DEVIL MAY CRY
CHAPTER FOUR: SURPRISE, SURPRISE!
Ten days after Arthur died the organization held his funeral. It was held in the organization headquarters. Arthur was placed in a coffin and was kept open on display in a nicely decorated room made to look like a funeral home. Member of the organization, staff and soldiers, paid their respects to him one by one by placing flowers next to him in his coffin.
While everyone had conversations with one another about their experiences with Arthur while he was alive, Sakura was quiet. Ever since that day she felt responsible for his death since she was the team commander. She was even afraid to approach his coffin while feeling this way. All she did was watch from her seat next to the refreshments table.
Dante also attended the funeral. While everyone there was wearing black, Dante still had his usual red outfit on. Dante noticed Sakura not being in the crowd with others and approached her. "This is normal for you I take it?" She did not answer. Dante crossed his arms and sighed. "You blame yourself, don't you?"
Sakura looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Why do you care?"
"I've learned that self blame isn't going to get you very far, not that I've done that myself." he exhaled in a somewhat annoyed manner. "Arthur just couldn't take on that many demons at once and ended up losing his life." Dante put his hands in his pockets.
Professor Graves was attending the funeral as well. When he saw Dante he approached him with the support of his cane. "Ah, I've been looking for you, Dante." He stopped in front of him and put both hands on to the cap of his cane. "Thanks to you the entire city won't be infested with those cretins; but alas, Arthur couldn't live through it."
Dante looked down at the professor's cane and noticed the metallic skull under his hands which held two rubies in its eyes and one large on in its jaw. "An old man with good tastes is hard to come by."
Graves looked down at his cane. "Why thank you, this old cane was passed down through my family for generations." Dante nodded slowly. "Now Dante, if you will come with me; there's something I think I should show you." He turned to Sakura. "Will you accompany us?" She nodded and stood up. Professor Graves lead them to the door as they left the funeral. He took them to the elevator down the hall and selected B13. The doors closed and the elevator went down.
Dante folded his arms. The most annoying part of the elevator ride for Dante was the music. "So gramps, where are you taking me?"
He turned to Dante. "To how this all began." Dante noticed Sakura looking unsure of the professor's decision. The doors came open to reveal a brightly lit metal hall. At the end was an electronic, reinforced door guarded by two women dressed in skin tight body suits and utility belts loaded with weapons.
Dante looked at the blonde one with her hair up in a pony tail and then to the one with short, burnet hair. "So everyone's enjoying the funeral while these two lovely ladies stay thirteen stories underground to protect a door?"
"They're just security androids." said Professor Graves. "I have many of them throughout this facility."
Dante looked at them closely. "What about the girls that give me the massage?"
"Why do you think they were willing to do what you asked them to?" asked Sakura. It was obvious that she enjoyed telling Dante something that might come to a shock for him.
"…that's creepy…"
The professor leaned over to a retina scanner and a thin red laser moved up and down it. A beep was heard. Then he put his thumb on a black pad and it flashed green over his thumb print. Another beep was heard. Suddenly, the locks on the door disengaged and slid open to reveal a second set of doors that also slid to the sides to reveal a large laboratory. Inside where countless computers, large tubes, scientists, and wiring throughout it with some florescent lights on the ceiling of the metal room. Scientists came and went through the metal sliding doors every few seconds as if they were working towards a close at hand deadline. Dante followed the Professor in and walked on a metal ramp over most of the lab. "This…is a little freaky. What is this?"
"This is my laboratory, where I genetically altered all of my demon hunters." He said leading the way down the ramp. "I started this project years ago when my home was completely over run by demons." He stopped and turned to Dante. "After that I accidentally discovered a way to strengthen human genetics to its best through research that I was doing when I was attending a university."
Dante looked around at the sight and at the humans placed in the tubes. "So you play Frankenstein with some people whom you pick up off the streets?"
"Volunteers actually." He corrected Dante. "Most of my volunteers joined out of hatred for demons. Sakura is one of those volunteers."
Dante glanced at Sakura remembering her distrust for demons. He turned back after getting a stare from her. "Bill Gates has nothing on this."
"True, but I do not intend to sell my discovery as public merchandise." He said. "The government does fund my business in secrecy, and selling these enhancements world wide would make me the most powerful man in the world, I fear of the great evil that some one would use my research for. So I kept it a government secret and only allowed those who are willing to keep it a secret become an employee of mine." Dante nodded and looked around once more now that he knew the story behind all of this. Professor Graves sighed. "Well, that's enough for today." He motioned his hand to the door behind Dante. "Shall we?"
