Disclaimer: I do not own Sandman nor the Devil May Cry series.
Chapter One
There are different beginnings, starting from one spark of an idea, a thought, a simple and yet powerful spark that spreads out into many branches. It is the seed that grows into massive trees, each branch spreading upward to unknown reaches or spreads and breaks apart falling endlessly towards an abyss where there is only wishful thinking and regret. Many lives are written down in the book, many worlds that have been created or thought have their stories written down from beginning to end. It is even said many of the universes, infinite in number and continuously grows also have a past, a present and future. The past shows upcoming, trials and tribulations that all experience; the future shows the revelations that will happen, life or death are more than just past and present concepts. They show many things to all sentient and non-sentient. Such is the book of the destiny; such is the many answers that are kept in the large, dust ridden book that Destiny of the Endless carries.
His walk is slow, pacing, making turns into the garden where different paths branches off. There is no path he can remember off hand; omnipotent of destiny he may be, destiny changes constantly for it grows and expands towards infinitum. His robe stretches behind him creating a brown and dusty train that trails ever slightly behind. One has speculated that Destiny has this robe as a symbol of how Destiny cannot turn about and change its course. The train itself is the afterthoughts of past destinies, past paths that many sentient and non-sentient beings thought and would've, should've, could've took. Was it regret? Possibly it was regret lingering within the train of Destiny's robe. But even if it wasn't regret, perhaps it was blame, or shame, or deep accusations among one or even the small feeling of relief, they remain as small little fragments, dust that carries behind Destiny. One could've questioned how he saw the man standing in the garden as many have said that Destiny could not see.
There, at the path which made a crossroad to three separate paths, stood a man, leaning against the brush of the garden itself his arms folded and his head down as if he had fallen into a quick slumber. Destiny raised his head, the hood of his robe shadowing over his blind eyes. He did not speak nor did he make a sound that would alert the man on the path. The man slowly opens his eyes and turned his head to Destiny's position. The man had dark skin no darker than a casual brown that resembled the color of cocoa. His hair were locked together into small micro braids but was tied back in a ponytail. He loosely wore a collared shirt with a red tank top and athletic pants. It was clearly not the wear of those who enter the garden yet Destiny did not speak upon the matter for it was miniscule at that point. The man had a casual smile on his lips, his eyes not so much eager to see Destiny but had a familiar glint that one could associate a man looking at art not for its price but for its sheer and utter beauty. The man leaned off from the bush and came to Destiny. He was much shorter than Destiny who is among the tallest of the Endless. He only reached to his chest in height. There, standing right in front of the personification itself, they spoke. It was telepathic at first; the nature of which the conversation was going would've been unreadable due to the emotionless expression of Destiny and the continuous, jovial smile of the unknown man. Finally, after a small pause, which seem like a minute in infinity, the man spoke. "Times are definitely changing. Almost as if something was going to happen."
Destiny remained silent but nodded his head so slightly that it couldn't even be considered a nod at all. The man continued "Something is amidst; I can feel it in my bones old man."
"You're too young to feel anything of that sort in your body." Destiny said plainly. Whether it was meant to be a joke or meant to be serious in nature, the man chuckled regardless and nodded his head.
"You're right about that old man. I am a bit too young to even say such a phrase. Yet I doubt you can dismiss that former statement that something is amidst among the worlds," he paused then stretched his hand out towards the garden "towards the universes and dimensions. You may hide your expression, almost unreadable among the Endless but you saw what was in that book of yours. It shows you the future of many of the same occurrence and yet," he paused again, this time for the dramatic effect of it "you wander among the garden seeking out an answer."
"There are many answers to the same question." Destiny spoke, this time walking with no notion for the man to follow but the man did follow anyway. He knew that Destiny wanted to walk, more so is prone to walk in the garden "Though what you speak of is true. My mind has been pondering upon this event; the event that you speak of that you will be involved almost directly."
