A/N: Okay, this is a novelization of the Devil May Cry Anime. It's going to be one episode, or mission, per chapter.
For those of you that haven't seen it, you should know that in the anime, Dante had a very cold personality, though he could be kind and still cracked a joke every now and then. Since his personality and attitude very much suits the atmosphere of the anime, I'm going to keep much of it here, but I'm also gonna try to mix in a bit of his care-free personality from the games, though Capcom of America already did a good enough job of making Dante more lively, compared to the Japanese dub of the show. If I do a crummy job of it, let me know. Please.
One more thing, I've noticed that there are some characters that were never named. Whenever we happen along an important character that was never given a name, I'll come up with something.
Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and all related characters are the property of Capcom. I don't own anything. But if I did, I'd find a way to bring Vergil back in the next game.
--
It was nighttime in New York City, and true to its reputation as the "city that never sleeps", there were still many people out and about, and you could hear cars most everywhere in the city.
In a more obscure area in the city, a man was walking. This man would stick out like a sore thumb in a circus, simply because of his looks. He looked to be in his late 20's, yet despite his obviously young age, his hair was a silvery white, and it somewhat draped over his eyes. Speaking of which, his eyes were quite noticeable, too. They were a piercing ice blue, but if you were to look deeply enough, you could see an underlying warmth. His choice of clothing would easily attract attention as much as his physical appearance. He had a red long-sleeve shirt, a black vest right over it, a long red coat right over that, and finally black gloves and boots. His name is Dante, and he is the son of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda. A devil. His mother, Eva, was human. The demonic and human genes combined to form one bad ass, really SSStylish half-devil. Well, that, or a freak. Whichever you prefer.
After a short walk, Dante reached his location. He went down a short flight of stairs, and walked through the door at the bottom. "What'll you have?" Asked the bartender. Made sense, since Dante just walked into a bar.
"One strawberry sundae." Dante replied simply, taking one of the seats right in front of the bartender.
"Er…" The bartender let out in surprise. He turned around from what he was doing to shrug at Dante, "This is a bar, mister. Heh. No place for a kid."
"Just tryin' to sweeten the air in here. The scent of blood is stronger than alcohol in this joint."
By this time, the bartender had turned back around to continue cleaning the glasses, but he froze when Dante said that. The half-devil noticed it immediately, but for the present decided to continue as though he hadn't, "Ah, never mind. 'Cause what I'm interested in is this rumor I heard. Word on the street is that there's this bar. More like a dive. A place where they'll take a person's life instead of money…pretty scary."
There was a wasp floating along the roof, by one of the lights, and Dante recognized it for what it really was the moment he noticed it. Then he turned his attention to the table behind him, where two men were playing a game of poker. One of them had just let out a grunt of annoyance. The other said, "Sorry. Forgive me, pal."
"Royal Straight Flush, huh?" Dante asked, "Laying a hand like that could kill a guy…"
"You know what?" The man asked, as he placed his hand on the table, revealing it to indeed be a Royal Flush, "I'd like to offer everyone here a drink."
He stood up, took one step toward the bar…and Dante pulled out Ivory, one of his two .45 caliber Colts, and shot the man square in the forehead. He fell back, blood pouring of the bullet wound, with a look of shock and pain on his face. The wasp flew past him as he fell, leaving a strange trail of light. Almost immediately, the man transformed into his true form. A green-skinned, red-eyed demon. The way it worked was this: these demons were very low class. As such, when in the human world, they could not just reveal their true form at will. They needed another demon, in this case, the butterfly, to give them the boost of energy needed to transform.
He lunged at Dante, but simply ended up smashing his head painfully against the bar counter as the half-devil dropped to the floor and flipped back. Ivory spinning in the air, already starting to drop back to the floor, Dante neatly landed behind his assailant. Only to be find himself surrounded as two more of the same demons appeared behind him.
Dante caught Ivory in his right hand, pulled Ebony, his other gun, out with his left, and fired at the two behind him and a fourth that appeared from nowhere in front. Seriously, where were they all hiding? The three of them dropped dead, but the one that had first attacked him lunged again, this time successfully clamping his jaws around Dante's right wrist, and keeping Ebony at bay with his hand. He eventually forced the polished black Colt from the half-devil's hand, but even as blood spurted from his wrist where the demon was biting it, Dante didn't look at all bothered. "Not bad, Mr. Royal Flush."
