Disclaimer:- No, nothing here is owned by me. The OCs are, though, but I don't have any protection on them to stop you using them… (Cough) But that doesn't mean you can use them. They're mine!
Joe: Thanks for the reviews that came, and even though I'm writing this for fun, it doesn't mean that I'm not mercenary. I like my reviews. GIMME.
Got that sorted.
This chapter is going to be very serious, until we get to the part in the Devil May Cry. Then it's all humour until we get back out of New York…I'm a humour writer mainly, I can't help. The situation just seemed so perfect when I was writing it. Hope you enjoy it while it lasts, but it's contrasted by the seriousness of the rest of the chapter. I hope. I think there may be action, I can't remember.
Note: When I was editing this, FF wouldn't let me out a line between paragraphs, so I put little dashes.
Well, since I can't think of anything else, I'll get started.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Well, well, well, this is a nice surprise."
"Hmm, the only surprise for me is the fact that you're actually able to smile, Bayle."
"Up yours, Granson."
"You're welcome. But even I have to admit, this is a nice treat for once."
The two were both waiting by a military jeep, which was towing a large container, inside was supposedly a demon captive. Exactly what the American force needed right now. Once they learned of the demon's technology, they could learn how to use it, and it's weaknesses. If they learned on how they 'tic', they could learn on how it could be easily killed, and what chemical would be poison to it.
The door opened, and the driver stepped out and saluted. "Sir!"
Granson saluted back. "Are you alone? I thought it was standard fare for there to be protection with the driver. Especially in this case."
At that, as if on queue, some soldiers jumped out of the back of the jeep.
"Right, can we get this over with, then?" he then asked "I want to know why we're having so much trouble with these bastards."
"Of course, sir, but I've to tell you something: there has been a slight change in what you were told" the driver answered.
"That's fine, as long as we have one, just open the damned thing," Bayle snapped.
He walked up to the container and opened it up. The two looked in excitedly, and their breath was taken away. There, in the container, was a large transparent box of sorts that filled the entire container, from top to bottom. There was no room to stand in it, as it went all the way to the door. "Triple-paned," the driver stated "We're not taking any chances. First layer is Plexiglas, the second bullet-proof and the third another Plexiglas."
The two nodded dumbly, as their eyes were still contemplating the sight they were facing inside the box.
There were several demons inside, unconscious. They were all tied down, in case of emergency, but it was really all needless. There was something squeezed in behind the box, a large machine that had a pipe going from it, through the box, and then it split into many pipes, covering all of the demon's faces.
"We're gassing the lot with aesthetic." explained the driver.
"I was told there would only be one…exactly how many are there?" Bayle asked.
"Six," Granson replied "There's six…but, they're all…different."
"There's plenty of breeds, isn't there?" The driver said "We captured a few."
If an experienced devil hunter was with them, he could have told them that they had a Hell Pride, two Soldiers of Sin, a Blade, a Marionette, and a Hell Vanguard.
After a few minutes of staring dumbly at the demons, Granson ordered;
"Alright, let's get this thing where we need it… … Bayle, where exactly is that?"
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They needed 'it' in a laboratory a state or two away, where Scientists and men and women of Medicine would dissect the demon's, and take apart their weaponry for examination.
They were brought over by helicopter bearing the Presidential seal.
"What's with this?" Granson had asked on the way over, surprised that they were to be brought in such luxury.
"I am one of the Presidents most respected advisors," Bayle replied "and he'll be there himself, to see these demons up close. He most likely ordered this helicopter to bring us over."
Granson kept quiet and took to staring at the transparent container, which was right beside him. The light of the sunset was lighting up his face as he attempted to come up with some witty remark to reply to Bayle.
A long while later, they found themselves walking through a grey corridor, soldiers pushing the container along on a set of wheels.
Finally, they came into a room filled with chairs and a coffee table set in the middle. The President was sitting with some excited Doctors, nurses and Scientists, along with some of his advisors.
He stood up as they entered, as did everyone else.
"General Granson, am I to assume?" he asked offering his hand to Granson.
Granson fought hard to keep calm, and shook the given hand heartily. "Yes, sir."
President Raelson was a tall man. He had slowly greying brown hair, and green eyes. He looked every bit his part. He turned to Bayle.
"Ah, Bayle. I hope you got along with Granson well enough? Everything at the Pentagon up to standard?"
"The Pentagon was fine, sir," she replied, choosing not to answer his first question "I suppose we are fully prepared by now?"
The President looked uncomfortable. "Not exactly."
Bayle raised an eyebrow, her way of signalling Raelson to continue, which he was well accustomed to.
"Well, a few hours ago, we had sent word to the Sparda twins to come and join us. We thought it might be necessary for their presence, because they might know a thing or two about it already. We need all the help we can get."
Granson snorted. "You don't seriously trust those two?"
Raelson gave a grim expression. "I do because it's because of them we haven't lost this war already."
"How?" Granson challenged, forgetting his place and who he was talking to.
"If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have known there was a war in the first place."
"We would've copped on eventually! We're not apes! It's still a mystery to me why everyone suddenly believed them and agreed with them in that meeting a while back!"
"Because they had to," Bayle butted in, explaining for the President "In their countries, god knows what was happening. Demons must have been everywhere, like they were here. They needed a believable excuse and help. The twins, at the meeting, told them to prepare themselves, and at the same meeting a link was formed, where all the countries were to assist each other. It was either believe them or pretend all the problems were something else, and refuse the proposition of a single united army at their hands."
Granson looked at her for a while, speechless. Then; "Where the hell do you get this stuff from? You're talking like a Goddamn news presenter! Since when were you an expert on the subject?" he turned to Raelson "Sir, must we cooperate with them? They just turned up outta nowhere and were suddenly elevated to my rank immediately! No training, no nothing! What the hell is going on! All respect for you, sir, but has the White House gone mad?"
Raelson had a grim expression that showed evidence that his thoughts were along the same line.
"Those are some valid points, General. But, I will trust you two to this, and I hope you will not tell any other living soul, but I agree with you. The thing is, I made a mistake with those two, and it will be a huge blow if I admit it and let everybody know the size of the blunder."
"And the election is next month," Bayle stated "Larimore knows of this mistake and he's using it as his main tool to get votes."
"That's why I came here," the President said "To see myself that this is carried out without a flaw."
"I suppose you're leaning heavily on the success of this, more than I thought," Bayle said.
Raelson nodded and sat back down. The other two followed suit. They only had to wait for those two to arrive, those two that were causing so much trouble and doubt without realising.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Much, much earlier that day: New York.
Vergil was squashed on a chair, his legs up and crossed. The midnight moon outside was his only source of light as he read. He didn't need much light. He was accustomed to darkness. He rather preferred it, but he never told Dante that. He grimaced as he thought of the consequences. Dante would laugh and tease and poke, calling him an evil being that must be slain and that Vergil enjoyed carrying away helpless women in old castles to drink their blood and suchlike.
Tailor gave a loud snore from the nearby couch, which he was sleeping on.
Turning his mind away from such thoughts, he flicked over to a new page and continued reading from Sparda's diary. He had discovered that the being he had met at Dumary Island's name was Crìnge. He found a verse to start at, then began reading.
