Hazbin Devils
Chapter 15 (Dante)
Dante licked his lips in anticipation and tightened his grip on the purple orb. The moment it crushed under pressure; the devil hunter instantly felt a surge of energy course through his body. A heavy pressure seemingly lifted from his tired body and whatever fatigue he had had given way to a sensation he could only describe as being like greased lightning. Broken pieces of the orb dissipated into particles of magic which evaporated into nothingness. Behind him, Charlie and Vaggie looked on in interest. The hell princess clasped her hands in anticipation of something extraordinary while her girlfriend crossed her arms in boredom.
After flexing his fingers for a bit, Dante nodded and smiled. He turned around and held out his right hand in an exaggerated pose and – much to the surprise of the two demon ladies – summoned an exact copy of himself that mirrored his moves perfectly. The two Dantes pretended to reach for their breast pockets and pulled out a rose out of thin air before tossing them at Charlie and Vaggie.
"And you're set free," both said in unison before taking a deep bow.
Charlie caught the rose in her hand while the other rose landed in Vaggie's opened hands as she stared with jaws dropped. Satisfied by the fact he felt nothing at all while pulling off that stunt, Dante dispelled his doppelganger after he gave it a high-five. The demon princess blinked and stared in silence as the rose in her hand dissipated.
"I haven't felt this lively since forever," Dante commented while doing some brisque bounces.
Vaggie closed here jaw and shook her head as if to shake away a daze. She pointed a finger at Dante and asked, "Was that some kind of drug?"
"Winners don't do drugs, Vaggie," Dante replied. "It's an orb, and I've never seen this kind before."
"You mean you just use something without thinking about it? How's that even safe?" Charlie asked with a raised eyebrow.
Dante grinned and poked his chest with a thumb and said, "When you're in the business as long as I have, you'll know. Besides," he lowered his hand and patted the divinity statue. "It's helped me a lot on my journeys. Always something for every occasion."
Charlie went forward to touch the statue out of curiosity. Dante stepped out of the way and waited to see what would happen. Vaggie joined her side and alternated her gaze between her girlfriend and the statue. For a moment, nothing happened. However, before Charlie could lift her hand, she felt a slight warmth on her palm. She froze in place for a split second before quickly pulling back her hand as if she had touched something painful. Vaggie was quick to check up on her but the demon princess gently pushed her away.
"Whoa, that was freaky," she muttered.
"Did you hear something, or see something?" Vaggie asked with concern.
Charlie shook her head while rubbing her hands together. "I think I heard it call my name," she said, although her tone was one of uncertainty.
Dante rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This is interesting. I've never seen the statue help demons before, not fully fledged ones at least. I suppose you have a role to play in all this mess or something," he said while shrugging nonchalantly.
"Not helping, dude," Vaggie said.
"Hey, I'm just guessing and thinking out loud," Dante replied while holding up his hands. Turning to Charlie, he lowered his hands and said, "I'll take my leave, princess. I know you may think I'm being stupid…maybe I am. But, I'm not gonna leave anyone who needs help behind. I will bring back Angel, but I'll not be staying in the hotel after that. It's gonna draw too much attention."
"Dante, you just had your ass kicked by Valentino. That's how strong most of the overlords are. What makes you think you'll win this time?" Charlie asked with a frown.
"I still have a trick or two up my sleeves," Dante said with a confident smile. "Now that I know what he's capable of, it's time to bring out the big guns."
"Fucking hell, dude, you mean you're holding back all this time?!" asked an incredulous Vaggie.
Dante merely gave her a cryptic smile and shrugged. "If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way. You'll have my word that the hotel will remain safe. I can only hope Angel is safe as well."
Vaggie scowled at him. "You seem to forgive him quite quickly even after he tried to betray you."
"Not really, but I am curious about it," Dante remarked while reaching for the doorknob.
"Please, Dante, please don't just throw your life away," Charlie pleaded.
The devil hunter looked back at her, his expression grim but still managed to give her a weak yet assuring smile. Without saying another word, he turned the doorknob and went outside before closing the door behind him. Dante activated his demon form just in time to see Alastor come back from his walk. He was swinging his mic in a jolly manner with the ever-present grin plastered across his face. The radio demon was humming a tune when he paused his walk as Dante neared him.