The red-clothed man opened his left hand, and a broad Zweihänder, a two-handed sword, crashed through a glass in the ceiling. It was named Rebellion, and it was a keepsake from Dante's father. Dante easily caught his sword by the hilt in his left hand, and he, with the blade pointed to the floor, swung it vertically through the demon, cutting him in half. The green demon let out an enormous roar of death in the second he had while the sword was cutting through his head and neck.
Leaving four dead corpses on the floor, Dante strode to the door. He stopped in front of it, noticing a shadow on the decorative glass in the window. Most everybody would think nothing of it, but being half-demon, Dante could sense the individual on the other side of the door waiting to ambush him. He grabbed Rebellion, and stabbed the sword through the door. Dante quickly felt resistance as Rebellion entered someone's stomach, and a fair amount of blood slid through the hole in the door, down the length of the sword's blade. A moment later, the glass broke and the bartender slumped through the space where it used to be. The half-devil pushed the body off his sword, stepped over it, and proceeded to walk up the steps, saying, "Next time you set up shop, don't forget to add strawberry sundaes to the menu."
At this point, the wasp from earlier flew over the barkeeps body. Dante saw it coming from a mile away; the man burst into his true form, the same green-skinned species of demon as all the corpses inside. He made one, desperate final lunge at the half-devil. It was a fatal mistake; Dante spun around, aimed his twin guns, and said "Bingo!"
He fired, the guns report echoing for miles around.
--
The next day…at the store Devil May Cry…
"Andy's Pizzeria. May I take your order?"
"Yeah, hey Andy. It's Dante."
"Oh, hey. The usual, I take it?"
"Yeah, my usual pizza. With ham and garlic potatoes."
"Would you like our rush delivery service, for an extra five bucks?"
"Yeah, rush it."
"Uh-huh. Now…about your tab."
"My tab? Ah, don't sweat the small stuff. I'll pay you everything I owe you soon enough."
"Yeah, right…"
"Oh, and, no olive, make it a large. Don't forget."
With that, the white-haired half-demon tossed his phone in the air, and it landed perfectly on the receiver. "Are you listening to me, Dante?" an older voice asked.
"Are you listening to me?" Dante asked back, "Can't you see I'm busy? I may take the occasional odd job every now and then…but I've got no desire to baby-sit some brat."
A young girl, who had up to this point been looking around the store, stopped and bristled at Dante's choice of word, "Brat?" She was wearing admittedly shabby clothes, but she herself looked nice enough.
"Sorry, little lady." Dante said, walking towards the pool table, and not sounding at all apologetic, "Maybe in ten years or so when you grow up…I'll ask you out on a date."
The girl considered her choices, and then replied irritably, "Hmph! And I'll tell you 'no' in ten seconds. Me, I'm only into younger men."
"Haha." The older man, Morrison, chuckled from the fridge. He grabbed a beer, and sat down on the couch, "You know, Dante, she might be a kid…oh, sorry." He quickly added when he caught her annoyed look, "But the young woman isn't your ordinary lady."
"I know. She's much less trigger happy." Dane joked, referring to his friend, Lady.
Rolling his eyes, the older man continued, "She's Patty Lowell, the heiress to the Lowell family fortune."
"Well, her dirty outfit sure doesn't accord with wealth and dignity."
"That's because she's been living in the orphanage downtown. But the head of the Lowell family died just under a week ago, and in his will the existence of an illegitimate child was brought into light. He left his entire fortune to her."
"And our lucky winner was Patty, hmm? Kinda like Cinderella without the magic."
"If you want" Patty said suddenly, sitting at Dante's desk, "I can always hire you as my own personal servant."
"Yeah." Dante replied, with a clear sarcastic inflection.
"Basically, it's been asked that you serve as a bodyguard and escort her to the Lowell mansion by 6 p.m. tomorrow." Morrison said, "In other words, the magic is just about to begin."
"That's all I have to do?"
"Yes, that's it."
Dante waited a moment for dramatic effect, and then said, "I won't do it. I've got a pizza on the way!"
"There's no pizza on the way!" Morrison sounded annoyed now, "I stopped and talked with Andy on the way over here. I told him 'until Dante pays his tab in full, you're not to deliver another pizza to him."
"Tch. You bastard…what gives you right…?"
Morrison responded by flipping a coin, and Dante groaned, "Shit, not again."
"If you win…" Morrison began, "Then you don't have to do the job and I'll pay off your tab. If you lose…
"Fine. I know the drill. Heads!"
