I just want to say that I think fanfiction.net is a great idea. It's nice that there's a place for people to write and post all their ideas. Not only do I get to write what I enjoy, but I get to read all the different ideas of other people too. ::applauds all the administration or whoever is responsible::
Crystalda: I'm impossible to insult, so no worries. (and the rabid fangirl would be me, btw, hehe) ::Zelly tackles Dante:: ^_~
Jack the Ripper: All your questions will be answered in this chapter or the next. (In the actual game story I think Dante requires an artifact to transform, but in this fic…well you'll see.) ^__^
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Chapter 14: True Forms
"So…is he going to be okay?" Ray asked.
He and Preda stood inside a small makeshift hospital room where Dante lay on a bed. Many such makeshift rooms had been forced to be made in order to accommodate the large numbers of injured hunters from the last attack made by the devil army. Preda nodded her head and looked over at the sleeping Dante.
"The doctor said he is just mentally and physically exhausted. He'll probably sleep like this for awhile to recover." Preda trailed off and avoided Ray's eyes.
"So you didn't tell the doctor what happened…" Ray ventured. Preda shook her head and shuddered as she gave the sleeping hunter another glance. She remembered how he had looked, standing on that pile of rubble, holding that Staff. He had been so foreign and terrifying.
Ray broke into her thoughts, "Well I'm sure you've got a lot of things to take care of Preda. The city is still trying to recover from the last assault." Ray plopped down in the room's only chair. "I'll stay with him in case he wakes up. Call me if you need an extra set of hands for anything though." Preda shook herself. She did actually have quite a few duties she needed to attend to.
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. And you call me if you need anything." Preda closed the door behind her as she left and Ray heard her footsteps trail off down the hall. He sighed and closed his eyes. All this was…well…a little more than he'd bargained for. He'd come to City to help Dante yes, and because it was the right thing to do, blah blah blah, but also because of the horde of knowledge to found in the City. Here he had planned to delve into little known facts and to expand his ring of contacts, etc. Instead he found himself fighting for his life and battling devils in the streets. While he was handy with a shotgun (thanks to his nutsy grandfather who believed that 'real men' know how to shoot) he really wasn't the gung-ho fighter type. And when next to Dante, a known pro hunter, he felt down right…out of place and a little worthless. He just couldn't wait for this to be over so he could go back to his life…
Ray's eyes snapped open and his heart leapt into his throat at the sudden fluttering noise in the room. He relaxed visibly as he saw Catullus settle down on one of Dante's bedposts. He did not relax completely though, having had long suspected the little dragon had been holding something back, and now… "So what happened back there?" Ray demanded. "For someone who is suppose to be guarding this guy you're doing a hell of a job."
The dragon gave him a withering glare. "I was actually trying to explain to the headstrong idiot when he decided to run off and fight. And…without the Staff back there, both you and he would probably be dead."
Ray waited for more, but Catullus was silent. Ray pressed onward. All the recent adrenaline was making him bold. "Well he looks near dead to me. Damn it Catullus, I saw what happened back there! That was NOT Dante, that was--" Ray snapped off, unsure of what he had been about to say….a monster.
Catullus sighed and Ray noticed for the first time how tired the dragon looked, almost as beat as Ray felt. "Alright," the little dragon said softly, "Alright. This is what I was trying to tell Dante. The Staff is a weapon which was created for the purpose of destroying mass numbers of enemies. Such destructive power requires it to draw upon highly concentrated devil power, thus very potently evil power. The reason for Dante's transformation that you saw was due to the Staff's need for someone of devil blood to react with and control that dark power."
"Wait a sec," Ray interrupted. "I've seen Dante…whatever he calls it, devil trigger, before and even in those devil forms he's always still seemed to be in control and be himself. He also looks like a devil in those forms, whereas this time…"
Catullus nodded an looked down at the resting Dante. "Dante attempted to harness the Staff's power as a human, which quite simply, he is really not. Had he been, he would have died on the spot. The Staff differs from artifacts like Alastor and Ifrit in that it does not use its devil power to strengthen the wielder's devil power and level. Rather, the Staff draws out the power of the wielder to form the destructive power you saw. When Dante used the Staff, it tried to pull out all the devil power it could. As he is now, his power is only so great. The Staff sought to pull out a deeper power and thus involuntarily forced Dante to assume his more devil like true form."
