Hey guys. It's been a really long while since I've made any updates (curse you school!), but I'm back. At least for this fic…at the moment. Sorry 'bout the wait but I've been incredibly busy since I'm nearing the end of my program and have to think about getting a job, or more school (gah).
Whatever. Back to happier things. I spent more time than I usually do writing and editing the dialogue in this chap so it's more of a verbal battle yet again, but don't worry, the action WILL begin in the following chap and you guys'll get to see the purple-haired dude…maybe.
Also, yeah. Don't know why the final paragraph in the previous chapter doubled itself but I'm too lazy to fix it, but thanks for letting me know.
And BIG THANKS for all the reviews thus far. As usual, you guys are great and I love hearin what you think.
So enjoy the next chapter and of course keep the reviews coming.
Bane of Existence
Chapter 2: Reruns
"Aren't you finished yet?"
Dante flipped over a sheet of paper and began scribbling on the next in the pile set before him. He heaved an exasperated sigh at Vergil's pointless question and hoped that the gesture would be enough to indicate that he wasn't and to stop asking—as if the stack of papers in front of him wasn't enough of a sign.
Either ignoring it, or oblivious to it, the sigh didn't work and Vergil spread his palms flat on the desk and leaned forward anxiously. "Well?" he pressed, frustration clear in his voice. Dante couldn't help another heavy breath as he tightened his grip on his pen with his ever-present annoyance with his brother.
"Do you see the papers?" he asked peevishly, directing Vergil's attention to his work with a sweep of his hand.
"Yes." A stony reply.
"And do you see the pen?" Dante held it up.
A grunt. "Yes."
"Good," Dante forced a smile. "You're not blind. So watch this." He began writing something on the awaiting sheet of paper beneath his fist, his eyes never straying from Vergil's as he did so. "Did you catch that?" Vergil glared at him, tight lipped and Dante shook his head. "No. You weren't watching. Look at the paper. I'll do it again." He quickly shifted the paper to the side but waited until Vergil finally lowered his gaze to the desk. Dante again wrote something.
"You saw it that time. Right?" he asked.
Vergil narrowed his eyes and gave a long hiss, "…yes."
Dante nodded his approval. "Excellent. Now do you still see all this paper in front of me?" he flipped through them quickly. "Does it look like I'm done to you?"
"No."
"Exactly!" Dante said with mock-joy and a fake smile. "So now I'm going to do exactly what I just showed you and fill out all the rest of these papers. And when this pile runs out, I'll be more than happy to kick your ass again."
Vergil ground his teeth, glaring at the pile as if he could will it away with his eyes. "I told you I'd be back tonight," he growled.
"So you did," Dante breathed, getting back to his work and his bad mood, trying once again to ignore his brother's hovering even though he'd been unsuccessful in doing so for the past half hour.
"I expected you to be ready to fight." Vergil ground out. He was tired of waiting and equally tired of his brother's lack of enthusiasm.
"Yeah. Well. I've got stuff to do," Dante shrugged and Vergil slammed a hand down on the desk to show his irritation at the lax reply and at having been forced to wait so long. He didn't know why he had even accepted to postpone the fight a little longer for Dante to do his paperwork. It was a moment of stupidity and Vergil was regretting his decision immensely as his patience was running dangerously low.
"You should have been done," he bit angrily, just holding back from shredding the remaining papers Dante was writing on.
"Says you," Dante muttered shortly.
"Of course 'says me'!" Vergil yelled. "I warned you that I'd be back tonight! You should have been ready to fight when I walked through that door."
"But you didn't give me a timeframe so how could I know when you'd be back?" Dante asked, moderately amused by his brother's anger, but not enough to show off his patented smirk. His mood wasn't high enough for that. "You should have come later if you didn't want to wait for me to finish." Another few papers made their way from the dwindling pile to his right side.
"I didn't know you'd be working. You're a fucking slacker. How the hell was I supposed to know that you'd actually fill out paperwork?"
Dante shrugged, shaking his wrist out to loosen the cramp in his hand. He shifted his elbow onto the desk to write more comfortably. "Everyone else is doing it," he said dispassionately, "I figured I'd give it a whirl."
Vergil folded his arms, eying the scene before him skeptically, unsure if he could trust his own eyes. Dante? Sitting behind a desk and actually doing work? The whole idea was absolutely absurd and he would never have believed in a million years that his brother was capable of such an act if he had not witnessed it for himself.
All he could do was stare and Dante looked up after a while, still feeling eyes boring into the back of his skull, but not sensing the usual hostility from his brother—more like curiosity and disgust.
"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Vergil's slightly wrinkled nose. He stopped the motion of his pen and Vergil shook his head, scowling. "It doesn't suit you."
The devil hunter snorted and took a minute to understand what he was talking about. He gave a meager grin. "Can't get around it, Verg. It's gotta be done whether you and I like it or not. You'll just have to wait till I'm done."
