2069, Badlands, Outskirts of Night City
Vergil was falling, plummeting straight down, into the dusty earth below him. Opening his eyes, he estimated at least thirty seconds before he would meet the ground. He willed his demonic presence from his core, but it seemed as if his reserves were already spent. Vision going black, he moved his body around, trying to reorient himself in the air. If he couldn't summon his wings, he would try to soften the blow by directing his body into what he assumed was a river.
"Malphas…" He whispered, almost a hiss, voice hoarse and losing to the wind. Fist tightening, he reminded himself that it was that detestable demon that led him into this situation. When he would get his bearings back, he promised eternal pain and suffering for that featherless bird. Focusing again, this time on his left arm, he willed Yamato to his side. But it did not come. And suddenly, a searing pain shot through his body like magma.
"Arghhh!" biting back a pained yelp, he recognized the burning sensation, a pain similar to the one he experienced at the hands of his twin brother Dante at the mouth of the underworld years ago. The two brothers had fought to a complete standstill, both on the verge of death, demonic energy and human willpower at their lowest, and yet only pushed by both love and hatred for themselves and their family. What Vergil felt then was what he felt now.
Complete and utter exhaustion. Whatever Malphas had hit him with seemed to have severed a good portion of his strength from his body. The Yamato had the power to cut anything it could touch, whether it be flesh, bone…space and time…
" And even my own power ", he mused. Twice, had it happened. Twice, had it cut Vergil into two. He wondered as the wind blew faster and faster against him, what the consequences of this separation were to be this time around. Looking back above him, he witnessed his pair of silver Greaves and Gauntlets, Beowulf, spiraling out of control. In his state, however, he could do no more than to witness them falling further and further from his sight before they were a glint in the horizon.
Eyes fluttering, he took one more glance at the air around him. And off in the distance, he spotted a sharp glint of steel, the telltale sign of his blade, its unique aura of blue energy sparkling like a sunbeam shining on a well-cut sapphire. Reaching out with his hand, he witnessed it fade more and more into obscurity, until the cold dark waters of the river met Vergil, ceasing his thoughts.
—-
2069, Nomad Settlement
"...Alex, whatcha got there?"
"You won't believe what I got out fishin by the river, Hutch"
"Whassit, some kinda pole?"
"Nah Hutch, looks to be some kinda fancy sword."
"...Whydja swipe it?"
"Take a looky dis here. My Geiger counter wuz goin haywire, thought I would find one o dem fancy nuclear energy sources that Militech liked to test out here."
"It's fuckin radioactive man? What was you thinkin, bringin it close to the settlement? Hutch said, backing off from Alex and hiding behind a crate. Alex laughed, and laid the blade on the table, before taking out a smoke.
"Naw, I don't think so, I took it to Ellie first to get it cleaned off all its radiation residue, but it was already clean. That's what she said so anyway. Funny thing is, counters' still goes crazy after it was cleaned, watch this real quick." Taking out his counter, Alex swung it close to the blade, the pin immediately spun all the way to the left, and began to oscillate back and forth. Hutch looked on in confusion, before walking out of cover and glancing at the sheathed sword.
"How the… how's this sword givin off so many readins? Hutch asked, disbelief etched in his face. Alex shrugged and lit up his cig, before taking a long drag and blowing smoke into the air.
"Hell if I know. I've already taken a bunch of Iodine tablets juuusst in case, but it's been a while, so I think we're safe. Whatever this sword here's emmitin, looks to be another kinda new energy or element of some kind." Alex handed him the sword, gesturing to his friend to take it. Hutch took the sword with his mechanical hand, just in case the damn thing blew up on him, and immediately felt a pulse run through his body. At that moment, he felt as if he could challenge the whole damn world, and cut all the bullshit in half with a single mighty swing. Every cell in his body sang out, pulsing with vigor. His optics, which had been dimming for a while, immediately brightened to one hundred percent, at full energy capacity.