--
A few short minutes later, after a round of pouting and whining, Dante was wearing his coat and walking out the front door with Patty. The ki- er, young lady asked, "You're not a very good gambler, are you?"
"Shut up!" The half-devil replied testily.
"Hold on!" Morrison called from behind them. He held out a guitar case to Dante and asked, "Don't you have a live show to play?"
"A show…?
"Yes, a show."
"I don't…oh, that show!" Dante exclaimed as realization suddenly dawned on him. Taking the case he said, "Yeah, thanks for reminding me!"
--
A short while later, Dante was driving his extremely dirty and beat up red car, and was on the freeway with Patty in the passenger seat.
"I could go to your show if you'd like." Patty said kindly. Dante almost smiled, until he heard what she said next, "After all, no one else will probably go."
"Well. Thanks for the special offer, but my shows are R-rated, only."
"Hm. I guess the woman in that picture is going to your show?" Patty asked.
"Picture…?" Dante asked in confusion, until he realized that she must have seen the picture of his mother, Eva, while she was sitting at his desk.
It was silent for a few seconds. Eventually, Patty decided that no real answer was forthcoming, "Well. If she is going, you should really clean up this car. I mean look at this mess! Listen, to women…"
At this point, Dante zoned out, and just focused on the road ahead of him. Patty just kept on yapping, and the half-devil was forced to think, Must. Resist. Urge. To. Kill.
This went on for a few more seconds, until a presence touched Dante's mind. He gasped in shock as a clearly demonic voice said, "Dante…this girl's life is mine!"
The presence left, and Patty said, "Hey, are you listening to me?!" Suddenly, Dante grabbed her cap and pulled it over her eyes, "Hey! What the!"
As she struggled with the cap, Dante pulled out Ivory, and pointed it down the road. A truck was coming up the road in the other lane. Dante, with his enhanced demon eyesight, could clearly see the demon hanging from the side of it, and immediately fired three echoing rounds from his gun. All three impacted the demon, and as Dante pointed Ivory to the sky in a stylish manner, the demon fell to the floor, dead.
By this time, Patty had managed to pull up her cap, and she asked, "What's going on! Ahhhhh!"
That scream was due to the fact that Dante had just swerved to avoid a collision a head-on collision with the truck, and immediately afterwards, Patty yelled, "Isn't that a bit dangerous! What are you trying to do, kill me?!"
Dante didn't bother with a reply. He just drove on, fully prepared in case another attack came.
--
In the Lowell mansion, the three younger brothers of the former family head were in the third story living room.
The eldest, Shawn, was standing by a window. He was holding a cup of tea, and he was a lawyer. The middle brother, Jacob, sat on a single seat sofa, with his right leg resting on the knee of his left. The youngest, Brawley, was sitting right next to him in another of the same type of sofa.
Brawley slammed a fist into his palm, "Can't you do something about this, bro?! You are a lawyer, aren't you?"
"There's nothing that can be done!" Shawn replied, "If the person in that letter, Patty Lowell, actually exists, then the fortune belongs to her!"
They were talking about a letter that they had just received in the mail; it was sent by a woman claiming to be Patty Lowell. She said that she had heard of her father's death, and was on her way to collect her inheritance.
"You're kidding!" Brawley exclaimed in shock.
"Relax." Jacob said reprovingly, "According the letter, Patty Lowell will be arriving by 6 p.m. tomorrow."
"That's what I'm worried about! Tomorrow, 6 o' clock! That makes exactly one week, right?"
"Heh." Jacob chuckled at his younger brother's panic, "If Patty Lowell shows up on time, then the entire fortune is hers…Incredible, isn't it? Incredible that our ever-so-serious brother had a bastard child…
Shawn wasn't worrying. He was just calmly staring out the window. Why should he worry? After all, if his plan went well, then Patty Lowell would be dead by midnight at the latest…
--
Dante and Patty were on a train, en route to a city where they would find a hotel and spend the night. By his calculations (which, admittedly, weren't the best), they would reach the mansion a few minutes ahead of schedule.
He was lying on a seat, Patty sitting next to his 'guitar' case opposite him. The half-devil took a quick glance at the young lady and saw her looking at a picture in her locket, "So…you can be charming when you want…that a picture of your boyfriend?"
"What?!" Patty spluttered, "It's my mom, you half-wit! And she's a lot prettier than your girlfriend!
