You've heard of it haven't you? The legend of Sparda. When I was young, my father would tell me stories about it.
The image of a man in red, running through the rain and swinging a sword appears.
Long ago, in ancient times, a demon rebelled against his own kind for the sake of the human race.
The image fades, only to be replaced by the same man charging then turning, slicing though rain drops nearby.
With his sword, he shut the portal to the demonic realm and sealed the evil entities off from our human world.
That image is replaced with a man in blue, swinging around a sword and spinning with the momentum.
But since he was a demon himself, his power was also trapped on the other side. I never believed it.
The images fade. Suddenly, two men appeared, fighting each other with swords drawn. Two men, one face. The two mirrored each other if not for their choice of color and blade. The red one easily handles a large sword while his blue twin moves just as easily with a katana.
I thought it was just a child's fairy tale. But I discovered that this so-called legend wasn't a myth at all.
The twins barely dodge the other's attack before moving in for another attack.
Sparda existed. How do I know? Well…
The twins' blades clash over and over in the pouring rain, sending off sparks despite the downpour.
I met the sons of Sparda.
The man in red swings back with all of his weight, his white hair plastered against his forehead.
-Both of them.
The man in blue huffs as his katana is sent back, bringing it back at an upward angle as he ignores his own white bangs.
Though the same blood of their father flowed through their veins, the two battled each other fiercely like arch enemies.
The twins swing and swing their blades, blocking and parrying, sparks flying out and raindrops splitting in half. Suddenly the two clash blades, pushing against each other's blade in a silent challenge. The water falls even faster around them, finally connecting to the ground with a splash.
It seemed as if they derived some sort of twisted pleasure from this brotherly fighting.
The two push and push, the metal where the blades meet heating enough to softly glow. Suddenly, the man in blue pushes up, unarming the man in red and sending his sword flying while throwing the man in red off balance. As the blade falls, it reflects its master lunging at the man in blue as he pulls back his katana. Once the sword lands, the man in blue drives his katana through his twin's stomach. Blood falls as the twins look each other in the eyes once more, one set of blue cool and collected, while the other set of blue are wide in horror and confusion. He then withdraws his katana, once again throwing his twin off balance before falling into the fallen blood.
But in the end, only one was left standing.
The blue twin pushes his bangs back, the water holding them in place as he collects his brother's sword. He gives his fallen brother one final look before turning to leave, seeming to not notice the red twin's twitching hand. Just as the man in red attempts to rise, the man in blue turns with his twins own sword, lunging at him as a woman's scream fills the air.
The telephone rings, jolting a young woman awake from her nap on the ragged sofa.
"Bwah?!" she sputters, long strands of dark brown hair flying into her amber eyes as she flails on the couch. Blinking, she realizes where she is as the telephone continues to ring. The door to further in the shop is kicked open by a young man wearing only boots and jeans, ruffling his hair to get all the water out after his shower. He strides over to a knocked over chair and kicks it upright, sitting down and kicking his feet on to the desk. The phone's handset flies through the air, with the young man not even looking as he catches it and answers, "Sorry, not open for business yet." He tosses the handset back onto the holder as the woman stands up and stretches.
"We haven't even picked a name for this joint and we're already getting calls," he comments, grabbing a slice of pizza.
"As nice as that sounds, you should have listened to the call. What if that was important?" the woman asks with a frown. The man huffs out a laughs and takes a bite of the pizza, brushing white bangs out of light blue eyes.
"You worry too much, Bea. Keep it up and you'll get wrinkles," he comments. Bea huffs and puts her hands on her hips as the store door opens. Bea turns and watches as a bald, scarred man enters the shop and walks calmly up to the desk.
"You a customer too?" the young man asks, not even looking at the other man. When the bald man doesn't answer, the younger man finally looks at him with a bit of a frown.
"Well, if you want to use the bathroom, help yourself. The toilet's in the back," the young man continues, Bea watching the bald man warily as he leisurely walks to the pool table.
"Is your name Dante? Son of Sparda?" the bald man finally asks, brushing his fingers across the wood of the pool table. Bea straightens up, glaring at the man as Dante watches apprehensively.
"Where did you hear that?" Dante demands, playing off his nervousness as Bea starts to move closer to the desk. The man then walks directly in front of the desk, answering, "From your brother." Bea stops, tense and a touch angry, as Dante just continues to watch the man. The man's own eyes slide from Dante's face to the pendant around his neck.
"He sent this invitation for you," the man pauses and turns to Bea, staring straight into her eyes, "and Miss Beatrice. Please accept it." Without any warning, the man flips the desk. Dante jumps and flips onto the desk's side as Bea startles and watches for Dante to land before drawing two long butterfly swords. Dante catches Ivory and aims it at the man, or where he used to be. Bea blinks in confusion, lowering her weapons as Dante raises an eyebrow before standing and holstering Ivory.
"Invitation huh?" he comments, holding his hand out to catch the pizza box and its contents. Bea sighs, running a hand through her hair before pausing and looking up at the ceiling warily as Dante grabs the slice of pizza he was about to eat earlier, dangling it tauntingly over his mouth.