"Ho-lee shit, what the fuck was that?!" Adrenaline running through his veins, he grabbed the handle of the sword, and slowly unsheathed, the silvery gleam of the blade hissing against the black container. Caution now fully thrown to the wind, he fully removed the blade and it sang a harsh note, sending waves of energy into the air. The Geiger counter beside Alex released a shrill cry, before exploding in a display of sparks and steel.
"Goddammit Hutch, put that shit back!" Alex yelled and snatched the sword from him before returning the blade to its sheath, and back to his side. Hutch immediately felt the power leave his body, his optics once again dimming back to the setting it was before.
"Awww… fuck man, that was better than black fuckin lace!" Hutch complained, and sat down, before gesturing at Alex to hand him a cigarette too.
"Yup." Alex said, and emphasized the "P". Handing him a smoke and his lighter, he placed the blade back into a heavily armored suitcase.
"...I've decided to get some eddies outta this blade here. Shit's too dangerous. I'm gonna sell it to some suit to study. Or something."
Hutch looked at him like he grew a second head.
"Whatcha mean givin it up? You gonna give up something like that man? No way!" Hutch argued, pointing down at the ground at every syllable. Alex finished his smoke and stamped it on the ground, before addressing his friend.
"Use ya head fer once choom. Mystery power source, washed down the river? Able to break geiger counters and energize folks like a Christmas tree? Sounds to me like a fuckin secret corpo project." Alex twisted his foot deeper into the ground, making sure the ashes were all snuffed out. "We don't get too close to these kinda projects, Hutch. Doesn't end up well fer folk like us. Ya hear last time a group o' high strung nomads took some experimental tech fer themselves? Three AV's came down from the sky, razed a whole settlement to the ground, burned everything and everyone, and even some of the bush 'round. Nothing comes good from takin shit from corpos, especially their shiny new toys."
Argument dying on his lips, Hutch took one final look at the suitcase, before shaking his head and taking a long drag from his smoke.
"You right, you right. Still...What the hell are those damn suits up too, hmmm? A goddamn sword?" Shaking his head at the absurdity, he scratched his beard and considered the amount of money a corpo would pay to get back their secret pet project.
"Which corpo you givin it to anyhow? 'Saka? Militech? Biotech?" Alex considered the question, and shrugged.
"Probably 'Saka. Samurai swords their whole deal, so it's probably theirs too." Hutch considered his answer, then shot back a counterpoint.
"Ya can also sell to Militech too, probably pay a hefty price for something that belongs to their number one rival." Alex opened his mouth, then shut it, taking in the information with a thoughtful look on his face.
"That…I can. Good goin, usin yer brain. Nice to see there's something other than chrome up there…Hmmm." Hutch took the insult in stride, before also finishing up his smoke and stamping it out.
"Then again, 'Saka ninjas will just hunt ya down eventually and flatline ya if ya do that. Well, if they do care enough for their little project here." Brushing the dust of his hat, Hutch took one last look at the suitcase before chuckling.
"Well, whatever ya decide, we'll be swimming in eddies regardless!"
—-
2069,Santo Domingo, Night City
Gloria sunk down deeper in the pew, a look of fatigue on her face. Working long nights of Emergency response left her haggard and lethargic, but her desire to keep her son afloat in his studies kept her returning the very next day for her next fourteen hours. Raised as a Catholic, she had also wanted David to go with her to mass, but it seemed as if Night City had sunk its claws into him. Even at an early age, he was witness to the constant death and destruction that the city reaped from its victims. Not to mention the loss of his father…
"Oh, mi amor …" Whispering deeply, she rubbed her eyes at the memory of her late husband. A member of the Valentinos, he was gunned down in a dispute between his friends and the 6th street gang, leaving just her and David to fend for themselves. Telling the young boy that his father wasn't coming home that day was hard. And it may have left deeper scars on his psyche than she'd like to admit. Sometimes she'd see him on the days she'd come home early after work, his little hand on the glass, looking out to the city with his father's gold chain and crucifix gripped tightly around his little fist. Completely expressionless and Lethargic to the world around him. He'd then sense that she'd come home and David would once again be full of life and happiness but… those moments where he's completely alone?
