Unwanted Choices

Dante felt himself engulfed in a fire that didn't burn. Wings with jagged metallic edges burst from his back. His hair grew down to his knees; the tips whipped out and around as if they were alive. Shards of bone poked through his elbows and knees. He wore a helmet of some demonic creature's skull with two sets of horns. The skull's second set of horns curled down around his pointed ears. His wings made a shrill whistle as he slowly flapped them to remain airborne.

Mundus raised his head. Dante slowly exhaled through his teeth to match the whistle of his wings. His hair lifted itself around his head and shoulders as if in anticipation. Showing no fear, Mundus pulled himself up.

"Do not think this frightens me, boy." Dante's only response was a low hissing. His hair snapped like whips.

"I will crush you!" Mundus lunged forward. Dante's hair stretched over his shoulders. Dante met him halfway and landed on Mundus's nose. The snapping hair plunged into Mundus's right eye. Mundus roared as the strands of hair worked faster and deeper into the eye until they managed to finally pierce the brain. Mundus shook his head all around, but Dante remained perched where he was. When maximum damage was done, Mundus finally threw Dante off with a shake. The hair retracted as Dante pushed himself back. The hair snapped to flick blood away.

Mundus lowered his head to the ground again. His body shrunk back to its human shape and size. He looked up to where Dante continued to hover. A thick stream of blood and gelatinous fluid spilled freely from where his eye used to be. "I can do that, too."

Dante continued whistling. Mundus hunched his back. A large pair of wings materialized from his shoulders. With one hefty flap, he shot into the air towards Dante. Dante quickly floated aside and straightened his wings. The metallic edge slashed across Mundus's side. Mundus turned in midair. He spread his hands and scream. A sphere of black light blotted out the sun behind him. A vortex of wind pulled against everything in the area. "The first to falter shall perish here."

(X)

Lilith rubbed Guess behind his ears as she waited. The screams in the yard soon faded into the distance. Sparda returned and wiped his hands. He threw a bloody towel across the couch.

"What did you do to him?" Lilith said between gasps.

"Only what he deserved. He betrayed you."

"He was loyal to his father."

"That was reason enough. Who his father is, not that he was loyal."

"What was his real name?"

"Koromos. After he was named, Mundus killed the boy's mother and fed her to him. He might not even remember."

Lilith took one long breath. "Would you have done that to your own sons, if you were still a minion of Mundus?"

"Absolutely, and Dante would have done the same for you. Consider yourself fortunate."

"I do consider myself fortunate," Deanna said from around the corner. She walked into the living room. She held a dagger in her right hand. "However, it won't save me from being sacrificed anyway." Deanna kneeled beside Lilith and took her hand. "You will tell your father I am sorry."

"I don't understand." Lilith looked to her grandfather, but Sparda did not move. Lilith returned her gaze to her mother.

"Let me tell you a story," Deanna said. "Years ago, before you were born, when I was empress of Shangri-La. My land was invaded by a legion of nocturnal demons. One of them managed to possess one of my people, and that is how it all began."

"What began?" Lilith sat perfectly still as she absorbed Deanna's story.

"My people have a special power. Only those of us who were trained to be healers and shaman were allowed to use it, though everyone had the potential. When someone was ill, by letting the blood flow from the skin, we could absorb the ailment into our own bodies. Then we would heal ourselves." She ran the blade across Lilith's hand. "Unfortunately, the shaman who used this ability merely allowed himself to be possessed by this demon, while the patient remained ill. It eventually spread like a plague until nearly everyone was infected with possession. That was why I sent someone to Earth to bring Dante to take care of our problem."

"Let me guess," Lilith said. "Lineia was the one who was doing it all behind the scenes."

"Obviously. She was there, and I never noticed her."

"What are you thinking of doing?" Lilith felt she already knew.

"I'm going to save you." She lifted the dagger and pressed it into Lilith's palm.

"You can't." Lilith tried to struggle, but Deanna had a strong grip, and the poison had become too powerful. Lilith looked to Sparda. "Grandpa, stop her!"

Sparda simply shook his head. "It has to happen," Deanna said. Lilith winced as the blade breached her skin. The blood welled up from the wound. Lilith tried one final tug. Sparda grabbed her from behind and held her immobile as Deanna lowered her tongue into the blood.

(X)

Dante's wings kept him steady as the vortex pulled at him. Mundus threw trails of flame at him. It did nothing. Dante absorbed each one and rolled them into one large ball of flame. Mundus emitted flashes of light within his fists. With a scream of rage, he released a great blast of light.

