Dante Price: Multiverse Jumper Chronicles
The Rosario + Vampire Chronicles
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or Rosario Vampire. Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and Rosario Vampire belongs to Akihisa Ikeda and Shonen Jump. Dante belongs to me and Connor belongs to freakypanda12345.
Chapter 10: Artsy Birthday
By lostsoldierS636 and freakypanda12345 with help from Jason Grace son of zues
Well, to say Dante and Connor were surprised and ticked off would technically be correct, but that was putting it mildly. It was just about a couple of weeks after the witch hill incident, and everyone had just gotten to the newspaper room to work for the day and the first thing they saw was Gin standing at the front at the front with a grin on his face as he said, "Hey guys, how are...?"
The next thing he knew, he was being slammed against the wall finding himself pinned by kunai's made of ice and then having his head hit repeatedly by wash basins over the head.
"And what the hell are you doing here flea bag?!" Connor shouted in a pissed off tone. Normally he wouldn't care, but since he started going out with Kurumu, his mild dislike for Gin had gotten "slightly" deeper. Like TARDIS deep.
"I think that's a very good question. Aren't you still being rejected for 'keeping watch' on several girls in the locker rooms?" Dante asked with his arms crossed and a poker face on while he was seething inside.
"I was, but I was pardoned by the Headmaster in exchange for having all my cameras destroyed and if I buy or use any others, then I'm expelled." He said holding his hands up, or as much as he could with his arms pinned to the wall.
Dante felt a heat in his pocket and pulled his wallet out to check the psychic paper. Moka leaned over to read the message over Dante's shoulder. Both of them frowned deeeper and deeper with every line until they were done and he flipped it closed.
"He's not lying. I just got a message from the headmaster. Confirmed everything he just said."
"Damn it." Connor muttered under his breath. He was hoping he was lying so they could retaliate.
"Girls, can we have a minute please?" Dante asked. The girls turned to object, until they saw Dante's eyes. They were cold and hard, while his face was set in stone. Knowing better then to argue, they silently filed out and close the door.
Dante went to the door and flipped the lock. Then he whirled around and stalked to Gin stuck to the wall and grabbed his hair, yanking him to look into his eyes.
"Now, you listen, and listen well. I know the fact that despite you can't take pictures does not mean you will stop peeping. So I'll offer you a choice. You stop peeping, or I tell Mizore and Kurumu they have my permission to neuter you. Am I clear?"
Connor rose an eyebrow to this while Gin turned pale a the thought of losing his 'family jewels,' and nodded quickly.
"Crystal." He said in a shaky voice.
"Good." Dante let go of Gin's hair and stepped back. "I can tell. You're a good guy. Got some bad habits, but I'll tell you this. You have another chance. Don't waste it."
"I understand." Gin said shakily.
"One last thing too." Dante said with a sickly sweet smile. "You make any move on Moka or Mizore, and I will throw you into a black hole."
With that sorted, Dante called the others back in and had Gin apologized to the girls, particularly Moka and Kurumu. He had gotten a slap from Kurumu and a punch in the jaw from Mizore, but that was the worst of it for him. With that done, Dante and Connor yanked the kunai from the wall so he could move.
"Ok, let's get down to business then." Gin pulled out a folder out and then started sticking several picture to the blackboard.
"Over the past few weeks, several girls have gone missing under mysterious circumstances. None of them have been seen by friends or any of the other student body."
"No offence Gin but we arent Black-Ops and its not our responsibility to round up serial killers… and or serial kidnapers…" Connor pointed out.
"Well if you haven't noticed we are trying to best the best newspaper club this academy had ever seen." Gin said getting dramatic. "Which means getting into the dirt and digging up the bare truth from the pit of filth so we are providing the utmost fact and keeping the populace sane!"" He finished panting with his finger in the air.
"Are you proud of that?" Dante asked.
"Of course I am!" He protested.
"What do we know about the girls?" Connor then asked, putting his arm around Kurumu.
"There's no noticeable relation. They were all different ages, races, clubs. So, as I just said, it's up to us to find out where they went."
"Hhmm." Dante rubbed his chin, thinking. "If they everything was different, then I think its safe to eliminate prejudice. No monsters would randomly kill people like this if there's no relation and stay hidden from the rest of us. Do you have a list of classes the missing students were taking?"
"Right here." Gin pulled a few sheets from his folder and handed them to Dante. He flipped through them before folding it up and placing it in his pocket.
"I'll take a look at this back at my dorm, see if there's any relation between classes. In the meantime, let's talk with the last people to see them."
They split up into group, Moka, Mizore, and Dante going to speak to some while Yukari, Kurumu, and Connor went to speak to the others. Gin stayed at the room to 'direct' them, when really he was just letting them do the leg work.
2 hours later
"We've got nothing!" Yukari cried as she threw down some papers on the table in Dante's dorm and laid her head on the table.
"For once I agree with you. The statements from the last people to see the missing girls are all over the place. There's no pattern." Kurumu said as she set down her papers.
Everyone's nerves were fried. The interviews had gone okay, but making a connection between them was impossible. All the students had gone missing at different times during the day, from different places. The only thing that matched was they seemed to be taken to and from classes or dorms, but that left too many possibilities to check out. Now they were sitting around the dining room table and the papers were spread out all over it while Dante was looking at the list of classes that Gin had given him. He had scanned them into his computer and was clicking through them.
"Wait a minute. Look at this." Dante typed on his computer then whirled the laptop around to show the others. Everyone leaned in to see the lists side by side, all with one name highlighted.