Dante, sensing a story coming on, didn't respond. He wasn't disappointed. "But…I don't know anything about her. She died giving birth to me, and I've stuck in the orphanage since…"
The half-devil still didn't respond, and Patty fell silent. The quiet continued for a few moments until they went through a tunnel. A moment after the train exited, a man who appeared to be the same age as Dante and wearing a suit walked up to their seats. He saw the picture in Patty's hand and said, "Wow, that's a pretty lady! That wouldn't happen to be a picture of your mother, would it?"
Patty jumped in surprise and turned to face him. The man continued, "Hey, you're very pretty yourself! May I sit here?"
"Huh?" Dante asked, looking around the train, "There are plenty of open seats everywhere."
Patty threw the guitar case at him and said to the man, "Sure you can sit here!"
"Thanks!" The man said, sitting and taking his hat off, "I hope I'm not bothering you."
"You're not bothering me, but I can't promise you'll live long." Dante replied ominously.
"Huh?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Patty asked angrily. At that moment, train entered a tunnel, "I mean, honestly, why would someone be in danger of dying just because they're sitting near us?!
Then the train exited the tunnel and Patty noticed the dead man next to her. Whoops. The young, innocent girl was in such shock as the body fell to the floor that all she let out were a few strangled gasps. Dante, on the other hand, looked at the corpse with indifference and merely said, "Good grief. I warned you."
--
A few minutes later, Patty, in numb shock, was staring at the wall muttering, "Mom…mom…"
The few other passengers on the train had now crowded around them, and were staring at the body with their mouths hanging open. An old man regained his voice first, "He's dead!"
Dante had to really fight down a 'no shit, Sherlock.' A woman came running back with a security officer, "Over here!" She immediately hugged her boyfriend, frightened out of her wits.
"What the…" The officer started. He addressed Dante, "You. How 'bout you tell what the hell happened here."
"Ah. Well, let me run this little scenario by you…"
"Huh?"
"…In the ten or so seconds that this train took to get through the tunnel, there was me, those three guys over there, the girl, and our dead friend here. In total, that makes six. First, the old man. (Said old man looked at Dante in surprise) He didn't do it. And the couple. (They hugged each other tighter) They were too busy making out in the dark. And the girl. (Patty didn't even register that Dante had mentioned her in the slightest.) She was as she is now."
"So it was you who…"
"Not so fast! There was one more person present…if I can draw your attention to the window…"
Patty heard that! She looked up so fast it's a wonder she didn't give her neck whiplash. She saw the demon hanging outside for a split-second. Then the train entered another tunnel. In the darkness, an un-countable number of bullets were fired, though the sparks showed that they were all aimed at the roof. A moment later, the train exited, and nothing was outside. She heard one more bullet fired from a few seats behind her, and Dante walked past her. She got up to follow, looked back, and saw the possessed corpse of the man who had been so nice to her not long ago.
--
"Do you know who killed that man?" Patty asked Dante as they walked away from the station. Dante didn't answer, so Patty took a guess, "Was he killed by a demon? Well? Does that mean that demon's are hunting me? Dante? Dante! Am I going to be killed by a demon?!"
"Who knows…"
"Huh?"
"Let's go. We need to find a hotel."
Patty was very unsatisfied with his answer, but followed him anyway.
--
"Checkmate." Jacob said, having just beaten Brawley at another game of chess.
"Damn! I lost again!"
"That's because you always seem to lose your fire in the long run, which is why Jenny left you."
"No! She left me because you and Shawn…"
"No it's not." Shawn replied from his position in front of a large painting.
"Shit…"
Jacob laughed a bit, then said to Shawn, "What I want to know is why you seem to be obsessed with that painting."
"Yes." Shawn replied, "I guess it's because looking at it puts me at peace; as such, I was thinking, that when we divide the fortune, I'll take all the paintings."
"Me, I'll take cold, hard cash." Brawley said.
"Hey, hey." Jacob said reprovingly, "Don't you two get ahead of yourselves."
"I know." Shawn replied, "We have to be prepared for the worst. I'm counting on you, Sid."
That last sentence was said under his breath.
--
"Welcome to my hotel." The man with unusually buckteeth and lower class clothes said. His nametag identified him as 'Sid'.
"Give me your cheapest room." Dante said, "I don't give a damn if it gets sunlight or not. We'll be leaving in the morning anyway."
"One adult and one child." Sid said, handing the half-devil the key to the room.
