A/N: (wails) You are all so LOVELY! (hands out free hugs) It's so great to get feedback. I'm glad you're all enjoying the story so far!
A warning, Dante's POV is slightly more…exuberant….than Vergil's. The man needs a swear-bucket if you ask me…ah well.
Chapter 3
It will come as no surprise to hear that Vergil, who had been quite happily minding his own business (having just landed in the pit of deepest Hell, he had taken a few moments to get his bearings and his ribs back where they should be) was none too impressed when his already sore back was assaulted by a violent mass of younger brother.
Unable to express his dissatisfaction immediately due to the lack of air in his lungs, he settled for breathlessly cursing out everything from psychopathic clowns (Arkham) to God himself. So great was his anger that it took him a while to comprehend what, precisely, had just happened:
Revelation A: His ribs had just been broken for the second time in approximately 30 seconds.
Revelation B: Somebody was going to pay dearly for it.
Revelation C: Something large, heavy and possibly alive was lying on top of him.
Revelation D: The large, heavy and probably alive thing was complaining that it's butt hurt.
Revelation E: The large, heavy and almost definitely alive thing was, more than likely, Dante.
At which point Vergil's brain bombarded him with a stream of questions, threats, statements of fact and complaints. For a long moment, he was rendered numb and speechless in the aftermath of what seemed, to him, to be an impossible (not to mention very aggravating) turn of events.
"Get your heavy arse off me!" Thankfully, this particular state of mind didn't last long.
Dante, meanwhile, was smirking smugly down at his brother, thoroughly pleased with himself "Ahhh." He mused, as though he had only just realized what he was sitting on "So that's it. How's the weather down there, dear brother mine?"
Vergil's head whipped around, and he tried vainly to shift himself upwards. But apparently, a diet of nothing but pizza and strawberry sundaes has done Dante's weight few favours, and he slumped back down, breathing hard.
"Move, or I'll run you through!" he hissed, glaring daggers at Dante, who sighed dramatically.
"May I remind you that we've already been through this at some length?" he said nonchalantly, poking his fuming brother hard in the back of the head to emphasize his point "Remember? Dramatic drawn out fight scene? Me beating your whiny self?"
"Get.Off!" Vergil snarled, making another vain attempt to throw Dante off him, to no avail. His spine wasn't being to cooperative at the moment. Dante grinned, slamming an elbow between Vergil's shoulder blades and resting his chin on his hand. He practically reeked of arrogance.
"No way. If I get off, you might go jumping off another cliff or something." Dante nodded to himself mock-wisely, frowning "And then I'd have to bruise my delectable behind again, and that would just be a crime against womankind."
About to snap a retort, Vergil suddenly hesitated. Wait. This was all wrong. Not only should Dante most definitely not be sitting on him and refusing to get off, but more importantly, he shouldn't be here at all.
"You followed me." He said, dumbly, and Dante blinked in surprise, thrown off by the sudden shift in his brother's tone. He recovered quickly, however, and shrugged unconcernedly.
Vergil couldn't bring himself to start thinking about the implications of Dante following him, and so did as he always did, and got straight to the point "Why did you do that?"
"I could ask the more interesting question of 'why did you jump', but I already know the answer to that."
"Dare I ask?"
"You jumped because you're a sore loser and a gargantuan idiot." Dante said, offhandedly, idly examining his nails "I followed because I'm bored, and it's too chilly up there. I'm nice and toasty warm now."
Vergil stared incredulously at him, frowning, lost for words. Dante took his brother's silence as an opportunity to take a proper look at the surroundings. They were lying on what seemed to be some kind of liquid that was so dense it could support the entirety of their weight. Here and there little whirlpools of the stuff had formed, spiraling lazily downwards, oozing into whatever lay below. The liquid was a deep crimson colour. Blood?
The place resembled a ruined graveyard. Enormous pinnacles of broken, jagged rock rose out of the liquid like tombstones. Dante recognized what looked like a giant, broken off wing, carved in stone. It certainly resembled what Hell was supposed to look like. And God, did it smell like it.
"Nice scenery." He commented sarcastically "Love the pulsating pools of ominous congealed blood. Very retro. Lovely décor."
Vergil, who did not appreciate his brother's odd sense of humour, resignedly groused "Are you going to get off me?"
Dante narrowed his eyes "Are you going to jump off any more cliffs?"
"NO!" Vergil ground out forcefully through gritted teeth, managing to suppress the urge to beat his hands against the floor and throw a tantrum like a child. Dante often had that effect on him. It was a fraternal thing. Or maybe Dante was just infuriating.
"Jeeeeez, don't get your knickers in a twist." Dante rolled his eyes and began to shift himself "I'm moving."