"Hitomi...Ishigami. That's the art teacher is it?" Connor asked.
"Yes and according to this..." Dante typed again. "...all the missing students had her at one point in the school year, either coming up or currently."
"Hhmm. Not much, but it's a lead. We'll ask her about the students tomorrow. It's too late now." Moka said with a yawn.
"Want a snack?"
"Oh, yes please!" Moka instantly perked up. Dante then loosened the collar of his shirt as the pinkette latched on instantly. A few gulps later, she then detached and blushed while smiling.
"Delicious." She said with a happy tone.
"Glad to help. Now, everyone, out." Dante said while closing his laptop and getting up.
"But I want to stay for the fun!" Yukari cried, jumping and latching onto Connor's waist.
"Yukari there is no fun, now please let go." He tried to pry off Yukari, but it took a few minutes as Mizore froze her hands so she couldn't grab back onto him or Moka. She dejectedly walked out with Kurumu and Connor following while Mizore predictably went out the window. Moka was about to go to her dorm when she remembered something.
"Oh, Connor, can I quickly ask you something?" She asked walking beside the pair of Connor and Kurumu.
"What?" Connor asked.
"If you don't mind, it kind of...private." Moka said shyly.
Connor sighed in a frustrated tone. "Fine. Wait here, be right back." Connor told Kurumu, giving her a kiss before walking a ways away until Connor stopped and crossed his arms.
"Yes?"
Moka took a deep breath to steady her nerves. Connor was a friend, but sometimes like this, he just made her nervous.
'Stop being so nervous and just ask him already!' Inner shouted at her Outer self within the rosary.
"I need a little help with something. I know Dante's birthday is coming up soon and..."
"Whoa,whoa,whoa,whoa. How did you know that?" Connor asked cocking an eyebrow.
"I looked at the student registry when we were looking for some leads, and it had Dante's name and well...his birthday." She sounded like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"Okay, continue." Connor said in a normal tone.
"Anyways, I wanted to make a painting for him, but I don't have anyway of getting the art materials without him knowing, so I was wondering if you know any ways?" Moka said with a hopeful voice.
"Hhmm. I've got an idea, but I'll need to do something back with me tomorrow and I'll be able to help. When is the birthday?"
"A few days."
"Ok, come by the newspaper room tomorrow, I'll have a solution for you."
"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow then!" She cried while running back to her room, smiling widely and waving.
Connor smiled evilly while walking back to Kurumu, which instantly made her nervous as she asked, "Why are you smirking?"
"No reason. Just something I was thinking." He replied, not bothering to hide the smirk.
The next day
"Someone's targeting my students? Do you have any idea why?"
Dante, Connor, and Moka were all standing in the art room. Right now she had a class, but Ishigami had her students painting so she could answer their questions.
She was in her early 30's or late 20's with an hourglass figure and braided hair.
She wore a bandana over her head, a tube top, slim jeans, pumps, a golden necklace and a long trench coat with paint stains on it.
"We're investigating every lead. Can you think of any reason someone would want to harm your students?" Dante asked, taking notes on a pad while Connor was looking around boredly.
"No. But as you can see, my class is fairly popular with the students. It could be any number of reasons." Ishigami replied.
"Any sort of unusual mail sent to you in the past few weeks?" Moka asked.
"Just regular fan mail from the students. Maybe one or two love letters here and there."
"Would you mind if we take a look at them?" Dante asked.
"No, just let me grab them." She moved away to her desk and started rummaging through the drawers.
Dante turned to the other two, flipping his notepad shut and putting it away.
"I just don't get it. The teachers popular and the students all love her, yet someone is clearly targeting her students. You two have any ideas?" Dante asked.
"Could be a stalker." Connor mused. "Someone who wants the art teacher to notice them and trying to take out the competition maybe?"
Dante made a face. "Doubtful, but maybe. You have any ideas Mizore?" He looked up and the other two did as well. Above them was an air vent which swung on hinges and Mizore stuck her head out, her hair sticking up from gravity.
"It's not a stalker. Speaking from experience, she would have gotten more than just love letters if someone was interested in the teacher." She said in her quiet tone.
"Hhmm, good point. Maybe the letters will give us more insight." Dante said like this was completely normal.
"Here you go." They turned around and Ishigami was back, handing them a pile of letters held with a rubber band.
"Thanks. We'll keep in touch. Let us know if you think of anything." Dante took the letters and slipped them into his pockets.
Connor wasn't listening. He was leaning against one of the tables and rummaging through his pockets for something. He then pulled out a slip of paper with a 5 pronged star in a circle with writing in it out, then palmed it and stuck it beneath the table, where it stuck, out of view.
Connor then followed the others to the door until Dante noticed Moka hadn't moved and asked her, "Hey Moka, are you coming?"
"In a minute, I just have to ask the teacher something." Moka said, blushing slightly for some reason.
Dante raised and eyebrow but decided not to pry and simply said, "Ok, see you back at the paper room then." He then opened the door and walked out.
A few hours later
"Ok, some of the stuff here is...descriptive, but in don't see anything unusual or any sort of threats here." Connor said, setting down a letter on the read pile. Everyone, Gin included, had sat down and read through the letters that Ishigami had given them, Moka having come back a few minutes after them. The letters had been mostly love and fan letters, but none of them very particularly worrisome. They had given several of them blushes and nosebleeds however.
"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way." Yukari thought out loud. "We've been looking at the students, what if the person behind this is a teacher or some other factuality?"
