Bloody Mari
Leon sat in his chair at the police station, pondering. He thought over the words that Ada had told him when he was hospitalized. From there his mind drifted to the many worried looks and warnings he'd been given by Martin. Last but not least, his attention ended with the vision of McCoy's death along with a few blurry memories of Dante's guardian devil.
All leads on the killer that had vanished in the restroom at the back of the supermarket were colder than the corpses he'd left behind. Daughter had her blood drained, mother had been shot and killed with a broken neck in her own home. Neighborhood was shaken to the core, not by the murder itself, but the murderer. No one was talking or even thinking of doing so. Then, there was Dante.
Several times had he been spotted around locations relevant to the case at hand. Was he the killer? Or at the very least some part of it all? What part; big, small? Mastermind pulling the strings or the gauntlet that did all the work based on instructions? Instructions from whom? Dante bowing to someone, the very idea was stupid. Leon wanted to look into it more, though he knew that once he started down that path, he'd take most of the steps on his lonesome.
He remembered his first day, when the chief had called him in and warned him to keep an eye out for the real bad-guys, not silly folktales about Dante. It was too much to simply ignore. Leon decided to at least mention it to the chief and take it from there. Worst case scenario was that he'd get chewed out, but beyond that there was nothing more to worry about.
Leon took the trip up to the secretaries office and mentioned that he'd like to talk to the chief. She said the chief was currently out of town on some business regarding a special force being assigned to the city, but she'd mention it to him when he returned. A little disappointed, Leon returned to his desk to look over his case again.
Another hour dragged by and feeling restless, Leon figured he might as well take the bull by the horn. First stop would be Marvin. He must have seen or heard something that made him view Dante as he did. Checking the timetable, he made note that Marvin was on guard duty down at the cells in the basement. Heading downstairs, Leon wanted to put Marvin in the corner and not let him out until he gave some straight answers.
Marvin sat down at the desk in front of the entrance to the cell room. It wasn't much, but it was enough to hold a couple of guys until they could be shipped off to a larger prison or another location. Not much was happening and Marvin kept himself busy by reading a book. «Hey Marvin, I want to talk to you about something.» Leon said as he walked up to his colleague. «Sure thing, I could use some company.» Marvin replied, putting away his book.
A bit uncertain of how to approach the subject, Leon figured in the end it was best to just dive in with both feet right off the bat. «It's about that P.I, Dante.» Leon began. Just the mentioning of the name made Marvin shrink back in his chair. «I mean, what's the deal with the guy? He's just a guy. Big and scary at times, but hey... just a guy.» Leon carried on. Marvin on the other hand didn't seem to agree.
Shifting in his chair, Marvin looked around as to make sure no one was with earshot. «Man... you've read the files right? Isn't that enough?» Marvin said with a small voice. Granted, the files involving Dante were colorful to say the least, but aside from an unusual strong support from the criminal underworld, there wasn't really anything special. «Apparently not, since we're standing here having this conversation.» Leon replied firmly.
Hesitating, weighing one option up against the other, Marvin finally decided to talk again. «The guy killed McCoy and they... they were like brothers. At least that's what it looked like from the outside.» Leon was taken by surprise. Marvin and the others knew, and yet they still didn't take Dante in?
«Everyone knew, the evidence pointed to the Japanese, but that was bullshit from nine to five.» Marvin explained. He carried on telling how some of the officers wanted to take Dante in, but the chief told them to stuff it and stick to the evidence at hand. They didn't listen. Instead they decided to take the law in their own hands and bring justice to the McCoy's.
They took their time preparing, going underground for a good week. Then, in the dusk on the night before they would strike Devil May Cry, Dante knocked on each of their doors and gave them a home visit. In front of husband and wife, the officers couldn't do anything but trembled with frustration over their own helplessness. Apparently the meetings were all civilized, though there are no details about what really went down. All the officers in question either resigned or asked for a transfer to another state shortly afterwards.
«That's it?» Leon asked when Marvin was done. «They had murder in their eyes Leon! And he sniffed them out like a candle, just by talking to them.» Marvin objected. «That's what convinced you to just walk away whenever Dante's on the scene?» Leon asked. Marvin shook his head in reply. He had stayed clear of Dante since the day they first met.
He was just a cadet back then, his first day out in the field. Marvin along with his two senior officers answered a call regarding trouble at a china-town restaurant. The Triad and the Yakuza were having a meeting there, though they had been doing more than just talking. When they entered there were dead bodies everywhere.
