Avatar: Taste the Blood
Chapter 14
Follow Your Gut
FUCK YEAH!!! Here we go, invasion time people! I've got a whole bag of goodies for you good little boys and girls, from DMC references, to a whole bunch of shit blowing up! We've got one hell of a ride coming our way, from now and next chapter, so keep your hands and feet within the webpage at all time, don't look down, and clench up your asshole, otherwise you just might SHIT YOUR PANTS!!!
(I'm building this up way too much aren't I?)
Today was the day. The invasion force, or at least the forces they could gather, would arrive today. Over the last few days Aang had been freaking out over the whole thing, but with a good nights sleep under his belt, they'd hoped he'd mellow out some. Now it was Sokka who was on red alert.
He was currently hunched over a series of maps, reviewing their plans. Katara handed him a cup of tea which she had to force into his hand to get him to drink. Out of no where Aang jumped up from bed, followed slowly by Dante, who had Rebellion over his shoulder, and his Devil Arms secured as well.
"Top of the morning Momo!" said Aang cheerfully.
"Hey there campers, who's pumped up for today!" shouted Dante.
Katara stood up from her seat near her brother. "Sounds like you two slept well."
"Like baby moose-lions! I'm ready to face the Fire Lord!"
Dante shrugged. "I wanted to sleep in a little more, but he kept buggin' me to get outta my bedroll."
"So Aang, what's you plan for taking him on?" asked Toph, "are you gonna get your glow on and hit em with a little avatar state action?"
Now he looked a little down. "I can't; when Azula shot me with lightning, my seventh chakra was locked, cutting off my connection from all the cosmic energy in the universe."
After a moment, Toph replied. "Ya know what I just heard; Blah blah cosmic energy, blah blah something about space."
"It's complicated, I read through a bunch of my dad's library and I still don't understand some of it," commented Dante.
Meanwhile, Katara was looking out over the sea. There was a large cloud of fog rolling in, and it worried her.
"Sokka, you don't the fog will delay the invasion do you?"
Sokka looked up and smiled. "No, that is the invasion!"
Sure enough, out of the fog came a small fleet of Water Tribe ships; Sokka's father and Bato at the fore-front of the formation. Toph and Aang quickly traveled down to the beach below, lifting up rock and stone from beneath the water, creating a makeshift port. The boats docked, and Hakoda was the first one onto the docks.
At this point, Dante, Katara, and Sokka had joined Aang and Toph down at the beach, and the two siblings ran off to greet their father. Meanwhile, Dante watched as the fighters all unloaded from the boats. Most of them were Earth Kingdom rebels and Water Tribe warriors, but there were a few that didn't seem the soldier type.
Katara greeted someone named Haru if he heard right. Aang brought Toph and him along. He guessed this must be a friend of theirs before he or even Toph joined the group.
"Guys, this is Haru. When we met him his town was controlled by the Fire Nation, so he had to hide his Earthbending."
"Katara inspired me and my father to take back our village," he said as an older man approached, presumably his father. He gripped both their shoulders.
"You helped us find out courage Katara, now we're here to help you."
All of a sudden Toph turned ninety degrees and slip into a fighting stance.
"No way, is that…"
Out of no where a huge blubbery man picked up Toph with a goofy smile.
"Hippo happy to see Blind Bandit!"
"You guys here for a rematch?" she spat.
The smaller, but no less formidable man next to them spoke up. "Negatory, the Boulder and the Hippo no longer fight for others entertainment! Now we fight for our Kingdom!"
Toph smirked. "Sweet."
Dante was about to make some smartass comment when he was cut off by an explosion. Everyone's heads turned to the plume of smoke that rose up from the confines of the furthest ship. Out of the ship rolled a boy in a wheelchair, and a man who could easily be mistaken as a mad scientist as well as The Duke and Pipsqueak.
"Was that a new invention?" asked Sokka.
"Yes," replied the man, "but unfortunately the incendiary capabilities of peanut sauce turned out to be a failure."
