The Devils of Misadventure

Chapter Three
Rash and Rational Preparation

Patty woke up that morning feeling really intense and distraught. She had a lot to chew on after yesterday's Internet incident with one NeloAngelo and also the fact that she was without a present for Timmy's birthday party on the very occasion itself. I'm an utter disappointment!she sighed sadly while staring at the empty spaces of her room. Her eyes caught the still face of the wall clock just above her study table, which indicated that she overslept: it was already noon. Still disappointed and sighing, she got off her bed and headed straight for shower. She was now in denial, trying to pretend that nothing she did was bringing her down that day.

She took her towel hanging on the back of her door and walked out into the hallway. Patty could hear chatters in the kitchen and also in the living room with Timmy proudly saying that he was older yet did not feel any distinct changes. Being expatriates in Malaysia, with her mother a teacher and her father a manager in a multi-national company, the perfect home in a foreign country would be a mediocre apartment. There were plentiful to choose from here in Kuala Lumpur, but they've chosen one three bedroom apartment in an area called Bandar Utama.

Now mind you, it was never easy for an American expatriate to get use to the Asian phonic. But thanks to local friends at her international school, she managed to get used to some. After all, they moved to Malaysia when she was only eight and Timmy six. They were literally growing up Malaysian.

"Is that you Patty?"

She heard her mother called out as she held the bathroom door's knob. She giggled, "Yup! I'm sorry I woke up late! I'm heading for the shower now!"

"Okay! Be here afterwards!"

Patty walked into the bathroom, brushing her teeth first before she took a quick shower. She came out some half an hour later before heading back into her room. Her blonde hair was a little wet so she began drying them up with her face towel. She also took notice of a rather low purring of her desktop monitor.

She became enticed.

"What was I doing last night?"

She moved the mouse on its pad and from pitch black, the screen turned into a feisty page with color and advertisement of the last webpage she was viewing.

It was the main website of the shipping company that owned the Santa Maria cruise ship. While she was busy recollecting the information that she had gathered, there was a loud ruckus going on outside. She turned to her loyal wall clock and it showed her that the party was just about to start. Mom will require my presence, she noted and quickly got dressed, wearing a floral summer dress and tied up her neck length hair with a hair band.

When she opened her door, she was surprised to see Timmy looking for her.

"There you are!" he said smilingly. He was obviously in his best mood, "I was told to look for you!"

"Well, I was just getting dressed, birthday boy!"

They actually walked together down the hallway and out to the living room, smiling at everyone present.

Most of them were locals from school but there were some international faces there as well. Patty immediately walked to Saleha, her Malay best friend and her brother, Amir along with Erika, the German descendant, and a fellow American, Amy. Amy was just another blonde while Saleha was the typical tanned skinned Malay with dark raven hair. They knew each other since they were young and became close friends with Patty when she then moved into their life.

They then congratulated a thing or two to Timmy and watched as the birthday boy blew his candles out after a weary leisure of three hours long. But despite all the commotion, Amy and Saleha were able to notice just how distant and daydreaming was Patty.

"Hey, Patty," cooed Amy whilst nudging Saleha in the elbow as they approached her, "What's up with you? You seem so down."

Patty was rather reluctant to tell them. They wouldn't believe what I just did and got myself into, she mused while emptily gazing back at them, they would think it was very out of my character. Patty then gestured them to sit close to her in the living room, hoping that Timmy and their other friends could not listen.

"You see, I bought something for Timmy but my mom happened to buy the same thing!"

Amy gasped blushingly, "Oh god! That's bad! Really bad!"

"Yeah," Saleha agreed, "What was it?"

"Oh, just another video game."

"You know, you could always return it," quipped Amy.

"Oh," Patty was caught off guard. Why didn't I think of that? "You're right. I could ask for a refund."

"See? Problem solved!"

"But you know, I'm kind of interested in playing it."

Saleha giggled this time, "Is it like Guitar Hero or something?"

"N-no," stuttered Patty, "It's this cool role playing game called Devil May Cry."

The shine in their eyes seemed absent; they clearly do not know what she was talking about.