"My, you're out of bed earlier than expected," Alastor remarked.
"Got stuff to do, no different from any other day," Dante replied. "Haven't seen you in a while though."
"Like you, Dante, I've been keeping busy as well. There're many places to see, sights to behold…" he stopped to give Dante a cryptic look. "Things to fight," he added in a low and dark voice. "You've pulled off a really dangerous stunt, my boy. I find it amusing that you'd go so far just to save a sinner who you've met only for a short while…and also betrayed you."
"What can I say, I got that from my father I suppose," Dante said flatly.
Alastor snorted and nodded his head. "Must've been quite the protector. Can the protector protect himself, however? What use is there defending something when you can't live long enough to see it safe? What then, if the shield falls and the breastplate fails?"
"Alright, cut with the cryptic nonsense, Al."
"I'm just saying, you're up against powerful enemies. Valentino isn't gonna let you off the hook easily, even if he has other "important matters" to take care of. That little stunt of yours painted a big bulls-eye on your back, and how long will it be before a crimson tide swallows you whole and leave all that you hold dear vulnerable? The balance of power is shifting like the wind, and by this point, the headwinds are only getting stronger."
"If it comes down to fighting the whole of hell, I'll do it."
Alastor chuckled. "Truly the method of a brute to beat problems into submission. However, I'm sure you're aware of what's at stake, so I won't stop you from what you do best." He started to walk past Dante, only for him to stop after taking less than five steps. "I think you'd be doing us all a favour if you can stop this nonsense. There's only so much I can do in the grand scheme of things."
"Well, what will you do then?"
"This hotel is my investment; I intend to keep it safe. You aren't bound to any particular interest in this hell except to get you and your brother back to wherever you came from. It offers quite a great degree of flexibility that even I can envy," the radio demon said with a wider grin.
"Then I trust you to keep everyone safe. What I'm doing will be a liability to Charlie and everyone else."
"I take it that you won't be staying here any longer?" Alastor asked, his voice tinged slightly with curiosity.
"No."
Wordlessly, Alastor gave him a knowing nod and resumed walking towards the hotel. Dante, on the other hand, exited the premise and tapped his foot thoughtfully. He had no idea where the spider demon went, but if anyone knew where Angel was, it would definitely be Cherri Bomb.
Now, where can he find her at?
Finding Cherri's hideout was impossible since Dante did not ask about it nor did she divulge it when they met the first time. However, she had amassed quite the reputation for herself for being a riotous demon and one of the few people who would openly attack properties belonging to Valentino or any other overlords. Getting gangsters to talk was a nuisance since they never got straight to the point, but Dante always got an answer after he gave them a good thrashing.
Eventually, the devil hunter found himself exploring a less-than-pleasant part of Pentagram City where the apartments were rundown and drug addicts roamed the streets for easy prey. He heard some of the locals call the area Shit Creek and it was not hard to understand why. The street he was in was abandoned, though Dante could feel stares on him coming from the nearby buildings. On more than one occasion, he noticed laser pointers aimed at him. It made the devil hunter snort out of amusement as he boldly walked down the empty streets with confidence in his posture.
Not too far away where he was, he saw several demons running out of a dilapidated office building. One of them, a lizard demon, had turned around to fire two more rounds in the building with his pistol but was shot in the kneecap. The others who were with him had fled the opposite direction and ran past Dante. He cursed loudly enough that Dante heard it from where he was. The devil hunter wanted to ignore the shootout and be on is way, that was until he heard the lizard demon call out Cherri's name.
"Fuck you, Cherri! Valentino's coming for that arse of yours!" the lizard demon shouted in pain and anger.
He attempted to crawl away and managed to get a few feet down the road before he stopped on front of a pair of feet. Looking up with slightly blurry vision, the lizard demon noticed the devil hunter looking down at him with a somewhat sympathetic expression.
"Jesus-fucking-Christ, boyo, what're you looking at?!"
"You need help there?" Dante asked.
"No, I don't need help, shitehead. It's not like I'm BLEEDING OUT!" the demon responded with sarcastic anger.
"Dante, what're you doing here?" the devil hunter heard Cherri's voice call out.