"You're making peanut sauce bombs?"
"They're destructive," commented Pipsqueak.
"And delicious!" said The Duke.
Sokka decided to turn the conversation back to business. "Were you able to complete the plans I sent you?"
"Yes, and I think the Fire Nation will be quite surprised."
The boy in the wheelchair reached down. "Aang, my dad and I made this for you."
He presented Aang with a staff. It wasn't like his old one, it didn't have that handcrafted look to it, but it did seem much more sturdy and practical. Aang took in his hand, and folded out the wings, which were now blue instead of the old airbender orange.
"A new glider, this is amazing!"
"And as a special feature, I added a snack compartment!"
"Oh…well I'm sure that'll come in handy."
Dante was beginning to lose interest in the conversation until the scientist turned his attention onto him.
"You're Dante if I'm not mistaken, correct?"
Dante raised his eyebrow. "What's it to you old man?"
"Just one moment please."
With that, he rushed back into the confines of the boat. Dante looked to Sokka for an answer, but the Water Tribe warrior just smirked and let him wait in confusion. In a matter of minutes, he was back, carrying two odd looking…things. They each had a handle that curved forward, as well as a trigger placed on the arch of the curve. There was some intricate metal work on the top, some sort of mechanism probably attached to the trigger. Both were made of wood, though one had thin white colored metal adorning its handle and sides, while the other had black colored metal.
"So, what are they exactly?" asked Dante.
"They're old experiments back from when I was forced to develop weapons for the Fire Nation. I call them, 'Pistols'. In a nutshell, when the trigger is pulled, this piece of flint will shower sparks onto a fine and very combustible powder, which will in turn cause a small explosion, propelling a metallic ball forward a very high speeds, capable of easily piercing armor and human flesh."
Dante picked one up. They were light compared to his other weapons, and they looked pretty cool, but if he developed them for the Fire Nation, why hadn't they been using them. It sounded like a pretty deadly weapon.
"What's wrong with them? I figure the Fire Nation would be jumping all over these things."
The scientist rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see the problem is once the ball is fired, it takes quite some time to reload the necessary ammunition. Much too long to be effective against an opponent who can bend; I had originally scrapped the project. However, when Sokka told me you know a little something about things of the occult nature, I figured I had nothing to lose by having you at least look at them. If you can find some sort of…magic, or something to solve that problem, then you can keep them."
Dante smirked, looking over the pistol again. He was pretty sure there was some sort of seal he could place on the weapon to solve the reloading problem.
"Alright, I should be able to fix it before the invasion. Then I'll give these puppies a test run on the Fire Nation."
About an hour passed as people get unloaded and made sure everyone was there. Then the briefing was set up. The Water Tribe warriors and the rest of the invasion force sat patiently as Sokka clutched his scrolls and maps for dear life.
"Don't worry, you'll do great," reassured Hakoda.
He took a deep breath and stepped up to the stage.
"Good morning everyone!"
At first he started off okay, but as soon as that sentence left his lips, he tripped over his own feet and hit the floor. He scrambled back up and held onto his scrolls.
"Um…so, as you know, today we're invading the Fire Nation! I mean, I know you know that, because otherwise why would you be here?"
He was laughing nervously, and dropped all his maps. He picked them back up and posted them to the wooden display board.
"Not the Fire Lords palace is here, uh no, uh wait, uh wait, uh wait, its here!" he said after flipping through about four wrong maps.
"And there's an eclipse today, and Aang's gonna fight the Fire Lord, and the Firebenders won't have any fire to use so, that's good for us and…um…I'm sorry, let me start at the beginning."
For a moment he was silent and tried to regain his composure. Dante; and everyone in the group really, had a mind to get him off the stage and stop him from making himself into a bigger idiot than normal. Suddenly Sokka started talking again.
"Katara and I first found Aang in an iceberg. Now I didn't like Aang at first, but I grew to love him over time, then we went to the Southern Air Temple where Aang used to live and then we met the Kyoshi warriors and…"
Meanwhile everyone was either drifting off, or watching in wonder at the speed at which Sokka was talking.
