A/N: Hey, everyone! How are you? I hope you've all been doing great. It's been a while since I last updated, hasn't it? Sorry for that; I've been a really busy person lately. I guess I've told you all about the writing contest, right? Well, it's been occupying my free time for a few months now, but I've finally whipped up a couple of one-shots to submit. I'm a bit disappointed this year because I didn't really write anything I think of as impressive. I had some great ideas, but I couldn't figure out how to make the entirety of them fit into a 12,000 word limit, and I didn't see how an excerpt could be a very strong piece. However, I've become so exasperated with this contest that I'll actually be glad to just get it over with. I can't tell you how hard it was to keep myself from writing fanfiction. I've actually started writing some original pieces that I really like, but I had to work hard to keep myself focused and not cranking out lemons or something like that. xD
Anyway, this is something I've wanted to write for a long time now. As the title states, it is a novelization of the DMC4 game. I've put off writing it for a long time now because I knew it would be a big project that would get in the way of my other stories. However, after weighing the benefits of writing this before my other stories, I've decided the order is probably better this way. That doesn't mean I won't update my other stories, but expect them not to be updated for a while. Through writing this I hope to improve my own understanding of the DMC universe and important aspects of writing fanfiction, such as my characterization, especially of Dante and Nero.
Of course, I also hope that you all enjoy it. I'm going to work really hard on this piece and try to write it in a way that fans who haven't played the game before can experience it vividly without actually having to play it. Not that you shouldn't play it if you haven't, but not everyone has the option of doing so.
Also, this may have a few bits and pieces from the novel thrown in, mainly concepts, but since they go hand-in-hand, that shouldn't be a big issue, should it? On that note, I haven't actually read the novel myself because I'm fairly sure they didn't produce an English version, and I haven't been able to find a scanlated copy on the internet. The only information I have from the novel is from a summary that outlines the main points of the novel. However, that doesn't mean that everything will be correct, so if you see information that you know is wrong, tell me. The advantage of FFN is that you can go back and edit anything whenever you want.
I know reviewing is hard for some of you, whether you simply don't have the time or you're just very shy, but please try to review as often as possible and tell me what you like about this piece. Also, don't hesitate to point out things you think I could have done better. My main goal in writing this is to improve, and as long as you don't tear me a new one, I don't mind hearing criticism. If this piece is successful enough, I may write novelizations of all the other games, too. :) Sorry for the long notes.
Warnings: Violence, Blood/Gore, Language, Sexual Themes
Un-beta'd: Once again, do not be afraid to point out my mistakes. I won't get mad at you.
To be updated?: Yes—if you really needed to know the answer to this question, you need to pay more attention.
Disclaimers: Everything seen in the game belongs to Capcom.
Dedicated to all my readers and the fans of DMC. :)
Dante reclined behind his desk, leather-clad legs crossed and thrown onto the wooden surface. The harsh fluorescent light buzzing above his head cast a silvery sheen across the white of his unkempt locks. The sound of thunder could be faintly heard rumbling through the darkened streets of Capulet City, though the music blaring from the devil hunter's beaten and neglected jukebox far overshadowed Mother Nature.
It was a typically gloomy night in the city, and as usual, Dante was savoring the final slice of his supreme pizza despite that Pizza One again denied his request to leave the olives off. He stared blankly at the small photo of his mother that sat on the left end of his desk. She smiled warmly back at him as if to say she was proud of the man he had become, but it was just a memory frozen in time. There was no meaning behind that smile—not for him, anyway.
Chomping a rather large bite from his pizza, Dante let a quiet sigh exit his nostrils and glanced at Trish from the corner of a bright blue eye. She sat at the opposite end of his desk as if it were some sort of scale with which to compare and contrast the she-devil from his dearly departed mother. She was a gorgeous, voluptuous specimen of a woman, with long legs and what the devil hunter deemed as a great set of jugs. Any man would kill to have her, but not him. No matter how scantily clad or violent, Dante couldn't look upon that face and see anything other than what he had lost.
After a few moments of Dante's staring, Trish's silvery eyes rolled over to meet his own. There was nothing in her eyes but mild curiosity. They shared a silent moment of wordless staring before both devils returned to staring off into space. One would think they would be making at least an attempt at conversation, but the two hunters were content to simply sit in each other's presence. Trish had been staying with Dante for a week now after returning from a long job a few cities over. They did their fair share of talking, but both cherished solitude and certainly didn't let one another being there get in the way of it.