Ray's stomach sank slowly. He didn't like the sound of this. "Wha…"
"High level devils like Sparda," the dragon continued, "were able to take a human form. Dante, as a halfbreed, has three forms: as a human, which he was raised in and lives in; as a devil, which I don't think can be accomplished except maybe in the Underworld; and as a halfbreed, which is his true form that you saw."
Catullus fell silent again, and this time Ray didn't feel like pressing for any more info. After a moment of heavy silence, an unexpected voice said, "Nice bed time story, Shorty." Ray jumped and exclaimed, "Dante!" as he saw the hunter's eyes were open.
Dante grinned wryly. "What, you think I was going to sleep all day?"
Catullus blinked at him. "You were awake the whole time?" He had a faster recovery rate than Catullus had thought.
"Yeah," Dante said stretching and cracking his neck. "And apparently we need to have a talk."
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Half an hour later, Dante stood shirtless in front of a mirror in a small bathroom. According to Catullus, he could only use and control the Staff while in his…other form. Goose bumps ran briefly over his skin. He knew if he got angry enough in the Underworld he could take that form he had used to fly when he had fought Mundus in the sky. But this…he had never known about. Catullus said he and Vergil had probably been born in half-breed form but that his mother or Sparda had arranged it so these forms were suppressed, probably so that the boys could live a normal life.
He took a deep breath. Gotta learn to control the Staff, gotta learn to control himself, so here he was, trying to voluntarily slip in and out of that form. At least he didn't need some damn sword or gloves to do it. He concentrated briefly, remembering the feel of it, like devil triggering but more…natural…somehow. He broke his concentration as he felt his skin shift strangely and he glanced down just in time to see the edges of his arm blades slip back into his skin, leaving a thin bloody line up his forearm that quickly healed over. Well this was going to be interesting if nothing else. "Come on," he muttered to himself. "You've done weirder things than this." He concentrated again, and this time he ignored the sensations. The sensations of having razor sharp bone slice outward from his arms, and the stranger (and not terribly pleasant) sensation of having his shoulder blades extend through his back and grow into leathery wings. He held his concentration through the seconds that seemed like hours, then let out the deep breath and opened his eyes. He took an involuntary step backwards from the mirror, having never actually seen himself in this form before. Wings, arm blades, and eyes with red irises. A smile crept over his face. "Hell," he said, "I make this look good." Now all he had to do was try and manage the Staff.
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Emena paced in a expansive and devil designed tent (meaning the décor included the usual skulls, spikes, walls of flesh, ect.). "I don't like it," she said sourly, rubbing her long nails together in irritation. "You saw what he was capable of. What if things don't go according to your plan. I was there when we underestimated Sparda, and our kind is still paying for that mistake."
The ever shadowed Occasus gave a languid sigh from his throne like chair. "I ask for your patience dear lady. Things are still going according to plan. However, if you feel the need to please feel free to go…appraise the boy's abilities. I doubt he has come as far as you think."
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Dante was having trouble with the Staff. Preda had secured the four of them an out of the way area where they wouldn't be bothered and where Dante could take his half form without getting a lot of attention. It was an abandoned warehouse littered with random crates and old construction equipment scattered on the sawdust floor.
"Damn it!" Dante said for the sixth time as he dropped the Staff, feeling its power go wildly out of hand. As the buildup of crackling power dwindled away, Dante leaned against a crate and attempted not to sit on his wings. Good thing he had experience with wings from using Air Raid with Alastor. He shook his head to clear his blurry vision and massaged his temples. "This thing is really starting to piss me off. I can barely even begin to tap it before it starts to go nuts. Control isn't even a damn option."