"Look, I'm really, really tired. I slept late last night and woke up late this morning—I mean, this noon. I'm sorry but I don't think I'll last till the after party…"

"Well, we're not forcing you," said Amy calmly, turning to Saleha who just nodded beside her.

Patty smiled, standing up and then told her mother that she was feeling tired and a little unwell. But she would be needing the house phone for a small, international call. Her mother allowed it; she was too busy to ask for details. This is my chance!Patty took the cordless phone away from its station and headed into her room before anyone would stop her. She locked her door behind her before she came to her computer and studied the number on the screen. The person on the other side of the phone sounded like a pretty Australian woman.

"Hello, S.M Shipping International. How may I help you?"

"Hi there! I, um, just have a quick question for you in regards to an online competition to win some of Santa Maria's tickets."

"Yes. Are you looking to see our liability or—"

"No, I'd like to know if such thing would be considered legit."

"Well, I can't tell you some of our client's private information but I can tell you that there is such competition online. We've had several clients who organised such things for gamers, thanks to the International Games Show which will be held on board."

"So you're saying it's actually legit and valid?"

"Yes," the teller paused for a while, almost sensing Patty's insecurity, "If you are joining such thing and you have the tickets provided, perhaps you may refer it to me and I'll cross checked it with our systems to see if it's really legit."

"Um, I don't have it just yet. I'm meeting the sponsor tomorrow."

"I'll tell you what, why don't you call me again tomorrow and give me the serial number of the ticket? It's located on the top right corner and it looks just like a bar code. I'll check it against our systems to see if it's valid. The ticket will only be used on the day of cruising and expires after the trip. You have to get this information from the sponsor or you could just refer to our website."

"Wow," Patty lashed out a big smile even though the lady on the other side was unable to see how helpful she had been, "Thanks very much, Miss…?"

The teller laughed on the other side and giggled, "Oh, sorry! I should've introduced myself. My name is Adele."

"Okay, Miss Adele. I'm Patty. I'll check with you again tomorrow. Thank you. Bye!"

Patty quickly hung up the phone quickly. She did not want the expensive phone bill to be blamed on her. She felt somewhat happy with what she found out and feeling so light hearted, she came out of her room to notice that everyone had already left.

"Your friends decided to take the after party at the pool," her mother explained as she saw her. "Are you going to join them?"

Patty shook her head much to her parents' surprise, "Nope. I'm staying."

She saw Timmy installing a new game in the console and quickly found her way next to him.

"Hey Timmy!" she saw the familiar looking CD-ROM holder and took it, "Another Devil May Cry, huh?"

"Yup. It's a sequel and I've been hoping to play it."

Both brother and sister then stared intently into the TV as the game loaded itself. The game started with some pretty detailed graphics, one of a silver haired boy running in the streets and there was pretty young lady who seemed anxious for something; maybe she's waiting for that guy who was running.Then the boy encountered some demons and he fought them off while at the same time, the anxious lady seemed to start off singing all opera without his presence. Amazed at the silver haired character, Patty felt compelled:

"Is this the half-naked dude from the previous game?"

Timmy shook his head, "They said this is Nero, supposedly Vergil's son."

"Vergil? Nero?"

"Vergil is Dante's—the half-naked dude—older twin. Vergil supposedly dived into Hell from the previous game and I don't know what happened to him after that. But Dante is alive and he's somewhere here…"

Hm, I think I should just watch him play… see if I could learn a thing or two.Patty turned back to the TV and watched as that dashingly attractive silver haired boy sat among the audience on the bench. The lady joined him soon afterwards and he left her a present: a golden necklace. How corny!She pouted, before she had the feeling that she forgot something. She got off and decided to let Timmy enjoy his present.

She walked into her room and then saw that a chatroom was left open on her desktop. It somewhat led her heart to pound nervously. Oh,shit! I left my computer open! Patty checked the username quickly, hoping that it was not NeloAngelo and fortunately, it was not him… or her or whomever that was.