I remember the day clearly. The only thing that I cannot remember is the date, but I will round it off to around 50 years before the successful banishment of my kind. In the Human type of time it would be considered 50 B. C.
Long before that date had our armies swarmed in through the many tunnels and gateways that the possessed humans had constructed.
It was only on that date, however, that our order arrived personally to the human world. From the first breath I took of human air I loved it. It was fresh, unlike the air from our world. It was clear and fully transparent, not blurry and filthy.
Our hold of the human world was barely fulfilled at all. We had taken the priests and druids, of whom most others would follow without question. They were treated like kings and respect by many, but not all.
It seems that the remainder of the human race slowly began wary of the actions of their clergy. More and more their trust thinned for these people, until it finally broke when the first demons crossed over. By then it was too late, we could use many gateways to enter, and the only people who knew how to close them were the possessed clergy, and ourselves.
We rode on horseback to a village near the tunnel that we entered from. We were to annihilate any sign of resistance, and enslave any humans that surrendered.
My twin and I headed to the Alpha-Male's dwelling, the leader of the town. By modern standards, he would have been called a mayor. The two greatest of our order, Spàirdae and Crìnge, we would be given the privilege of cutting the head off the snake. We dismounted near the house and advanced. Crìnge blew the door off with his thoughts, and we entered.
At first, we saw no-one. We walked through several rooms, until a unit sent to defend the leader came and challenged us. We slaughtered them without mercy. My first up-close sight of a human lived up to my expectations: brainless, unintelligent and weak. They did not deserve this land, I thought to myself.
We came down into the farthest room from the entrance and found our goal. In a last bid to defend his family, the Alpha-Male charged at us with a sword. Crìnge lifted him into the air with his mental abilities and flung him into the wall, then the ceiling, then let him die on the floor.
It was then that I got my first shock. The human weakly said something in a human language to his frightened family in his dieing words. I could not believe it. They were capable of feelings, apparently. I had not known this until now.
Crìnge smiled and said that I could finish the family if I so pleased.
I raised my blade, and was about to swing when the daughter of the man, a young girl of around five, tried to shield herself with her hands alone amid tears.
My hand stayed, and I paused; I could not kill an intelligent being that was unarmed. Until that moment, I had thought that humans were weak, unintelligent and insignificant little creatures. Well, compared to us, yes. But I had not known exactly what they were like.
Crìnge gave me a puzzled look before taking out his blade and killing the child himself, then the wife, right before my eyes.
It was at that moment when I no longer wanted a part in all of it. Crìnge led me out of the house, his hand on my shoulder, not knowing what was wrong. He assured me that I would feel better later.
I felt like a monster, being part of this terrible cause. I asked Crìnge if there was any chance of co-existence, but he laughed, feeling that it was a joke. I halted in my tracks, serious, and then he started to guess what was wrong.
"Sparda, my brother," he said, his voice now without humour "Do not worry for these miserable beings. They are not like ourselves, and are worthless and weak. If this does not avert you from your current thoughts, it is a dark path you now walk. Do you seriously feel for these humans?"
I remained for a while, busy with my own thoughts. He placed his hand on my shoulder. "Please, brother, think. We are devils, demons, highest of all beings. If anybody is worthy of this land, it is us. Do not think any more thoughts of rebellion. Please, keep it up, for me."
Another silence, when Crìnge's face became sad, then I spoke.
"I will co-operate, but, please, for the sake of my loyalty, do not make me kill another human being."
Crìnge's face was still sad, and he nodded. He knew as he steered us away from that house, and he knew himself that I was not the same, and would not be again.
Vergil suddenly stopped reading, for the moon was no longer high in the sky, and a single ray of sunlight was shining in through the window. He pocketed the diary, and allowed himself to yawn, then his eyes instantly drooped and closed without his realising it.
Once again he found himself in a clearing, but not in a forest this time. He was surrounded by mist, and the ground was golden and yellow; sand. He wandered for a while but found no sign of anything, save mist and sand.
He heard a voice suddenly "Come, Vergil, take what it is you seek."
There was a faint light from behind the mist, and Vergil dashed for it, remembering what happened last time. Nothing to trip over this time, and no-one to stop him.
The light sped off, and Vergil hastened his step and pursued it. He would definitely get it this time.
Then, the mist was there no more, and he could see clearly the light ahead of him, and it was near. Then, he found something much to his dismay, and he roared aloud when he saw it. There, up ahead, was Dante, smirking, and grabbing the light.
Vergil awoke with a start, some noise after waking him, and he found himself sweating once again. He wiped his forehead and looked out the window. It was some time mid-morning, possibly around nine a.m.
He discovered that the phone was the thing that woke him, and Vergil ignored it. Now wasn't a good time for him. He waited for it to stop, then he rested for a while, trying to get fully awake. He couldn't seem to be fully alert as he woke any more, unlike he used to be able to.
Sighing heavily, he got to his feet and paced up and down Dante's office, his thoughts racing.
His eyes suddenly found Sparda, rested on a wooden rack attached to the wall. Vergil's hand found it's way to it's grip, and he lifted it. As soon as he came into contact with it, a red mist generated from it, and the red jewel on it's front suddenly had a cat-like eye on it. He got a sudden sense of power, extreme power, and he worked hard not to laugh aloud. His face broke into an unlikely expression of happiness, as he was holding all that he dreamed of, that he dedicated most of his life to.
Then, a thought occurred to him, a thought that should have come earlier, but didn't. A good reason why demons were swarming in such great numbers was that a power was aiding them. An unknown power. Now revealed to Vergil.
The two amulets were combined, helping the demons enter.
Giving the precious blade one last adoring look, he placed it on Dante's desk. He opened the diary again, and flicked through it to the part where Sparda sealed the great power of his sword away, and created two amulets with it. He found the incantation that Sparda used.
First, he devil triggered, letting him freely use his demonic powers. He gave the verse a few looks before stating the incantation. A Lìstook term, that Vergil was one of the few human (or part human) capable of understanding.
There was a great light, and Force Edge now lay on the table, the two amulets hovering in the air above it. Vergil grabbed his one before they could attract to each other and combine again.
He felt strange. A week or two ago in his memory span and he would have craved this power. Force Edge alone seemed like the top power to him, and the two amulets within his grasp. His life goal would have been complete, he would no longer have needed to resort to forgotten towers and buildings and rituals to get what he wanted. His life, in short, was right before him.
But, now, things were different. It's my old life before me… he thought to himself. It seemed so strange the difference some weeks could cause (It was actually a few years, but not to him). It might be his life once more, after all of this mess was sorted. He had to give up his ultimate goal for the moment for a hope of a great victory, and not until then could he return to attempting to achieving it. There was a strange noise as Tailor jerked awake due to the light.
"Whozere?" he stated groggily as he got to his feet.
He awoke to find a blue-coloured creature holding a golden amulet. He looked at Vergil blankly for a moment, then mumbled to himself. "For a second there, I thought I was awake…"
He lay back down and closed his eyes. Vergil decided it best if he were to go back to human form. Tailor rose awake again, stretching.
"Morning," Vergil said.