The bodies were mutilated beyond recognition; blood, gore and body parts scattered about as if a container of torn bodies and tipped its content through the front door. A silence from the depths of the grave clung to every part of the main room. Once the initial shock had subsided to acceptable levels, Marvin had heard children crying in the back. The stench was intense, but they somehow pressed backwards towards the kitchen.
It was there Marvin met Dante for the first time. He was just a kid, 10-11 years old, the clothes he wore were torn, too small and covered with blood. In his tiny hands he held a chainsaw that was almost as large as himself. Marvin recalled how Dante had turned around slowly and looking straight through him as if he was nothing, not even the dirt under some ant's foot.
That blood smeared face, those ice cold and hollow eyes along with a blank face made Marvin wet himself. Behind the boy that was Dante, a pair of Asian children sobbed. They too were spattered with blood, but appeared to be okay otherwise. Backup arrived and they took the children to the station.
The twins was taken home to their parents after a routine check with the doctor, too traumatized to be questioned and they didn't speak a word English. Dante on the other hand had no one to turn to. Public records showed that his father was unknown, mother had died in a harsh murder some 5 years earlier and that was it. He sat there at the station, not moving a muscle saving his calm breathing and the occasional eye blink.
At this point Leon decided to not press any further. Marvin was almost at tears by now. He could fill in the blanks himself. Marvin knew right from the start that Dante was something... whatever it was, it was not good. Yet he felt powerless to stop Dante, all he could do was watch passively from the sidelines as a ghosts shadow. Dante grew up and in his wake, evil died.
Feeling eyes on his back, Leon turned around and found Dante leaning against the wall with a lollipop in his mouth. «You through?» Dante asked. Marvin looked up and as their eyes met, it looked like Marvin was about to break inside. Strangely he didn't and it wasn't until Leon turned to face Dante again that he saw why. It wasn't much, but it was there. In Dante's eyes there was a ever faint sign of regret.
Breaking the mood, Leon asked: «What do you want, Dante?» Scratching his nose a little and sniffing a little, Dante began to explain. He was working on a case for the Leone family and would like to get some police support on the matter. «Why? I find it hard to believe there's anything in this town you can't handle.» Leon pointed out. «Oh don't be like that. I do all the hard work, you get all the credit. I don't see the problem.» Dante shot back with a childish voice.
Despite his better judgment, Leon agreed. He wanted to see Dante out in the field, so who was he to pass on front row tickets? Besides, at the bottom of the line, Leon was probably the only cop on the station that would take this job. «What's the gig?» Leon asked Dante as the two walked out of the station side by side.
Dante elaborated on the details as they walked. Salvatore Leone, the big daddy of the Italian mafia had a new girlfriend. All well and good until someone decided they wanted to hurt the lady. Not much of a problem, since the Leone mansion at the Portland Beach was nothing short of a small army camp. Dozens of men in suits, black Mercedes, sunglasses and shotguns in their leather gloved hands stood for security. Put in state of the art alarm system and you've got to be asking for some serious trouble if you come at the wrong time through the wrong door.
Since his bike was in for repairs, Dante got a ride with Leon in a patrol car up to the mansion. It was the number 1 estate on Portland, hands down. The view was amazing as well as its location in the district; high and no close neighbors. Leon reminded himself of what he had been told about Dante. If there was something the gangster's couldn't handle on their own and didn't want the law involved, they called Dante. Just what in the world was this thing that they couldn't handle?
When the two arrived, Dante was given a warm welcome, while Leon had to tag along as if he was Dante's little kid. Salvatore exchanged chatter and pleasantries with Dante in the living room, explaining that Maria, his girlfriend, was currently out shopping and would come home soon. The subjects covered ranged from music, social events, food and family planning. Leon sat quietly in his chair and sucked to him as much as he could.
Pleasant as the talk might be, there could be hidden meanings and things drawn from out between the lines from such conversations. Most likely though, both Dante and Salvatore played dumb to keep Leon at a safe distance until they were comfortable with him. Annoying, Leon thought. He was really like a kid, and Dante along with Salvatore didn't want to talk about 'adult stuff' in front of him. Patience was the better virtue here.
Salvatore, Dante and Leon was standing on the terrace viewing the sunset, Maria with escort came back home. Salvatore was an old man, so Maria wasn't into him for the looks. Money was the thing that had sex appeal in Leone's mansion, not much else. Seen from the other perspective, Mr Leone had taken Maria in solely based on her looks. The phrase 'too hot to handle' came to Leon's mind as she stepped out of the limousine. While Dante gave her a glance, it was more out of curiosity than attraction.
