An update, gods be praised! *strange people in the background cheer until Zelly looks at them oddly* Where did all these cheering midgets come from? And why do readers think I'm a guy? (definitely rabid fan girl here). And why are skittles so unimaginably tasty?
Beats me. Thanks for all the R&R everybody!!, especially in light of my slow updates.
A picture of the Staff (with my limited drawing ability): http://www.geocities.com/zellyia/scan0002.jpg
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Chapter 13: The War Begins
In general, there was a lot of panic. The people of the City of Hunters watched as their protective shields shattered, stared at their absence in shock, and then proceeded to do the accustomed human activities of shouting and milling around aimlessly like ants. Fortunately most of the city was occupied by professional devil hunters, who as soon as they noticed the shield failure, immediately grabbed up their weapons and prepared for any unexpected (and rather expected) battle.
The current situation, about an hour after the shield shattered, had hunters positioned on the walls surrounding the city…and facing the mind numbing sight of a devil army that spread outward from the city like a black and seething cancer. Even the more veteran hunters blanched when they looked upon the size of the evil before them. Yet the devil army made little move to attack. Minutes ticked away tensely as the evil soldiers milled out of reach, occasionally launching small attempts against the walls, but generally just milling…as if waiting.
As soon as the shield collapsed, Dante and Rob hadn't even taken a step, however, before Preda spun on them. "You! I don't know what just happened, but you're involved somehow in all this. You're coming with me." They followed her through the winding city streets of anxious people until they came to a wide building of gray stone that Dante vaguely recalled Preda calling the Judgment Hall. She pushed through the twin oaken doors that led into a large and sophisticated foyer that had a dual staircase leading up.
The lavishness of the décor was lost, however, as it was overrun by the shouting and running of people. "Get the generator!" "Where's the damned man when--" "I need a copy of--" "Move all guards to the west--" "The gates are overflowing with people trying--" Dante was reminded of stock brokers. Preda pulled Dante and Rob off into a little side room. "You stay here. Don't move and don't touch anything." With this said she closed the door.
Now, the hour after the shield event, Dante and Rob were still waiting in the same small office. Dante had been playing with one of the those little things where the row of five balls smack each other and move only the balls at the end, although now he was getting very very bored. Which is always dangerous. Dante stood up and started to walk out the door. Rob, who had been dozing, jerked awake. "Huh? Hey! Where are you going?"
Dante shrugged. "I'm not sitting around in this hole while there's stuff going on." He smiled. "I want a piece of the action too. That Occasus guy owes me. Emena too." He walked out the door and Ray followed with a sigh.
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In the middle of nowhere, quite a few hundred miles from the City, Lannister leaned against a tree, staring intently at a small silvery orb that hovered in front of him. In its mirror-like depths ran a scene of a great black army surrounding a strange walled city. He pursed his lips in thought. He shrugged to himself, speaking aloud. "Things are coming to a head. This hand is about to play. The next move will be his, whether he knows it or not. The real question is, whom will his move benefit? I suspect there is much Catullus has not told him…" Lannister fell silent and returned his gaze to the events unfolding in the orb.
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Outside the office things had apparently calmed down. Dante headed over to a secretary who was busy answering half a dozen phones and putting most of them on hold. She took a deep breath, glanced up at them, then proceeded to completely ignore them. Dante's eyebrow twitched. "'Cuse me," he said disconnecting her current phone call. "We need to find Preda. I'm sure she's around here somewhere."
The secretary glared at him. "She's in a private meeting with the board. Now I suggest you leave before I call security," she snapped and continued on to another phone. Dante shrugged and put up his hands defensively before he turned and walked away. Walked away deeper into the building of course. The secretary, absorbed in the onslaught of calls, didn't even notice. Ray shot looks between the two, then scurried after Dante. "Aw man," he muttered. "We're going to be in such deep shit." He raised his voice a bit, "Hey Dante, how do you know where we're going?"
