A/N: This is the first chapter, as well as teaser chapter (I coined that term, maybe...), of my fanfiction "Devil May Cry: Dante's Inferno". The story will stand with this single chapter until I finish my Fooly Cooly fanfiction "FLCL: 2nd". Until then, happy reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry, all related charcters and materials are property of Capcom Co.
Mission 1
The midnight moon illuminated the darkened streets of the city. A man walked the back alleys at this late night hour. The man was bald, but he was adorned with a long, white beard. He was draped in long, white robes. Upon the mans feet, a pair of long outdated sandals. The man's eyes... were crimson red.
The man stopped, gazing upon the large, neon sign above him: Devil May Cry.
The dart hit smack in the middle of the dartboard, enticing a grin from its thrower. The man wore a red, leather shirt. He still wore his beat-up pair of brown leans. The man wore a pair of black boots. The man's hair was in te same state of ghostly white as ever, and his eyes were just as grey.
Dante smiled to himself, "Bull's eye..."
The devil hunter sat back in his chair, resting his feet on his desk. His shop was decorated with the decomposed corpses of different demons. A Hell Sloth pinned to the wall with swords here, a BloodGoyle strung up there. His massive array of weaponry covered the walls. There was Nevan, the demonic guitar, Beowulf the holy gauntlets and grieves, Cerberus the fridged nunchucks, Rebellion, Dante's personal favorite demon-bashing sword, the Force Edge, a memento of his father, and then there was...
"Master!" Agni pleaded from the weapons closet, not to far from where Dante sat.
"Please, may we come out?" his brother Rudra begged.
Dante slammed the back of his fist into the door, "No! You guys can come out as soon as you learn how to shut up!"
There was no response.
"Better," Dante said, resting his arms behind his head.
Agni and Rudra, the two talkative swords of fire and wind. Dante was forced to lock them away in the weapons closet when they got to gabby. Besides Dante's Devil Arms, his small collection of firearms sat in their special glass case off to the side. There was Ebony and Ivory, the devil hunter's two, semi-automatic handguns, one of which he kept in his desk drawer at all times, his walnut stock, cobalt-blue steel, hair trigger, twelve-gauge, double-barreled Remington shotgun, the great Artemis, the laser firing, magic gun, Spiral the high powered sniper riffle, and then there was... Well, technically, that wasn't his gun...
Dante thought, his roommate had always opposed his sense of decoration, but he didn't care; it was his shop after all. Besides, she had her own room she could fix up any which way she wanted. Dante remembered, Lady was off on the town tonight. She said she had some business to take care of. Odd, she left her bike. Dante glanced over to the supped-up motorbike sitting in the corner of the room. His mind wondered back to when she scolded him for blowing up her first bike. She sure was pissed. Dante grinned, with her yelling at you, even a devil may cry.
Ding.
The ringing of the shop door woke Dante from his thoughts. The devil watched, as the man with long, white robes stepped up to his desk.
The man didn't speak, he just stood there, gazing about the room.
"Hey, if you're lookin' for the toilet, it's in the back," Dante scoffed, looking away from the man.
The old man turned to the demon hunter, "You are the infamous demon hunter Dante, are you not?"
"Are I is," Dante mocked, somewhat annoyed by the man's linguistics.
The man placed his hands on the desk, leaning forward, "The 'Son of Sparda'?"
Dante slammed his fist down on his desk, one of the drawers popped open, catapulting Ebony into the air. Dante caught it, aiming it at the old man. The man didn't even flinch, regardless of the loaded gun just inches from his head.
The devil hunter shrugged, "A safety precaution; last time someone waltzed into my shop, asking if I was the 'Son of Sparda', the son of a bitch blew my shop all to Hell."
Dante let up on his gun, now only poising it lightly in the old man's direction, "Sorry if I'm freaking you out, but I just don't want my place destroyed again; not when I just got done paying off the damages from the last disaster to Enzo."
The man stood, with a laugh, "Ha, you need not fear me, Dante."
"I suppose I'll just take your word for it," Dante said, sarcastically, still aiming Ebony to kill.
"I don't expect you to, but there are things going on here far beyond your scope of human understanding..." the man began, pacing about the shop.
This caught his attention, "What do you mean by that?" Dante asked, curiously.
"Because the end of your world, as you know it, is upon you..." the old man recited, as if it was nothing but forth page news.
"Heh," Dante chuckled, "I'm afraid you missed that party. The end of the world was a couple months back, and I already took care of it."
"Ah, yes," the old man began, "the Temen-ni-gru. I am afraid that there is more to the story, much more..."
Dante laid down his gun, beginning to listen to the man's words more closely.
"There are tales, tales of an angel by the name: Iah. A Seraphim, the highest level of angel; however, Iah was arrogant. He believed that the humans were unworthy of God's mercy and that they did not deserve to live. Humans were free to live their own lives, choosing to believe in God or not to. This infuriated Iah, who had no choice, born into an eternity of worship and servitude. Iah arose against Him. God easily cast Iah aside, damning him to an eternity of torment in the depths of Hell. For a millennia, Iah remained there; unable to escape, unable to ever bathe in God's light ever again..." the man paused, "However, he has found a way to return..."