"Wow," said Katara, "when he said beginning he meant beginning, beginning."
At this point Hakoda stood up and grabbed Sokka's shoulder.
"Thank you Sokka, why don't you take a break?"
Hesitantly, Sokka agreed and went back to sit down.
Hakoda turned to the crowd. "Now let me just clarify a few points for everyone! Today is the Day of Black Sun, and I want to thank you all for your self-sacrifice and you courage. There are two steps to the invasion, a naval stage and a land stage. To gain sea access to the Fire Nation capitol, we have to get past our first major obstacle here, the Great Gates or Azulon."
Hakoda flipped over to the next map. "Next, we hit land and we hit hard. We must fight past their battlements, and secure the plaza tower. Once we do that, it's up to the royal palace. At that point, the eclipse will begin."
The Boulder suddenly raised his hand. "Excuse me, the Boulder is confused. Isn't the point to invade during the eclipse, when the Firebenders are powerless?"
"The eclipse only lasts eight minutes, not enough time for the whole invasion, and the royal palace is heavily guarded by Firebenders, so that's where we'll need the eclipse advantage the most. When this is finished, the avatar will have defeated the Fire Lord! We will have control of the Fire Nation capitol, and this war will be over!"
This earned loud cheers from the crowd of soldiers and fighters. There were still some preparations to be made, and Dante had to tinker with his new pistols a bit, but that didn't stop him for noticing the discouraged look on Sokka's face.
After everyone was ready to go, the headed out; for a while, it was a pretty smooth ride, and Dante was able to not only find a right seal to place on his pistols, but apply them to completion. He had used a Seal of Matter Replication. It was any easy seal to apply if you knew it, all it required was a little of his blood and a tap from Rebellion to give it a demonic charge. The seal recreates the desired object or objects as many times as needed wherever the seal is placed.
In this case, he needed to recreate the powder and the metallic ball. He had been able to etch the seal into the firing tube after he had taken the thing apart and put it back together again using a few more demonic tricks. Now all he had to do was think of names for them. All his other weapons had names, and these would be no different. That was when he was cut short however; they had arrived at the gates.
"There they are," said Hakoda, peering through his telescope, "The great gates of Azulon."
"I don't see any gates," said Katara, confused.
Hakoda didn't seem to pay the comment any mind, and simply issued orders. "Katara, you and the swampbenders whip us up some fog cover."
"We'll sneak past them statues just like we did that Fire Navy blockade."
Katara and two swampbenders got into formation on the ship and used waterbending to heat up the water around the ships and create a cloud of steam. The gas rolled over their vessels and seemingly disguised them from the eyes of whoever was manning the gates.
"Keep it up, we're almost through!" said Hakoda.
Just then, alarms began to sound and they knew they were spotted. A giant net began to rise up from the water, and when it was as high as it could go the two dragon statues that held up the net breathed fire and set the rope ablaze. The ships still sailed forward even as everyone saw the raging flames and the buzz of the Fire Nation motor boats.
Luckily, they had a plan for this particular contingency.
"Everyone below deck!" shouted Hakoda.
No one needed to be told twice, and they all rushed down stairs. Hakoda leaned over and gripped his sons shoulder. "Let's hope your invention works."
Dante and Sokka were the last ones down. They closed up the hatch to the deck, and the demon hunter followed as they climbed down a concealed hatch in the floor to a second vehicle entirely that was attached to the underside of the boats.
They were pretty dim, but there was a lot more room to move around. As they departed, and descended further underwater, Dante looked out one of the window, looking down and seeing a few fish.
"You've really outdone yourself this time son," Dante heard Hakoda say.
"Yeah, congratulation Sokka," said Toph, obviously woozy, "you managed to invent an even worse method of travel than flying."
The duke took off his thin wooden helmet and offered it to Toph, which she promptly threw up in.