" And those are the moments I do find him. I can't imagine the things he'd do if I wasn't around…"
Ever since his father's untimely demise, He'd had a morbid fascination with senseless violence. One day, she dug through her son's belongings and found packets of unnamed braindances, and when curiosity got the best of her, she found out that they all were XBDs of the gory and violent variety. One from a shootout between the Tyger claws and NCPD, one a botched operation gone wrong, another from an episode of cyber psychosis. She didn't know where he obtained these, but talking about them would probably bring up the subject of his father.
And that was a conversation she wasn't ready for again.
Still, she loved him all the same, and hoped eventually her little angel would come around to religion. It was hard enough raising a child as a single mother in Night City. She'd heard from his middle school teacher that some of the boys in his classroom were already Valentino gangsters. She'd wonder if he'd follow in his fathers footsteps sometimes. Find a girl. Love her. Give her a child. " And then die in some random shootout, leaving them both for the coyotes in the wild…'' Shaking her head from the intrusive thought, she promised herself that he would never end up like that. Not when she was still breathing in this world.
"Oh Dios, give me strength." Shutting her eyes and clasping her hands in prayer, she prayed for good health for her son David and herself. To one day leave the city behind. To a day of peace, free from the strife that plagued the outside world. Too engrossed in her plea, she failed to notice the father of the congregation approaching her.
"...Back here again. My child?" The priest walked up to her, and sat beside her, a sad yet knowing expression on his face. Becoming startled, she looked up in surprise, before she addressed him with a melancholic smile.
"Yes Padre, you know I go here after I've seen some…heavier stuff in my line of work."
Working as an EMT only furthered her wishes. Too many times she's arrived at scenes of tragedy, families broken apart by gang violence, domestic violence, or random acts of God. Just yesterday, a gas line exploded in Arroyo, killing ten bystanders. Arriving on the scene, she'd seen a blown apart charred hand, holding what appeared to be the remains of a stuffed animal, alongside a stroller. And a human female right beside it, slowly burning to death, holding onto a crumbling pile of ashes.
It scared her that she didn't even flinch at the sight either.
"Was the sight that bad?" the priest asked, and she merely nodded in an almost apathetic manner.
"Random gas explosion in Arroyo. Some innocent lives lost. Sometimes I wonder…if the next time I go out for my shift, it'll be the broken body of someone I know. Someone I love." Clasping her hands tighter, she prayed for the souls she had found to find peace in the next life.
One thing was for certain. She'd help set up David for his future. Get him a good job, away from all this gang business. And when they'd both get enough money, leave this place for good. Leave it all behind. Bowing her head, she delivered her final prayer for the night.
" Dios, Jesucristo, Santa Maria, send me a sign that you hear me. Send the archangels to watch over us. Deliver us from our sins. Amen.
A sound emanating from her neural net pinged at her and she sighed, before getting up, placing her bright Yellow EMT jacket on, and redoing her ponytail.
"Well Padre, looks like I'm back on call." The priest looks up at her with a sad smile, before also getting up and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"It both gladdens my heart and greatly burdens it that you seek comfort here at our parish so often. Please remember that we are always here for you and your troubles." Giving a thankful look, she wordlessly bowed her head and made her way to the exit. Looking back one more time, she caught a glimpse of the painting on the other side of the wall. Of the archangel, Michael, slaying the demon Lucifer. His gleaming sword held high, righteousness on his expression, ready to slay the evil beneath him. "... If it were only so easy for us to slay the evil in our lives," she thought.
"... Watch over us, will you?"
—-
2069, Pacifica, Night City
Vergil's eyes fluttered open, a groan failing to leave his lips. Gritting his teeth, he found he could not move.
" Where… Where am I?" A harsh white light emanated from the ceiling, blinding the Son of Sparda. Looking to the side was a task all of itself, but he eventually did it with some time and effort. The sight of scalpels and jars met him, and alarm bells began to ring through his head.
