Chapter 2 ~ Lady Evil
Once her eyes fell upon those sunken shoulders, she smirked. Vergil returned glances and pondered her for a moment as she came walking through the door.
'What's her name? Moira... Maria? It must be one of the two.'
It was ironic, considering the last time he saw her, he barely had to care.
"Well, welcome back, Dante. I was coming to look for you actually." She said, that trademark saucy smile gliding over her face.
Trademark to who?
'Dante' stood still watching her . . . without a waver. He put one hand in his coat pocket while the other was out at the ready in case he needed to draw his weapon. The last he'd known of this woman was that she sought the extinction of devils like himself. It occurred to the man that he lacked a concept of how much time had slipped away from his grasp.
He stared at her blankly, almost like he didn't know her.
" . . . Aren't you going to ask why I came?" The woman said after a small, stilted silence.
Vergil heaved a sigh, "What kind of job?"
It was a bit tough to handle, but he tried to summon up his brother's mannerisms; that distinctive, laid-back drawl. It came out garbled. He'd never had to mimic him before, his voice cracked and the tone was inconsistent. His shot in the dark paid off, but she soon caught on, his falter confusing her. Lady picked at him for a moment with a squint.
Leaning on her left hip with her hand, "Are-. . . Are you feeling alright?"
Oh, she was a sassy one with those shorts.
Vergil's upper back tensed slightly.
"I'm quite well-. . . I'm okay, like you said I just returned." He caught himself and suppressed the formal speech pattern he'd become versed in.
That didn't help the odd addition of a New Yorker pronunciation, it made him sound bizarre, but they both supposed it was closer to Dante than what he was doing before. Lady walked up to him, close enough to invade his personal space. It was far too claustrophobic for his liking. He clenched his fist and toes and moved back away from the devil huntress, pretending to 'coincidentally' read his mail. He wanted to avoid giving her the wrong idea. It's not like he hadn't seen a woman before, lord knows he'd had his fair share, that was not the current issue at hand, no; it was just the physical closeness that he didn't desire, it wasn't something he sought.
Of his years spent in Hell, personal touch with any individual at all was a concept he sought to avoid.
For the moment, he wanted no one near him.
Her father . . . still left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Okaaaay?" She dragged out her timbre, then keyed into his body language.
Dante, the man who should be flirting with her every chance he got . . . was physically uncomfortable. Around her? With the whole school-girl vibe, she figured it was to be expected that men would be enticed, she used it to her advantage often. Did he always have a thing about being close to her? No, no . . . he'd hugged her the last time she saw him. In fact, she knew that wasn't true, thinking back on the time when he fought her inside Temen-Ni-Gru.
He had no qualms about personal contact then.
A blue moon perhaps?
"Well, there's a Demon pack nearby. Got the call by Morrison to go take 'em out. You wanna join the party?" She pointed at the street to their left and motioned up-ahead, pass the traffic light.
She archived this moment in case she needed to recall it later. Something was different, changed.
The man felt this a little contrived, why were demon's so near to humanity? The city wasn't a normal breeding ground for this kind of activity. Then there was the matter of his brother's occupation . . . He'd taken one job but it felt odd to him, practically bizarre, did he really want to continue this? In truth, he hadn't even expected these questions to present themselves so soon. So, here it was, now it was time to decide, whether he knew what was best or not.
"Understood." He said, walking out unarmed.
"Uh, where's your stuff? Gonna brave it unarmed?" She quickly pointed out.
He fidgeted, but ultimately looked back at her, "Uh, yeah- I'm gonna try something new."
He wondered if that sounded better than his last attempt.
Walking out his front doorstep, they trekked on over to the destination, so oddly close by. The man took the lead, strolling on ahead of her toward the downtown district. Apparently, there was some sort of ritualistic orgy that had summoned a horde of devils, and Morrison received a call from his contact in the local police to come deal with the threat before it spread too viciously. At least, this was how she'd explained it to him.
She prepped her guns by the flick of the safety switches. From there, she walked closely beside him.