"Oh, she's not a child. She's a young lady." Dante joked, pocketing the key, "Come on, Patty, let's go. Time to hit the hay. What are you looking at?"
He noticed that she was staring at a poster promoting an opera. "That's…" She started, "That's my mom."
"Huh?"
"Hey, Mister!"
"Yes?" Sid asked.
"Where can I go to see this woman?"
"Well…"
"I thought your mom died." Dante said, "Come on, let's go to sleep."
--
A few minutes later, they were in their room. Dante laid down on the couch, but it was too small for him, "Geez, tight fit." He settled for putting his feet on the radiator.
Patty sat down on the bed. She hadn't said a word since the poster moment downstairs, but suddenly said quietly, "On the train, I didn't tell you the truth. My mom didn't die, she disappeared. I heard the orphanage director talking about it once…" Dante listened with a quiet politeness, "I don't care about this fortune I'm supposed to be receiving. And none of the other kids would either, if they were in my place. I mean, yeah, I'll use the money to buy them all clothes and sweets, but that's not what we need.
"What we need is to see our mommy's and daddy's!" She started sobbing now, "Now I bet you're probably laughing, aren't you?"
Dante felt a pang of sympathy. He knew what it was like to lose a parent…or two, "Of course not…I can understand someone wanting to be with their parents…"
Patty immediately noticed the well-hidden tone of sadness in his voice, "Wait…you…"
"Get to sleep." Dante cut her off, "We've got a long day tomorrow."
"Okay." Patty hung her hat from the headrest and lied down."
--
At exactly 11 p.m., Patty's eyes snapped open.
--
A half-hour later, Dante was running down the stairs. He found Sid in the same as place as where he was before and said, "Hey, where's Patty?"
"Patty?" Sid asked.
"The girl I was with!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Dante didn't waste anymore words; he pulled out Ebony and Ivory, and shot the opera advertisement full of holes. After he was done, the poster revealed its true form. A giant demon butterfly.
After it fell to the floor, the Son of Sparda felt something press into his spine, "You bastard…who are you?"
Sid had put a revolver to Dante's back, and sneeringly replied, "I know you…"
"Oh? Then you know that you can't kill me with that gun."
"Uh…"
"Now…" Dante spun his head around to glare at Sid, his ice blue eyes cold and full of hatred, "Where. Is. Patty!"
Sid stared into his eyes, and knew that he was a dead demon if he didn't tell Dante what he wanted to know, "Okay…"
--
Patty walked up the steps to the theater house, and entered.
--
Sid was driving. Dante was in the passenger seat, with his eyes closed. The low-class demon had considered a surprise attack on the half-devil, but decided that he much preferred being alive, "Yeah. In Hell, there's currently a lot of competition for the spot as the ruler. It's dangerous like that for a while. Ever since you defeated and sealed Mundus away, in fact."
"Hm." Dante replied uninterestedly, "Who gave you the order?"
"Huh?"
"Who told you to go after Patty?"
"Uh…"
"It must someone from the Lowell family. Someone who would have a lot to gain if Patty failed to claim the fortune. Now who was it!"
"Urk! I'm sorry! I 'm just a grunt, I wasn't told anything, really!"
"Hm."
They continued on in silence for a few moments, then Sid turned on the radio. Something loud and obnoxious came from the speakers, and a vein popped on Dante's forehead, "Is there something you'd like to share with me about your taste in music?"
"Oh, all right, I'm turning it off…"
--
Patty followed the sound of singing, and ended up in front of a large door. She opened it, and saw the stage. And on the stage…was her mother, "Mom!"
A spotlight suddenly shone on her as she ran down the stairs, and the singing seemed to get louder the closer she got, "Mom! Mom! MOM!'
She eventually reached the stage, and jumped on. Patty ran to her mother, and hugged her, "Oh, mommy, I missed you so much!!"
"I'm sorry, Patty. I promise I'll never leave alone again."
"Oh, Mom, really?" She looked up with a wide smile, but it was wiped off her face as she realized that she was hugging a nightmare creature.
It wasn't her Mom. It was even human! It was horrible, with amber, jello-like eyes, and two tusks growing from the sides of its face, "It's time for you to DIE, sweetie!!"