Looking up, he saw Cherri approaching him with shotgun in hand. The cyclops demon was flanked by two other taller and muscular demons that looked like a raven and hammerhead shark respectively. Both had pistols in their hands but the hammerhead shark demon had a rocket launcher slung over his shoulder. They eyed at Dante suspiciously while ignoring the still-writhing lizard demon who continued to curse them.
"I thought it'd be harder than that to find you," Dante joked.
"Let me guess, this is about Angel, isn't it?" Cherri asked grimly. Dante nodded in response and she sighed softly. "I didn't think you recovered that quickly, but since you're here, we may as well talk about it. Also, you do realise that you have my number, right?"
"Oh yeah," Dante muttered.
Cherri stepped on the lizard demon's back with her left foot and dug the heel of her boot into his flesh. The lizard demon cursed at her some more, causing Cherri to look down at him and pushed the barrel of her shotgun against his head.
"Sorry 'bout the warm welcome. Valentino's lackeys are out for blood ever since that attack on his penthouse. Not to mention this asshole here wants to be the hero in mothboy's eyes after some powerful demon wrecked his roadside pitstop stash and killed off most of the gang."
"Yeah…that sounds like Vergil to me."
"Vergil? Friend of yours?"
"He's my brother," Dante answered. Looking at the lizard demon whose eyes were wide with realisation, he said, "Small world, eh."
Before the lizard demon could retort, Cherri pulled the trigger and blasted his head into bloody pieces. She brought the barrel up to face level and blew the smoke away. "He'll be back, no need to feel sorry for 'em. Come on in, I got some leftover pizza," Cherri said while pumping her shotgun.
"Perfect, I hadn't had any lunch yet," Dante said with a grin.
Despite living in a building that clearly had seen better days, Cherri's room looked liveable enough to be called a proper home. Aside from a flickering dim ceiling light by the kitchen and several leaking waterpipes that were hastily patched by wrapping duct tape around them, everything else worked without too many issues. The television was still on and Dante found several boxes of pizzas stacked next to a coffee table. There was already an opened box and steam still emitted from the pizza. It seemed to him that the lizard demon and his lackeys had attempted to stir trouble during mealtime, something he had experienced before.
The cyclops demon had invited Dante to have a seat next to her while the other two demons went to the kitchen. Taking Cherri's invite, the devil hunter took a seat and slammed his left leg down on the table. The impact launched the box and pizza slices into the air and Dante snatched a slice from mid-air while allowing the box and the rest of the slices to land on the table neatly.
"So, those two friends of yours?" Dante asked while taking a bite from the pizza slice.
"Roommates," Cherri corrected. "Bird-brain's name is Talon and the sharkie's Larry," she added while leaning back on the couch. "How'd you find me anyway?"
Dante leaned back on the couch casually and looked at her while still eating his food. "Wasn't that hard. A lot of folks seem to know you, though I had to beat a few thugs up for answers. I thought you'd be part of a gang or something?"
"Pft, gangs are overrated," Cherri said while waving her hand dismissively. "Me, working alone, I got all the time and freedom I need to fuck shit up without having to lick the boot of some asshole with an overinflated ego."
Dante swallowed and said, "Like what happened with Angel."
"Yeah…" Cherri muttered, her voice trailing off as she mumbled something. "Anyway, he called me a few hours ago. He said something about Valentino planning something big that you would know about."
"Like planning to take over hell? Sounds like the typical end goal of every other demon I've fought before this," Dante said with a wry smile. He leaned forward to grab another slice of pizza. "But how'd he know I was coming?" he asked.
Cherri shrugged and licked her lips. "Maybe he had a feeling? I dunno. Angel doesn't really have an easy way out of his situation, made the mistake of signing a pact with mothboy when he was still new in hell."
"Demons can make pacts between themselves?" Dante asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Happens all the time," Cherri replied casually. "But the difference between this and a pact between a human and a demon is that demon-demon pacts are…eternal. Valentino literally owns Angel from the day he signed the contract."
"Was it because of money?"
"As a human, Angel died of overdose. He brought that addiction to hell. Valentino has the goods, it's easy to see how it came to be. Demons can't OD, so who's gonna stop us?"