'Dante' resembled a fading picture of a human in rage, his body-language exceptionally stilted and uncomfortable.
Several people watched them as they strode down the street, worried. They knew her, they knew him, and no good ever came when they were out and about, it sort of signaled 'go hide.'
They gathered around in small crowds, some even blocking the path forward. She scowled at them, and civilians got the understanding that something evil was brewing, evil enough that they it would be best if they vacated the streets themselves. Well, at least when they showed up, it was known that whatever problem would soon sort itself out. Still, they blocked the way forward, and she wouldn't have that.
"Move it now." She addressed them coldly.
That was enough for them.
However, before they had the chance to react, a sound of screeching metal boomed through the streets, filling all non-hunters with fear. Instinctively, the lady lined up her pistol sights to the roof of a convenience store. It lay northwest of them, the same direction as the screech. The neon sign flickered in and out, occasionally illuminating the demonic creatures beside it. A thick bile ran from their mouths, corroding the enamel on their colossal teeth, and fizzling down the stone building.
What gruesome beasts.
Three maddening smiles affixed themselves to the sight of Lady's slender curves as the red eyes in their skulls remained luminescent.
Each looked reptilian, with cracked, scaly legs, sliding on all fours and baring fangs, arranged like shark's teeth. Atop the foreheads were organic crests, so bulky that no weapon, be it bullet or sword, could even pierce the thing. Their bodies were built like predators, thick and mean. All of the arms ended in massive, ancient claws. Jurassic park opened rather late today.
In spite of the odds, Lady took it in stride. Her trusty SMGs at her sides, she drew one up like lightning, and the rate of fire between a pistol and a machine gun lit the street.
With every blink of combustion, they sprinted left to right, dashing out of her fire like flies to a swatter, circling around to close the distance. Her shades reflected its approach . . . A few bullets ricocheted through the sign, sending out sparks and shocks onto the back of a nearby beast. The meager light-source shut out completely. She continued firing, the sign eventually coming away and dropping down onto another devil, crushing it under the freed machinery. More firing.
She'd just blame that bit of property damage on Dante.
As another came for her, she directed the bullet spray to its twisted face, showering it with lead-etiquette as she sought to delay its approach. Using the force of the bullets, the gecko-like beast flipped three-hundred-sixty degrees in mid-air back to its feet, tensing up as though it were a dog attempting to play. Gargling on its own blood, the monster spat, then lunged.
From the darkness, a swipe nearly tore the bounty hunter's mid-section open. She dashed back, hoping for the last ditch effort to miss completely.
The shout of her gun overshadowed their roars, as each charged toward her, ready to gut. She shot the jaw and it lost all of its momentum, dropping to the ground. From there, she reached to her lower back and pulled upon a frag grenade. All others were stunned, unable to account to for the newly revealed weapon. In its dazed state, she pulled the pin and lightly tossed it inside the creature's maw. The throw was perfect, and the object lodged itself in the beast's throat.
Lifting its head up, it snarled at her, seconds before detonation. A brilliant burst of vibrant gore exploded in all directions, painting abandoned cars and walls a sickening crimson.
She exhaled proudly and scanned around for its friends. Without warning, she heard a rasp behind her. Twisting about-face, she closed her eyes, knowing it should have been the end.
She got careless.
A sudden severance of flesh and the shifting of the wind around her made her wince back a step. A death rattle greeted her, drooping out of the beat's mouth.
She decided to hazard a glance.
'Dante' had killed the other demon with a simple beheading and had dueled the other while she was busy wasting ammo.
In front of her, there lay a sword through its jugular, and the man, twisting and turning the blade with an uncharacteristic cruelty.
"Watch yourself." He said, turning back to her with glowing silver eyes.
The creature fell to the ground, passing on as he walked away.
She stared at his broad-shouldered back. 'What happened to you out there?' It echoed through her mind alone.
Up ahead, following him, she could hear multiple voices, from twisted grunts and growls to the slayer's vocalizations fighting them off.
Lady rounded the corner after him and was taken aback.