"What do you read, old man, of the outcome of it all." Destiny did not answer because he knew he could not answer the question nor did he have any right to answer his question. "I'll answer for you old man. You see emptiness right? The speech that is void of words, ears that will hear nothing the cold and outright darkness and eyes that will be blinded by nothingness." Destiny did not reply but the man was satisfied with the silent. He smiled at this "It's amazing really that I'm actually smiling for an outcome that could potentially destroy everything. How can one even imagine seeing absolutely nothing? It would be like that of the beginning, the time where you were your youngest and everything was nothing more than just emptiness. What's different about future emptiness and the beginning emptiness was that there was something to break free of that void. One may call that your greatest accomplishment just being there to inspire that first few seconds of destiny. Now it seems that everything that sparked forth life is here to take it away. You wander because you search for the answer. There are many but there is one answer that remains hidden from you, uncle."
There was a moment that the man saw Destiny's eyes waver in his hood. The man could not help but have a moment where there was despair in his heart for he and Destiny felt the words slip into thought and was now settling in their minds casually eating away. What made the two of them different was that the man could ignore this feeling altogether and smile. The moment faded within the man but not with Destiny. Instead he spoke, his quick statements almost seem to go on forever, in a low whisper "You realize that if this happens-"
"Of course." The man shrugged "It's not like I didn't think that it wouldn't happen. Naiveté is not my forte uncle. Though I am surprised, one such as you, as one of the Endless, caring about life. Call upon my ignorance but I thought you had the same stance as the rest of the Endless."
"What is Death without the concept of giving and taking life? What is Despair without the concept of hopelessness that can inspire hope? What is Delirium without madness and chaos? What is Dream without the concept of giving of ideas, inspiring for some and horrific for others? What is Destruction without the concept of ending something but beginning another thing anew? What is Desire without the concept of longing for one or many things? What is Destiny without the concept of having choice?"
The man had a pondering look upon him and then nodded understanding the meaning behind his words and answered "Without this, The Endless would fade away into nothingness and all things that you guys personify will be gone," he had a hand run into his long strands of dreadlocks and scratched the surface of his skull itching a non-existent itch "I suppose that would mean no more babbling between Desire and whoever she victimize, no more travelling to the dimension of dream where I can annoy Matthew and no picnics with lovely and beautiful women." He chuckled at that last statement. He knew Destiny wouldn't join him on the joke; he was rather stoic and monotone of a person who rarely jokes if he even jokes at all. "Kind of sucks to be you then. You just stand here and watch-err rather walk and see this happen. Everyone else has their duties to attend."
He points to himself "Then there is me. The odd one out; the one who you can't even consider human or a personification of anything. I'm just that third wheel in the equation right?" He held a hand out knowing full well Destiny would remain silent "Don't answer, I already know what it will be." He exaggerated a frown that Destiny has been giving the man since the beginning of this conversation. "I already have the feeling that none of us will be leaving this problem unscathed. Hell, I have a feeling that I'm going to feel a slight tinge of death a few times here or there but that's my nature."
"I know" Destiny said, his voice had a bit of waver seemingly showing that this was painful indeed. It did not matter how his omnipotence over destiny was, all power was no power if a threat could ultimately end him and the rest of the Endless. "Are you afraid?" Destiny asked, his voice returning to its stoic and serious voice.
The man put a hand on his chin thoughtfully before speaking to Destiny "It's like a race uncle. I'm at the starting line and I have the best runners surrounding me. There is that excitement, that Holy-shit-what-the-hell-am-I-doing-butterfly-in-my-stomach sensation that nearly all racers get before going into the fray. It's that unknown apart that I'm worried about because I have no idea what's going to happen. I can predict it sure, anyone who has half a brain can predict what may happen but like destiny it can change immensely. One small decision can change the entire course of the outcome."
"There are two outcomes you can choose in this case."
The man nodded slowly "It's just a matter of which one I choose in the end right? Hell, it may not even be me to make the decision. I'm just as blind as you right now." He nudged Destiny in the arm. Destiny expression remained changeless and the man smiled "You know, I can never really say that you are my favorite relative. But you are a good person to talk to."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
In front of Destiny and the man there was rift in the space, warping inward on itself before it open completely. Bright light peered out of the small oval shape door before it dimmed slightly. The man takes a step into the rift and waved at Destiny "This is going to be a crazy party uncle."
The man had disappeared into the white light of the portal then it closed shut in front of Destiny. There it was again, that ominous shadow lurking in Destiny's mind that made him think about the events. He knew that if he open the book of destiny to where it was that the man spoke of, all of it would have been recorded, right down to the point of Destiny opening the book and having a worried look on his face. But he opened it anyway. He continued walking in the garden making a left, then a right, then another, then right ad infinitum. He read in the book, reading every single word that began to shape in his book. The story was beginning and he could feel a harsh storm coming.
