Devil May Cry: Scarlet Bullets
Chapter seven: The Mob and the Cursed Cube.
A sinister shadow was looming over Tokyo city as the streets became unsafe at night, reports of people going missing, only to turn up again as mangled corpses were reaching an all-time high, both the local law enforcement and Butei were unable to solve, let alone prevent these cases, that was until 'he' showed up.
At an unknown location within the seedier districts of the city, a criminal syndicate was having an important meeting about the future of their business; the air around them was heavy with the scent of blood, metal and fire, all the smells associated with the act of taking lives and screams, gunshots and the enthusiastic peddling of drug dealers could be heard.
"This is insane!" A large balding man dressed in a black suit pounded his fist on the table furiously, his expensive jewellery and fine clothing all paid for in money earned from the blood of the victims of previous crimes. "We are the Oni group! Even the Yakuza fear us, yet this foreign mercenary is pushing us around!"
"Yeah, boss!" One of the balding man's underlings spoke out, just as crossed as his superior about the recent developments regarding the foreign mercenary. "That guy's been ruining all of our businesses!"
The pair of Oni Group criminals continued to speak against the foreign mercenary, joined by their other members, discussing their plans to kill him and on occasion, just saying whatever foul insult came into their minds.
"Huh, flattering, you know, it's not nice to talk behind people's backs." The criminals were interrupted by a young man with white hair and icy blue eyes dressed in a button up shirt and tie with a long red trench coat draped over it and a silver amulet adorned with a red jewel hung from the teenager's neck.
"I-it's you!" The Oni Group leader stood from his chair, shocked to see the very person they were just insulting walk into their doorstep. "How did you get past the guards!?"
"Those guys?" The white haired mercenary gestured at the smouldering piles of ash that were once the Oni Group's brutish guards, with a smirk in his face, the intruder continued. "They looked overworked, so I sent them home… all the way to hell."
"So you know what we are?" The Oni Group leader glared at the white haired mercenary, both surprised and impressed by his knowledge on his crime syndicate. "Quite sharp of you, Tony Redgrave!"
"The Oni Group, one of Japan's top crime syndicates, infamous for human trafficking and assassinations, on the surface… your typical Mafia style gangsters." Tony kept his gaze fixed on the balding man, speaking with the calm tone of a detective confronting a criminal. "But the name of your little club can be taken quite literally, since you demon bastards are doing this to extract human souls, part of your… strange bid for more power, am I right, Mister Yashima?"
"So the rumours are true, the infamous Tony Redgrave is in reality… a Devil Hunter!" Mister Yashima smirked as his eyes started to glow an ominous green and his body started to transform into a more hideous shape, his skin turning into a hardened red shell, horns growing out of his head, claws out of his hands and feet and finally his face changed into that of a demonic looking lion as two flaming wings sprouted out from his back. "Congratulations on finding us out, but you won't live to tell anyone!" The newly revealed demon spoke in a low and menacing voice.
As Mister Yashima transformed into his true Flame Demon form, his criminal underlings soon followed his example, transforming into demonic forms of their own that varied between, scythe wielding predators and armoured killers with bladed arms.
"Let's get this action flick started!" With an excited smirk on his face, Tony took out Ebony and Ivory and pointed both handguns at the demonic horde before him. "Ready to start shooting?"
Ignoring Tony's attempts at humour, the demonic criminals lunged at the white haired mercenary for a savage attack, the scythe wielding monstrosities waved their weapons madly in an attempt to cut down their opponent.
Dante smirked and he opened fire, the sound of gunshots, demonic screams and bullets falling on the ground like heavy metal raindrops filled the room as the carnage ensued and the scythe wielding demons fell one by one, leaving piles of sand where they once were.
After the scythe wielding demons were massacred by Tony's barrage of shots, the armoured demons moved in for the kill, the one that was positioned at the centre, slammed its giant bladed arm on the ground where the white haired mercenary stood, thinking it killed its target, the monstrosity of a thug waited for the dust to clear, only to see that the Devil Hunter was nowhere to be seen.
"Trying for a smash hit?" Tony, having used his 'Trickster' style appeared in a red blur behind the armoured demon. "Good, cause this blockbuster event is just gettin' started!" The white haired mercenary held out his hand and his trusty Rebellion Zweihander came crashing into it through the window. "And cut!" The Devil Hunter smirked and he took out all of the demonic criminals in one slash, leaving a pile of ash in their wake. "That was all hype and no delivery; ready for the sequel?" The teenager pointed his sword at Mister Yashima, challenging the Flame Demon to a fight.
