I'm back.
Ms. Evans, I want to apologize once more for my abrupt interruption. If it seems odd to you, maybe I should explain my writing process.
I read over my messages and reviews, and use a recorder to voice out my answers. Later, I play back the recording, automatically typing what I've said without processing it. I upload the document whole, add a somewhat standard notation inviting the PMs and reviews, and that's about it.
I can't even tell you what the chapter looks like or how it flows until I read it myself.
I do keep notes of a sort about who asks which questions, but that's mostly for organizing my thoughts for the recording.
I believe I left off these questions:
You must have hobbies other than working cases. What are they? Skateboarding? Stamp collecting? Video games? What guy doesn't like video games? Which ones? Are you a computer nut? Software pirate? What's downtime like in your world?
I spend a lot of time practicing. I enjoy the workouts more than actually need them. Enhanced muscle memory, another perk of my heritage. Occasionally I open up the portal I use near my storage site and find someone to fight with, but not often.
I'm more of a live-and-let-live kind of guy. If they're in the demon world, minding their own business, not causing trouble, why go in just to pick a fight, or start a war?
I have trap wards around my place though, and sometimes I find someone ensnared in one, usually good and pissed off, too.
If the demon I find wants to fight when I release the trap, I'm not going to say no.
I do a lot of research on job-related things.
Memorize exorcisms and other useful rites, brush up on languages. Too many of those kind of spells and rituals aren't in modern English, so I've had to learn some obscure dialects and dead or dying languages.
I study folklore and legends. There can be a lot of useful truths in those old stories.
But all of that is work related, so probably not what you'd consider hobbies, or down time, excepting the idea that I do, as I've mentioned before, enjoy my work.
I'm not really much for skateboarding anymore. I did as a young teen, Verge and I both did, but unless you do so professionally, I think there's too much stigma to an adult, especially one of my age, skateboarding. It's a youth sport.
Stamp collecting? Is that still a legitimate hobby? The postal service deliberately puts out collectible stamps, with full intention on them being saved. It's not quite like the days when the collecting was more for the art than the sheer value.
Again, I ramble.
No, friend, I don't collect stamps. I do collect firearms, weapons, and artifacts, both human and demon. Most of them get stored for most of their existence in my possession, but I occasionally rotate my working stock.
I have some antique blades and etched pistols, as well as a collection of very unusual weaponry. I don't mean the demon-forged stuff. I mean combat yo-yos, chakram, claws, a dismantled trebuchet. I have a ballista that has history and craftsmanship.
If you're looking for things completely unrelated to work, I have a collection of roadside souvenirs from my many travels. Cheap things, mostly, although I routinely invest in turquoise jewelry and trinkets from reservations and local craftsmen.
I keep a journal. It has old cases mostly, but I also jot down day-to-day stuff. That's actually where I came up with my writing method. It was easier to record my thoughts on observations when investigating, then transcribe them later. When I typed them without processing, I didn't have to worry about contaminating my fieldwork with my later thoughts.
Sounds complicated, but it is quite efficient.
Most of my time in the recent past has been taken up here at fanfiction. At first, I was mostly reading stuff, then I started this posting. Posting takes less time than the reading did. I read the first of most of the Devil May Cry stories here before posting, and I've finished some of them. I mentioned that in a previous posting.
Before getting the link, and when I'm not posting, I watch a lot premium television.
Movies, shows, animation. I think I've seen some of them dozens of times, just because they play so frequently.
I don't get to play video games often.
Padre has a beat-up PS2 that I've played with. Yeah, I've played the Devil May Cry games.
Padre bought the first and second ones when they were new.
The third game was sent to him to give to me. So was the fourth, though I had to buy the PS3 to play it on.
It's at Padre's.
When I went to see Daniel, I found out he had the new game. He tried to hide it.
He thought I'd be offended.
I'm not.
I don't connect with it like I do the others, but I don't hate it.
Didn't have time to play any of it.
My visit was cut short by that "simple" exorcism in Tennessee.
That was a fuck-all if I've ever seen one.
Am I a computer nut?