Dante grinned back at him. "I don't. But trust me, these bigwig places are all alike. It's the room with the big flashy doors." And indeed, true to his prophecy, at the end of a large hallway they came to two large gilded doors. Next to them a plate on the wall read 'Alpha Room'. Dante placed his ear to the door and listened intently. He could hear angry muted voices through the thick doors. "Bingo," he said. He pushed on the doors. They didn't budge. A harder push also gained nothing. He put all his weight (as well as a little devil born strength) into the door and it burst open. Inside the room, a man on a podium was paused in mid-speech. In a semicircle around the room sat a number of men and women, including Preda. A man stood up.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. The others in the room glare. "I don't know who you are, but this --" Preda jumped up and ran over to him.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed. "I told you to stay in the room." Before Dante could respond, she spun around and addressed the rest of the chamber. "This is who I was telling you about, Dante, Sparda's son." Ray coughed. "And Ray Stevens, his associate."
The man who had stood up now took a step backwards. "Preda have you lost your mind to bring that half-breed here? How can we trust him? You know he's dangerous!" Dante gave him a dangerous smile. He wasn't going to disagree with that. A woman stood up. "Enough of this. We agreed the son of the Legendary Knight would be a welcome ally. We do not have time for squabbling. We must make a plan of action." She gestured to Dante and Ray. "You may sit down and listen if you choose. Unless you have something to contribute."
Dante held up three Fingers, ticking them off. "One: the devil army is led by a second lieutenant called Occasus; Two: He has the aid of high level devils; and Three: he wants to control the world." Dante shrugged. "Not much more than you already know." Dante wasn't about to tell them about the Staff and Catullus.
Dante shrugged and sat down. Hopefully these old farts knew what they were doing. They reminded him too much of the generals who would command armies while never actually joining the field themselves. The people began to discuss the situation's issues: apparently there was already some minor sporadic fighting on the walls, there was nothing to worry about since they had hundreds of the best hunters to fight, the City's gates were backed up as others fled, the devil army's numbers were becoming uncountable, and so on and so on. Suddenly in the middle of it, Dante got a mental call from Catullus.
*Dante, I'm in the right alley outside. We need to talk, and now.* Dante got up. "I'm going to get some air," he said and walked out before anyone could respond. He quickly headed out the building (past a surprised looking secretary) and into the alley. He nearly blasted Catullus with his handguns as the dragon swept down unexpectedly to land beside him. "So what's up?" Dante asked.
Catullus settled into comfortable position and laid back his wings. "I could use a drink. But more importantly, you should know this fight is useless." At Dante's frown, he continued. "The humans are cocky because of the number of hunters assembled, and they are an impressive force. However, this is only a part of the devil army." Dante nodded, remembering the vision Lannister had shown him when they first met. The army in it had seemed much larger. "The hunters can inflict a large amount of damage…but in the end they will be overrun. They only way to overcome such numbers is for you to use the Staff." Dante blinked and instinctively fingered his recently acquired earring. "The Staff's true power is in its ability to dest--" Catullus was cut off as the ground rumbled ominously and an explosion rocked the area.
"What the hell?" Dante said managing to stay on his feet. He ran off towards the direction of the chaos. Catullus shook himself. "Dante, no! I have to tell you…" The miniature dragon trailed off helplessly then flew after him muttering a string of curses.