I had a good talk with Uncle Destiny, that old fart doesn't have to give me answers in order for me to find what I came there. He's more of a living and breathing consciousness in which I can visualize in person, externally if you will. It was downright good to talk to him rather than anyone else of the Endless. I had a feeling I knew the answers from most of them. Dream- Daniel-well, Dream would have given me a concrete answer rather than an avoidant type answer. With an answer that is concrete, it gives me a sense of doubt. Who's to say that the outcome would've gone his way rather than mine? Perhaps his answer would've been the correct one and to be honest, I find people who are almost if not always right to be annoying. They are pestering flies that keep biting at you and there is nothing you can honesty do about it. No, Dream was one of the options but Destiny himself was the better of the two. Delirium was completely out of the picture, no sense trying to find an answer out of pure madness. Despair? I can imagine her giving me one but her realm has been-closed off for lack of a better word and Desire? Oh please, asking it if the sky was blue was hard enough, getting a straight answer from it was more or less painful than conclusive.
Then there is mother. Death I mean. I suppose I could've told her and she would've given me more of an answer similar to Uncle Destiny but knowing her way of thinking, knowing how she responds to what I was going to say made me want to avoid her the most. I didn't want to see her eye to eye, her eyes seem to be endless among the rest of the Endless. Redundancy is redundant I know but in this case it is true. Mom always knew how to look at me when I was going to go on my crazy antics. Like any other mother would to a son, she would look at me and cock her head slightly only to give me a reproachful look of 'Are you mad or are you stupid' expression. Yes, she knew all of my buttons and I knew all of hers and it would've been more of an argument than a son to mother talk. I think that's all mothers and sons do for the most part but I could be making an assumption of it all. For all the sons out there that has a good relationship with their mothers and don't have overwhelming arguments about the universe and life and death or how coffee with cream is ten times better than coffee straight then I apologize.
A mile a minute, that's what it seems to me at this point. I look over the edge of the boat that carries me through the in-between. I could see the endless material that almost looks like actual water. I haven't given the water a name yet. It's rather difficult to come up with names out of the blue. I've always called it water and I suppose that is the logical thing to conclude with. Within that water-like substance are an endless amounts of lights that sparkle and glisten no different than stars. Above me was the entirety of the universes darkness and lights overcastting me with an almost overwhelming light show.
It was like being in a sea that was always night, always cloudless and always gleaming with stars. You could see the lights glisten and sparkle as you traversed the realms of the in-between. I feel I have time to speak on the matters ahead; I don't usually go into depth on my situation only because I see no reason to go into detail but being on a ship by myself without anyone to talk to gets almost mind numbingly boring. It gets taxing to speak about these matters but I don't much of a choice seeing that it will pass the time. Destiny will be reading this anyway and telling him my life story would be a good and nice chapter in that big book of his.
I suppose the question of who I am might come up and around. I don't blame anyone asking who I am. You can probably guess it by now but I'm not the personification of anything. I don't represent fate or life and death or dreams or delirium or destruction or anyone else. I suppose if anyone could guess who I am; I would be more in the category of what my cousin Orpheus would be, no more Endless than a liger is more of a lion than a tiger. Did that answer any questions? No, I'm not even satisfied with that answer itself and I suppose it would be better for me to explain and be a bit more elaborate.
I am the son of Death. Yes, Death, the person that carries a soul to the afterlife is my mother. If there was a peanut gallery, I would have been able to feel their eyes roll in the back of skulls humoring me as I say such a statement out loud. It almost sounds humorous, more so laughable knowing that I said that I am the son of Death. I would laugh along with you on it too, I have a eccentric sense of humor but I would say again that yes, I am the son of Death, the women that many sentient and non-sentient beings either loathe or worship. Of course there is the middle ground, the people who are apathetic towards her or someone who absolutely adores them-not exactly worship; I've actually seen cultures on different worlds that have giant statues of her. I think there was a planet that inhabitant, of insect origin, to have massive orgies on a certain day similar to what one culture prefers as the day of the dead. They celebrate it a bit more-extravagantly than others. It's mildly amusing just hearing it but I can imagine that my mother rolled her eyes on that certain logic. It's not like she enjoys those types of things-at least, that's what I know.