Well, I've spent my fair share of time online. I'm not much of a programmer, although I can do maintenance on my laptop if it needs it, and I've done some minor customization to it. I don't play many video games online. Since I use it mainly for research, I don't want to bog my memory with a game.
Software pirate? Nah. Not much in the way of software that I need. I have a few programs related to work, mostly audio and video capturing and manipulation software, but I just get those from a friend. A mostly legitimate source.
Add in sleeping and eating, and travel time, and that's about it. Travel takes up a lot of time. This is a big country, with lots of little places scattered all over.
Again, I'm sorry it took so long to finish all your questions.
Two different readers asked about my encounter with Vergil, one even elaborated upon it with related questions. Usually, I take these questions one querist at a time, but since the questions were related, I thought it more sensible to do it this way:
Would love to hear how your meeting with Vergil went. Do you heal as well as canon Dante? Could you go full out in a fight like Dante and Vergil in Devil May Cry 3? Or would you end up in jail for murdering your brother now he's sealed his demon?
Have you had that talk with Vergil? Did he think you were going to go nuts and kill everyone at Comic Con?
I spent some time trying to find him. Went straight to his house. He wasn't there, something job-related. I tried repeatedly, even threatened to camp out until he showed. Unfortunately, a job of my own came up.
Some weird goings on in an old factory. Just a few spirits stirred up by an odd cosmic alignment. Nothing big.
Gave me enough time to think about everything, though. If Vergil started dodging me, then he knew I was coming, ergo, he reads this posting.
I don't know how I feel about that.
Know what, readers? I'm letting it go. For now. Vergil has more issues with me than I do him. I'll give him time to figure it all out. Maybe he can decide what family means to him.
Until then, Verge, I guess you still know how to get a hold of me when you want.
Do I heal as well as canon Dante? Every bit. Maybe better. Lost a hand once. Very painful experience. I didn't think I'd be the same, either. A reptilian demon with a septic bite took it off at the wrist. Lucky I wasn't using Ebony at the time, although I did lose a pet shotgun.
I went to Padre when I realized I was sick from infection.
Demon infections are like having five different skin diseases all at once, two of them the flesh-eating kind.
I was in and out of consciousness for the better part of six weeks. Padre doesn't talk much about what happened to me, and I don't remember, but I think there were some scary moments in that time.
When I finally came back to myself, I had my hand. I was shocked.
Since I was delirious, I don't know much about the healing process involved, what it felt like, how fast it happened, things like that.
Full out fight with Vergil, huh? Simple answer, probably not. No matter how demonic he may still be, he is essentially human in most respects. As far as I know, at least.
I'm not. I become more powerful all the time. Even if Vergil broke his seal and came at me, I wouldn't go all out. He's been human for so long, I don't think he can catch up to my power.
He may well prove me wrong about that one day.
I welcome the idea.
Would I end up in jail for murdering my brother? I wouldn't murder him. I love my twin; he is part of my very small family. My whole problem with Vergil is that I love him, but he doesn't care about me.
If I did, though, the second part of your question, would I go to jail? Yes. I don't think that what I do absolves me for paying for my crimes. If I commit a crime, I intend to pay for it.
It's only right. It's what society is all about, living with each other under a commonly accepted set of rules.
Did he think I was going to go nuts and kill everyone?
You mean, is that why he wanted me to leave?
No.
If you mean, does he think I'm capable of doing so?
Yes, I'm a very dangerous male.
If you wonder if he believed that was my intent there, I doubt it.
I figure my motives were the last thing on his mind. It didn't matter why I was there, he didn't want me gone because he was afraid of what I might do, might be planning on doing.
He didn't want me seen, especially since h-
That was part of his text campaign.
Further questions: What's the story behind Roswell? You were saying that it was Halloween year-round, there. Is it like those small towns from the collections of suspense/horror stories where it's hiding some deep dark secret? Or are the people there just that weird? Have you encountered anyone like Lady or Trish in your travels? Or anyone like Patty, for that matter? Did you ever have any jobs like the ones from the games? What about that that mission you mentioned earlier, the one involving the so-called "simple exorcism?" Do you think that demons could peacefully coexist with humans if they chose to do so? Have you encountered any non-aggressive demons during your travels? In the Ninja Theory reboot, one of the characters says that demons had influence everywhere; Bankers, Politicians, Celebrities, etc. Do you think there's any truth to that statement in this world?