Dante meanwhile had arrived at a section of the wall of the City to find it in shambles and covered with giant plantlike vines that whipped around and smashed anything they came into contact with. The vines suddenly pulled a huge flower into view. A huge flower that opened its petals to reveal a round mouth with rows of rotating teeth. The thing screamed like a dying animal and grabbed the waist of a nearby hunter who was attempting to hack away a vine. Dante leapt and hacked through the vine just before the other hunter was thrown into its gaping maw. Dodging another vine while the head screamed in anger, he pulled on the gauntlets of Ifrit, glad he had stuffed them into his coat before leaving the inn. He went at the giant plant with a fiery fury of kicks and blows, streaks of flame hissing through the air behind him. A vine came at his back…and was seared away by a blue beam. Startled he looked over to see a hunter wink at him and continue firing at the plant with some sort of laser gun. Dante wasn't use to battling with others, but looking around he realized about ten hunters total were fighting the thing. The plant was still resisting, but it's movements were slowing and its screams were more of pain and desperation. Right as Dante started to relax a pack of devil wolves leapt through the hole in wall created by the plant. Shit, there were about twenty of them! He didn't have time to get his guard up before one pinned him to the ground and bit hard into his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and blew into it with Ebony and Ivory so much that the wolf was blown into the air by the wave of bullets. As two more ran towards him, he devil triggered and felt the fires of hell burn into his veins. Devil triggering with Ifrit was different than with Alastor. Where Alastor was like being on speed while having ice water poured in his veins, Ifrit was just a rush of uncontrollable heat. He shot off fireballs at the two wolves and had the satisfaction of seeing them both burst into flame.
Unfortunately, he had also forgotten about the other hunters again. In his devil state, he suddenly found himself being attacked as an enemy. He dodged a hunter's sword and quickly dropped the devil power. It looked like he was going to have to fight without devil triggering, annoying as it was. He continued to blow holes into wolves with his handguns, wishing he hadn't left his shotgun with Ray. At that moment a familiar 'bang' sounded and Dante saw Ray and Preda both fighting as well. Once again, however, just as the battle seemed to be going well, another wave of devils broke in to renew the assault. Dante shook off exhaustion. Everyone had been fighting for a good half an hour now, and even with his stamina he was tired.
*Dante!* Catullus called suddenly. *You've got to use the Staff! Pull it out and command it!*
*What? How do I--* Dante grimaced as he hacked into a msira. He didn't have for communication. Hoping whatever was suppose to happen would, he held out his hand and summoned the Staff like Catullus had taught him. His earring disappeared and he found himself holding the Staff. He used it like a quarterstaff for a moment on enemies to clear himself of room.
He had no idea what to do what to do with the thing. Maybe it was like devil triggering where he reached inside it and released the power…Dante tried to scream as power rolled into him and attempted to pull him inside out. A distant part of his mind noticed that five red and glowing concentric circles and symbols and come to life around him, not unlike what happened when he Air Hiked. He felt himself to fall to his knees as bone ripped out of his forearms like dual daggers up his arms, and his shoulder blades twisted as ripped into two black webbed wings. Dante had a death grip on the Staff. The pain was unbearable, unstoppable, and the distant part of mind realized he had felt it before. Right after he had gotten the Staff in the temple underground, he had experienced the same thing. Except now it wouldn't go away. As Dante felt the power coming up through him was beginning to run out of control, he knew he had to release it somewhere.
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Ray had been fighting every way he knew how in order to stay alive. He was congratulating himself on surviving so long when he saw Dante out of the corner of his eye. "Christ almighty," he whispered as he stared. His friend, now in possession of what Ray assumed was Sparda's Staff of Power, was also in possession of a pair of wicked black wings that had torn through his coat and a pair of deadly looking scythe-like blades curving from his wrists. His head turned in Ray's direction and Ray's breath caught as he looked into crimson eyes that bore no recognition. Dante staggered to his feet suddenly and raised the Staff above his head. The spikes inside the head of the Staff glowed radiantly purple and a mass of bright purple energy gathered in the head area. Dante lowered the energized Staff to his side, then grasping it with both hands, faced the hole in the wall and swept in in a line across his body.
Ray cried out and shielded his eyes as a shockwave of power dozens of feet wide tore out and ripped through the devil army outside as if it were nothing. The wave cut a visible trail through the army as hundreds of devil were disintegrated in one blow. As the shockwave tapered off Ray glanced back just inside to see Dante, now without wings, arm blades, or Staff, collapse to ground.
