You guys know the deal! Time for a new chapter!
The clang of clashing steel filled an otherwise empty park. Vance fell back, panting. His arms were on fire, and his idol stood over him smirking. Vance was learning how to fight.
"Finally!" Dante exclaimed, throwing his arms wide. "We've gotten to the good stuff! No more repairs to anything, no more buying necessities for preparation! Remember when I said all that stuff about you being on your way as a Devil Hunter?" Dante asked, pointing at the pale boy before him. "Well I lied. Now! Now is when you are on your way. Everybody knows a true Devil Hunter lives by his sword. Now get up." Dante said, pointed Rebellion at Vance's throat. "If you are still set on this, then you need some serious work on your sword play."
Vance grunted slightly as he pushed himself to his feet and picked up his sword. The sword was small and rusted and seemed to be incapable of cutting anything for real. At the same time however, it was light and "perfect for a scrawny kid like you" according to Dante.
"Now then. We've only been out here for five minutes and already you've landed on your face. This time when you try your attack, make sure your shoes are tied first." Dante said, leaning back against a tree. Vance felt a sudden surge of either envy or hate (he couldn't tell which one) toward Dante. He made everything look so easy. That plus he got to sit in the trees' shade while Vance himself was out in the 90 degree heat wearing a black shirt and sweatpants.
It wasn't fair.
"Alright then...get into the stance I showed you back at the Agency." Dante told the teenager. Vance immediately relaxed his muscles and let his hobbit-sized sword hang loosely in his grip, giving off a distinct 'I don't give a damn what you think' type of look. Dante shook his head. "No, no, no, you're getting the stances mixed up. That's my ready stance. You'll get yourself killed that way. Plant your feet wide apart. No! Shoulder wide you twit!" Dante yelled as Vance came close to entering a very painful horizontal split.
"Feet shoulder wide apart...good." Dante said as Vance did as he was told. "Now drop down a little. Sit into the stance." Vance adjusted himself. "No. Too much. You look to heavy, and if you look heavy you are heavy. In a sword fight you'll need to be in constant motion if you don't want to get diced."
Vance lessened the tension in his body, but still found the overall position awkward. If he tried to move forward or backward quickly it would waste energy and he'd likely get hit. He couldn't fight like this.
Quickly Vance rethought his posture. He moved his left leg out front, and his right leg to the back but keeping them at the same shoulder width. He still wasn't too happy with it, but it was better than it had been. Vance looked at Dante to make sure he hadn't angered him with the small adaption. Vance was surprised to see the Hunter smiling.
"Alright kid. Looks like you've got a bit of a brain in there. I didn't much like the original stance when I learned either. But be careful with that now. That position isn't a perfect balance, and it doesn't have too many redeeming qualities. And your left leg is now a prime target. Alright. Enough positioning. Show me just a good clean slash." Dante pushed off from the tree and stood in front of Vance and his minuscule sword.
Vance brought his hands over his head, then quickly brought his sword down. Dante batted the blow away with one un-gloved hand. "No form. Your hands aren't used to the feel of the blade. It'll pass though. Again." Vance repeated his slash only to have it side-stepped by Dante and countered with a slap to the back of Vance's head. "Too slow. You won't hit anything like that."
Feeling annoyance and frustration building up inside him, Vance tried one last time. This time, he put all of his force and will into the cut, willing to cleave Dante in two if he had to. The blow never finished. Dante parried with his own sword, and knocked Vance's out of his hands.
"Teenagers these days. You think that butter knife could've stood up to Rebellion? Gimme a break." Dante said, keeping his sword point at Vance's neck. "But at least you had your heart in the right place this time. That was a pretty violent swing, off balance, but it was fast and it had a purpose. Rule #1 of fighting: You must be focused in your attacks. If you only fight half-heartedly, or if you are getting distracted by something your blows will go wild and weak. A sword is a weapon. When you swing it, you better have every intention of cutting something off."
Dante yawned and patted his stomach. "I'm hungry. Let's go eat." Vance sighed and sheathed his sword at his hip.
Dante walked into his shop and reached for the phone. Trish wasn't there to stop him this time. Pizza! Dante called up the Pizza Shoppe and told the person on the end his name. "Righto Mr. Dante! Your regular will be coming right up. 15 minutes tops." Dante thanked him and turned back to Vance.
