Jaune cried out as his back hit the grass. He grunted and just pushed himself up, running towards his uncle. He rapidly threw out punch after punch, though the form behind it was pretty weak and easily readable.
Dante smirked, catching or parrying every one of his nephew's attacks. "You're like an open book, kid. I can predict your every move."
The devil hunter smirked, and flipped over his next punch, catching Jaune off-guard. Dante wordlessly performed a leg sweep and swiftly pinned down the blond's right arm, disabling him of movement. For a few moments, the two just stared at each other before he finally released him.
Jaune panted and was handed a bottle of water. Dante sat right next to him, reviewing his earlier performance. "Your punches were a bit sloppy, kid. Even a hooligan could've seen it. Have you been actually practicing the forms and stances I've been telling you?"
The young blond suddenly decided that the ground seemed much more appealing to look at, immediately cluing Dante in. The Son of Sparda just chuckled in amusement and ruffled up his nephew's hair.
"Alright, I'll let ya off the hook for this time, but kid, you need to practice them if you wanna learn how to fight better. And on that topic, let's talk about weapons. Sure, hand-to-hand is great and all, but having a weapon is the better choice."
Jaune looked up, his attention solely on Dante's words, listening to everything the half-devil said.
"If you want to protect not just yourself, but others around you as well, then you need to be armed. In some way, weapons are like an extensions of ourselves. A part of who we are, and in turn, it gives us purpose - to preserve."
Dante stood up. "So, let's switch up with weapon's training first, see if that's more up your alley. Your mom said you had something in mind?"
The blond's face grew sullen look but nonetheless, he nodded. Dante gestured for Jaune to show him. The two of them went back into the latter's house, scaling up to the top floor. Eventually, they stopped right at the end of the hallway, where there was a small, dangling rope on the ceiling.
Jaune looked at it with hesitation, before gathering the courage and summoned out a spectral arm and used it to pull on the rope, revealing a folding stepladder that led towards what was presumably to be the attic. The two of them entered and Dante couldn't help but blink at the cluttered room.
It had the typical things a room needed, a bed, a window and some drawers. What he didn't expect was the amount of papers strewn about, with some even pinned to the wall. Dante took a closer look at one and saw they were blueprints for all kinds of weapons.
"Nera dreamed of being a weapon smith."
Dante turned to his nephew and saw his tear-stained smile as he looked at the various blueprints all around the room, trembling as certain memories played in his head.
"She'd always come to ask me what my opinions were on some of the plans she had come up with, and always wanted to make me a weapon for when I grew up. No, not just for me, but for my mom and my sisters too. She wanted to be the greatest one there is, and always brainstormed most of the time. And whatever prototypes she made, she'd test it on the kids who would pick on me just to try and make me smile."
Dante approached Jaune and wrapped him in a hug, patting the back of his head, prompting the blond to cry. For a couple of minutes, they stayed like that, until he finally calmed down. Jaune broke away from his uncle as he wiped way the tears.
"I'm sorry… It's just, I still miss her."
He gave him a smile of understanding, knowing what it's like. "It's fine, kid. We all have people that we miss. Think about it this way, whatever you'll take from here, she probably had made it with you in mind. So use it to honor her."
Jaune smiled back and nodded. "Thanks, Uncle Dante."
He turned around walked up to a door, with the label of 'Special Weapon Vault'. He twisted it open and revealed two items inside. One was a large, double-barreled revolver with engravings on said barrels and the chamber, a blue rose on the cylinder crane. It heavily resembled the one that Nera used before her death. The other was a large sword, with a curved blade and an ornately etched base, colored red. But its hilt was quite baffling as it resembled a motorcycle grip.
Dante had to blink as he looked at the gun. "Wait, is that a double-barreled revolver? And what's up with that sword's handle, why does it look a motorcycle grip?"
Jaune gingerly picked up the two weapons and took them out. He first gestured to the gun. "Blue Rose. Nera really liked this creation of hers that she made multiple versions, but this was her latest one. Basically, it fires out two shots at the same time. The bottom one would break through someone's defenses while the top would follow and hit them unsuspectingly."
"Huh. That's smart. Especially if you use high-powered ammunition. You could probably kill things easily with that."
Jaune then hefted up the blade with slight difficulty. "She called this Red Queen. But, it's not done yet."
The devil hunter raised an eyebrow. "Not done? Looks finished to me. Or does it have something to do with that motorcycle grip?"
The blond nodded. "It does. But you wouldn't believe me if I said it." He pointed at the desk, where a couple of papers lay. "Those are the plans for Red Queen. Take a look."
Dante strode up to the desk and picked up the papers. In his mind, he told himself that it wouldn't be that weird and he wouldn't be surprised. But as soon as he read it, his mind was blown.
"Man, if your sister was still alive, she and I would've gotten along pretty well. This Exceed concept that she thought of is pretty cool. But, yeah, I can see the problem. It's pretty complicated, and I don't know many smiths that could implement something like this."
Jaune frowned at this, however, his hopes rose up as Dante kept speaking.
"But, one of my business partners might."
"Ah! That's right. Mr. Morrison mentioned how you also owe them money."
Dante nodded. "Yeah, but hopefully, with the money that Jeanne gave to Morrison, it had been cleared off. Come on, they might be back at the shop."
Unfortunately, they weren't at the Devil May Cry office. When Dante and Jaune got there, it was empty. The former scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed he was wrong.
"Guess they're not here yet. Hold on, I'll be back, kid. They might be around."
With that, Dante left the shop, leaving Jaune behind to properly explore the office. Sure, he had already seen it when he had cleaned it up along with his family, but he didn't really get to see much. Plus, he was still a kid, and being adventurous was pretty much an innate thing to do.
Unfortunately, aside from the, surprisingly, large amount of books his uncle had, the demon skulls and the Devil Arms he kept locked away, there wasn't anything of interest. Jaune plopped down onto Dante's chair, pushing it forward and back to keep himself entertained as he awaited his uncle's return. His eyes locked onto a picture frame on his uncle's desk, which he knew wasn't present when they came to visit.
The picture frame contained the photo of a beautiful woman that had long, wavy hair in the color of a golden yellow, complimented by her dark-colored eyes. She was wearing a simple, black turtleneck dress and a red shawl over it.
