Chapter 9 – An Awkward Meeting

The equivalent of a nuclear bomb erupted as soon as Vergil came through the doors of Devil May Cry. Dante had held no doubts that his brother would eventually make his way over to the office. If he really wanted the answers he sought, he knew his twin would come.

That, and this would also allow him to protect his son, which he had apparently started taking up in such a peachy way. Even if Nero had no idea who he was or why Vergil had saved him. And knowing Vergil, that part of the story would remain a mystery to the kid until his father was ready to spill the beans. And knowing Vergil, that would be years from now. If ever. No doubt his brother felt at least some duty to protect the spawn of his loins. Whether or not that included informing said spawn of who's daddy remained to be seen. Either way, though, we knew Vergil would make an appearance. He knew it in his bones.

Now, what Dante had not expected was for Lady to be there that same morning. At first, he had thought nothing of it. In hindsight, he realized just how stupid that could have been. Devil May Cry might have been turned into a crater in about zero point three seconds. As soon as the door swung open, revealing Vergil, Lady went berserk. The last of her memories concerning his twin had not been beautiful ones. Her eyes widened as she saw him walking slowly towards the desk. And, of course, having former experience with him and knowing exactly what he was, she went right for Kalina Ann.

Obviously, the entire building's fate and his insurance and remaining, yet salvageable financial history, hung in the balance of a trigger-happy demon slayer. And a women, whose like fury Hell hath no. Oh, shit.

Needless to say, Dante got to the instrument of their collective demise first. Dangling the cannon above his head so Lady could not reach, he pushed her back down into the chair she had been sitting at until his brother had made his grand entrance.

"Oh, no, no, no! You stay there, little lady," he cooed, earning a look that told him he'd probably receive many beatings later for that statement before she eyed Vergil with a dangerous look.

His brother, aloof as always, only raised an eyebrow when he saw the display taking place before him. Resting both hands on the top of his cane, he stood tall, his gaze moving right to Dante.

"What's he doing here?" Lady spat proverbial venom from where she sat as Dante securely placed her bazooka some ten feet away from her.

"I invited him here," he said simply, shrugging, and earning a look of horror from Lady, and utter bewilderment from Nero, Kyrie, Patty, "Oh, by the way, Nero, Nero's main squeeze….this is my brother, Vergil. You remember Lady. Patty you've already met."

"For a while," Patty murmured as she looked around at the collection of looks that Vergil was receiving and held out a hand to him and added cheerfully, "Pleased to meet you! And thank you for saving us yesterday!"

Bless Patty and her innocent goodwill. Even if he wasn't always on the receiving end of it. For a moment, he didn't even think Vergil had heard her words. He looked down at the hand for a very long time before moving his own and giving it a brief shake before returning to his former, frozen stance. Kyrie waved her hand with a hesitant smile on her face. It did not take long for the others to notice that Vergil's eyes were locked onto Nero, who stood beside Kryie. Dante held his breath.

"Yo!" the young man said, holding up his left hand in a greeting.

And he let it out. Nero…

Vergil only nodded in reply, his mouth not even moving. His eyes flashed as he stared at Nero for only a fraction of a second longer before turning to Dante. Was that…fear in his brother's eyes?

"I've come for your answer," his brother informed him in his usual, nearly perfectly stoic voice.

Nope. Couldn't have been fear. Not a chance. In Earth or Hell. This is Vergil, after all.

With the tensions in the room no longer threatening an apocalyptic overload, Dante eased his way back into his chair, leaning back with his feet propped up as usual. He looked at Vergil, who impassively kept an even gaze, waiting. Maybe not patiently, but waiting nonetheless.

"I'm afraid you're a little early for that," he told him, sighing, "Trish hasn't reported back yet. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe something's happened. She rang yesterday and said she would return today. And, obviously, she's late."

"Then I'm going," Vergil said coolly, already turning around.

"You sure? I promised you answers. If you walk out now, I might not have a chance to show them to you."

"Is this so complicated that you can't explain it?"

"Like I said, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Both of the twins eyes locked across the room, and it appeared that each of them were trying to stare the other down. The minutes ticked by with an excruciating slowness; every sound, music, breath, everything seemed dimmed. No one else dared to say a word and break the silence. Only Lady even twitched where she sat, perhaps to move her hands closer to the baker's dozen of other weapons she kept on herself. Finally, Dante only moved his leg. The phone went flying into the air.

"I'm hungry," he explained shortly before speed dialing the pizza place he always ordered from.

Vergil didn't say a word as Dante ordered his typical garbage pizza. The only thing he did do was take a seat in the back corner of the office, setting his cane beside the chair and folding his hands before him.