Friend, never feel the need to apologize. I invite your questions. I want to talk.
Roswell, New Mexico? Their story? They have built up their reputation as a spooky place to attract tourists. They play it up with their alien based attractions. Over half the town has some alien or UFO story they'd happily relate to anyone who asks.
Demons have a weird sense of humor. More than a few in that area have played upon the town's reputation and the townsfolk's proclivities and beliefs.
In essence, not only do you have the alien stories, but you have demons, imps, goblins, and ghouls playing up the stories, posing as aliens that sort of thing.
I'm not saying that aliens aren't real, or that they are. I'm just a hunter, not a cosmologist. But I do know that some of the demon world's denizens have played their share of little green men.
Deep, dark secrets? I have found very few small towns that are like that. Most small towns are little places either striving to be bigger, or holding on to the shreds of the glory they once had, full of people just trying to make their way in the world.
I did know of one small town that had a deep, dark secret.
Creepy eastern town. Very Silent Hill.
Are the people weird? Not exactly. More like the weird is their stock-in-trade for the town's livelihood.
Have I ever encountered a Lady, Trish, or Patty?
I met a few spunky, badass huntresses in short skirts. One of them even started a fight with me because I was a demon. No, she didn't have those pretty bi-colored eyes, and though she did shoot me, it wasn't point blank between the eyes.
And unlike Dante, I ended up sealing the deal with her. Mostly it was just post-battle attraction. I've encountered her since, but our dealings are always business.
Maybe canon Dante got the better end of that parallel.
I've met a quite a few demonesses, none that I would consider benevolent, like Trish, but one or two have been at least neutral. Neither benefiting humanity, nor harming it.
Only one demoness ever tried looking like my mother. I had no qualms killing her.
Not because I hate Mom. I don't. Even after everything, I don't hate her.
It wasn't because she was besmirching my mother's memory, either.
Mom did a fine job of that without any help.
No, I killed her easily because she was a malevolent demon. Her assumption of my mother's form didn't change that.
The bitch went after orphaned and abandoned children. Made them think she was their long-lost, much belovéd mothers, then ate their hearts while they were still full of love and joy.
I thoroughly enjoyed killing her.
Patty. I know from various sources that Patty is hardly one of the most popular characters in Devil May Cry.
I've met little girls who represent every argument for and against Patty Lowell.
Whiny, demanding brats, and adorable, independent young ladies.
There was a little girl at the home Vergil and I lived in. She came there after Verge had been adopted, so I was already a teenager. She was maybe eight.
Not a blonde thing, a caramel complexioned girl with black curls. She told me that her dad was a black guy from Tennessee, and her mom was a Chinese girl from some village she couldn't pronounce.
I don't know precisely how she came about, nor how she ended up there. She was known to be a liar, and I was no exception to her fantastic stories.
She became attached to me. Called me her bleached out big brother.
She was still there when I came of age. I thought about taking her, adopting her, but I didn't have any means to provide for myself, much less a little girl.
Later, I went back, but she was gone. I didn't even ask who had adopted her.
Jobs like the games?
Nothing so epic, I'm afraid. My brother never decided to join the human and demon worlds in a quest to obtain our father's power. The demon emperor has never baited me to an exclusive island with a Spanish castle in order to kill me. Some weak demon has never tried to assume the power of a greater devil using a little girl's heirloom. A fanatic cult has never tried to use me or any part of my family as a battery for their demonic automaton. No sorcerer has ever attempted to become one with an ancient powerful devil.
Not involving me, anyway.
That would be the main difference between canon Dante and myself. His father and family are an important, powerful bloodline.
My father is just another demon like a thousand others.
That fucking exorcism.
Rain check on that one, friend. I'm still pissed about it.
Hmm, demon influence everywhere.
That question is a lot simpler and a lot more complicated to answer than you'd think.
I have found demons in a lot of places, doing a lot of things. Not many pose as humans for more than a lark, a single joke against a human, or small group of them.