With a sheer thought, the blast was deflected around him. As soon as it cleared, Dante released the ball of flame. It tore through Mundus's chest without tearing the flesh. Before Mundus could recover, Dante slammed into him. Dante stopped short quickly enough to avoid being caught in the vortex. Mundus stopped short of being pulled in, then launched himself towards Dante.

In the blink of an eye, Dante disappeared. Enraged, Mundus flew after every afterimage that remotely looked like Dante. In a single instant when he heard Dante laugh, he turned in the air. Sharp strands of platinum blond hair bore into his left eye. Mundus roared and swung himself in every direction in an attempt to shake the hair loose. Dante moved back and forth to continue drilling into the eye. He pushed further into the wound until the hair exploded from the back of Mundus's head. Blood and brain matter were ejected from the wound.

Dante pulled the hair back as Mundus fell to the ground in a fit of blinded pain. Dante stretched his arms. Extra shards of bone slid from behind his wrists and elbows. Dante raised his arms and flung them down towards Mundus. The bone shards were ejected with the speed of bullets. All but one penetrated Mundus's torso and were embedded into the asphalt beneath him. The other one went through his forehead. Dante folded his wings and landed upright on Mundus's torso.

Mundus spat blood as he cursed. He reached up with one hand. "I will not fall. I will not let you win!" He seized Dante's coat. With a single wave of a wing, Mundus's hand was severed and fell away. "You!"

Dante stepped aside and lifted Mundus by the neck. He wrapped his arms around Mundus's throat. In one swift move, the vertebrae snapped. Dante continued pulling on the head until Mundus's neck was just mush. He heard Mundus breathe laboriously. He flew upwards and carried Mundus towards the vortex. With a simple push, Mundus flew into the vortex. The aerial whirlpool sucked him in greedily before exploding. The energy released knocked every loose thing to the ground if it were not already toppled over.

Dante reverted to human form. He dropped to one knee when he hit the ground to recover from the effort. "One down, one to go."

(X)

Vergil leaned against the building to catch his breath. He felt Mundus's death cry ring out throughout his entire body. He knew it was only a matter of time before Dante found him. "It doesn't matter," Vergil said aloud. "He'll never save Lilith."

He slowed down his trek through the city. Now that Mundus was no longer in the picture, his own body was beginning to weaken. He had been under Mundus's influence since he was born, and now it was gone.

He stopped completely to catch his breath. A whistling shadow from above caught his attention, but he didn't need to look up to know whom it was. Dante dropped behind him and walked around to face him. "Don't bother," Vergil said. "There is no point."

Dante raised the Yamato to Vergil's chin. "Not if I can help it."

Vergil stepped back from the sword. Sparda hung limply from his hand. "Why? You can't save Lilith, and I know you intend to kill me. Where will that leave you?"

Dante lowered the Yamato. "It doesn't matter. Either way, I cannot let you live."

Vergil sighed. He trudged past Dante. Dante turned to watch him leave, then decided to act. "Vergil!" Vergil stopped and turned to face him. Father and son stared at each other, as if to dare the other to speak first. "What do you want?" Dante finally asked.

"Do you really want to know? What difference will it make? You condemned me the moment my mother brought me to you."

"What is it that you want?"

"The one thing you refuse to give me."

"Which is?"

"I want you to be my father."

Dante shook his head. "I can't do that."

"Why? Because I laid down a death sentence on my own sister? It couldn't be avoided. She shouldn't have fought me."

"That's no excuse."

"Why? Because you raised her? That means nothing. What makes her so much better than me?"
Dante didn't hesitate. "She wasn't corrupted by Mundus. I was the first to hold her. Second if you count the doctor."

Vergil grimaced. "I suppose neither of us can do anything about that." Vergil's free hand held up a glistening dagger. "This is the dagger that poisoned her. This is what is killing her, and shall do so forever. What are you going to do about it?"

"Let's find out."

Vergil held the dagger as if wondering what to do. Then he flung it towards Dante. Dante caught it by the handle and flung it back. Vergil winced once before realizing the dagger had punctured his heart. "Oh shit," was all he could mutter before he fell over. Dante quickly straddled Vergil's chest and pushed the dagger all the way through. Then he ripped it free.

Vergil screamed until his lungs gave out. Dante held Vergil's head up with his free hand. "It has to end. I'm sorry, my son." Before Vergil could respond, and before Dante could think about it, Dante plunged the dagger into the side of Vergil's neck.