"Oh how the mighty have fallen," Dante chuckled, looking down at Toph.
"Well I just came up with the design," said Sokka, "the mechanist did all the work."
"Oh don't sell yourself short my boy; it was your idea to use waterbending to make the sub sink and float. Brilliant, though your original designs were a bit difficult to decipher. Unfortunately, there was one problem I couldn't fix. The subs have a limited air supply, before we reach the beaches, we'll need to resurface."
Some time later, the time to resurface came. Everyone stepped out of the subs to stretch their limbs while the supply of air was refilled. Aang jumped over to the sub the rest of the gang had been on.
"So, this is it huh?"
Sokka grinned. "Are you ready for the Fire Nation to know the avatar is alive?"
"I'm ready," he replied with a stone serious face.
Before Dante knew it, everyone was moving in for a group hug.
"I hope you kick some major Fire Lord butt Twinkletoes."
After that, while still in hug formation, they all looked to Dante. He glanced back, knowing what they wanted from him.
"Alright, what the hell," he sighed with a ghost of a smile on his face.
He stepped over and joined in, though it was short lived, as Hakoda's booming voice grabbed the attention of the invasion force.
"Everyone listen up, the next time we re-surface, it'll be on the beaches! So stay alert and fight smart! Now break times over, back in the subs!"
Toph, Sokka, and Dante headed off for the hatch back into the sub. The white haired swords master took note of the fact that Aang and Katara stayed behind. He had an idea of the direction their conversation would be taking, and he definitely didn't want to stay and be a moment killer, as tempting as it was. A month or two ago, maybe, but with all the crap he'd gone through with those four, Aang in particular, they were some of the very few people he'd exempt from his antics…most of the time.
With one last glance back, he hopped into the sub with the rest of the crew. As he walked up to the front control panel, Sokka looked impatient and passed him, heading for the ladder that led up to the top deck of the sub. He would have stopped him, but by the time he'd turned around he was already poking his head out the hatch.
He sealed up the hatch again, dropped down into the sub again, and the subs moved downward back into the water.
The rest of the ride towards the beach was relatively uneventful. Other than Toph getting a little sick again, nothing much was worthy of mention. Dante had double checked the seal on his new pistols, made sure all his weapons were properly fashioned, and lastly and most importantly, made sure his coat was clean. The avatar wasn't going to be the only surprise in the in battle today; everyone was about to witness the return of Redgrave.
Hakoda looked through the scope to the surface. "Alright everyone, into formation; Earthbenders, into you're tanks! It's going to be a rough ride!"
Toph and the other Earthbenders jumped down to the lowest level of the sub where the vehicles were held. Dante stood up and looked out the widows out into the water. Out of nowhere metal harpoons flew down through the water, just barely missing them as they made evasive maneuvers.
"Ready the torpedoes!" shouted Hakoda.
Dante could hear the clanks as the ice covered projectiles were loaded up.
"Launch!"
A slight thud hit the sub as the torpedo volley was fired, colliding with the metal grates that impeded their progress. With them out of the way, it was easy for the subs to get through. Now it was nothing but a waiting game, and Dante was getting antsy in anticipation, so much so that he voluntarily took a position at the front line with Hakoda, just a bit in front of Sokka.
He could hear the muffled explosions as the Fire Nation sent more metallic missiles at them. He counted the seconds until the doors finally opened. All of a sudden the sounds of the battle assaulted his ears and the rush of adrenaline was instant and satisfying. Once the tanks rolled out and the solders were under a significant amount of cover, they all let out a war cry, and charged forward.
Everyone quickly took formation. The tanks covered and surrounded the soldiers as they made their advance; meanwhile, Dante had jumped up and hitched a ride on top of one of the long centipede-like vehicles. He paid the turrets almost no mind at all as he eyed the gates, waiting for them to open and the courtyard to fill with adversaries.