Dante frowned. That was all too probable considering what they had seen at this school and the teachers lack of self control and respect for students. Mizore shivered next to him, looking down at the table, thinking along the same lines. He noticed and pulled her into a one armed hug, kissing the top of her head to calm her down.
"It's possible, but I fail to see who or why. Even among the staff, Ishigami is popular and well liked. Gin, you've been here the longest, you have any ideas on who it could be?"
Gin folded his hands and said, "I've seen a lot of things in my time here, some sick, some sadistic, some just plain evil." He had a sad look in his eyes, clearly thinking of something in the past. Dante's look was of sympathy as Gin came out of it. "Some groups of monsters are extremists here, but nothing like this, the target group is too small and specific. Whoever or whatever is doing this is doing it for a reason. We find the reason, and we've found the perpetrator."
Dante checked the Ultramatrix for the time. "Well, I'll see if I can't find anything later. Right now I need to eat. You two want to join me?" He asked Mizore and Moka. Mizore smiled slightly and nodded but Moka shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, but I have some things I need to do. I'll take a snack to go though." She added brightly.
"So you're going to eat and run?" Dante said cheekily. "And people say I have bad manners."
Moka blushed the same shade as her hair, but Dante chuckled and said, "Just messing with you. Dig in." He loosened his shirts collar and tilted his head and Moka latched on in a second, slurping away. After she had her fill, she detached with a happy twinkle in her eyes.
He chuckled at the sight and said, "Ok, I'll take another look at these the files we have later tonight. See ya." Dante said with a two fingered salute as Mizore and he walked out holding hands.
"Wait for me!" Yukari cried as she ran out the door after them, not wanting to leave them alone for...(cough)... Personal reasons.
"I think I'll call it a night too. I have some peeping...I mean!... some homework to do!" Gin corrected himself quickly.
"Sssssssuuuuuuree you do." Everyone said in a monotone, eyes half lidded. Gin decided to leave before his health was put in jeopardy and all but ran from the room, leaving Moka, Connor, and Kurumu were left.
"Sssooo Connor, want to head back to my place?" Kurumu asked with a wide grin. Connor matched it and replied, "Sure. But first Moka asked for a favor. Just wait for a minute outside, I'll be right out."
Kurumu pouted but did as he asked, closing the door behind her. Connor turned to Moka and she eagrly asked, "So you can help me?"
"Indeed I can." Connor pulled out two small sheets of paper and handed them to her. She took them to see the papers had the same drawings as the slip of paper he had planted in the art room earlier.
"What are these?"
"These are transportation seals. See the design on the paper? All it needs is a touch to activate while thinking of where another sheet with the same design is. So keep one slip on your person, leave the other in your room. I planted one in the art room earlier. Here..." He took one of the slips of paper and set it on a table on the other side of the room. "...ok. Now, touch the slip of paper and focus on this one."
Moka did so, lightly touching the seal with her index finger while focusing on the one Connor had set down eyes closed. Moka then felt tinglingng in her hand and a cold feeling on her skin. After opening her eyes she gasped. She was now standing next to Connor and the seal.
"There you go. Just do that to go to and from your room and the art room." Connor said with a smirk.
Moka tackle hugged him and squealed, "Thank you, this is just what I needed!"
"Ok,ok,ok, let go. I'm not the hugging type." Connor said, holding a hands up.
"You hug Kurumu." Moka pointed out, letting Connor go.
"That's different." Connor said, pulling his shirt straight. "Now, if there's nothing else, I need to go get Kurumu."
Moka bowed slightly and said, "Thank you again Connor, and good night."
"Good night Moka." Connor said, inclining his head in return, then moving to the door and opening it, walking out the room
Now alone, Moka looked at both seals and barely contained her squel of glee at what Connor had given her. She quickly grabbed them both and her bag, hen ran as fast as she could back to her dorm room. She couldn't wait to get started.
A few days later, the newspaper club was at their wits end. They had no leads whatsoever, 3 more girls had gone missing, and they couldn't get anything done!
"This is horrible! We've got nothing to print!" Kurumu wailed, slamming her forehead into the table in front of her in despair.
"This case is driving me nuts! I can't find any meaningful connection between the girls besides the art teacher." Dante said in frustration. He had been trying everything he could possible think of. Heck, he was even trying to hack into the school data base to figure out what monster the art teacher was. So far nothing.
"It's looking us in the face, but we can't see it!" Connor snarled, his fists clenched under the table.
"Well, if we can't find it and solve this, we won't be able print this week." Gin said in a perfect mixture or depression and aggravation.
Moka was torn on how to feel. On one hand, she was just as depressed as her friends about the story and the lack of information for it. On the other hand, she was extremely happy since Dante's birthday was almost here and her present almost finished.
"Ah, screw it!"
Everyone was startled as Dante pushed back from the table and stalked to the door.
"Where are you going?!" Yukari cried, afraid Dante was quitting the club.
"I'm going to that art room and having a look around myself! I'm tired of having nothing to work with."
Before anyone could say anything, Dante had opened the door and walked out, heading down the hall.
"He'll be ok right?" Moka nervously asked the room in general.
"He'll be fine."
Everyone looked to Connor who was tapping the table with his index finger as he said, "Knowing as little about Dante as I do, I'm guessing that being blind on something like this is rare for him and not at all pleasant. Keep an eye on him Mizore." Connor finished, looking out the window.
Everyone looked to see Mizore stick her head over the rim and she nodded.
"Will do." She then dropped out of sight. Everyone sweat dropped as Kurumu asked, "Isn't this the third floor?"
