Hazbin Devils
Chapter 9 (Vergil)
To say that Pentagram City was big was a gross understatement of its scale. Vergil had taken almost an hour to familiarise himself with driving a car that had so much power that a slight press of the pedal would send him rocketing down the road. Hell knows how many curbs and parked vehicles he had hit that day before reaching the city limits an hour later, but at least the road had widened up as the highway began. The car loaned to him by Lucifer was unusually resilient with hardly a scratch or a dent despite multiple mishaps. One could suspect the car was perhaps alive, but there was no way to tell.
As the open road began, the traffic jams gradually lessened until Vergil could comfortably press down on the accelerator for longer periods without encountering any significant slowdowns. Beyond the border of Pentagram City lay a flat and seemingly endless plain that stretched as far as the eye could see. Power lines ran parallel to the road that would otherwise run continuously if it was not for a couple of small villages that broke up the monotony. They were landmarks on Vergil's crude map and served as indications that he was going the right way.
Open plains. That was the last thing he ever thought would be seen in hell. There were some hills and knolls here and there but the overall terrain seemed suitable for settlement. It very certainly felt like it could solve the overcrowding problem – if there was one – by having demons move outwards. The very thought of it nibbled at the back of his head and Vergil was slowly convincing himself that the extermination was something more than just solving an overpopulation issue. He never heard of hell from his dimension having any sort of overpopulation issue. Then again, there was Dante so perhaps any potential problems had already been put out by his brother.
Nothing much happened during the drive but Vergil did notice the car had no petrol gauge. Judging by the fact that the car showed no signs of slowing down, it made it seem like the car needed no petroleum as a regular machine would. As weird as it looked, he appreciated the fact that he did not need to stop for anything more than a toilet break. Fortunately, there were pitstops by the side of the highway from time to time.
By the time the sky had slowly darkened, Vergil still found himself in the middle of isolation. There were other vehicles on the road but they were spread out over great distances. At that point, he had begun feeling a little fatigued. The car's clock read 6:30 p.m. There was a pitstop coming up in about 5 kilometres so he made up his mind to take a break there before continuing. He checked his map to see where he was but he never included pitstops as landmarks on it. Vergil did know that he had not pass an Irish settlement yet but reaching that destination only meant he only completed one-third of the journey.
Still a long way to go.
The pitstop came into view like a beacon in an increasingly dark day. It had no name or sign other than a neon sign that says 'Motel', a sign which looked like it was about to collapse under its own weight. The motel itself was typically seedy and dirty but it had a restaurant attached to it for any travelling demon that only wanted something to eat. The parking was free at least so Vergil drove into a parking spot and pulled the handbrake. With that, he turned off the engine and exited the car to stretch himself for a bit.
The darkness around the motel pitstop seemed unnaturally thick and unsettling. Vergil could see dark figures dancing in the shadows but the other patrons did not seem to care about it one bit. Maybe it was a usual thing that happens, but Vergil remained cautious nonetheless. Looking around, there were a couple of demons seated on a nearby bench drinking something and laughing loudly like a bunch of hooligans. By the hotel entrance, several female demons were offering their services to male customers that came by. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary so far. At least, that was the case until Vergil heard a scream come from one of the motel rooms.
Feeling curious, the blue half-demon went to investigate the source of the scream. He ignored some of the advances by the prostitute demons, his mind focused on the person that seemed to be screaming bloody murder. For a moment, he paused in contemplation. It was not his concern, so did he suddenly have an impulse to investigate? Demons kill each other all the time, so what made this any different? The screams came again, this time it seemed to have originated from somewhere behind the motel.
His fist tightened as he walked to the back side of the hotel in quick strides. When Vergil turned around the corner, he saw a burly wolf demon pinning a goat-like demon lady with white hair and glasses against the wall. She struggled to push him away but he just pinned her harder until she could only move and thrash around with her legs.
"You don't get to bargain here, meat. I didn't agree to bring you to Pentagram City for free, so you either cough up the dough or you pay with that body of yours," the wolf growled with saliva dripping from his maw.
"My purse was stolen, you barbarian!" she shouted back angrily while using her legs to kick at his stomach. He did not flinch one bit. "Just because I'm in hell doesn't mean I don't have standards!"