He soon got his wish. The metal gates opened, and out poured a file of tanks. Finally with something to do, Dante leaped off the tank and ran ahead of the formation. The tanks unleashed a volley of fireballs, but Dante either dodged them, or simply shrugged them off. With a swift motion, he brought Rebellion back and launched it forward like a buzz-saw, slicing the first tank clean in half.
With the first attacker out of the war, he broke right and moved to one that was already assaulting the Earthbender tanks. He called Rebellion back, and once it had returned to his hand, he thrust it into the tanks side. Then, with a mighty heave, lifted it up with his sword and flung it up and across the valley that made up the beach, colliding with of the turrets.
At this point, the Earthbender tanks were moving up and crushing the rest of the tanks, while the swampbenders took care of their rear flank. Dante, not wanting to be shown up, again ran past the tanks and ended up facing down a team of firebenders atop mounts, firing small mobile artillery. A group of Water Tribe warriors -Hakoda and Sokka included- showed up behind him.
Dante smiled, put away Rebellion, and pulled out his pistols. In theory, all he should have to do now is pull the cock back and pull the trigger now that reloading had been eliminating; simple point and click. He pointed the white one in his right hand at his first target and pulled the trigger. The ball exploded out of the barrel with a little more force that he Dante was ready for, but it still hit somewhere along the lines of where he wanted. He was aiming for the chest, but it ended up hitting him in the bottom right abdomen. Either way, he fell from his mount.
To his right, Sokka leaped atop the lead rider and sliced his spear in half before knocking him from his mount. Sokka's attention turned to his father as he was attacked by a firebender and a soldier. With a well timed feint he was able to disarm the soldier before following it up with a low swipe, tripping up the firebender. As the elder Water Tribe warrior turned to face two more firebenders, Dante fired off the round from his black left handed pistol, downing another rider. He still had to get used to the recoil, it was throwing off his aim a bit.
He suddenly heard a whistling sound slowly growing louder. He turned around and looked up as one of the turret missiles slammed down right in front of him, blowing him backwards. He crashed back down to the ground on his back and tumbled a few more feet before finding his balance and standing up.
"Dante, you alright?" he heard Sokka call.
He shook his head to clear his dizziness. "Yeah, just peachy!"
"Sokka, we've gotta take out those battlements! It's our only chance!"
Sokka looked up. "I've got an idea."
"You guys take care of the right side, I've got own idea's for the left side!" shouted Dante. They both nodded and headed back down the line. Dante however, activated his Devil Trigger and whipped out Rebellion again. Now in his devil form, he stretched the wings the transformation granted him, and flew into the air, heading for the end of the left cliff.
A few of the missiles tried to shoot him down, but he was too small and swift for them to hit. Once he safely landed he turned to face the first battlement. He brought Rebellion back and began to charge a drive attack. For what he was planning to do, he'd need a lot of energy, so much so it took him almost three minutes to fully charge his blade.
When it got to the point that he doubted the broadsword could contain much more, he let out a demonic roar as he swung the blade, releasing the wave of red energy. The Drive was so wide, not to mention dense, that it easily sliced it's way down the entire row of battlements all the way to the other end of the cliff. He had completely annihilated the left flank defense in one attack, but it had left him winded. His Devil Trigger dropped as soon as he let the attack go.
He stood up shakily as Appa landed next to him. Katara jumped down from the bison and helped him up.
"I'm okay, I just need a breather. My strength should be back in a minute."
She nodded. "Come on, we've got to get my dad behind the lines a bit as it is, you can take a short rest there."
He didn't responded back, but simply climbed aboard with the younger girl's assistance. Once comfortably in the saddle, he looked over at Hakoda, who looked pretty banged up as Sokka held his arm over his shoulder for support.
They flew downward back towards the battle. With the battlements eliminated, their advance had quickened pace, and the Fire Nation was falling back. They landed behind some of the Earthbender tanks, and loaded Hakoda off Appa. Dante slid down, finding he could at least walk, but it would take a bit longer for him to be able to fight again. Katara began to heal the wounds he'd sustained fighting on the battlements.
"How does that feel dad?"
