Mission Three
Dissolved Girl
Ave Maria office
1:20 AM
Sparse but heavy footsteps creaked the wooden floor of the office. Other than that, the only sounds were the crickets chirping outside, and a set of slightly animalistic human breaths. The moon hung like a silver jewel in the sky, its pale light shining in slivers through the curtains, casting silver shadows on the floor. Illuminated by this light was a set of eyes the same color as the dark cloud that seemed to hang over the roof. These eyes slowly darted about, taking in every detail they could afford that the pale moonlight brought to view. This figure seemed to be the only one awake, as Mercy was upstairs in her room, asleep for the night. A pale fingertip, belonging to the insomniac, wandered to her ear and brushed a strand of pale blonde, slightly greasy, hair behind it. The ear was now capable of picking up every sound in the area, even the sounds of silence...and...scratching? There was a scratching noise behind the curtain, at the window. Almost instinctively the young female took a fighting stance. Her muscles would give the occasional twitch, ready to spring her body into fight-or-flight. The pale slivers of moonlight betrayed the shadow on the outside, giving the being a sort of fearsome, even possibly demonic, shape. Her body tensed up, her stance bending her center closer to the ground. Her gray eyes darted around as if she were prey keeping watch for predators, her ears picking up every little vibration in the otherwise silent office.
CRASH. A limb smashed through the window, shattering a pane into nothing but a few shards of broken glass and paneling. With a shrill roar, the beast lunged into the window, its red eyes focusing upon the blonde woman. It sniffed the air; clearly, the smell was human blood.
The woman inched back on her heel, still remaining in her stance. She was visibly unarmed, and had no discernible way to defend herself. She didn't scream and alert the demon to her fear, but it was clear she was terrified.
Immediately, the demon went onto all fours and slashed at her with its sharply-clawed hand, the razor-like talons ripping through the soft fabric of her shirt and drawing blood.
She let out a yelp of pain, being careful to keep her distance from her demoniac opponent.
The demon lunged at her, shrieking with hunger and delight at the thought of consuming the flesh of a young virgin. It gave a sniff in the air, gazing up at her and narrowing its eyes.
"Mmm..." it groaned softly, taking in its human prey's pure scent and letting it permeate his senses. "I knew I smelled the unspoiled flesh of a virgin." His voice barely raised above a whisper, but there was a distinct guttural tone to it. "I love it...especially when seasoned with fear." As he moved closer to her, the pale moonlight illuminated some of his features and made him distinguishable in the otherwise dark office.
He stood nearly ten feet tall, his head covered in shaggy black hair. Peering through the hair was a set of four gleaming red eyes, each one focused on her. The hair on his head grew down the length of his back, forming a strange set of winglike growths. His feet were shaped similar to those of a large dog and covered in more black fur. Each of his fingertips had a single sharp claw, the longest and sharpest on his left middle finger. This claw was roughly a foot long and reminiscent of a sickle.
The human girl took a step back, not taking her eyes off the creature standing before her. Though terror seemed to be seeping from every pore on her body, she managed to fight back the urge to scream. After what seemed like an eternity locked in a staredown with the demon, she managed to force a sentence through a trembling tone of growing panic. "Who the hell are you!"
The glow from the demon's red eyes became a bit brighter for a moment as all four of them narrowed in their focus on the human. After a moment, he bared a wide grin full of white, knifelike teeth. His voice surged from his throat in the manner of a hellish growl. "How odd. My prey usually screams in terror before being torn limb from limb. Very well, then...if you must know the name of the bringer of your death, I will oblige. I am called Argus."
Upon hearing the demon's name, the girl seemed to relax a bit. "I was under the impression demons who could talk to humans were smarter than that. Now that I know your name I have all the ammo I need." She reached down to her side, drawing a small, ordinary-looking dagger from a sheath secured to the waist of her pants with a silver chain. She raised the dagger, pointing it at Argus. She could not hide the unsure quivering in her voice. "I think it's about time to even these odds."
Argus let out a deep, evil laugh, pulling himself up to his full height to tower over the human. "Hah! What can a worthless girl do against me? Even if you could hurt me, there's no way you could last long enough on your own to kill me!" At that moment, he raised his arm and a crescent-shaped claw sprouted from the tip of his middle finger. He pointed the inside of the blade at her face, forcing her to back into a corner. "Without your friend here to protect you, you'll be nothing more than a bloodstain on this floor very soon."