One of the background props fell from the ceiling. It hit the ground, and Patty could see it was a ruined village, perhaps destroyed by an earthquake. A large number of black, shadow-like demons sprang from various places on it, and they all lunged at Patty. All of them had claws extended, and teeth bared, each wanting to be the one to devour the poor, helpless human girl. They all closed in quickly, almost able to taste the flesh and blood. The devil posing as Patty's mom lifted its arm, and swung it at Patty, intending to slice her in half, "Now, let your mommy end your life!!"
Patty screamed…then, every demon on stage was hit by a torrent of bullets and knocked away. Another background prop fell, this time painted in the likeness of a calming meadow. The young girl heard another spotlight turn on, and she quickly turned to face the audience section of the auditorium.
"Hey, there." Dante said as he walked down the stairs, "You can't possibly be interested in this boring opera now can you."
"Dante!" Patty cried, seeing the caring and kind smile on the Devil Hunter's face, "I thought…my mom…I…"
"Well, looks like we'll have to wait for a touching reunion."
Patty was confused by that, until she heard the ripping sound behind her. She spun around as two demons tore through the meadow background, and she screamed again. Dante had already jumped a moment ago, and kicked the two demons in the face as he landed on-stage. He aimed Ivory upwards, and fired a single round. His aim was perfect, as the bullet hit a joint holding up another background prop, "Sorry, honey, but this show is R-rated."
The prop hit the floor right after he finished speaking. It hadn't been painted, and Patty could quite clearly see shadows of what was going on behind the white material. That was when she realized it. When she realized what Dante really was. How could she not, considering how all three of the combatants on the other side looked exactly the same. The same motions, from the jumps to the ducks…everything.
She stood in shock, watching the fight, until a hand grabbed her shoulder. She gasped as Sid started talking, "Young lady, I'm so sorry that it's time for you to die. But I was promised a great reward by my master if I managed to kill you…"
He put his head close to hers, and laughed. A low, cruel sound that was without a doubt the laugh of a demon. Then, Sid pulled his head back as a .45 caliber round flew right through the space where his head had been a moment ago. The demon looked at where the bullet had gone, then at where it had come from; the two brown-black demons were dead. Dante was pointing Ebony directly at Sid, who now seemed on the verge of panic. "Get lost." Dante said simply.
Sid could take a hint. Screaming like the coward he really was, he ran, a spotlight trailing him until he fell off the stage. None of that had registered with Patty, yet. She was too busy staring at the one remaining demon behind the prop. And she realized now what Mary had learned years ago; that were indeed good demons in this world. A large trail of blood squeezed under the background prop, and began pooling around Patty's feet…
--
The next day, at sunset.
The three brothers were in their usual places; Shawn by the window, Jacob and Brawley in chairs. Then, suddenly, the clock tolled, signaling the sixth hour of the afternoon. Shawn pulled the cigarette he was smoking out of his mouth, "Time's up."
"We did it, brothers!" Brawley yelled in triumph, "The fortune is ours! This letter was a bunch of bull…"
He was interrupted as the butler opened the door, "You have a guest."
"A guest?"
"Thank you." The woman who just entered said to the butler. She was strikingly pretty, with large blue eyes, blond hair, and a red dress.
"And who might you be?" Shawn asked.
"Well, isn't it obvious? I'm Patty Lowell."
"What!! She's just a child!!"
"No, the child is a fake. I took every situation into account. Luckily, I found a girl with the same name as myself, and made sure the media was focused on her, not me. Thanks to her, I had a very happy journey!" At this point, the woman dropped the pleasantries, "Now, let's get this over with as quick as possible."
Shawn laughed, and put out his cigarette, "I'm so very sorry, Ms. Parry Lowell, but as a lawyer, it's my duty to inform you that your claim is invalid. You do realize that you're late, don't you? Even if only by a second or two?"
"But in my father's will it said 'within one week of his death'. I'm sure my father will have been dead for one week, at 6:28!" She made a show of checking her watch, "And look! I'm on time! May I use my driver's license as proof of my identity?"
"No…it's…no longer necessary."
"What"
"Because Patty Lowell's existence…" Shawn turned around as he began to transform, "well never be confirmed."
"Brother!", Jacob yelled, shocked by what he was seeing; his brother turning into a monster.
"And neither will yours…" Shawn said, his voice now deep, and gravelly. He continued to grow exponentially, sprouting horns from his head, and claws from his finger. Finally, when his head almost hit the roof, his transformation was complete.
He was a Goatling demon.
" The fortune is all mine! And I'm not giving anything to anybody!!"
