Carnal Spark

There's not one thing

That you can say to make it right

Unless you say you're leaving

And if you're not, then please tell me why

Please tell me why you can't save face

(Say it to my face)

--Sevendust "Face to Face"

+Fourth Spark: Enemy+

Sneeze.

Sniffle.

Raw-throated coughing.

One could only assume that the demon slayer, Dante Sparda, was no better off than he was only a couple hours ago. Now he was kept awake by hacking up his lungs and annoying sneezes. Not only that, he couldn't seem to get his body warm, even though his insides felt like melting. He couldn't think of why he was so sick. Surely the demonic blood coarsing through his veins should've helped prevent this. Something was wrong... Could the last month of self-destructive habits finally caught up to him in the form of an infection? It didn't make much sense, but it was all he had to go on.

Dante looked towards his bedroom door, which swung open, revealing a now-clothed Alastor with a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin. The young Sparda had forced Alastor to dress if he were to be walking around the shop, fetching Dante whatever he needed at the time. The dark-haired demon set the things which Dante had sent him out for down, sitting next to the bed on the ground, waiting for another command. The slayer noted his loyal dog-like behavior and attributed it to the fact that the demon had spent the last milennia as a tool of destruction. Dante fetched the water and aspirin off the table, gulping down three tablets and the glass. Alastor watched quietly.

"...Are you feeling better, master?" He asked timidly. Everytime he spoke, Dante had found the energy to yell at him. He didn't know what he had done to upset his owner.

"Does it look like I'm doing any better?" Dante replied, giving him a hard glare. Alastor guessed this was a little foolish. The white-haired half-demon's face was still flushed, not to mention he looked exhausted.

Sneeze.

Dante gave a harsh sigh. When he found it slient again, he looked to the demon sitting on the hard wooden floor.

"You know, you're supposed to say 'Bless you'." Alastor lifted a raven eyebrow.

"Master, you know I can't speak words such as those... Something bad will happen."

"That's the whole point." Dante plopped back down onto his pillow staring at the ceiling.

"That was rude." Alastor added, dropping his owner's title.

"Oooh, little doggy's gettin' an attitude. And here I thought you had no spine." The demon on the floor next to him was quiet; with fury or obedience, he didn't know. It was quiet again, which made Dante uncomfortable. It made his mind travel back to his ill state, which wasn't a pleasant thought. He had to say something... "Hey." Alastor grunted in response. "You know, I've wanted to ask you this for a long time. How exactly did you get stuck in that door?" Alastor eyed his master strangely. He guessed it was an obvious question...

"I was put there."

"Oh really? I thought you walked up to the door, climbed in and sat there for your health for who knows how long... Thanks for clearing that up for me." The demon rolled his eyes, already familiar with his master's frequent use of sarcasm. He was no stranger to it. "Who the hell put you there, is was I'm asking. And why?"

"It was punishment."

"For what?" Dante sighed, not understanding why the once-sword was so hesistant in telling him the truth.

"It's a rather long story."

"I'm going anywhere, dumbass. Especially with you acting like a mother hen." Alastor frowned.

"If you must know, it was because I defied Mundus two thousand years ago." This caught the demon slayer's attention. Two thousand years ago, his father had done the same thing. Of course, the legend went that Sparda was the only one to rise up against the evil lord and ruler of hell. It never mentioned an electrical demon sidekick.

"How? I thought Sparda was the only one to do that? The legend even says that."

"But, as you said, it is only legend. Some of the facts of what really happened didn't make it to storytime." Dante took note of the sarcasm.

"Okay, wait, so you're saying you and my dad fought against Mundus?"

"Your father, me and Ifrit did." This made Dante look Alastor in the eyes, to see if he was pulling his leg. "Ifrit, who is now a pair of flaming gauntlets, fought with me and your father. Of course, this brings up the reason why Sparda was the only one to make it into legend."

"That being...?"

"Mundus captured us before we were to face him down. He trapped us in weapon form and stuck us on the God-forsaken land. Sparda was the only one to defeat him, therefore he is the only one mentioned."

"So, Mundus captured you, made you a sword, stuck you on Mallet Island and for what reason might I ask?"

"Mallet Island was Mundus' 'stomping grounds' as you like to say. So, if we were stuck there, without any mobility, he knew we would not escape."

"So you guys sat around, stuck on Mallet Island, for two thousand years? What did you do with yourselves?" Alastor sighed, thinking about it.

"We basically killed anybody who got close to us. For sport." Dante gave him a strange glance. "We had nothing else to do to amuse ourselves. You wouldn't believe how much funcan be had in killing those damn puppets."

"Did anyone else try to weild you before I came along?"

"No. I killed them all."

"So, I was just lucky?" Alastor shook his head.

"No. I was waiting for you. Or that brother of yours."

"Why?"

"Sparda told me the night before we were captured that even if he did defeat Mundus, all he could do was seal him away. He could not kill him alone. He said that in two thousand years, Mundus might break free of his bonds. The original plan was to wait it out, so that we might fight him a final time, hopefully killing him. Of course, that didn't happen."