Shallow as it was, it was love, sort of. Maria was all over Salvatore once she joined them, grateful that she was able to buy yet another half dozen designer do-dads that she strictly speaking didn't need. «Maria honey, these two men will be in charge of your security tonight. They are officer Kennedy from R.P.D. and Dante, gun-for-hire.» Salvatore introduced them. Leon gave her a polite nod and smile while Dante made a vague face of slight interest and something that sounded like a grunt.
A call from Joey, Salvatore's son, brought the pleasantries to an end. Something had gone down and Salvatore had to go down to the Shoreside Vale police station along with his lawyers to get his son. Dante excused himself, saying he'd like to take a look around the house to inspect the safety before the night kicked in, dragging Leon with him. «We could move her to another location to throw off the attacker.» Leon suggested as they walked around the huge house. «No point, they'll find her anyway.» Dante grumbled.
One of the guards approached them and informed Dante that his luggage had arrived. «Didn't know you were planning on camping.» Leon commented dryly. «They're just a few things.» Dante said defensively. Somehow I don't think that covers toothbrush and a change of clothes, Leon thought to himself.
As Leon watched Dante looking around, high and low for... whatever he was looking for, he noticed that Dante was very serious and seemed to do a thorough job. «Where's do you think the safest place to put the lady is?» Leon asked after another 5 minutes of walking around. «There is none.» Dante shot back, looking behind some tall curtains that went from the ceiling to the roof. That didn't make much sense, Leon mused. More over, how could Dante be so sure?
«I was thinking the basement perhaps or some room that can only be reached through some sort of bottleneck.» Leon started. Dante stopped for a moment and looked at him. Leon felt uncomfortable, since Dante's look indicated that he'd just said something stupid. Motioning with his hand to make Leon follow him, Dante rounded another corner and opened a double door.
Looking inside, Leon was shocked. It was the remains of a battlefield. 6 or 8 guards were dead on the floor, gun holes in the walls, slash marks from cutting weapons and even some of their weapons were cut in half. «No signs of breaking entry. They just came through the freaking floor. Where's safe?» Dante asked Leon. Leon on the other hand was to stunned to answer. In fact he had a hundred questions himself.
Why wasn't the police told about this? How could something like this happen and not a soul on the outside knew about it? Just what in the world would they do to clean up this mess and yet keep the public ignorant about it? What would they tell the families of the dead guards? As the questions spun around Leon's head like a wild roller-coaster ride, Dante quietly closed the door and continued his inspection.
After another half hour, Dante was satisfied and went to the kitchen to get a bite to eat. Leon joined him, though he didn't have much apatite after what he'd seen. «Here's the plan. They'll come for Maria during nightfall. When that happens, you take her and run like hell. Me and the thugs will deal with the fuckers, got it?» Dante said, poking around in his pasta with bacon.
Leon tried to pay attention, but found it hard. After a moment or two it sunk in and he wondered. Why would he take the woman and run? When asking Dante this, he simply replied: «You're the good guy, you're the one that will be on the front page on tomorrow's newspapers. Once the girl is safe, you can come back if you can. No shame in running though, not on your first.»
Dante really was an ass, Leon thought to himself. As if this would be his first. Leon might be fresh, but he'd been around a while and he was doing damn good at the academy thank you very much. When the time came, Leon would show Dante that he was a force he could count on. Their conversation dropped like a rock at sea after that, both men lost in their separate thoughts.
Night came and Maria decided to go to bed. Since the master bedroom was totally useless with dead bodies and all, she'd moved to one of the guest rooms. Wearing seductive lingerie that left little over to the imagination, Maria refused to go to sleep until she was sure that Dante was still around. The guards told her he was just down in the garage getting his luggage. «So he'll sleep here tonight?!» She asked with hopeful sparkles in her eyes.
The guards didn't have much of a chance to respond as Dante arrived just then, guns strapped to his thighs and carrying a guitar bag over his shoulder. «Are you going to play me a song, handsome?» Maria winked at him. Dante smiled a bone chilling smile as he said: «Yeah, hopefully I get the chance to play one of my all time favorites; 'Die, Die, Die My Darling'. Now get some sleep... sweetheart.» What a jerk, Leon thought. As if she'd be able to sleep one second after you put on that kind of act.
One hour crawled by, then another. The large house was silent and aside from the changing turns and patrolling guards, there was nothing happening in the mansion. Leon sat in a chair in Maria's bedroom, fighting his own sleepiness with mixed result. His head tended to sink and sway around as he struggled to keep awake. Dante sat in a two-seater sofa near a large wardrobe, his back straight, legs wide apart, the guitar bag between his legs and resting his hands and chin at the top of the guitar bag.