" Where is Dante…Malphas?...Nero?" Shimmying his body, he found himself bound to the table, arms, legs, neck, and waist laid securely by straps of leather. He'd remember falling out of the sky and landing in the river. So how did he get into this situation?
Focusing on his demonic core, the very air around him distorted into blue heat, radiating with malice and power.
" Good, Good. I still have some energy." With a mighty tug, he broke free from his restraints and lifted himself off the table, before taking further stock of his surroundings. More scalpels, Jars filled with unknown liquids and organs, and gurneys. Trying to take a step, he stumbled but caught himself on the edge of the table. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself upright, and after a minute of standing under his own power, fixed up his collar and smoothed back his hair. Looking around once more, he noticed the many medical journals and equipment further dotting every table.
" A hospital then?" Sudden footsteps alerted the half-devil, and he quickly slunk behind a bloodied curtain. Noticing the pale, sickly hand sticking out from under the blanket by the gurney nearest him, he surveyed his surroundings once more, and finally noticed the smell of death and decay permeating the area. As hospitals were usually sterile, they had a distinct smell, one that was not of rotting flesh and pestilence. Vergil knew something was amiss, but he forced his train of thought away when he heard the oncoming footsteps grow louder and louder until it was right outside the door.
"...You said that the new body is here? Chromeless? All organs intact? In good condition? Rather rare find."
"Yep yep, but the boss wanted us to meet our daily implant quotas, and we're like sixteen shipments short for this month. If you ask me, we should just dump the body back into the river where we found him. Or use it for some gnarly ass BDs." Both the voices had distinctly European accents, Vergil noted. " Where could Malphas have sent me?"
"And waste a perfectly good 'ganic body? No chance." The door opened, and two men walked in, dressed like typical Russian mobsters.
"Not to mention, this one's special. When me and my boys tried grabbin 'im, he had some kinda active electrical field around him that stopped us from touchin him. Fried the hair off Boros when he tried to carry him, hah!"
"Then how'd you carry 'im here?"
"Used a gurney hooked up with a circuit breaker to disperse the static into a battery. We had to use multiple of 'em too. The first few ones all fuckin broke cuz they overloaded."
"...Hold on, you said he had no chrome?"
"Well, we were gonna cut him open, see if he… what the? Where fuck is he?" Vergil glanced through the space in between the shades of the curtain, and saw the two pacing around the bed, clearly confused.
"I swear I put 'im in this room here?"
"Maybe if you'd stop drinkin' on the job, you'd fuckin remember!"
"Alright, alright, it's the next room, I know it! Get off my back, choom!" As they left the room, still arguing amongst themselves, Vergil began to piece together where he was. Shady mob gangsters, numerous piles of organs and body parts were strewn about, talk of implants and gang activities, in a run-down hospital?
He'd just found himself in an illegal organ harvesting plant, run by some sort of gang.
" How droll."
Getting up from his position, he walked around the room, and began examining the bodies that were lying around. Taking off the tarp on one gurney, he was greeted with a torn-apart human male, arms still reaching for the sky. His skin was torn in places, revealing wires and machinery crudely torn from his body. He was missing an eye, his face contorted in excruciating pain. Grimacing in disgust, he placed the tarp back over and wiped his hands off with the clean part of the cloth. Vergil kicked another gurney in revulsion and the corpse spilled over, this time a female with half of her innards spilling out to the floor below. Her arm missing, and circuitry spilled out haphazardly. Her blood gushed out, a mixture of crimson and a pale sort of viscous liquid.
" These humans… have machinery in them? What form of power is this?" As far as Vergil knew, humans were fully organic and filled with blood. That's why demons preyed on them, to obtain their blood to fuel their powers. And yet…kicking the corpse over to its back, he spied even more wires and circuitry running through the body, intertwined with bone and muscle. Something was amiss, with how he woke up falling, with how these men talked about "chrome" and implants, with how these cadavers had machinery in them.