Dante scoffed, "So what? Some fruity angel has a homecoming, whatever. I don't see how this involves me..."
"Are you aware of God's infallibility?" the old man asked, scratching his chin as he examined the Hell Sloth corpse.
"Uhh, I didn't attend Sunday school. Something about me being 'bathed in hell fire' and 'full of sin'..." Dante sighed, thinking back on those days.
"Well, allow me to inform you," the man offered, beginning his explanation, "What God says is, is. What he says will happen, will happen. What he said happened, has happened. If God says that one will serve an eternity in exile, he will. If Iah, however, re-enters Heaven, that would prove God wrong. If God were proved to be wrong, then the entire universe, and everything and everyone who is part of it, will cease to exist..."
Dante stood in an instant, slamming his fists on his desk, "And what do you want me to do about it?!" he said, with a sense of anger, as well as worry.
The old man turned to Dante, "Stop him..."
The man turned, walking towards the door.
"How?!" Dante demanded.
The man stopped for a moment, as if deliberating something.
"Kill him," the man said, simply, leaving the shop.
Dante was left standing over his desk, his fists clenched and his inner demon burning with anger. The devil hunter sat back down, beginning to think. A sight suddenly caught Dante's eye. A letter sat on his desk. He grabbed it. The letter had an odd seal... Dante shrugged it off, tearing open the letter. He began to recite its contents.
"Dante, if you are reading this, you have accepted your destiny and now seek to defeat the threat that is Iah. I know this because if you were not to, you would be dead right now..."
Dante stopped reading for a moment, thinking over those last words.
Something stirred in the back halls of his shop...
"Your first task is reaching the underworld, this will not be an easy task. On a far away island known as: Anvil Island. Here, you will find the River Styx..."
Dante continued to read, pacing about his shop, unaware of the evil presence beginning to fall over the building.
"Upon crossing this river, you'll find yourself passing through a portal to Hell. Once there, you must proceed through all nine Circles of Hell and reach the bottom, before Iah is able to do so..."
The devil hunter began to memorize the information, the dark essence continuing to fill every crevice of Devil May Cry.
"P.S. Watch out."
Dante puzzled over that final comment.
In flash, Dante's body was skewered like a shish kabob by fifteen different scythes. A couple blades lodged themselves in his torso; while two were stuck in his right arm and hand, and a few of the other blades had found their way into Dante's legs. The devil shook from the daze of having his body pierced by so many blades at once, as he came to, he locked eyes with one of his attackers. It was none other than Abyss, the same demons he faced during his little trip to Hell a few months back.
Dante laughed, "This 'll be fun..."
The devil span swiftly, throwing the demons from him. The creature crashed around the room, one crushed Dante's stereo system, while another landed upon his gun case, shattering it. Dante strolled out to the middle of the room, the demons recovering and watch him go. The devil hunter turned, his body still skewered with a number of scythes. He brought one of his hands up to rub his neck, only to find the blade jammed into it cut his neck upon contact. Dante, in a fit of anger, flung his arm to the side, the blade flying out and jamming itself into Dante's jukebox and flipping it on. Heavy metal, as always. Dante tapped his foot, moving his finger to the beat.
Dante got into battle stance, "Let's dance!"
Mission 1:
Dance to the Death
"The demons have trashed your shop, and there's Hell to pay..."
The bravest of the fifteen charged at the defenseless demon hunter, without any weapons, what harm could he do? The unlucky demon quickly found out; however, as Dante lifted his arm and the Abyss was impaled through the face by the other blade still lodged in his ulna. Dante pulled the blade from the beast's face, rising his arm into the air and bringing the blade right back down into the demon's heart (that is if demons even had hearts). The creature bursted into a cloud of ash and smoke. Dante grinned, the smoke clearing and the other demons gazing upon the devil's cocky smile. The other demons became furious, charging the demon hunter to avenge their fallen comrade. The beasts charged from three directions, Dante acted quick. With a well preformed aerial spin, the blades in his torso were launched at the demons with amazing force. One blade stabbed one Abyss directly in the head, killing it, while the other two landed directly into another's chest and neck. However, one Abyss remained, jumping for Dante, who was still in mid-spin. He acted fast, swinging his leg in a quick, powerful kick. The move sent the razors stuck in his right leg flying through the air, finding their mark in the torso of the attacking Abyss. The creature was killed instantly.
Dante turned to the remaining eleven demons, "Who wants some?"