Ah mother. Death is her title, her name, her personification. She's a beautiful thing, nothing that I couldn't admit as a son who appreciates the life given by someone who is there when life is gone. It almost seems contradictive for one such as my mother to bring life into this crazy universe. But then, you have to think that she is there when beings are born. They don't remember her being there as she holds the little babe in her hands but she is there and she can account for her presence by whispering little things that you'll quite not get until you're about two or three.
Do I remember my encounter with my mother when I was born? Would it surprise you to say that I did, at one time in my life? I would think that being born is more of a hassle and a traumatic experience as you leave the warmth of the womb into the world outside. But I do have some memory of it and I can honesty report that it isn't that bad. Yeah, the warmth is gone but there is so much more room outside than there was inside. I remember her taking me into her arms, her thin self holding a tiny little fragment of her into her arms and cradling me. I remember looking into her eyes; they were as black as the universe on a calm day with infinite among infinite amount of stars in the background. I wondered what she saw in mine. She did smile at me, almost a cartoon grin that could've scared anyone at that moment in time. But I suppose there is a primal sense of a child knowing that this person holding me, nursing me, carrying me was their mother. I knew it the instant I saw her that this was my mother holding me with as much love and passion that a mother could for a child.
It seemed that I was born turning the time where my mother was in one of those transitional periods in her life-err existence. She told me how she was cold during those times and death back then seemed more of a harsh reality than a blessing. To some it still is a harsh reality of knowing that she would be there with her hand out waiting for you to grab hold so that you go to the afterlife.
It is getting a bit weird explaining the sensation and I don't want to make one feel as though they are about to read a person who has a Oedipus complex. Believe me, I don't have that type of problem. I'm not in love with my own mother. Eessh, that just made me shiver just thinking it. I think the definition also is that I would have to be jealous of my father because of it. I never knew who he was. I never asked mom who he was or what type of person he had been or whether or not he was human or not. This I find odd to me. If you knew about me, I could tell you flat out that I was a curious person. My curiosity had gotten me in trouble with my mother many times. Oh the stories I could go on with the misadventures of my curious nature. It would surprise you re I've also gotten in trouble with my uncles and aunts, mainly Uncle Morpheus. He was my favorite uncle right beside Uncle Destruction-that guy's sense of humor and the amount of dirty jokes he had in his arsenal of jokes could not compare to anyone to this day-that I would hang around for the time being. My mother would send me out and I being a good little boy scout would heed her words. More so the beginning years of my life ended with up blown up dimensions, dreams created into nightmares and a few worlds that have been carelessly-and accidental I promise you-destroyed by yours truly.
I have fixed the errors of my ways…somewhat. I still have a tendency of creating and destroying when I'm trying to do a task. But it's very few! I mean it ever so in this case.
My father must've been one hell of a fool or one hell of a lover to my mother. You could talk to her-which you could if you either a. dead (obviously) b. one of the Endless c. associate with one of the Endless. d. a god or goddess e. other. I put my father or perhaps some personification that is my father in the other category. It is a law, almost a forbidding one for one of the personifications to fall in love with any mortal for it is said that it would be their downfall. I know of my Uncle Morpheus and how he fell in love with a queen and how was sent to hell for the sake of not returning her love back to him. Seems cruel but I have to say, she kind of had it coming knowing that she was playing with fire.
For my father I have no idea what became of him. He must've been charming bastard. No, I don't mean charming as in "Oh boy he has skills" charming, I mean the type of charm that makes goddess weep in their sleep dreaming of this guy type of charming. My mother doesn't come off as someone who could go past the point of 'being more than friends'. She's more in the 'we'll always be friends' category and it was left like that. My father had to either push that boundary farther than he ever expected or mom just decided to be a hussy, which I sincerely doubt. I came to one conclusion, really the only conclusion out there, that he was just one guy who caught my mother's eye. He would have to be impressive in order to change the viewpoint of one who once thought of her job as menial and a burden towards it being jovial.
