DEVIL MAY CRY THREE: VERGIL'S AWAKENING
By Warp Ligia Obscura
Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and all characters within belong to Capcom, not me.
Prologue
The Library was usually filled with people, but not this late at night. The time was past 11pm and most of the lights were off. In front of a large, tall bookshelf, by a ladder, stood a man who was apparently engrossed in a book. The man was wearing a long red coat, from which a stick appeared to protrude. He seemed to be of no little age, with a head full of white hair.
In the silence of the library, the white-haired man being the only visible occupant, footsteps resounded. A shadow, unnoticed by the man, approached.
"So, you're looking for the book of ancient legends," The shadow asked, and we got our first look at the reader. Surprisingly, his face was one of youth. Sharp-nosed, no earlobes and not a wrinkle to be seen, clean-shaven and no sideburns, but with shoulder-length hair and a fringe that touched the eyebrows. He too had firm, healthy-looking lips. His coat had black and silver linings. The stick could be now seen as gold-coloured and tapering into a crown-like protrusion.
Features concealed despite the lamp behind it, the shadow continued despite the man nodding grimly at something his eyes were picking up, paying little attention. "The tale of the demon warrior Sparda?"
The man slapped his book shut with his black-gloved right hand, revealing black with peculiar white patterns for a cover. As he returned it to its proper location, it could be seen that the portion of the sleeve covering the elbow appeared to have brighter-shaded, padding-like material on it. "Not what I want, whoever you are." He shoved the book home. "Piss off!" He lowered his arm.
"Then what are you looking for?" The shadow asked, stressing the first verb, as it consented to depart the darkness. It could now be seen as a bald male, somewhat aged, with scarring on the forehead and around the grey left eye. As one of the rare heterochromatics, his right eye was blue. His cheeks appeared sunk in and as he made himself fully visible, a nasty-looking patch of red was apparent on his left side. He was clad in a dark pullover and long pants. "A demon that impregnates a woman, who then bears twin sons…" The speaker scanned the titles of the bookshelf while advancing slowly. "That's the story, isn't it?" Apparently not finding what he was after, he returned his gaze to the former reader.
With blurring speed and a sound of metal sliding on metal, a sword had seemingly manifested itself in the reader's right hand. The stick extending from his coat was no more and it was clear that it had been the hilt. The blade was a silver, five-foot affair with a groove running down the centre on both sides, with the edge tapering inwards before the end but to widen back again, the tip of which hovered dangerously close to the bald one's chin.
Startled slightly, the bald one studied the blade as the reader threatened, "Go to hell or I open an extra hole in your face." He made his words without turning from the shelf to appraise the bald one.
Rather than be frightened, however, the bald one smiled. Opening his left hand but then folding down the third and fourth fingers in the rapper manner, he placed it at the tip of the blade. "People inherently fear evil. However…" He calmly slid the thumb down the lower edge of the sword. "… occasionally, a person may become seduced by evil." He stepped forward, taking no heed of the red patches that appeared on the floor along his path.
The reader turned his light blue eyes to regard the bald one out of the corners of his eyes, then shifted his head's orientation too. He detached his sword's edge from the bald one's finger, spun it in a circle, then slowly sheathed it in the scabbard between his coat and the red, black Velcro-fastened waistcoat he could now be seen as wearing. The unused belt hanging around his waist could also be noticed. "What's your point?"
"Share with me," The bald one uttered while stretching his neck, before bowing it. In his right hand he held a red-bound book. "The story of Sparda…"
The reader turned around and walked off as the bald one smirked. The raw patch on his face's left side appeared to be twisting and turning as if a mist, changing its shape.
The passing of time found the red-coated reader and the bald one, the former to the latter's right, standing before a long flight of stairs surrounded by grey walls. The redcoat had in his left hand a red scabbard with a pair of entwined "SSS" markings at the end. His cover now could be seen to be an ankle-length single-breasted coat with a central vent cut up to the hips.
"The activation method is as I have described before." The bald one turned to regard the redcoat. "It should be a simple matter for you." His right hand still held the red book possessively. "I will go to his place." He turned on his heel. "I believe that I know where the item we seek is located." The bald one strode past a statue of a wide-mouthed tortoise head without revealing the identity of the man he intended to visit. "You should dispose of any obstacles quickly." Passing by an effigy of an eagle in a tableau of mid-cry, he disappeared into the darkness.