"You cocky little-"Mister Yashima gave Tony an incensed glare before roaring out in anger , getting in the way of his businesses as one thing, but managing to kill all of his most trusted syndicate members pushed the Oni Group leader over the edge. "You're just like that punk that killed my son, Taro at Yokai Academy!" the criminal charged at the teenager, but with all the rage he was feeling over the recent death of his son and the reports that his killer bore a striking resemblance to his current opponent in both attitude and appearance, the Flame Demon didn't bother to strategize, making him an easy target.
"Hey, gangster." Tony smirked and pointed Ivory right between Mister Yashima's eyes, seeing that the Flame Demon's anger was deeply affecting his success rate in this fight. "Here's your mug shot!" The white haired mercenary pulled the trigger of his handgun and pumped the Oni Group leader's head full of bullets, as the demonic criminal burned away, the Devil Hunter let out a disappointed sigh, expecting more of a fight from someone that talked so big. "Two stars out of five…"
After the Oni Group had been dealt with, Tony, who had worked up quite an appetite from the fight, headed to Eric's diner to meet with Enzo to report the success of his latest job and to order his usual pizza and strawberry sundae.
"Looks like Tokyo's gonna be allot safer!" Tony recalled his fight with the demonic criminals, knowing he had just put an end to their borderline evil activities; he was quite pleased with himself. "Quite the pay check we're getting' here."
"Yeah, this Genya Arikado guy is filthy rich! He paid us over 500,000 Dollars for this job!" Enzo fantasized about all the things he could by with his cut of the reward money, he pictured all sorts of girls, liquor brands as well as some really fancy cars.
"Here, it's on the house." Eric placed a meat lover's pizza and a strawberry sundae on the counter right in front of Tony, the diner owner smiled at the white haired mercenary, content at his actions. "Now that the streets are safe, I should be having more customers."
"Thanks for the food!" Tony smiled as he took a slice of pizza from the plate, killing all those demons really made him hungry.
"It's 2:00 in the morning; does Aria know where you are?" Eric raised an eyebrow at Tony, knowing of the pink haired Butei's possessive tendencies and the chaos they usually brought.
"Don't sweat the small stuff." Tony finished his slice of pizza quickly before taking another one from the plate; he spoke in a confident tone, thinking that his plan was fool proof. "I snuck out of the dorms when she was asleep, I'll chill here for three hours, maybe give Riko a call and be back before dawn."
As Tony finished his pizza and prepared to enjoy his strawberry sundae, he felt a familiar malefic aura behind him, exuded by Aria, who had just arrived.
"T-Tony, you might want to look behind you!" Enzo pointed at the incensed Aria, his finger trembled as the memory of the pink haired Butei's violent tendencies flashed in the heavyset middleman's mind.
"What I don't know won't hurt me, right?" Tony smirked, fully aware of Aria's presence, the white haired mercenary decided ignore her, hoping that she'd get bored, not knowing the that opposite would happen.
"Tony you jerk!" Aria yelled at the white haired mercenary, angered by his flippant attitude and the fact that he went missing in the middle of the night. "I was worried sick! Where the hell were you?!"
"I was at a party." Tony joked with obvious sarcasm in his voice, leaving out the details of his bloody encounter with the Oni Group and his fight with the demonic criminals. "Wasn't as fun as I expected."
"You're my slave! You can't do these things without telling me!" Aria brought her fists down on the table, her angered expression growing more intense with every second.
"Sorry, but the jobs I take are very dangerous, you know? Demons and all that..." Tony deadpanned as he placed his hand on Aria's shoulder in an attempt to calm the pink haired Butei.
"You could at least tell me before you leave…" Aria looked down; her bangs covering her eyes, the pink haired Butei hated it when Tony did things behind her back.
"You got it." Tony smiled at Aria, unable to resist how cute the pink haired butei was when she was sad. "I'll stick a note on the fridge next time." The white haired mercenary joked, trying to lighten up the mood, the Devil Hunter then heard his ringtone and checked his messages, only to find 300 unread texts, all from Shirayuki. "Just great…"
Outside the city, Gilver was headed to a mansion to meet one of his contacts and an old friend of his father, once he entered; he made his way up to the study, where he met an orange haired man in his late twenties that wore a gas mask over his face, surrounding him, were relics of both the mystical and macabre variety.
"Nice to see you again… Vergil." The masked man welcomed Gilver into his study, glad to see the bandaged assassin. "What brings you to my mansion?"
"Sekaibashi Gabriel…" Gilver looked at the masked man and bowed in respect to his benefactor. "I'm here in search of a new weapon, I lost Belveul recently and I'm looking for a replacement."
"So you're not here to visit your favourite godfather?" Sekaibashi chuckled as he listened to Gilver's request, seeing the seriousness in the bandaged assassin's eyes; the masked man stood from his seat and picked up a sheathed katana with a black handle, a golden guard and green markings on its scabbard from the wall of his study. "This is Muramasa, it's been a while since you've held her and I'm sure she is the weapon that you seek, just treat her with respect."
