Devil May Not Cry
(...) Thought
/.../ Japanese speech
I mentioned in the prologue that there would be some other characters in this story. Please disregard this, as I will not include them in this story. Now, on with the show!
Also In Trish's description last chapter, I forgot to mention that she was also wearing the pendant of Dante's mother.
Lastly, I do not own the song 'Chop Suey!' It is owned by the band, System of a Down.
Chapter 3: Swords of the Fathers
Inu-Yasha was dumbstruck as he stared at his opponent. Seconds before, A seemingly human sword fighter faced him. Now that space was occupied by a being with a powerful, and intensely focused demonic aura; an aura that he should have sensed before, but somehow did not.
He shook his head and readied Tetsusaiga. He motioned for Dante to attack.
Faster than Inu-Yasha could blink, Dante rushed up to him and delivered five quick slashes to various parts of Inu-Yasha's body. The cuts weren't deep, but they stung all the same. Dante backed away, then dashed forward with a fierce lunge. Inu-Yasha dodged to the side, then brought his sword down fast.
Not fast enough, though. Dante completely passed under the blow, and Inu-Yasha struck the concrete floor. There was a loud CRACK! as a large hole appeared where the Tetsusaiga hit.
Dante, having recovered from his failed lunge, turned and faced his opponent with a fierce slash. Inu-Yasha brought his sword in front of him and blocked the strike, resulting in another power struggle. This time, however, the advantage was Dante's.
Not bothering to strain himself, Dante pushed towards Inu-Yasha, forcing him to back into a wall. No matter how fiercely he strained, Inu-Yasha couldn't make any headway. Dante gave one final shove to break Inu-Yasha's guard, then punched him in the face. There was a sickening Crunch! as Dante's fist collided with Inu-Yasha's nose.
Clutching his now bleeding, broken nose with his free hand, Inu-Yasha staggered away from the wall and Dante. He started shouting muffled obscenities at him. Due to his screaming, Inu-Yasha didn't notice a series of rings encircle, then bind, Dante. When they completely bound him, they vanished, along with the purple glow around his body and in his eyes.
Dante, for his part, just stood where he was, smirking at his opponent.
All of the spectators, including Trish, visibly winced at the punch Dante delivered to Inu-Yasha's face.
"Ouch!" Said Kagome "Does your husband have to be so rough?"
Trish chuckled nervously. "I guess he's gone so long without hunting demons, that wanted to savor this one and give it all he's got."
Kagome put a hand on her head and sighed. "Oh, geez..." She decided to change the subject. "So what was that thing your husband just did? I've never seen anything like it."
Trish remained silent for a moment before replying. In the background, the fight between Dante and Inu-Yasha resumed. "The Devil Trigger." Trish finally said.
"The Devil Trigger?"
"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but, like your friend, Inu-Yasha, Dante is a half-demon."
Kagome gasped. "Really!"
Trish nodded. "I won't tell you his history right now, but I will tell you this: Dante has a demonic power that is normally kept under restraint. At his will though, or when he loses his legendary cool, he can unleash it, and use it to decimate his foes."
She gave a short laugh. "It increases his speed, power, and overall fighting prowess. It even speeds up his already-fast natural healing ability. And the best part? He doesn't lose his mind or go totally insane when he does it."
Kagome looked at her. "He doesn't?"
"No, not even when he goes into Devil Mode."
"Devil Mode? What's that?"
"You'll see..." Said Trish in a cryptic voice.
"Hm..." Kagome pondered this for a minute, then asked, "Why did he turn it off then?"
"His demonic power is like a battery: This ability drains his it when in use. When it drains completely, the power automatically shuts off, and he has to recharge before using it again."
"Oh." Kagome gazed at Trish for a moment before shrugging and turning back to the fight.
Meanwhile...
/Geez! Inu-Yasha's getting his butt kicked out there! said Shippo./
/Agreed./ Said Miroku /Ever since that man, Dante, turned on this new power, I detected a powerful demonic aura coming from him./
/How...powerful/ Said Sango.
/Hmm...With that much power, I'd say he could even take on Sesshoumaru./
Sango was stunned. /He can? Damn/
/Yeah! Especially, considering how powerful Sesshoumaru is/
Miroku thought for a moment. (I'm just not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.)
Inu-Yasha ducked under Dante's swing, then span around with a quick sweep. Dante fell, but rolled back, and back-hand sprung to a crouch.