Jaune stared at the photo of the woman, some questions running through his head. Who was the woman, and why did it seem like he already missed her despite not even knowing her? And why did Dante have a photo of her on his desk?
His thoughts were interrupted as the doors were flung open. He looked up and expected to see his uncle's return…only to be confused as two women strode into the place, armed with weapons.
The first had black hair and a pair of aviators framing her face with a scar running across her nose, and had a rocket launcher strapped on her back, wearing mostly white while the second one looked eerily similar to the woman in the picture but was mostly wearing black.
The black-haired woman took off her glasses, revealing that she had heterochromia, red for her left, and bluish-green for her right, to stare right at Jaune. "What's a kid doing here?" she thought out loud.
"That would be my nephew."
The two spun around and saw Dante standing at the entrance. He closed the doors and looked at them with joy.
"It's been a while, huh? How have you two-"
Dante didn't get to finish as a bullet found itself buried into his forehead, pushing him down. The culprit was the lady in white, who held a handgun, smoke coming out from its muzzle.
"U-uncle Dante!" Jaune screamed out in shock.
The lady in white rolled her eyes before it shifted into a heated glare. Meanwhile the woman in black looked at him in slight disappointment. However, if one were to closely look, they looked relieved and happy.
"You've been back for a year and you didn't even bother to tell us? Pretty typical of you."
A spectral arm came out and swept at them, forcing the two to jump back in surprise at the sudden attack. Jaune ran in front of his uncle, his hair white, and hovered over him protectively. "G-Get away from my uncle!"
Dante groaned out loudly as he pushed himself up, the wound in his forehead closing up. "Calm down, kid. These are the business partners I've been talking about. The one with the trigger finger is Lady. The blonde would be Trish."
Lady lowered her gun and holstered it back. That's when she processed their earlier words. "Nephew? Uncle? What? Did we miss something while you were gone?"
"Kinda." he sighed. "This is Jaune Arc. And yes, he is the father."
Trish grew intrigued, but also confused. "How is that possible? Vergil died in Mallet Island, didn't he."
The Son of Sparda shook his head, looking unsure himself. "Look, I don't know the details myself, but I guarantee the both of you that the kid's 100% my nephew."
Lady looked at Jaune closely, who stood confidently, not unnerved by the woman's gaze. She sighed in defeat and looked back at Dante.
"You're right. I can definitely see the resemblance between him and Vergil. It's kinda scary. Where'd you even find him?"
"His mother called me. Vergil went dark, but apparently, he instructed her to call me so I can help out with training his powers, if the arm wasn't already a giveaway."
The two lady hunters blinked as they just now noticed Jaune's demonic arm. But they wouldn't admit openly. Trish cleared her throat and walked up to him, offering her arm.
"I'm Trish. It's nice to meet you."
Jaune looked at the stretched out hand, before grasping it with his own and shook it. "Y-yeah. Nice to meet you too."
Lady just offered a wave. "Lady. Yeah, that is actually my legal name now. Don't ask. So, what's been Dante telling you about us?"
"Well, nothing really, besides that he used to owe you guys."
"Speaking of which." Trish crossed her arms, brow raised in skepticism. "How on Remnant did you manage that?"
Dante rubbed the back of his head, a bit embarrassed to say the answer. "Well… That would be thanks to my sister in-law."
The two women crossed their arms and glared at the half-devil. "So you took advantage of them?" assumed Lady.
Jaune then piped in. "Actually, Uncle D didn't even want that to happen. Mom did that out of her own kindness. Are you actually my uncle's friends, because you immediately assume the worst. What sort of friend does that?"
"Trust us, kid. If you've hung out with Dante for as long as we have, you'd think so too." simply replied Lady. "Moving on, why did you bring your nephew out here?"
Dante handed over the plans for Red Queen to Lady. "This. I'm training the kid and he wants to use this kind of sword."
The only pure human looked at her long-time friend incredulously. "Dante, this is basically asking to put a motor engine inside of a sword that's not even gonna mecha-shift. Sorry, Jaune. I hate to burst your bubbles, but this Exceed concept, while pretty awesome, isn't feasible right now."
Jaune's shoulder sagged, his face etched with sadness. "Guess I'll have to make do with just a regular blade."
Trish walked up to the half-human child and placed a comforting hand over his shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much. Give it a few years, and you'll be getting it, guaranteed."
"...thanks, Ms. Trish." He then perked up as a question came to mind. "Are you the woman on Uncle Dante's desk? Are you his girlfriend?"
The following reactions were varied. Dante choked on a donut he procured from somewhere. Lady started laughing out loudly, clutching her stomach at how hard she did. And Trish only gave him an amused smirk.
"No, I'm not. We're just business partners and friends. Nothing else. And as for the woman in the picture, no, I'm not her. That would be his mother, which would make her your grandmother. Her name was Eva."
Jaune slowly nodded. Was. That would mean she's dead. He looked down, feeling a bit sad that he never got to meet his grandmother… Actually, now that he thought about it, he didn't get to do as well from his mother's side. Does that mean that they're dead as well?
His thoughts were interrupted as the doors burst open and in walked Morrison. The dapper man looked pleasantly surprised that there weren't any bullets hole in the wall but nonetheless, he smiled at all the devil hunters present.
"My my, isn't this a reunion? Sit down tight, because I got another job for you three. Cash on completion." That's when he took notice of Jaune. "Oh! A pleasure to see you again, Jaune."
Lady quirked a brow and looked at the blond. "Should he be hearing this?"
Dante smiled and gestured for Morrison to continue. "Let him. He might not have that much formal training, but he can protect himself. Besides, this is a good opportunity for him to see what's in store for a possible future career. That, and it's better to see the pros in action to learn by watching."
"Then you're responsible for his safety and well-being." stated Morrison. "Anyway, this mission is to search and destroy a facility hidden somewhere deep in the forest. There's word that it's used as an illegal testing site for the paranormal and supernatural. The Mistralian Council had shut it down years ago, but through an anonymous tip, it's revealed to have been still going on up to this day."
Trish took a few step forwards, interested in more details. "Really? Now why would the government shut down something as innocent as investigating the paranormal?"