"I don't like waiting."
Dante rolled his eyes. "Believe me. I've noticed."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Are you going to get up off your ass and fight me, or do I have to forcibly remove you from that chair?"
Dante gaped at him. "Would you fucking relax Princess? Are you on a schedule? Are you afraid of turning into a pumpkin if you stay here past midnight? I'm not backing out. So just back the fuck off already. Go sit in a corner and shut the hell up until I'm finished here," Dante huffed angrily and stared his brother down. He was going to get up when he was damned good and ready and when Vergil saw this, he was back to leaning over the desk. His frigid blue eyes met his twin's equally icy stare.
"We're fighting—NOW." He pointed harshly to the desk.
"No. And pardon me for not jumping at the opportunity to kick your ass again. But I don't see why you're so anxious anyway. Fights are boring and pointless when you know the outcome, don't you think, Vergil?" Dante questioned irately. He couldn't remember the last time he had called his brother by his given name, but in the context it sounded like an insult and Vergil growled at him for it."
"It won't be the same outcome," he stated tersely, "Dante."
The devil hunter snorted. "You actually believe that? Of course it will be the same. It always is. And let me tell you something else here, Vergil." Dante used the proper name again and it elicited another growl from his twin. He waved it off. He grabbed the remaining few papers from his desk and held them in a fist, creasing them uncaringly in the process. He gazed at his brother hard.
"When I fill shit out is not up to you. When I finish filling this crap out is not up to you. My work is done when there is no more left to do. I get up off my ass when I feel like it. I kick your ass when I feel like it. I don't make my schedule around anyone and especially not you because you're addicted to getting your ass pounded into the ground. Why don't you go find some kid to pick on if you're that desperate? I'm sure they'd be more than capable." Dante finished by slamming the crumpled papers in front of him and bringing his pen back into action. He wouldn't look up as he wrote, but he knew Vergil's eyes had flared at his comment and he could almost hear the grinding of his brother's teeth. With as often as Vergil had done that over the last 30 minutes, Dante wouldn't be surprised if he had worn them down to the gums
"And what makes you think you stand a chance against me this time?" Dante was angry now and he tossed his pen away, finished with his paperwork for the moment if not with his brother. He sat back with narrowed eyes, studying his twin. "What's different, huh?" Dante went on, more anger than amusement lacing his tone. "You got somethin' up your sleeve? Hoping for a miracle? What? Cause I'm doubting there's a chance in heaven or hell that anyone's helping your ass out. Not with this. This is our fight, like you keep saying. And I'm sure the higher powers have already condemned your sorry ass and Mundus knows you're a whole lot of useless. Probably why he lets you come here. Wants you out of his hair for a little while. Must be laughin his ass off every time you come runnin' home to him with your tail between your legs. Or maybe he's crying. Did you make the devil cry with how pathetic you are Vergil?"
Vergil's eyes glowed with anger and his breath came harshly though his clenched teeth. His fingernails curled into the wood of Dante's desk as he gripped it in rage. "You-"
"You call me sad!" Dante interrupted, spilling out his frustration finally, his chair falling back as he stood abruptly. "Boy you got a lot of fucking nerve." He motioned threateningly with his hand and then pointed to himself. "I'M not the one who eats dirt and refuses to stay down all the time. I'M not the one who goes running home to his 'big strong master' like a poor kicked puppy. I'M not the one who can't accept that I'm second best, 'cause—GUESS WHAT! I'm not, Vergil. I'm stronger than you. I always have been. Looks like I always will be. Get over this whole high-and-mighty act because it's just not working. It's a stupid cover for what you really are. You're not gettin' me with your lame-assed talk and stupid threats you wouldn't be able to carry out if your life depended on it."
Vergil was shaking with rage. "OUTSIDE! NOW!" He pointed to the door but couldn't hold his arm up for long.
"What did I tell you Vergil? I'm not going anywhere because you order me around. This is MY place. MY life. MY rules. You got a problem with that? Tough. I'm in no hurry to kick your ass again. It's boring for me. Even if it makes you excited."
"I-I'm not the o-one who should be-" Vergil quaked with rage and his voice shook on account of it.
Dante snorted and shook his head. "You're not the one who should be w-worried?" Dante interjected in a belittling tone. Vergil's mouth twitched as he just stood there, stricken with too my anger to be able to do much else. "Yeah." Dante nodded, knowing he'd gotten his statement right. "You always say that and I always beat you. Either come up with new material or stop being a wuss and defeat me so that that statement would actually make sense for a change."