As one, the two combatants stood up, then charged, swords held high. They clashed and held their positions for a moment, neither breaking the stalemate. Then as if on cue, they forced the other's swords straight up...a little too forcefully.
Both swords went spinning through the air and embedded themselves in the floor. The two half-demons looked at each other, then cracked identical grins. They jumped away from each other, and got into hand-to-hand fighting positions.
The Ifrit suddenly flared up; At the same time, the Alastor's electrical bursts died down and became less frequent. "Show me what you've got." Said Dante.
Inu-Yasha charged and slashed with his claws. Dante blocked, then went for Inu-Yasha's chest with a straight, followed by an uppercut to the solar plexus. The second blow knocked the breath out of Inu-Yasha, who stumbled back. He glared at Dante. Dante responded by performing a few Martial Arts moves to the air, before giving a flaming back roundhouse kick to Inu-Yasha's face, spinning him around and knocking him to the ground.
Inu-Yasha looked at Dante over his shoulder. A look of pure fury crossed his face. Dante just smirked.
Inu-Yasha got to a crouch, the leaped into the air. /Iron Reaver Soul Stealer/ He launched a whole bunch of energy blades at Dante. With some difficulty, Dante managed to dodge most of them, but there were still some hits.
Dante grunted. "If that's the way you wanna play..." He charged at Inu-Yasha, who leaped into the air again, and jumped up after him. As he flew through the air, Dante's body ignited, turning him into a human fireball. Caught by surprise, Inu-Yasha couldn't dodge or even block, and so received the full force of the attack. But Dante wasn't done yet.
At the top of the jump, Dante planted one flaming foot into Inu-Yasha's stomach, and sped towards the ground. They landed in a pile of crates with a loud crash. Dante backflipped out and landed a few feet away.
A moment of silence passed. Then...
BOOM!
The crates exploded outward, and one very angry half demon charged at Dante. Dante calmly hauled back his fist and charged it up. When Inu-Yasha got close...
CRACK!
...Dante let loose a viscous flaming uppercut to the jaw! Inu-Yasha was sent flying. He landed right back where the stacks of crates were. He lay there for a moment before groaning, sitting up, and popping his dislocated jaw back into place.
He stood up, and motioned for Dante. Dante grinned, then jumped into the air before doing a flying kick. Inu-Yasha backed away, then ducked under Dante's follow-up attack. He continued with his own punch to the stomach and followed through with a powerful head-butt to Dante's face.
Dante staggered back and held his face in one hand. He glowered at Inu-Yasha with one eye. "I am now..." He growled, "Officially...PISSED!"
He removed his hand, and, with a shout, Devil Triggered. Like before his body and eyes were glowing, but now he was alight with orange flames. He rushed towards Inu-Yasha, and, before Inu-Yasha could react, pummeled with a furious series of punches and kicks.
He then leapt into the air, and then, suddenly, changed form. His visible skin changed black, but his jacket seemed to meld onto him and become armor-like skin. His hair spiked up in the back, and his face and over-all appearance became less human and more devilish. His body bulked up tremendously, making him look like a world-class weight-lifter. The flames surrounding his hands engulfed his whole body, and flared intensely.
Now he truly looked like a demon from Hell.
Then he came down in front of Inu-Yasha, slamming his fist into the ground HARD, and creating a flaming shock-wave. Inu-Yasha staggered and fell to one knee.
Kagome, along with everyone else, except Trish, was shocked. She looked at the blonde demon hunter.
"Devil Mode?"
"Devil Mode." Nodded Trish.
Kagome stared at Dante's muscular new form with amazement, and a bit of fear.
The other four gave similar reactions. Miroku, especially, could hardly believe his eyes.
(Even Naraku would be hard pressed to try and beat this guy!) He thought, (Where, the hell, did he get all that power!)
Back on the field, Inu-Yasha's thought followed the same tracks he held Tetsusaiga for balance.
After knocking his opponent off balance, Dante created a large ball of fire in his hands and tossed it at Inu-Yasha, who was sent sprawling. By sheer luck, he had landed right next to the Tetsusaiga and used its support to stand up.
(Dammit! How, the hell, am I supposed to beat this bastard, when he's powered up like that?).
The super-powerful devil, Dante, walked over to Alastor and picked it up. His bulky form slimmed down and became more streamlined. The glow surrounding changed from orange, back to purple. A pair of large wings sprouted from his back. The newly changed Dante looked at Inu-Yasha. "Lets kick it up a notch!" He said in a distorted voice.