Turning around, he spotted a gurney with what looked like malnourished legs sticking out that were smaller than the average adult. Frowning, he began to walk over, mood already worsening that it already was before.
" No… these men can't be this…depraved…" Closing the distance, he stopped right in front of his target, a look of bitterness etched on his face. Raising his hand over the bloody tarp he paused, before removing the item in one fell swoop. A butchered little boy, with what looked like his entire organ systems and bones removed, leaving only muscle and flesh removed met his gaze. The corpse looked to be a couple days old, already decomposing with bloated flesh clumping up in some areas. "How sickening ." Vergil snarled aloud and averted his gaze.
"I just heard something fall in dis room here!" A voice called out in the hallway to the side of the door, and Vergil stilled. Glancing back at the corpse, he pulled the tarp back over and faced the door, crossing his arms. This time he would not slink into the shadows. These men did not deserve to live any longer, he thought. He'd seen demons worthy of more respect than these dogs. The door opened and the thug stepped in.
"Right here… what the? Who the fuck are…" The man started to say but was cut off when Vergil rushed at him in a swift blur of blue, delivering a swift uppercut to the gangster's stomach. Rising into the air, he grabbed the man's face, and slammed it back into the ground, blood now pouring freely from his nose. Kicking the man in the side, he was sent flying straight into the wall, where the thug surprisingly recovered quickly. Getting up, the man let out a guttural roar and wiped some blood off his face with the back of his hand.
"Fucking son of a… I'LL FUCKING GUT YOU!" The thug stretched out his arms, and his arms seemed to fold back before razor-sharp blades protruded from them. Vergil only raised an eyebrow at this, before tilting his head and looking more intently at the blades.
" Never seen a human pull out blades from his own arms… what's going on here?"
The thug's nape area suddenly was glowing a yellow hue, and in a split second, was in front of Vergil, blades aiming for his head. The silver-haired man dodged at the last second, narrowly missing getting skewered. The thug was momentarily stunned, before he refocused and began to swing at the other man with quick and merciless swings. But Vergil was faster. Bobbing and weaving through the other man's attempts at disemboweling him, he saw an opportunity, and quickly delivered a chop to the man's elbow, severing an arm from the thug's body and making him lose his balance, causing him to fall to the floor.
"Fucking arrrgh! Dmitri! Help me over here!" The thug cursed and once again utilized his kerenzikov implant, slowing down time and dodging to the door.
" Interesting." Vergil however, caught up with his own speed and grabbed the man's leg with his right arm. Rearing his left fist back, he used his own momentum and the thug's momentum to deliver a punch that was so quick and full of kinetic force, it tore off the thug's head and sent it careening into the wall, sending brain matter and bone all over the equipment that was surrounding the area.
"I'm here, I'm here, what's gotcha so gonked…" The one he assumed was Dmitri walked in, a handgun in his hand, but his jaw dropped when he saw Vergil standing there, still grabbing onto his friend's corpse by the leg, blood gushing out from his neck.
"Wha… you'll fucking pay for that!" The man raised his gun and began to fire at Vergil, who merely dodged by moving his upper body left and right. Growling, Dmitri began to aim for center mass, but Vergil was already two steps ahead and threw his friend's corpse at him. Stumbling to move out of the way, Dmitri caught the mass of flesh with his arms and dropped his pistol. Cursing, he quickly tried to throw his friend's body off, but was stopped when a fist entered through his stomach and out his back, spilling bits of his innards and pieces of his spine out. Hacking blood, he tried to pry the arm out of him but found his strength failing and failing him. Hitting the arm in anger, he cursed out.
"F…fuck off! Get off me! Do y…you even know…who we are!" he spat out, strength now fully sapped.
"Dead men." Vergil deadpanned, and rammed his fist through the wall, impromptu nailing Dmitri to the wall with his own strength. "What is this place? Where am I?" He asked, eyes gleaming with burning malice.