Dante looked to Sakura and back to the Professor. "Unless you have a back room full of more secrets behind this set up, might as well." Dante turned and headed back down the ramp to the door. Behind him were Professor Graves and Sakura. The large door sealed shut behind them as they left and the female androids were still in the same position as they were before. All three of them entered the elevator to returne to the second floor of the facility. "Hey, gramps."
Professor Graves looked to Dante. "Yes, what is it?"
"Remember my reward for my services?" he reminded him. "I don't think I want the girl anymore since I have a strong feeling it's going to be one of those robots."
Graves chuckled at Dante. "I'll see what I can do."
Sakura looked at Dante with annoyance that after everything that was explained to him all he cared about was the woman he was promised to clean up his dump of a shop. It made her start to wonder if he was actually taking this agreement seriously. They came to the floor and all exited. "Oh, before you two go, I want you both to meet your new team member."
Sakura quickly turned to the professor. "A new recruit? That was quick."
Professor Graves nodded. "She has passed all of the tests, all there is left is for you two to teach her some tricks she should need to know to keep going."
"A 'she'?" asked Dante with a smile. "So it's a chick?"
"Yes, she's 17 years old, the same age Sakura first started her career." said the professor. Dante dropped his smile in disappointment. "She's waiting for you in the library, she likes to read books." He switched his cane from his right to his left. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go pay my respects to Arthur now." Sakura nodded and watched the elderly man walk off back to the funeral.
When he was gone, Dante turned to Sakura. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's see the kid." Sakura nodded in agreement with Dante's idea for the first time and lead the way. They took two lefts and a right down the halls of the second floor and came to a pair of large wooden doors. Sakura pushed the left one open and walked in with Dante behind her. The library was in a large circular room with a dome over head. The room was well lit with countless wall lights and a large chandelier hanging from the center of the dome. There were book shelves everywhere that reached three meters high filled with books; even the walls were lined with shelves. "How the hell do we find a kid in here?" Dante took a few steps forward and looked to his sides and turned to Sakura. "I think the professor forgot to tell us which section to find her in."
"We'll have to look since he didn't give us a name to call out." said Sakura. Both of them entered the maze of shelves in hopes of finding a little girl among them. Sakura looked around one side of the maze around the science fiction section and to the romance section. She didn't see anyone.
"Hey Sakura!" She stopped and saw Dante three isles down from her. "I found our bookworm." Sakura sighed in relief and walked with Dante down the drama section. They stopped when they saw a girl with dirty blonde hair in a pony tail that looked around 5'4" sitting at the top of a ladder with a book in hand. Dante turned to Sakura. "I am in total disbelief that this is our new teammate."
The girl at the top of the ladder looked up from her book and looked down at Dante and Sakura when she heard Dante. "Oh, Miss. Katsuragi!" She closed the book and slid down the ladder. She immediately started to run towards them when her feet touched the ground, but she didn't get far before she tripped over her own feet and fell forward onto the tile ground. The book she was reading slid over to their feet. The title read: Romeo and Juliet. Sakura picked it up and immediately started to remember the story in the book.
Dante couldn't hold back his laughter and bursted out laughing at her misfortune. Sakura glared at him. He stopped. "What? I've never seen someone trip over their own feet before."
"Ouch…" she said getting to her feet and rubbing her head. "Sorry, ma'am." She stood up and brushed her self off. She was wearing a similar black suit that Sakura and the others wore when they went into combat with the zipper open enough to show some of her chest. The girl waked the rest of the way over to them. She bowed. "I'm Tifa."
"Pleased to meet you." said Sakura. "I'm Sakura, as you know." Then she turned to Dante. "That is Dante."
Tifa tilted her head at the sight of Dante. "That's the Son of Sparda?" She looked up at Sakura. "I thought he'd be more warrior-like."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Miss." said Dante. He approached her and looked down into her unzipped suit. "Pretty good for a girl your age."
Sakura sighed. "Zip yourself up, Tifa." Tifa looked down and quickly pulled up the zipper. "Listen, you are now a hunter, every mission will put your life in danger. Are you prepared to do this?"
She smiled and nodded about three times very fast. "Yes, yes I'm ready."
"This isn't a game you know." said Dante putting his hands on his hips.
"Really, I'm ready." she said.
Sakura nodded. "I understand." She said. "I will be your commanding officer while you're here." Then she turned to Dante. "And he will be your combat instructor." Dante gave Sakura a look of displeasure as she chose his job.
"Hey, I'm no babysitter." said Dante. "I ain't good with kids!"
"That's not what I'm afraid of…"
TO BE CONTINUED…