"Teen Titans: Future Storm"
Story: "Hell Trigger"
Chapter 1: "The Renewal of Hostilities"
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters present in this story, nor do I claim ownership over any of the locations, either. The characters are largely the property of DC Comics and Capcom. Most of the primary Titans characters are created by Black Panther's Knight, while Nightstar is solely DC, and Mercury is co-owned by Marvel and DC as part of their Amalgam imprints. Dante, Trish, Lady, and any other Devil May Cry characters and locals belong to Capcom of Japan and of the USA. I'm just borrowing them – in the case of BPK's Titans, with permission – to tell this story to you, the reader(s).
Author's Note: This story was written with the consent of Black Panther's Knight/Whatever penname he wants to go by in the future, and uses his characters and continuity, to expand on something he did in an earlier work – namely, the 'Blood' arc of Teen Titans: Future Storm, which featured an appearance by Dante. This results in this story, a full crossover between DMC and the FS Titans. Enjoy.
It was the last day of a big weapons exhibit in the city of San Francisco, in an old, antiquated-style museum dedicated to the supernatural. Normally such places were jokes amongst the museum circuits, but they had recently come into a great deal of money, and a number of near-ancient mystical items that proved to be quite old, and thus, quite valuable; this didn't lead to them updating things, and so the display cases were glass, the security systems were barely up to modern spec, and everything was just so easy to bypass, if one were a clever master thief. Or even an amateur. Though no one would be stupid enough to rob this museum now, due to a certain superhero team paying a visit on behalf of one of their members.
Samara eyed the weapons with a curious look on her face, feeling the ancient magicks coursing through the blades, gauntlets, whips, and other implements of pain that had, for centuries, been sought after by numerous collectors. While the others found it rather macabre, she found it completely fascinating, and though she wished she could study them completely, to confirm the old legends she had heard, she didn't have the time : The museum was closing soon, and her friends were getting restless…especially Inferno. He was looking especially bored, and a bit creeped out by his lover's fascination with this strange history. Nightstar and Cipher were looking at a display on a courtesan who had been charged as being a witched, and burned at the stake, though only for the sake of trying to look interested. Rose was busy 'tormenting' Bladefire, whispering sweet nothings – or what passed for them, for the former mercenary – into his ear and making him blush. Mercury was scarfing down hotdogs, making his way from the museum to a fast food place down the street, and sharing with Beast Girl, who looked absolutely bored stupid, and groaning and shifting, and slouching in a chair, eventually breaking out in a whine.
"Can we go now? Everybody else has left already…"
With a sigh, and an amused look on her face, Samara straightened up, and looked back at her friend. "Yes, Terri…we can go now. I'm done here." There was a lightening of the mood as everyone relaxed, and realized that they were free of this rather disturbing glance into history. But one would ask, where was Ibn in all of this? He was outside, having finished his own studies of the weapons ten minutes ago, and waiting for the others…at least until it started raining, and he came back in, looking somewhat sour as his hair was plastered to his head, and his clothes were damp. Beast Girl giggled a bit, at least until he gave her a stern look, quieting down somewhat.
"Are you all finished now? While this was rather interesting, I doubt this display merits this much attention from you, Samara."
"I had heard there was a weapon belonging to Trigon worshippers here…but I haven't seen it yet."
"Perhaps because they're worried you would try to claim it as your birthright," the detective pointed out, a wry smile on his face, causing the part-demon to roll her eyes.
"Very funny. I didn't know you had a sense of humor…" Samara trailed off, feeling something strange in the air…something powerful…something…familiar. She glanced over to the entrance/exit to the museum, and in walked a young-looking man with medium length platinum white hair and wearing a long blue coat, dark blue pants, and brown boots, and fingerless black gloves. Before she could say anything, he shoved Beast Girl out of the way, causing the shapeshifter to cry out as Mercury rushed to catch her. Before the other Titans could react, a blade of blue energy formed in the man's hand, and with two slashes, the display case before them exploded in a shower of glass, the weapons scattering, a Japanese-style sword in a blood-red sheath falling into the man's hands. He turned, and the rest all got a good look at his face, Mar'i gasping with some surprise, and everyone else who knew that face doing a double take.