"Fuck….you! You f..uck with the scavs, we'll cut y...you up and m…make you i-into dog food!" Vergil frowned at his response and twisted his fist, causing the man to scream in agony.
"I can prolong your suffering. Or you can answer truthfully and rest in peace. Now answer my question !" Pressure now emanating from the half-devil, Dmitri could do nothing but cower in fear and answer his torturer.
"P…Pacifica!"
"...Am I supposed to know where that is?"
"W…wha? What the fuck's t..that suppose to me…ARGGHH" The Son of Sparda twisted his fist again and used his other free arm to hold the thug's face in place.
"I ask the questions. Where. Am. I?" Vergil repeated, slamming Dimitri's face into the wall with every word.
"I…Planet Earth! Pacifica….Night fucking City! Auugh!" The thug cried out, and Vergil squinted, mind racking at every city name he knew. Well-traveled around the world before the events of Temen-ni-Gru, he knew no city with that name.
"Night City…is on what continent exactly?" The Son of Sparda questioned, and the man glared at him like he was the crazy one.
"W..what the fuck man… North America." he spat out globs of blood and was quickly losing consciousness. He would die soon, and the silver-haired man had decided he'd extracted enough information from the thug anyways. Deciding to end his torment, Vergil summoned a dagger in the air. He frowned, however, noting that the color of his summoned swords was of a duller color and less ethereal than normal. Shaking his head, he refocused on the trash that was bleeding out and impaled on his arm.
"I would thank you, but respect is not given to animals. Die like one." And the dagger was released, hitting Dmitri right between the eyes and sinking in with a meaty thunk. Removing his fist from the corpse, he focused his demonic power to surge through his body, and it burned off all of the residual blood that was spilled on him, once again making Vergil clean the image of composure. Pain suddenly rushing through his body, he grabbed the wall for support, once again feeling the creeping sensation of exhaustion. " So weak…I need to find the Yamato…" After a few seconds of regaining his footing, he stood up and adjusted his collar.
Slicking back his hair, he walked out of the room, and looked around, noting the many doorways dotting the hall. Taking a peek into each one, his mood slowly worsened as rotting and torn-apart corpses met his gaze.
Walking into what seemed like a lobby, he spied a digital clock that had the date on it. Glancing at the mounted clock, the current time was two in the morning, Monday, November 2069…
"2069?" Vergil spoke in surprise, taking another long look at the clock, before shaking his head and walking slowly to a computer that was already on, right on the other side of the room. Looking at the date there, it also read 2069, and the Son of Sparda could do nothing but grit his teeth and curse his misfortune.
" Separated from my family once again…" Vergil's head hung low and he could not help but grab onto the sides of the computer with such anger that he broke the expensive machinery into two. It seemed as if fate would not let him rest. First, he was forced to contend with his family being torn apart by forces he did not understand. Forced by his absentee father to continue his legacy, forever being marked by demonkind as traitors, and traitor spawn. Forced to gain power, and crush anyone underfoot who stood in his way to see his goals through. Forever in eternal conflict with his brother, and just recently found out he had a son was not enough. Now the word, nay, the Universe itself was set on depriving both of him. It was not fair!
" ...IT'S NOT FAIR !" Smashing the table in front of him into sawdust with a single slam, the entire room shook at his declaration. He breathed in deeply. In once, out once. "...No, this would not do ." Throwing a childish tantrum now would solve nothing. Remembering the poet William Blake's words, he searched for a phrase that would ease his mind back into a state of tranquility and recited it into the air.
" Curse my black stars, and bless my pleasing woe. A youth doth walk in stolen joy and pride, I curse my stars in bitter grief and woe, That made my love so high, and me so low." In, and out. Vergil opened his eyes, dusted off his sleeves, and pushed his hair back once more. His eyes now emanating a tempestuous decree, one promising to the world that he wasn't defeated by this setback. He would not bend to destiny. If the fates had decreed he was not meant to have a family, then he would cut the threads of fate with his blade, should it come to it.
" No matter. I will find my sword and return to Dante and Nero. Make Malphas suffer. And make right my wrongs."