Morrison's face changed into a seriously sad expression, surprising the three adults. "Because what makes it illegal…is the fact that they use children to test these things out."
Lady growled in anger, Trish looked pissed, and Jaune looked horrified. Meanwhile, Dante's face remained blank, having no reaction whatsoever. But Morrison knew better, and he knew for a fact that the half-devil was livid.
"When do we start and where is it?" said Dante in an almost tranquil tone.
The dapper man took off his hat and gave them the details. "The tip states that the facility is somewhere in the west of Anima. Near the Forests of Hinoki, to be exact."
"Forests of Hinoki?" parroted Trish. "That's miles away from Mistral City."
"Well, it doesn't matter." stated the Son of Sparda as he stood up, having made his mind. "Tell them we'll take up on the gig, but we get to keep whatever's dangerous inside that facility. Wouldn't want it to fall into the wrong hands."
Morrison nodded in agreement. "I'll be sure to notify them." With his business done, he left, wishing the crew good luck.
Dante craned his neck and looked at the three, asking them if they were ready. Lady adjusted the giant rocket launcher on her back and gave the man a thumbs up, with Trish just nodding at him.
"Alright. Jaune, you're riding with me. The two of you, try to keep up."
Dante got on to his motorcycle, with the blond following suit. The half-devil made sure that his nephew held onto him tightly, before speeding off to their destination.
Forest of Hinoki
The three devil hunters pulled the brakes and their motorcycles skid to a halt. The trio, plus Jaune, got off and looked around. Lady adjusted her aviators, humming in thought.
"Well, there's nothing here that looks out of place."
"Then we'll have to go in deeper." thought Trish out loud.
Dante grunted in agreement and turned to his nephew. "Keep close to us, kid."
Jaune nodded obediently and the four of them ventured deep into the woods. Oddly enough, there weren't any evidence of the paranormal nor were there anything demonic that Dante or Trish could sense. They explored further for a good two hours, until Dante sighed in irritation.
"I'm bored."
His two business partners agreed, getting a little itchy for some action. Jaune then spotted a lone apple and went over to get it. He summoned out his spectral arm and plucked it off. The blond smiled and rubbed the red fruit on his shirt. As he was about to take a bite, a Beowolf dropped down in front of him, growling menacingly.
Before it could even make a move, Dante swiftly moved in and drop kicked it, sending it back. Good news, Jaune was safe. Bad news, the Beowolf recovered and it howled out to attract its compatriots.
Packs of Beowolves emerged from out of the bushes, followed by two different species of Grimm. One of them looked similar to the legends of the Manticore. Although none of them had any sort of wings, and some had spiked clubs for a tail instead. The other ones were similar to that of hornets. The Grimm all stared at them menacingly, completely surrounding them on all sides.
Dante cracked a grin as he drew out Rebellion. Lady took out her rocket launcher, Kalina Ann, while Trish summoned out her guns, Luce and Ombra.
"Well, guess this party's starting to get a bit crazy. Let's rock!"
The three of them then split up and faced each Grimm. Dante got the Beowolves. Lady got the Lancers. And Trish got the Manticores.
Dante whooped out loudly as he easily hacked through the Wolf Grimm with ease, only needing one strike. He rolled out of the way of a claw, and bifurcated it. He smirked at the Beowolf before mercilessly obliterating its head with Ivory.
The Son of Sparda launched himself into the air as numerous Beowolves tried to lunge at him. He drew out Ebony and shouted.
"Gunslinger!"
Dante rapidly pulled the trigger on his guns and started spinning around like a vortex, raining out bullets onto the unfortunate Wolf Grimm. He descended down and whistled in amazement that most of them were still alive.
"Well that's something you don't see every day. Would've been boring if you guys got killed quickly. Now, as much as the guys want to keep on partying," Gesturing to his guns. "I think it's about ol' Rebby here gets a turn!"
He holstered his guns and drew out the Rebellion, who decided to make his indignation known. "For the last time, stop calling me that!"
Dante chuckled at his sword's reaction and faced the wolves, taunting them. "Come on, little puppies. I'll take you all out on a walk. Come on, don't be shy!"
The Beowolves growled and charged at the devil hunter. Dante grunted and back flipped, kicking a few in the snout as he raised himself in the air. He dropped back down with a Helm Breaker, piercing through a couple of Beowolves. The devil hunter rolled to the side and deflected their claw strikes, quickly retaliating with a lunging stab that knocked them back into a tree.
An Alpha rushed in and tried to slash at the half-demon, only for to be dodged by Dante with Trickster. He smirked and switched into Swordmaster. He dashed into the Grimm Wolf, knocking it out of balance. He swiftly unleashed a streaming barrages of sword slashes, dancing around it a breakneck speed. He momentarily stopped, before resuming with a literal Million Stab, his arm nothing but a blur. Dante stuck his sword into the ground and started spinning around it, repeatedly kicking the Beowolf until he finished the attack with a powerful slash.
Seeing their Alpha dead, the remaining pack members turned tail and retreat. Dante channeled demonic energy into his sword, calling out the wolves. "Hey! Where are you guys going? We haven't even played fetch yet!"
Dante pulled back before throwing the sword in a spinning motion, similar to that of a boomerang. The Rebellion homed in on the Beowolves and sliced them instantly. Once done, the sword went back him to, placing itself on his back.
"Well," He put his hands on his hips, a satisfied smile on his lips. "Looks like I'm done. Guess those puppies don't know a simple trick."
Trish jumped back, firing off numerous bullets at the dozen of Manticores heading for her. Unfortunately, they were smarter than she had anticipated as they sliced down the bullets. The blonde hummed in thought before holstering away Luce and Ombra.
"Guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned-way."
Trish cracked her knuckles as sparks of electricity emitted from her body. The Manticores roared, ignoring the yellow element and instead spat out a stream of fire. The blonde merely jumped over the collective attack and dive kicked one of the Grimm hybrid, sending out currents of electricity that shocked those that surrounded it.
She quickly kicked herself off and punched the ground, sending out bolts of lightning to four Manticores, effectively frying them. Trish cartwheeled to the right, dodging a Manticore's stinger, then did it again for another flamethrower.