He stood up and stretched, rolling his shoulders, and laced his fingers before throwing them up above his head. His knuckles popped loudly and his spine made a nasty cracking noise as the vertebrae moved apart. Dante let out a long, slow, contented breath and smiled. Vergil flinched visibly and shot his twin a disgusted look.
"You never answered the question." he muttered, wincing as he sat up and probed his rapidly healing, but still bruised ribs "why did you follow me?"
"Yes I did. I told you, it's chill-"
"Bullshit."
Dante blinked, and stared at Vergil in surprise. It wasn't like Vergil to swear. Not like that, out of the blue. He glanced down at his brother, to find Vergil looking at him with a calculating and slightly apprehensive expression. It was exactly the face Vergil used to make back when they were young, when Dante was about to do something stupid (which was unsurprisingly often). He sighed.
"I hesitated." He muttered, and when Vergil looked puzzled, he reluctantly elaborated "Hung around too long. I wouldn't have made it back in time for the portal, not with you nicking one half of the amulet. So."
There was an awkward silence. Neither brother dared to look at the other. They were both thinking about the same thing: the reason. The obvious reason why Dante had hesitated, why he hadn't simply turned and run for it.
"I…" Vergil swallowed, and cleared his throat "I apologize."
Dante whipped about to look at him, astounded "What the hell for?" He blurted out "No pun intended. Well, maybe a little one."
Vergil clambered to his feet before answering "When I took my half of the amulet, I didn't consider you getting back. I didn't want you trapped here."
Dante was not quite sure how he should react to this. For the first time in a long time, he felt out of place and awkward. His face couldn't seem to arrange itself into an expression. Vergil had always been able to do that. Surprise him.
Finally, he settled on reacting like his obnoxious, arrogant self "Aw, Vergy, now I feel all warm and fuzzy!" He exclaimed, forcing a mock-tearful expression onto his face "Gimme a hug!"
Vergil hastily backed away "Idiot. I didn't want you here so I wouldn't have the displeasure of your obnoxious presence. Nothing more."
Dante grinned. He thought he saw something move in the corner of his eye, but dismissed it "Whatever. You-" He froze, and stared as something blindingly bright whipped through the air like a bullet, heading straight for his brother's turned back "Vergil MOVE!"
"Wha-!" Before Vergil knew what had hit him he was once again slammed violently to the ground for the third time that day. Luckily, however, the thing that had collided with him was Dante, who had shoved them both out of harms way, and not the bullet-thing.
Vergil would have exploded at his brother, if his nose hadn't been inches away from a sizzling hole in the floor where the projectile had impacted, right where he had just been standing.
"Oopsie." Dante breathed, eyes whipping around, searching "Close one that was."
Vergil looked upwards, and saw three large red orbs high above them, crackling with a powerful dark energy. His stomach turned over, and he rounded on Dante "Why didn't you tell me Mundus was here?!"
Dante glanced upwards also "Where? All I see are three hot-pink disco lights. Fancy some karaoke?"
Vergil felt like beating his head against a nearby pillar "That is the LORD OF HELL you brain-dead degenerate!" he roared, shaking with fury, wondering just what he had done in his past life to deserve such a dim-witted twin brother.
Dante patted him consolingly on the head "Watch your blood pressure, Grandpa." He muttered, glaring disbelievingly up at the now descending red orbs "Those three floating pink things are the Prince of Darkness?"
The orbs crackled ominously, and Dante just couldn't resist "Well, who'da thunk it. OI! MUNDUS!" he yelled "YA MIGHT WANT TO RE-THINK THE COLOUR SCHEME DOWN HERE! RED IS SO LAST SEASON!"
"Sons of Sparda!" a deep, cold, hoarse voice rebounded about the landscape, making the very foundations of stone shake "You will pay dearly for your foolishness!"
Dante grinned defiantly even as his hand drifted towards Ebony and Ivory "Aw, shit, I didn't bring any change." He glanced at his brother "How about you, Vergy?"
Vergil gave him the sort of look an environmentalist would give a rabbit hunter "I hate you so much right now."
"Right back at ya."
Vergil wrapped a hand around Yamato's hilt "Don't get in my way." He raised his head, glaring levelly at the being which was Mundus "It should be fun to fight with the Prince of Darkness." He unsheathed Yamato with a flourish "If my Father did it, I should be able to do it too!"
And he charged. Dante swore and hastily drew Ebony and Ivory, yelling out indignantly:
"Hey! What about me?"
&&&
A/N: Gotta love the brotherly banter. I love writing Vergil and Dante, they're so different they can annoy the hell out of each other. It's great fun!
IMPORTANT: The next chapter may be a little time in coming, as I'm not very familiar with how Dante and Vergil fight. Right now my only source of information is the fabulous Youtube. Anyone with any tips, help would be appreciated!
Please, please PLEASE continue to review! Your comments mean so much to me!