Either he's asleep or he's used to this kind of thing, the waiting, Leon mused to himself. Patient like a natural killer, Dante looked slightly to the right, then to the left, just faintly turning his head before falling still again. Into the 3rd hour, Leon dipped off into sleep. For how long, he could not tell. A minute or an hour? What difference did it make? When he did wake up, it was with a bang.
The attackers were here and one of them had fired off a sawed-off double barreled shotgun at Maria's bed. Dante had dived in and rolled himself and Maria out of the bed. Leon was about to reach for his gun when Dante, whom was lying on the floor with a terrified Maria on top, pushed her towards Leon. «Run Leon, take the bitch and run!» He barked like a mad guard dog. Salvatore's guards came crashing in and opened fire. Their pump action shotguns spewed out smoke, lead and ear-shattering noise in quick succession.
Adrenaline shot through Leon's body and he took Maria and ran. Out of the room, down the hallway, left, another left and down the stairs. Along the way more guards ran past them, towards the fight in the bedroom, weapons at ready. A couple of them stopped and followed Leon down to the garage. Maria was shoved into the backseat, a guard took the drivers seat and Leon in the front passenger seat.
The car engine roared to life and in a smoke of burned rubber they left the garage in a speed far too high for comfort. Gravel spat like machine gun fire under the tires as the car dashed away from the mansion. They were just a few meters from the mansion gate when two crescent-shaped blades cut through the front window. The leftmost blade dug itself into the driver's face, making a bloody mess, while the other one didn't do much save cracking up the front window making it impossible to see outside.
Maria screamed at the top of her lungs as blood sprayed the interior of the front seats, while Leon fumbled for the handbrake while pulling out his gun. He emptied the gun through the front window and up through the roof before he yanked up the handbrake. The car screamed to a halt and it sounded as if something dropped from atop of the car to the ground in front of it. «Maria, come on. We can't stay here.» Leon panted, letting the empty clip slide out of his gun.
After reloading, Leon stepped out of the car and made sure that the figure on the ground was dead. Looking back, Leon saw Salvatore's guards retreating from the mansion. Earlier on the day they all looked though as nails behind their shades, but now they were terrified, several of them openly crying like little children fleeing from a monster. «El diablo, el diablo!» Some of them screamed like mad while running for their dear lives.
Leon wasn't able to question any one of them as they simply ran away, two of them had enough composure to bring with them the whimpering Maria. A loud boom sounded, the ground trembled with the shockwave and Leon spun around, gun ready. The lights in the mansion went dead. Considering his options, Leon decided to head into the mansion, whispering to himself that devils aren't real and that it was just a figure of speech, nothing more.
After securing a flashlight from the garage, Leon headed deeper into the dark mansion. Proceeding carefully, gun in one hand, flashlight in the other and both focused at the same point, Leon took it slowly. A faint wooden twirling sound was heard every now and then, quickly followed by a booming shotgun blast. Judging by the sounds, the fighting was still a bit off, concentrated around the guest room.
As Leon backtracked to the guest room, signs of combat became clearer. It was much like the master bedroom had been like, just that it had poured into the hallways like water. Dead guards at the floor, gun shot holes on the walls, broken windows, torn curtains and daggers dug deep into the walls and some of the guards. Daggers?
In the nick of time Leon manage to spot something, a humanoid figure at the edge of his sight. Spinning around to his right, narrowly dodging a pair of metallic daggers that hurled towards his chest, Leon fired three quick rounds before landing on the blood smeared floor, left shoulder first. Not a sound followed. Dead? Leon's mind was racing, his breath short, rapid pants and face was boiling over with cold sweat.
More gun fire from deeper into the mansion. Sounded smaller than shotguns, too big for regular handguns. Dante's custom made cannons? How the hell could he fire them in such rapid succession, even if he had two of them? Sounded more like he had machine guns than pistols the way he was pissing out lead.
Crawling to his feet, Leon sat down and dared to take a pick peek around the corner. Dead bodies, nothing more, but was there one more than earlier? He couldn't tell, but decided to chance it. Pressing on, Leon came over more disturbing sights of Salvatore's guards. Cruel didn't really cover what fate these men were granted by whomever was in charge of casting judgment on this night. Several of them laid face down, their necks slashed and gashed open with big gaping wounds.
Other men were hung like life size marionettes with some odd strings, their bodies also bore testament of the cruel blades that had preyed on them, while others had been shot with a shotgun blast at point blank range. A metallic ring sliced through the air ahead of Leon and he froze stiff. In front? Nothing there but darkness and shadow. Then, from behind?! Leon spun around and almost pulled the trigger as he came around, but again there was nothing.
