It was three months before Rude acted on his suspicions, and when he did, it would lead to something almost disastrous for everyone involved.
"Rude, come ON, this is NUTS, you confronting the son of a bitch is nuts, you know it, I know, so why the HELL would you even IMAGINE this was a good idea?" Reno had no response to that as Rude just slid the big Enforcer into the holster and walked out.
Vergil watched as Rude approached, and he walked out in front to meet him on the front entry.
He had successfully, or so he believed, driven Dante off with his viciousness for the time being, and had been in the middle of a very complex blood ritual, but had SENSED the approach of the human. Vergil's eyes were dead in hate and scorn as he watched the man walk up, yet luridly burning with infernal rage at the same time.
"Go home, Rude Urar, this place has nothing for you."
He brought down Yamato, and slashed it close to Rude's head, but the big man did not even flinch. "There are many brave men in their graves, Rude, this is above your league, and I will not bother to warn you again."
"You are killing Dante, is that what you want? Even a half demon must have some limits, do you KNOW how much he is drinking, do you fucking realize what you are DOING to him, Vergil? Do you feel no LOVE for him anymore? You're fucking breaking his heart, and you know it!"
"My brother's alcoholism is none of your concern, and I warned you for the last time."
As Rude watched, the young man he believed he knew, at least had ONCE known, began to transform, becoming a strange and terrifying creature, Yamato now held in the clawed hand of a demon. The soft rattling hiss of Vergil's breath was the only sound, until Rude spoke, trying once more.
"He's hurting, Vergil. I'll ask you again, do you not love him anymore? You're DESTROYING what you have together, don't you see wh--"
Vergil had attacked him in a faster-then-the-eye-could-follow attack, and Rude stared in horror at his belly, now fully opened up, blood pouring onto the concrete he stood on. Raising Yamato again, the half demon readied for the finishing strike, but he could sense--someone--Dante--DAMN him--and someone else--
A ROAR came from the entry way, a third level Cure cast quickly on his partner as Reno walked right up to Vergil, breathing hard, FURY shining in those green eyes as his body was fully surrounded by the aura of his limit. He'd KNOWN that he would likely need the newly purchased Restore materia when he'd followed Rude from the apartment, and he was now thanking every guardian he could summon that he'd carried it. He picked up Alastor, the electricity flickering all around him so bright as to light up the entire room. "You fucking son of a bitch! I'm going to fucking KILL you where you stand, flashy tricks or not!"
He swung once, the blade flashing out to cut Vergil deeply, biting through the armor, the impact shaking his arms, and Reno reveled in the spray that drenched him, only to gasp when the wound healed almost immediately. "You son of a bitch. . .I'm gonna keep cuttin' ya until you fuckin' DIE! You EVER touch my partner again, EVER. . .and I will fucking make sure you HURT."
The lip was drawn from the teeth in a fierce snarl, his face brilliant red in rage. "Bastard. .. fucking-" and he was cut off when he was flung back hard enough to hit the wall hard.
After being gone for nearly three days, having crashed (almost literally) at the Seventh Heaven for most of that time, Dante came stumbling into his office, light stubble across his chin and even his upper lip, the smell of various alcohols and possibly a cheap hooker (or Lucia) or two coming from his gaunt frame. At first, he barely heard the raised voices, and in his nearly drunkblind stupor, he failed to see Rude laying on the floor before he tripped over him, the sharp crack of his face hitting the floor waking him up just a little more than a cold shower would have done. "Th' Hell?"
THAT was when he could hear the sounds of angry yelling and smelt the blood that had been spilled. "'gain I say...th' HELL'S goin' on 'n hur?" He slurred, head tilting as he sat up, spotting Reno slumped against the far wall, looking like he was in some intense pain... something in his mind finally SNAPPING once he looked at Vergil and saw him looking almost GLEEFUL at being able to have a chance at killing the two.
"Jusht can't shtop, can ya?" He SNEERED at Vergil, standing up...swaying in his inebriation as he bowed up to his brother. "Not 'nough ta hurt ME, butcha gotta hurt ALLA mah friends? Yer'a FUCKER, ya know that, right? Gotta push 'way th' only person who's ever meant anythin' ta ya, an' act likea complete ashhole ta e'vryone ya e'vr known... ish shtoopid, YER shtoopid." He grabbed up Alastor from where it had fallen, brandishing it. "C'mon...might as well finish off whatcha started."
"Drunken IDIOT." Vergil slashed out, Yamato clashing with Alastor, fully expecting it to be knocked from Dante's hand--but it was not. Slipping out of his Devil Trigger, Vergil looked at Dante sadly, almost, having momentarily been distracted from the double murder he had been about to commit.
"I'm not fighting you in this condition, moronic brother. I am just not going to do it. So are you going to kill me where I stand?"
He actually went so far as to sheathe Yamato, and stood facing Dante fearlessly.
He was putting a good deal of stock in Dante's own sense of honor, but he was reasonably assured of it--and one fast glance told him that Dante had Ebony and Ivory shoved, hoodlum style, in the waistband of his jeans. Figured, of course. The more thuggish the better, it seemed.