"A…a little better…I need to get back…to the troops."
He tried to get up, but Sokka and Katara, as well as his wounds, kept him down.
"You're hurt, badly. You can't fight anymore."
"Everyone's counting on me to lead this mission Katara, I won't let them down," he protested.
"Can't you heal him any faster?" asked Sokka.
"I'm doing everything I can."
Sokka glanced back at the battle. "I'll do it."
"No offense Sokka, but you're not exactly mister healing hands."
"I think he means the invasion Katara," pointed out Dante.
He stood up. "He's right."
"Don't be crazy Sokka!"
"Maybe I am a little crazy, but the eclipse is about to start and we need to be up that volcano by the time it does."
"You can do this," said Hakoda, "I'm proud of you Sokka."
"I still think you're crazy, but I'm proud of you to," said Katara.
Dante cleared his throat. "As much as I hate to break up this touching family moment, I would like to point out that the clock is still ticking and we're still sorta fighting an invasion here."
Sokka wordlessly put his helmet on and climbed aboard Appa. Dante hopped on as well, and the bison took flight, leaving Katara to continue healing her Father. Down below the battle still raged. The Fire Nation was still being pushed back, but without Hakoda to issue orders, things were beginning to become muddled and disorganized. Appa came down in front of a tank, and using his massive horns, knocked it aside like a play thing. While Sokka turned to give orders in place of his father, Dante leaped off of Appa's head into the fray to buy a little time as well as for the fun of it.
"Banzai!" he shouted as he flew through the air, and whipped out Cerberus, slamming one of the prongs into a tank and piercing it with ice spikes. A number of fire blasts came at him at once, which he was able to twist and turn out of the way of. As he attacked another tank with his nunchuk-like weapon, he heard Sokka give the order to charge, and he knew he had to speed things up.
He didn't know what the world would come to of Sokka of all people started looking cooler than him. With renewed vigor, he placed Cerberus back on his belt, and his instead pulled out Nevan and Rebellion. With a quick tap, he slid and locked Nevan into its scythe form, and he rushed forward dual wielding the broadsword and the sickle.
He rushed in-between two advancing tanks, and with a swipe from each of the weapons, destroyed their wheels, leaving them both to turn and crash into each other. With those two vehicles out of the way, he rushed up the stairs that led to the main gates into the city. Dozens of guards stood at the ready, and they were about to all attack.
That is until they saw his coat.
Up until now Dante had been fighting nothing but tanks and battlements, so they obviously couldn't see him very well. The artillery team was the only actual ground troops he'd fought, but he hadn't been using Rebellion then. Now though, with his red coat flapping, his broadsword shining, his white hair in the wind, and dozens of witnesses, he was finally getting some recognition.
He laughed like a maniac as he brought his weapons to bear. "That's right boys and girls, it's Redgrave!"
I was like detonating a barrel full of blasting jelly.
Some of the soldier panicked, and others began shooting fire blasts or swinging their weapons wilding and nervously. Dante capitalized on the confusion, and took the first opening he got and didn't hold back in the slightest. He was aiming for some blood.
He came up on a soldier wielding a sword first. He had his weapon raised extremely high, and Dante easily cut him down with Rebellion. To keep the momentum going, he them twisted back around and pierced through someone with Nevan. He heard another soldier shouting a battle cry from behind, so he pulled the scythe out of his already defeated adversary, and whipped the weapon around. The blunt side of the Devil Arm collided with the man's skull, most likely fracturing it at least.
With another soldier down, he ducked under a fire blast that from his right and, instinctually thrust Rebellion into the attacker. He heard a yelp of agony, a woman this time from the sound of it, and knew he'd hit his mark. He pulled the sword out again, and turned around to see the rest of his opponents.
One of the spear wielding troops finally got brave and thrust his weapon at him as he was turning around. With a swift feint, the soldier tripped over his own unbalanced weight and Dante easily finished him. With that, he slipped Rebellion back over his shoulder and flipped Nevan into its instrumental form.
