A/N: this is the third time I'm trying to write this chapter, end me, please.
Chapter 3
A Devil's Training Regiment.
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Trish and Lady had dragged me to an old abandoned warehouse in the edges of the Mustafu district, the middle of it had been cleaned out and instead of concrete, there was a good 5 square meters of hard tatami mats. Around the edges of the building sat benches full of weapons and equipment, empty pizza boxes, and exactly one incredibly excitable woman who introduced herself as Nico before diving back into the sea of gear that filled the walls. Towards the back, there were a couple of couches that looked as if a sneeze would turn them into dust and a neon sign 'Devil May Cry' with a crude 'JP' spray painted under it.
"There are three things you need to know about devil hunting!" Dante started, balancing one of his pistols on the tip of his finger. I never thought he'd be a morning person but he didn't seem bothered at all by the early hours in the morning, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon. "First you need the strength to physically match any devil you encounter. Doesn't matter how good you are if you're trying to punch a brick wall." He flicked the gun up before catching it with his ring finger, keeping the balancing act. "Second! You need to be fast, and I plan to make you faster than a speeding bullet." Nico cackled from wherever she was at and Dante flicked his gun up one more time, catching it on his middle finger. "And third! Style! If you're gonna be associated with Devil May Cry you gotta have that Smoking Sexy Style we pride ourselves in."
"So we start at the beginning! Gotta make sure ya pack a punch kiddo." He was grinning like a cat now as if he just told a joke that went over my head.
"And how do we do that sir?" There didn't seem to be any workout equipment around so I was curious at how he planned to have me grow 'strong'.
"That's easy! We spar!"
"We what?!"
And then I got suplexed 6 times in a row.
/~/
In between Dante trying to physically maim me and speed training with Lady, aka her shooting me with rubber bullets until I "got good", I enjoyed talking with Nico. She had a lot of really technical insights on how the whole devil thing seemed to work.
"Devil Energy is basically like any other form of energy, it just has this 'corruption' aspect to it that isn't really corrupting and more just making the ambient around it better at handling more energy." She took another bite of pizza, the only sustenance guaranteed around Dante really, even if he called me a heathen for liking pineapple on it. "Speaking of which, you're gonna have to learn how to trash talk."
"Heroes don't trash talk," I mumbled into my own slice. "Plus I'm a n-nervous wreck as is. I d-don't do confrontational." She seemed amused at that but then again it was Nico and her default setting seemed to be 'barely contained enough to hold a conversation'.
"I'm being serious here lil'green!" She put her slice down then kicked the bottom of my chair so I was facing one of her monitors where various graphs popped up. "Devil Energy, especially when inside a host, reacts strongly to emotions of the dude using it and the folks around them. So the angrier you get whoever you're fighting the more energy you'll have to work with!" Her eyes seemed to spark with that mad scientist glint. "Dante and Trish use it to have basically infinite ammo. And a bunch of other nifty tricks that will pull that bootie of yours out of trouble."
I narrowed my eyes at Lady who was lazing around in one of the couches at the back, reading a magazine with some girl who absolutely did not know what fun safety was on the cover. Now that I thought about it she never really stopped to reload during our speed training exercises.
"Lady doesn't do demonic." Nico crossed her forearms over my shoulders, leaning on me. "Says it doesn't work well with her quirk. 'More Dakka', if she's holding a weapon it not only will never run out of ammunition but the power output is increased by something like double."
I was suddenly very glad she only used rubber bullets.
"But getting back on track!" The mechanic spun me around, firmly placing a finger on my chest. "You need to learn how to trash talk, and if you manage to get a rise out of Dante I'll even throw in something nice for ya!" Something in her smile was intimidating and made me feel like I was walking into a trap.
I felt something growling in my chest at her challenge.
"You're on!"
/~/
"Alright green bean," Dante started, Chesire grin firmly glued to his face. "You've been getting your ass beat up and down this place for the last three months and I think it's time we got you your first Devil Arm!" He spread his arms out twirling and stopping in front of a wall in the 'workshop' area of the warehouse.
And then he waited.
And he waited some more.
His grin cracked.
"Nico?"
"Oh! That was today! Sorry bossman, cool shit coming right up!" There was the sound of someone scrambling around behind the piles of gear and scrap for a few moments. "Now where did I leave that darn thing, I swear, if Lady was messing around here again I'm shoving an overture right up her aaaaha! Found it!" Nico popped out from behind one of the shelves, grasping a controller with a large red button on it.