"So uncouth, Dante. Have you no class at all, besides low? Really, GUNS in the waistband, do you even realize how lowbrow that IS? Anyway, I am not fighting you now. And I ask you for the very last time, having asked you so many times when you were actually SOBER: will you SHARE the power with me, that I am seeking on our behalf? Will you GAIN power with me, walk this path by my side?"
Reno was panting hard, in severe pain, his legs tingling from the shock to his spine from when he'd hit the wall, but he very bravely crawled his way over to Rude, draping his body over his partner's protectively. His lip was caught between his teeth as he picked up his PHS, calling over to Zack and Cloud's, hoping to reach them. "I need you guys to get over here, Vergil went NUTS, damn near gutted Rude, flung me into th'wall. . .Gods, fuckin' hurts. Can't walk. He and Dante are arguin' right now, s'perfect chance ta get out, but Rude's unconscious, an' no way can I drag him outta here when I can't get to m'feet."
He hitched in a breath as pain shot through his slender frame at the movement, clearly audible over the phone to whoever had answered, a whimper of torment following as he collapsed overtop Rude, unable to hold himself up anymore. "Please. . .please hurry. I don't wanna die."
Dante wasn't STOPPING, and Vergil frowned in annoyance--he didn't have TIME for this shit, he still had the half finished ceremony in one of the back rooms, and damn it, he NEEDED to complete it. Reluctantly, he took back out Yamato again, though with no serious intent to harm his brother--but Dante suddenly made a drunken lunge, and Vergil felt the burn of a side-wound, nothing too deep, and he knew Dante had pulled the strike.
It was a warning, perhaps.
"Dante, you idiot, I told you--very well, as you wish!" He lashed out at Dante and caught him in the sword arm, but the powerful half demon didn't even flinch. "You're impossible." Several more minutes of this, half hearted and drunken sparring, neither of them landing anything serious--until suddenly Dante DID connect, connected DEEP, and Vergil yowled in pain, his chest opened up--it was painful as HELL, and he actually went down with a CRASH face first.
"You stupid bastard!"
As he staggered back to his feet, Dante seemed almost to look surprised, and Vergil returned the strike this time. "I guess you aren't as fucking helpless as I thought!"
He caught his chest with a long deep slice to match his own now healing wound, and then turned to look back towards Reno and Rude--
FUCK.
They had company.
Cloud had a wicked looking sword out, and Zack had his Buster sword, and they were both heading for Vergil.
"Come on then, you fucking bitches."
Cloud LAUNCHED himself at Vergil, the SOLDIER issue sword meeting steel for steel, both young men breathing hard as they faced off.
Vergil had gone insane, this was clear, this was fucking CRYSTAL clear--and as he looked in the ice blue of Vergil's hate filled eyes, he would never forget the sense of malice and sheer evil, something he would again encounter far sooner than he ever dreamed, and from someone he thought he knew.
This now going down--and THAT when it too came--would change EVERYTHING.
Zack rolled his eyes as Dante launched himself at Vergil, obviously angered by the strike. "Cloud, don't worry about him, let 'te get it. We GOTTA get Red and Rudy outta here!" He could see how badly Rude was bleeding, and he suspected that Reno was more hurt than they could SEE. which sent him into a mild panic. "SPIKE! Come ON!"
Dante let out a loud cry as he charged Vergil, fully intent on knocking the sneer off of his brother's face. "Fuck no, Vergil. You AIN'T gonna get away with this shit!" He'd sobered up once the fight had begun, at least, his speech had, which allowed him a little more eloquence when yelling at his brother.
"Fuckface, you been actin' likea ASSHOLE f'MONTHS now! Shoulda beat y'ass down when this shit started, but I didn't, 'cause I thought you'd shape up... gotta FINISH this shit, 'fore you hurt anyone else, 'cludin' yerself!"
...or not.
"DANTE! For Fuck's sake, just knock him OUT, would you!?" Zack was getting tired of hearing the two bicker this way, having known them for long enough to know this was NOT normal, and the sight of a stumbling-drunk Dante further proved his thoughts.
Reno just looked up at them with a begging expression, gasping out in pain as he dug a potion out of his bag, dumping it over the wound, attempting to heal it the remainder of the way so at least Rude would stop bleeding, his entire body shaking, and he was aggravating the bruised spine and the concussion worse, but he didn't care about that right now. His greatest concern was keeping his partner from bleeding to death. He could dimly hear Zack saying something to him about being an idiot, but he didn't completely understand it.
Once he finally had the bleeding stopped and the gaping wound at least LOOSELY healed he collapsed to the floor again, not even able to move his legs for the time being, though thankfully he could still FEEL them, though with a pins and needles sensation that bothered him a lot. He was very sleepy as well, and his eyes finally fluttered closed completely, as he was unable to stay awake any longer.
Vergil was about to write the young SOLDIER off as a pest when the blonde suddenly found an opening, and Vergil found himself staring down at his slashed open belly, blood as well as guts spilling out in a spectacular cascade of gore and heat. Gasping, shocked at this unpleasant turn of events, he lashed out once more at Strife, almost severing his hand, slashing the wrist deeply.