Boy, this is getting awkward.

"Man, we need some strippers," Dante muttered as he tossed the phone back.

Lady gave him a perplexed look.

"Why?" she growled.

"Perfect way to get comfortable."

Now Loading…

Trish came waltzing after about three hours of the same, nail-biting quiet. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business, afraid that there might be some death penalty for speaking too much in front of their new acquaintance. The whole time, Vergil sat in the chair, motionless, his eyes focusing on nothing and everything. He was surely aware of everything going on around him. He just didn't seem to care. Dante reluctantly split his pizza between them all, his brother declining without saying a word. After some time, Nero started to play pool with himself and Kyrie quickly busied herself in the kitchen. Only Lady remained in the same vicinity as the twins, just as strangely speechless.

Of course, only Dante acted as though nothing was wrong. He still ate his pizza, drank beer, answered the phone when he felt like it, and even poked fun at Nero.

The blonde women dressed in black caught the attention of every single person in the office. Even Vergil raised an eyebrow as she strode over to the desk and leaned over to speak with Dante. Before she could utter a single word, he held up a hand, telling her to stop.

"First off….where have you been?" he asked, not exactly worried, but not exactly pleased either.

She shrugged.

"I've been tailing Ms. Demon like you told me," Trish replied, placing both of her pistols on the desk off to the right, "She was surprisingly hard to track down."

"Okay, I'll give you that," he said with a tilt of his head, "Find anything."

"Just where she's staying, where she goes, the general idea of what she's up to, and who she's keeping contact with."

"Really?"

Trish nodded with a mischievous smile.

"I'd love to hear how you found all that out," Dante teased, falling forward in his seat to take the last piece of pizza from the box.

"Maybe some other time," Trish remarked in a…well, let's just say that Dante pants probably became very uncomfortable in a certain area, "Who's your friend?"

Both of them turned to look at Vergil, who, surprisingly, stood up so quick that he might have never been sitting at all. His hand snapped to his cane, the end tapping against the floorboards as it came to a rest before him. Something about that stance, the way his shoulders tensed, seemed almost defensive. His eyes flicked over Trish for a mere second before returning to Dante. He didn't say a word.

And he didn't have to. The disgust in his eyes was enough.

"Trish, this is Vergil," Dante said, waving a hand to his brother, "You've met before…though I doubt you…"

"I remember," his twin cut his off sharply.

Dante really couldn't blame him for that. For two reasons. One, Trish and Vergil had been puppets of Mundus some years back on Mallet Island. Whatever had taken place there before his arrival, Trish had never said. And his brother, now on meeting an old…associate, seemed just as mute to the subject. Two…and probably the most likely, was that Trish looked like their mother.

And not just a little. Exactly like her. It had been another Mundus' crafty plans.

If it was at all possible, the air in the office seemed to become even more oppressive. The source being Vergil. It was almost as if a small rumble was beginning just outside of hearing. It passed without event only an instant later when Vergil bowed his head.

"You could say that me and my brother here are kinda in a hurry, Trish," Dante continued as if nothing at all had passed, "We need to know everything."

"Alright," she said, sitting down on the desk to face both of the brothers as well as Lady and Nero, who had come to join them, "Deumos is smart, smarter than your average devil. She never makes a move unless she's planned it ahead. You might have seen it already."

"The elemental demons, eighth and ninth plane," Dante put in, finishing his pizza with a final crunch, "Some real scary baddies."

"What are you talking about?" Nero asked, giving them both a confused look.

"Listen well, grasshopper. There are nine circles of Hell."

"I know that."

"Okay, smartass! Did you know the last two weren't hot, but cold?"

Nero paused, frowning.

"Exactly," Dante exclaimed, pointing at him.

"Why does that make a difference?" Nero questioned, still unsure of what Dante was getting at.

"Demons from the frozen plains are harder to summon," Vergil explained suddenly, causing just about everyone, except Dante, to jump, "The farther down in the circles you go, the more strain there is to pull them up. Also…using them in the winter like this…"

"It makes 'em more powerful than normal," Dante finished, nodding to his brother, "Thanks, Verge!"

"Why would that make them more powerful?" Nero went on, still bewildered.

"If you summon an ice demon and drop them in Hawaii, how long do you think they'll last?"

"Not long."

"So…if you put the same demon with the penguins?"

"I see."

"So what can we assume about Deumos?" Lady asked, finally speaking for the first time.

"That she's intelligent, she's got connections, and she knows how to play rough," Dante said, ticking off the info on his fingers, "Oh, I like her already!"

"You would!" Nero snapped, crossing his arms.

"Yep! So, what's the plan?"