Tailor yawned in response. "Y'know, I had a weird dream back there…"
"Really?" Vergil asked, trying hard not to laugh while at the same time trying to sound interested.
"Yeah…" Tailor said "Some weird blue coloured thingie was staring at me, and it was holding some form of golden thing in it's hand-" (Vergil hastily pocketed his amulet) "- and then, in my dream, I figured 'I must be dreamin'. So I closed my eyes and woke up here. Would you believe that!"
"Wow," Vergil said, still having to put up a huge effort on keeping a straight face.
"So," Tailor said as he rose again "What's for breakfast?"
"Umm…" Vergil looked hopelessly around the room "The kitchens upstairs, but…"
Vergil had spent the majority of his life out of contact of humans. He hadn't a hope of being able to cook something. Without setting something on fire.
Vergil opened the door and the two went up. They were surprised to find Dante awake at his small table, grasping an immense mug of coffee. He raised his head as they entered, showing them that his eyes were bloodshot.
"Trish wasn't lyin' when she said you needed that stuff…" Tailor muttered.
"Yes…where is the whore, anyway?" Vergil asked coldly, despite them being comrades, he still felt a strong dislike for Trish.
"Haven't a clue. Probably still asleep in her room," Dante croaked, deciding not to reprimand Vergil for calling Trish that name.
"Well, I'm hungry," Vergil announced "and I don't think anyone here is capable of making a decent breakfast."
Dante raised a hand.
"Pizza doesn't qualify as a 'decent breakfast', brother," Vergil said.
Dante slowly lowered his hand.
"No cereal we could make?" Tailor asked "Anyone can make that."
Dante shook his head sadly, now fully awake.
"Bread?"
Dante shook his head again. Tailor laughed as he sat down. "Well, this is stupid. Three full grown men, unable to cook a breakfast. I never had time to learn to cook. In the orphanage, everything was given to us ready, then I joined the army. No time. What's your excuses?"
"I spent most of my time shut out of human civilization" Vergil said, then they both turned to the last remaining person.
Dante shrugged his shoulders. "Never bothered learning."
"So," Tailor said with disbelief "What you do every morning is wait for Trish to cook?"
Dante thought for a while. "…Yup," he answered simply.
The other two shook their heads disapprovingly. Dante didn't give proper attention and got more coffee, then sat back down by the small table.
Then, the door leading to the bedrooms opened and Trish stepped in in a bathrobe.
"About damn time," Vergil snapped "Go make us some breakfast!"
Dante and Tailor took a sharp inhale of breath.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Trish asked politely.
"I said breakfast, woman! That's what a woman's purpose is, isn't it?"
Dante and Tailor exchanged glances, not sure whether to laugh or groan. Without a word, they both came to the same conclusion; this would be funny. (They also got out of arms length from the two, just in case)
"What did you just say?" Trish barked. Vergil seemed unabashed, yet still annoyed.
"I'm sorry, you have yet to hear a word that I'm saying. Are you deaf!"
Dante snorted from the table. The two glared at him in unison.
So, Dante and Tailor watched as the two yelled, and ultimately causing Trish to storm out.
There was a pause.
Both Tailor and Dante burst out into fist of laughter, and a confused looking Vergil turned to face them for an explanation, completely unaware that he had done anything wrong.
He waited for the two to finish laughing, (and for Dante to get off the floor) then continued looking at them with his confused expression. Tailor looked at him in disbelief, taking deep breaths to soothe his abdominal pains around his ribs.
"You really don't know what went wrong, do you?" he asked seriously, but still with a hint of humour in his voice.
"Oh, God…" Dante muttered as he stood up and put his hand around Vergil's shoulder "…and you wonder why you have yet to get laid…"
"What was that!" Vergil barked.
"Nothing," Dante said quickly "But, seriously Vergil. Tell me you know that you said something wrong."
Vergil shrugged, and for the first time in his life, found a subject that Dante bested him in.
"Rule #1," Dante said, raising a finger from his free hand "Never talk to women like they are inferior. Which you did all the way through the conversation."
"Rule #2" Tailor said.
Vergil was astounded. Both Dante and Tailor knew these rules. He thought that Dante was making this up as he went along.
"Never give them a direct order. Just ask, or pretend they're doing you a favour."
"No matter how much they try and give you direct orders, and Verge, you're gonna soon find that they will tend to do that a lot."
"But don't always do the orders," Tailor pressed "Only sometimes. Don't give the impression that you can be bossed around without trouble. Pretend that you're doing them a favour when you do."
There was a pause.
"I can't believe we're having this conversation," Vergil said suddenly, unbelievingly, while drooping his head in shame "Where did all this come from?"
"Dunno, probably because we wanted to do something nice for you before…" he trailed off.
"Before what?" Vergil asked.
Tailor tossed an apron at Vergil "Before you make breakfast."
Vergil gave them both a strange expression, waiting for one of them to say 'just kidding!', then he grumbled as it never came as he fixed it on. There was a flash of light. Vergil spun to face Dante, who was holding a camera, grinning. Vergil glared at him, until he put it away.
Vergil opened the fridge, took some meat and eggs out, then turned to face the stove. There was another flash of light.
"DANTE!"
Dante hastily put the camera away, before Vergil saw it.
Within minutes, smoke rose from the oven, and Vergil howled with pain as he burnt his finger while frying an egg.
The door opened again, and Trish stepped in, fully dressed. Vergil looked up hopefully, but Trish merely sat down and joined the others' staring at the stove, looking amused at Vergil's attempts.
Another few minutes later, Vergil served. Trying to be nice to Trish, he gave her an extra portion of burnt sausage.
The three exchanged revolted glances, then pushed the plates away from them.
"All yours, Verge," Dante said.
There was a pause as they watched Vergil eat the food disdainfully.
Trish sighed. "Fine. Gimme that apron"
"You're so nice!" Dante said, not sounding like himself "I'm so lucky to live with you!"
Vergil gagged on a charred piece of bacon as Dante received a kiss. Dante winked at Vergil as Trish set to work.
Vergil raised his middle finger in retaliation.
Tailor flicked on the TV with the remote that was lying on the table.
"There wouldn't be anything on at the moment," Trish called "Don't bother trying."
Tailor ignored her and flicked through the channels. The only non-cartoon thing on at this time of the morning was a current affairs talk show. He left the remote be.
"We are joined today by LAPD official Greg Marrion" the man on the seat stated to the camera "Over the subject of the-" (Air quote) "-'Infestations'."
Everyone turned to the TV at once. A chubby man waddled on set and sat down beside the man, dwarfing him beneath his massive girth.
"Ah, Greg," the man said, pretending to be on first-name status with the man "So, tell me, what are your views on the affairs going on?"
"Well, my views are what I suppose like everyone else's," Greg replied, then pausing for effect "There's a nasty trick going on. I know, and we all know, that there is no such thing as demons."
The knife and fork in Vergil's hands snapped in two and were sent flying. Vergil himself gaped at the screen in horror and disbelief.
"Ah, but, Greg," the small man said "What about all evidence? The millions of people worldwide that insist that demons are true."
"Governments hiding it all up," Greg grunted "There are also millions of people every year that insist they saw UFOs as well, my good man, and do we all believe them? No, we don't. We have sense. Or, we did, until recently, until those two…"
"Turn that crap off," Dante demanded.