Vergil perked up, now hearing footsteps rushing to his position from the hallway across the lobby. " More of these animals…" He walked to the middle of the room, and waited for the rest of these gangsters to appear. He listened as the sounds of their conversation slowly got louder.
"The sound came from over here!"
"Dmitri and Yulanko's signals stopped pinging us two minutes ago. Something must've flatlined 'em over at the collection rooms."
"Wha? NCPD spooks? Tyger ninjas? zombies? "
"Don't fuckin know, all I know is something down here caused that shaking."
They turned the corner, and found Vergil standing straight in the middle of the room, arms crossed with a look of loathing written on his face.
Four more gangsters filed in from the top floor, and Vergil found himself surrounded by at least ten of the scavengers with even more on the way, by the sound of more footsteps approaching.
"...You the gonk that flatlined our two buddies down there?" One of them asked, slowly approaching the silver-haired man with his shigure submachine gun at the ready. Vergil regarded them all with a half-lidded glare, counting those to the side and to his back.
"If you mean killed, then yes." he deadpanned.
"You little shit. You think you're ever gonna see the light of day again? Nyet. Not after we're done messin' with your pretty face." The thug snapped back and walked up straight to Vergil.
"...I grow tired of this." Vergil stuck his hand out to the thug, like he was miming holding a sword to the gangster's head. The scav looked on in confusion, before his brain was completely scrambled by a sudden light of blue energy, taking the form of a claymore. Swinging up and severing the head of the unfortunate mobster, he began deflecting the bullets shot at him from the gangsters around him, causing some bullets to ricochet all over the room and hit some scavs right back.
"How'd the fuck he summon a lightsab…Yaaaa..ack!"
Disappearing in a flash of blue, he appeared on the top floor, and completely bisected a man who was talking and carrying an LMG. Turning around, he mentally calculated the trajectory of his sword, and swung it, letting it fly across the room like an ethereal boomerang. Taking the LMG that was still suspended in the air, he kicked it with such force against another gangster that it exploded on impact, sending shrapnel and other machinery out, detonating the mechanism within, and causing more destruction. One scav leaped at him, metallic arms reared back, ready to cave his face in with his gorilla arms, but the son of Sparda met him head-on, fist also swinging right at him in a parody of a fistbump. The two arms clashed, but after a half second of resistance, Vergil swung through, completely obliterating the man's hand, arm, and shoulder with his own strength. Now past each other, Vergil swung with his back fist at the now disarmed thug who was still in shock and struck him right to the face, turning it into slush and sending the rest of his body straight into a wall. The mirage edge continued its grisly streak, sometimes cutting off limbs, other times completely bisecting others or outright decapitating them. Multiple implants began to activate, and Vergil witnessed some humans turn into blurs of speed, while others seemed to have machinery built in the legs to jump in the air away from his round trip.
" Not good enough. You will meet your end here."
Vergil caught his blade, and summoned a squad of ghostly daggers above the room, right above the more fortunate members who had dodged the initial swing of the force edge. Sending the hail of daggers down, many cried in pain, and even those with reflex boosters found themselves too slow to avoid the blanket of sharp otherworldly swords. Looking around, he realized most of them were now dead or incapacitated. Dispelling his mirage edge, he fought back another spell of exhaustion.
"P…please! I have family"
"Have mercy…"
If his mouth could scowl any harder, it would have at that moment. The half-devil walked up to the scav that was begging for mercy, and noticed his dagger sticking out from the back of the gangster, his legs and right arm were cut off, leaving him with only one arm.
"Did you afford the same mercy to your…produce?" Vergil hissed, stepping on the man's only good hand and breaking both circuitry and bone.
"Argh!... Please! I'll give you anything! Eddies, money, joy toys!... Fuck man, you want my sister? I can… Aaaaaarrhhh!" Vergil snarled and cut him off by raising his foot and stamping down so hard that his boot went right through the hand and into the floor below, shattering the tile. Leaning down, he hissed quietly, but anger was rushing through his body so quickly that his demonic power began to spill over, his words heard cleanly by all in that room, regardless of how depleted he was.
