Shadow
Several weeks had past since the episode on Salvatore's mansion and the media turned their attention elsewhere. Leon wasn't very happy about the final outcome. Members from the S.W.A.T team that had gone over the building had spotted glimpses of Dante and that had added fuel to the gossip central at the R.P.D in Portland. Rumor had it that Leon was in league with Dante, just like McCoy had been before. The divide between Leon and the rest of the department was unavoidable.
The only one that didn't put distance between Leon was Dr Wong down at forensics. That was a poor comfort, as Dr Wong was distant from just about everyone. Leon had tried to get in touch with Dante after his hospitalization was done, but that was easier said than done. Dante it seemed was very busy these days. Whatever he was doing, it appeared that he was at it pretty much 24/7. Either that or Leon's timing sucked.
Dr Wong had no idea either and she didn't seem to be too keen on looking for Dante either. She admitted that it was rare for Dante to be gone like this for such a long time period, but it wasn't unheard of. Assuring Leon that there was no way for Dante to go down quietly, she guessed that he was doing something that he didn't want them to get involved with.
Chief Irons came back from his trip out of town and was also very busy, not giving a reply on Leon's approaches. He had practically given up, when chief Irons' secretary gave a call and asked Leon to come by after lunch. Shortly after lunch was over, Leon dropped by and was sent in right away without any delay. The moment the door closed behind him, Leon remembered how gloomy the chief's office looked with all the dead animals mounted on the walls.
Taking a seat across the desk, Leon patiently waited for the chief to finish his phone call. «So, Kennedy.» Chief Irons said, putting the phone away. «You had quite the adventure while I was away, eh?» He carried on, smiling to Leon. As always, whatever the chief did had the opposite effect on Leon. That smile really gave Leon the creeps.
Not sure how to reply, Leon gave a faint and stiff smile back. «I'll cut to the point. You made a wonderful job out there Kennedy, you should be proud. I have a special assignment in mind for you.» Irons said, his grin getting bigger. «I'd like you to pick up where McCoy left off.» Leon was stunned. What was with the change of tone? He had the impression that the chief didn't want to waste anymore men on Dante, due to how McCoy ended up.
Looking for the right words, Leon just sitting in his chair more or less dumbstruck. «Rest assured, it's only for a while. This Dante character, he's attracted attention on a federal level. The... higher-ups want to keep a closer eye on him. You'll be those eyes until the special team arrives.» Chief Irons elaborated. This was bad news. Leon doubted that even God knew what kind of shit would hit the fan if the federal government came running after Dante.
Shifting a little in his seat, Leon dared himself a question. «What kind of special team?» Chief Irons brushed the question aside as nothing big. He mentioned that it was a ton of paperwork that needed to be sorted out, it involved the mayor as well as the other police districts. One could not thread lightly when it was tax-payer money on the line, apparently. The team would however arrive as soon as possible and they'd take over Leon's special assignment once they did.
Until that time came however, Irons was very insistent that Leon would stick with Dante. He was after all, the only one of the Portland cops that wasn't nervous or flat out terrified of Dante. Leon was, as the chief put it, very level headed and down to earth. That went smooth, far too smooth for comfort, Leon thought to himself as he walked back to his office desk. The hell was going on around here?
When dawn was only a few hours away, Dante pulled his bike into the garage next to Devil May Cry. On the backseat Trish sat, dozing in and out of sleep. «Stop drooling on my coat and get of my bike. We're home.» He said, shaking Trish's left arm that held around his stomach. Stretching in her seat, Trish got of and walked a bit around to wake up a little.
Dante looked and smelled like a pile of trash. He and Trish had been out in the woods surrounding Raccoon City, killing just about anything they came over, devil or regular wild life. The whole point was to grant Dante more finesse in his fighting. Only reason why Dante had agreed was because he had given it a serious try when he fought against those things that came after Maria in Salvatore's mansion.