Tailor needed no second notice, he immediately picked the remote back up and flicked off the TV.
"It just goes to show," Trish called out "That whatever happens and wherever it is, there's always going to be a lot of idiots."
The all nodded in agreement. Trish placed three plates on the table and filled them. Dante picked up a piece of bacon with his fork and smirked at Vergil, who had long finished his half-ash half-food meal, then delicately took a bite out of it, putting on a good show of extreme pleasure, going 'mmm!' and such. Vergil merely glared, disregarding it as a worthwhile attempt to annoy him.
Trish, of course, thought he was complimenting her cooking and smiled at him coyly, tilting her head to one side. She was a sucker for compliments.
This however irritated Vergil, and he placed his head on his hands on the table and rested, grumbling, yet still not putting any emotion into it, knowing that if his brother knew he was succeeding in annoying Vergil, it would get a whole lot worse.
The phone rang, and Vergil immediately seized it, being the only one not eating anything.
"Hello?" he stated.
There was a pause, the person on the other side obviously not wanting to waste time with unimportant greetings or other, having only time to tell Vergil what had to be said.
"Right, so we have to-"
The line went dead, the person on the other side slamming the phone down with a resounding crash.
"Who was that?" Tailor asked.
He turned to face them with a curious look on his face. "Someone speaking for the President. We have to go over to a research facility where they're dissecting some demons and looking at their weapons."
"When have we to the airport? And to where?"
"We haven't. We go by helicopter, and they're going to land outside. I'm not sure exactly where the place is."
"How long until?"
"A few hours. At around two."
"Great. Plenty of time."
A long while later, the four of them lay bored in Dante's office. Dante was half sitting, half lying on the chair by his desk, his feet up, Vergil on the comfy chair, Tailor leaning against a wall, and Trish sitting on Dante's desk. Every single one of them were staring at the phone, waiting for something to happen.
"Is this what business is always like for you?" Tailor asked, on the verge of a yawn.
"No…" Dante replied glumly "It went normally enough - brilliantly a few weeks ago…but now, they have that Anti-Demon patrol for any business."
They all went silent for another while, their minds blank, the usual feeling that one associated with extended boredom. A red sphere of light went through the air, as if it was exploding. Then, it bound back into Dante's body. He let it loose again, then watching with interest as it went back into his body again.
On a normal occasion, Vergil would have told Dante to stop because he was irritating him, but at that moment he decided to let Dante be, and decided to do it himself, having nothing better to do either.
Dante looked around the wall of his office, still devil-triggering and going back to human form. Nah, he didn't feel like doing some swordplay. Then he realised that something was wrong.
"Where's Sparda?" he suddenly asked, rising.
"Gone," Vergil replied in a monotone "Force Edge and your amulet are on the floor."
"WHAT!" Dante barked "You have no respect for other people's property, Verge!"
Vergil shrugged and continued letting the blue light in and out of his body.
Dante sighed and let it go. He knew better than to argue with his brother, as he would get absolutely no response at all.
"How much longer until the chopper comes?"
Vergil looked at the clock on the wall. "Around half an hour"
Dante sighed again and sat back down, then returned to letting the light back in and out of him. It was strange how fascinating it was to him when he wasn't in battle, when he barely paid attention to it. He let his power loose again, then kept it that way. He got up again and looked in the mirror.
"Hey, Verge," he asked out of the blue.
"What now?"
"How come after every year or so, my devil side changes?"
"That's how demons work, my little brother. Humans stay almost the exact same throughout their growth, and it only takes 20-25 years to do so. Demons, on the other hand, are constantly changing in appearance, and it can take up to 60 years for them to fully grow, when their full abilities are unleashed."
"Oh…" Dante looked interestedly at his reflection, his voice seeming to echo in his own vocal chords and Tailor looked interestedly at Dante as well "…and I'm only younger than you by a few minutes, anyway."
He had black scales replacing his skin, like his father had, and his brother does, but the most of his body was covered by red, as his clothes had somehow changed form.
"Why do the clothes change?" he asked.
"Half-demons work slightly differently than full ones." Vergil replied indifferently "When we devil trigger, we create a small rift in the air around us, a much, much less powerful rift than ones created by the Teme-Ni-Gru or others. Just enough for you to become in demon form, that's why the air surrounding you blurs. Since this is all controlled by your mind, everything in the rift is in your control, whether you realise it or not, and…"
Vergil stopped, unsure of what to say next.
"And?" Dante pressed.
"I don't know," Vergil said simply "Maybe we sub-consciously use our minds to slightly alter the clothes we wear. We can't completely change clothes, I suppose, but we somehow change what we are wearing."
"Oh…" Dante said, as he continued inspecting his reflection.
His hair remained white, and two stumps were protruding from both sides of his forehead, where a pair of goat's horns were growing, once again, like his fathers. His eyes were glowing red, and the red clothing had two gaps in it at the back, where a pair of black, scaly wings were neatly folded. There was a hint of a transparent film starting to grow out of them, and he could feel a pair of small stumps beneath his wings, where it seemed a second pair were starting to grow. It looked like that in a few years, they would be like and insects, like Sparda's. His hands became claws, and he no longer wore boots, his black feet merely toughened, with a single small horn growing out of the back of it, like a shoe-knife.
He sat down, and started beating his wings about, chuckling like a little boy. Vergil rolled his eyes to heaven, as did Trish, while Tailor looked at Dante enviously, as if he wanted a pair of wings.
"How much longer now?" Trish asked exasperatedly, as Dante became hugely interested with the back of his claws.
Once again, Vergil looked up at the clock.
"Should have been here a minute or two ago."
"Oh…" Trish's head slumped. Dante chuckled in a schoolboy-tone as his foot became jammed in his desk, the horn impaled in it.
At last, after what seemed like ages, and after Dante had freed himself from his desk, a loud noise came from outside.
A minute or two after that, Tailor and the twins went out to get on the chopper. Trish didn't go, as she had no purpose or reason to.
The pilot saluted as he opened the door.
"Good morning, sirs. The flight will take about an hour or two."
"Thanks," Tailor said, saluting back, then getting on.
Dante looked around the interior. It was another HellBane, similar to the one that brought them back to New York.
Remembering what it was like last time, Dante nearly dived at the only comfortable chair inside, knowing all too well what the others felt like.
The other two seated themselves, and a moment or two later, the copter took off. They all took a while to admire the view as they ascended to the sky, looking at the skyscrapers and buildings deteriorating into nothingness as they flew off.
It took less than five minutes for Dante to get bored.
"Tell me again why we're going?" he asked irritably, hand supporting head.
"We have to watch the humans dissect the demons and look at their weapons." Vergil answered.
"And why am I going?" Tailor asked.
There was a silence as the twins paused for thought.
"… …Shut up." Dante replied eventually.
- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Egypt. Earlier that day.