"Fair enough," Dante said grimly. He wanted to take a bite out of the pizza slice, but he stopped before he could bite down on it. "Man, lost my appetite all of a sudden," he said with slight amusement in his tone. He placed the pizza slice onto a paper plate and wiped his hands with a nearby paper towel. "Is there any way to break the contract?"
"Only way I heard of is to burn the contract," Cherri answered. She took the remote and flipped through the television channels in rapid succession. "Though I can imagine Valentino wouldn't allow anyone near it."
When she tried to flip through another channel again, the remote had stopped working. In fact, the entire television screen had stopped as if on pause. The image was that of Vox attempting to sell some new electronic product, and no matter how many times the cyclops demon tried to change channels, his grinning face was still plastered on the screen. She sighed angrily and tossed the remote at the television screen. Right before impact, the remote stopped as if it had hit an invisible barrier.
Vox's image started to blink and he wagged a finger at her. "That's no way to treat my products, Cherri Bomb," he said with some white noise mixed into his voice.
"This channel sucks," Dante said half-jokingly.
"Ah, Dante, what a surprise," Vox said calmly while turning his gaze towards him. "I heard Val gave you a beating, I guess it wasn't hard enough."
"And it's clear that I haven't given him a hard enough one as well," Dante shot back while pulling out Ebony.
"You did a number on him, and he isn't really happy about it. However," Vox said while pulling up the head of an unmistakable demon. "He was happy to finally get rid of this asshole. I concur with him, Azazel's a pain in the ass," the television demon hissed through gritted teeth.
"Damn, you killed him without me? Way to ruin the fun," Dante quipped.
Vox shrugged and tossed the head up and down. "He served his purpose. Now that he isn't around to constantly bug us to prioritise fucking you up, we can have some peace and quiet. Perhaps the best part of it all is this thing of beauty."
He dropped the head and brought up what looked a blue-coloured orb with a swirling darkened centre and it had some energy streamers emitting from it. Dante frowned; he knew exactly what it was. Deep down, he was hoping that none of them had any idea what it was but judging by how Vox was looking at it, his hopes were not high. Vox twiddled with it with his claws and chuckled softly.
"What's that?" Cherri whispered.
"This, my dear, is the kind of power many demons will fight over, even Lucifer himself. Before this, I hadn't really given much thought about why Azazel saw Dante and his brother as threats. Now that I'm holding the very thing that made Azazel so annoying, I finally see why. You know exactly what it is, Dante."
"You don't know what kind of power you're handling. I think it'd be better for all of us if you gave that to me. Maybe I won't have to kill you for it," Dante threatened.
"Well, if you want it, then you'll have to take it," Vox said darkly.
Dante blinked once and pointed Ebony at the television before firing a shot, causing the screen to shatter into dozens of glass shards. While Cherri was unfazed, she winced as some of the glass shards flew her way and she brought up her hand to shield her face. The commotion caused her roommates to quickly burst out of the kitchen with guns drawn. When they saw that there was no trouble, Larry sighed in exasperation and lowered his pistol.
"Fucking hell, mate," the hammerhead demon muttered. Turning to Cherri he said in a flat tone, "5th Street store?"
Cherri nodded. "Yep, and bring some molotovs this time."
Larry nodded his head. Once the two demons went back to the kitchen, Dante turned the Cherri and asked, "What's that all about?"
"Getting a new television and destroying some of their properties," Cherri replied quickly. She swept away some shards that had landed on her jeans. "Now, what exactly was TV-head talking about? What sort of power is that?"
"Dimensional powers, the very thing that brought Vergil and me here. If they learn how to harness it, everyone will be in danger, even the human world. I cannot allow that."
"What're you humanity's protector or something?" Cherri snorted.
"In a sense I suppose," Dante said while getting up. "Cherri, do you know where Angel is?"
Cherri shook her head. "I can't say for sure. He only told me he'll be helping out with Valentino, whatever the fuck that means. He's still in Pentagram City but that's all he's telling me."
"Well, time to put my detective skills to work then."
Cherri stood up and said, "Wait, are you trying to look for Angel or getting back whatever thing that Vox was holding?"
Dante turned to look at the cyclops demon with a serious expression. "I will need to get back Yamato's power first. Angel is still safe for the time being…I hope. But if they figure out Yamato's power, no one is safe. Cherri, think you can do me a favour and get some info about his whereabouts?"