The blonde smirked and put on a pair of shades and she began to emit a shroud of yellow aura. The Manticores paid no heed and merely tried to tackle her. Trish grunted and spin kicked one into the air, before launching it towards its fellow Grimm. She flipped back and smacked one into the ground. She grabbed it by its bone mane and lodged it off effortlessly.
Trish threw the head and kicked it right into a unsuspecting Manticore, disorienting it. She ran towards it, her hand crackling with energy. Trish pulled back her hand and delivered a zoom punch, blowing up its head and launching its body towards more Manticores, sending them back.
As she was distracted, a Manticore managed to get the drop on her and tackled her down. The mix Grimm spewed fire on her face and impaled her stomach with its stinger, injecting poison into her bloodstream.
Trish didn't seem to slow down by the two attacks. She grabbed the Manticore by its mane and headbutted it before kicking it off with a judo throw. The blonde quickly got up to her feet and delivered numerous pinwheel kicks to the Grimm, before killing it with an electric heel stomp.
She sighed as she took off her glasses, the glow around her disappearing. Another pride of Manticore appeared, looking much bigger than the ones she had just fought off. Trish merely smirked and placed away her eyewear.
"This should be more interesting."
All as one, they breathed out a large stream of fire, which Trish merely jumped over. She cried out as she charged up another attack. She cupped her hands together and sent out a large arc of lightning, electrocuting the pride. Minutes later, she stopped and landed back down. Trish quirked an eyebrow in amazement as the Manticores still lived, albeit injured heavily.
"Well, guess I wasn't wrong. But what say you and I finally end this?"
Trish raised her fist into the air, gathering lightning. Once she accumulated enough, she brought down her hand, and a pillar of lightning struck the Manticore pride. Dismissing the attack, Trish smirked as there were no more remains of the Grimm, only ashes.
Lady kept silent as she kept on dodging most of the harpoon stingers the Lancers sent her away. Once she got some breathing room, she fired away with her handguns.
Much to the female devil hunter's surprise, a swarm of other Lancers formed around her targets and took the intended bullets for their comrades. Although, it bounced back, due to using the protective shell on their back
Shrugging it off, she dropped the empty magazine in her guns and reloaded them with her napalm load. Cocking back her guns, Lady rapidly pulled her trigger and sent numerous bullets at the Lancers.
The Wasp Grimm zoomed around every bullet, dodging each one before it could hit them. This irritated Lady to no end. She, a marksman on par with Dante, was missing each of her shots. Now aggravated, she holstered back her handguns and pulled out her shotgun.
She thrust forward her gun and rammed it into a Lancer. She smirked and shot it point-blank. She spun around and fired again, this time, managing to hit a couple of targets with the gun's devastating spread.
Lady rolled away and quickly reloaded. She blocked two Lancers trying to ram her and shot them for their troubles. The female Devil Hunter then shot the ground and used the recoil, putting some distance between her and the Grimm.
At her height, Lady grinned and finally busted out the big gun, Kalina Ann. She fired off a powerful missile, launching herself further back and sent it right into a swarm of Lancers, killing them instantaneously.
Obviously, they didn't quite like that. The Wasp Grimm fired off their harpoon stingers once again, and used it subdue the devil hunter. Lady cried out as she felt the rope wrap around her body, constricting her of movement.
The Lancers pulled her down, harshly onto the ground. Others quickly swooped in and surrounded her, preparing to restrict her further. Lady smirked, and all of a sudden, a great explosion engulfed her, blowing up the surrounding Lancers.
The Walking Arsenal pushed herself and dusted her clothes, letting go of the pin of the grenade she had managed to take hold of before she had been subdued.
"Having a Semblance really have its perks."
Looking up, she saw more Lancers heading towards her. She kicked up Kalina Ann and planted it into the ground. With her hand on the trigger, Lady grinned.
"Open wide!"
She pulled the trigger and a swarm of micro-missiles emerged from the rocket launcher. The sheer amount managed to overwhelm the Lancers, until they were reduced to none.
Lady grunted in satisfaction and lightly adjusted her aviators. Dante and Trish then regrouped with her, the latter playfully admonishing the human.
"You sure took your time."
She just shrugged in response as she secured Kalina Ann back on her back. "So far, we've fought nothing but Grimm. I'm starting to think that anonymous tip was just a scam."
Dante shook his head. "Can't be. This is Morrison we're talking about. There's no way he'd fall for something like a that."
While the two of them discussed the legitimacy of their mission, Jaune, who had perched himself up on a tree to get a better vantage point of the fight, grew curious of something sticking out of the bushes.
Dropping down from his position, he approached what to be a lever. Unfortunately for him, he didn't through his next action as he fiddled with it. All of a sudden, the ground beneath him parted into a hole. He wasn't able to react in time and fell as a result.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Jaune's scream quickly attracted the trio's attention, Dante's face paling.
"Kid!"
Quickly, they ran back to his last position and saw the pit. Trish peered over, but couldn't see anything due to how deep it was. Dante crouched and tried to call out to his nephew.
"Kid! Are you in there?!"
For a moment, he didn't get a response, bringing despair to the Son of Sparda until he heard Jaune's voice.
"I-I'm okay! These pillows cushioned my fall!"
Dante sagged and sighed in relief, grateful that his nephew was safe. "Good! Now stay where you are, I'm gonna come down there and get you!"
"You should bring Ms. Lady and Ms. Trish down here too! I think this is the facility that Mr. Morrison mentioned!"
This both surprised and impressed the devil hunters.
"Huh. His first day on the job and he already managed to get ahead of us."
Lady crossed her arm and looked back down. "An underground laboratory? How even more cliche can it get?"
"Our life's been full of cliches and tropes, Lady. Honestly, it'd be pretty weird if it weren't." stated Trish.
Dante went in first and jumped into the hole. The blonde offered a hand to the human, whom merely shook her head. Trish shrugged and jumped after the half-demon. Lady checked around, making sure that nothing was watching them before finally dropping in.
Unbeknownst to her, their movements were being tracked by a security camera expertly hidden within the trees. It had been watching seen the moment they arrived, observing everything.
"There's no doubt about it. Just this entire hallway screams evil laboratory."