Much to his surprise, it worked very well. Things flowed much better when he followed the few pointers Trish had given him. When she had came by with the suggestion of a field trip until things cooled of in town, Dante agreed. While he'd been busy to follow Trish's instructions, Dante had failed to learn anything new about Trish herself. She was just like before, an enigma. «I'm going to hit the shower.» He told Trish as he headed over to the back of his office.
Trish didn't reply, she just gave a faint smile and waited until Dante was out of sight and she could hear the shower running. With that she withdrew quietly out the front door. While in the shower, Dante turned on a small radio and let it play in the background. Normally he'd just listen for the music, but now he was keen on knowing if things had cooled off.
Judging by the headlines of the radio news, it seemed that things had settled down. Perfect Dante thought and got dressed. After putting the dirty clothes in the washing machine, Dante looked at the button panel for a moment and then remembered that he never actually bothered to learn how to use this heap of junk. Oh well, he could drop the clothes to the laundry in china-town later.
Remembering that he still had some business to take care of, Dante headed down to his basement to give the God of Time statue another visit. After cleaning house at Salvatore's, Dante had walked up to the statue just for kicks. Who would have guessed that the damn thing was still working? The God had granted Dante some vague insight into the art of combat that the devils of old used.
While it wasn't anything earth shattering new, Dante did notice a difference and that was enough to encourage him to come around for more. The golden sand in the hourglass that the statue held glowed to life and Dante's mind merged with that of the God. After a while the God had taken what Dante had to offer and traded it off with more insight into the past. Dante couldn't help but wonder if this thing could show more recent things, such as that morning that changed it all.
Disregarding the idea, Dante headed up to the ground floor for some food. Fumbling around in his fridge, Dante figured that he better get a status on what was going on with Leon. Best approach would be to give Ada a visit. He could catch her before work, or more like he better. Taking his latest adventure into consideration, Dante reckoned that the cops would be far too nervous to have him stomping around in the station.
After getting something to eat, Dante killed some time listening to music and sharpening his sword. Hearing that the 06:00 news were on the radio, Dante decided it was time to give Ada a home visit, maybe even steal a toast or something for breakfast. Getting on his bike, he took off and headed over to Ada's apartment.
Dressed rather casually with dark shoes, jeans, t-shirt, green leather jacket and a scarf of sort loosely tied around his neck, Dante headed up to the main entrance. Ada lived all the way down in Cedar Grove. A smaller gang of criminals calling themselves South Side Hoods hang around this area. They were never hard to spot, one could tell 5 miles away because of their style; gold chains, rings and teeth, branded streetwear, hooded sweatshirts and last but not least, tons of platinum.
Ringing the doorbell with Ada's name on it, Dante waited for a reply. «Who is it?» Ada's voice grumbled sleepy through the speaker. «It's me sugar, your all time favorite nightmare, open the door.» Dante answered. Ada mumbled something about it being too damn earlier for this, but opened the door nonetheless.
Her apartment was small and simple. Since she lived alone it was fine in terms of size, but two could easily be a crowd in the long run. Dante waited in the hallway while Ada was brushing her teeth. «How's Leon holding up?» Dante asked. «He's been labeled by the other officers, much like McCoy was. The cat is out of the box.» Ada replied. Well, that's just one cat. There's more where that came from, Dante thought to himself.
Things seemed to have calmed down at the station as well, which fitted Dante fine. «Anything interesting happened while I was gone?» He asked Ada. «The city is still standing, so whatever did happened, we could handle.» Ada said, being indifferent as usual. Dante pretty much expected this, that Ada wouldn't ask questions. She seemed to regret being involved, but felt powerless to leave for whatever reason.
Dante knew he was a big part to blame for that, but as things stood now he had no other choice. It was unlikely that Ada would split, not after what happened to McCoy. Again, Dante was to blame. Would he ever set things straight if he got the chance? Who was he kidding? As if that chance would ever come. If it, however unlikely, did come crawling, it would do so over his dead body and not a moment earlier.