"Didn't you have a back-up plan?"

"Word circulated among the demons who lived on Mallet Island. Mundus had found out that Sparda had taken a human wife and had two sons, twins. I thought of this for the better. Sparda's sons would surely be able to help their father finally kill Mundus once and for all. Sparda would come and save Ifrit and I. But...things don't always happen as planned.

"Mundus sent out a force of Blades, Scythes and a faithful demon follower of his: Nightmare. Their job was to take out Sparda's family while he was away. Two other followers of Mundus', the large magma spider, Phantom and the keen hawk, Griffon, were sent to destroy Sparda..." Dante sat now, attentive to every word. He hardly noticed the fever anymore. "It pained me to know there was nothing I could do for him or his family... The next night, the three demon generals returned with their report. The Blades and Scythes bragged to all the others, describing the way the poor little human family was so surprised. They said that they had missed the smallest one, but were surprised to only find one child instead of two..."

"...That's because Vergil was with Sparda..." Dante said as he reminisced. Alastor sat as it was his turn to listen. "Vergil and I were supposed to go with dad. He was gonna teach how to weild a sword. I came down with a cold...and mom told me to stay behind. I had to watch...as my mother was swallowed whole by that damn blob, waiting around for my legendary father to arrive and save her." Dante shook his head, trying to keep the horrible images from his mind. "I sat around for three days waiting for Vergil and Sparda to come back... And they never did."

"Your brother escaped, like you. You swore vegenance while your brother roamed the world, looking for a reason to live." Dante glared at Alastor.

"You make it sound like he just rolled over and died..." The demon disregarded the statement, continuing on.

"The point is, you swore vegenace and found me. I would've have killed you if it were not that we shared the same reason to be after Mundus. The reason I continued to follow you afterwards was the fact that you were Sparda's son."

"So, if I had been Vergil, you would belong to him?"

"No." The demon answered simply. "If you had been your brother, I would've stayed silent."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew about your brother working for Mundus long before you met him as Nelo Angelo. He did not know of me, therefore I tried not to attract his attention." Dante frowned.

"You could've saved him, though. You could've reminded him of the real reason he was there!"

"How do you purpose I would've done that? Your brother's mind was corrupted with power by his own hand. He did it to himself. I could do nothing for him." The white-haired Sparda glared at him. The electrical demon had definitley stuck a nerve with the last statement.

"You don't know Vergil! Vergil wanted to avenge mom as much as I did! He was forced to work for that bastard Mundus!"

"You do not understand. The minute I was plunged into that man's flesh, I knew every motive that he had. He wanted nothing more than power and he knew Mundus could give it to him. If it meant wagering something as fragile as his soul, he was willing to sell it."

"Shut up!"

"He saw you as nothing but an obstacle. He saw your mother as the person who had planted human weakness in his veins. He did not care. He only wanted to be as powerful as his father, and obtain the power that you had, which he believed was his birthright. Face it. Vergil betrayed you." It was deathly quiet for two seconds. The minute all of Alastor's word sunk in, Dante leapt at the once-sword, tackling him to the ground. His still gloved fingers found the demon's neck, squeezing with all their might. He would not stand for the way Alastor had made a mockery of Vergil in front of him.

"You bastard! You don't know Vergil! YOU DON'T KNOW!" Alastor managed to punch his owner off of him, gasping for air, doubled over in pain. The demon slayer got to his feet after he recovered, kicking Alastor in the stomach. The demon sputtered, coughing back up the precious air he had just sucked in. "You fuckin' bastard! How dare you! Fuckin' lieing piece of shit demon!" Dante stomped on Alastor's chest, causing the demon to once again lose his breath. He looked around his room for something, Alastor writhing on the ground, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Dante stepped briskly across the room, grabbing one of the twins off a table near his bed. He whipped it around to the demon in pain on the floor. Dante noticed that his vision was starting to blur, the gun in front of him swaying back and forth. He knew he had overdone it, the fever consuming him again. He dropped Ebony on the ground, falling against the wall behind him. The exhausted demon slayer watched as Alastor stopped moving, his eyes closing, but still gasping for air. Dante slipped to the ground, eyes drifting close. Alastor was the enemy now. He had treaded dangerous grounds and had been punished for it.

Hopefully, the ex-sidekick would be gone by time he woke up...

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

A word from the crazy side: WTFHAPPENEDTOTHELUV!

A word from the sensible side: Oh my god, Dante and Alastor fighting! You knew it would happen sooner or later. Alastor hates Vergil for making Dante depressed and Dante seems to love his brother a little much. Yeah, I bet you all thought Alastor and Dante would just immediatley get together from last chapter. HELLZ NO. More angst and arguing abound:3

Oh, by the way, I totally pulled all that back story out my ass. I have no idea if that really happened. I just took all the things I learned of Vergil's, Dante's and Sparda's pasts from the Manga, and tried to fit some things together. And since this is taking place after the first game, I thought I'd include the four main bosses as well. It would explain why Phantom and Griffon kept calling Dante 'Sparda'. o.O