"One cool ass room, coming right up!" With as much flair as she could gather Nico pressed the button and the wall behind Dante finally began to move, revealing a dark interior as the lights slowly flickered in. Metal walls and floors reflected the lights in the corner, lighting up the room more than it really should. It was filled with a variety of different, excentric weapons, swords the size of me hanging from the walls, what looked like a skull backpack seemed to glare at me as if I personally stole its lunch.
And towards the back, a sword. Remarkably simple in design, a smooth black sheath adorned with silver hid the blade, its handle was wrapped in whites and blues crossing over each other in beautiful craftsmanship that let into a solid gold handguard. Unassuming and beautiful the katana seemed completely out of place among the demonic weaponry that surrounded it.
A storm, endless skies rumbling with thunder stretched into infinity above him, rain pelted his skin like daggers and the world was dark, lit only by the mercy of lightning. Flashes of light bled around the form of the behemoth in the clouds. Through his hands, there was power, through his might the world would be split asunder and any who dared face the storm would be crushed under its final judgment.
"-id? Kid!" Dante slapped the back of my head breaking me out of the image of storms and power. His gaze followed mine and landed the storm incarnate that he kept in his closet. "Of fucking course it was you." He grumbled before stomping forward towards the sword. "You can't keep trying to seduce everyone who walks in here Yamato, we both know Vergil is coming for your sorry ass, quit being antsy." Without waiting for a response. 'could the sword respond?' Dante grabbed it by the hilt and it disappeared in the flames of his 'Devil's Armory' as he liked to call it.
Thunder rumbled outside and it sounded suspiciously like laughter to me.
"Sorry about that kiddo, Yamato is a grumpy bastard on his best days, I'm not sure how Vergil puts up with it honestly." He shrugged and stretched for a second, spreading his arms and motioning the rest of the room. "Everyone else here should be friendly enough, unless they want another tally on their 'got my ass kicked' scoreboard." The Devil hunter seemed to glare at a suspiciously plain briefcase when he said that. "So take your pick, they're all pretty reliable and I'm sure you'll get your own devil arms along the way. Unless you want to pull a Nero but we're still doing arm jokes with him."
I hummed in response, already half ignoring the man. He was a surprisingly good teacher but he could talk. A never-ending stream of quips and asshattery that was difficult to keep up with.
Deciding that it would be easier to just focus on the very cool weapons instead I started looking around. There was… a lot. Swords, nunchucks, guns, more swords, a guitar, guns, a hat, gauntlets and greaves, guns, and somehow, more guns. All the weapons seemed to emit this pressure, that clawed at my throat and sent shivers down my spine. Except for the guns, those were surprisingly normal considering the other contents of the room.
Even if I was half expecting it, none of the weapons seemed to speak out to me. A pair of sabers with heads on their hilts seemed to perk up when I looked over them but the moment they opened their mouths, a very pointed glare from Dante shut them right back up. All the others seemed content in just exuding their pressure, almost as if they were puffing out their chests saying "I'm the baddest of the bunch, pick me!" It was definitely an odd feeling.
And then my eyes landed on a set of almost armor. Silver gauntlets shined under the low light, red carvings like vines flowed with something I couldn't recognize, clawed fingers closed in mighty fists that promised to strike like Warhammers, stakes hung from the forearms, seemingly serving no purpose until the red flashed for a second and they cocked back, ready to be shot forward to devastate my enemies. The shoulders were mounted with spiked engines that spun once when my eyes landed on them sending a spark down the rest of the arms.
A chest piece that seemed to only cover the upper back hung from a mannequin, it had the same carved silver from the arms, its centerpiece seemed almost like the bulb of a flower, a demonic face carved into it. To its sides, much like leaves, spread two pieces that covered the shoulders. And again, when I laid my eyes on it, the metal seemed to react, blooming and opening itself to cover the rest of the chest, down to the hips and up the neck, forming a face mask.
The last pieces were the greaves. They climbed like vines up the back of the mannequin's legs, pulsing with the same inner fire the rest of the armor seemed to have. The heels held the same engines as the shoulders, acting almost like spurs, they spun once and the armor seemed to rise from within the folds of the metal fully covering both shins and feet. Glowing pridefully all the while.
The damn thing was showing off.
And damn if it wasn't working.
"You like ol'Gilgamesh here?" Dante dropped an arm over my shoulder grinning like a cat. "She's a feisty one but not much here is gonna be out punching her. maybe Balrog, but he's a flaming bastard and you should never listen to his cooking recipes." There seemed to be a wave of annoyance as Dante said that, looks like the Devil Arms didn't like hearing they would lose in a strength match. This whole thing was weird.
"Yeah she's…. really cool," I whispered the words, still captivated by the weapon in front of me. It positively glowed with the praise, its engines spinning and sending sparks and hellfire down its arms.