The three devil hunters, plus Jaune, strolled through the hall inside of the pit that the latter had discovered by accident. So far, they hadn't seen anything suspicious, which was already suspicious enough on its own. No guards. No security cameras. Nothing.
"This just screams eerie..." commented Lady. "Like seriously. We've been walking for minutes and we haven't even encountered anyone."
Dante opened his mouth to make a joke, but was interrupted by the static from the intercom.
"I hate to interrupt, but we have proceeding matters to take care of."
The three devil hunter narrowed their eyes and drew out their guns, aiming them at different directions. Trish swept around her eyes, trying to spot where the voice was coming from.
"Who are you? Show yourself."
"I'm perfectly fine where I am right now, Ms. Huntress. Ah, but where are my manners? I am Achroma. The head scientist of this little facility. I welcome you to the testing grounds of our research."
"Research?" parroted Jaune, looking quite confused.
"Correct, dear boy. Now, I'm well aware that you already know what the purpose of this facility is, but do you know the full story?"
This attracted their attention. Full story? What was he talking about?
"But I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise so early. That is why I challenge you to go through this entire facility to come and find me. I will tell everything that you want to know when you do. However, my fellow scientists have no idea of your presence here, so you'll have to do your absolute best not to alarm them. Of course, with your repertoire, it'll be a cinch for you all. Nonetheless, I bid you all good luck!"
As Achroma finished, the walls parted, revealing two new entrances for them to go through. The trio frowned and holstered away their guns.
"You know, this just might be a trap in attempt to divide us. Or to try and get our guard down, maybe?" suggested Lady.
Dante shook his head, despite looking unsure himself. "I don't know, Lady. If that was the case, he would have done it silently then introduce himself. Hell, he probably should be gloating, but he isn't. Something is definitely off." He turned to his friends, his visage becoming serious. "Jaune, you're staying with me. You and I'll keep on going forward, while Lady and Trish go through the other doors."
The others had no objections and agreed. With their designated areas, they split up and went their separate ways.
Lady's Path
Lady kept herself armed at all times, making sure to check her back every once in a while. The room she was in was finally different. Although now, it was making her even more paranoid. There were crates stacked up by twos, tall enough to hide someone if need be.
Her eyes shot up, when she heard someone walking way across her. Quickly, she went behind the crates and crouched down low to cover herself. Finally, two figures walked by. They were both in typical get up for a scientist, one of them was even holding a clipboard while the other sported a pair of specs.
"Subject C-8 is another failure. Her body couldn't handle the strain of the samples, and suffered a heart attack."
"Again? That's the 10th time! At this rate, we're gonna run out of test subjects before we can even finish the experiment! Seriously, we never had any problems before that bastard became the head scientist!"
The one holding the clipboard grunted and smacked it against his companion's head. "Don't go saying things like that out in the open. Need I remind you that he has eyes and ears everywhere? He could be watching us right now and we might not even know it. While it's true that things have spiraled down ever since our old head scientist stepped down, we shouldn't lose hope. We are scientists, and we explore every possibility that exists!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever. You didn't have to hit me on the back of the head!" exclaimed the one with specs as he rubbed the growing bump on his head.
As the two of them left, Lady quietly took her time crawling out of her hiding space and made sure that there was no one else heading her way. Once she was clear, she headed towards the other end of the hall, moving swift yet stealthily, not wanting to get caught.
Eventually, Lady came to a stop, face to face with a large, metal door. It would've posed a problem, had it been closed. Yet, for some reason she couldn't even think of, it was open.
"I'm starting to think that maybe I was right and this is a trap."
However, with nowhere else to go but forward, the Walking Arsenal entered the room. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't a lab of any sorts. Instead, it was a storage room of some kind, decorated with numerous crates and tubes, with weapons probably inside of them. On the side of each item was some sort of insignia that she didn't recognize, ringing alarm sirens in her head.
Lady took out her handgun once again and approached one of the crates. She reached for the top and slowly opened it up, revealing...broken pieces of what seemed to be metal.
"What the hell?" Lady hesitantly reached out and grabbed one of them. She shone it over the light and inspected it as thoroughly as she could, wondering just what the metal was. "I… I don't get it. Did they break a weapon, or something?"
She put back the piece and snapped a picture of it to show the others later. She then approached another crate and was baffled to see-
"A horn?" She picked it up and looked at it with confusion. "What's a horn of all things doing here? Is it from a demon and they're trying to exact some samples for their experiments?"
Lady placed it back and saw that inside were bits and pieces of armor unfamiliar to her. Once again, she took a picture and moved on to another container. She let out a startled gasp as she what was inside. Multiple limbs of numerous demons, but what made her gasp was its size. All of the arms and feet inside were small…small enough to belong to children.
"Those bastards… How could they-"
She was cut off as Achroma's voice rang across the room.
"As unfortunate as it is, that is what a scientist does. They toss aside their morals and do what they need to in order to get the results that they so desire."
Lady swiveled around and aimed her handgun at the air, glaring heatedly as she scanned around for where the voice was coming from.
"I wouldn't bother wasting my time in trying to find some sort of speaker, Ms. Lady. I'd be more concerned with the trap door that's about to open below you."
Lady blinked and didn't have time to react as she fell down into said trap door, leading her deeper into the facility. Luckily, once again she softly fell onto a pile of mattresses. She quickly composed herself and saw that there were three figures hovering around her menacingly.
The three figures were humanoid in shape, and wore armor that appeared to be angelic, of sorts. Practically, their entire body was hidden, along with the head, which was covered by a hooded visor and horns protruding from the sides of their heads.
Once again, Achroma's voice flared around her.
"Although the name is quite stupid and unoriginal, meet the Bambino Angelos. If you can translate that dead language, then you know that-"
"These are children in front of me." finished Lady, horrified to be facing unwilling kids stuck in the armor.
"Unfortunately, yes. Their very soul has been transferred deep into the armor, along with their brain and demon souls to accompany them. Mixed with a child's creativity, and a demon's instinct for bloodshed and killing, you've got quite the terrifying combination."
Lady's horror turned into rage as she looked around, growling. "How the hell can you do such things to children? You people are worse than the demons we've killed, and that's saying something."
