A/N: Thanks, reviewers. Reviews make me want to continue the story.
I apologize beforehand for any missing words or any typing problems.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from DMC. Only Iscariot is my character. But he's just a mere human.
Chapter 3 – Of Pride and Lunacy
'First in line – find out where my dear brother is', Dante thought sarcastically to himself. For a passing moment he thought that the people would know where he'd be. But then, even if they knew, they'd either wet their pants or run away. He continued to cast the spell of fear and admiration among the humans.
'Lady.' The thought of the fierce woman passed his mind for no reason – though he had to admit that maybe his rotten luck with women would turn around. He was the only man walking this Earth who could talk. If that creep and probably his brother wouldn't count; something told Dante that those two wouldn't fancy the opposite gender that much.
The sudden flow of thoughts didn't just seem to stop. Once in a while, it wouldn't hurt Dante when he thought about various things. Now he had the spare time. If he didn't find Vergil, then his dear brother would. Even if the tower had gone down for good, Vergil still remained and no doubt this time he chose the underground.
Dante knew how monochromatic his brother was. Vergil was much disciplined and not quite the humour-minded person. It was either up or down. No shortcuts for Mr. Perfect. Dante spat on the ground and gritted his teeth slightly. 'Vergil and his ridiculous plans – the only reason these humans can thank me is Vergil. If this was any other butthead's doing, I wouldn't give a flying cow', Dante thought to himself as he kept on walking the empty streets.
No wonder he had the déja-vu. He had walked this same landscape through so many times that he had to wonder if the people really were just dead, not mute. Even while thinking, he was wary of the fact that he was fresh meat for anyone who wanted to fight. He was the liveliest fresh meat in the game.
A low 'crack' sound from behind snapped him completely out of his little current of thoughts. Turning around faster than the possible threat's possible brains could register; Dante had pointed his gun at the newcomer's forehead. To his great surprise, his eyes met with the light blue ones again. Dante couldn't hide his expression anymore. He looked like he was going to say: "What the hell?! You again?!"
The boy seemed startled again. Well, Dante hadn't made this life easier for him … Staring at the gun's pipe; he thought he saw the bullet's head. Turning his head to see Dante's eyes, the poor boy lifted his hand in front of his face. Dante looked at him as he was nuts. No freak would follow him like this. Especially not this one, he had almost died in the process of meeting Dante.
"Sheesh. Go home; your daddy must be speechless with worry." He said sarcasm in his voice. He lowered his guns but didn't let the guard down. Looking around, he saw some lights in the windows. 'So they're really alive?' He thought as the boy's gaze followed his own.
Out of the blue, Dante had moved next to the boy and quite harshly threw him on his shoulder and said firmly: "I've never needed help. It's time for you to go home." It didn't matter to Dante whether the house with the lights on was full of demons or not, at least the boy should stay out of the way. Why did the town send a boy to seek help? For a second Dante thought that the society had finally reached the bottom.
He felt quite a nasty sound just next to his ear. While he had carried the boy towards the filthy-looking house, the boy metamorphosed into a rebellion. He started to hit and punch Dante to the back and tried to reach Ebony and Ivory without success. Gritting his teeth frustrated Dante sighed deep. With one accurate move, he hit the boy's back to the centre. Two mere seconds of trying to fight back and the boy lost his consciousness.
"Wow, no wonder his father told to go out alone. It's as if he's a - wait. Oh shit." Dante looked around him. Out of nowhere, a group of the Seven Hells had appeared. Staring at each lesser demon, Dante's shoulders lowered and his voice a little disappointed, he shouted out: "Oh, come on! Just go home to your little papa Vergil."
The demons didn't react; instead they started moaning their endless agony. "I figured as much." Dante spat out. Whilst trying to keep the boy unconscious and the guns pointed at every each of Vergil's little sweethearts he had to admit that he had wasted his time thinking about things. Sighing deeper, he fired the first bullet of instant annihilation. "This party is even lousier than the previous one."
The sounds of fighting resembled the sounds of thunderstorm. The sky was grey; rain wouldn't be a great surprise. The air was cold and lacked oxygen, which made the two fighters' breathing white and noisy.
Vergil's voice pierced the air just like his sword would. "Not good enough!" Everything about Vergil seemed to pierce something. His opponent didn't show any signs of attention, but slightly strengthened his attacks. Iscariot was full of little scratches, but his face remained the same. The only change in his appearance was his heavy breathing. At times Vergil was glad that his little 'apprentice' was just a mere human who would die and didn't stand up and revive like his little brother.
Ever since Arkham had proven to be useless, Vergil had thought how much Iscariot resembled him. Maybe the only thing different among these two entities were the facts that Iscariot was just a human and he had a family. Indeed he had had a family. Too bad he had abandoned them. Maybe Vergil wouldn't be luring his brother to a trap again if Iscariot didn't exist.
Iscariot's foot got too close to his face. Instantly trying to slash it, Iscariot lifted his left hand and the sword hit the steel gauntlet. Iscariot had attached blades on his boots. They were shaped crescent moon, which reminded Vergil of the reaper. Dodging Iscariot's attack Vergil jumped on a boulder and brushed his hair strands away from his face.
Iscariot saw his chance coming and at the same moment Vergil's hand rose to his eye's level, he ran at the boulder's base and kicked it. Two heartbeats and the whole monument cracked. Vergil almost let his guard down and jumped away from the falling stones. At the same moment Iscariot was in front of him and kicked the sword away from him.
For a second Vergil thought that Iscariot had finally gotten him. But Iscariot proved to be loyal enough to wait for Vergil's sword to automatically come back to him. He was already waiting for a counterattack, which never came. A little bewildered, Iscariot stared at Vergil.
Vergil tried to look as calm as he could. Iscariot had acted like he appreciated Vergil's gestures, but in reality he had ignored all of them in order to plant the fatal strike which he of course didn't do. And to think that he and Dante had a chat moment always before fighting each other.
The silence was disturbing; any sound would make the atmosphere a little lighter. Both of them were gambling on each other's weaknesses, analyzing the chances to win this duel.
All of a sudden Vergil sheathed his sword. "Iscariot, if you want to win Dante, try to fight him."
Iscariot looked around him and shrugged. "I would if he wasn't right now carrying my son while being surrounded by all the seven hells."
Vergil stared at the other man, not even trying to hide his overwhelm. First of all, why the hell would Dante care about a kid? And second, why the hell would Iscariot care? Again Iscariot had proven to be wearing a mask all the time.
"… I might've forgotten to tell you about my little son." Iscariot said a faint smile on his lips. "Don't worry, he's a good kid. I doubt he even knows about me." He continued. Vergil had managed to put his mind off the fight and onto this new twist of events.
After three seconds of silence Vergil spoke out. "Indeed trust nothing." Grasping his pendant he scraped it a bit and a little shard of the bloody diamond was soon on his palm. He looked at Iscariot and continued; now his voice lower than ever. "I'll give you a gift. I'm sure your son will like it."
Moving swiftly in front of Iscariot, he pushed brutally the shard inside Iscariot's chest, where the heart was supposed to be. Smiling maniacally Vergil turned his fingers inside Iscariot's chest and then pulled his hand out, all bloody.
Coughing up blood, Iscariot fell down to the floor and held the wound with both hands. His eyes met Vergil's for a second. Vergil chuckled.
"Don't worry; your heart won't be resurrected. And now you will obey me completely. Never hide anything from me from now on."
Vergil walked out of the room, leaving the bleeding man on the floor.