At any rate, Dante had learned what he wanted and decided to give Ada some space. If this God of Time routine of Trish worked and actually payed of, Dante might cut Ada free someday. Time would tell. Too bad the God of Time could only look backwards and not forwards. Now that would be a goldmine. Leaving, Dante walked down the hallway to the elevator.
The elevator arrived and the doors slided aside, then Dante found himself face to face with Trish. «The fuck you doing here? Don't tell me you're into stalking.» Dante blurted out. «Shut up dickhead, mind your tongue while you're talking to a lady.» Trish shot back, pouting. Walking past him, Trish carried on down the hallway. The hell? He's suppose to mind his tongue, while she could spit out whatever she wanted? Where's the logic in that?
Dante decided to get to the bottom of this and headed after Trish. «Oh, who's the stalker now, huh?» Trish shot over her shoulder as she took notice of Dante following her. «Stuff it and tell me what you're up to.» Dante demanded. «I'm not up to anything. If you must know, I live here.» Trish said, unlocking the door to an apartment.
Ha? Trish lived here, in this building, in a normal apartment just like some regular person? The fuck was this? Wasn't she some fancy-pansy servant of Trismagia? Dante thought she had some miniature universe that she slipped in and out of. «Awh shit, I'm overdue with the rent.» Trish complained to herself as she walked into her apartment. «Hold your horses there, are you telling me you've got to worry about food, rent, bills and all that other normal shit that most people fill their heads with?» Dante asked as he stood in the door.
Trish stopped browsing through her mail and looked up at him. «Well duh, what did you think?» She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. «You even worry about diets and shit?» Dante asked, still flabbergasted over the turn of events. At that question Trish's eyes narrowed dangerously and she stomped up to Dante, pushed him out in the hallway and slammed the door flat in his face. «I'll take that as a yes.» He half shouted into the door.
Six dozen things swirled around in Dante's head when he was riding the elevator down. Of all the freaky things he had learned over the years, that one ranked pretty damn high. Straight into the top 5, no contest. Trish was working. Working? Stop for one damn minute! What kind of work was Trish doing?! The last thing Dante needed was competition. How much did Trismagia pay by the hour anyway? A bottle of souls twice a month?
The rest of the day Dante spent on trivial things; getting his clothes washed at the laundry, killing some time at a game arcade shop, driving aimlessly around on the streets, some pointless window-shopping for a cell-phone, stocking up on bullet supplies and buying some new music before heading back home. Time was in for some maintenance on his guns as Dante had given them a busy time when he was out on that trip with Trish.
That Trish... who'd thought she was down to earth like that? Not Dante, that was for sure. He thought about dropping by Leon, but decided against it. Rather Dante would enjoy the rest of the night on Sexclub7. Luigi might give him some V.I.P treatment considering what he'd done for Salvatore. With a happy grin from ear to ear, Dante hummed a merry tune as he walked over to the club.
Sexclub7 was busy that night. A good crowd was hanging out, music was top notch and pumped out from the speaker system like nobody's business. The girls were as usual a true feast for the eyes and their dancing only made it better. Dante headed for the bar and ordered a simple non-alcoholic drink as usual. Life is damn good at times, he thought to himself, taking sips of his drink. It didn't take long before Luigi came by to express his thanks. That guy was shining like he was a piece of gold from Fort Knox.
Just as Dante suspected, Luigi made some arrangements for something special for Dante only. The poor guy that had made reservations for the V.I.P room soon found himself down on the ground floor along with the common customer. Dante wasn't really objecting to the treatment Luigi gave him, he was just going with the flow. He still hadn't changed to his regular dark red and black leather clothing, but he'd ditched the leather jacket and scarf when he came to the V.I.P room.