"Oh. You can be sure that-that-"
"I'll feel the agony of defeat?" Dante noticed that Vergil was starting to regain control of himself as he only stuttered once. He frowned at the struggling devil. "Uh huh. I've heard that one too. It's still not funny. Who writes this crap for you anyway? I think we're working in reruns now—And speaking of reruns. I'm gonna spoil the coming battle for you because it's always the same and I see it every time." Dante moved around his desk, hazarding a few steps towards his brother who had his eyes shut and only his hands were still shaking as he clenched them into fists.
"First," Dante continued. "You're gonna lash out at me because 'Mr. Superiority Complex' always has to get in the first hit. Then…I'm gonna get pushed back a bit before I start to retaliate, ya know, just to boost your ego a little. Then, I'm gonna open up and kick your fucking ass. And to cap it off, and this is the best part," Dante moved right beside Vergil and whispered in his ear, "You're gonna run home like the sad sack of shit you are, crying to Mundus about your mean twin who won't let you win and then you're gonna take some time to regroup and come right back here to do it all over again. Sounds like fun. Doesn't it?"
Dante made to move away but Vergil grabbed him by the throat and turned his head to peer darkly at his brother's face. "Shut up." It was a little less than what Dante was expecting but the iciness of the words more than made up for the lack of conviction in the command. Dante could almost feel the temperature drop. He shivered, but nevertheless let his trademark smirk slip into place.
"Scary," he commented, "But is that it?"
"You want more?"
"Well it wasn't very impressive. You didn't even punch me. That's not like you."
Vergil released his hold on his brother and smiled. Dante cringed at how cruel he made a smile look. It was so forced.
"Are you disappointed, Brother?"
"Eh…no…"
"You don't sound convinced."
Dante didn't have time to bat an eye before he landed on the ground from a hard punch to his cheek. His eye killed and he raised a hand to rub it. He felt warmth run over his fingers and the sting of a cut just below his eye. He examined the blood on his hand with a frown.
"Feel better?" Vergil asked calmly, looking at the blood also. Dante stared up at him and rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah. Thanks a bunch."
"Any time," Vergil offered.
"More like every time." Dante corrected. "You realize that that was exactly what I said would happen."
Vergil scowled. "You asked for it."
"Somehow I always do."
"Then maybe you should shut up for a change."
"But I thought you liked the verbal fighting better?" Dante pointed out. "Least that's what you said the other day. It's your favourite part…unless that's only when you're insulting me. Guess you can't handle the truth when it's put out there." He looked at his brother for a reaction and got a warning glare.
"Don't start"
"What?" Dante smirked. "It's not my fault your royal iciness is so easily offended. You gotta watch those fragile feelings of yours."
"I said SHUT UP!"
Dante was dragged to his feet, only to be knocked back down by a wide kick. He didn't let the pain bother him and he stood, brushing himself off.
"Ooh wicked temper too," he shook his head in disapproval. "I think that Mundus is a bad influence on you."
Vergil gawked at him before growling and stomping towards him. He roughly grabbed the devil hunter's shirt and threw him across the desk, causing the paperwork to fly and land all over the place. Dante slid to the end of the desk and half hung off as Vergil came around and hoisted him up by his collar and thumped him back on to the top of the desk angrily.
"You just don't know when to shut that gaping hole of yours, do you Brother?" He hissed with the steeliest glare he could muster. "You spew garbage like there's no tomorrow. Don't you EVER have anything worthwhile to say?"
"Do you?" Dante snorted but realized that was a bad move when he felt the edge of his desk press painfully into his spine as he once again found himself hanging over the edge of his desk, Vergil gripping his shirt tightly. Dante was only thankful that he hadn't gotten a hold of his neck again. He could feel the blood from his split cheekbone dripping into his eye.
"You wouldn't be PMSing so much if what I've been saying wasn't true—AGH!" Dante was lifted and crashed repeatedly into edge of the desktop in the same part of his back. The hard wood scraped along his upper vertebrae and he hoped to hell that the crunching he was hearing was just the desk. He knew it was when a splinter tried to rip through his coat but he was tossed to the ground before it was successful.
"Get your sword." Vergil kicked him, making him cry out as the sore spot on his back rammed into the ground to absorb the impact. "Get up. And get your ass outside." He bent down to stare Dante straight in the eye. His voice was nearing a whisper. "And Dante." He pushed a hand on his chest, forcing his back into the ground. Dante gritted his teeth to keep from verbalizing his discomfort again. "If you don't make this battle worth all my trouble and waiting. I promise that your death is going to be one hell of a painful ride."
Dante groaned. "Is that a promise?" he half-grinned.
Vergil pushed off of him angrily and strode to the door. "Up. Out. Now. And don't forget your sword, Brother."
Well that's done with. Boys are battling in the next chap and remember to review. Also didn't proof-read this one so much nearing the end cuz I got tired, so I really hope that things flow properly and there aren't any big mistakes. Let me know if there are and I'll change 'em if I have the time and inclination.
Thanks again for the review guys and stay tuned for more.
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