During the past few days, Joel had learned more and more about the plans the demons had at hand. He had to admit, it was all pretty damn impressive. Apparently, the pyramids themselves are only the tips of the icebergs, a much, much larger building. When everything was ready to go, the main Pyramid (the one they all were in) would split in quarters, and a machine of immense proportions would raise out of it. The machine was an obelisk of sorts, that would raise high into the sky. All the other pyramids would supply power to the obelisk, which it would convert to some sort of power beam. It would fire the beam precisely one hour after it was activated, which would burn go up into the earth's atmosphere and burn a hole, a rift between the two worlds. The beam fired from the obelisk would expand outwards, starting to burn a bigger and bigger hole, until it ran out of power. The hole would be a huge size by then, and would start growing even bigger and bigger by itself, until, days, maybe a week later, the entire earth was covered by it, the link between the worlds complete.
Joel heard footsteps from behind him, echoing, due to the size of the corridors and rooms of the place.
"Joel" a voice came.
"Yes, master?" he replied, turning to face his mentor and new guardian, Pontius.
"What are you doing over here by yourself? … … Come, you shouldn't wander around in here… … You could get lost, and not be able to find your way back… …it is a very big place in here."
They were both in a big chamber, filled with hieroglyphics and patterns on the walls, with large decorations filling it.
"Just looking around," Joel answered "I'm coming now.
He followed Pontius to the main chamber, where many of the demons were at their own business. Many of them were just chatting, others looking around. Some were having duels, with some onlookers cheering them on. Joel found Crìnge sitting at the top of the room on a sort of throne, looking slightly bored.
Crìnge's eyes darted up from staring at the ground and they rested on Pontius and his student.
"So…what's happening?" Joel asked interestedly "Have any more humans come to see what's happening? Have we to start working on anything?"
"No." Crìnge answered indifferently "We're finished with preparations. We're letting the humans be for the moment. They will cause no harm. They do not even know how to get into this place."
"Then…what are we waiting for?" Pontius asked "Surely, we could be starting by now?… …What good would come out of stalling?"
"We want to draw some attention," Crìnge replied "It will be more fun that way."
"But, do we not have enough attention already?" Joel said "I mean, more armed humans are arriving by the day. They suspect something. They're not completely ignorant!"
"It's not enough," Crìnge said in response "I want them to send in much more. Some of the half-devils they have, maybe. Some higher ranking ones, maybe even those two… And, more importantly, Tele…what do you call that thing? Those recording devices? Some of the 'News' people over to broadcast the scene. Let them to bring humans for the whole human world know what's happening, draw all the race's attention to us, I want them all have their eyes on us when we cause their world's downfall -"
"You're rambling, Crìnge," Pontius stated.
"Excuse me, then," Crìnge apologised.
Pontius didn't show it, but he radiated excitement. Joel learned how to tell his feelings by now. And, Joel too felt excited. They were almost done, and soon they would be in command… and when he was old enough, he, Joel, would be one of the main rulers of them all.
"Crìnge!" a devil suddenly came to their presence.
"What is it?" Crìnge replied.
"We have bad news. Very, very bad news."
"Well, out with it!" Crìnge stated, now looking apprehensive.
"We can't get any more troops over. The small link we once had has been shut. We would be lucky to even get a Hell Pride over to this side at the moment."
"How did this happen!" Pontius barked "…What blunder was committed!
"We're not sure," the devil answered grimly "But the only link that was still active a few moments ago was Sparda's sword. Someone must have managed to separate the amulets."
The diamond appeared on Crìnge's forehead and flashed red in anger. He stood up and put his fingers to his eyes, trying to remain calm.
"… … okay…What troops do we have operational at the moment? We will have to do with what we already have."
"We have the average type demons everywhere," Pontius answered for the devil "… We have millions everywhere. There must be several billion in this country alone... … But, none of them are our main fighters… mostly lower to middle class…"
Crìnge suddenly looked hopeful.
"And, what of our army? We created a good deal more after that incident at Vie De Marli."
"Around five thousand," the devil stated "But, without any link, we cannot create any more."
"It will do. Thank you for the warning, Ghoul." Crìnge said.
The devil smiled and walked off.
Joel looked at Crìnge with uncertainty. "Ghoul?"
"Yes. That is his name." then, Crìnge turned to face him "You are wondering why he has the same name as those demons? He is not named after him. They are named after him. He was the one who first created them, and decided to name them after himself. Look-" he said, as Ghoul walked through a wall, exiting the room.
"Aack!" came a cry from across the room. They turned to look as a devil fell to his knees, before his friend, surrounded by others. The friend raised his hand in triumph.
"Looks like they have a winner…" Pontius stated.
Joel's eyes brightened as another competitor was chosen. Crìnge noticed it.
"You would like to fight, would you?"
Joel looked like he was about to say yes, then his expression changed and he shook his head.
"Why not?" Pontius asked "You wouldn't get seriously hurt, it's just a small little duel… …A challenge between friends."
Still, Joel shook his head.
"I never finished my training back at home. I never even got my own weapon."
"Oh," Crìnge and Pontius exchanged glances.
"Well," Crìnge said after a pause "It will be your mentor's job to teach you, right Pontius?"
Pontius rubbed his hands together to signal his delight, being unable to smile.
"Of course. No matter who taught you at that island… … they will not have been able to teach you the techniques I can!"
Joel froze for a second. It had been his father that trained him. He said nothing for a while, then nodded and gave a half-hearted grin. He would have to accept Pontius as his new father. Andrè was a man who fought for the weak, for those who did not deserve it. Pontius had the right ideas… he thought to himself grimly. And he would have to accept him as a new father eventually, as he was his mentor and his only guardian.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dante was asleep when they started their descent. The copter was coming down over a large building surrounded by barbed wire, in the middle of the desert. There were many military vehicles aligned in rows outside, and a few other helicopters in designated 'H' spots that circled the main building.
Tailor nudged Dante awake and pointed out the window to signal that they were almost there. Dante gave a loud yawn and stretched, then took in what he was seeing.
To him it seemed more of a military base than a laboratory. There were the usual defences; guards situated at the gate to check vehicles coming in and out, large lighthouse-like towers that would act as lights during night-time, looking over the grounds, with gun turrets planted on them for security.
The HellBane landed on the single free 'H' spot, and the door was opened for them.
They were greeted by two armed soldiers, who would lead them inside. Dante looked around in greater detail than in the copter. The place was almost deserted, apart from themselves and the two soldiers (and the guards at the gate). He asked about it.
"Most security's been moved inside." explained one of the soldiers "Not taking any chances. More will be coming soon for extra measure."
Dante nodded and continued surveying the place. Then, he saw it. The huge hulking figure of Air Force One, the immense jet bearing the Presidential seal.
"He's inside already, then, the President?" Dante asked.
The soldier nodded the affirmative.
They came to a halt.
"Problems?" Tailor asked.
"We're afraid we cannot allow you to bring weaponry inside," one of them said "Leave them all with us, you will receive them when you leave."
Vergil's hand immediately went straight to his beloved katana and he glared at them, as if daring them to come and get it. They didn't come closer.
Dante and Tailor, however, grumbled and handed over Ebony, Ivory and Tailor's handgun, which he kept in his jacket.
"Sir, your sword will have to come too."
Dante laughed as he shook his head. (He currently had Alastor on his back)
"For your own sakes I'd rather not."
"Sir!" A soldier said, then he reached for Alastor.