If you can say that it is impossible for the personifications to fall in love or to die then you haven't heard about Morpheus for he was one of the few Endless who did such an act and broke the rules. I think the only people I know who uphold this law would be Destiny-though I doubt anyone would lust after him, he smells legitimately like an old ass library that hasn't been dusted in millennia, Delirium-in honesty I've heard people fall in love with her but she could never return such love either because her attention span couldn't grasp that concept or she didn't care for such person and then there is Despair…I again shudder if anyone really lusted for her. If they did then well-I…
Anyway, I've only derailed the situation out because I feel as though many people don't even know me. Hell, many people don't even know my name. In honesty, I prefer to be nameless for the sheer fact that I hate having to think up a name. Whenever I do go into a world when they do ask I usually respond with the title of Dime. It's weird name but it actually has meaning behind it. I kept the name when I was only three years old. My mother was one of those mothers that would readily agree with the name change and thought that it was cute at first. Now she says it as if it is my real name and I can't differentiate between my real name and the name I given myself.
I trail off a bit in the in-between waters, grabbing the bottom part of the sails and directly the boat towards the right. I could feel the hard turning of it all and I was force to stand in order to keep my balance and not shift too much. Doing that would cause me to lose balance and me overboard in that watery-like substance. I shifted and I turned the sail back to its normal position where it set itself forward and at a calm movement. I sat back down and laid my head on the bowel of the ship. I glare up at the forever night sky and I could see that there were a group of stars that almost seem to flicker in the sky. They were there and I could honest to God say that they seem to be sending an S.O.S signal. They were blinking rapidly, in furious fades and shines that went in and out of view. Finally, the stars seem to settle and the light that gleamed off them seem to fade.
But they are not stars. They were universes; all of them supporting different beings that were both alien in nature and intricate in design. What was scary about it was that at least one of those universes had faded away into nothingness. What happen to that universe I wondered that made it die in an instant? All that life, trillions among trillions of life forms just outright disappearing right in front of me. My mother had to be there watching all of this happen. She was omnipresent whenever there is life and death.
They were all in danger. Every universe among the infinite was in danger of being destroyed-rather eaten alive by someone or, god forbid something massive.
I've been pinpointing this for a long time. After the death of Morpheus things began to change almost instantly after that. There seems to be a disturbance in the force one character from a famous movie had said to the over so worried apprentice. Well, that's exactly the feeling that I was getting after his death.
I do not posses any powerful, nay omnipotent form of a personification like my mother and aunts and uncles have. I've said I am no personification of anything. Instead I have the set of skills that make me rather talented in different ways that aids The Endless. One being that I'm not bounded by ancient laws. I can do whatever I please to do. I can travel where I want, when I want and I have the power to do so. My cousin Orpheus didn't have that ability nor did my other Endless-like cousins but I do. I suppose it makes me a valuable asset to the group knowing that I'm completely unbounded by such.
They say it's something of a blessing and a curse and I say that's pretty true. I've been more of the Endless's errand boy for the most part. I've done a lot of work for all seven of the Endless and I have to say that some of it is a blessing while many of it is literally pain to deal with. I could go on about the subject but it gets depressing and let's say that I'll probably go on about it later if I have the time.
At this point I'm thinking about which universe I could travel into first. I look up again at the starry universes and I saw some of them of the blinking slowly on and off, on and off. I bite the edge of my lips and make a sound with my mouth showing my annoyance of it all. It's not going to be easy to find which dimension to go to first. It wouldn't be wise to go into a dying universe because it was far too late for me to even stop the situation.
That's the tricky part. All of them were in danger. It was just a matter of finding one that wasn't so much in danger that the universe would be lost to him. The trouble of it all was luck. Knowing mine, I have a fifty-fifty chance. One side of it being that it would be at a point of no return and the other side being one that may be half at a point of no return.
This is not going to end well.
Dante stood at the steps of his shop, well once technically open technically close shop, and looked at the rubble of it once more. It was getting fixed up, Dante was preparing himself to fix it all back again once he had enough money to reconstruct the neon lights, the entrance way, the room in which he had his desk, his pool table, his jukebox, hell even his bathroom he would've all fixed up. Now-now Dante was gritty his teeth, his right eye twitched and his hand was in a fist. This was getting quite irritating, quite agitating, quite a party killer if you asked him frankly. He would've been blunt about saying how much of this was a pisser and a shitter.
"What. In. The. Hell. Happen. To. My. Shop?" He spoke ever word individually to no one in particular. There wasn't anyone on the street to hear Dante's voice. It was a good thing too, he was tempted to throw pieces of rubble randomly hoping it would crash into something.