The woman's pale hand clenched into a fist, a cold sweat gathering in her palm from trepidation. She tried to speak without a stutter as she stared the demon down, her hand clutching the dagger for dear life. "What do you mean by that?"
Argus' black lips spread into an even wider grin. "I took care of Mercy quite well. Without her to get in my way, killing you is almost too easy. Such delicious prey as yourself is usually hard to come by. There is no way I'm passing this up."
She could feel the fear once again building inside her as she kept the dagger between herself and her attacker. "Go back to Hell!" she screamed in desperation, lifting the knife in front of her. In the light of the full moon, the blade seemed to have some kind of faint silver glow at its tip.
Argus' only response was a smirk that broke into a mad cackle as he moved closer to his target. "Oh I will, eventually..." As he trailed off, he lunged forward, thrusting his claw into her chest and pulling it out. "But I won't be going alone." He briefly licked the blood from the tip of his claw.
The human let out a bloodcurdling scream, the knife in her hand slipping from her grip and landing, blade-down, between two of the wooden planks that made up the floor. As Argus pulled the claw free, she staggered back with her hand resting across her torso and covering the wound. She continued to blindly retreat until her movement was cut off by the presence of a large wooden desk. She attempted to turn, but found two pairs of glowing eyes staring her down.
Argus reached out at her, snatching her up with both hands around her throat. Though she began to struggle, he was able to maintain a tight hold on her neck. He bared his teeth again, preparing himself to sink them into her soft neck and drain out her vital fluids. There was a delay in his actions, as if he was savoring the scent of his fresh catch or contemplating the taste of her human flesh.
The girl groaned through the intense pain and impending threat of asphyxiation. "Like hell...this is over..." What the hell'd this guy do to Merce? God help me...I'm going to kill this bastard! She could taste the slow trickle of blood welling up in her mouth, likely from a wound inflicted to a vital organ. Maybe...not. Maybe...it really is over. Merce...where are you? Her groans became weak, grinding sounds and occasional soft gasps as she hung there. Her vision became a bit more blurred, and her eyes began to slowly close before suddenly snapping open. No...No! It's not over! There's no way in hell I'm becoming demon chow! As her mind screamed in defiance of her impending death, she could see a strange silver light out of the corner of her eye. For a short flash of time, she felt as if she could breathe. It was over as quickly as it came, and her breathing grew slow again. I...I guess it really is over.
Death would not have a chance to claim her before several gunshots rang through the night. Three bullets hit Argus in the back, shoulder and the back of his head. He yowled in pain and dropped his prey to the floor.
She sank to her hands and knees, gasping for breath. She could feel her head throbbing for a moment before the pain seemed to subside. The sound of a thump made her look up to see someone bounding through the window, his shadow blocking out the moonlight.
What light was visible reflected off the silver barrel of a large gun. The shooter lifted the barrel up to his lips, blowing smoke away from its tip before pulling it back down and spinning it around his fingers. The ice-cold wind blew through the broken window, causing his long coat to billow out behind him. His lips slowly bent into a cocky smirk that barely showed some of his teeth. "Hey, bud." Argus turned around to see his attacker, and was met by a set of ice blue eyes and a gun pointed at his face. "If you're gonna try to hunt women, why don't ya try doin' it in a town that doesn't have the world's greatest devil hunter?" The words slipped past the demon hunter's lips before they angled in a lopsided grin.
Argus let out a vicious snarl, raising his clawed limb and lunging at the hunter. "How dare you!" he roared, swiping at his attacker.
Dante stood still as Argus charged him, twirling Ivory and holstering it. Before Argus' claw pierced him, it was blocked by the swift draw of Rebellion. "Hah!" he jeered, sliding back across the waxed hardwood floor. He lifted his free hand and mockingly beckoned for Argus to come at him. "C'mon!" he commanded, holding the longsword out to his side.
The gesture served to infuriate Argus. He lunged at Dante again and swiped at him. "Perhaps I'll make a meal of you too!"
Dante effortlessly sidestepped the attack, shrugging off Argus' attempts to damage him as if they were nothing. "Whoops, missed me!" He chuckled slightly as he stepped out of the way.
Argus roared louder than before, anger and frustration building in his voice. "I'll slaughter you and consume your soul!" He lunged at Dante once again, claw turned under to skewer Dante's heart and rip it out of him.