"Yep." Connor confirmed, leaning back and closing his eyes to take a nap.
Dante had just gotten to the art room and closed the door behind him. He quickly locked the door and pulled down the blinds so no one would see or disturb him. Once he was done, Dante looked around the room quickly. He didn't see anything out of place so failing that, he took out his sonic screwdriver and changed the setting, then flicked it on, scanning the room. Once he was done, he rose an eyebrow and said, "Hello, what is this?"
He scanned the room again, but he noticed as he moved it a certain place, the humming was becoming higher pitched and more mechanical sounding. Dante walked forwards while waving it around, trying to find it. As he did, he noticed the sound was at its most concentrated when pointing it at a closet. He put his screwdriver away and looked at the storage space, but it didn't look any different then any others he had seen. He patted around the outside, making sure it wasn't rigged for any reason. Not seeing any, Dante opened it. Still ordinary.
Frowning, he looked for anything out of place. Looking for a minute, he spotted something. Most of the supplies in there were paintbrushes and stands, but he noticed one thick brush, used for large painting, was spotless. In fact, it looked almost polished from constantly being touched. But everything else was covered in paint of some type. Following a hunch, Dante grabbed the paint brush and pulled it up.
Click
Dante let go of the brush as the entire inside shimmered for a second, then melted into the ground, leaving a large and dark space.
"Hidden room. Well done, whoever you are."
Then he frowned. He heard crying in the darkness, out of sight. Dante walked through and tried feeling the walls. They were cold and damp, stone of some sort. He also felt a light switch and flicked it. Several lights came on and reveled a horrible sight.
Several statues, all female, were in several different poses around a large and bare room. But the creepy part was that they were all crying, tears coming down their faces. Dante slowly approached one and looked at it carefully. It was exact, down to the individual hairs and eye lashes. Dante's eyes widened and he quickly pulled a folder from his hoodie jacket. Flipping it open and searching franticly, he found a picture. Comparing it to the statue, he saw this was one of the missing girls. He compared a few others, all of them a match to one of the pictures. Dante rubbed his brow while thinking furiously.
'Stone statues, crying stone statues. Monsters, what monsters turn people...to...stone...oh fuck!' Dante thought, his eyes widening. He closed the folder and stuffed it back in his hoodie, turning to run as he did. He did so, but he was so busy with his thoughts that he wasn't paying attention as he hit a table leg with his own and it sent him off balance, crashing to the ground while tearing the leg off the table so it fell as well. Dante groaned in annoyance, but he knew he couldn't leave it like this so he quickly lifted the table and put the leg back, then ran from the room. What he didn't notice was the fact he had a small slip of paper stuck to his shoe.
He then ran all the way back to the dorms, then ran to Connor's room and knocked on the door rapidly. He heard a groan as well as Connor's voice say in a very angry tone, "Somebody better be dying!"
He herd Connor stomping to the door and yank it open. His lips were red and his frown grew deeper as he demanded, "What?"
"We have a very big problem!" Dante said, letting himself into the average dorm, since Dante still had to make one of his own. Kurumu was sitting on the couch and holding gauze to her neck while she demanded, "Couldn't this wait until later!?"
"Hello to you too." Dante said in a snippy tone. "What couldn't wait is that fact I found all the missing girls, turned to stone statues."
"What?" Connor asked while getting some medical tape and applying it to hold the gauze in place.
"I was poking around in the art room and I got some odd readings off my sonic. When I investigated, I found a large hidden room, filled with crying statues, each one an exact duplicate of one of the missing girls. I only know one monster that turns people to stone."
"What are...oh shit." Connor muttered, finished applying the tape to Kurumu's neck.
"Yeah."
"You have any way to break the spell?" Connor asked while standing up again.
"I've got a plan, just let me get something from my dorm and meet me there in 5."
"Got it."
Dante ran out, leaving Connor and Kurumu alone.
"Ok, get the gang toghther and tell them what's happen, but do not come after us, understand?"
"But what about you?" She asked worriedly.
"I'll be fine, just fly over and get the others." He reassured her before running from the room as well, heading for Dante's room.
Dante burst into his room and instantly went for the closet, throwing it open. It's stretched back farther then the eye could see, just going on and on. He quickly pressed a button on the wall next to the door and with a whirr, the racks of cloths lifted up while other racks behind them moved forwards, these ones bearing every sort of weapon imaginable. Dante then clicked it again and the weapon racks shifted so the closer shelves were filled with sword, shields, bows, and arrows, all of them of Greek design. Dante ignored them all while furiously looking across the boards for what he needed and finally found it. It was a simply pen, like any number you could get in a store for 10 cents each, with a click on top. He grabbed it, weighed it in his hand, then flipped it and stuck it in his pocket. He looked around for any others he might need, but seeing nothing, he ran back out of the closet and closed the doors as Connor came through the front door.
"Got everything?"
"Yeah, yeah. Where's Kurumu?"
"I sent her to get the gang together and tell them what's happening..." Connor trailed off as a thought struck him. "Oh crap."
Dante gave him a look, but as Connor remained unresponsive, he said, "Connor, in a hurry here. Spit it out!"
"Moka."
"What about her?" Dante asked. He loved Moka dearly, but he failed to see why Connor had picked this moment to think of her when they had bigger problems.
"She's been going to the art room every night. She said she had...a... a project or something she as working on and needed supplies."
Dante's mouth dropped slightly. "Would she be there now?"
"She should be."