Another Abyss charged Dante. Unlike some of the others, this demon still held possession of his scythe, and had every intention of using it. The demon brought the scythe high, bringing it down on Dante. The devil blocked it, using the last blade still lodged in his left foot. The devil hunter found himself in a predicament; he couldn't force the demon off, and the others were beginning to creep towards him in his vulnerable state. He scanned around, looking for something to fend them off with. That is when Dante realized his was standing next to the broken gun case. Dante reached in, fishing out his Remington. He fired, blowing the demon's face right off. The corpse fell to the ground, bursting into smoke. Four of the other demons leapt at him. Dante pulled off some "Fireworks", blowing them away with his shotgun, but not killing them. Dante shoved the Remington under his belt, reaching back into the gun case. He pulled out Artemis and Ivory, Ebony's companion gun. Dante turned, firing a volley of bullets around the room with Ivory, while he charged a multi-shot with Artemis. The magic gun hit full capacity, Dante letting loose the attack. The red lasers zoomed throughout the shop, killing two of the weaponless Abysses and striking another. Some stray shots blasted right through the walls, to Dante's dismay.
"Crap," Dante sighed, angrily.
An Abyss zoomed towards Dante, brandishing its scythe. The devil swung his foot, firing the final blade into the stomach of the charging demon. The attack didn't even slow the creature down, prompting Dante to block is attack with Artemis. The devil hunter then proceeded to unload an entire clip's worth of bullets directly into the demon's groin, enticing demonic screams of pain from the creature. Dante delivered a kick to the blade in the monster's stomach, forcing the blade right through it, as well as knocking it back. Dante reached back into the gun case, after putting Ivory into its holster on his belt. He dropped Artemis, pulling out the "big gun".
He pointed Spiral into the air, "Fire!" he shouted.
A volley of high powered, armor piercing bullets spread throughout the room. Hitting a number of the demons and killing one. However, Dante's buddy from before lashed out at him again, pushing the handle of its scythe into Dante's chest, causing his to drop Spiral. The demon shoved the devil hunter against the wall, causing one of Dante's Devil Arms to fall from its perch. Dante grabbed Cerberus, smashing the icy nunchucks into the back of the demon, killing it. The devil stood, tossed Cerberus through the air, it struck the final weaponless Abyss, slicing it in two. Dante flipped around, grabbing Beowulf's gauntlets and pulling them on. He didn't have time to pull on the grieves, as another Abyss dashed towards him with its scythe poised to kill. Dante ducked under the attack, delivering a holy uppercut under its rib cage. The force of the blow, as well as the angelic power of the weapon, caused the creature to explode in a cloud of smoke. The remaining five had completely shook off all previous attacks, as they all activated their own Devil Triggers. Dante scoffed, tossing off Beowulf and grabbing Nevan from the wall. He slid across the room on his knees, playing a chaotic riff on the dark guitar, summoning a hoard of demonic bats to charge the demons and throw them to the ground. One Abyss, dodged the bats, zooming towards the demon hunter. Dante stopped his playing, flipping Nevan around and slicing the oncoming demon in half with the scythe part of the instrument. He quickly found himself in trouble again, as the demons recovered from their wounds with their Devil Trigger. Dante cursed under his breath, throwing Nevan to the side. He was out of ideas. The Abysses arose, readying their scythes. Dante's mind raced, thinking of what to do.
He snapped his fingers, dashing towards the weapons closet! The demons zoomed after him, their blades only inches behind the devil. Dante rushed into the closet, slamming the door behind him. The Abysses drove their blades directly through the door.
There was silence.
Suddenly, a burst a fire and wind blasted straight through the door, killing three of the Abysses in a fiery blaze. Dante kicked the charred remains of the door out of his way, stepping backout into the room, with Agni and Rudra in his hands.
Dante smiled, looking down to the swords, "Well, guys, we gonna torch some demon ass, or what?"
"Let's," the brothers agreed, in unison.
Dante rose the two high, "Let's blow 'em away!"
The demon hunter brought the swords down, sending a wave of fire and wind at the final two demons. The first demon was killed easily, being torched and blown through the wall all at once. While the other was a bit smarter, as it dodged the attack, landing beside Dante. He turned, firing another fiery attack towards the demon. The attack connected, tearing straight through the final Abyss and colliding with Lady's bike in the background.
Dante's eyes widened, "Shi-!"
The bike exploded, various pieces of its frame and engine flying throughout the shop. The muffler landed before Dante, Agni, and Rudra, who stared down at it with a grimace.
"She is gonna be pissed..." the three sighed, in unison.
Dante grabbed his red trench coat from the coat rack. He placed Agni and Rudra on his back, as he went over to his desk and shoved Ebony into its holster.
"So, what are we to do, Master?" Rudra questioned.
Dante picked up the letter from the old man, folding it and putting it back in its envelope. He placed the letter in his coat's inside pocket.
"We're gonna save the universe, or course," Dante said, as if it was no big deal.
Dante walked over to the wall, grabbing both his Rebellion and his father's Force Edge. Placing them on his back with the brothers.
"What about Miss Lady?" Agni asked.
"We'll leave without her. It's best she doesn't get involved in this. Besides, I can handle it myself," Dante said, in his usual, cocky fashion.
"And what about-" Agni began.
"-Miss Lady's motorcycle?" Rudra finished.
"Simple, I'll do what every other guy does when they piss a woman off" Dante shrugged, walking for the door, "Leave."
Dante kicked open the door, one falling off its hinges as he did so. Note to self, Dante thought, make up story about what happened to the shop to Enzo...