'Dante' was in the middle of scarecrows. Many, many scarecrows. Yet, he didn't use his guns.
He was moving swiftly with blue blades dancing in the air, catching any creature who attempted to jump him in their grasps. Dante moved his hand out in front of himself, and a storm of cyan broadswords circled him, slicing and dicing through the myriad of scaly savages. He drew Yamato, then dove forward, slashing through two combatants that were not as stunned as the rest had become. He reaped their insides like piñatas, disemboweling them with swift strokes.
Clasping the katana with both hands, he spun rapidly on his toes, summoning multiple sword constructs that shined brilliantly in the night sky.
He went for head shots, killing off the bulk of them. The projected weapons scattered out in a wave, violently smashing across demon flesh eternal.
Gleaming so brightly, it was almost disturbing how effective the sapphire blades were. They grooved with the blood of demons, all spilled onto the street in a horrifying pattern.
With Yamato held aloft, he dashed forward and executed a forward rapid slash, galloping abroad and slicing horizontally. Three still-standing at once bisected themselves, flying off in different directions chaotically. Hitting the top of someone's car by accident, the creature's body crunched metal upon glass, and the glass splintered against the alloy components. The lights cut out while the alarm sounded.
Stopping once, he saw an orange smoke-ridden shape belting out scarecrows and heat. Vergil traced the source, and he saw his brother's partner-in-crime stare at him with a lurid grin.
Lady moved her weapon Kalina Ann to her hip and fired again. The brass casings rained down to the asphalt, warped and spent.
Vergil ducked, the bazooka's shell arriving right above him into a pack of lunging scarecrows.
More death, the gleeful kind that left you with a rush.
Warmth seared over his back, nearly hot enough to cause him burns. Smartass.
He straightened up and dusted himself off again, clasping tightly unto Yamato. He glared directly back at her with distain. Lightly shaking his head, he'd moved his hand slightly almost as if he would unsheathe his weapon on her, right then and there. Blue energy emerged and a gaggle of other fiends took their judgment cuts. It was quite the spectacle, dimensional slashes appearing to disrupt the regularity of the air with a bluish tint. Exploding into severed limbs and piles of mush, Lady saw strings of reflected, metallic light.
They were strangely familiar, a sort of cobalt-violet, though she couldn't put her finger on where she'd seen it before.
The man came to a halt, the heels of his feet smoking, the smell of burnt rubber rising. She walked towards him cautiously.
"Wow, seems like you've got some new tricks since last time, don't ya?" Lady smirked as she holstered her weapons, "By the way . . . that Vergil's weapon? Or is my memory defective?"
'Dante' took a deep sigh and moved his bangs out of his eyes.
He almost pushed his hair back up into it's old style, out of reflex.
"Yes, I found this on the last job, of all places."
"Gotcha. Since when did you put elegance into your style?" She threw her follow up at his face, a disrespectful insult.
He grumbled.
"People grow, Mary."
"The hell'd you just say?" She interrogated sharply.
He was silent at first, surprised by her volatile reaction.
"That's-. . . your name . . . "
Lady frowned at him, she wanted to choke him so bad that moment.
It's exactly like him to try to tease her, but this was going far.
"You were the first person to call me 'Lady,' don't you ever remind me of that other name again, ever!" She shouted, her left hand twitched as she came close to redrawing her pistol.
A demonic groan rustled in her eyes.
She crouched, avoiding another scarecrow's blade, and threw out a roundhouse kick to the head. Her legs were powerful, always had been.
So, the boot took the creature by surprise, driving enough force to force it off its feet, flipping it over vertically, and then she fired a shot from her pistol.
The bullet hit that sweet spot.
It died before it even hit the ground.
Lady frowned deeply, aware of his icy eyes crushingly fixated on her, and with a strange smirk on his lips. She felt her head spin from the physical effort, but she righted herself instantly. Focusing all her will to stay alert, she remained as dignified as possible. Lady turned back towards her strangely frosty ally. It seemed so bizarre to her the way he'd shifted.