Like my father.
Sure, most demons have a human appearance. You don't hear much about 'real' demons or monsters, do you?
Do they take over big business for some convoluted, nefarious purpose, bent on ruling humans?
Not typically. Too much work. Demons are mainly into self-gratification, not conquest.
Have I encountered a few more enterprising types who have elaborate domination plans?
Not on a world scale, but yes.
There are some out there that utilize human social systems and business to have a small empire in their control.
Humans have done the same.
Corporate America is sort of like that, except their goal is profit.
Demon goals aren't usually profit, but food and sex. Very id, if you believe in Freud.
One demon had set herself up as a brothel madam. She had a male partner who pimped out her girls, as well.
Their clientele was mainly human, and the girls were mainly demon, though not exclusively. The men use the girls for sex, the girls get both sex and money from the men.
It's such a winning situation for the girls, the madam, and the pimp that they don't harm the humans. Why would they?
Celebrities? Well, yeah, there are a few known names that are demons, m-
Not my place to divulge more than that.
If demons leave humans be, if they're just trying to get by, I let them. No use gratuitously starting a one-man war against demons over nothing.
Would you touch upon your life in the foster system? Any anecdotes to share from the time before you aged out of the system? Any families or other wards of the state you became attached to?
Not much to say about the foster system, really.
Ours was a privately funded one run by a nun. She had been the heiress to a nice, if not extensively well-known family with money and had run away from home at a rebellious age. Her life took some hard turns once she was 'free', and she eventually found her calling at the hands of a Mother Superior who helped her.
Sort of like me and Padre, in a way.
She took her vows, unlike me, and started a quiet life in the rectory.
When her parents died, she was still considered the heir. She didn't want to rejoin the worldly life, so she had her family's lawyer start up a self-sustaining fund that she could use for an orphanage. It was her way of giving back.
Being privately funded meant more leeway as far as the state was concerned, though the place was still subject to all the laws regarding the care of children.
Her calling was very genuine, by the way. She knew what Vergil and I were upon meeting us. Said God had told her we were special, that we had a greater purpose.
I believed her, but I'm not sure Verge ever did.
Sister Mary, not her name, but close, was very kind, but she was strict. She knew what kids went through, especially teenagers. She loved each and every one of her kids.
I went to her funeral.
So did Vergil.
This was well after Vergil had started his new life, and one of the few times we've been together. He approached me, gave me a hug, and told me he was sorry she was gone.
Before I could react, he let go and left.
But you asked about anecdotes from my time in the system.
I mentioned the little girl. Patty, if you will.
She liked tea parties. She would raid every scrap of dress-up clothing from the communal toys and send out invitations. When all her attendees arrived, they'd receive their party clothes and be bidden to change.
Sister Mary let her use legitimate tea and cookies.
I attended several of these.
That's right. A teenaged Dante in a ragged tail coat sitting in a pink, heart-shaped chair surrounded by little girls of various ages and stuffed animals drinking tea out of a jam jar.
One of the other older boys caught me once.
He thought it was funny, started running his mouth, name-calling.
Patty kept looking at me, like she was afraid I'd leave, not play with her anymore.
I just smiled at the guy.
"I'm getting in touch with my feminine side. The babes love that."
I opened my arms, indicating the presence of every girl in the place, including the sixteen year old girl he had a thing for.
He stormed out without another word.
Later, I caught him on the grounds and punched him in the mouth.
Not because he embarrassed me. I liked Patty's tea parties, and whatever problems I had with myself had nothing to do with what he or anyone else thought of me.
Except Vergil, I guess.
No, I punched him because he had hurt Patty's feelings, made her worry and doubt.
I knew I was about the only friend she had.
I also knew that my presence was the reason most of those girls came to her tea parties.
She didn't need some shit like him dumping on her life.
I restrained myself, somehow. He didn't even lose any teeth.
He didn't come around the tea parties, again, either.
I have to get some sleep, friend. I'll try to share some more little stories in later chapters.
Thanks for your questions, and sorry for the wait.
As always, PM or review your questions and comments. I'll get to them when I can.
-D.