He kneed her stomach so hard that she coughed up blood on his shirt. "Yeah, you lost your wallet, boo-fucking-hoo. I ain't charity and whores don't have standards. If you're not gonna do it, I'll do it for you."
The wolf demon raised his claws and slashed her clothes to pieces while also drawing a bit of blood in the process. Vergil growled indignantly and a second later, a blue sword of energy appeared beside him. Just as the wolf demon was unzipping his pants, the sword shot across the air like a speeding bullet and left a trail of afterimages in its wake. The summoned sword made pierced the wolf's chest and knocked him backwards, causing him to release his grip on the goat demon. She ran as fast she could and past Vergil before kneeling beside a pile of boxes.
He glanced behind him at her for a bit before turning his full attention at the wolf demon. "Is that any way to treat a woman?"
The wolf demon picked himself up and pulled the summoned sword from his chest, only for it to shatter in his hand. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" he asked angrily. "You looking for a fight?"
"If it means teaching you a lesson, I could entertain the idea," Vergil replied calmly. "If you value your life, I suggest you leave. Stay, and you'll face death in my hands."
"Mr. Hammerhead all high and mighty. I hate people like you, you know that?" The wolf demon bared his fangs while dragging his claws on the wall and creating a long and deep gash.
The change was subtle but Vergil noticed the wolf demon looking more beastly and his size seemed to have increased a bit. He understood what was going on and drew his sword. As soon as he did, the demon ran at him on all fours and pounced. Yet, the blue demon stood still in a battle stance. Right before the fangs could snap at his neck, Vergil did a wide cut. A horizontal line appeared across his opponent's chest and threw him off target. He landed on the ground with a thud and skidded a short distance.
When the wolf got up again, his wounds were attempting to close up. He turned to face Vergil once more and expected him to still be standing there. Unfortunately for him, the blue demon was charging him with his fist raised. He seemed to be wearing gauntlets and greaves of light that looked bestial in design, similar to the claws of a predator. With the distance closing, the wolf demon charged with his own fist raised and attempted to struck first. Vergil mirrored his moves and their fists struck.
Upon impact, the wolf's fist snapped and shattered and the momentum of the punch sent him flying back so far and hard that when his body impacted the building behind him, it made a hole into an unoccupied closet. Tons of material and equipment fell onto the wolf demon and buried him under a heavy pile. Vergil walked slowly towards the opening with Beowulf giving way to Yamato. Out from the dark hole, the wolf demon limped out bloodied and bruised but his fury unabated.
This time, however, he had an ornate revolver in his hand. It had a shimmer to it and a golden aura that was barely noticeable. Vergil stopped in his tracks. He had faced against Dante's array of firearms before and not one of them felt quite as unnerving as this one. It felt different like an unassuming but very real danger. Still, he stood his ground and raised Yamato again. The wolf demon grinned and chuckled darkly.
"You stopped even before I could shoot, mister samurai. I'm sure you know what this is," said the wolf demon in a strained voice. Vergil did not answer him but his eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm just gonna erase you out of existence and do everyone here a fucking favour."
He pulled the trigger. Due to his injuries and pain, a lot of the bullets missed their mark. Those that were headed straight for Vergil were intercepted by him whirling Yamato in front of him like a fan. The wolf fired and until his magazine was empty, but the blue demon in front of him was still standing tall. Not only that, he stopped spinning his sword and laid the bullets in front of him in a straight line. The wolf's jaw dropped open, unable to believe what he just saw.
Vergil swiped his sword and sent the bullets flying back at his opponent. The wolf demon dropped his gun before the bullets struck him in the head twice and several in the torso. He fell back wordlessly and his body disintegrated into dust. With the threat gone, Vergil sheathed Yamato and went to pick up the gun. When examining it, he noticed an engraving on it that resembled the wings of an angel. The blue demon looked at Yamato and saw some smoke emitting from the spots where the bullets struck the blade. It was sizzling as if it was about to catch fire.
"This is most interesting," Vergil muttered. He noticed that the pile of dust was gone, not a single trace left of the wolf demon except spent bullet casings.