One person who always got in the way of it, however, was Lady. She came bursting through the doors of Devil May Cry, out of the stormy night. Like a petty demon springing from the darkness, Dante wasn't particularly wanting of her presence. Whereas they were once quite close, the past few years had split them apart. Lady grew more and more emotionally detached over the years to the point that Dante didn't feel he knew her anymore, if he even had in the first place. She had become little more than a drain on his personal funds, and the epidemic had even carried over to Trish. [1] Dante sensed that the blond she-devil didn't particularly like the brunette anymore as she got an irritable tension about her when Lady entered the room. Dante wasn't sure how he felt about her anymore; he wanted to like her, but her attitude and behavior as of late made that easier said than done.
Lady carried herself as if she owned the place, strutting right up to Dante's desk. She clearly meant business and nothing more by her sudden visit, which was nothing surprising to Dante. She had stopped coming by just for a friendly chat a long time ago. The briefcase she toted in one hand reinforced his suspicions. There was an irrefutable chance that the briefcase was full of wads of cash, and Lady only ever brought that much money by when she wanted a big job done. Not to pay Dante, of course, because she always subtracted so much in the end for how much she had to "help" that he ended up with enough to pay his monthly bills and not much else.
Sometimes he didn't even come out with enough bills to wipe his ass, but he never saw Lady feeling guilty at all for how much she made him go through for such meager pay. When he was younger, it was just one of those things that made Lady herself that he thought of with a humored smirk. That was before she decided numerous times throughout the years that she wasn't taking enough from him. Now, he could look upon her behavior with nothing short of bitter contempt.
"Ah, Lady," the hunter hummed in that gravelly voice of his, "what brings you to my humble abode at such an hour?" The intonation of his words very much so made them mocking, but Lady's maturity had brought with it a lengthening of her formerly short temper, be it a tenuous one.
"I have a job for you," she replied calmly, placing her hands on his desk and leaning forward. Dante wasn't sure if it was his age—he hoped not—or his simple annoyance with her that made him react to the prospect of slaying demons with a tired sigh.
"What is it this time?" he asked, letting his slight irritation bleed into his words.
"I've had a bit of a problem on my hands with a religious cult—The Order of the Sword."
"'The Order of the Sword', huh?" Dante parroted back at her.
"Yes. Are you familiar with them?" Lady asked with a hint of excited surprise in her voice. Her excitement was in vain because Dante didn't care to be familiar with the sorts of things that seemed to interest her.
"Sorry, religion and I don't mix."
"It's a small congregation that gathers in the castle town of Fortuna," she said in the informative tone that Dante remembered his teachers using in high school. "I guess the only people who would have heard of it are the ones who take interest in this type of thing," she added as if it was some sort of boast.
"Like you," Dante replied in disinterest.
"Yeah," Lady answered. Dante wasn't watching her, but he could imagine her eyes giving a roll of annoyance. "So just how much do you know about Sparda?"
"Well, from what I can figure, there's a lot of, uh, confusion surrounding him." Dante turned his eyes to the woman as she turned and paced away from the desk, speaking as she went.
"The story goes that Sparda served as the feudal lord of the city long ago. The people who live there today take these legends as truth and worship him..." Lady turned back around before adding, dramatically, "Just like a god."
Dante promptly pulled his legs off of his desk, leaning forward on his left elbow with his half eaten, nearly forgotten slice of pizza still in hand. "They worship a demon as a god?" he asked with a hint of surprised curiosity lacing his words. The man would be lying if he said she hadn't piqued his interest even in the slightest.
"Peaceful worship can't be condemned," Lady said wisely, a statement with which Dante could agree. "But the real problem is The Order. Lately, they've been running amok, catching demons, and have even butted in on some of my jobs." [2]
"Ah, maybe they're starting a zoo!" Dante mocked, pointing at Lady with his now cold slice of pizza. She sneered at the smirk twitching on his lips and snatched the pizza from his hand. He had obviously managed to ruffle her feathers, if only a little.
"Not just demons," Lady said with an upward intonation. "They've also been targeting Devil Arms, like the ones you have." There was sassiness to her voice that clearly indicated her irritation.