"I can…but what's your plan here?" Cherri asked.
"If I can get back Yamato's power, I can use it to go anywhere I want instantly. Which means taking Angel away to safety will take almost and instant," Dante said with a smile.
Cherri shot back with a grin and said, "Playing the handsome prince now, are we? Fine, I'll ask some folks to help keep an eye out, but I can't guarantee how long it'll take."
"Doesn't matter," Dante said. "Seeing how things have gone, I think I'll make my move as well. Maybe go pay Vox a visit."
Cherri chuckled and held up her phone, the screen showing Vox's home address.
Lucifer looked at his reflection in the cup of tea he was holding while his heavenly brother Michael sat opposite him with his own cup in his hand. They looked at each other silently as Lucifer's wife Lilith prepared some food for them. She eyed the archangel with suspicion but he paid her no heed and just reached out for the plate of food in front of him. Lucifer did the same and both popped them into their mouths at the same time.
"You've been showing up a lot, haven't you?" Lucifer asked calmly.
"When the situation necessitates it, yes, I will show up a lot. I don't like being down here as the next person, but I have to keep heaven updated," Michael replied flatly. "I spoke to the boys, done what I can to get them to help," he said. Putting down his cup of tea, Michael leaned forward slightly and looked at Lucifer. "What about you, brother? I don't see you doing much about it."
"The overlords will kill themselves off. If any of them succeed, I will strike them down myself. Heaven need not got involved in my matters," Lucifer said with a frown while pointing a finger at himself.
"The annual purges say otherwise," Michael snorted. "You know exactly why it happens. In fact, you should be thanking us."
Lucifer waved his hand dismissively and said, "Don't get a big head, asshole. That's for our mutual benefit. Unless you want me to just let these ne'er-do-wells go right up to heaven's doorstep with pitchforks and rifles?"
"A second War in Heaven? If the first one went so badly, what makes you think a second time's gonna work?" Michael retorted. When his brother did not answer, Michael took a sip from his cup before saying, "That balance we talked about so long ago? If it tips, they'll come for hell early. If the overlords dare to even take a single step out of line, I won't be here to stop the Exorcists. This time around, they'll have the authority to cut you down as well. Misguided as you are, Lucifer, you're still my brother and I don't wish for any of that to happen."
"Oh, spare me the platitudes, Michael," Lucifer said while rolling his eyes.
"I'm just saying," Michael said with a dry smile. "In any case, the powers that be are beyond what we've experienced. Dante and Vergil may be your only hope. Even with their souls tainted by a demonic heritage, they've embraced what even most humans could not, especially Dante. Maybe they can teach sinners to repent."
"Hey, don't be giving my daughter any ideas about 'saving sinners', you hear me?!"
"I don't intend to, brother. She'll find out the truth eventually," Michael chuckled. Turning to Lilith, he said, "Thank you for the hospitality. Lucifer should learn something from you."
Lilith merely nodded in silence as a response. With that said, Michael leapt out of the window and flew into the sky like a bolt of light. Lucifer sighed and sipped the last few drops of tea before gently putting the cup down onto the table. He pursed his lips while drumming his fingers on the armrest of his chair slowly and methodically. In the meantime, his wife sat down on the chair that was previously occupied by the archangel.
"He's got a point," Lilith said softly.
"About what, being more hospitable, or doing something about this mess?" Lucifer asked after a sigh.
"About doing something? How will this summit of yours fix the issue?" she asked while keeping her eyes on him.
Lucifer took a deep breathe and breathed out slowly. He looked at her with a sort of dark gleam in his eyes and said, "The overlords were never this united. Most of the time, they're interested in fighting among themselves to be the ruler of hell. Fucking idiots," he muttered. "I thought things would play out on its own and I wouldn't have to deal with it. Clearly, I've got better hindsight than fore," he added while picking up his cane.
"What exactly are you planning then, my dear?"
"Like I've said, Lilith dearest," Lucifer said while regaining his composure and putting on a smile. "If they can be united, so can demon royalty." He spun his cane, which transformed it into a sword of white steel with a chip in the blade near the hilt. "It's been a long while."
Hey guys, it's been a while. Apologies for putting this out late, it's been crazy hectic for me. This one's a bit of a quick one.