" First, you all captured my body and tried to pry it open for your sick needs. Then, you violate my eyes with your…depravity. Now, you beg for mercy, in this place of death and decay, bereft of any kind of hope or kindness, a place you have built for greed and profit." Vergil's anger began to build, a deep heat from within pulsing out and burning all near him. " And on death's door, you barter with your own family, your own flesh and blood! No. You will all die."
Channeling his rage, his righteous anger through his veins, Vergil became the epicenter of a massive azure explosion, and the man he was standing above was vaporized into nothing, every molecule eviscerated to absolute destruction. The blue aura cleared, and a truly alien and malevolent being stood, with blue and white scales running down the monster's form, and blue flames jetting out of its head and arms. It unfurled its wings, white and blue waves of energy emitting from the action. Its tail cracked like a whip, shattering the tile behind it.
" Haaaaaah…" The devil breathed out, smoke like a dragon puffing out of its mouth, teeth and mouth contorted in a harsh snarl. Raising its clawed fist, all was quiet for a second. Then, the wind began to pick up, buffeting all with hurricane-force speeds, even though they were all indoors. The room darkened, and all light sources went out. Floor tiles flew into the air and broke into pieces. A great invisible pressure weighed heavily down on those inside the room, and some immediately fell unconscious, unable to fight the pressure that was restricting their blood flow. The whole abandoned hospital began to shake, and those from a few blocks away began to feel an earthquake occur. The dark and windy room suddenly brightened, and those who were still conscious struggled to look up, before covering their eyes with whatever they could find. Whatever it was, it was bright, brighter than the sun. One man looked for too long, and his optic burned out, causing him to cry in pain. The scavs electrical implants began to short circuit, and some died on the spot, their artificial lungs or pacemaker malfunctioning and killing them. The light kept building and building, and the wind blew faster and faster, until there was nothing but the sound of deafening power humming in their ears, making them go deaf.
Suddenly, it all stopped, the wind, the humming, the pressure, and for a split second, all could hear the next words loud and clear, as they reverberated through their bodies and into their souls.
" Rest in Peace." And the devil slammed his glowing fist down.
The scavs saw a blinding light, felt an impossibly hot wave wash over them, and they knew nothing more.
—-
"….Wa…! Glor…Wak….Up!" Gloria woke up from her nap, immediately alert. Hand reaching for the nue handgun in the side door compartment of the EMT vehicle.
"Wake up Gloria!" Esteban, her fellow EMT repeated, shaking her rapidly.
"I'm up I'm up! What's the situation!"
"We got a massive explosion in north Pacifica! Gotta be numerous blocks and buildings just…fucking gone! Med center's calling for backup!" Gloria cursed, and began digging through the glove compartment of the vehicle before finding a bounce-back injection canister.
Injecting it into her arm, she immediately felt reinvigorated and strapped her seatbelt on.
"Well, start driving choom, we ain't got all day!" Esteban nodded and hit the ignition key, and pulled out of the driveway. Remembering something, he nodded to Gloria.
"Another thing, there's been reports of possible radiation readings from the explosion, you should probably take a rad tab just in case."
"Radiation? Que en nombre de dios?" she questioned, a look of horror on her face. Pulling out some radiation tablets from another compartment by the door, she couldn't help but shudder in fearful anticipation of what she was about to witness. Putting the tablets in her mouth, she blanched at the taste but quickly washed it down with some water.
As the vehicle started moving on the freeway towards Pacifica, her mouth dropped at the sight of the skyline. What was supposed to be a dark and black sky was now alight with piercing blue and white beams of energy, with a massive, ominous, deep blue mushroom cloud high above the clouds.
Steeling herself for the horrors abound, she slapped both sides of her face and looked ahead with determination.
"It will be just another tragedy in Night City. Just another fucking tragedy in Night City."
"Just another day in Night City."