Feeling a bit sadistic, Dante replied, "Okay then, a museum." He could almost visibly see her temper coming to a boil. The brunette's lips pursed into a tight line as she worked to restrain her anger. To add insult to injury, Dante reached for the slice of pizza she had stolen as if it was far more interesting than anything she could say. She jerked it out of his reach before he could even get close to it. With a sigh of exasperation, the hunter beat his fist on the desk before throwing his legs back onto the hard surface.
"So what?" he spat in annoyance.
"Well, what if their intentions are fowl and there's a diabolical plan behind these apparently random acts?" Lady retorted as if incredulous that the halfbreed could simply write such suspicious behavior off as harmless. Even after that statement, Dante couldn't force himself to share Lady's concerns. He did notice at the last minute, however, that Trish was no longer sitting within his sight. While they were bickering like a married couple, the blond had disappeared. Seeing as her scent still lingered in the room, however, she was obviously about somewhere, up to no good. Dante stood from his seat, about to go looking for her.
"Well," he started as he pulled his legs from his desk, "then I'd have something to keep me occupied and—Trish!" Just as the hunter stood to his full height, he caught a flash of black and the swing of long golden hair disappearing through the office doors. He tried to call Trish to a stop, but the she-devil seemed eager to vacate the premises. Thinking he had noticed something in her arms, a voice in Dante's head told him to turn around. What he found was that the mighty sword, Sparda, had been stolen from his wall, along with three other Devil Arms he hadn't used since he obtained them. What Trish planned to do with them, the man was unsure of, but he knew it had something to do with Lady's proposition. On the frame where Sparda had been mounted were the words "See you there" written in what Dante presumed to be pink lipstick. [3]
"Of course," Dante sighed to himself. Leave it to Trish to care what happened to a bunch of religious nutjobs.
"I guess you'll be going after all," Lady said triumphantly, though the victory wasn't her own. Dante turned to see her giving him a proud look, arms crossed over her ample chest. He headed toward the door without giving her the satisfaction of seeing his soreness over having to accept her job.
"I guess so," replied the hunter coldly, pushing the doors wide open with a flick of his wrists.
"Wait," Lady demanded behind him. Dante paused but seldom turned around. He was growing impatient but hid it, for there was suddenly a gentler tone in Lady's voice as if she was regretting the way she had acted. "How do you plan on getting there?"
A/N: Okay, I vowed a while back not to include two sets of author's notes on anything anymore because I know they're nothing exciting to read, but I want to make sure I cover everything here. Before anyone starts accusing me of Lady-bashing, I'm not. This is just how I think Dante and Lady's relationship would be at the time this scene happened. You're welcome to your own opinion, but any empty spaces left by the game are subject to be filled in with a few of my own beliefs.
Also, for those of you who have never played the game, this is not the particular scene with which the game begins because it is very mixed up. If it was in order, however, this is where it would have begun. I will be following a timeline closer to the game, but to avoid repeating things, I've decided to start it with this part. I promise it will make more sense as I go on.
The dialogue is a mixture of actual dialogue taken from the cutscenes in the game and dialogue I created to fill in empty spaces. There will be endnotes (like the ones below) at the end of every chapter to answer any questions you may have about particular concepts within this story. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. I would hate for anyone to be confused. On a related note, this story will notcontain any YAOI content. I know that "Sexual Themes" in the Warnings may have been misleading, but all warnings are taken from the actual ESRB ratings of the game.
[1] The novel says that Lady deducts money from Dante and Trish's pay when she gives them a job for all the things she had to contribute. Her excuse is that, because she's human, she can't take on as many jobs as Dante and Trish, so she needs the money more than they do.
[2] In the novel, Lady encounters possessed suits of armor (Bianco Angelos) on a job to exterminate a demon. The Angelos keep intruding on her jobs and stealing her prey, which is why she says that The Order have been "butting in" on her jobs and capturing demons. She finds it suspicious that demons would be capturing other demons (she knows the Angelos are demons because she fought one), which is how the story begins. She got her information about Fortuna and The Order from a collector of demonic artifacts, and hires Dante to investigate the whole situation. This will make more sense later on.
[3] If you watch this cutscene, it's very confusing at first. What actually happens in the cutscene is Trish steals Sparda and three other Devil Arms from Dante. You will find that those three Devil Arms were the ones that Dante obtained in Fortuna: Gilgamesh, Pandora, and Lucifer. More on that later.
(If you are still confused by something, I highly recommend watching the actual cutscene from which this chapter came. All DMC4 cutscenes can be found on Youtube.)