Dante raised his sword again, catching Argus' claw against the flat of the blade. "Really now? You gotta do better than that." As he finished his sentence, he tilted his head aside and a section of his hair fell out of his eyes.
The human girl raised her head up as her vision cleared, watching the red-coated stranger make sport of the demon that nearly killed her. The stabbing pain that coursed through her chest seemed to be getting less intense, becoming a dull ache and eventually allowing her to get back to her feet. She continued to observe as Dante treated the fight with Argus like a schoolyard game, alternating between taunting him and taking light swings at him with Rebellion. It was easy to see how physically fit Dante was, but she had never seen anyone so calm, even laid-back, in the presence of a demon as fearsome as Argus. Who the hell is this guy? she thought to herself with confusion and slight disbelief. I've seen Mercy kick ass this easily, but she's nothing like this. This guy looks like he's actually enjoying it. She ran a hand through her hair and swept it back, catching her breath and attempting to bring herself back to a relaxed state. Either he's completely batshit insane or he ain't human. A twinge of pain from her wounds shot through her nerves and made her grab at her chest. Her shirt was still torn open and stained with blood, but something seemed to have caused the bleeding to stop. The more she watched Dante toy with Argus, the more a particular thought crept into her mind. Damn, he makes it look easy. He might just be better than Merce. Her train of thought suddenly stopped, and her eyes widened as an expression of delayed horror formed on her face. Shit, that's right! He did something to Mercy! At that moment, the pain in her chest all but faded completely. If I let this guy keep it up he's gonna kill the bastard. She drew a sharp breath with clenched teeth, her eyes narrowing as anger began to build. Oh hell no. It's personal now. Not once did she question the lingering thought of revenge, even despite the wound Argus had inflicted on her or the fact that if it weren't for Dante, she would be dead. She stood there for a moment, watching Dante and thinking of how she could attack.
Dante held Rebellion in one hand as he pulled himself back, ready to charge at Argus and cleave him in two. His back was to the human girl as he kept his focus on the other demon. His coat hung off the side of his left hip in his current stance, and the moonlight gleamed off a metal object resting at his side. Ebony sat in the devil hunter's hip holster, at the ready for when it was called to use.
The glimmer from Ebony's grip caught the girl's eye and presented her with a possible idea. Stopping to question herself, or even to think about self-preservation, would cost her the chance. Not sparing a second thought, she lunged at the shining point on Dante's hip and grabbed for the exposed gun.
As Dante stepped forward to charge, he could feel something tugging at his hip. He turned his head to see the human girl attempting to pull Ebony free of its holster, struggling to remove it with as little resistance as possible. He pulled himself forward, trying to avoid letting her get a hold of one of his prized firearms. "Hey, kid! What the hell are you doing!"
She tugged harder at the gun, remaining silent as she did so. Despite Dante's struggling, she refused to release the weapon. Another sting of pain went through her chest and up her arm, but she continued to hold on, determined to free the weapon and use it against Argus.
He fought to shove her away, but her grip on Ebony only grew stronger. "Dammit...let go! You don't need to get involved!" He could feel Ebony wiggle loose from his hip, a sign that she had managed to free it. "Do you even know how to use that thing!" he asked, frustration building in his voice.
The girl tightened her grip on the firearm, her finger hovering on the trigger as she continued to wrestle it away from Dante. "Do I look like a dumbass to you?" she remarked, finally getting the gun free. Her eyes widened as she held up the gun, clearly surprised by Ebony's heavy weight. "All I do is point and shoot." She raised the pistol with an unsteady grip, trying to balance its weight in her single hand as she had seen Dante do with such little effort. She shakily attempted to squeeze the trigger, but it would not yield to her weak grip. She tried once again, but to no avail. Still, the gun would not fire.
The demon hunter could only watch as the human struggled to handle the large weapon. Ebony, as well as Ivory, was a custom model designed by, and tailor-made for, Dante alone. It was no surprise to him that she lacked the control necessary to fire a single round without harm to herself. At this point, though, Dante could not care less. A part of him believed it would serve her right if the recoil crushed her hand.
From her clumsy stance alone, it was obvious to Dante that she did not have the slightest clue how to handle any gun, let alone Ebony. The gun wavered a little in her hands, and he kept his eyes trained on her.