Achroma didn't respond, making Lady scoff and sneer. Her expression changed again to that of sorrow, for the children who's lives were lost. But again it changed, this time to that of determination as she tightly clenched her fist.
"I swear, I'll make sure you all can rest in peace and kill the bastards who did this to you guys."
The Bambino Angelos descended down and brandished their claws threateningly, making Lady respond by aiming her handguns at them. The demons went first and lunged right at her. She grunted and ducked under them, causing the Angelos to slam into each other.
Lady rolled away from them and started blasting. The bullets didn't affect the three demons, and merely bounced against their armor, making the devil hunter possessed armors let out a loud cry, disorienting Lady as she covered her ears to muffle the sound.
Quick to take advantage, one of the Angelos swooped in and grabbed her by the collar and tossed her into the air. The other Angelos went after and delivered multitude of slashes before striking her down back onto the ground.
The Walking Arsenal rolled back up and pulled out Kalina Ann. She took aim at the three Bambinos and fired a couple of homing missiles. The three swerved around, trying their best to dodge the explosive projectiles. Unfortunately, they couldn't outmaneuver them and was struck, falling to the ground.
Lady quickly capitalized on the situation. She pulled the pin and threw a bunch of grenades at the fallen Angelos. In seconds, an explosion flung them harshly into the wall. But even then, they still weren't out, their visors still lit up. They let out a war cry as their claws sharpened, and glowed a vibrant blue. The Bambino Angelos swung their claws and released numerous projectiles at Lady.
The lady hunter's eyes widened and took aim below, firing a rocket and sent herself into the air, performing a rocket jump, with Aura, she sustained no damage beside it decreasing.
"I hope the others are having a harder time than me."
They weren't. With Dante and Jaune, the two of them simply ran through the hall. Again, completely empty. No guards, and no demons too, making the older cambion very apprehensive. Soon, they reached the end of the hall, and similar to Lady's path, stood a metal door with a scanner placed beside it. Dante approached the scanner and frowned.
"Looks like we're gonna need an ID to get in here. But, considering we didn't even bump into anyone, it's gonna be both time consuming and risky."
"Why not just kick it down?" suggested Jaune. "We have super strength, don't we?"
"Well, yeah. But, then again, it might trip an alarm. On the other hand, we should hurry up an-huh?"
As Dante was speaking, the door pinged green and unlocked itself, opening up to the two. Uncle and nephew blinked, trying to process on how they were given a freebie.
"Or that. The door can open up by itself like that. Seriously, something's going on with this Achroma guy. He's been watching us the very moment we set foot onto the forest. He could have triggered an alarm and evacuated, but he didn't."
Jaune tugged on the half-demon's coat, snapping him out of his musings. "Hey, what are we waiting for? Let's get inside before the door closes."
Dante agreed with his nephew. The two of them walked in and were not ready for what the room contained. Inside of the room were rows upon rows of test tubes, all of them filled with some sort of green liquid, and in that were various amount of children…
Some were legless. Some were armless. Some were both. Some only had one of each. And some…had demonic limbs. But one thing was for certain, none of them were breathing.
Jaune looked absolutely devastated at the sight before him. Barring the demon attack a year ago, he had never seen something so…cruel and heartless. It was enough to make him cry.
"How could someone do something like this? Why children? They did nothing wrong, they were innocent in all of this!" he shouted, as the tears dripped down.
Dante said nothing, his face devoid of any emotion, yet somehow, it looked sullen. He wordlessly placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder and gently patted it in comfort, but it did nothing to stall the emotions whirling up inside.
"That's just how the world is, kid. A human can be just as worse, or even beyond a demon. The same can be applied to them as well. Somewhere out there, a demon can be just as kind as a human can. I want you to remember this, Jaune. The world isn't always black and white, there are gray areas that can contradict them."
The Lone Son remained silent. Dante removed his hand and was about to suggest something, when Jaune's eyes flashed red and his tone took on a warped tone.
"Whoever did this to them… when I get strong and find them, I'll feed them their own heart."
Dante didn't respond, but mentally, he agreed with his nephew's sentiment. He jerked his thumb at the lone desk sitting in the middle, wherein a pile of papers sat. Possibly documents.
"Come on, let's go and see if there's a way for us to get them out of those tubes. They deserve a proper grave, at least." he said softly.
At that, Jaune agreed, his eyes going back to its normal azure color. They walked up to the desk and started sifting through. Dante grunted, trying to keep his anger in check as he leafed through the papers to see if there was anything useful. Unfortunately, they were all notes regarding the failed experiments all performed on the poor children, and how they died.
"Subject B-3 was incompatible with the sample, causing their body to degrade to the point of being unrecognizable. Subject K-9 had become too ill-tempered and rebellious, and had to be put down before it could escalate any further. Subject Z-0 had figured out our intentions, and resisted everything we've subjected him to, until his mind eventually broke by the stress of the experiments. Out of a hundred, only a handful of them were successful, and have been transferred over to the main lab."
Dante frowned deeply and heavily restrained himself from slamming the desk in a fit of rage. Like he had just told Jaune, any human could be just as malicious as demons, and it made him downtrodden to be reminded of this fact. While they were deeply engrossed in reading the notes, two certain tubes were draining itself of its liquid, preparing to release the children inside of it. Without even making a sound, they fell down onto the floor, unconscious but with their eyes open, lacking any sort of life.
Both of them were Jaune's age. One of the children was a lightly effeminate male, with long black hair and a magenta streak on the left side, his eyes matching the streak. The other one was a female with straight, orange hair and turquoise eyes.
Dante saw this from the corner of his eyes and quickly ran up to the two. He knelt down and swiftly searched for a pulse. Jaune slowly walked up to his uncle, both relieved and shocked at the sudden appearance of the two children. The Lone Son looked at his arm in surprise as it glowed when he put it closer to the two.
"They're alive…" he muttered in realization. "D-Dante, they're alive!"
As Jaune said this, Dante had managed to find a pulse on the two kids, bringing him relief. Unfortunately, they were weak and faint. But it didn't matter, what did was that they were still alive.
"Finally, a bit of good news. We need to take them back with us, and help 'em recover. I hope Lady and Trish manage to find that scientist."