Preda, watching from nearby, suddenly got a call from her cell phone. "Hello…what?………What?! It's the same bitch?……Damn it no, hold off on that order. I don't think it's them she's after. I'll get there in a minute." Preda hung up and turned to Dante. "We've got problems. Apparently your little she-devil friend, the one who shattered the City's barrier, is hanging out on top of the Collateral Building."
Dante sat upright. "Emena? She's in the city?"
Preda snorted. "Is that her name? Yeah, she seemed to have materialized and just be standing there. Security guards attacked her and she deflected the attacks but hadn't attacked directly yet. She appears to be waiting." Preda cocked her head at Dante, purple hair falling off to the side.
Dante nodded. "Yeah, she's probably her to see me. Devil generally suck at making appointments. Let's go give her a visit." Dante reversed his form back to 100% human, as the arm blades and wings slide back into place under his skin and he felt the redness at the edges of his vision slip away. He held up the Staff and returned it to its earring form. Ray tossed him Alastor and after he slipped it on.
"OH! I almost forgot," Preda added. "I need someone to come explain what happened yesterday. The board is still unsure of why one of the fields around the City is still on smoldering." Dante looked at Ray, who frantically shook his head. "I don't do well in the spotlight like that," Ray said. Dante looked at Catullus, who blinked. "What?" the little dragon said. "You think a bunch of devil hating windbags are going to listen to me?" Dante rolled his eyes. "Well somebody has to go with Preda since she doesn't know all the details." After a moment of negative silence, Catullus growled, "Fine, I'll go. But I better have a nice mini bar laid out at the hotel when I get back!"
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A couple of minutes later, Dante was going up an elevator. A very long elevator. The Collateral building Emena was on was the tallest building in the city, about eighty-five stories. Ray had taken a post on a nearby building where he could watch and fire a few shotgun rounds if needed. The elevator dinged at the top level and Dante got off and walked up a flight of stairs to the roof where the security guys said she was waiting. As he opened the door and stepped out onto the windy concrete roof, Emena turned to face him from her position about twenty feet away. At this elevation the wind gusts were quite nasty, and Dante took off his long leather jacket and tossed it inside so it wouldn't blow in his way.
Dante was in a pissed off mood due to his failures with the Staff, so he declined any opening comments and instead just unloaded Ebony and Ivory at her. She looked surprised for a moment, then amused as she rapidly deflected the bullets with her nails. "My my, aren't we the bad boy today," she teased after he stopped. "Having trouble with the Staff?" Dante froze for a second and she nodded satisfied. "I thought as much." There was a tightening around her eyes suddenly and a hardness to her features that made her seem older and much less friendly. "I don't care what he says about his plans," she said, seemingly talking to herself. "He doesn't know the dangers of what he's playing with. But I do well know, and therefore," she said smiling, "I can't allow you to live. Occasus will just have to adjust his plans."
Before Dante could react she came at his face quickly, deadly nails outstretched. Time seemed to slow as Dante leaned back and dropped his head, watching those nails sweep through the air less than an inch away from his face. He hit the ground, suddenly in real time, and did a backwards roll to his feet to her other hand bury itself into the ground where he had just been. He yanked out Alastor and managed to block the next attack, while tiny blue sparks flew from the nail meeting metal. With his face inches away from hers, Dane smiled. "Speed for speed," he said and devil triggered. His burst of strength surprised her and allowed him to shove her backwards and attack while she was off guard. Despite the speed boost he gained from Alastor, he still was not as fast, and as he missed slicing her he felt nails tear into him all the way down his chest.
And so the battle went. Dante realized that she hadn't fought him for real last time they met, and that she earned the title of being in The Ten. Dante managed to strike a blow or two, yet for each he made he received three or four in return. Soon he has bruised, beaten, and low on energy. Ray wasn't any help either, as Emena was easily able to avoid his shots. Unable to maintain the form, Dante lost Alastor's trigger and returned to his regular body. Panting heavily, he wondered about his options. The Staff was out of the question. He'd probably just blow up the building by accident. Emena attacked again, and again Dante blocked to slow and felt nails rip through his side. Damn but he had a lot of blood loss.