Argus noticed the golden moment of mutual distraction, using it as the perfect time to lunge at his opponents. He raised a clawed hand and slashed in Dante's direction. Dante hastily raised Ivory and a shot rang out, clipping Argus in the knee. He howled in pain and dropped onto his good knee, glaring in the direction of Dante and the girl. His eyes widened when he saw that it was not Ivory that was freshly smoking from the shot.
The girl was cringing sharply, clutching Ebony in her quivering grip. It was apparent that the recoil indeed injured her hand, likely breaking a delicate bone or two. She bit her lip to keep from screaming in pain, but was more surprised that the bullet she accidentally discharged actually hit her enemy and not her.
Even Dante himself was surprised, as well as a bit relieved that she had not yet shot her own head off. Damn, that was close. She might not be so lucky next time, he thought to himself. He had to get the gun away from her and get her injuries treated. She was human and appeared to have no combat skills to speak of. "Hey, kiddo...you should probably get the hell outta here and leave the demon hunting up to the professionals. You know, before you get hurt or somethin'."
"And let some random stranger rob me of my one chance for revenge?" she shot back indignantly. "Like hell I will!" She took hold of Ebony and lifted it up in a one-handed stance with its barrel pointed at Argus. Her grip was a bit tighter on it, but it was still clearly not enough to handle the gun. She had her teeth gritted and was inhaling unsteadily through her clenched jaws, trying to steady herself to shoot straight.
The devil hunter's sharp eyes focused on the staggering, weakened human next to him. Man. This girl is out of her mind...and WAY out of her league. If I didn't show up in time she'd be a goner. Hey, wait a sec. Where's Mercy? This is her place, isn't it? The thought of Mercy sprung up in Dante's head again, and he looked to the blonde with his purloined gun. "You don't know how to shoot that thing. Now gimme the gun and get out of here before you get killed." He hid it well, but he was concerned for the girl. She was apparently Mercy's friend. She had to know something about where Mercy was at the moment. A light bulb came on in his head as he thought of the perfect method to get her out of the room. "You know if Merce is here or not?" he asked.
"This son of a bitch most likely did something to her. I haven't seen her all night," she replied, Ebony still in a death grip.
Dante went livid before his expression turned to one of anger. The thought that this demon had done something to his client was nearly too much for the devil hunter. He clenched his fist around Ivory, looking at the girl with a glare of anger in his eyes. "Look. Get out of here. Now." He was trying to hold back his anger so he wouldn't be the one to hurt her.
Even seeing the look in Dante's eyes, the girl did not budge. "I don't give a damn if this is your job. This is my revenge and you're not getting in the way."
She was met with the sight of Ivory being pointed at her face. "I said get the hell out of here! I'm not gonna warn you again!" Dante commanded, his finger twitching slightly toward Ivory's trigger. He didn't intend to shoot her, merely scare her into fleeing for her life.
However, this did not have the effect that Dante had originally intended. The moment he raised the gun to her face level, she became still as a corpse. Her breath became sporadic and ragged, almost as if she was in some altered state of mind. Her body was visibly trembling before her left hand, tightly clutching Ebony, began to raise as if being pulled up by the workings of an unseen puppeteer. Her finger, with almost mechanical motion, snapped back on the trigger of the firearm. Once. Twice. Three times.
Dante's eyes went wide with shock as three bullets were fired in his direction. He managed to deflect two of them with his sword, but one caught him in the chest. He let out a barely audible growl, putting his hand against his chest to stifle some of the pain as he glanced up toward the girl, trying to gather his senses. Her expression was completely different from just a few seconds ago. She was nearly unrecognizable. Her eyes were fixed blankly on the air in front of her, the right eye drifting out aimlessly. There was occasionally a visible tremor in her body, and Dante could hear her heart racing. She stood there like a living zombie, her eyes focusing blearily on him. Even in her current situation, Dante could not bring himself to kill her. She did not look to be that far out of her teens. With the reaction she was displaying, though, her humanity was looking less certain. No human had ever displayed such a change in behavior in front of him.
Without another second of hesitation in his thoughts, he moved toward her and grabbed hold of her hand, attempting to wrestle Ebony out of her grasp. Her grip had become very strong on the weapon, nearly as strong as his own would be. Even he found her clutch on his pistol extremely hard to break. "C'mon, kid! Give it up!" he commanded, hoping to verbally persuade her to return his purloined weapon. She did not respond to his verbal coaxing any more than his physical efforts. She seemed completely beyond all reasoning and possibly either catatonic or completely berserk.