"Father," was the last Vergil said. Poisoned blood spurted from Vergil's mouth. He grabbed Dante's coat collar as if to pull himself up. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then gave up. He closed his eyes and fell back. Dante slowly pulled the dagger free as he felt Vergil's life ebb away. His hand became numb. The poisoned dagger fell from his hand.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. He stood and vomited in the street. When his head stopped spinning, he took the Yamato in one hand. In the other he took Sparda from Vergil's dead hand. He placed Sparda on the ground. He held the Yamato above his head. "Take it all away," he said aloud. "Make it what it once was."

Dante inhaled deeply. Then he brought the Yamato hard against Sparda. A wave of energy blew out in all directions. Dante felt the life return to the sword. Its cold blue hue faded away to be replaced by its familiar flaming red. Dante picked it up and began his trip home. He avoided looking at Vergil as he did so. He was glad the ordeal was over, but he knew he had still lost the battle.

(X)

Dante closed the car door and walked into the yard. The lawn was littered with demon corpses. He kicked one aside as he approached a crucifix. He did not hide his amusement from the one who suffered on it.

"Jeremy," Dante chided. "I see you're still hanging around."

Jeremy tried to lean forward and nearly crushed his diaphragm in the process. Dante laughed. "Consider yourself fortunate. I had worse planned for you." Dante continued on past him. Jeremy did not have the strength to breathe. He stayed on the crucifix until he finally suffocated under his own body weight.

Dante neared the door and found it was slightly ajar. He shoved it open with a foot and stepped inside. He did not see what he was expecting. Lilith and Sparda were leaning over the coffee table playing Magic: The Gathering. They both looked up from their battle. Sparda ran to Dante and took his namesake.

"May I be frank, son?" Sparda asked.

"Knock yourself out," Dante responded.

"You look like hell." Sparda gave Dante a fatherly slap on the shoulder. "There's someone you're probably anxious to see." He moved aside so Dante could get a clear view of Lilith. She stood and met him halfway.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Are you all right?"

"I feel fine."

"I mean emotionally."

"You're alive. That's all that matters." Dante realized what he said. He pulled back from Lilith's embrace. "How?"

Lilith knew what he was referring to. She raised her hand. "My mother. She cut my hand."

"What!"

"Grandpa held me down while she sucked the poison from my body."

Dante glared at his father. "How could you!"

"You told Deanna to protect Lilith," Sparda answered, "and she did. You walked into this house expecting to see Lilith dead. What did you think when you saw she was not?"

Dante dropped the Yamato and ran upstairs. Sparda picked up the sword. "You didn't honestly count on him taking the news easily, did you?" Lilith asked.

"Of course not! You must realize it was a lose-lose situation. There was no possible way everyone would escape unscathed."

Lilith slowly nodded. She knew her grandfather spoke the truth. She sighed and ran a hand through her platinum blonde hair as she slowly began to climb the stairs.

(X)

Dante stood outside his bedroom. He carefully pushed the door opened. Deanna was fast asleep on the bed. He walked to her side and sat on the edge of the bed. He ran his fingers across bare skin. She was extremely hot and covered in sweat.

Her eyes fluttered open at his touch. "Dante. You made it."

"What did you think you were doing?"

Deanna snapped to attention. She could feel her brain frying from the fever. "What?"

Dante placed a bare hand against the side of her head. "Why did you do it?"

"If I didn't, what would you have done?" Dante looked away in frustration. Deanna touched his hand. "I should be dead anyway. At least, this time, I can die with dignity, and for a good cause."
Dante felt his eyes burning, but not from blood. "This isn't right."

"Dante, stop it." Deanna's voice was weak and raspy. "It has to be this way. Lilith is alive and well, and I'll get to see Vergil. I want to apologize for what I did to him. I am just as guilty as Mundus. I took him away from you. I didn't let him be a child. I brought him here, but it was too late. I'm sorry."

"So am I. I forgive you if you forgive me."

"Consider it done." By then, Deanna's voice was a whisper. She mustered the last of her strength to touch his face, but her arm stopped short. Her arm fell limply to the side. Dante placed her arm across her chest. He leaned closely to her so that their faces nearly touched. Deanna sensed his hesitation. "Don't worry. It's not contagious."

Dante sucked air as he continued to hesitate. He felt Deanna's breath become weak. He closed the gap to plant a kiss on her lips. She kissed back for a second, then fell completely still. Dante felt her breath cease. He waited a while before he placed his face against her neck to cry.

Lilith watched from the doorway. She sat beside Dante and let her head rest against his shoulder. "It will get better. Not today. Not tomorrow. Maybe not for a few years." Dante didn't respond, but she knew he was thinking about it. She sat up and stood to leave. "You know where to find me."

"I know," Dante called in a muffled voice. He waited until Lilith left the room before lifting his head. "You did the right thing," he said to Deanna's body. "As long as she lives, then so shall we both."