"Crap!" Dante swore as he started for the front door. He yanked it open and walked out, but stumbled slightly as he didn't lift his foot off the ground enough to clear the metal rim around the door in his haste, tripping him and sending him to the ground.
"Fuck! This is not what I need!" He growled as he got his arms underneath to get up.
"Wait! Don't move!" Connor shouted.
Dante froze and heard Connor knell down behind him, grabbing his shoe.
"Do we have time for this!? What the heck are you doing!?" Dante demanded, twisting his neck around.
"Getting us a short cut. Look."
Dante looked to see Connor holding a small sheet of paper, with a seal of some sort on it.
"What is that?" Dante asked irritably, getting up.
"I gave this to Moka. It's a transport seal. She wanted a way to get from her room to the art room quickly, so I gave her 3 of these. One for her room, another for the art room, and one to transport her between the two."
Dante instantly saw where Connor was going with this.
"Can it transport two people?"
"Yeah, we just need to think of the same place and touch it."
"Then let's go!" Dante said as he went and placed a finger on the paper. Connor did the same and both closed their eyes, concentrating on Moka. The seal glowed slightly before both of them vanished in an instant.
Same time, art room
Meanwhile, Moka had a problem as well. She had been staying behind to get some school work done, so she had walked to the art room instead of using her seal. When she had gotten there, the art teacher had been there as well. Things had gotten bad quickly from there, as she had slowly been cornered by the art teacher. To make matters worse, her hair was now moving like snakes, withering wildly before one had flew at her and bit her hand. She was now slowly turning to stone.
"Why are you doing this?!" Moka shouted in fear at the teacher, slowly stepping back until her back was to the closet.
"Well, I wouldn't normally do this so early, but with Dante Price finding my little room, I've had to move up my schedule."
Ishigami's hair shot forward, knocking Moka through the hidden door to the secret room Dante had found earlier. Moka groaned from the impact, looking at her hand. The stone was creeping its way upwards, going past her fore arm and heading for the elbow.
"What the...?" Moka noticed the other statues in the room, crying with tears running down their stone cheeks.
"These are the missing students!" Moka cried, getting up.
"Indeed. I choose the most breath taking students, then I turn them to stone, preserving their beauty forever. But the true art is so much deeper."
Ishigami gently touched the face of one of the students while her hair wrapped around mokas arms and legs, holding her in place.
"Even though they're stone, they're alive. They cannot age, they cannot die. All they can do is cry. A show of the purest and deepest despair and sadness."
Ishigami turned to Moka with a smirk on her face.
"Now, let's add the finishing touches to you."
"Over my dead body!" The next thing Ishigami knew, her face was being kicked in and she was being sent flying out of the room by a furious Dante while Connor had drawn a blade and with several quick slices, cut Moka free.
"Connor? Dante? How did you...?"
"Thanks to this." Connor held up the seal they had used to transport themselves. "Dante visited the art room earlier. He must have gotten the seal knocked loose from the table and it stuck to his shoe as he left."
"Yep. But less talk, pay attention." Dante said, pulling out the pen he had grabbed earlier. "Because Ishigami is pissed."
Indeed, they heard several angry hisses from the snake on Ishigami's hair snakes while she stalked back into the room, her eyes glowing with anger.
"So, I was right. Medusa, Greek monster that turns people to stone, though the more powerful ones can do that simply by looking into their victims eyes."
"You seem very knowledgable, but that will not help you against my powers!" Ishigami hissed.
"Oh, I doubt that. You see, I fought the original Medusa, and for old times sake, I just had to grab this." Dante held up the pen for Ishigami to see. She stared at it, then threw back her head and laughed, he snakes hissing with her.
"A pen!? What are you going to do, write me to death?!"
"Not a bad idea, but no. I plan to do this." Dante popped the cap off with his thumb. The pen shimmered before it started growing longer, thicker and heavier until Dante was now holding a bronze sword. The blade was thin leaf shapped and double edged, the hilt studded with bronze. On the blade was some small writing, saying Anaklusmos, near the hilt.
"Say hello to Riptide. Now let's dance."
Connor flinched as he saw the blade appear. The last time he saw it was in a battle and it was at his throat.
Dante charged forward, Ishigami sending her snakes to bit him, but Dante retaliated by slicing the heads in half, throught the jaw line of each on. Ishingami screamed in pain then snarled, slashing at Dante with claws on the tips of her fingers. He blocked and they started trading blows back and forth, each one clanging and sending off sparks.
Connor in the meantime was looking at Moka's arm.
"The venoms spreading through your body. At this rate you'll be stone in 10-12 minutes. Dante, need that solution for this!" He shouted over the clang of claws on metal.
"Give me a minute!" Dante shouted, dropping backwards to dodge a head strike. From the ground, he slashed the arm, then rolled to the side as Ishingami stabbed at him.
"We don't have a minute here!" Connor shouted.
"Alright fine, switch!"
Dante then flipped backwards off the ground as Ishingami tried to bite him with her snakes. The teen then tossed Riptide towards Connor, who quickly dropped his own blade, which transformed back into pocket watch form, grabbed Dante's blade, then charged to engage the art teacher.
Dante went over to Moka and scanned her arm with the sonic.
"How does your arm feel?" He asked, taking and scanning the rest of Moka's body.
"It's cold, and numb. I don't feel anything else. What's happening?" She asked in a frightened tone.
"Special kind of toxin, it signals your cells to stop and transform into stone, using the toxins proteins to do so. But I may..." He dug through his pockets. "...be able to change that. Aha!"