But it wouldn't relieve his problem. It was a damn shame all right and right now he was seeing his shop totally dismantled as it was in the process of getting reconstructed. He walked up another step where he was able to examine the amount of damage to the entrance. There was no way of getting inside without tearing up more of his establishment. It would be better to just investigate. He could see that the concrete, or mortar, whatever the held up the shop wasn't of that of a car running into his entrance and driving off nor was it some sort of freak of nature accident that many insurance companies would try to hold back money because it was so rare. No, the brick itself had been cut with precision. It was a clean strike through with a very hot blade. There was maybe an inch or two that melted rather disappeared the instant the blade swiped through it.
He had improved a bit on his investigation skills, taking a back of looking at it through all directions rather than caring little for what clues had to offer. It was the trade that shaped him better as an investigator; sometimes the people who hired him didn't want muscle but actually detective work before the murder of demons. Well, it could be worse he thought.
He turned his head viewing what were three figures standing maybe twenty feet away from steps. They were breathing hard, hard enough for Dante to see the fog coming out from their hoods. That made him question how cold it was today until he realized that it was the middle of summer.
"I don't even have to say the words. All I have to do is think it. I wonder if I think if a dozen sexy women came from the sky and glamour me with their hotness
In their hands they held long, black katanas that were half the size of their bodies. Dante estimated that they were at least a foot taller than he was and those blades didn't look like they were featherweights. His eyes caught glint of one of the blades shining. The streetlights were out thanks to Dante antics a few days back and it was just a crescent moon out.
"It's never something I want." He folds his hands together then stretches them outwards making all the joints in his hands crack. He then flicked his nose with his thumb and began to bounce on his toes like he seen Bruce Lee in The Way of the Dragon. "All right, which one of you wrecked my shop? I swear if it was douchebag number 1," He points to the one dead center of the three "then you're gonna have to pay." God, why did that sound so lame? Probably because it was lame but for some reason, perhaps some inexplicable reason that causes his words, regardless of what is said is spoken, he can make it sound entirely cool.
God he loved this life.
The creature in the middle lunged out at Dante moving with unseen speed. The creature in the hood first appeared in his vision then disappeared then reappeared then disappeared. Dante could say that it was moving only in a straight line and not making jukes to reach him. Dante's hand grabbed hold of Rebellion and unsheathed it to block the incoming blade that would've undoubtedly cut into his chest. The cling of the blades, the sound it made ringed in Dante's ear. The metal from each blade began to rub against each other causing both blades on the particular spots they made contact with turn into a burning red.
Dante push kicked the creature straight in the gut, or what felt like the gut, of the creature. It went off its feet and flew twenty yards from him. The two other creatures made their way forward performing the same technique of moving forward flashing in and out of sight. Dante had the feeling that taking three on with this amount of speed would put him in a tight fit and all this open space would be their playground. He would have to take this party somewhere else.
The two creatures blade met what remained of the door to the shop. The two of them looked up and saw Dante high in the air flipping and made a gesture with his hands telling them to follow him. The three of them did so leaping into the air to meet their target. Follow the leader Dante thought as he landed on one of the building's rooftops. He turned just to see the three hooded creatures come raining down on his location. Dante tucked and rolled out just one second away meeting the sharp end of the leader's blade. His hands were in his jacket and as he came up from the roll, he pulled out both Ebony and Ivory aiming them at the three. The guns let out hot sparks and lead trailed toward the three.
These creatures were not fools nor did they seem like they were young and inspiring assassins. Their movement seemed dance-like almost like viewing what a ballerina would do during a performance. The bullets were perfect as to where their marks were intending to go but the three moved with accurate precision. The synchronization of three went with two moving on bottom while the one, the leader, was in mid-air. Dante's attention went to the first two flashing in and out in a curving manner. The two on the ground were rounding about aiming theirs blades at Dante's upper ribs while the one in mid-air would do the finishing blow. Dante took notice how they were flashing in and out of existence more now that they were coming in at a curve rather than a straight light. It almost disoriented him at first,
Two words formed in Dante's head: Hell no. If he was thinking this out correctly he knew that these things were having a hard time moving at him as such. When the two on the ground got close and went to stab at him, Dante bent his back down, matrix style, dodging the two blades that would've struck him otherwise. The blades crossed scratching creating the screech sound. The one in the air was aiming down regardless of the two failing to connect with Dante's insides. He was in no position to make any dramatic dodging at this point now that the two creatures were above him and he didn't think he would be able to kick the two creatures and flip back to dodge the one coming down.