"Dante…?" She asked, hesitantly, not recognizing that look on the man's face, her brother moving up beside her, as they were the strongest on the team, physically, and the most durable. 'Dante' responded by using his thumb to push the blade out of the sheath, grabbing the handle and pulling it out with a sudden slash, a wave of energy passing over them forming a net-like wall, which caught the twins in it. They struggled for a moment, then there was a sudden breaking of glass sound, and strangled cries as their skin was bit into, and sliced open, a small amount of blood fountaining from their wounds as they fell almost lifelessly to the ground, a smirk on the white haired man's face.
"MAR'I!" Cipher rushed forward, slashing out with a finger at the man, who responded by forming another energy sword in his other hand, catching the psychic 'blade' that surrounded the telekinetic's fingers, and knocking him back, sheathing his newly acquired sword, and striking him with the butt of the sheath, staggering the teenager back. The white haired man started to thrust out with the covered weapon, slamming the butt repeatedly into Cipher's stomach and chest, while Cipher attempted to kick and slash at the man, who quickly avoided all of the attacks without even sweating, before he sighed softly.
"Done now." The voice was different, more smug, arrogant, and before Cipher could react, he coughed up blood, eyes going wide as he managed to look down, seeing a number of the energy blades had pierced his chest, though not hitting anything vital, the swords breaking apart, the sudden force causing Cipher to fly back, a puddle of blood forming around him. Rose, for her part, fared little better, throwing kicks and punches at the man, who blocked them all with the sheath of his blade, before he took it out, and slashed her across the chest, cutting open the front of the dress she had decided to wear for the night, following up with a downward slice, which caused the silver haired girl to nearly spill out of her dress, a furious look on her face. She lifted up her eyepatch, and the man remarked, curiously, "Ah, the Hell's Spiral. Truly, a formidable weapon…in the right hands. However, a mere human cannot hope to stand up against a son of Sparda." With surprising speed, he thrust his sword back, knocking a broad sword out of the case, and then, holding it in one hand, thrust out with amazing force, a blue energy trail behind him, and slammed it into her chest, causing her eyes to go wide before blood trickled down her mouth, and fell back, gasping for air, but unable to pull the sword out, not being strong enough to dislodge it from her ribcage. "Pathetic child…" And then his attention moved to Beast Girl and Mercury, the former of which transforming into a winged harpy, and clawing at him with her talons. "Cute." He responded, before thrusting out with his sheath, striking her on the chin, and knocking her out cold, her body crumpling onto the floor before him. With a grin, 'Dante' regarded Mercury, sheathing his blade yet again. "So you're the 'fast' one, eh? Care to try your luck with me?"
"You bastard!" Mercury spat, running at super-speed, running around the room and whipping up a miniature, rough tornado-like gale. The man looked unimpressed, as blue-purple energy began whipping about him, and with a roar, it exploded, the force knocking Peter off his feet and smashing him into a display case, the glass biting into his skin and cutting him, as well as knocking him out from the impact. Ibn finally moved, picking up one of the fallen weapons, a spear, and began thrusting with it, fierce stabbing motions a look of concentration on his face as he put all his attention on their attacker, temporarily driving him back. At the same time, Inferno began throwing fire blasts at the man, who was struck by one, and knocked down…though he quickly rolled back up, hardly phased, not showing any sign of pain or injury, though his jacket was singed, and promptly drew his blade, and began slashing with it, in a flurry of swipes that Ibn blocked most of, but soon his spear was shattered, and he was struck unconscious by a swipe from the scabbard/sheath, and inferno was blown aside by a sudden blast of energy swords, these exploding the moment their points touched him, knocking him through a wall. Finally, it was just him and Samara, the oldest Titan wearing a furious look on her face, eyes glowing black. However, the man just smiled, good-naturedly, to her.
"I'm not your enemy here…you see, we're alike…unlike your fool friends."
"We're nothing alike, you turncoat!" Samara spat, a fierce look on her face, prompting 'Dante' to laugh. "You may have helped us, but you just put yourself on my bad side, you bastard!" Samara then 'picked' up two large display cases with her powers, shadow hands gripping them, and slammed them down on the attacker. For a moment, it seemed that they connected, but then they exploded in a shower of cut glass and wood and metal, 'Dante''s sword flashing about wildly before a sudden slash – with the sword sheathed – knocked Samara down, making her taste bile in the back of her mouth. "Ugh…"
"You show promise, girl…but only when you forsake your weak human self will you be able to defeat me," He said with scorn and disdain, a smug, superior air about him as he walked past her. He looked back over his shoulder as he stepped into the rain, smirking. "You'd best hurry…your alien friends are going to bleed to death soon, if you don't heal them….human." The way he said the word was as an insult, practically spitting in Samara's face for the way she was raised, the way her mother was raised. "Your as weak as your pathetic mother…tell her I said hello…" he chuckled, darkly, then in a flash of blue he was gone, leaving Samara on her knees, surrounded by her hurt and battered friends.