He pulled out another sonic screwdriver. "Ok, this might hurt."
"What are you doing?!" Connor shouted.
"Putting my plan in action! Cover your ears!" Dante shouted and, after adjusting the settings on both screw drivers, pointed them toghther and turned them on.
The high pitched screaming and whirring caused everyone in the room besides Connor and Dante to yell and drop to the ground, covering their ears. Ishingami was the worst affected due to her snakes nature of listening through sound waves, and she heard what they heard. Moka heard a sharp crack through the sound and looked at her arm to see a hair line fracture in it. The fracture grew rapidly into spiderwebs then it shattered, all the stone falling from her arm, leaving it normal.
But it didn't stop there. The other girls were going through the same process, the stone on all their bodies cracking and starting to flake off until the stone shattered, leaving all the girls normal, but unconscious and naked from the process.
Dante turned off the screwdrivers then, leaving a deep ringing in everyone's ears. He stretched his jaws a few times to try and clear it.
"You okay Connor?"
"Yeah, thanks for the warning." Connor said.
Dante nodded, then turned to Moka. "You all right?"
She nodded, ears still ringing but it was lessening quickly. "What did you do?"
"I'll explain later. In the mean time..." He grabbed the rosary on her and pulled it off, releasing Inner Moka in all her glory.
"...would you care to do the honors?" Dante finished with a bow.
"Indeed I would." Inner Moka growled out. She walked wth purpose and power towards the art teacher, who was still rendered powerless by the sound waves. "You think I am property to collect when you desire? You believe art is in true despair?"
Inner Moka wound up her leg and shouted, "Know your place!" Kicking the art teacher in the head. The blast sent her flying sideways through the windows, then going 30 feet from the hole, plowing through the ground another 10 feet, where she stopped, out cold.
Dante stuck his head out to look through the hole, then whistled. "I forgot how ruthless you are when you're angry."
"A dangerous thing to do." Inner Moka warned him.
"Oh, don't worry, I won't do that again. I value my life." Dante said respectfully.
"How did you stop the paralysis?"
"Simple matter. All I did was use hypersonic waves to affect the toxins proteins, changing the shape and structure of them until they were broken down into harmless, and actually beneficial, protein chains. The toxin and it's effects, completely cured.I had to do something to help"
"As you should." The silver haired vampire smiled. "You are a very interesting individual indeed."
"Thank you."
"But before I go..."
The next thing Dante knew, he was being pulled forwards into a searing kiss with Inner Moka. Initially surprised, he returned the kiss for a few seconds before pulling back. They looked at each other smirking as he asked, "You've been waiting for that haven't you?"
"Maybe. Until next time Dante." Inner Moka smirked before taking the rosary and putting it back on. Outer Moka switched places with her and collapsed in Dante's arms, sleeping gently with a smile and a blush.
"I have no idea how you can deal with three different girls at the same time." Connor remarked.
"For some people it simply comes naturally. I happen to be one of them." Dante replied. He picked Moka up bridal style and asked, "Would you cap the blade and then hand me one of the seals you have?"
Connor looked down to realize he was still holding Dante's blade. Dante nodded towards the cap that had been knocked towards the far wall. Conor picked it up and touched it to the blade, which instantly shrank down into a normal pan again.
"Where on earth did you get this thing?" Connor asked, handing Dante the pen, along with one of the transport seals.
"A friend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll put Moka to bed." Dante said, closing his eyes while gripping the seal and his pen. He and Moka instantly vanished. Connor sighed.
'Relaxation and peace. Ha! Yeah right.' Connor though bitterly towards the headmaster.
The next day
"Done and submitted." Dante said with a grin, putting the finished draft of the newspaper in the mailbox for the Ms. Nekenome to look over. Unfortunately, Ishigami had disappeared before the headmaster's men had gotten to the art room. Dante had a feeling they'd be seeing her very soon. He then stretched his arms then, popping the joints in his arms.
"Now, where the hell is everybody?" He grumbled, walking back to his dorm. He had only seen anybody during class, lunch, and when they were finishing the draft. But they had all be secretive and had always had a small smirk on their faces, Moka and Connor the worst. It ticked him off to no end.
"Hello Mizore." Dante said as he walked past a ventilation opening.
"You really are no fun."
He heard a clang and then weight hit the ground behind him. He then heard footsteps and Mizore fell into step beside him.
"Can't help it. I'm almost constantly aware of everything around me. That includes you." He said with a smirk.
"Except what Moka and the others are planning." The ice girl replied smugly.
Dante's eyebrow twitched slightly. "Sure, rub it in my face, why don't you? I take it you know what they're doing?"
"Maybe." Mizore responded coyly.
"You're all terrible, you know that?"
"Yes, yes we do."
Dante simply rolled his eyes.
"Well I guess it's just you and me then. Since the articles finished, I guess I'll head back to my room for some R&R."
Dante held out his arm as Mizore linked with it and the two made their way to the dorm. They were only a few feet away from the door, when he noticed something. A white little blop that looked very peculiar. He then stopped and knelt down to get a closer look.
"What's wrong?" Mizore asked.
Dante took out his sonic and scanned it. He checked the reading and rose an eyebrow. He then dabbed his finger in it and did something only he or The Doctor would do if they came across a strange substance, he tasted it.
He clicked his tongue a few times he figured out what the substance was.
"That's weird." He noted, looking at the white substance oddly.
"What is?"
"Why would cake frosting be here?" Dante mused.