Argus watched the spectacle for a moment, narrowing his eyes to get the girl in his sights. With the two of them fighting over the gun, it seemed that it would be rather easy to attack either one of them. He raised one of his claws and dashed toward Dante and the human, turning the claw so as to gut the first one he touched.
Dante finally managed to wrestle the gun from the girl's grip, but not before she thrust her knee into his stomach a number of times, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Before she went berserk like this, she never would have even been able to make him flinch. He stumbled back a few feet, nearly falling over and placing an arm over his stomach. The devil hunter took a few sparse breaths, drawing Ebony and Ivory and glancing up at the human girl. She was still standing there, almost in a trance, with tunnel vision focused on him.
Argus glanced between the two of them, turning his hand up and dashing toward the girl with the blade of his claw aimed toward her heart. He let out a fierce cry and thrust his claw forward, feeling it slice through flesh and tissue, running its victim through completely. He slowly pulled the blade out, feeling it covered in blood. Instantly, he thrust it right back in in a different spot. The victorious grin on the demon's face faded as he glanced down the length of his blade. It was impaled deeply in someone's torso, along with the wound he had left. He turned his head up, his gaze meeting with that of his victim.
Dante looked back at the demon, his lips bowed into a cavalier smirk. He showed no sign of being in pain, not even a twitch of an eye at the two-foot-long claw buried through his stomach. The devil hunter leaned in toward his assailant, keeping the focus between their eyes. The distance between them was so short that Dante could feel the devil's breath on his face, and it smelled like a fetid cadaver. Dante's smirk grew wider before he uttered a single word:
"Boo."
Argus' eyes grew to the size of saucers as he backed up, attempting to pull his claw out of Dante's stomach before the devil hunter could damage him. "You...you're..." the demon stammered, words frozen in his throat by shock.
Dante wrapped his hand around the devil's wrist, quickly pulling the claw out of his torso. It felt painful at first, bt the pain quickly subsided as Dante casually flung Argus's arm away. He pulled away from the other demon, dramatically holding his nose and waving his hand in front of him, wafting away some kind of smell. "Phew! Man, have you ever heard of breath mints? You can buy 'em for a quarter at the gas station. You should really consider getting some. Your breath smells like ass." He chuckled to himself, preparing to draw Ebony and Ivory. "How about we just get this over with, bud?" he suggested, glancing around the room. The human girl was nowhere to be found. Giving a shrug of relief, he trained his eyes back on Argus. Hey, at least she's gone. Now to finish this bastard off and go find Mercy.
Argus let out a scream and poised to charge at Dante again, enraged by the hunter's line about his bad breath. "You're smelling the remains of my past victims," he hissed, raising his claw. It glowed with a deep red energy, extending another six inches. He swung it toward Dante at blinding speed, the claw striking Ivory hard.
Dante pulled himself back to avoid wounding his arm. He pointed Ivory at Argus' face, pulling the trigger. The gun let out a sharp click, but no bullet came out. The impact from Argus' claw had jammed Ivory's firing mechanism. Dante squeezed the trigger once again, swearing to himself before turning Ebony on his opponent, firing it twice. Two bullets pierced through the demon's side before he extended his other arm, one without the claw.
Argus swung his hand toward Dante again, this time scratching him across the face. The wounds were not deep, but his claws struck Dante's eyes. He blindly fired his gun a few more times, Argus blocking the bullets with his sickle-like claw. He lifted up a large foot, channeling some demon energy into his leg and swiftly slamming his foot into Dante's chest. Dante was sent flying into Mercy's desk, skidding over the top of it and smashing into the chair so forcefully that it broke into pieces.
Stunned and blinded, Dante raised a hand to his face, clutching it as he tried to regain his vision. The first sight he was met with was Argus advancing on him, claw raised in a stance so as to decapitate the devil hunter. The demon suddenly howled in agony, causing Dante to turn his attention to him. When Dante's vision cleared completely he could see Argus clutching the back of his head, grimacing in pain, and a shadow looming behind him with an improvised weapon of some kind raised above his head.
Argus staggered around to face his assailant, their eyes meeting. The shadowed figure lurched forward, slowly at first. In the moonlight, the attacker's face could faintly be seen.