The sword crackled threateningly, electricity suddenly flowing through it.
The two looked at it for a moment.
"You may enter," one finally said.
The walked in through the front entrance and several corridors without speak. They all seemed to blend into another, no decorations, no paint other than white, with spotless black tiles. Their feet made the only sounds against the floor as they progressed. Now and then there would be a door or two that apparently held an office for the higher class workers in the place. Finally, after a short while, the soldiers led them through a large pair of glass automatic double-doors.
President Raelson and some others stood to greet them. The soldiers saluted and marched off.
"Ah," Raelson stated, smiling as he offered his hand in turn to the twins "The pair themselves. Thank you for coming."
Vergil was about to comment that they didn't have any choice on the matter, but kept silent and expressionlessly shook the Presidents hand, breaking his normal rule of never touching anyone unless with a blade.
Raelson turned to Tailor, who saluted immediately.
"General David Tailor, sir," he stated.
Raelson smiled and signalled for Tailor to put his hand down, and shook hands with him.
Being the President, Raelson must have long learned to give a convincing smile without meaning it, Vergil thought, still with an unchanging expression, like his old self. For the past while, he had forgotten himself and shown emotions. He had to get back into old habits.
Raelson stepped to the side and introduced the two people to his side.
Bayle shook their hands as well, but gave them all the expression that suggested that she honestly disliked them. No smiles there.
"This is my Senior Secretary, Ms. Bayle," Raelson explained, and this person here is-"
"General Granson," Tailor stated "We've met."
Granson looked surprised for about a second, then smiled and shook Tailor's hand. "Tailor, huh. Been keeping well I see…"
He then turned and looked at the twins, his smile faltering for a small moment, then he remembered himself and faked a smile and grasped their hands in turn.
"General Granson, sirs. Pleased to meet you."
His manner and his tone suggested everything to the contrary, and the fact that he tried to crush their hands didn't help. The twins could have flattened his without effort if they wanted to, but it was better they didn't.
A third person in white uniform stood by the door patiently and silently.
"This man here is going to lead us to the lab," Raelson said, "Now that the introductions are done, I suppose we should head to the centre of the action?"
Tailor and the twins nodded in response. Granson opened the door and let the President, Bayle, and the other man out, then followed, letting the three open it for themselves and to follow.
"You know him?" Dante asked Tailor quietly as the followed the four ahead.
"Yeah. Used to be my commanding officer years ago. A bastard if I ever saw one."
Dante laughed and Vergil gave a meek curl of the lips.
They walked through several more corridors, earning a 'How big is this goddamn place?' from Dante. No one responded.
After progressing to what seemed like the other side of the building, they went down a flight of steps that went to a basement floor. Immediately after the stairs ended, they came to a metal double-door. The uniformed man took a card out of his shirt and placed it into a slot on the wall beside the doors. The doors slid open.
The corridors were no longer white with black floors. Everything here was grey and metal. Every few steps there would be doors on either side of the hall, they too were metal, with a slot for card entry beside them. A small rectangle of glass was at the top of the doors, like in hospitals. They were all labelled, one was called B-7, and the one next to it B-8, for example.
"Upstairs houses the offices and sleeping quarters, formal places and mess halls." Granson grunted "Down here is where the actual research happens. Inside all of these doors are labs, every single one looking at different things."
"Like what?" Dante asked.
"Not your business." Granson said "Maybe you'll find out sometime. Don't know myself, actually."
"I can see what you mean" Dante murmured to Tailor, after elbowing him when Granson wasn't looking.
At last, they came to another pair of double doors, at the very end of the hall. Two cameras suddenly pointed to their direction. Tailor could see a small piece of metal on top of them with a part jutting out, and a laser sight coming out of a piece just below it.
"These have way more security," the man in white said "No cards or anything here. Those cameras have firepower to keep intruders away. The guards working at the cameras of the place operate those doors. When someone comes, they zoom in and the camera identifies them for the guards. A profile clear with picture shows up on screen, and on it says whether they have authorisation to enter."
As he said that, the doors snapped open. They all entered.
The three lost their breath at what they saw.
"Holy…" Dante gasped.
They were in a massive circular room, with a large glass circle separating it into a doughnut-like room. On the outer ring of the circle there was loads of machinery, and seats. The outer ring was obviously just an observational ring.
On the inner ring, however, there were several operating tables, like those found in hospitals. On most of them was a demon, but others were left bare if not for a golden, yellowish substance.
A scientist wearing a surgeon's uniform walked over to them, beaming. He pulled down the half-mask and was held out his hand, and was about to introduce himself when Raelson did it for him.
"This is the man in charge here, Professor Harris Gray."
They took his hand one by one and shook it.
"No need to introduce yourselves!" he exclaimed excitedly "I mean, everyone knows who you are!"
Dante got the sudden impression that this was a man that he would under other circumstances call a geek. Most likely kept in here most of his life and in terrible physical condition. He was heavily bespectacled, his hair went down to the top of his clothes, and was almost literally a bush.
"Well, Mr. Gray," Bayle said "How are things progressing?"
His expression changed drastically to almost glum.
"Not so well," he said. He turned and pointed to the tables with the yellow substance on them, which Dante now recognised as sand.
"The two hooded ones exploded into sand the moment we opened them up. There was nothing to see…" his expression changed once again to almost irritated "It doesn't make sense, though! How could a being made entirely of sand go around killing people! You don't see sand castles committing homicide, do you? -"
He was about to continue, but Dante interrupted.
"I can answer that. Those demons never lived by their own life force. They never had any. Y'see, the higher-up devil that made them in the first place gave them a sort of power to do what they were told."
Gray looked confused.
"That can't be right! How could a living being possibly grant another life power without reproduction! I mean, what sort of power could it possibly give? Nuclear? I Highly doubt that. Nothing fits. Magnetic power, kinetic, light, heat or any of the others wouldn't work, so how -"
"This is where the human science fails," Vergil butted in "They fail to recognise the real power. Demons have many different kinds of powers at their disposal, that no human has probably even seen until these times. Battle, impenetrable light that prevents attacks, transporting…"
"Ok, I'll stop you there," Granson said "Can we please just keep going on with what's happening? I don't need a lecture right about now. Gray, what about the others? What did you find out about them?"
Gray looked a little happier and regained his excited appearance.
"Apart from that puppet thing - it was made completely out of a block of wood - we haven't done too much else. We've only got the things since this morning, and you have to be careful. But, the lizard one was a brilliant success! It's organs are almost completely similar to that of a normal reptile! The only real differences were…"
"Yes?" Bayle said hopefully.
"Tougher hide, of course. The heart was much bigger, and had a whole extra section on it. We're guessing it's to make extra blood quickly, because we found an interesting thing at their claws… … The arteries split into two. The first led the blood to a vein, of course, but the other went right up to their knuckles and ended at a clod of skin that was surrounded by muscle. It seems that they are able to use the muscle to move the skin clod… but it doesn't make sense!"
"Why?" Vergil said slyly, knowing most of this already.
"Opening the skin would only make them bleed! What purpose would that have! It's not a good defence mechanism, as any animal that hunts it would only be attracted to the smell!"