"A reunion…?" Gilver took Muramasa and examined the sword carefully, sensing strong power from it, approving of his new weapon. "How much do I owe you for her?"
"She's free, but in return, you must take this Cursed Tool off my hands" Sekaibashi gestured towards a large metal cube that pulsated with blue energy that ran along the lines on its surface and a red orb at the centre.
"It's a box…" Gilver stared at the glowing cube, clearly irritated by what he thought was a practical joke for Sekaibashi's amusement.
"It's much more than that; this device is the legendary Fear in Cube, a torture device that was created during the inquisition and a gift from your father, Sparda." Sekaibashi declared proudly as he pointed at the mysterious cube, confident in his decision to leave it in Gilver's hands.
"Fine then… thanks for these weapons, Sekaibashi." Gilver nodded and left the room, confident in the new additions to his arsenal. "Next time will be different… I will take your half of the amulet… Dante…" The bandaged assassin thought to himself, eagerly anticipating his next battle with his long lost twin brother.
Gilver made his way back to the city with his new weapons, the citizens stared at the bandaged assassin with looks of both fear and extreme confusion at his intimidating appearance, but none of that mattered to him, as the mysterious teen entered the hotel he was staying at, he took the elevator up to his room and locked the door.
"Using Yamato would be unwise… Jeanne will figure out my identity for sure if she sees it." Gilver sighed, recalling his time with his former fiancé and his decision to abandon her so that the demons stay away from her and her family, though he never admitted it, the bandaged assassin still missed his childhood friend, just then, the mysterious teenager notice a note stuck to the cube that read. "Call her Fear Kubrick."
Just as Gilver lifted the cube, its shape suddenly changed into that of an unconscious and naked young girl with long blue hair, her slender figure not unlike Aria's.
"What is this?" Gilver stared at the girl before him, not because of her bare state, but rather out of curiosity and disbelief at her sudden change from the cube that Sekaibashi had given him.
The blue haired girl woke up in Gilver's arms, her eyes opened to reveal their dark red colour, her cheeks then turned a similar red when she realized the position she was in.
"Unbelievable…" Gilver shook his head before setting the blue haired girl down gently, he knew that receiving such a powerful weapon as a bonus was too good to be true. "Sekaibashi you…"
"Y-you were staring at me, you pervert! I'll curse you!" Fear yelled at Gilver, but her fear chased away her feelings of anger a soon as she saw the bandaged assassin, the eyes under the bandages were like nothing she had ever seen before, they were both sad and cruel at the same time.
"I assure you, those were not my intentions." Gilver replied calmly to Fear's accusation, though he was understandably annoyed by this whole situation, he knew that the blue haired girl was a powerful weapon.
"Wh-who are you?" Fear continued to stare at the bandaged assassin, this time, she was curious about what he hid under the ominous looking rags.
"Forgive me, sometimes I forget I have these on." Seeing no harm in it, Gilver slowly unwrapped the bandages around his head, revealing his youthful face, combed down silver hair and icy blue eyes.
Fear was at a loss or words, Gilver's otherworldly features made her blush uncontrollably; the blue haired girl was shocked to see that the bandaged assassin was so young and beautiful.
"You can call me Gilver… but since you'll be my weapon, I suppose I can trust you with my true name, its Vergil… but only call me that when we're alone." The elder Son of Sparda introduced himself to Fear; knowing that keeping his identity a secret from the blue haired girl would cause him too much stress.
"Vergil…" Fear was mesmerized by Vergil's ethereal features and smooth sounding voice, the cursed tool felt a sense if familiarity from the bandaged assassin, as if his face was locked somewhere within her memory.
"It's getting late… we'll continue this discussion in the morning." Vergil closed his eyes, deep in thought, the bandaged assassin planned on utilizing his new weapons during his next showdown with Dante. The elder Son of Sparda was determined to settle things with his twin brother once and for all.
After enduring an earful of Aria's harsh scolding for three hours straight, Dante walked back to the dorms with the pink haired Butei, daybreak lit up the city as the two lone figures headed home, the Devil Hunter still carrying the smell of blood and gunpowder from his run in with the Oni Group.
"Damn... not a minute of sleep, these night time jobs are a real pain in the ass." Dante yawned from exhaustion; the stress from his long battle coupled with Aria's angry outburst back at Eric's took its toll on even the infamous "Tony the Devil" who was known for his inhuman stamina. "Hey, princess, ya still ticked?"
"Why do you care…?" Aria was still sulking from Dante's lack of sensitivity regarding her clear worry for him, lately the pink haired Butei felt as if the white haired mercenary was spending less time with her ever since he took his mysterious 'side jobs'. "You big jerk!"