"Hmp," Emena said. "Perhaps you are not quite the threat I thought you do be. But I will not stop now that I have begun." She cocked her head and blew him a kiss. "Farewell, son of Sparda," she called and swung at him. Dante managed to dodge by pure luck, but then realized he had not been paying attention to his surroundings. Emena had been pressing him closer and closer to the edge of the building, and now as he lost his balance while dodging, he found himself going over the edge.
He fell like a stone, hearing the wind roar past him. Shit shit shit, he thought. Gotta trigger some wings…Dante tried to muster the energy to transform with Alastor, but it was no use, he was too worn out. The same was true when he tried to trigger to his halfbreed form. Crap, the thought as he watched the ground grow closer. I really need some help here…need some help…
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Blocks away, outside the conference room where Preda was discussing the situation with the board of directors, Catullus snapped his head up as he felt something within himself trigger. Dante needed him, and now. The tiny dragon broke out a nearby window and flew desperately down the street, need pulling him onwards to the figure he saw falling from above.
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Ray watched in helpless horror as the semi-conscious Dante fell from the top of the enormous building. "NO!" he cried out as Dante tumbled through the sky. Out of the corner of his eyes Ray suddenly noticed the little figure of Catullus tearing towards Dante. Except that as Catullus got closer, Ray noticed he was getting not so little anymore.
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Dante was just getting use to the sensation of falling and having the ground be right upon him when he suddenly smacked into something large and purple. "Nhah…?" he said weakly and managed to get into a sitting position while holding onto a scale the size of his fist. "…Catullus?" A huge familiar purple head at the end of a long serpentine neck turned around and winked at him as powerful wings on either side of Dante kept them soaring through the city. "What…is going…on?" Dante managed to get out before he collapsed on the dragon's back from exhaustion. Dante's last thought before complete darkness was, "I must be getting soft to pass out this much in two days."
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Well Dante and Catullus have both shown their true forms now. What awaits in the next chapter? ^__^ (think there are only going to be about 2 or 3 left)
Next Chapter: Disarray and Disaster
Crystalda: I'm impossible to insult, so no worries. (and the rabid fangirl would be me, btw, hehe) ::Zelly tackles Dante:: ^_~
Jack the Ripper: All your questions will be answered in this chapter or the next. (In the actual game story I think Dante requires an artifact to transform, but in this fic…well you'll see.) ^__^
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Chapter 14: True Forms
"So…is he going to be okay?" Ray asked.
He and Preda stood inside a small makeshift hospital room where Dante lay on a bed. Many such makeshift rooms had been forced to be made in order to accommodate the large numbers of injured hunters from the last attack made by the devil army. Preda nodded her head and looked over at the sleeping Dante.
"The doctor said he is just mentally and physically exhausted. He'll probably sleep like this for awhile to recover." Preda trailed off and avoided Ray's eyes.
"So you didn't tell the doctor what happened…" Ray ventured. Preda shook her head and shuddered as she gave the sleeping hunter another glance. She remembered how he had looked, standing on that pile of rubble, holding that Staff. He had been so foreign and terrifying.
Ray broke into her thoughts, "Well I'm sure you've got a lot of things to take care of Preda. The city is still trying to recover from the last assault." Ray plopped down in the room's only chair. "I'll stay with him in case he wakes up. Call me if you need an extra set of hands for anything though." Preda shook herself. She did actually have quite a few duties she needed to attend to.