He went to check on the lady and found her still huddled by the pile of boxes, shivering either out of fear or from the cold. She noticed Vergil looking and attempted to cover herself up. Sighing, Vergil reverted back to his human form and took off his coat. He took a step forward and held the coat in front of her but he was looking away. The goat demon looked up and grabbed onto it.
"Is that –"
"Get dressed," Vergil interrupted. "I heard you were going to Pentagram City."
"Yeah, I was," she replied while taking the coat and putting it on. She winced at the itchiness she felt. "Thanks, mister?"
"Vergil," he replied. Looking back at her, he pointed at the coat and said, "There's some money in the inner pocket. You have it."
The lady demon looked at him as if not believing what was happening. "Wait, this isn't a trick, is it?"
"If you meant attempting to do something to you, well, I would've done it already, no?"
"Huh…good point," she muttered. "What're you, a human, doing in hell?"
"Not a human, and I have my reasons," Vergil said brusquely. He transformed back into a demon and flexed his fingers, causing it to emit popping noises. "I'd offer to take you Pentagram City but I have important business to attend to at Imp City instead."
"Oh? I was coming from Imp City," the goat demon replied. "It's still quite a distance but you can reach there next afternoon if you don't stop."
"You're from Imp City?"
"No, I was just there to exact revenge," she growled. Her expression softened quickly and she sighed sadly while sitting on a box just tall enough to be a chair. "I still can't believe I'm here…me, supposedly a role model for children, in hell for a moment of rage."
"What were you before?"
"I was a teacher if you can believe it. My prick of a husband cheated on me and slept with that no-good piece of shit. Shot them both before I shot myself. The bitch survived, so I went to I.M.P. and hired them to kill her for me," she said angrily. "Now that she's dead…I…I don't know, I still feel I don't belong here."
Vergil nodded slowly. "Revenge more often than not leaves an empty feeling. If you make it your life's goal, accomplishing it gets you nowhere after that. What'd you plan to do after this?"
The demon looked and him and said, "I heard there was a hotel that rehabilitated sinners at Pentagram City, that's why I'm going there. I refuse to be confined here, I'm willing to take chances."
Although the eyes of his demon form were unable to express it, Vergil had subconsciously tried to raise a non-existent eyebrow. "Interesting, I was from there."
"Really?" she asked with widened eyes. "You rehabilitating too?"
He shook his head. "Not really, but I know the owner. Since you're wearing my coat, do me a favour and return it there once you've arrived."
"Well, what a coincidence," she chuckled. "I suppose I can't thank you enough. I'm Mayberry by the way. I must say, you're not the kind of demon I was expecting."
"What were you expecting then?"
"A dark and brooding evil fella."
"You're close. Speaking of coincidence, you said you were at I.M.P.?"
"Yep."
"Does the owner happen to be…Blitzo?"
"I guess you must've heard their ad over the radio huh," Mayberry said with a smile. "I could give you the address, at least we can call it even."
Vergil sat in the car and stared at the phone. It was ringing but Dante was not picking up. He rolled down the window for some fresh air and as he stared blankly into the distance, a click came from his phone. Dante's voice came through and Vergil quickly placed the phone where by his ear.
"Vergil, I was about to call you. How's my big bro doing?"Dante asked jokingly.
"Doing what I'm supposed to do," Vergil answered. He heard laughing in the background that came from Angel Dust and an unknown female. "Are you partying?" he asked in an annoyed tone.
"What? No, I was having dinner with Angel and his friend," Dante said quickly.
"Yo, Vergil, nice meeting ya!" the female voice shouted in the background and proceeded to laugh loudly. "Name's Cherri Bomb!"
Vergil pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Focus, Dante. Did you find out anything about the demons appearing in this hell?"
"About that," Dante said, his tone serious and clear despite Angel and Cherri laughing. "I overheard Angel's boss talking to another person. They mentioned Yamato and Azazel and summoning something using a bell of sorts."
"Go on," he said while sitting up straighter.
"Well…I only uncovered that much so far. I was hoping to investigate Valentino's place in the morning. If you ask me, them mentioning Azazel has to mean he's been in the city."
"Yes, it does seem that way," Vergil muttered while rubbing his chin. "Any more demon attacks?"