"I'm your Watson, remember?" Dante placed his hand atop Aria's head, feeling guilty for the supposed neglect for the pink haired Butei's feelings. The white haired mercenary knew when he was making women sad and despite his lady killer reputation, the younger Son of Sparda couldn't bear seeing cute girls cry. "Breaking character and ditching you would piss off anyone reading this messed up Sherlock reboot."
"Tony…" Aria blushed at the sincerity of Dante's words, despite his flippant tone and playful choice of words; she knew that the white haired mercenary meant what he said, and that he would never abandon her. "L-let's just go home!" The pink haired butei stormed off, embarrassed by the growing intensity of her blush.
Deep within the confines of the I.U headquarters, Jeanne was reviewing the files she had obtained regarding the mysterious Gilver's activities, the rays of morning sunlight kissed the D'arc descendant's silver locks giving off a regal shine, but the surroundings didn't matter to the female knight, who was deeply immersed in her task.
"Gilver…a mysterious assassin, whose identity is kept secret to even to the Underworlds highest priority members… at sixteen, he became known for his efficient assassinations, his activities in the Mercenary World have earned him the nickname 'Bandaged Death'" Jeanne read from the bandaged assassin's personal file, her curiosity on the subject of her mysterious partner taking control of her usually calm mind. "His activities began three years ago…" The female knight was not prepared for what she read next, the shock in her eyes now very clear as she read on. "When an I.U representative recruited an adoptive member of the D'arc family into their ranks, the current identity of this member is highly classified."
The timeline, Gilver's age and the mention of a D'arc family member that had gone missing all pieced together a painful puzzle within Jeanne's heart and mind.
"Gilver… you're…!" Jeanne was feeling a myriad of complicated emotions, the symphony of sadness, shock and betrayal played its song within the female knights heart as the bandaged assassin's identity became clear, those feelings only intensified when she remembered the locks of white hair she had seen after the elder Son of Sparda's run in with Tony Redgrave. "Vergil…!"
Vergil stood on the balcony of his hotel room with Fear still asleep behind him, the white haired swordsman held in his hand, the bandages he used to conceal his identity, but something was different about the mysterious teenager, this time, he wore a regal blue trench coat over his dress shirt and tie and his green pants replaced by blue ones, but what stood out most in his new appearance, was Yamato's presence, along with his mother's amulet.
"Unwise or not… I must face Dante at my strongest." Vergil recalled his fight with his twin brother and the remark he had made the previous night regarding Jeanne. "I've hidden in the shadows like a coward for too long, now that I have no more use of the I.U… I can begin my bloody journey." The elder son of Sparda spoke with a newfound resolve in his voice, having grown tired of the dishonourable life of an assassin; he then tossed the bandages out of the balcony as a symbol of his abandonment of his previous profession. "As a Dark Slayer… and a Son of Sparda… I will claim Father's power."
Set on the night table next to the bed, was a newly forged Butei High student I.D along with the necessary paperwork, the name on the card read. "Gilbert Redgrave" Just then, Muramasa started to glow ominously.
Author's note: Sorry for the wait! As a thank you to my readers and reviewers, I gave this story a much more detailed writing style! Expect later chapters to be more like this one, Dante takes down a demonic Yakuza group and Vergil obtains the Fear in Cube and Muramasa, both from the Anime C3, which will play a big role in this story. Dante still has a long way to go with Aria and Jeanne did some detective work to find out who Gilver really is, I did that to avoid the cliché of an idea I had of a shocking mid-battle reveal and to capture Jeanne's competence. Next chapter, Dante's charged with protecting Shirayuki from Durandal and Vergil enrols as "Gilbert Redgrave". This chapter is a new start for this story; expect the plot to kick in next chapter! The sequel of this story, Devil May Cry: Crimson Soul will star Nero and Shana from Shakugan no Shana.
Now to answer my reviewers
Sonicsucks12
When the S1 arc closes.
AlitolexIto
Thanks! And good luck with your amazing stories!
Tonyredgrave1999
Glad you liked it! Expect more comedy and action!
Guest
She'll get 10x scarier next chapter!
Anon
Sorry for the wait!
Thanks! That's a great idea!
Kroz phantomville
Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
GhostStryker92
Thanks! I'll try to keep things interesting.
Hellfire44
Expect more out of Dante and Vergil's twin dynamic, things will be different.
Nekko Maiden
Thanks for your praise! I'm glad you're enjoying my story so much, I'll try my best to keep my readers like you happy with my story.
Nero will star in the sequel story.
Samg17' B-13
Thanks! And I've made those changes now!
Ren tsugami
Trust me; she'll have one hell of a training session to master them.
Yes there will be and some returning ones, and yes they are, we'll find out in future chapters.
Fortis499
Dante's unique brand of comedy will keep on coming!