Inu-Yasha's eyes widened. (I...understand him!) He struggled to his feet. Taking a quick glance to make sure that his friends were out of the way, He readied his sword. /C'mon/
"As you wish!" With that, Dante charged at Inu-Yasha with his sword.
Inu-Yasha smirked, then gave his sword a mighty swing. /WIND SCAR/
As the massive attack hit him, Dante's charge was stopped. He staggered, barely able to hold his ground.
After the attack ended, the heavily breathing Dante looked at his opposition. "Impressive. If I were any slower or weaker, that attack would have done me in." His anger, it seemed, had burned itself out.
/Yeah. Thanks./ Said Inu-Yasha, panting. /That was one of my more powerful ones./
Dante nodded. "Well, shall we finish this?" If he had any surprise, or even acknowledgment, for the fact that he now understood Inu-Yasha, he didn't show it.
In response to the question, Inu-Yasha wiped some blood from his mouth, and nodded. They rushed at one another and started clashing their swords. Dante's strikes were almost inhumanely fast, but somehow Inu-Yasha managed to keep up (barely).
At one point, Inu-Yasha booted Dante away and jumped back. Dante recovered his balance, and then dashed forward. Inu-Yasha raised his sword, and with a mighty swing.../WIND SCAR/
"That won't work this time!" Dante leaped into the air, and spread his wings. He was pushed back slightly because of a powerful gust, but the attack itself passed harmlessly beneath him.
As Dante hovered in the air, Inu-Yasha looked up at him. /Damn! And here, I was thinking those wings were just for show/
"If you found that impressive, then watch this!" He raised his right hand above his head, and a ball of electricity formed. He closed his hand over it, and it changed into a large javelin. Inu-Yasha's eyes widened. /Oh, crap/
"Eat this!" Yelled Dante, "AIR RAID!"
Inu-Yasha jumped back. The lightning bolts barely missed his foot. Dante tossed another lightning javelin, and Inu-Yasha jumped back even more.
This continued for a few more minutes, until Inu-Yasha was backed against a wall. "And now..." Said Dante, "SCREW DIVE!" He dove-bombed at Inu-Yasha, while spinning like one of Shippo's tops.
Inu-Yasha ducked under the spinning attack, and Dante drilled right through the wall, coming to a stop when he was midway through. He pulled his body out and looked at Inu-Yasha. He chuckled.
"I underestimated you." He came out of Devil Trigger, then turned towards the crowd.
Inu-Yasha was slightly bewildered at what Dante was doing. Nor was he, or his friends, expecting what Dante did next.
"Hey, Trish! Catch!" He threw Alastor at her like a javelin. The sword cut through the air, and flew right over Trish's head.
With a smirk, Trish reached up and caught the handle, then flipped it blade-down and stuck it into the ground.
Dante also took off Ifrit and tossed them to her. She deftly caught them and placed them next to Alastor. She then took off the pendant around her neck and tossed it to Dante. She then took out her own sword (Which had changed into a normal metal sword) and threw it in the same manner that he had thrown his.
Like her, He caught the sword as it flew over his head. But instead of turning it downward, He swung it down, Turned around so that it scraped the ground, raised it above his head and sheathed it. After being sheathed, the sword regained its organic look, and started to glow red.
(Play 'Chop Suey!' - System of a Down)
"All right, Inu-Yasha." Said Dante, motioning with his fingers. "Come and get me."
The two half demon fighter readied their swords. All was silent for a minute, apart from the distant ringing of their heartbeats. They just stood there, staring at each other.
On the sidelines, the observers watched with bated breath as the two stared each other down. this was the final battle.
Then it started.
Inu-Yasha took point, charging at Dante with maniacal fervor. Dante brought his sword up to block, and they went into a massive battle with swords clashing, punches and kicks flying, and blood flowing.
wake up
(wake up)
Grab a brush and put on a little make up
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup
(hide the scars to fade away the shakeup)
Why'd you leave the keys up on the table
There you go create another fable
You wanted to
Grab a brush and put on a little makeup
You wanted to
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup
You wanted to
Why'd you leave the keys up on the table
They jumped away from each other. Dante brought his sword up so that was level with his eyes. As he did, the blade changed shape, extending and becoming a wicked looking scythe. Inu-Yasha's eyes bulged. Dante smirked. Then with a mighty heave...
I don't think you trust in my self righteous suicide
I cry when angels deserve to...