From a room to his back left it came, another one of those damned crescent-shaped blades that curved around from inside the doorway. By luck or fate, Leon managed to dodge it by sliding backwards on his heels and landing flat on his back. His shoulders slammed against the wooden floor in sync with the blade digging its curved end into the wall. The landing broke his flashlight. Gritting his teeth, Leon cursed.
Rolling around on his stomach, Leon had no chance to get on his feet as his attacker came out from the room to claim his price. Five rounds flat in the chest, the shadowy silhouette dropped lifeless to the floor with a thud. Ten more rounds, Leon reminded himself. He needed to keep a count on how many bullets he had left so he could avoid being caught off guard. Rising to his feet, Leon disregarded caution over speed.
Getting a firm grip on his gun with both hands, he lowered it down to his pelvis and pressed forward with a light jog. Clashing metal and breaking furniture grew louder as well did the density of the dead bodies. Salvatore's guards or Maria's attackers? Leon couldn't tell the difference anymore, they were all shadows on the floor by now.
Finally, Leon arrived at the guest room. Nothing here, it was deserted and totally beaten to pulp. One of the windows were broken, could Dante be outside? Maybe at some point, but he was back into the house by now. Going yet back again, Leon tried to locate Dante. As he followed the sounds of fighting, Leon could hear he was getting closer.
In the end it was just a wall between him and Dante's fight. Looking for a door, Leon heard Dante charge his enemy head on inside. It ended with a loud boom against the wall that separated Leon from the fight, and the top half of Dante's sword sticking through it. Leon had seen a lot this night, but that was one of the more memorable. It got better, as Dante was far from finished. He withdrew is sword swiftly and followed with a series of rapid stabs.
So fierce and rapid where the stabbing that the wall broke and Dante's dead enemy came crashing down with it. Out from the dust, Leon could spot Dante's tall, though hunched down frame sticking out, looking for the next kill. He couldn't see Dante's face due to the darkness and dust, but Leon was certain it was him.
Dante did spot Leon as well, though he apparently mistook Leon for someone else as he dashed forward with demonic speed and used the broad side of his sword to push Leon down the hallway and up against the wall. «Dante, calm the hell down! It's me! Leon!» Leon managed to gasp out, as he had problems breathing due to Dante's pressure. A moment of hesitation, then the pressure eased down.
Leaning over, resting his hands on his knees, Leon coughed as he tried to regain composure. «I... I think we got all of them. Whomever is left must be running for the hills after the hell you gave them.» Leon said between breaths. Dante on the other hand said nothing, he just stood there as if carved out of stone. Remembering the vision of Dante killing McCoy and his family, this pose wasn't all that different from when he stood there in their house.
Their moment of silence didn't last long though, sirens could be heard in the distance and growing closer. «I can't believe this! Just like in the fucking movies!» Leon laughed despite of himself. Dante's gloomy figure shifted his standing before taking large, calm and confident steps down the hallway. «Deal with it.» He grunted over his shoulder, leaving no room for objections.
Fire and police department were all over the place. Leon, as a police officer on the scene greeted the cavalry and was taken care of by firefighters. Dante, he had withdrawn from the scene like a ghost. One of the S.W.A.T members caught a glimpse of his back with the iconic sword on sheathed across his back, but dared not stop him, just adding another tale to the urban myth.
True to Dante's word, Leon was the hero of the day. Being exhausted from the events of the night, Leon was put into the hospital for rest and check-up. Salvatore along with his lawyers did all the talking in Leon's absence. Official story was that a large criminal band had gone after Maria due to her being victim of trafficking and holding key information to their operations. Salvatore had taken the young lady out of kindness and gone straight to officer Kennedy of the R.P.D. the moment he learned of the band's attempt to take her out.
Together with the private security forces of Salvatore, Leon had lead a deadly battle against organized crime. A small nudge or seven from Donald Love, the multimedia guru of Raccoon City, and the media served the story to the public. Playing heavy on the red-white-and-blue that is close to every American's heart, the public loved it and took it into their hearts, no questions asked.
Back at Devil May Cry, Dante was cleaning his guns after a busy night when Trish decided to drop by. «So, how did it go?» She asked him as she helped herself with a game of pool. «Not bad, not bad at all.» Dante responded, nodding a little to himself. Devil knew how she did it, but Trish's tip was right on the dollar.
Those things that came after Maria, they were low-class evil spirits that borrow the bodies of puppets in order to exist in a physical state. Dante still remembered Trish's advice on the matter; «Since they exist as physical entities, they can be destroyed by physical means. Use guns, swords and other ways to scatter them to oblivion!» Only thing that bugged Dante was why they came after Maria of all people.