The human woman from before looked anything but. Her pupils had dilated to the point where her eyes were almost completely black. She walked with an unsteady gait, her hand clutching what looked like the broken remains of a chair leg. The air was thick with silence, save for the occasional dull thumps of stilted footsteps and heavy breathing. As Argus's eyes met with hers, he could see a marked thirst for blood as well as a complete lack of any reasoning or restraint. She raised the club again, her head tilted and her gaze glassy.
Argus roared at her, moving toward her slowly as if a predator preparing to pounce. His claw was raised again, point aimed at her heart. As he swung it down, she raised the club to catch the blade and block it. She moved the club out from the parry and swung it up toward his hand, flinging the claw up before she turned the club over and swung it at Argus's hand. The force was enough to smash many of the bones from his wrist to his fingertips. Though he was a devil, his hand was only slightly more sturdy than that of a human. He let out a shrill, painful howl as his claw-bearing hand went completely limp.
Dante struggled to pull himself up, his eyes widening at the girl's sudden appearance and display of strength. He picked Ebony up from the floor, aiming it and firing at Argus. Dante's blurred vision made his aim waver, and the result was a bullet hitting Argus's hand enough to rip the clawed finger away through the bone and with it, the claw. Dante prepared himself to fight, but the girl moved between him and her quarry.
Argus let out a bloodcurdling yowl, clutching his maimed hand and glaring at the girl. "You...I'll make you pay for that in your blood!" he screamed, preparing to attack. Without his claw he would be much less of a threat, but his size was still enough to cause severe injury to the human.
Dante reached for his back to grab Rebellion. As he went to draw it, he could see the girl's ear twitch very slightly and she looked to him with a chilling glare. Her eyes looked almost like those of someone in Devil Trigger state. She lifted her weapon and swung it above her, catching the pouncing Argus in the jaw. It wasn't enough to break the bone, but it was enough to stun him.
The girl turned back to Argus, who was quickly shaking off his daze and clearly in much pain. She made a more aggressive move this time, swinging the club at the arm that once held the deadly claw. In the flow of this move, she used her body weight to throw the demon off balance and place his arm close to the wall. The club made contact with its target, and she swung it two more times. The final blow sounded a sickening crack as the slightly thinner forearm bones were broken, causing Argus to let out another shriek. Before he could react, she shoved him into the wall and pinned him there with her increased strength. When their eyes met, he saw nothing of the frightened, trembling girl he had been attempting to kill. They were the eyes of a devil. A very powerful, very destructive devil, though she smelled human to both Dante and Argus.
Dante's jaw hung slightly open as he watched the girl continue to savagely beat Argus with her club. She was also sustaining injuries, but they didn't seem to snap her out of it. He looked over to the floor and picked up Ebony and Ivory. For a moment he worked the jam out of Ivory's barrel, moving out of the girl's view and taking careful aim at Argus. He pulled both triggers simultaneously and Argus suddenly stumbled and collapsed. The bullets had apparently shattered his kneecaps.
Argus was now at a disadantage, laying on his back with two destroyed kneecaps, a broken wrist and a missing finger. He turned his head to glare at Dante, who merely grinned back at him and twirled his guns.
"I'll concede this one for now. Looks like the kid's got it." He winced at the end of his sentence as the girl slammed her club into Argus's face. Damn. Is this kid even human? She's scary. As long as Argus was her focus, Dante felt mostly safe. There was no telling what kind of damage she could do, or how brutally she could do it.
The girl didn't seem to care where the bullets had come from. She seized the opportunity and pinned her victim down before raising the club and swinging it down again. This time, the blow cracked Argus' jaw, causing a few of his teeth to fly out and blood to spill down the corners of his mouth, pooling on the floor around his face. The trauma left Argus twitching and trembling in agony, occasionally letting out a grunt or a cry of pain. The girl smashed the club into his face again, this time breaking his nose. He let out a strangled gasp before she turned the angle of the club slightly, this time bringing it down into his rib cage, swinging it back up, and coming back down again. The resulting blow shattered his rib and cracked his collarbone. He yelped in pain, no longer having the oxygen capacity to scream as he coughed up a bit of blood onto her bare lower leg. She stared down toward him, club raised again for another blow. Her eyes did not seem to be looking at him, only staring vacantly in his general direction. His vision was made black by the next blow, which came down squarely into the top of his head. The next few blows were strong and swift, shattering the bones of Argus' face. More teeth flew out of his head as the savage beating continued. More bones cracked until, finally, a single blow to the top of his head crushed the bones of the devil's cranium. He made a strangled grunt, forcing a whispered string of words out. "...The Master will...have you...soon...very...very-"
BOOM. Argus' last words were cut off by a bullet. Dante blew the smoke from Ivory's barrel, holstering his pistol. "Yup. And wherever the hell he is, he'll be joinin' you soon." He turned his head toward the girl, raising his hands and backing up in case she attacked.