...He threw the scythe at Inu-Yasha.
Die!
Inu-Yasha ducked under the flying scythe, and, with a yell, charged.
GRAAAAAAAH!
Suddenly, something smacked into the back of his head, making him stumble forward.
Wake up
(wake up)
When he regained his balance and looked up, Dante was smirking. The Sparda, back in its original shape, was held securely in his hand. Inu-Yasha resumed his charge and they continued to fight.
Grab a brush and put on a little make up
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup
(hide the scars to fade away the shakeup)
Why'd you leave the keys up on the table
There you go create another fable
You wanted to
Grab a brush and put on a little makeup
You wanted to
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup
You wanted to
Why'd you leave the keys up on the table
Dante kicked Inu-Yasha away, then lunged forward. Inu-Yasha dodged to the side just as Dante sword extended into what looked like a spear with a bladed crab's claw at the end. The blade retracted, and Dante brought it up as Inu-Yasha swung at him, locking them in another power struggle.
I don't think you trust in my self righteous suicide
I cry when angels deserve to die
Inu-Yasha forced the swords up, then punched Dante in the stomach, followed by a foot to the face. Dante stumbled back, and into a kneeling position.
In my self righteous suicide
I cry when angels deserve to die
Dante looked up with an expression of pure fury on his face. He stood up and spread his arms.
Kagome gasped. Ghostly forms appeared above both Dante's and Inu-Yasha's heads.
Above Dante, there was an image of a man in black armor. He had red eyes, a vaguely humanoid face, and horns growing backwards out of his head. Enormous insectoid wings sprouted out of his back. He was holding the same sword Dante now held. Dante looked up at him.
Father!
Above Inu-Yasha, an image of a man in spiky samurai appeared. Under the armor, He wore a white clothing, and white baggy pants. Over his back, was a white fur cloak. He looked like an older Inu-Yasha, except that he had purple streaks under his eyes, and his long hair was tied in a pony tail. He held the Tetsusaiga in his hands. Inu-Yasha looked up at him.
Father!
Kagome and the group gazed up at the two apparitions. They didn't know who they were, but they were overcome by a sense of reverence and perhaps a touch of fear.
Father!
Two more figures appeared; this time women.
For Dante, a woman who looked amazingly like Trish, but wearing Dante's red coat.
For Inu-Yasha, a beautiful Japanese woman wearing a pink kimono tied with a blue sash. She also wore Inu-Yasha's red robe over her shoulders.
Mother!
The ghostly fathers decended, until they were completey superimposed over their sons. The women images destableized and split into several particles which were absorbed into the swords.
Father, into your hands, I command my spirit
As one, the father/ son duo's charged up their powers.
Father, into your hands, why have you forsaken me
Dante / Sparda's eyes glowed.
in your eyes; forsaken me
Inu-Yasha, and his father, readied their swords..
in your thoughts; forsaken me
Dante's / Sparda's chest started to glow red.
In your heart, forsaken me
Dante / Sparda put their hands on either side of the glow in their chest, then thrust out.
"Dark Dragon of Judgement!"
A massive dragon came out between their hands and flew straight for Inu-Yasha and his father.
Inu-Yasha and his father hauled back and gave the Tetsusaiga one massive swing.
/Backlash Wave/
A series of tornados flew out of the blade and went straight for the dragon
Trust in my self righteous suicide
The two attacks collided. There was a bright flash of light, which blinded every one. The energies from the two attacks were directed upwards, right through the roof.
Outside, the energies flew straight up into the sky. As they struck the clouds, an enormous hole opened up, displaying the star studded sky.
As the people on the street panicked, Naraku stared up at the massive energy output. As he watched, a bolt of fear...No. Not fear...Absolute terror coured through him. What is this...?
I cry when angels deserve to die
Inside, the light faded and the two fighters were revealed to be alive, though badly injured, as they were hanging on to their swords. The apparitions of their fathers had disappeared with the light.
Breathing heavily, the two half demons faced each other, respect showing on their faces. Then, with a groan, Inu-Yasha's eye rolled back, and he keeled over, unconcious.
In my self righteous suicide
The battle was over. Dante had won. He grinned, and then he, too, passed out and collapsed.
I cry when angels deserve to die
(end song)
All finished.
Well, what do you think? Please R/R and if you haev any questions, don't hesitate to ask! And if you plan on flaming me, don't bother. I will simply ignore you.
I tried to base his devil mode look on the design in DMC 3, with a few modifications.