"What ya waiting for then? Pick her up, and let's go do a little test drive!" He pushed me towards the armor rack and I tripped on the edge of the display. 'This is it. This is how I die, on the weapon's closet of a madman.' I flayed my arms for a second, trying to keep my balance, grasping for anything so I wouldn't faceplant on the floor. Somehow I managed to catch myself on Gilgamesh's arm, barely keeping my balance.
Reality cracked around us.
Emerald glass broke as the image of Gilgamesh crumbled before my eyes.
The same glass suddenly exploded around me kicking me back to my feet, making me stand ramrod straight.
And I felt the rumble of my new partner. The low growl of hellish engines craving for battle, the thing inside me growled back and there was understanding. A quiet oath was sworn with my life in the middle that send shivers down my spine and threatened to strangle me again.
Gilgamesh now covered me, almost more like extensions of me than armor pieces I could still feel the wind brushing between my fingers and the coldness of the metal floor. The engines purred on my shoulders and heels making my bones shake and filling me with power. My wrist flexed almost as if controlled by something else and the pistons hanging from my forearms coiled back, readying themselves. The back piece, warm and firm against my shoulders, seemed to be slowly sapping some of my energy, not enough to be a problem but just enough I could feel it happening.
"Worry not little rabbit. We have plenty of fun ahead of us." A female voice purred in my ear and Gilgamesh shook with the giggles of its demonic entity. The deep, blood-red from its carvings slowly shifting to jade green. 'Well, at least my aesthetic will be consistent.'
"Alright kiddo! Time for a test drive!" I heard Dante say, a cheer on his voice before he chambered one leg up and tried to kick my chest in. My arms raised in a guard barely at the last second and I was launched from the weapons closet, smashing down on the training mats. My blood roared in my ears as the thing inside me rose for battle and the engines on Gilgamesh seemed to go into overdrive, armor plating covering my chest, all the way up to the mouth guard that bloomed like petals covering my face. It felt soft like the interior was lined with flowers.
The next second Dante came flying from the room, a long sword in his grasp shrouding him in lightning as his stinger covered the distance in between us in the time it took me to blink. I rolled to the side, shooting a leg out to sweep him. Gilgamesh roared and my foot blasted forward faster than ever sending the older hunter into an ungraceful flop.
He vanished in a blur of red and appeared above me this time with three nunchucks connected to a center ring, he began spinning and lightning once again exploded around him. Both the speed the fear of having 90 kilos of devil hunting muscle barreling towards me caught me off guard, one of the nunchucks smashing on the top of my head before he exploded again sending me ass over kettle to the edge of our 'ring'.
"You gotta do better than that kiddo!" He sounded smug. He always sounded smug. I just wanted to punch the smirk off his face but he was too fast for me to catch, that leg sweep was barely even a lucky shot since neither of us were really expecting the speed boost from Gilgamesh.
'We can catch him' A voice that wasn't me or Guilgamesh hissed in my ear and I felt my body move on its own. Energy pooling in all my muscles and shooting me forward in a shower of glass shards and in a second I was on top of him, fist cocked back ready to make Devil Hunter shish kebab. My hand flew forward. Dante's eyes widened and I felt something shift inside him. I felt my knuckles scraping the cloth of his shirt before he leaned back. His feet spread apart one of his arms shot up to block me while the other was chambered close to his body. Demonic energy bled from his arm holding me back, hellish red covering my vision.
And I stopped no momentum, no strain, no pushback. He stopped me completely in my tracks and everything that formed that punch was absorbed by the aegis that poured from him.
"Now we're talking!" The energy around his arm crawled across his body, settling in his chambered fist before I could even finish registering what had happened.
"ROYAL RELEASE!"
I couldn't tell you what had happened after that, I was probably unconscious, but I could give a fairly apt description of what being hit by a truck was like.
I wonder what he went through to become so strong.
/~~~~~/
A/N: Well that's another chapter kinda done! Sadly I couldn't do it before November ended but life is life and I had a gigantic event that just happened last weekend. Lots of preparation and time sunk into that, luckily it's done and won't happen again until at least June.
But hey! Our boy god his first weapon, Dante kindly letting him have end game gear, that for sure won't backfire when he caves someone's skull in right? …. It's probably fine.
…
Anyway! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! The next chapter should be a bit of a time skip, I want to develop the relationships with the DMC crew but they'll be around plenty! Someone's gotta build Izuku some gear and it until Hatsume and Nico meet the UA lab gremlin isn't quite up to the task.
Also I really just want to write Izuku Styling all over Bakugou. He'll be apoplectic with rage.
Fun times!
Stay kind everyone!~~