(DevilBringer has joined the chatroom)

DevilBringer: Hey!
DevilBringer: Are you there?
DevilBringer: :(

(RelaxedGamer has joined the chatroom)

RelaxedGamer: Oh sorry!
RelaxedGamer: I was afk. :)
RelaxedGamer: I didn't realize I left my computer on.
DevilBringer: Hi there!
DevilBringer: I was referred to you by NeloAngelo. He said you were new to the forum and game.
DevilBringer: AND he said you might needed some expert help. ;)
DevilBringer: The name's Nero.
RelaxedGamer: Nero?
RelaxedGamer: Nero as in the guy I'll be playing?
DevilBringer: Say whatever you like.
DevilBringer: I ain't role-playing here! :(
RelaxedGamer: I thought NeloAngelo said you won't be available today. :\
DevilBringer: Change of plans.
DevilBringer: I wasn't going to let OutragedCredo use the computer today.
DevilBringer: :)
RelaxedGamer: Credo?
RelaxedGamer: Is he the dark haired dude with white uniform?
DevilBringer: That's the one.
DevilBringer: He's pretty stingy. :(
RelaxedGamer: And why did you assume I would call you role-playing?
DevilBringer: Because everybody else do?
DevilBringer: Anyway, I'm one of the main administrators here.
DevilBringer: Vergil literally 'hand picked' and appointed us personally. :)
RelaxedGamer: Lemme get this straight.
RelaxedGamer: NeloAngelo = Vergil
RelaxedGamer: You = Nero
DevilBringer: That's the correct way of putting it straight.
DevilBringer: It's more like
DevilBringer: NeloAngelo RP as Vergil
DevilBringer: Me RP as Nero
DevilBringer: WHICH is not the case because I AM NERO. xD

Patty stared at the screen in fear. Damn all these hardcore fans!

RelaxedGamer: You know
RelaxedGamer: You sound just like NeloAngelo/Vergil.
DevilBringer: Oh!
DevilBringer: You've chatted with him before?
RelaxedGamer: Yes.
RelaxedGamer: He welcomed me yesterday.
DevilBringer: And why are we alike?
DevilBringer: :(
RelaxedGamer: Because
RelaxedGamer: each of you kept saying that 'I'M FOR REAL'!
RelaxedGamer: He was so mad, he agreed to meet me tomorrow.
DevilBringer: What do you mean meet?
DevilBringer: You mean like 'in person'?
RelaxedGamer: Yeah.
RelaxedGamer: Tomorrow.
DevilBringer: Damn.
DevilBringer: That old geezer is having fun in Singapore! X(
RelaxedGamer: How did you know?
RelaxedGamer: He's coming to meet me from all the way there.
DevilBringer: Are you sure about that? About meeting him?
DevilBringer: You're going to have the shock of YOUR lifetime.
DevilBringer: SERIOUSLY.

Patty bit her lips as she typed the following on her keyboard,

RelaxedGamer: Why?

That Nero person remained quiet for what seemed to be an aching and grueling minute.

DevilBringer: Are you the kind of person who believe in: God's miracles and that all creatures He created aren't what they may seem and beyond your imagination—you know, shit like that?

Patty gulped her fears away but to no avail.

RelaxedGamer: Sort of.

He remains silent for another minute. God,what the hell is he trying to say? He's scaring me!

DevilBringer: You would no longer believe your eyes—or in whatever your faith is—once you actually see us in person. It won't even compute to you, let alone to everyone else.

What Patty behold later in the chatroom was certainly freaking her out beyond freaking out.

DevilBringer: Prepare yourself for the most indescribable thing of God's creation.

PS: I made Patty an expatriate in Malaysia because I am more known of the latter than I am of the United States. For that, I do apologise if I'm being somewhat reserved. I do understand that meeting someone online is pretty dangerous (hence, do not follow what Patty is doing here. DMC characters are much more civilised and not looking for trouble xD) and that how Patty arranged things with "Vergil" was pretty fast. It will be explained in the next chapter. Do read on. :)

Oh! Here's some Malaysian phonics you ought to learn from:

Kuala Lumpur - pronounced "Ku-wa-la-loom-poor"

Bandar Utama - pronounced "Bun-daar-Uuu-taa-maa"