"Think," Dante said, having an answer ready "How big was that artery stump?"
"Pretty big, I suppose…" Gray trailed off.
"And what do you think would happen if the lizard made blood continuously flow into it?"
"Well…with the stump that big… … it would all start pressurising…"
"And then what would happen if it opened up the skin?"
"The blood would fire out… … but, of course! And then the extra large heart would quickly reproduce the blood for it… but how did you know that?"
"I killed plenty of the buggers." Dante replied with a grin "And learned about that blood thing the hard way. Lucky my coat was red or it would've stained…"
"Ahem," Vergil interrupted, preventing Dante from trailing off.
"Right. And what about the other two?"
"We've barely touched them," Gray said "Lucky you're here, you can watch us!"
"Yeah, lucky…" Tailor grumbled.
Gray didn't notice and continued grinning, then put the half mask back over his mouth.
"No time like the present!" he announced in a muffled tone.
After about ten minutes of getting his team ready, Gray flicked on the huge light to illuminate the demons completely. He nodded to the doctors and scientists around him in the inner circle (The others watched on from behind the large glass). They all focused on one of them. They would take this one at a time. A doctor approached the huge headwear covering the demon's head and face. He cut his fingers and curse loudly.
Gray laughed and took out two tools that looked strangely like pliers, and gripped them on both sides of the demon's head and gently pulled the mask off, then placed it on the table.
There were some gasps from the weaker hearted people present as they looked at the demon's face. It was almost completely like a human's, except where the eyes should have been there was smooth skin. The nose was extremely short and narrow, barely going half an inch away from the face. The lips were black and had small blisters on it, due to lack of water and the heat of the desert on which it was captured. It had no hair whatsoever, and, of course, no Adam's apple.
"I can see why they were those masks…" Tailor muttered to Dante, who nodded, his mouth agape.
The demon was stripped of all spiked armour, gauntlets, vanguards and all, then the linen shirt and shorts. It's chest had plenty of muscle covering it, a 'six pack' plus more on it. It's arms had bulging biceps, more than any had seen on a regular person, and almost every other part of it's body where muscle could fit was covered. The only thing that made it stand out from a human's body was the lack of any genitals.
Then, they put the knife into it's chest.
Dante, Tailor and Bayle looked away, having no intention to look. Vergil remained indifferent, not showing any emotion as usual while watching. Granson and Raelson endured watching with grimaced faces.
After a half an hour the operation stopped. Gray and other washed their hands and they all agreed. It was almost exactly a humans body, save the face and the piles of extra muscle.
Gray returned to them without any expression, his professional side coming out.
"Well," he said "Nothing special. No point in looking at the other one, it's the same breed."
"You're sure you looked at everything?" Raelson asked, looking disappointed "Nothing remotely unexpected?"
"Nothing."
Dante and Vergil exchanged glances. Until that moment, they had not known of a single demon that was unique in some way. It seemed like every demon had to be different in some way. It seemed highly unlikely that the enemy would choose a completely normal demon without any powers as their main soldier for the war.
"What about their helmet?" Dante asked "What about that?"
"It was strange enough, but not enough to label as 'magic' or anything. It kinda reminded me of a psycho mask. The front part, anyway. It had a bunch of holes for the thing to breath through, and two for it's nose. Of course, just flat metal where the eyes should have been. The only difference was that was black, and that it covered it's entire head. The back had countless spikes - black as well - that pointed downwards, like spiky hair. Nothing else, apart from the chain mail that came out of it to protect it's neck."
"Nothing else? No marks on the skin or anything? No signs or anything at all?"
"Just a tattoo. On it's right arm on the upper bicep. The armour stops just above to show it."
"Maybe for good reason." Vergil stated, having never turned to face Gray when he came "I suggest you check it."
"What!" the real Gray shone out again "Go back into operation just because we didn't study his tattoo? No!"
"It's a demon. Anything could mean everything. Go back and check it," Vergil said.
"No, it'll be a waste of time!" Gray argued "And look at me when I'm talking to you!"
Vergil sighed and turned to glare at Gray. "I know what I'm talking about, Gray, you had better check the thing."
Gray turned to the others, looking for their opinion.
Raelson nodded, feeling that Vergil might be on to something.
Gray went speechless for a moment, then sighed heavily. He turned to the rest of the room and yelled; "Okay, get your gear back on, people! We're going back in!"
There were some grumbles and even a few moans, but they all did as they were ordered.
"I still think that this is a waste of time…" Gray grumbled "But no… if we left now, we could get to lunch first…"
Nobody listened.
After a few minutes, the team was back in the inner circle and fixing their gloves on.
"Alright, folks," Gray called out "Let's make this quick, lunch will be served soon."
He went up to the demon they hadn't touched yet (the other one had been taken out) and took off the armour and clothing.
"Hang on," he said "This one has a different gauntlet. Not that it matters… but just in case…"
He got someone to take it to the lab where they were inspecting the demon weaponry. He turned to face his subject, then took another look at the demon's malformed face. He froze.
"Did anyone notice the lump below this one's throat?" he asked.
They all shook their heads.
"Right, we'll sort that out later, first the tattoo…"
He inspected it. Nothing strange. A circle with patterns, and a burning blade in the centre. He reached out and touched it with his gloved hand.
Nothing.
He turned to look at the twins and the others through the glass with a smug expression.
He turned back to the doctors and scientists.
"All right, get your gear ready… I expect they'll want us to dissect it next, to them it's a matter of wasting time…" he announced, dimming to a murmur.
Then, the unexpected happened; the tattoo let out a bright green light, turning everything around it a bright shade of green. Gray and the others shielded their eyes.
"What the hell?"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Egypt. That Moment.
Pontius halted. He had felt something strange. Strange, but he knew exactly what it was.
"Sir?" Joel asked cautiously.
They were in a chamber away from the rest. Joel was gripping a small sword and was in a stance that Pontius had just shown him.
"I will continue your training some other time…" Pontius announced "… … for now, there is something important I must tend to."
Joel struggled to hide his relief. He didn't exactly hate training, but his muscles ached, he felt tired, and waiting for Pontius to start a new sentence wasn't the most exciting pastime ever.
As Pontius left the chamber, Joel sighed and rested against the wall.
Pontius hurried to the chamber that most of the order were in.
He found Crìnge among the crowd watching the latest duel.
"Crìnge," he called out. Crìnge turned in his direction "…we have, yet another problem."
Crìnge looked almost irritated as he came over to Pontius' side, out of earshot of the others.
"What now?" he asked, almost exasperatedly.
"I don't know where or how… … but the humans have one of our soldiers."
"How do you know this?" He asked quietly.
"It is one of the 'captain' demons I made… …one of those capable of speech."
Crìnge looked thoughtful for a second then stated;
"Of course. We kept a tracker on them… … I suppose you made the tracker tell you where they were, rather than anyone else?"
"That one, at least… … but, what will we do?"
"I don't know. But we have to do something, we're on a shortage of soldiers at the moment… and we need to keep care of any we already have…well, first of all, you may as well enable it to speak human languages…"
He paused for a second, busy in his own thoughts. Suddenly, a mischievous glint came into his eyes. He grinned.