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Next Chapter: Um, I don't know the title yet, but you know it's going to be damn good! ^_~
Beats me. Thanks for all the R&R everybody!!, especially in light of my slow updates.
A picture of the Staff (with my limited drawing ability): http://www.geocities.com/zellyia/scan0002.jpg
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Chapter 13: The War Begins
In general, there was a lot of panic. The people of the City of Hunters watched as their protective shields shattered, stared at their absence in shock, and then proceeded to do the accustomed human activities of shouting and milling around aimlessly like ants. Fortunately most of the city was occupied by professional devil hunters, who as soon as they noticed the shield failure, immediately grabbed up their weapons and prepared for any unexpected (and rather expected) battle.
The current situation, about an hour after the shield shattered, had hunters positioned on the walls surrounding the city…and facing the mind numbing sight of a devil army that spread outward from the city like a black and seething cancer. Even the more veteran hunters blanched when they looked upon the size of the evil before them. Yet the devil army made little move to attack. Minutes ticked away tensely as the evil soldiers milled out of reach, occasionally launching small attempts against the walls, but generally just milling…as if waiting.
As soon as the shield collapsed, Dante and Rob hadn't even taken a step, however, before Preda spun on them. "You! I don't know what just happened, but you're involved somehow in all this. You're coming with me." They followed her through the winding city streets of anxious people until they came to a wide building of gray stone that Dante vaguely recalled Preda calling the Judgment Hall. She pushed through the twin oaken doors that led into a large and sophisticated foyer that had a dual staircase leading up.
The lavishness of the décor was lost, however, as it was overrun by the shouting and running of people. "Get the generator!" "Where's the damned man when--" "I need a copy of--" "Move all guards to the west--" "The gates are overflowing with people trying--" Dante was reminded of stock brokers. Preda pulled Dante and Rob off into a little side room. "You stay here. Don't move and don't touch anything." With this said she closed the door.
Now, the hour after the shield event, Dante and Rob were still waiting in the same small office. Dante had been playing with one of the those little things where the row of five balls smack each other and move only the balls at the end, although now he was getting very very bored. Which is always dangerous. Dante stood up and started to walk out the door. Rob, who had been dozing, jerked awake. "Huh? Hey! Where are you going?"
Dante shrugged. "I'm not sitting around in this hole while there's stuff going on." He smiled. "I want a piece of the action too. That Occasus guy owes me. Emena too." He walked out the door and Ray followed with a sigh.
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In the middle of nowhere, quite a few hundred miles from the City, Lannister leaned against a tree, staring intently at a small silvery orb that hovered in front of him. In its mirror-like depths ran a scene of a great black army surrounding a strange walled city. He pursed his lips in thought. He shrugged to himself, speaking aloud. "Things are coming to a head. This hand is about to play. The next move will be his, whether he knows it or not. The real question is, whom will his move benefit? I suspect there is much Catullus has not told him…" Lannister fell silent and returned his gaze to the events unfolding in the orb.
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Outside the office things had apparently calmed down. Dante headed over to a secretary who was busy answering half a dozen phones and putting most of them on hold. She took a deep breath, glanced up at them, then proceeded to completely ignore them. Dante's eyebrow twitched. "'Cuse me," he said disconnecting her current phone call. "We need to find Preda. I'm sure she's around here somewhere."
The secretary glared at him. "She's in a private meeting with the board. Now I suggest you leave before I call security," she snapped and continued on to another phone. Dante shrugged and put up his hands defensively before he turned and walked away. Walked away deeper into the building of course. The secretary, absorbed in the onslaught of calls, didn't even notice. Ray shot looks between the two, then scurried after Dante. "Aw man," he muttered. "We're going to be in such deep shit." He raised his voice a bit, "Hey Dante, how do you know where we're going?"