"You don't need to act tough around me, it's pointless. You may as well sit down and take your breath." Vergil said, gesturing at the sidewalk that suddenly looked quite inviting.
'He must be out of his mind.'
"I don't require your permission, Dante. I will be fine." Lady replied with bitter sarcasm, feeling her anger return with an immediate sense of despair.
She hated feeling like she would fall behind . . . It's a fact Lady avoided most of the time. She tried to steel herself up for tough enemies, always.
That didn't necessarily mean it was any less dangerous for someone even as physically fit as her.
She was well aware of the way she looked, and she reveled in that for the longest time.
Vergil shrugged in-character.
"If you don't slow down, next time, you'll collapse in the middle of a fight. Did you wish to be demon food? As far as I'm concerned, you're still human. Do not push your natural limits." He said.
His voice was monotonous, cold.
Lady seemed to consider his words for a moment, indeed she was tired tonight and perhaps the red mercenary caught that easily, before mumbling in bitterness, "Have you read a dictionary . . . ? Nice grammar. You've been weird tonight, seriously."
Crap. He'd slipped into old habits without realizing it.
On the outside, 'Dante' merely stared at her in silence for a moment.
"Ya may never know, but all that carefree attitude might've been just a mask. Maybe it's the right time to tear it off."
She crossed her arms, he still didn't sound right, but she gave him a break.
A more serious expression bled through when she realized why this might be so.
"I can't imagine what you've been through." She said.
Gazing down at the ground, his eyes strained for a moment. The memory of Dante dying in his arms.
An unspoken truth followed with the strange ache in his heart.
Lady couldn't read him at all. However, she did understand, the two of them were similar. Both suffered a horrible familial loss on the same night because of those hellions . . . They blighted the world. Whatever Dante saw on that island, it definitely changed him, that much was certain. Perhaps . . . Perhaps after all these years, he was coming to terms with his own unresolved tragedies.
"Ya do remember we're not strangers, right?" She asked him.
Vergil brought his sight to meet hers. Feeling odd, he said, "Yes . . . I mean-. . . Yeah. Of course."
Even though he didn't truly believe it, perhaps this woman meant something to Dante. Why? Why would he waste time on a girl like her?
Maybe it was something he would discover someday, though he felt too far gone. The goal of his return was not yet known to him.
"I know how horrible it is; losing that much." She continued.
"Are we done here?" He asked. Lady nodded, letting him go.
It never was her style to talk about these heavy subjects anyway.
Still, she felt nuances of sympathy.
Then there was the subject of her name. Speaking of which- 'Wait a moment!'
"Wait . . . When did you-?" She said loudly, but he was already gone. Her cellphone interrupted the long silent moment, " . . . learn my name?"
Lady grabbed the device.
It was retro, one of those old flip phones that had reliable buttons and a readable screen.
Looking at the ID, it was a client.
"Yeah?" She answered smugly, "No, I'm free, just got done with Dante downtown . . . Several women missing . . . What does he look like? . . . That's fine . . . Alright- I'm on my way."
Lady holstered her phone and then started heading back towards the Devil May Cry shop. It was close to her new destination.
Vergil exhaled strongly.
'What is it about humans that was so worth giving your life for? They constantly seek to destroy themselves, sometimes at an even greater rate when they believe they're the only intellect capable of it. It just . . . It just doesn't make sense . . . You spurned father's powers for the love of these lost beings, these people who are but simple apes by comparison to you and I. Was the life they gave you here truly all that you so desired? I've never understood you or your beliefs . . . but would it have been different had our positions been switched that night? Would I have your life, and you mine? I curse my stars in bitter grief and woe, That made my love so high and my life so low . . . Why have you gone away, brother?'
Vergil pondered so many things as he entered his shop, turning in till the next client would ring him up. He wondered how long this charade would even last.
Thank you for reading, please leave a review.
Sorry for the short chapter, I wanted this to be for Vergil and Lady meeting again, I will post longer in the future.
Thank you to my Beta Angel Wolf for your help.