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. And you call me if you need anything." Preda closed the door behind her as she left and Ray heard her footsteps trail off down the hall. He sighed and closed his eyes. All this was…well…a little more than he'd bargained for. He'd come to City to help Dante yes, and because it was the right thing to do, blah blah blah, but also because of the horde of knowledge to found in the City. Here he had planned to delve into little known facts and to expand his ring of contacts, etc. Instead he found himself fighting for his life and battling devils in the streets. While he was handy with a shotgun (thanks to his nutsy grandfather who believed that 'real men' know how to shoot) he really wasn't the gung-ho fighter type. And when next to Dante, a known pro hunter, he felt down right…out of place and a little worthless. He just couldn't wait for this to be over so he could go back to his life…
Ray's eyes snapped open and his heart leapt into his throat at the sudden fluttering noise in the room. He relaxed visibly as he saw Catullus settle down on one of Dante's bedposts. He did not relax completely though, having had long suspected the little dragon had been holding something back, and now… "So what happened back there?" Ray demanded. "For someone who is suppose to be guarding this guy you're doing a hell of a job."
The dragon gave him a withering glare. "I was actually trying to explain to the headstrong idiot when he decided to run off and fight. And…without the Staff back there, both you and he would probably be dead."
Ray waited for more, but Catullus was silent. Ray pressed onward. All the recent adrenaline was making him bold. "Well he looks near dead to me. Damn it Catullus, I saw what happened back there! That was NOT Dante, that was--" Ray snapped off, unsure of what he had been about to say….a monster.
Catullus sighed and Ray noticed for the first time how tired the dragon looked, almost as beat as Ray felt. "Alright," the little dragon said softly, "Alright. This is what I was trying to tell Dante. The Staff is a weapon which was created for the purpose of destroying mass numbers of enemies. Such destructive power requires it to draw upon highly concentrated devil power, thus very potently evil power. The reason for Dante's transformation that you saw was due to the Staff's need for someone of devil blood to react with and control that dark power."
"Wait a sec," Ray interrupted. "I've seen Dante…whatever he calls it, devil trigger, before and even in those devil forms he's always still seemed to be in control and be himself. He also looks like a devil in those forms, whereas this time…"
Catullus nodded an looked down at the resting Dante. "Dante attempted to harness the Staff's power as a human, which quite simply, he is really not. Had he been, he would have died on the spot. The Staff differs from artifacts like Alastor and Ifrit in that it does not use its devil power to strengthen the wielder's devil power and level. Rather, the Staff draws out the power of the wielder to form the destructive power you saw. When Dante used the Staff, it tried to pull out all the devil power it could. As he is now, his power is only so great. The Staff sought to pull out a deeper power and thus involuntarily forced Dante to assume his more devil like true form."
Ray's stomach sank slowly. He didn't like the sound of this. "Wha…"
"High level devils like Sparda," the dragon continued, "were able to take a human form. Dante, as a halfbreed, has three forms: as a human, which he was raised in and lives in; as a devil, which I don't think can be accomplished except maybe in the Underworld; and as a halfbreed, which is his true form that you saw."
Catullus fell silent again, and this time Ray didn't feel like pressing for any more info. After a moment of heavy silence, an unexpected voice said, "Nice bed time story, Shorty." Ray jumped and exclaimed, "Dante!" as he saw the hunter's eyes were open.
Dante grinned wryly. "What, you think I was going to sleep all day?"
Catullus blinked at him. "You were awake the whole time?" He had a faster recovery rate than Catullus had thought.
"Yeah," Dante said stretching and cracking his neck. "And apparently we need to have a talk."
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Half an hour later, Dante stood shirtless in front of a mirror in a small bathroom. According to Catullus, he could only use and control the Staff while in his…other form. Goose bumps ran briefly over his skin. He knew if he got angry enough in the Underworld he could take that form he had used to fly when he had fought Mundus in the sky. But this…he had never known about. Catullus said he and Vergil had probably been born in half-breed form but that his mother or Sparda had arranged it so these forms were suppressed, probably so that the boys could live a normal life.