And then AGAIN he went down, once again on his face, but too badly hurt this time to care. The wound was almost the same as the one dealt him by Sephiroth, and he wondered dizzily if disemboweling was a trademark move of SOLDIER, perhaps. The pain was HIDEOUS, though, this time, no doubt because that area had already taken such a bad wound.
Groaning softly he struggled back up, but there was massive damage--and fuck it if the wound wasn't dutifully CLOSING, with intestines still hanging out like orphaned children.
"Oh--oh fuck HUUURTTS--oh SHIT--" This was torture, and when Cloud caught him in the neck, ALMOST beheading him if he had not moved several inches in time, Vergil went down for good, eyes rolling up in his head.
Cloud stood over him, ready to END this, but between Zack's almost SCREAMING at him and Dante's sudden and VERY alarming approach, he retreated, though he kept the now gore-soaked blade OUT and in his hand. His wrist was cut to the bone, and his own pain was stunning, almost making him swoon.
But there was no TIME for that--they HAD to get the pair out of there, and NOW.
Or there would be THREE deaths, instead of the presumed ONE.
Dante let out a strangled sort of noise when he noticed how Vergil's gaping stomach wound had healed, the entrails OUTSIDE of him, turning an angry red color, tinges of blue hinting under the red as the intestines began to choke, starved of valuable oxygen. "Damnit! Damnitdamnitdamnit!" He RACED for Vergil, desperate to save his brother from what would be, no doubt, a nasty and PAINFUL death.
"Cloud!" Zack had been in the middle of dragging Rude from the room when he saw the flash of blades, heard the terrible sound of blood hitting the floor, amongst other things, and he ran back around the corner to see just what had happened, breathing a sigh of relief that CLOUD wasn't the one injured. "Spike, get OUTTA there, and NOW! Grab Red, we gotta GO!"
While Zack was barking out orders to the poor, hapless cadet, Dante was trying to maneuver Vergil to the bed so he could lay him down and open him back up to throw his innards back...well...IN. He cringed, knowing once his knife pierced the skin... Vergil would wake up screaming bloody murder, and he couldn't STOP it.
Reno let out another whimper as he was lifted, his back hurting so badly that there was little else he could do. His eyes began to roll back as the darkness began to suck him under even more deeply. He wasn't sure who had picked him up, until violet eyes floated in his vision for a moment before it darkened completely. It had been ZACK that had picked him up, and that was something he would remember later. The slender arms hung from the bridal carry as his body went completely limp.
Later, he would thank Zack for saving his life, and when everything went bad there would be an encounter that neither of them would forget, one that would get him through a very tough period and help assuage the guilt that would follow, even if only a little.
Cloud hesitated, KNOWING they needed to finish this with Vergil, knowing in his heart of hearts that the demon was never going to relent, that he would have to be physically STOPPED-- evil was something that radiated from him now, and the reserved, almost shy young man that they had known and liked before seemed to be gone for good.
Vergil had turned to the darkness, and it seemed unlikely he would be willing to come back out again.
But seeing Zack with Reno, he sighed, leaning down to shoulder Rude as gently as he could, and he followed his lover, taking them to safety, away from the abode of devils.
Vergil felt the first, fast cut in the freshly healed wound, and when Dante began to shove his ever-so-fragile and sore innards back IN, he HOWLED like a wild animal, struggling hard, tears actually stinging his eyes. There was no more mercy of unconsciousness, and Vergil was reduced to a strangled whimper at this point, the sweat running from his face in streams, vision blurring with the onset of shock.
Grasping at Dante, he managed to gasp out what HAD to be said--
"OPEN--THE--WOUND--BUT--CLEAN--THOSE--FIRST--IN--FEC--TION--"
The pain was horrific, but he understood what had to happen, even as his voice was choked in agony. "HURRY DANTE--"
The housekeeper looked up in shock as Zack and Cloud came in with the apartment's two residents, speaking in a quick pidgin of Costan and Continental that was almost impossible to understand unless you'd been around her a lot. "What happened?" She finally switched to Continental and stayed with it as she began to calm down. "Take them into the bedroom, I will find their healing materia, I know they have some here." Maria left the entryway then, beginning to search the house top to bottom in search of the little green orb.
Reno did little more than let out a groan as he was laid down in his bed, his entire back a brilliant purple as the extensive bruising from the impact began to make itself known. There was a tiny hairline fracture on the back of his skull as well, but fortunately none of the tissue underneath the immediate impact point had been injured other than a small amount of bruising which would resolve on its own soon enough. The concussion itself had been just above the point of the impact.
"Senor, I found the Restore materia, but you will have to do it, I do not have much skill with it. If there is anything I can get for you, though, tell me. Senor Tarshil has this annoying habit of getting himself in trouble, all of the time."
"This time it was Rude that started it..." Zack muttered as they went to the bedroom and set the two down on the bed, hating that they even had to BE here at the moment. "He went to talk to th' idiot at DMC and said idiot at DMC apparently took GREAT offense to what was said, Red just came in at the wrong time and got in the middle of it... it just got bad--even CLOUD didn't get out of it scot-free!"