Wondering if Luigi had gotten any new girls in the stable since his last visit, Dante was looking forward to whomever would accompany him for the next few hours. Bunny girls seemed to be in season again and it was one of Dante's favorite outfits. Maybe it was because of all those Japanese DVD's that Asuka had given to him since he was 13 years old. He never understood a word said, then again you don't really watch that kind of movies for the moving dialog.
Come to think of it, why in the world did she stick that kind of stuff to him? They were both kids back then. Five years later she walked into his newly made office and stripped down to high heels only. Her English wasn't all that sharp back then, and her nervous stuttering didn't really make the message come across. Dante remembered her baffled expression as he put his coat around her shoulders, gave her a smile and took her home.
The guards at the casino had given him some strong glares, but he wasn't worried. First of he could kick their asses with one hand tied behind his back, standing knee-deep in cement and wearing a blindfold. Secondly, he had done nothing wrong as far as he knew. Guess it was that last part that came through, since the guards just took their young master inside without a word. Dante was taken out of his drifting memories as he heard the door opening.
In the doorway stood Trish, complete with black bunny ears on her head, black bunny suit that hugged her every curve all to damn well, fishnet stockings that left little to the imagination and black high heels. If Dante had been a little older, he'd be having a heart attack by now. Instead he settled with standing like a idiot, gaping at her.
A long moment of awkward silence slided by. «What the hell...?» Dante managed to get out at last. «What? It's an honest living.» Trish said defensively. «THE HELL IT IS!» Dante barked back. There was just something terrible wrong with the image he was seeing before him. It was really messing with his head, as if it hadn't been messed with enough already today. He went to this place to avoid even more messing with his head and this was what he got?
«Anyways, get some goddamn clothes on.» He told Trish. «Use your eyes, I am dressed thank you very much.» Trish shot back. That was not what he meant, and Dante was dead certain that Trish knew that. Why the hell was she acting up!? He grabbed the table-cloth on the table and put it around Trish. «What, was it hurting your eyes?» She asked him as she pulled it tighter around her shoulders. In more ways you can imagine, Dante thought but said nothing. Right now he had enough trying to keep himself from going through the roof.
Worst part was that it kind of made sense. Trish was a looker, no protest there. Easiest way for a girl to get some cash on her hands was this kind of thing. Dante figured that from a certain perspective there was nothing wrong going on. It was legal and all that, but just what did Luigi get her to do for her dollars? Trish would most likely not talk, that was just Dante's hunch. He figured he could reason with Luigi later on, making sure Trish worked as a waitress only or something along those lines.
Trish looked at Dante, actually smiling and giggling. Did she find it cute that he was all flabbergasted? Well, it was rare for him to act like this. Shit, when he thought about it, Trish got him by the balls now. If shits like Luigi learned that Dante had a 'special someone', you could bet your dying breath that he'd use it whenever he could. «Trish, this never happened, are we clear on that?» He told her seriously.
Grinning cleverly, Trish nodded understandingly. That was a relief. «It was a stroke of luck that we met. I was planning on dropping by after work, but I guess we can take this now.» Trish said, changing the subject. If she'd ask for a date, or hell forbid, Dante's hand in marriage, there was no telling what he'd do next. «There's a devil in the city that I've been tracking since before our little trip.» She carried on, taking a seat in the sofa.
Thankfully it was a normal topic they would be talking about. Dante let out a sigh of relief before also taking a seat. «It's am evil spirit that takes form from its own shadows.» Trish started and carried on explaining about the devil. Dante listened in with interest and was able to get back into the world which he knew and was comfortable with.
They chatted for half an hour more before splitting up. On his way out, Dante talked with Luigi. «That girl you sent up to me, what does she do around here?» He asked Luigi. Being a little taken aback by the strange question, Luigi decided to answer frankly. «She came in here looking for job. She's got what it takes, so I took her in, no audition or nothing.» Luigi told Dante. Although he didn't really know what Luigi put in the word audition, Dante was relieved that as far as he could tell Trish landed the job without problems.