Dante grinned back at him. "I don't. But trust me, these bigwig places are all alike. It's the room with the big flashy doors." And indeed, true to his prophecy, at the end of a large hallway they came to two large gilded doors. Next to them a plate on the wall read 'Alpha Room'. Dante placed his ear to the door and listened intently. He could hear angry muted voices through the thick doors. "Bingo," he said. He pushed on the doors. They didn't budge. A harder push also gained nothing. He put all his weight (as well as a little devil born strength) into the door and it burst open. Inside the room, a man on a podium was paused in mid-speech. In a semicircle around the room sat a number of men and women, including Preda. A man stood up.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. The others in the room glare. "I don't know who you are, but this --" Preda jumped up and ran over to him.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed. "I told you to stay in the room." Before Dante could respond, she spun around and addressed the rest of the chamber. "This is who I was telling you about, Dante, Sparda's son." Ray coughed. "And Ray Stevens, his associate."
The man who had stood up now took a step backwards. "Preda have you lost your mind to bring that half-breed here? How can we trust him? You know he's dangerous!" Dante gave him a dangerous smile. He wasn't going to disagree with that. A woman stood up. "Enough of this. We agreed the son of the Legendary Knight would be a welcome ally. We do not have time for squabbling. We must make a plan of action." She gestured to Dante and Ray. "You may sit down and listen if you choose. Unless you have something to contribute."
Dante held up three Fingers, ticking them off. "One: the devil army is led by a second lieutenant called Occasus; Two: He has the aid of high level devils; and Three: he wants to control the world." Dante shrugged. "Not much more than you already know." Dante wasn't about to tell them about the Staff and Catullus.
Dante shrugged and sat down. Hopefully these old farts knew what they were doing. They reminded him too much of the generals who would command armies while never actually joining the field themselves. The people began to discuss the situation's issues: apparently there was already some minor sporadic fighting on the walls, there was nothing to worry about since they had hundreds of the best hunters to fight, the City's gates were backed up as others fled, the devil army's numbers were becoming uncountable, and so on and so on. Suddenly in the middle of it, Dante got a mental call from Catullus.
*Dante, I'm in the right alley outside. We need to talk, and now.* Dante got up. "I'm going to get some air," he said and walked out before anyone could respond. He quickly headed out the building (past a surprised looking secretary) and into the alley. He nearly blasted Catullus with his handguns as the dragon swept down unexpectedly to land beside him. "So what's up?" Dante asked.
Catullus settled into comfortable position and laid back his wings. "I could use a drink. But more importantly, you should know this fight is useless." At Dante's frown, he continued. "The humans are cocky because of the number of hunters assembled, and they are an impressive force. However, this is only a part of the devil army." Dante nodded, remembering the vision Lannister had shown him when they first met. The army in it had seemed much larger. "The hunters can inflict a large amount of damage…but in the end they will be overrun. They only way to overcome such numbers is for you to use the Staff." Dante blinked and instinctively fingered his recently acquired earring. "The Staff's true power is in its ability to dest--" Catullus was cut off as the ground rumbled ominously and an explosion rocked the area.
"What the hell?" Dante said managing to stay on his feet. He ran off towards the direction of the chaos. Catullus shook himself. "Dante, no! I have to tell you…" The miniature dragon trailed off helplessly then flew after him muttering a string of curses.