"Here comes the pain!"
Dante lifted his hand and struck the cords. Suddenly the bats began to materialize out of the lightning and descended upon the soldiers. He kept making more and more of the bats as they flew among the troops tearing them apart. It didn't take very long, the little creatures were pretty fast workers.
Once the soldiers were nothing more than a bloody mess on the battlefield, Dante looked over at the huge gaping hole now in the wall. The invasion troops had broken through with the explosives, and were now flooding into the city. From what he could see, the defending troops that were left were small in number, so he decided to scout ahead and eliminate troops beyond the other end of the gates.
Lin rushed towards the gates that led into the plaza. She and two others were hurrying to help defend the gates that led into the city. As they ran, she felt nervousness creep up on her. Not because she was about to go into combat, she could come to terms with that. More it was because, somehow, she just knew Dante was nearby. She wasn't sure how, but the fact that just a few weeks ago she'd met someone who turned out to be a legendary swordsman famous for killing Fire Nation soldiers, and now there was an invasion of the capitol city…it was just too much of a coincidence.
She and her two companions turned a corner, only to be caught by surprise when someone dropped down from the roof of one of the buildings. There two loud bangs, and the two she'd been running with fell to the ground in an instant. She only glanced to the side for a moment, but when she turned back, he was gone.
Then she heard a click.
Slowly, she turned around, and she came face to face with the very person she'd just been thinking about. Obviously, Dante was a great deal surprised as well.
"Lin?"
"Dante?"
He slowly put down his pistols and holstered them. She relaxed as well; she go the feeling he wasn't going to hurt her. After all, they might have only known each other for about two days, but they were still friends…weren't they?
"So…what're you doing here?" she asked. She mentally smacked herself for asking such a dumb question; why else would he be here?
"Invading the Fire Nation, you?" he asked casually.
"Defending against the invasion."
He looked moderately surprised. "Really?"
She nodded. "I wanted to be a domestic soldier, remember? I'm still technically in training, but they even called the trainees into combat. It must be pretty bad."
"Right, I remember that," he trailed off.
There was an awkward silence after that. Dante sighed.
"This is sorta a conflict of interest, huh."
"Yeah."
He put his hands on his hips.
"Well look, I'm not gonna ask you to join up with us and betray your country or anything like that, but at the same time, I'm not gonna let you fight."
She frowned at him. "Why not?"
"Because, the soldiers coming this way, unlike me, don't know you; they're gonna want to take you out. Please, just turn around and go somewhere safe, stay out of the fighting."
She stood still. Dante stared back at her, neither of them really willing to turn around and walk the other direction.
"Can I ask you something Dante?"
"Shoot."
"Why?"
Dante raised a curious eyebrow. "Why what?"
"Why is this invasion happening?"
Dante let out another sigh. "You don't have any clue what the Fire Nation's really been doing to people out there, do you?"
She said nothing, just kept staring up at him.
"I'll just say this. Remember that little girl I saved, the one that got me the name Redgrave? What was about to happen to her is in no way an isolated incident."
The statement seemed to rattle her.
"They abuse people, destroy property, separate families, and unjustly imprison people on a daily basis. I know for a fact that for the last century the Fire Lords have been selling the war off as a way to bring wealth to the world. That's a load of bullshit; this isn't about sharing wealth and prosperity Lin, this is a family of madmen trying to achieve world domination. They don't even give a damn about their own soldiers, let alone some defenseless girl in a backwater village halfway around the world."
Dante took a few steps closer to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She almost winced at the sudden physical contact, but remained in place.
"You're a good person Lin, I could tell that the second I met you. You're too good to be serving someone like Ozai. Like I said, I'm not asking you to change sides; I just thought you might like to know a little about the team you're already playing for. Now go, get outta here."
She was still silent and unmoving, soaking in all of what he had said. Was he right; was the Fire Nation really as…evil, as he said they were? What he had told her now left her with seeds of doubt. As much as she wanted to ignore them, she couldn't, why would Dante lie about something like that?