The Lone Son looked at the two with sorrow, then a question came to mind. "I wonder what their parents are feeling right now."
"Nothing, I'm sad to say."
Jaune reeled back in surprise at the sudden intrusion of Achroma's voice, while Dante narrowed eyes, but didn't remove them from the two children.
"What do you mean?" demanded the Son of Sparda.
"Every children used in the experiments were orphans and street children. Those particular two, Lie Ren and Nora, were picked up after having survived a sudden Grimm attack on the village near by this facility. The head scientist before me grew intrigued by this, and that's why they took-oh? It seems one of you has found me. We'll speak again later, Dante."
And once again, Achroma left them to their devices, making them wonder who managed to find him.
Trish grunted as she karate chopped another scientist on the back of the neck, knocking him out cold. Weirdly, she had came across some of the other scientists of the facility and managed to knock every single one without being detected.
The female devil stared at the metal door in front of her. And like Dante's and Lady's, it required an ID card. Luckily, she had quite the supply. She looked through the cards that she amassed, until stopping at one that said 'Skull Level', which probably meant that it acted like a skeleton key She swiped it over the scanner and the door opened.
Trish strolled in to the room and was met with numerous screens surrounding a figure sitting on a chair, presumably Achroma. They were all showing visuals of different parts of the facility, with the main one currently showing Dante and Jaune cradling two children.
The blonde pulled out Luce and Ombra and cocked them, gaining the scientist's attention. He bid farewell to the two and swiveled around his chair, revealing his appearance to Trish - A pale man with obsidian black hair and a white cowlick around his head. He had yellow eyes and wore a pair of glasses. He wore a long, white lab coat, a pair of white gloves and some sort of black uniform with white outlines.
Achroma bowed to the female devil hunter and gave her a smile. "Greetings, let me introduce myself formally. I am Achroma Colress, a scientist that will go bounds to discover what exactly gives us strength and power." He stood straight and offered a chair to the woman.
Trish graciously accepted the chair and put away her weapons, asking the first thing in her mind. "What exactly did you mean by that?"
"It is what it is. Ever since I was a child, I was curious as to how others were strong, while others were not. My parents were a part of the unfortunate ones, and as result, they were trampled upon. That day, I vowed to find the source of power, so I could share it to those without it!"
"And researching demons, experimenting on children helps you reach that goal?"
Achroma lowered his head, a deep frown etched on his face as his eyes were blocked by the light. He turned his back to Trish and sighed.
"No… That wasn't the case at first. The head scientist of this facility at the time approached me. He read some of the thesis and theories I wrote and was intrigued. He offered me to work with him in order to see if they were true… It was just a lure, unfortunately. I thought it would be a series of tests and exercises with volunteers performing certain tasks under certain scenarios to determine a source. Instead, we had actual demon samples, grafting them into children or injecting them with their blood."
The bespectacled man looked up at the monitors that captures visuals of the room where Dante was in, focusing on the bodies of the many dead children, the look of sorrow in his face growing deeper.
Trish stood up from her spot and walked up to Achroma, crossing her arms. "Then why not just escape, or even refuse?"
A scowl marred the man's face as he tightly clenched his fist. "I couldn't, because the bastard that me offered me the position would've killed me. Or worse, he could have forced me into being a test subject as well. I had to bear through it all, while covertly helping the children as best as I could."
He took off his glasses, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall from his face.
"It was all for naught. Most of them ended up dead while the others who managed to survive were converted into Bambino Angelos." Achroma pointed at the monitor which displayed Lady fighting said monsters. "Only three were left, the others were shipped off back to who knows where. For a while, I could do nothing but let it all happen, until the head scientist passed on the position to me. Because of that, I was able to start what I wanted for so long."
Intrigue was now written all over Trish's face. "What did you do?"
"With my new position I began to slowly erode the entire research, starting with sabotaging each experiment by euthanizing the children before they could progress further. Some would say it's cruel, however, I disagree! It's the best mercy they could receive in such a situation, and my only regret is they didn't get a brighter future."
Achroma pressed a button and a section of the wall parted, revealing rows upon rows of cages, all filled with unconscious scientists. He and Trish walked up to it, the latter a bit amazed. The scientist gestured to the display, a dark smile crossing his lips.
"Behold, the sick bastards who gleefully took part of this research. I've rounded them all up to make it easier for when you hand them over to the authorities. Somehow, they didn't suspect a thing and got themselves all captured. And before you ask, yes, I am the one who sent the anonymous tip to the council. It needed to be done, and I'm willing to face my time and testify against all of my 'colleagues' if need be."
Trish nodded, processing what she had just learned from the man before her. She uncrossed her arms and asked another question. "Where did you get the demon samples that were used? Unless you had a portal to the Underworld, and somehow managed to subjugate a few demons, there's no possible way for you to get them."
The bespectacled scientist hummed in thought, trying to recall that specific detail. "If my memory serves me correctly, we had two different sources. One is a from a devil hunter, 'The Wind of Destruction', he called him himself. And second, is where a majority of the samples that we had been using. It came from a place called Mallet Island."
Trish's eyes lightly widened, letting out a gasp in disbelief. "And you're certain? It was called Mallet Island?"
Achroma nodded, sure of his words. "Yes. There's no doubt about it. I can only boast about a few things. And my memory is one of them." He turned to the blonde, confusion written all over his face. "Why? Is there something with that place? Do you know of it?"
"You could say that..." she responded cryptically. Trish looked back at the monitors with Dante and Jaune in them, watching with interest at the two children they were carrying out. "What can you tell me about those two children that survived? Lie Ren and Nora, right?"
Achroma hummed in affirmation. "Yes. Those two were picked up right at the outskirts of Oniyuri, the failed settlement the elite tried to build to give the people of Mistral a better choice of living, until it was subsequently abandoned because the government actually started to give a damn. Moving on from that, we discovered the two, starved and wounded. From what we had investigated, they had managed to survive the Grimm incursion that destroyed Kuroyuri. Like the children they were, they bought into the lies of my colleagues. They suffered and suffered through the pains the experiment brought them. But it proved fruitful. They were receptive to the samples, and were the first to be successfully converted. As of right now, they're only half-human."