Chanting under her breath, the mage teleported herself and her teammates to their current hideout, a cave/cavern somewhere in the city's boundaries, and began work on healing them.
It was about an hour later when Samara realized something was wrong when she couldn't fully heal Nightstar and Bladefire. Yes, she could stop most of the bleeding, and close most of the wounds, but there were still surface cuts and markings, and occasionally they would bleed again. She healed Terri rather easily, since all she suffered was one blunt force injury, so then the shapeshifter helped patch up the twins, the two girls wrapping them in bandages to help stop the bleeding for now. Ibn healed nicely as well, considering he'd also only taken blunt attacks. However, Raziel was also taking too long to heal, from the number of energy swords he'd taken to his torso. Rose was well enough to curse and moan, and complain, though she was still suffering some after effects of being impaled. But the sword they pulled from her chest turned out to have been a regular blade, not one of the mystical ones, so she was only suffering in a small amount as compared to the others. Peter was still out of it, and Beast Girl spent most of her time hovering over him, holding his hand and trying to make him comfortable as he writhed about, the burning in his wounds not easing up. However, the worst of it came from being unable to help Inferno….even though he'd been the least beat up, he had absorbed more of the demonic fire than any of them, and it was burning in his blood, causing him to cry in agony, the seal on his chest glowing a bright purple, his body occasionally igniting – they had to remove the bedsheets and use flame-retardant ones to help him be more comfortable.
While trying to heal her friends, and finding herself unable to, Samara let out a frustrated cry, eyes watering a bit, when she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder, and looked up, surprised, to see her mother standing over her, a concerned look on her face. "Mother…?"
"Yes, Samara. I'm here. I could feel your pain even from the astral realm…and the anguish you feel for your teammates. What happened?"
"We…we were attacked…at the museum…by…by Dante," the mage said, wiping her eyes, regaining control over herself, the panic fading now that she was in the presence of her mother, who always seemed to make her feel better. Raven's face, however, showed a look of confusion as she regarded her daughter closely.
"That's not possible…he's one of the good guys…he helped us against Blood…and with the other demons…he's a Devil Hunter, but he only goes after the evil demons…why would he go after you?"
"It…it wasn't us he was after. It was some kind of sword…a katana…in a blood-red sheath with a black handle…"
"That doesn't sound familiar…and Dante only uses Devil Arms…human weapons don't really have enough power for him…" Raven went over to touch the twins, and gasped, recoiling as though burnt. "Agh!"
"M-mother?! What's wrong?" Samara and Beast Girl rushed over, catching Raven as she fell back, a haunted look on the older mage's face.
"Mrs. Wilson?" the emerald skinned girl had a worried look on her face, while Raven steadied herself and stood.
"These injuries were caused by a combination of highly potent demonic energy…and a blade crafted by a cult that worshipped Trigon, until their destruction centuries ago at the hands of the legendary Dark Knight…"
Terri scrunched her nose at that. "Batman?"
This response prompted Raven to sigh, and give her daughter's friend a look. "No, Sparda…Dante's father."
"Oh."
Samara gave her mother a curious look at that. "So why is the sword here?"
"Someone must've found it, and hidden it amongst the collection…because that's not the blade that you were looking for. That blade is in the Watchtower, because it's too dangerous for anyone to have, and its safest there." Raven sighed again, and wore a concerned look on her face. "I can heal them, but it will take time. I'll have to draw out the demonic energy, and place it in a receptacle…"
"Will this work?" Terri grunted, hefting up the broadsword that had impaled Rose, with the older woman smiling softly.
"Yes, that will do nicely." Then Raven looked up, and saw her daughter moving away. "Samara? What are you doing now?"
"I'm going to find out what's going on. Don't worry, mother. I'll be fine."
And with that, the mage teleported out of the cave, her mother sighing with worry, but not ready to leave the Titans yet, in the state they were in. Of the conscious ones, who had been silent out of respect, Rose snorted, before groaning.