"Yeah, fought one off a couple minutes ago before Cherri arrived. Still rather low-level demons but it's a slight step above the empusas."
"That's exactly what I was worried about. If we leave it be any longer, stronger demons will eventually come through," Vergil said. "Oh, Dante, before I forgot, expect someone named Mayberry to arrive at the hotel. She's got my coat with her."
Dante whistled. "Whoa, Vergil, already hitting off with another girl and giving her your coat no less? Man, you move up the bases quick."
"Someone tried to rape her, Dante," Vergil said through gritted teeth. "I can't just do nothing about it. She's looking to redeem herself, that's why she's headed there."
There was silence for a moment before Dante responded again. "Alright, I'll let Charlie know to expect a new patient. By the way, you find anything at your end?"
Vergil took and held the gun in his hand. Now that he was in his human form, the presence of the gun was almost entirely subdued. It more or less felt no different than any other firearms except for an unexplainable warmth when held, a comforting warmth that at the same time made a part of him tingle with an unexplainable bit of pain.
"I found a gun of light," he answered. "My devil form seems to react to it negatively while not so much when I'm human. If my assumption is correct, this may be an anti-demon weapon."
"Sounds dangerous."
"It disintegrated a demon. I'm not sure what would happen if we were attacked by one of these, but I'm not about to find that out. Stay on your toes, Dante, and be careful."
Dante chuckled. "You do care after all," he said light-heartedly. "Don't worry about me, bro. You don't get yourself into too much trouble. The last thing I want to hear is you turning to dust."
"It's not gonna happen, you know it. I'll call again if I find anything new."
Vergil stared at his phone, wondering how to disengage the call when he heard the sounds of clopping hooves approaching his car. Looking up, he saw a rather distraught Mayberry running at him with a fearful expression on her face. Vergil wound down the window completely and stuck his head out.
"Vergil, that guy…he's got friends," she said breathlessly. "They're armed!
He immediately knew what she meant and got out of the car quickly with a sword in hand. Once he closed and locked the door, Vergil transformed into his demon form. Not too long after, he heard a gun shot come from one of the motel rooms. Since he was in the middle of the carpark that was in front of the motel, it offered him the full view. Each and every room had a gun sticking out of the windows with many other demons emerging from their respective rooms with weapons in hand. Many of them wore the same outfit as the wolf demon he slew, presumably members of a gang. A lizard-like demon on the second floor stepped forward and leaned against the balcony, a smoking triple-barrelled revolver in his left hand. He had a cocky look on his face and he grinned at Vergil while tapping the barrel of his revolver on his temple.
"Brains, you seem to lack it, boyo," he said in some accent that sounded rather Celtic. "You come to my turf and killed one of my boys and for what, saving a tart?" he asked while pointing a finger at Mayberry who was hiding by Vergil's car.
Vergil remained silent and he glared back angrily. The lizard frowned and spat a wad of venom at the blue demon. He did not bother unsheathing Yamato and just swatted the venom wad aside, causing it to land on car and partially melting its roof. Someone in the crowd yelled heatedly, ranting about his car being damaged but nobody seemed to acknowledge the irate demon. Vergil's scanned his surroundings and took note of the demon that was closest to his position.
"Well, a fucking show-off, are we? We'd be giving you jip, boyo, and a whole lot of it," the lizard called out.
"Whatever that is you're giving, I'm not interested," Vergil replied while drawing Yamato and Mirage Edge.
"Kill this fucker!"
The moment the guns started firing, Vergil bum-rushed the closest demon and cut him down easily. With more nearby, he kept the momentum going and proceeded to attack them too. He moved so quickly that the shooters on the second floor could not adjust their aims quick enough before Vergil disappeared under the balcony. The lizard demon shouted orders for everyone to go downstairs and fight while he retreated to his room.
Vergil's ran and slashed wildly with his two swords, easily breaking through the wooden walls that separated the rooms. Some shots struck him but it did nothing to slow him down. He bounced from one demon to the next, throwing shockwaves with Mirage Edge and Judgement Cutting with Yamato when there was a room full of them. At the same time, he summoned some swords that managed to impale and pin some of them to the ground and walls. Some of the demons tried fighting back with melee weapons but Yamato cut through their attempts to block his attacks, slicing through both weapon and wielder in a single power stroke so energetic that it caused the air to part and shimmer.