"You there, what're you doing!"
Dante looked up and Lin turned around. There were five domestic troops all standing in fighting stances.
"I asked you a question, what do you think you're doing. That man's part of the invasion force, he's the enemy!" said the lead soldier, a tall, burly, and bald man.
"I…but…I just," Lin stuttered back.
"Kill him, that's an order!"
Lin glanced nervously back at Dante, who hadn't moved an inch.
"What're you waiting for, do it?"
Slowly, Lin turned completely around and stared up at him. He just smiled slightly.
"It's okay, I won't be mad. I can just play possum until they leave," he whispered.
The lead soldier was getting impatient. "Kill him now or I'll kill you both!"
Lin closed her eyes. "Dante…I don't know what to do."
"Just do what your gut tells you."
"That's it, fry them both!" they heard the soldier yell.
Dante looked up; the five soldiers fired their own individual fire blasts. Dante grabbed a hold of Lin and got her safely behind him as the fire closed in. The explosion rocked the immediate area, and initially the soldiers were satisfied. That was until they heard a deafening bang, and their leader fell to the ground, dead.
As the smoke cleared, the remaining soldiers saw Dante unharmed, with his right handed pistol aimed in their general direction. Meanwhile Lin stood next to him, also unharmed.
He glanced down at her.
"It's still not too late, you can sneak attack me and look like a hero."
She looked back up at him, then to the soldiers. She took Dante's advice and listened to her gut. Suddenly her choice was all that much easier to make.
Lin stood up, and with a quick motion, fired off a steady stream of fire back at the soldiers, forcing them to take cover and flee. After they were all gone, Dante placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You didn't have to do that you know. I wasn't gonna make you do any of that, you could have just pretended to kill me, I would have been fine."
"You said to follow my gut, and I did. My gut said that if it was a choice between those soldiers, who were ready to kill me at the drop of a pin just because I wouldn't take someone else's life and you…, I should choose you."
Dante sighed, but smiled. "Well regardless, it looks like I'm stuck with you now."
She grinned back at him. "Now what's that supposed to mean?"
The happy moment was suddenly overshadowed by a feeling of malice. Dante glanced around, trying to find its source. Whatever it was, it was aimed at him.
"What's wrong Dante?"
"Lin, you should really get out of here. I don't know what, but something's coming, and the further you are from me, the better."
Whatever Lin was about to say next was cut off when whatever was coming…well, showed up. There was a loud crash, and both Dante and Lin had to shield their eyes for a moment. When the dust settled, they both stared up at the behemoth before them. Its skin was gray, but its hands and feet seemed to glow with a silvery light. It had an axe-like horn on its head, and it was missing one eye.
It looked down at them and sniffed like a dog looking for a lost bone. "I've finally found you son of Sparda! I've followed your foul stench ever since you stepped foot near this mountain!"
"Dante," asked Lin, "what is that?"
"That Lin, is a seemingly very pissed off demon that want to kill me. Now would be a great time for you to get outta here."
She stood her ground. "No way, if you're fighting, then I'm fighting!"
"You're not even technically part of the army yet Lin," he protested.
"I've been practicing firebending ever sense I was twelve, I've got six years experience under my belt! Don't think I'm a pushover!"
Dante growled and pushed his face into his palm. "I don't doubt your ability to firebend, I'm doubting your ability to fight a twelve meter high demon! I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important, now please, suck up your pride and just hide or something!"
Honestly, she knew that to. She finally gave in and ran down the street, headed into an alleyway, and peaked around the corner so she could still watch the fight. It wasn't quite what Dante had in mind, but it would have to do.
Either way, he pulled out Rebellion; he turned his attention back to the big sack of ugly in front of him.
"Okay big guy, now that that's taken care of, let's dance."
I do hope everyone was satisfied. If not...well there's not much I can do, but feel free to bitch and moan at me about it anyway (coughnotreallycough).
Reviews are appreciated.