Mizore shrugged. "Maybe some idiot's planning some prank. Does it really matter?"
Dante shrugged as he got up. "Suppose not."
They got to his room and Dante stuck his key in the door, not noticing how Mizore was standing a little bit away from him and had her fingers in her ears. Dante opened the door only to see the lights were off. He felt for the switch and flicked it.
"SURPRISE!"
Dante would've been fine with the shout if it hadn't been strong enough to blow him backwards and hit the wall, cracking it slightly while his ears were ringing.
"Ow." He grumbled getting to his feet, Mizore helping him up, and walked through the door again to see everyone was standing around the kitchen table, on which sat a large cake with the words Happy Birthday Dante spelled out in black frosting, while the rest was white. They had also set up some party streamers and balloons as well. Dante also looked to see Mizore was smirking very widely.
"You knew about this." He accused.
"Who do you think helped make the cake?" Connor asked from his position next to the cake, his arm around a giggling Kurumu.
"How the heck did you guys do all this, and, for that matter, even know it was my birthday?" Dante asked with a sigh.
Moka shyly rose her hand and explained how she had found out from the student registry.
"As for decorations, I just picked the lock so we could get in earlier this morning." Connor said with a grin.
Dante sighed before smiling widely and said, "Well can't be helped now, plus it wouldn't do to have your efforts put to waste. Allons-y!"
And so the party started. They started with the cake first, after singing happy birthday for Dante, who completely refused to tell them or even hint at his current age. After that, they started handing him gifts.
Kurumu had given Dante one of the cook books she had personally written herself, making Dante promise he would try a few recipes in it. Yukari also gave him a book, this one of her old spell books she had already read and memorized. Dante was intrested in this and promised he would read it. Mizores took a few minutes to get out, due to the fact she was making it with her ice abilities, until she had formed a small statue of the group standing side by side, all of them in monster form with Connor having his mask and cloak on, Dante simply standing in the center with his arms crossed. Dante found himself very touched and excused himself for a quick minute to grab a case from one of his closet to put the sculpture in before turning a dial on the side of it to drop the temprature inside below freezing, preserving the sculpture.
Gin's gift had to be rejected, but Dante tried to do it gently. The reason Gin's gift was the only one rejected was he had decided to give Dante a copy of the magazine Playboy, the tempature had dropped several degrees when Mizore and Moka had seen it, and their eyes started glowing evilly. Deciding to save his health, Dante returned the magazine to Gin, saying he appreciated the thought. Gin wasn't too upset, as he decided to keep it for himself since he had bought it.
"Thanks for all the gifts everyone. I appreciate the thought that went into these." Dante said with a grin as he looked at his friends.
"Glad you like them." Kurumu said with a smile. She turned to Connor, who was looking bored, and asked, "Connor, didn't you get him anything?"
Connor shrugged. "I don't know him that well. Plus the things I know are magic, weapons, and tactics. Nothing he doesn't already have or wants."
"That's fine." Dante said casually. "I didn't expect anything from you considering what I did know about you."
Connor simply shrugged again in response when they heard some sort of knocking, sounding like something hard on glass.
Leaning back in his chair, Dante craned his neck around his friends to see a crow pecking away at the window, stopping when it noticed Dante looking at it.
He raised an eyebrow before pushing out of his chair and went to the window, opening it to admit the bird inside. It fluttered in and settled on the carpet, looking up with its beady eyes at them.
"Why is a crow inside your dorm room?" Moka asked.
Dante knelt down next to the crow. It cocked its head to look at him and into his eyes. The teen searched them then slowly grinned widely.
"It's nice to see you again Ruby."
The crow squaked once before it started shivering quickly, shedding feathers at a rapid pace. As it did, the crows body was hidden from view as the cloud around it grew larger and larger until it was human sized, then the feathers dropped to the floor slowly to reveal...
"Ruby!" Yukari shouted happily and she ran and tackled the older witch into a hug. Ruby chuckled softly as she hugged Yukari back.
"It's nice to see you all again." Ruby stated, getting to her feet after Yukari let go.
"What are you doing here Ruby?" Dante asked.
Ruby's eyes glazed over a little. "Well, after I spent some time traveling, I decided I would take you up on that offer you gave me last time we met. I just spoke to the headmaster and he said he'd take me on as his assistant."
"That's great! I assume he gave you something that let's you use magic as well. Something small."
Ruby nodded. "He gave me this as a show of good faith."
She then held up her hand to show a simple gold bracelet, which had a small ruby set in it above her wrist.
"It let's me use magic while transforming with me if I ever do physical changes."
"Very nice." Gin muttered, though he wasn't looking at the bracelet when he said that. Yukari noticed and instantly used her wand to cause a wash tub to fall on Gin's head, knocking him out.
"Keep your paws off Ruby you pervert!" Yukari shouted at the knocked out werewolf, a large bump smoking on top of his head.
Dante grinned at the antics of Yukari before turning back to Ruby.
"So you dropped by to say hello?"
"Yes, also I heard it was your birthday..."
"Damn it, is nothing private!?" Dante shouted towards the school.
In his study, the headmaster smirked evilly and said, "No, no it's not."
Dante then sighed in frustration as he suddenly felt very irritated for some reason.
"...and I just wanted to say happy birthday."
Dante sighed in frustration but said, "Thank you Ruby. I'm not frustrated with you, just the headmaster. It's good to see you again."
"Where are you staying Ruby?" Yukari asked.
"Headmaster got me a small room in the female dorm."