He charged at Jacob and Brawley, neither of which had time to do anything. The Goatling crushed Brawley against the ceiling, and slashed Jacob with his claws. Both brothers fell limp to the floor, and Shawn turned his attention to Patty Lowell. He rushed at her, and she screamed. Literally a second before he attacked, a single piercing sound rang out, and his charge was halted. A moment later, a stream of blood started to pour from his neck, and he fell to floor.
"So it was you…who asked me to serve as a bodyguard for Patty…" A cold voice said from the doorway.
Ms. Lowell turned to face him reluctantly, scared about what she may see. And with good reason. If looks could kill, she'd be dead 25 times over. Dante's eyes were filled with nothing but raw hatred.
"Were you planning to atone for your sins against her?", no response, "You've got a pretty face. But on the inside, you're just as horrible as that demon right there."
At this point, Dante walked so that he was standing in front of the woman, "Well, if you were a demon, I'd be able to kill you without a second though…but since I don't have that option, I'll take out my frustrations on that guy behind you."
Ms. Lowell looked behind herself, and saw the Goatling beginning to stir. Dante swung his guitar case to his side, and began undoing the zipper, "Looks like this should be one hell of a party!!"
He pulled out Rebellion and swung it at the Goatling. The attack connected, and drew a large amount of blood from his torso. Dante then rapidly fired Ebony, the large rounds pounding into the demon chest. Shawn retaliated by trying to squash Dante with a fist, but unfortunately for him, the Son of Sparda saw it coming from a mile away. He jumped up, and hacked off the arm with a single, powerful stroke. Ms. Lowell screamed as she backed away in an attempt to keep the arm and the blood that was spurting from it away from her. Landing neatly on the ground, Dante fired more rounds at multiple points on the demon's body; some in the stomach, the chest, and even one in the groin for good measure. The sheer force of the bullets forced Shawn into the air. Seeing his chance, Dante held Ebony in his mouth, swung around, and impaled the Goatling on Rebellion.
The light left Shawn's eyes as he died. Dante pulled Rebellion from the corpse, which held fast to the ceiling, and he gave the Zweihänder two swings to clean the blood off of it. Jacob and Brawley, who were both injured but still very much alive, had to duck as a torrent of the blood flew right past the place where they had been standing, ruining the painting that Shawn had so very much loved when he was alive.
At this moment, anyone who had been looking at Dante would have clearly noticed the demonic joy of violence that was shining in his amber eyes…
--
Back in the hallway a few minutes later, Dante slung Rebellion over his shoulder and began the trip home. Patty caught up a moment later, "I saw it all! The rated R scene!"
"Wait!" Ms. Lowell caught up to them, "Please! Let me adopt Patty! I want to make up as much as I can for what I've done…"
--
"And you said 'no'?" Morrison asked Patty.
"That's right!"
"Hm…are you really okay with not living in the mansion?"
"Yup! And I received compensation!"
"Compensation?" Morrison repeated disbelievengly.
"Yeah. Having been exposed to the ugly adult world at my tender age, I was given a little something in return. A whole 3 truckloads!"
"Is your new clothes part of the compensation?" Indeed, Patty was wearing a dress that the richest of girls would have been envious of.
"That's right! As well as all the clothes and sweets for my friends at the orphange."
"That's great." Morrison said, patting the head of the topmost stuffed animal in the pile he was sitting on.
Dante came out from the back room, wearing just his pants and drying his hair, "Oh. Morrison, you're here."
"Yep."
"Hm?" Dante let out a questioning noise as he looked at his desk, "That's weird…I thought my strawberry sundae would've been deliverd by the time I got out of the shower…"
"You mean that strawberry sundae?" Morrison questioned, pointing behind himself and up the stairs.
Dante looked up just in time to see Patty put down an empty sundae glass, "What! My sundae!!"
Patty stood and grinned at him. Dante could only stutter, "Patty?! What the hell are you doing?!…huh? What's going on with my house?!"
The half-devil had just noticed the new décor. In the short time that he had been in the shower, Patty had redecorated; there were stuffed animals all over, as well as pink curtains over the windows.
"Well, you're house was so drab, I decided to clean up a bit!" Patty answered.
"Clea…this is my place! Let's get something straight; This. Is. My. PLACE! MINE!"
"Aww…come on! Don't you think it's cute?"
"Erk…Cute's a relative term. I'm more concerned about my Goddamned desert!"
"Oh, that was my payment for fixing up the place! It was best sundae, ever!!" And with that, Patty smiled.