"Give 'em hell. Trigger the thing."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
During the while that Pontius and Crìnge discussed the course of action, Gray and his team had cut open the skin under the tattoo to find nothing unusual at all. The light must have come from the tattoo itself, which seemed impossible.
The scientist that had been sent to bring the extra gauntlet of the demon to the weapon research had come back, and was shocked to find what they had discovered about the tattoo. She immediately put on her half mask and joined the rest.
"Right," Gray stated "Let's just sew up the skin and we'll look at the rest of this thing. It's different to the other one… it has an Adam's apple, which means that it has vocal chords. Let's see what else there is."
After the skin on the arm was replaced, Gray went to the chest with his knife, ready to open up yet another demon.
That's when it happened.
There was a flash of light, and suddenly the demon had red electricity flowing around it's body. Gray jumped, startled. He glanced back at the others, who all had shocked expressions, many of their jaws dropped.
"Alright, buddy," Gray muttered as he went over to the demon again "That won't work. We're still gonna cut you up."
Some people behind him laughed and relaxed a little. Others still looked slightly scared.
Then, just before the knife came into contact with the body, the demon's eyes sprang open.
Unfortunately, Gray wasn't looking at the eyes and made a small cut in the demons abdomen.
With a roar the demon grabbed Gray by the neck. Gray tried to scream, but all that came out was a gurgle. The red electricity came to close to comfort to him, and sweat was almost pouring out of him.
He watched with amazement as the cut he inflicted started to close in.
By then, guards were streaming in, all heavily armed. The scientists and doctors merely watched in horror as they kept out of arms reach of the demon.
But, still, out of arms reach was still not out of harms reach.
The guards pointed at the demon when it brought Gray up to shield it. The guards halted.
At this point, Dante and Vergil were speeding towards the entrance of the inner circle, swords drawn.
Suddenly and slowly the demon let out an eerie sound that was unmistakable as a laugh.
It pointed to Gray and signalled, with it's free hand, a sideways motion that obviously meant that it was going to kill Gray.
"…Put down your weapons," it croaked.
There was a pause for a moment or two. Although they had clearly seen Gray discover the vocal chords, they were amazed at the demon's speech.
Slowly, the guards put down their firearms. But, the demon could see Dante and Vergil at the entrance.
"You too." he barked simply.
The twins exchanged glances. They had never found themselves in a situation like this. This was the first intelligent regular demon they had encountered.
"I SAID PUT THEM DOWN!" the demon roared, and Gray winced.
Dante glared at the demon for a while, before placing Alastor slowly on the ground. Vergil looked at the demon with disbelief for a whole ten seconds before placing Yamato gently on the ground.
The demon slowly strode over to where it's armour was discarded. Bit by bit, it placed the linen clothing and armour on, pausing now and then to look at the guards and the twins, searching thoroughly for any signs of movement towards their weaponry.
"My blade," it spoke.
Gray made a choking noise. The demon loosened the grip.
"It's not here…" Gray paused for breath "…it's in a different lab."
The demon seemed to growl at this. Gray whimpered.
After tightening it's grip on Gray again, the demon placed it's left gauntlet back on, the one that hadn't been taken off.
It looked back at the guards to glare at them and make a demand when it noticed something. The one cloaked in blue was no longer there. Sensing something behind it, it swerved quickly to face Vergil, behind him, fist clenched.
"Back off, human!" it threatened "Or this one dies!"
Vergil seemed highly offended at this remark. He glared at the thing for a second, then spoke.
"Watch who you call human, scum."
The demon laughed, sounding not to far from a choking sound.
"You are in no condition to call me anything, weakling!"
It tightened it's grip on Gray's neck for emphasis. Gray gurgled for a while, until his eyes slowly closed.
The demon noticed this, then growled out of contempt for the human, then hurled the body at the guards. Before anyone could react, the demon seized Vergil by the neck and tried to use him as a new hostage.
"Pathetic human." it growled "Couldn't even resist slight pressure on the neck."
If the demon had held Vergil for them to be face-to-face, he would have noticed Vergil give a rare smirk.
There was a blue flash of light, pushing the demon back from Vergil, then Vergil rushed at it and gave it a full-bodied tackle, knocking the both of them into the glass wall surrounding the inner circle.
The guards all retrieved their weapons of the floor, as did Dante, and opened fire on the demon.
Vergil recovered from the impact of the glass, then pinned the demon down and started beating it across the face.
The demon, being in a 'triggered' form, and being a captain of it's kind, managed to kangaroo-kick Vergil off, who landed neatly on his feet.
The demon inspected it's opponent. Thinking quickly, it dashed towards the group of scientists and doctors that were fearfully watching, dodging bullets the whole way. It picked a doctor up with both hands and held it high over it's head, then flung the shrieking person at his attacker.
Vergil leaped up to try and catch the person. Skilfully grasping the person, he landed on his feet and let the person down. The demon immediately grabbed him from behind, then slammed him into the ground, pinned him down, and was about to pummel him with it's gauntlets when it felt a blade at the back of it's neck.
"Get up. Don't even think of trying anything. You do and I won't hesitate in killing you." a voice came.
The demon obediently rose and stood. Vergil rose from the ground and let the blue sphere of light bind into his body.
Dante kept Alastor pointed at the thing as he stepped round to face the demon. He smirked at the glare the demon gave him.
"You really should have kept a nice boy and stayed where you were," he taunted, bringing Alastor up to the demon's throat.
The demon quit glaring at him, and it was slowly replaced by a glance filled with thought.
"You two are no humans. What are you?"
Dante laughed loudly at this comment. He turned to smile at the guards who were watching with shock.
"Why does it always seem that they learn only after they get their face beaten in?"
The demon, seizing it's chance, quickly took a step back from Alastor, as Dante's guard dropped, then sweep kicked him off his feet.
Dante landed hard on his back. The demon grabbed Alastor, which was in the air, after Dante dropped it as he fell.
"Stay right where you are…" the demon growled, then baring it's teeth in what looked like a distorted smile "…like a nice boy."
Then, something completely unexpected happened. Alastor started sparkling, even more so than usual, then zoomed out of the demon's grip, spun a few times, then impaled the demon through the chest.
"Oh, yeah, I should've mentioned," Dante laughed as he got to his feet "My sword likes to impale people before it decides it likes them."
The demon gurgled a few times, unable to respond. Dante gripped Alastor, picked it out of the demon's body, and, before it could rise, he brought it swiftly back down onto the demon's neck.
There was a horrible scream of anguish, before the demon started to quickly decompose.
Dante looked up through the glass, to where Raelson, Bayle and Granson were.
Suddenly none of them had a doubt that Dante and Vergil were as they said they were.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Joe: No, don't worry, this isn't another paragraph. It's the end of it.
That's it, breath easy.
Feels nice? Must feel like you want an award for just finishing the damned thing.
I know I do.
Yes, yes, it took a hell of a long time for me to update, but, it's big. That's an excuse, isn't it?
Oh, and I'm really, really sorry about not replying to any reviews. I never really found much time.
So, the next chapter will most likely not come up for a long time. It won't be as long as this…
Seriously, this thing was over three times bigger than my first chapter.
Well,
Ciao.