She stood there, stiff as a board, her trembling hand still clutching the broken chair leg. The trembling was spreading quickly to the rest of her body, likely from shock. Her shirt, legs, arms and face were covered in blood, Her wild-eyed, vacant expression soon faded, leaving her eyes looking focused once again, albeit still with a bit of a fog in them. Her hair, soaked in blood and sweat, hung limply in her face. As her vision cleared, she slowly looked down to find herself soaked in demon blood and a demon's corpse laying at her feet. Her eyes slowly widened before she suddenly released her grip on the chair leg. She backed away from the bloodstains and the corpse before letting out a scream of horror.
Dante gave a slight flinch and looked over to her. She was gasping hard, trying to get a breath while still in shock. The expression on her face was one of disbelief, horror and disgust all at once. She stared vacantly at her hands for a moment, trembling even harder than before. He slowly and carefully walked over to her, quickly looking over her face and body to see if she was injured. When he spoke to her, he attempted to remain calm so as not to alarm her. "Hey, kid. What the hell happened to you? It wasn't like I was gonna shoot you. You shoulda gotten out of here a long time ago." He continued to examine her at length for any injuries.
She did not turn to look at him as she replied, her voice weak and choked. "Don't EVER...point a gun at me again." she gasped, blood and tears streaming down her face. She looked, once again, completely different from before. Now she looked like a deer in headlights, or someone who had just walked in to find a loved one dead.
Dante knew that feeling all too well; he tried to shrug it off. The girl seemed to be alright, physically at least. Shaking his head a bit to regain his composure, he straightened his coat and turned to head for the door. "Whatever, kid." He suddenly turned his head back to her. "Hey. If anything like this ever happens again, call me. I'm gonna go look for Merce." He turned to go out the door again, but was stopped by the girl.
"How will I know to call you if I don't know your name?" she asked. It was a valid question, as neither she nor Dante knew one another's names.
"The name's Dante. The place is Devil May Cry." He turned back toward the door, grabbing the handle. He tried not to look back at the girl, who was visibly terrified by the sight of the mutilated devil corpse laying on the floor. Hopefully, she would be alright while he left in search of his new partner and possible rival.
A strange, slightly muffled thumping sound came from the stairs, causing Dante to pull back and look up. "Oh come on. What is it this time?" he grumbled, leaning on the door jamb with a slightly tired look in his eyes. He had been up since earlier that night helping Mercy and dealing with the incident at the Checkmate. All he wanted to do now was go back to his place and sleep, possibly for a few days, and put the insanity of this night behind him.
He was met with the sight of a handgun barrel pointed in his direction. He flung his coat open a bit and walked toward the gun's holder. "Heh. Morning, Sleeping Beauty. I was just about to go out looking for you." He stepped back slightly when he saw her face. She looked very exhausted and none too amused. Ouch. Tough crowd, this one. At least she's alright.
As Mercy's eyes cleared, she took in the sight of her office, or rather the remains of it. Her favorite chair had been broken to splinters, a window was busted out, and there were several bullet holes and spent rounds littering the floor. There were blood stains all over the floor and walls, along with the maimed corpse of a demon on the floor next to a trembling, blood-covered human girl. Mercy's face turned pallid as all the blood left it, her fist clenching around the grip of her revolver. "What in the FUCK happened in here?" She turned and pointed her gun back at Dante, charging up to him and pointing the gun right at his neck. "I want answers, wanker!" she demanded, cocking the gun so he could see it was loaded.
Dante quickly grabbed Mercy's wrist, pushing it away. "I was on my way back to my place. That bastard was attacking this kid. She a friend of yours or somethin'?" He indicated the girl behind them and casually pulled away from Mercy's gun.
Mercy pulled her gun down, setting it on her desk, and looked to the girl, the corpse, and the bloody chair leg. "She went berserk again, didn't she?" she asked, upon which the girl nodded back at her.