When all you have is a hammer…
Dante took Ebony and aimed it straight into the leader's head. The bullet met its mark this time. The creature head jolted backward and it let out a dying screech as it fell lifeless to the ground. The two creatures jumped back and let out the same screech as the one coming from the sky made. Dante bridged back quickly then flipped back onto his feet with Ebony and Ivory already aimed at the two hooded creatures. They seem to roar at Dante in that ear ripping screech that made Dante want to put his fingers in his ear. The sound seems to enter straight into his head echoing in every part of his mind. He saw that his vision was beginning to double now viewing four of the hooded creatures. He was on one knee, his arms steadily shaking at the two creatures. The fucking noise he kept thinking God if this sound doesn't stop I may go mad.
Dante began to shoot, more in a drunken stupor than completely reckless, only to stop the noise from reaching deeper in his head "Shut up!" he shouted. A few of the bullets hit one of the creatures right deep into the shoulder and a few bullets into its. It made one last screech before falling over off the edge of the building. The other creature received hits in the chest but it had scampered over and jumped to another building. Dante had his aim on it but the creature had hopped from one to another and it was out of sight.
Dante holstered his weapons back into his jacket. He saw the dead creature, the apparent leader he took it as, laying on its back. He held one hand on his sword cautiously moving to the creature. He looked at it for awhile seeing the black hooded creature just lay motionlessly on the rooftop. He jabbed at it with his boot before concluding that the thing was out. Sorry Charlie, his luck ran out.
He kneeled down. There was a corruptible stench that could've burn the nostril hairs in his nose. The smell was like something that was far past the expiration date. Now mixed with the stench of excrements, it was now a whole new different perfume. He fan a hand over his nose "Showers must not've exist where this guy comes from." It was a few seconds before his nose could even adjust to the stench before he reached a hand over his hood. He hesitated at first not wanting to even touch the thing, whatever it was, on account of the smell getting on his gloves. It would never get out he thought before he said stop being a bitch and pull the hood away from its face.
It had surprisingly human qualities for something that sounded and smelled like a demon. Its face had the appearance of a young man no older than Dante himself. What made it odd was the fact that the pigment in his skin was a radiant violet. It almost seem like someone drew on his face with violet paint and let it dry. Is eyes were wide open in pure shock and his mouth remained agape. There was the bullet wound that entered straight into his frontal lobe and out the other end probably destroying his brain like a pinball bouncing off of the borders turning his brain into jello. He examined his arm which was extremely long and lanky with an usual amount of veins pressing up against its skin. It didn't seem natural to Dante, not a bit.
Could he conclude that the creature was a demon? That was certainly a possibility. Dante had a thing for attracting the odd and dangerous types just by walking down the street just casually-well, living. In most cases, if not all he would've been able to sense the aura of demonic energy radiating off of these things. He wasn't getting that with this creature or the other two that was with it. It was radiating something else, something much fouler than a demon and not from this world. What was it?
He had no idea. He would have to kill more of things in order to get a better idea of what they are. Right now-what did he have planned out now? Damn, what was I on about before I got into this mess with these things?
Ah shit. His thoughts came hauling with the load of his shop totally dismantled and in ruined. He stepped away from the creature and walk over to the edge of the building cocking his head to see his building not fifty yards from the building still in ruin.
All that work he had put into fixing it up from his last bout now hit him hard with his pride and his wallet.
He needed to drink. Drink and eat pizza. It wasn't exactly a good plan. It sounded more of an idea a teenager or college student has when his attention for study was suppressed by the want of carbohydrates. But whenever he was in the gutter and whenever he needed to come up with money or an idea hit him, the bar was a place for them to come to him. He reached into his back pocket hoping to find money in his very thin wallet of his. What a surprise opening to find that he had three dollars spread out among themselves.
"Wouldn't even be enough to get me a slice." He said plainly and placed his wallet into pocket. He shrugged that said fuck it and decided to take up on his own offer. There was bound for the bartender to put it on his tab, the large, seemingly infinite tab he was building up. No harm, no foul as long as he was paying for it…eventually.