"Well what are you still standing here for? You smell. Go take a shower." Dante said, putting a hand to his nose. "Hurry up!" Dante said after seeing Vance's lethargic movement "And where the hell are your contacts? I though we agreed you'd get some."
Vance shrugged. "My Dad said 'You have a job now son. You can get your own contacts.' To quote him directly." Dante swore.
"You still aren't ready for this kid. At least another week's worth of training and a bunch of particularly weak demons, then maybe you can get a taste of what its like..." Dante looked down on his desk and noticed a letter written by Trish. After a moment Dante snapped his fingers. "I got it."
Vance seemed interested. "Got what?" He asked hopefully. "It looks like we've got a job tonight. Some poor mook called in with the password. Normally, I'd see right to it but I'll have to make an exception today..." Dante said, thoughtfully. Then he sniffed. "But first you need to get in the God-Damned shower! What is wrong with you!"Dante said grabbing his nose.
"Oh come on! I don't even smell that bad!" Vance said, sniffing himself. "And you are even all the way across the room!"
Dante glared at him. "Who's the demon here! Me! And trust me buddy! I can smell a whole lot better than you think! GET!" Vance sighed and marched to the bathroom, meanwhile Dante picked up the phone. "Trish! Got the message...right...right...when are you going to be back? Okay then. See you then. Huh? Yeah. We're bringing the kid along. Hope he can handle the ride." Dante finished with a sinister grin.
Dante and Vance met Trish at the 'poor mook's' place. Actually, it was an Olive Garden. Their manager had called, he was obviously the superstitious type, but that didn't stop him from calling the Police first. Cops were all over the place, and one was moving toward the trio.
'Ah...' Dante said to himself before speaking aloud, "Hey Chief. Long time no see. What do we got?" dante said to the approaching officer. The man was aged, with stress lines on his forehead and greying hair, but he was not elderly; he had too much fire in his eyes to be brought to that level. One could tell he had seen his share of fights, and learned from them all too. He was a hardened man, but Dante seemed at ease with him.
"Don't talk to me like that you freaky bastard." The chief said, while sticking a cigar in his mouth. Vance had never heard anybody insult Dante before. He wondered how the devil-hunter would take it. He was surprised to find the silver-haired man smiling.
"Now, now, their's no need for name calling Chief. On what basis do I deserve that?" Dante asked the frowning officer.
"Look here boyo. All I know is that a few months ago there was a huge shoot-out down at the bank. Explosions everywhere. My men were injured. From out of no-where, you show up with nothing but a sword and two pistols and, with nothing else, you enter the bank. From the moment I saw you I knew you were an idiot, though I didn't know how you got past my perimeter, and I also knew you were a dead man. Five minutes later the commotion has died and you walk back out without a scratch. "
The Chief gave Dante a hard stare. "And what's more, is that the robber's barely had injuries as well. They all just seemed to mutually surrender. I don't know how you did it, but either way that merits 'Freak' level easy."
Dante laughed. "Well, in that case, I guess I should take it as a compliment. But I've already told you once." Dante said shrugging. "I'm just hot like that." Trish snorted but Vance looked on in awe.
"You might think you're hot stuff, but listen here sonny." The Chief said, stepping up closer. "I don't permit vigilantes in my city. You want to be Bat-man you do it somewhere else. Now. Having said that, this here is Police business and we have it covered." At this moment, serveral cops shouted and along with the sound of shattering glass, three uniformed men were hurtled through a window.
Dante raised an eyebrow at the moaning men who had landed by his feet. "...Right. Well! Luckily for you," Dante said returning his attention to the Chief, "I was hired. Somebody in there called me. And now, its my turn."
"You still need a permit or proof to get in there." The Chief said. "And you aren't any private-eye."
"Actually I am. The owner of the Devil May Cry detective agency. I remember filing some paper or another explaining that when I moved here. Since I was hired by phone, you can't stop me." Dante said, stepping around the wizened chief.
"You still don't have clearance to use lethal force!" The Chief called after him. Dante paused for a second.
"Nope. Not against a human." Dante said, and resumed his walk.
"So what are you going to do?"
"Hurt them real bad if they're human...but I don't think they are!" Dante motioned to Trish and Vance, who hurried to catch up with him. As they approached the building, Vance could make out frenzied shouts and screams from within.