There was brief silence afterwards, which was quickly broken by a sound not unlike the stereotypical depiction of a teleportation. The redcoat, who had tracked the bald one's progress, watched as humanoid figures emerged from the ground. Their bodies were wavy, shimmering white but extensively patterned with red, the forearms, shins and upper face being entirely crimson. Above pupil-less eyes, horns extended, giving a jester-like appearance. However, the clearest sign of these things' non-humanity was the quadruplet of horns poking out of their back and the long tail they had. In their hands they wielded bloody scythes with flaming blades.
The redcoat glanced from left to right, aware from the aural cues that more of these were emerging from the stairway. He uttered but one word, "Abyss", as he noted that he was being encircled. Another man would have been intimidated, but the redcoat merely smiled as three of the "Abysses" leapt at him with feral cries, strangely kicking up sand as they aimed to put him down. A scythe's blade drew near.
The redcoat snapped out with the scabbard, flashes of light emitting as it blocked the fiery death he would have received. Drawing the blade, he glimpsed on its well-polished surface an Abyss behind him. "Rebellion… Let's rock!"
There was a flash of light yet again. Behind the redcoat, an Abyss fell into left and right halves as the redcoat spun "Rebellion" in a circle around his right hand. Rebellion darted out and an Abyss lost its legs, a second had its body slit diagonally and a third stumbled uncertainly before its head slid off. Red blood leaked freely from the victims.
The redcoat cleaned Rebellion's edge on the sheath while slowly sheathing him. Behind him, the sounds of more appearing Abysses assailed his ears. One of them, approaching from the back, brought down its scythe.
The redcoat drew Rebellion once more, threw him into the air and shouted, "Come and get me!" He backflipped, grabbed the would-be assassin by the neck with his hands in mid-air and whirled around while throwing it away. It hit the floor and disintegrated. "Oh yeah! I'm glad the Falcon Ninja Clan taught me that!"
A second charged at him and his right leg flashed out, foot meeting Rebellion's pommel and launching him at its head. "Goal!" He shouted as Rebellion impaled itself into the Abyss' head and red electrical-looking discharges emitted from the wound.
A third made for a jumping strike, but the redcoat rolled out of the way and his right fist met its back, slamming it into the ground.
He leapt onto the dupe while holding his right hand out and the Abyss began sliding forward while Rebellion extricated himself from the "goalpost", which promptly exploded, and returned to the redcoat's hand. "Ride or die!"
A fourth popped out of the ground before the redcoat and tried for a horizontal swing. The redcoat merely leaned to his left, the blow wiffing, and snapped, "If you're Akane Higurashi…" Rebellion spun in his hand, then he sheathed him as the "vehicle" sped past the Abyss, which fell into a kneeling position, its extremities dropping off. "I'm Miyu Glear." He leapt off as his "steed" crashed into a wall and disappeared into a dust-like cloud.
Two more Abysses dashed to meet him, but a third was a bit smarter. In its left hand a flaming object appeared, which the Abyss threw at the redcoat. The redcoat calmly reached into the eponymous item of clothing and drew a white pistol slightly bigger than the hand that wielded it. His madly twitching left index finger called out bullets that caught the infernal device in mid-air, detonating it harmlessly. All while fending off the scythe blows, before making a full-circle sweep and splitting the first two in half horizontally. Hurling Rebellion into the air once again, the redcoat drew the first pistol's black twin and advanced on the bomber, the body of which was blown away under an inhumanly large serving of ammunition.
There was a beastly roar behind the redcoat, which died out to be replaced by metal passing into organic substance. The redcoat spun to see the ambusher with Rebellion sticking out of its skull. Behind it was another one, the last apparently. With a mighty leap, the redcoat made for the Abyss, his coattails trailing behind him.
The demon attempted to return the favour, but suddenly the redcoat was behind it. "Pop goes the weasel," The redcoat said whimsically as whatever made up the Abyss' neck gave off the sound the redcoat had mentioned, the man twisting the head home a full 180-degrees and tugging it off.
To the redcoat's six, more Abysses sprouted from the ground. "Looks like everyone wants a piece of me. Wait your turn, boys!" He holstered his guns and plucked Rebellion from the skull of the fool, then ran forward, blade dancing around as to leave white contrails as the redcoat plunged into the Abyss ranks and out the other side. He spun Rebellion behind his back and slowly kept the blade. For a moment, all appeared frozen in some tableau, but the redcoat shoved Rebellion home.
The Abysses split apart.
"That was fun, wasn't it, Reb?" The redcoat laughed as he ascended the stairs, the Abysses disintegrating behind him. Ahead of him was an intricately-patterned brown door. While closing his eyes, the redcoat said, "Let's press start!"