"Yah! Now we can have sleepovers and spend the nights together!" The younger witch cheered, hugging the older one.
Dante smiled before checking the time. He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Okay everyone, I appreciate the party and gifts, but we have school tomorrow and we should be getting to bed. So, Connor, help me throw Gin out the window please."
"Wait, wait, wait a minute! I'm awake, I'm awake!" Gin shouted, getting up.
"About time you stopped pretending. Now, everyone, thank you for a wonderful night, but I feel like going to bed."
"Don't you want help cleaning up?" Kurumu asked.
Dante raised an eye brow before he looked at the Ultramatrix, turned the dial, then slammed it down. Before anyone had the spots cleared from their eyes, the room was completely cleaned up.
"Super speed comes in handy at times like this." Dante grinned. "Also, Connor, please throw Gin out."
Connor grabbed Gin and dragged him to an open window.
"Nononononononononoooooo!" Gin yelled as Connor flung him outside the window.
"Was that nessecary?" Ruby asked.
"Yes." Connor replied, dusting his hands. "Plus I've been wanting to do that for a while now."
After a few more minutes of talking, everyone slowly left the room, saying their good nights, until Dante and Moka were left.
"Moka, you okay?" Dante asked, noticing she looked a little shy.
"Yeah, it's just... I didn't give you my present yet and you...didn't ask."
"That's because I know you wanted to give it to me alone."
Moka blushed deeply. "How did you know that?"
"I know you." He simply smiled. "Go get it, I can wait."
Moka smiled back before quickly running from the room. Dante sighed and leaned against the table, crossing his arms.
The pink haired vampire came back in a few minutes, holding a large square package. Dante smiled as he took it from her and leaned it against the table.
He then pulled off the paper.
Leaning against the table was a excellent painting of Dante, one half of his face in shadow, his arms crossed and looking calmly out of the painting, the Ultramatrix dial glowing red. Behind Dante was a pure black background with glowing eyes of several colors behind him, all various shapes.
"I thought about what I knew, and this just naturally came to me. You, standing in front of the darkness, holding back the true monsters against humanity and monster kind alike." Moka said shyly.
Dante looked at her and she was looking down, too nervous to see his reaction. He smiled and pulled her into a hug and kiss. After a few seconds, they separated, the grin still on his face.
"I love it. I couldn't ask for anything better. In fact, give me a minute to hang it up."
Three minutes later, the painting was hanging up in the main living room, looking at it besides Moka, both smiling as he kissed the top of her head.
"I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend." He whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver pleasantly as she heard the caring and love in her friends voice.
With Connor a few days later
It was late at night when Connor was striding through the halls leaving Kurumu's dorm with blood in his lips. He licked them one last time savoring the flavor. Most everyone was asleep now so he felt no worry wandering the girls dorm house taking his time to lay out the floor plan in his head. Eventually he got bored of this and decided to go for a walk in the woods. Walking at a lisurely pace he watched as the nightly dew turned to morning frost around him as he walked. The air was cool as it flowed almost silently. The old trees began to sing in the silence sawing back and forth in the breeze. This is something that Connor no matter how old he was would never understand; how things could be this peaceful. Connor approached a clearing that oddly enough was worn down in a circular fashion the ground was soft yet hard from being beatn down from regular use. Curious as to whom made this clearing, Connor then sat cross leged and started meditating. Since he had no beating heart to control he was almost instantly at a calm state. He waited there for a few hours not moving or breathing until finally he felt a disturbance. He looked over to see small ripple from a tree not 50 yards from him. Instantly he was there examining what he had saw. Slowly he reached out and grabbed the familiar fabric. He inhaled deeply pulling the cloak off the low hanging branch and a smile spread across his face. A small note fell out of a fold in the fabric with a large C on it. Picking it up and looking it over he decided to open it thinking it was from Dante. To his suprise it was not.
Connor,
It has come to our attention that we are no longer in your possession.
We have decided for the greater good that this shall not happen again.
Obviously, you aren't ready and we shall continue to serve you until you are.
U. & K.
Shocked by this, Connor didn't argue. However he was a bit frustrated because he could see that they were serving him as a front for him actually serving them. The problem was he didn't know how. Draping the cloak over his back he snapped his fingers and vanished.
Undisclosed location
A figure was sitting at a desk looking at a certain file that was all but redacted, many of the lines blacked out except for basic information. Another figure then stepped into view as the first one looked up and asked, "Report?"
"The Medusa art teacher, Hitomi Ishigami, was found guilty on charges of kidnapping."
"Was she apprehended?"
"No sir. She had already disappeared before we or the headmaster's men got there sir."
"And who excercised the punishment on this criminal?"
"Three individuals that were identified as Moka Akashiya, Connor Smith, and Dante Price, all part of the newspaper club."
The first figure fell silent as his hand started to tremble slightly, the paper rustling.
"Sir?"
He thought to himself, 'First that Orc, then the swimming club incident, that leech of a gym teacher, and not just that long ago that seductress of a math teacher. Who does this boy think he is?!"
"Kuyō sir, are you-?"
"I'm fine!" Kuyō snarled. "If that's all you have to report then leave."
"Sir!" The figure snapped in stance and then marched out of the room.
Kuyō then looked at the file which read:
Price, Dante
Age: 17
Home: New York City, New York
Unfortunately for Kuyō, the rest was covered in black ink, including what species of monster he was. He let out a growl as the file combusted into flames and was burnt to a crisp.
"I will find out who you are, Dante Price." Kuyo growled as the fir consumed the paper with greed. "One way or another."