"Ow…it's always the quiet ones…"
A moment later, Samara rematerialized outside a three level building, and looked up over the door, spotting the neon sign that read 'Devil May Cry', and with a focused look on her face, she slammed the doors open with her powers, and stormed towards the desk, brushing past a young-looking woman with short, feathery black hair wearing a pair of orange shades, and wearing a white pair of short shorts and matching jacket, with blue stripes on both, with an ammo belt around her waist, long brown boots on, and gloves, and with a large rocket launcher over one shoulder. The woman replied with a "Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!"
The person Samara was after looked up from his desk, putting down the magazine he was reading, but still eating the piece of pizza he had in his other hand, and gave Samara a warm look. "Ah, Samara! Nice to see you again. That was Lady you just ran into, and this is Trish," He indicated a busty blonde wearing a pair of leather pants, a tight vest with a lightning bolt pattern on the front, black boots, and a black armband around her right arm, and a large belt with a pair of twin guns in holsters at the back, her hair slicked back a bit. "So what's up?"
Instead of replying, Samara levitated Dante, and slammed him into his wall, knocking the pizza from his hand, and getting both Lady and Trish on her face, the mage wearing a fierce look on her face. "WHY DID YOU HURT MY FRIENDS?!" She screamed, enraged, forming a clawed energy hand around Dante, and squeezing, only for him to pry the 'hand' open and drop down to the floor, motioning for the two women to back off of Samara, which they did, though not completely understanding why Dante was so willing to give the benefit of the doubt to this strange girl, who was obviously part demon.
"Okay, back up. Your friends are hurt? And you think I did it? When was this?"
"About two hours ago…at a museum here in the city, where there was a weapons exhibit that held a secret blade belonging to a Trigon-worshipping cult," the mage said, icily, prompting Lady to groan.
"See? I told you we should've gone over there…"
"Well, if you wanted to go so much, you should've gone yourself," Dante shrugged it off, looking nonchalant and cleaning off some plaster from his red coat. "So it was a guy you thought was me? A doppelganger, maybe?"
Samara shook her head in response. "No…I would've felt that. This person…felt a lot like you do, the same energy…only more focused, and tainted with dark intent…but now that I'm feeling your aura…I can tell it wasn't you…"
"Okay, so, what did this guy look like?" Dante stepped up to his desk, and sat on the edge, picking up his pizza, eyeing it carefully, before going back to chew on it, watching Samara with interest.
"Well, he looked exactly like you…the face, the eyes…the body built…his hair was a bit longer, now that I think about it, and he wasn't wearing the right outfit…"
'What was he wearing?" Lady spoke up, a concerned look on her face, a look she shared with Trish, as the two began to figure something out.
"Uh…dark blue coat like yours, fingerless gloves…dark pants, a vest of some sort…and brown boots."
"What kind of sword did he steal?" Dante asked, still not showing any worry, though there was a glint of interest in his eye.
"It was a katana…a Japanese-style sword."
"You don't think it's…him, do you?" The two women gave Dante a look, the Devil Hunter just shrugging, smiling calmly.
It was then that there was a massive explosion, blowing away the front of the shop, sending – and this made Samara blink rapidly: a number of stuffed animals from the upper level, as well as a small television set that crashed at her feet, startling her.
"Good thing Patty and Morisson aren't here…because this party's just getting interesting…" Dante said, grinning, as he picked up his broadsword, Rebellion, and his two guns, Ebony and Ivory, and placed the sword on his back, and spun the guns around, the three women moving away from the crater that had been the front walk…
Standing there was a fairly large demonic figure, looking like a knight in armor with a blue face and horns, carrying a massive, uneven blade, and wearing a purple cape over one shoulder. The creature's face bore something of resemblance to Dante's, though it was hard to tell. And with an ice-cold, though familiar, voice, it spoke. "Dante…"
"Well, well…It's great to see you again…Vergil." Dante grinned, aiming his guns at his brother and chuckling. "You always did throw the best parties."
End Notes: How's that for a cliffhanger? Well, anyone who played DMC3 would have known this was coming from the start when Vergil first showed up, but for everyone else, I hope it was worth it. There's more to come from this story yet.
And in response to people wondering about my chronic lateness, I suffer from incredible writer's block, and sometimes it takes moving onto a new piece to get the creative juices flowing. I'm sure some of you out there understand that sentiment.
And also, big props to BPK for letting me do this, and helping me out by proofing it and pointing out any mistakes I may have made. This story is for him, and everyone else who reads his stuff, and/or my stuff, and of course my other friends here on .