"This guy pointed a gun at me," she replied, gesturing to Dante, who rubbed the back of his head.
"All I wanted to do was scare her enough for her to run off. Seriously." Dante tried to explain himself, only for Mercy to strike him in the back of the head with her hand. "Ow! What the hell, Merce?" he whined.
"You dipshit! That's what sets her off! She gets scared, pissed, or stressed out enough and she'll get madder than a cut snake every time!" Mercy gave Dante another whack across the back of the head for good measure before turning her attention to the girl. "Hey Andrea, you alright?"
The girl, Andrea, immediately darted toward Mercy, pulling her close. "Mercy! Dear gods...I thought you were dead!" She seemed to be fighting back tears as she clung to the Australian woman.
Mercy calmly placed a hand on Andrea's shoulder. "Honestly, mate. Do you think somethin' that weak could take me out? I'm tougher than I look. Otherwise I wouldn't be makin' a living out of it." She gave Andrea's shoulder a soft pat. "Oi, go take a shower."
"But what about your office?" Andrea asked, looking over the damage to nearly the entire room. There was no possible way she could pay for it all; The chair alone was likely worth at least a thousand dollars. Merce is gonna kill me. I know she's gonna kill me. Most of this is my fault. I'm such a fuckin' moron.
"No worries. I know someone who will cover it in full." As Mercy finished her sentence, she turned her gaze to focus right on Dante. "Isn't that right, Dante?" She leaned on her desk, looking up.
Dante's jaw fell open from bewilderment. "What? What did I do! What the hell do I owe you?" he asked, looking around at the damages to the office. This office was easily twice or possibly three times as big as his own. Damn it, none of this is my fault. Why do I have to pay for it?
Mercy surveyed the room one more time, a look of deliberation on her face. "I have to get a new window put in, my floor cleaned and refurnished, and my chair replaced. That's gonna run up to...$4500. And I ain't gettin' off your back until you pay it, mate." She raised a hand up in his direction, jabbing her finger into his chest as she spoke.
Dante felt as if he was going to have a coronary. 4500 bucks! Is she insane! He sighed to himself, grumbling slightly. What do you expect, Dante? Do you really expect to get through a mission like this without racking up debt to your eyeballs? The devil hunter slid his hands in his pockets and sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright. I'll pay you when I get my reward from Dimitri. I'm just glad to see you're alright. I thought that demon bastard did somethin' to ya. He mentioned something about a Master. Looks to me like he's working for somebody. Somebody that wants you and that kid dead." He brushed some dirt off his coat, glancing up to Mercy.
Mercy's expression suddenly became rather grave. No...it can't be him. She turned back to Dante, trying to hide her worry. "Did he give a name?" she asked, her hand twitching toward her gun. She looked slightly disturbed, and Dante could see it.
"Nah, I shot him before he got too mouthy. After Andrea pulverized his ass, of course." He noticed the disturbance in her expression and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, if anything's botherin' ya I might be able to help." He paused to let out a slight yawn. "Hey Merce, can I ask somethin'?"
Mercy looked up to Dante, their eyes meeting. "What is it?" She could not hide her apparent fear or worry about some unknown issue.
Dante gave another yawn, stretching his arms. "Would you mind if I crashed here for the night? My place is still a ways from here and I feel like I'm gonna pass out." He leaned on the desk. "I'll use a couch if you want me to." Though I wouldn't mind sharin' her bed, he thought to himself with a hidden smirk.
Mercy turned to look out the broken window. "Aye, no worries. I've got room in the game room upstairs. There's a futon in there." She took a slow breath, placing a hand to the side of her head. She looked as if she was in a sort of trancelike state. I'm not gonna let you win this time, Spinel. Not with Dante around, you won't.
Dante turned and headed for the stairs, heading up to the second floor and turning for the game room. He sat down on the futon, not bothering to pull it out. Something is really botherin' Merce. And for some reason, I feel like I gotta help her. It's a gut feeling, almost. Either that or the prosciutto's fighting back.
Downstairs, Andrea continued to stare at Argus's corpse as a cascade of emotions ran their course through her mind. "It's happening more and more. I feel like I'm just going to go completely batshit insane and never go back to normal." She looked up at Mercy, hoping for some answers. "Man, why can't I just be an ordinary person?"
Mercy remained lost in her trance for a moment before looking at Andrea. You never were normal, mate. I don't wanna say it right out, but you've never, ever been normal.