Dante meanwhile had arrived at a section of the wall of the City to find it in shambles and covered with giant plantlike vines that whipped around and smashed anything they came into contact with. The vines suddenly pulled a huge flower into view. A huge flower that opened its petals to reveal a round mouth with rows of rotating teeth. The thing screamed like a dying animal and grabbed the waist of a nearby hunter who was attempting to hack away a vine. Dante leapt and hacked through the vine just before the other hunter was thrown into its gaping maw. Dodging another vine while the head screamed in anger, he pulled on the gauntlets of Ifrit, glad he had stuffed them into his coat before leaving the inn. He went at the giant plant with a fiery fury of kicks and blows, streaks of flame hissing through the air behind him. A vine came at his back…and was seared away by a blue beam. Startled he looked over to see a hunter wink at him and continue firing at the plant with some sort of laser gun. Dante wasn't use to battling with others, but looking around he realized about ten hunters total were fighting the thing. The plant was still resisting, but it's movements were slowing and its screams were more of pain and desperation. Right as Dante started to relax a pack of devil wolves leapt through the hole in wall created by the plant. Shit, there were about twenty of them! He didn't have time to get his guard up before one pinned him to the ground and bit hard into his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and blew into it with Ebony and Ivory so much that the wolf was blown into the air by the wave of bullets. As two more ran towards him, he devil triggered and felt the fires of hell burn into his veins. Devil triggering with Ifrit was different than with Alastor. Where Alastor was like being on speed while having ice water poured in his veins, Ifrit was just a rush of uncontrollable heat. He shot off fireballs at the two wolves and had the satisfaction of seeing them both burst into flame.
Unfortunately, he had also forgotten about the other hunters again. In his devil state, he suddenly found himself being attacked as an enemy. He dodged a hunter's sword and quickly dropped the devil power. It looked like he was going to have to fight without devil triggering, annoying as it was. He continued to blow holes into wolves with his handguns, wishing he hadn't left his shotgun with Ray. At that moment a familiar 'bang' sounded and Dante saw Ray and Preda both fighting as well. Once again, however, just as the battle seemed to be going well, another wave of devils broke in to renew the assault. Dante shook off exhaustion. Everyone had been fighting for a good half an hour now, and even with his stamina he was tired.
*Dante!* Catullus called suddenly. *You've got to use the Staff! Pull it out and command it!*
*What? How do I--* Dante grimaced as he hacked into a msira. He didn't have for communication. Hoping whatever was suppose to happen would, he held out his hand and summoned the Staff like Catullus had taught him. His earring disappeared and he found himself holding the Staff. He used it like a quarterstaff for a moment on enemies to clear himself of room.
He had no idea what to do what to do with the thing. Maybe it was like devil triggering where he reached inside it and released the power…Dante tried to scream as power rolled into him and attempted to pull him inside out. A distant part of his mind noticed that five red and glowing concentric circles and symbols and come to life around him, not unlike what happened when he Air Hiked. He felt himself to fall to his knees as bone ripped out of his forearms like dual daggers up his arms, and his shoulder blades twisted as ripped into two black webbed wings. Dante had a death grip on the Staff. The pain was unbearable, unstoppable, and the distant part of mind realized he had felt it before. Right after he had gotten the Staff in the temple underground, he had experienced the same thing. Except now it wouldn't go away. As Dante felt the power coming up through him was beginning to run out of control, he knew he had to release it somewhere.
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Ray had been fighting every way he knew how in order to stay alive. He was congratulating himself on surviving so long when he saw Dante out of the corner of his eye. "Christ almighty," he whispered as he stared. His friend, now in possession of what Ray assumed was Sparda's Staff of Power, was also in possession of a pair of wicked black wings that had torn through his coat and a pair of deadly looking scythe-like blades curving from his wrists. His head turned in Ray's direction and Ray's breath caught as he looked into crimson eyes that bore no recognition. Dante staggered to his feet suddenly and raised the Staff above his head. The spikes inside the head of the Staff glowed radiantly purple and a mass of bright purple energy gathered in the head area. Dante lowered the energized Staff to his side, then grasping it with both hands, faced the hole in the wall and swept in in a line across his body.
Ray cried out and shielded his eyes as a shockwave of power dozens of feet wide tore out and ripped through the devil army outside as if it were nothing. The wave cut a visible trail through the army as hundreds of devil were disintegrated in one blow. As the shockwave tapered off Ray glanced back just inside to see Dante, now without wings, arm blades, or Staff, collapse to ground.
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Next Chapter: Um, I don't know the title yet, but you know it's going to be damn good! ^_~