He took a deep breath. Gotta learn to control the Staff, gotta learn to control himself, so here he was, trying to voluntarily slip in and out of that form. At least he didn't need some damn sword or gloves to do it. He concentrated briefly, remembering the feel of it, like devil triggering but more…natural…somehow. He broke his concentration as he felt his skin shift strangely and he glanced down just in time to see the edges of his arm blades slip back into his skin, leaving a thin bloody line up his forearm that quickly healed over. Well this was going to be interesting if nothing else. "Come on," he muttered to himself. "You've done weirder things than this." He concentrated again, and this time he ignored the sensations. The sensations of having razor sharp bone slice outward from his arms, and the stranger (and not terribly pleasant) sensation of having his shoulder blades extend through his back and grow into leathery wings. He held his concentration through the seconds that seemed like hours, then let out the deep breath and opened his eyes. He took an involuntary step backwards from the mirror, having never actually seen himself in this form before. Wings, arm blades, and eyes with red irises. A smile crept over his face. "Hell," he said, "I make this look good." Now all he had to do was try and manage the Staff.
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Emena paced in a expansive and devil designed tent (meaning the décor included the usual skulls, spikes, walls of flesh, ect.). "I don't like it," she said sourly, rubbing her long nails together in irritation. "You saw what he was capable of. What if things don't go according to your plan. I was there when we underestimated Sparda, and our kind is still paying for that mistake."
The ever shadowed Occasus gave a languid sigh from his throne like chair. "I ask for your patience dear lady. Things are still going according to plan. However, if you feel the need to please feel free to go…appraise the boy's abilities. I doubt he has come as far as you think."
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Dante was having trouble with the Staff. Preda had secured the four of them an out of the way area where they wouldn't be bothered and where Dante could take his half form without getting a lot of attention. It was an abandoned warehouse littered with random crates and old construction equipment scattered on the sawdust floor.
"Damn it!" Dante said for the sixth time as he dropped the Staff, feeling its power go wildly out of hand. As the buildup of crackling power dwindled away, Dante leaned against a crate and attempted not to sit on his wings. Good thing he had experience with wings from using Air Raid with Alastor. He shook his head to clear his blurry vision and massaged his temples. "This thing is really starting to piss me off. I can barely even begin to tap it before it starts to go nuts. Control isn't even a damn option."
Preda, watching from nearby, suddenly got a call from her cell phone. "Hello…what?………What?! It's the same bitch?……Damn it no, hold off on that order. I don't think it's them she's after. I'll get there in a minute." Preda hung up and turned to Dante. "We've got problems. Apparently your little she-devil friend, the one who shattered the City's barrier, is hanging out on top of the Collateral Building."
Dante sat upright. "Emena? She's in the city?"
Preda snorted. "Is that her name? Yeah, she seemed to have materialized and just be standing there. Security guards attacked her and she deflected the attacks but hadn't attacked directly yet. She appears to be waiting." Preda cocked her head at Dante, purple hair falling off to the side.
Dante nodded. "Yeah, she's probably her to see me. Devil generally suck at making appointments. Let's go give her a visit." Dante reversed his form back to 100% human, as the arm blades and wings slide back into place under his skin and he felt the redness at the edges of his vision slip away. He held up the Staff and returned it to its earring form. Ray tossed him Alastor and after he slipped it on.
"OH! I almost forgot," Preda added. "I need someone to come explain what happened yesterday. The board is still unsure of why one of the fields around the City is still on smoldering." Dante looked at Ray, who frantically shook his head. "I don't do well in the spotlight like that," Ray said. Dante looked at Catullus, who blinked. "What?" the little dragon said. "You think a bunch of devil hating windbags are going to listen to me?" Dante rolled his eyes. "Well somebody has to go with Preda since she doesn't know all the details." After a moment of negative silence, Catullus growled, "Fine, I'll go. But I better have a nice mini bar laid out at the hotel when I get back!"
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A couple of minutes later, Dante was going up an elevator. A very long elevator. The Collateral building Emena was on was the tallest building in the city, about eighty-five stories. Ray had taken a post on a nearby building where he could watch and fire a few shotgun rounds if needed. The elevator dinged at the top level and Dante got off and walked up a flight of stairs to the roof where the security guys said she was waiting. As he opened the door and stepped out onto the windy concrete roof, Emena turned to face him from her position about twenty feet away. At this elevation the wind gusts were quite nasty, and Dante took off his long leather jacket and tossed it inside so it wouldn't blow in his way.