The doors were jammed. Too bad. As Dante stepped over the numerous splinters that was once the fine-looking Olive Garden doors, he took a quick scan around then turned around to Vance and Trish. "Alright. The main reason we're here are those things," Dante said, motioning to a group of floating skulls all of which had a crimson smear on their mouths. Vance's stomach turned. It could be blood, but then again, it could just as easily be spaghetti sauce seeing how so many of the skulls seemed to enjoy dining on the Italian dishes.
"They are called Sargasso. Real low-level demons. They drift to this world all the time. They're weak, but attacking them is tricky and is dangerous if you do it wrong. Mostly, they just break stuff, and if you meet one in a dark alley just remember to dodge and swing. You can only hit them right before, or after they attack first."
Dante clapped his hands and rubbed them together, obviously anxious to begin his work. "Now! The thing you always have to look out for are surprises. Callers forget to mention other demons prowling around all the time. So even if they describe a Sargasso, be ready for something stronger. Like in this case. Our caller forgot to mention that little prick over there." Dante pointed to a hooded figure.
"That's an Auromancer. He seems to be alone, so no problem. But more often than not, they'll gang up on you quick. Finally, you are here to watch and learn. That only. Trish'll cover you just in case, while I go do my thing. Its about time to see what you're getting into now that you've picked up the sword." Dante clapped Vance on the back, knocking loose the boy's glasses. "See you in a bit."
Dante strode off to 'do his thing'. Vance was instructed by Trish to sit at one of the remaining tables and stay quiet. She didn't say it to be mean, but for his protection, and Vance recognized that. Besides, he was eager to see Dante in action again.
Dante made his way for the Auromancer first, whom was busy beginning some sort of spell. With one slash, the demon was dispatched, its hooded head rolling quickly across the floor before dissolving into a red stain. Noticing Dante's presence, three Sargasso moved toward him. They attempted to bite, and it would have caused serious damage had it connected. Vance could see for himself how powerful their jaws were. Dante however, was too fast, too smart.
Dante slid easily out of the way the dangerous teeth instead splitting a solid wood table in two. Dante countered with three quick slashes, however Vance could see his face was the image of concentration. Dante was either having more trouble than the Sargasso than he was showing, or his mind was focused on a different problem. Vance chose the latter and looked at Trish.
The blonde woman in black was also dealing with her own set of heads. She was using Dante's sword, Vance believed it was called Alastor. She wielded it well. Yellow lighting crackled around her form, while blue sparks emitted from Alastor. For the first time, Vance wondered if she too was a demon. It would make sense. As Vance watched them both, he noted how their bodies moved. They were both too graceful, too fluid to be human. Vance had already known a little of Dante's heritage, but he had hoped Trish was human. She could have been more like a role model if she was. Living proof that humans could make it as hunters.
Vance shrugged it off though, and resumed his mental notes. Going back to body movement, it became obvious that dante was by far the superior specimen. Trish fought with apparent ease. Dante fought as though it were as unconscious as breathing. He knew exactly when to move, to roll out of the way of danger, to strike in a vital point on the enemy. He was beautiful to watch. Vance wished silently that he was fighting something other than these weaklings. He couldn't possibly get a true grasp of Dante's ablilities with the hunter fighting something like those skulls.
That's when it occured to Vance what that look on Dante's face was, that look of concentration. 'He's holding back. Is it because of me? Is it for my benefit? I bet anything he would have been done and gone long by now if he was on his own. The son of Sparda...! The power he must have. Maybe I'll see it someday...maybe I'll get power of my own.'
Dante pushed his sword through the last demon and watched as it faded away, mouth separated from the rest of its body. Dante 'sheathed' his sword (Vance could see no sheath or holders) and sighed. "Well. Not bad for a night's work. Let's head home."
"What about the pay?" Trish asked what was on Vance's mind. Dante waved it away. "I'll deal with it in the morning. The police are all over the place and I don't feel like dealing with them right now. I don't like to stay for the clean-up anyway." Dante tapped Vance on the shoulder. "C'mon kid. It's getting late and its time for your beddy-bye no doubt."
Dante himself dropped Vance off at his house. After shaking off his parents and climbing into bed, Vance closed his eyes and remembered the fantastic motion of the demons in battle...
-Next Chapter- Vance begins his Senior school year and his connection to Dante is revealed.
Also, side-note. From here on out the sword fights will be much more numerous and in depth than the one(s) in this chapter. How could it be DMC without a little blade action?
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