As the rest of the gang rushed down, some hesitated and started backing away slowly in an attempt to escape quietly. Those that did attempt to attack Vergil were all diced with rapid slashes. With Beowulf equipped, the blue demon began collecting energy in his right hand and concentrated it into a ball. A few of them saw trouble coming and turned tail, but the rest attacked him anyway in the hopes of stopping him but bullets and knives did not make him flinch at all.
"You will remember this devil's power," he growled gutturally and slammed his right hand into the ground.
The blast that came from it completely disintegrated those that were near him and those that were outside the room he was fighting were launched off their feet like ragdolls. It was also powerful enough that the explosion collapsed the floor above it, causing the demons who were in the room above to fall down below, including the lizard demon himself. Once the dust had settled, Vergil walked slowly towards the lizard with Mirage Edge in hand. Those that survived Vergil's onslaught quickly retreated to their cars and drove off, leaving those who were too injured to move to face his wrath.
However, he was not interested in them. The broken pipes from the top floor had flooded the place like a torrent of rain and Vergil reverted back to his human form as his fatigue caught up with him, his hair drenched wet and straightened by the water. He towered above the still writhing lizard demon and pointed the tip of Mirage Edge at his neck. Not wanting to concede defeat, the lizard demon attempted to bring aim his gun at Vergil. He did nothing to stop him and a loud bang rang out. Three bullets punched through his abdomen and blood spurted out. The lizard demon thought he would have died for sure, but to his horror, the human before him merely looked at the wounds.
"How…how is this possible?"
"You're not worthy enough for an answer," Vergil replied through rapid breaths.
"Y-you're the one Val-Valentino mentioned. Son of Sparda," the lizard's eyes widened with realisation.
Without a word spoken, Vergil cut his head off. He shook his head and exited the building, not bothering to finish off the wounded demons that were attempting to crawl away. Once he was out, he walked slowly to his car and saw Mrs. Mayberry cowering behind it. She looked up at Vergil and noticed a pair of glowing eyes staring down at her. Rather than something truly evil, she felt a sort of soulfulness behind them that she had never noticed earlier. Slowly, she stood up and saw blood soaking through his vest.
"You're hurt, you need to see a doctor!" she exclaimed.
"I'm doubtful that there're any helpful doctors in this godforsaken place," Vergil answered. He swept back his hair and said, "I'm not a true human, so I'll be fine. Your concern is appreciated but not needed."
Mayberry sighed and nodded. "Alright then. Thank you again, Vergil. I really don't know what I'd do without you."
"Think nothing of it," he said dismissively.
A taxi had rolled up to the parking lot and stopped abruptly before driving to the carpark slowly. The driver rolled down his window and looked out to survey the destruction caused. Mayberry looked at the taxi and back to the human. "Well, that's my ride. I…guess I'll see you around?"
"Yeah, when I'm done with matters at Imp City. Send my regards to my brother if you see him," Vergil said while unlocking his car. "You can't miss."
"What's his name?"
"Dante."
"Are you sure you two aren't straight out of Divine Comedy?"
Vergil scowled at her, causing her to chuckle. He shook his head and got into his car. Turning the ignition key, he drove off while the goat demon looked on for a bit until the taillights disappeared into the night. She got into the taxi and went the opposite direction towards her intended destination. The pitstop had little activity after that and what remained of the survivors finally drove off as well and back to Pentagram City. If Valentino knew what happened to his drugs drop-off point, he would definitely be mighty pissed.
However, they knew who to pin the blame on.
"Got some unfinished business? Perhaps some shithead screwed you over in life or you just don't like someone and want them dead twelve ways till Tuesday. I.M.P. has got you covered. Poisons, knives, a good 'ol shooting, we do it all. We'll even let you keep the knife! So head on down to – Moxxie, can't you see I'm busy with this ad?!"
Whew, Vergil got the most kills so far and writing a fight scene is hard. I was wondering which DMC song to play in this fight but it keeps wandering to either Bury the Light or Taste the Blood. Next chapter will be back to Dante as he investigates places of interest related to Valentino. Hope to you folks like this one!