"That's…horrible." Trish said, sad for the two, yet somewhat intrigued, that somehow, people managed to artificially produce halflings. "But if they were successful products, then why were they in that room?"
The black-haired man smirked and pushed up his specs smugly. "Simple. I faked their deaths. Before performing a string of tests, I injected them with something that would cause them to lose unconscious, make their heart stop beating, and weaken their pulse for a short amount of time."
"What?" uttered the devil hunter in a mixture of shock and surprise. "How short was your time?"
"Give or take, a few minutes." Ignoring her shocked look, he continued. "I know, it was a risky gamble, but I got lucky. They were quick to deem them failures and went to toss them away. However, I got my hand on their bodies and revived them, then hid them away until the right time. And because of that, the entire research was set back by many steps because of the 'little mishap' by my hand."
He plucked out two pen drives from the terminal and handed it over to the blonde. One was simply colored white, while the other was black, streamlined with red.
"Here. That pen drive contains every bit of information regarding the research that's been performed in this facility. It's all compiled and sorted by how it was done, and what was used. As for the other one, it contains the details for Ren and Nora. Blood type, abilities, semblance, and even their likes and dislikes. I'm sure you'll take good care of them."
Trish took them from the scientists and hid them away, nodding in gratitude. Soon after, Lady walked in to the room, looking no worse for wear. She looked a cross between angry and sorrowful. She then spotted Achroma and immediately whipped Kalina Ann, aiming it right at him. Achroma sighed and raised his hands in faux surrender. Trish approached her fellow hunter and pushed down the rocket launcher.
"Calm down, Lady. He's not the one who tortured the children. He's innocent in that regard. Trust me, based on what I've heard from him, he hasn't lied."
The Walking Arsenal frowned, but relented, nonetheless. She placed away her signature weapon and turned to the blonde. "Where's Dante?"
Speak of the devil, literally in this case, and he shall arrive. Dante entered the room, followed closely by numerous other people unfamiliar to both Lady and Trish. At the helm of the group stood Noir, wearing what's essentially a military outfit, complete with the beret. The first daughter of Vergil drew her blade from the scabbard and pointed it at Achroma.
"Ladies, take him in." Her eyes drifted to the side, where the rest of the scientists were as well. "Them too."
Her soldiers saluted and did as ordered. Two of them approached Achroma, who offered no resistance, and cuffed his arms on his back. The rest were restrained and then woken up, dragging them to the surface to put them into the Bullhead for transport. Noir approached the two female devil hunter and saluted them.
"Specialist Arc of the Dawn's Cross."
The two were taken aback. The Dawn's Cross was a well known mercenary group, and one of the few to exist. It wasn't long until Mistral decided to hire them in an effort to; either train up their Huntsmen, or help them create their own military force. What they didn't expect was for them to set base and sign up to be the military force instead. Nonetheless, the entirety of Mistral welcomed it.
While Huntsmen can still operate, the kingdom wanted an entirely separate force that dealt with other situations, like say, the Human/Faunus relations. The military dealt with that, and possibly civilian matters, while the Huntsmen focused on the Grimm. Getting into the group was very tough, due to their incredibly strict standards. To be able to get in was a feat alone, but having a ranking of Specialist at her age? Pretty admirable.
Lady and Trish wordlessly saluted back at her, making Noir smile and lower her hand. Then her smile was wiped away as she remembered her brother's expression as the corpses of the children were carried out to be autopsied, then either be hopefully sent back to their family, or be cremated. With that in mind, she turned to her uncle and slapped him on the back of the head.
"What exactly made you think it was a good idea to bring my brother along?" she asked, a tick mark appearing on her forehead. "You're lucky I can't tell mother any of this because of confidentiality, or else, you'd be in a world of hurt."
Dante rubbed the spot that was struck, wincing a bit despite it nothing really hurting that much. He stopped and looked at the blonde with a serious expression that almost made his two friends do a double take.
"I thought it'd be a good way to expose him as to what the future may hold. Look, I know he's still a kid and that he as the right to be happy, but with the blood of Sparda flowing through him? It won't last long, his arm is evidence enough. By bringing him here, I hoped that I had gotten rid of some of his naivete and showed him the harsh reality of what the world is actually like. By tomorrow, this would have only motivated him to become stronger."
Noir frowned at her uncle's statement, but couldn't exactly refute it because it had its merits. The Specialist sighed and sheathed back her sword. "I guess you're right. By the way, speaking of kids, you said you knew of someone that could take care of the two survivors?"
The devil hunter nodded. "Yeah. I met her on a job years ago. Helped me get it done, actually. A witch that's also a licensed doctor. She's both a pediatrician and a psychiatrist. She's the best person to help those two. She and I go way back, so we can trust her."
"What's her name?" asked a curious Lady.
Dante grunted and turned to the three, smirking. "It's-"
Jaune looked glum. He sat on his bed, crouched over, hugging his legs. It had just been a few hours after he and his uncle had saved Lie and Nora, as well as arresting the numerous amount of scientists who experimented on the children.
He was still shaken up by the harsh truth that he had been shown. He still couldn't comprehend how some people could perform such wicked acts upon children. Weren't adults supposed to be protecting them? Weren't they supposed to be looking for ways to improve life? It just didn't make sense for his child mind.
But he remembered the words his sister relayed to him. Dante said that he was naive. Even after that fateful event, he had remained blind and ignorant to the world's horrors. Though he was still a child, he had a bit of right to be such.
"Then I have to discard it..." he decided.
Jaune sat up from his seat and tightly clenched his fist, staring at the moon, his eyes ablaze with determination. He changed into his demonic arm and gazed at it with conviction.
"From this day forth, I vow, that I will get stronger. I'll seek out more strength to protect. If they decided it wasn't worth their time, then I'll do it myself!" he declared, his arm brimming with energy.
I've decided to fuse chapter five and six together, if only to give me some more room to make an additional chapter. Sorry about that. God, I wanted to shorten this but I couldn't find a way to do it. Oh well...
And by the way, imagine Noir's outfit is Durandal's Valkyrie Gloria standard in Honkai Impact 3rd.
As always, thanks for reading, review your thoughts down below, and stay safe.