Dante was in a pissed off mood due to his failures with the Staff, so he declined any opening comments and instead just unloaded Ebony and Ivory at her. She looked surprised for a moment, then amused as she rapidly deflected the bullets with her nails. "My my, aren't we the bad boy today," she teased after he stopped. "Having trouble with the Staff?" Dante froze for a second and she nodded satisfied. "I thought as much." There was a tightening around her eyes suddenly and a hardness to her features that made her seem older and much less friendly. "I don't care what he says about his plans," she said, seemingly talking to herself. "He doesn't know the dangers of what he's playing with. But I do well know, and therefore," she said smiling, "I can't allow you to live. Occasus will just have to adjust his plans."
Before Dante could react she came at his face quickly, deadly nails outstretched. Time seemed to slow as Dante leaned back and dropped his head, watching those nails sweep through the air less than an inch away from his face. He hit the ground, suddenly in real time, and did a backwards roll to his feet to her other hand bury itself into the ground where he had just been. He yanked out Alastor and managed to block the next attack, while tiny blue sparks flew from the nail meeting metal. With his face inches away from hers, Dane smiled. "Speed for speed," he said and devil triggered. His burst of strength surprised her and allowed him to shove her backwards and attack while she was off guard. Despite the speed boost he gained from Alastor, he still was not as fast, and as he missed slicing her he felt nails tear into him all the way down his chest.
And so the battle went. Dante realized that she hadn't fought him for real last time they met, and that she earned the title of being in The Ten. Dante managed to strike a blow or two, yet for each he made he received three or four in return. Soon he has bruised, beaten, and low on energy. Ray wasn't any help either, as Emena was easily able to avoid his shots. Unable to maintain the form, Dante lost Alastor's trigger and returned to his regular body. Panting heavily, he wondered about his options. The Staff was out of the question. He'd probably just blow up the building by accident. Emena attacked again, and again Dante blocked to slow and felt nails rip through his side. Damn but he had a lot of blood loss.
"Hmp," Emena said. "Perhaps you are not quite the threat I thought you do be. But I will not stop now that I have begun." She cocked her head and blew him a kiss. "Farewell, son of Sparda," she called and swung at him. Dante managed to dodge by pure luck, but then realized he had not been paying attention to his surroundings. Emena had been pressing him closer and closer to the edge of the building, and now as he lost his balance while dodging, he found himself going over the edge.
He fell like a stone, hearing the wind roar past him. Shit shit shit, he thought. Gotta trigger some wings…Dante tried to muster the energy to transform with Alastor, but it was no use, he was too worn out. The same was true when he tried to trigger to his halfbreed form. Crap, the thought as he watched the ground grow closer. I really need some help here…need some help…
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Blocks away, outside the conference room where Preda was discussing the situation with the board of directors, Catullus snapped his head up as he felt something within himself trigger. Dante needed him, and now. The tiny dragon broke out a nearby window and flew desperately down the street, need pulling him onwards to the figure he saw falling from above.
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Ray watched in helpless horror as the semi-conscious Dante fell from the top of the enormous building. "NO!" he cried out as Dante tumbled through the sky. Out of the corner of his eyes Ray suddenly noticed the little figure of Catullus tearing towards Dante. Except that as Catullus got closer, Ray noticed he was getting not so little anymore.
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Dante was just getting use to the sensation of falling and having the ground be right upon him when he suddenly smacked into something large and purple. "Nhah…?" he said weakly and managed to get into a sitting position while holding onto a scale the size of his fist. "…Catullus?" A huge familiar purple head at the end of a long serpentine neck turned around and winked at him as powerful wings on either side of Dante kept them soaring through the city. "What…is going…on?" Dante managed to get out before he collapsed on the dragon's back from exhaustion. Dante's last thought before complete darkness was, "I must be getting soft to pass out this much in two days."
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Well Dante and Catullus have both shown their true forms now. What awaits in the next chapter? ^__^ (think there are only going to be about 2 or 3 left)
Next Chapter: Disarray and Disaster