"Dante!" Bea yells as a multitude of Hell Prides jump through the ceiling, stabbing Dante repeatedly with their scythes where he stands. One Hell Pride attempts to do the same with her, only for her to deflect the blow and kick it into the wall. Dante hits one Hell Pride straight in the chest, sending it flying while decapitating it, while Dante catches the head and spins it on a finger. Bea sighs and rolls her eyes as Dante struts over to the record machine, causing all but one Hell Pride to let go of their scythe. Dante kicks off the Hell Pride still clinging to its scythe, picking up the pizza slice along the way. He pulls out the blade in his chest and flings it at the fan on the ceiling, severing the fan from its electrical source and using the falling blades to kill three Hell Prides.
"This party's getting crazy," he starts, pointing his arm into the air. Bea smirks and watches Dante in amusement, pulling out one of her glocks to kill a Hell Pride that was attempting to sneak up on her.
"Let's rock!" Dante exclaims, pressing one of the buttons for his music choice. No noise comes from the record machine. He presses the same button. Still nothing. He then jabs the button twice. No sound.
"Dante," Bea intones warningly, sashaying her way through the crowd. Dante lets out a soft huff before slamming his fist into the top of the machine. The entire machine lights up and music starts playing, getting Dante to bob his head in time with the beat. Sticking the slice of pizza in his mouth, Dante spins around and, using the blade stuck in his arm, decapitates the Hell Pride behind him. From there, he fights his way through a small crowd, drawing Ivory and using it as a deflector before pointing it at the Hell Pride's head and firing. Bea jumps over some Hell Pride, getting two headshots and a body shot from her glock before holstering it and redrawing her butterfly swords. Dancing around the Hell Prides, she lunges in to either decapitate or stab them through before moving on. Dante jumps onto one of the Hell Prides and uses its face as a skateboard, sweeping up Ebony along the way to dual wield his pistols. Spinning on the Hell Pride, Dante fires bullets everywhere, sending a Hell Pride careening into the leg of the pool table and nearly hitting Bea at one point.
"DAMN IT, DANTE!" Bea yells as Dante flies up the now ramped pool table, flipping off his Hell Pride ride and landing on the higher side of the table, sending another Hell Pride into the ceiling and the pool balls flying around him.
"Sorry babe," Dante calls out, firing a bullet into the cue ball. The cue ball then collides with the other balls, colliding with more of the Hell Pride. Bea tosses Rebellion at Dante, who catches the sword and turns to face the pool table. He cuts the table in half and kicks the top half at one Hell Pride and the other half at a different one. Turning back to the room, Dante mutters, "The end? Don't bet on it."
"Duck!" Bea yells. Dante ducks down as Bea jumps over his back, kicking two Hell Prides and stabbing a Hell Lust that just appeared.
"Thanks for the save, sweetheart," Dante coos as he fires at the Hell Lusts and Hell Prides.
"Do you even hear yourself talk? You sound really creepy," Bea calls, deflecting a scythe and decapitating the Hell Pride in a single move.
"No I don't. You don't complain when your Dad calls you sweetheart," Dante counters, grabbing Rebellion and swinging the large blade, cutting through four Hell Prides and a Hell Lust easily.
"That's because I'm his daughter. He obviously means it in a familial way, not a creepy way," Bea argues, huffing as she bends backwards to dodge a scythe. Hooking her leg over the arm of the Hell Lust, which starts screeching as it burns, Bea stays in her half upside-down state to draw her glocks and fire in a semi-circle, into the group of Hell Prides and Hell Lusts.
"What about when Obie says it?" Dante asks, stabbing one of the last Hell Lusts in the face. Bea locks her leg around the Hell Lust's arm and plants her hands, flipping the Hell Lust over and into the floor as she gets her feet under her.
"I usually ignore whatever Obie says because there is nothing he can't make gross," Bea explains with a shrug. Dante hums in understanding, plopping down on the overturned desk. The other fan creaks and groans before dropping in front of Bea, who sighs and walks over to the overturned desk, jumping up to sit beside Dante. The two take in the damage caused by the fight, Dante unimpressed while Bea purses her lips in distaste. Dante idly spins Rebellion on its tip as he continues to look around the room, only stopping when he spots the untouched pizza box. Gripping Rebellion, he hops off the desk and walks toward the box, ignoring Bea's huff and the sound of her crossing her legs. Just as he reaches down for another slice, a Hell Lust steps on the entire pizza and moves to attack Dante. Dante calmly shoots the Hell Lust in the face, getting a snort from Bea.
"I told you something was going to ruin your pizza," Bea heckles, jumping off the desk and walking toward the door. Dante scrunches his face at Bea before grabbing his red jacket from the coat hanger and tossing it onto his shoulder. He slowly walks toward the door, pausing to glance as something else falls to the floor.
"I can already tell, looks like this is gonna be one hell of a party!" Dante grins, kicking down the front door.