knight Sparda. I'll be honest, it left all three of us speechless for a while. I'm still not sure what to make of it, except to wonder if it's related to what I had to accept to unlock it.

I was this close! Sprocket told me about a solar eclipse I could use to get my powers back, in a gem heist movie. I agreed to help her with getting some stupid wish in exchange for taking me there, but of course she hung me out to dry when things didn't go her way. I don't know how in God's name Silvia missed the warning not to push the self destruct button, but she nearly got us all killed. I really feel sorry for Blue Jr., having to put up with that kind of carelessness all the time.

Sprocket didn't get her wish and everyone made it out of the ruins in one piece, but Joe and his friends insisted on dragging me off of the island entirely. On top of that, when I insisted I needed to see the eclipse, one of the movie's natives promised to give me an amazing view of it and took me out into space! As impressive as it looked, the moon wasn't blocking the sun entirely from up there, so it didn't do me any good at all. What did I do to deserve this kind of frustration? Wasn't losing most of my power enough of a punishment for letting myself get carried away back then?

I caught up to Viewtiful Joe. I found him in a version of Oz that Gedow had tampered with and ended up having to save his, Silvia's and Blue Jr.'s lives. I bumped into Silvia at a fast food place, too. Luckily, she didn't recognize me. We haven't really talked since my last duel with Joe and I'm not sure how she'd react to me now. Aside from that, she's a superhero now, but apparently she's having some trouble adjusting to being part of the team. I went ahead and gave her some advice, though I'm not entirely sure why. I guess I just got used to it, trying to get Joe to become a worthwhile rival. Well, anyway, she seemed fine when I ran into them again, aside from being surrounded by Flatties. I went ahead and helped them out, although they should be embarrassed that they needed it.

Joe tried to invite me to have dinner with them, but I declined. I might not be a villain anymore, but we're still rivals. The idea of acting like his friend or teammate is just ridiculous.

Jadow is done for, and I say good riddance. With them out of the way, maybe I'll finally be able to get a proper rematch. Well...once I finish healing, anyway. I had to interfere to keep Fire Leo from killing Viewtiful Joe and I was injured badly in the process. Normally it wouldn't matter, but I lost a lot of my power, as well. I'm trapped in my human form, which means I'm not healing nearly as quickly as I should. I guess I should be grateful I'm not back to being a sword, but it's obvious I can't have my duel with Joe like this.

Sprocket's up to something, but I can't figure out what. I've been catching her sneaking around in a Bianki costume lately and I finally called her out on it today. She's using it to spy on someone, but whether it's Silvia, me or all of us, I'm not sure and she's refusing to tell.

Speaking of Silvia, she's sharper than I thought. She's caught on that I'm not actually interested in Jadow's plans. Maybe I've been too nice to her. She might simply be under the impression that I'm not evil enough to really be one of them.

I don't even know what to say about today. Sprocket forced me to pretend I was trying to marry Silvia. She said there were several reasons I was the best fit for the job, but I don't know what she's talking about, aside from Silvia having some amount of trust for me. Is she trying to ruin Silvia and Joe's relationship with this? I can already tell her it's not going to work. I said it was beneath me and I wanted out, but of course she didn't listen. She'd already gone ahead and arranged everything, including publicity, so I couldn't back out anyway.

Surprisingly, it turned out to be not so bad. I looked incredible in the tuxedo, if I do say so myself, and my company on the way to the church wasn't half bad, either. I expected shouting or struggling or even silent fuming, but she somehow managed to make the best of it. She even said that she could do worse here, although I'm not sure how flattering that is when she's met the likes of Hulk Davidson and Charles III. Still, I can't help but wonder if she actually likes me on some level.

Of course, she didn't actually go through with it. Her boyfriend was a no show, but she ran off on her own. Why was I disappointed? For some reason, I didn't even think to grab her. But then, nobody else thought to move, either. I guess she just surprised all of us by actually making a break for it with everyone right there.

Sprocket sent me to go find her, but honestly, I wanted to punch her in the face first. I don't understand why she hates Silvia so much. Does she just resent that the girl is so unbreakable? I don't get the mentality that prisoners should be abused, either. We have her and Viewtiful Joe wants her back. What does it matter if she wants to escape just to be with him for whatever reason or for a whole laundry list of reasons? You'd think it would be better if the prisoner wasn't desperate to escape at any cost. Come to think of it, I still don't know why we have her in the first place. Not that I'm complaining, but Almighty Leader hasn't said a word about this master plan of his. I'm getting sick of being left out of the loop.

Anyway, I got Silvia back easily enough. She and Joe had one last heart to heart before I brought her back, though I don't know why I let them. It made me want to gag just listening to it. And I still don't know what she sees in him. Here I thought I understood humans. We lost Black Jadowland thanks to him, but that's not really of concern to me. I think he's almost ready for our rematch...

I decided to talk to Viewtiful Joe's girlfriend to find out what I'm up against. Her name is Silvia and she's...interesting. She doesn't seem at all like a typical damsel in distress and she wasn't at all angry at me, even though I work for her captors. Maybe it's because I wasn't involved in her abduction and treated her well. Either way, I can see why Joe's so intent on rescuing her. She's beautiful very understanding and kind without being a pushover. I'm not sure he actually appreciates what he's found, but she insists she's happy with him. Go figure.

She does seem to be right about him having a talent for bumbling into the right thing to do, though. I went to talk to him after I was finished with her and he asked me to deliver a flower, even though he couldn't have known she'd asked me for some. Otherwise, though, I don't know how he survives. His new sidekick, Captain Blue Jr., can't figure it out, either. The kid's obviously the brains of the operation. I feel bad for him, having to put up with that kind of empty headedness every day. There are reasons I leave managing Hulk, Bruce and Charles to Fire Leo.

Speaking of Fire Leo, he's not too pleased with me for refusing to help him defeat Viewtiful Joe. I don't know why he expected me to, though. I'm a man of honor, he should know that. Two on one just isn't my style. He is starting to catch on that I'm not especially loyal to Jadow, though. I'll have to be careful, especially if I'm going to guide Joe to reaching his potential and becoming a hero worthy of calling a rival...

I can't believe it! After all that, I didn't even get a chance to fight Captain Blue again! Almighty Leader faced him down personally and defeated him. I'm not sure if he's dead or just crippled, but either way, I've lost my chance. I suppose I could challenge Almighty Leader himself, but fighting villains just doesn't hold as much appeal. I'm not sure what it is, but there's just something about a hero's spirit that makes them a lot more interesting.

I'm not going to leave Jadow just yet, though. They've cooked up a new scheme and I'm curious about some things. For one, Almighty Leader took a woman from the real world and brought her here. As far as I knew, denizens of Movieland couldn't affect the real world at all. For another, he hasn't even told me or Fire Leo what he wants with her. Sprocket seems to know, but she's not interested in spilling the beans. And finally, the woman's boyfriend followed her into Movieland somehow and got his hands on a V-watch and defeated Hulk. I'm not sure if he'll amount to anything real, but he's worth keeping an eye on.