Asking some more around Trish, Dante put up an act that he was most impressed, not to mention pleased and interested in getting to know the girl better. That put Luigi on the right track. Dante was known to have favorites and it was always good news to know that Luigi had hit the spot. This time around it sounded like he'd hit a home run. Luigi said that Trish was one of the look-but-don't-touch girls he had.
Main reason for this was that once someone tired to lay a dirty finger on her, Trish responded with a fierce temper. That girl would never ever need a bodyguard, as she was dynamite in more ways that one. Feeling a little better over the situation, Dante called it the night and headed home to prepare for the hunt that was right around the corner.
After taking some time suiting up for a busy night roaming the city for Trish's little devil, Dante mounted his bike and took off. Nighttime might not be the best time to hunt this damn thing as it was after all a shadow. How do you find a shadow in the middle of the night? You don't really, it finds you if it feels like it. This was the part that Dante hated, knowing something was out there, but unable to find it.
He checked all the clues and leads Trish had given him, but came up empty handed. By chance he spotted Ada coming out from Marco's Bistro. As usual she wasn't thrilled to see Dante, but it couldn't be helped. «Leon's asking for you on the station you know.» Ada told him. One thing at the time, Dante told himself. «Need a ride home?» Dante asked.
Ada looked a little surprised. That was a first she thought to herself, but declined his offer. «I'll crash at a college friend of mine.» She told Dante. As if arriving right on cue, Ada's school friend stepped up. «Oh my god, who's the stud Ada?» She giggled. Ada rolled with her eyes. Too much wine Dante figured. Following the two ladies to the El-train station, Dante figured he'd might as well take this one last round before calling it the night and get some shuteye.
Leaning on Ada, the two women staggered up the stairs to the train station. «I mean, is that sword just a compensation for something else?» Ada's friend laughed, hiking for every third word she spoke. Dante let it slide for a change, it was the wine that was talking and Ada would most likely chew her out once they were on their own. For now he just enjoyed the view up their skirts as they walked up the stairway.
The el-train arrived right on time and Ada along with her friend boarded after buying tickets. Dante was about to head back down to his bike when he noticed that the windows in the back most car was splattered with blood. It looked almost like someone had stabbed some thick pikes through the car, from the inside and taking passengers along with it. In the last moment, Dante turned on his heel and snuck aboard the train.
Moving forward with a dull speed, the train soon reached its top speed and kept a steady pace. Dante drew his sword and walked towards the rear car. This could be ugly, the car wagons were a little to small for an all out fight with sword. Even so Dante felt confident with his abilities, especially after taking lessons from the God of Time. This sucker would never knew what hit him.
Seeing a dark black figure, large as a big cat like a tiger or lion, Dante dismissed it as a dumb devil with little more than animal cunning for brains. All too easy, Dante thought to himself as he readied himself for the strike. The first stab missed as the cat shot out like a dart through the window. «What the...?! Running away already?!» Dante shouted after it.
From the ceiling and surrounding walls they came, dark, sharp and sinister spikes cutting in like spears. «Shit, shit, shit!» Dante spat as he hit the floor and blocked some of the spears with his sword. Goddamn shape shifter, he thought to himself. Coming back in, the cat demon attacked Dante in a more traditional manner as if it was really a lion. The two struggled, pushing back and forth, occasionally banging one another into seats and walls, neither backing down.
Finally there was enough distance between them to allow Dante to use his sword. Hammering away like mad, it was like trying to cut through stone. Whatever Dante did, the sword would just spit out sparks where it hit and bounce back. The cat demon stepped a little back and dug its head through the floor.
Before he knew what was going on, spikes came shooting up from the floor, forcing him to fall backwards. Almost at the end of the train, Dante had a lot of ground to cover over a floor that looked like swiss-cheese. Satisfied with its work, the demon shifted back to cat form and ran forward to the other wagons. Not hesitating, Dante gave chase.
Ada caught sight of the devil a fraction of a second before she was to be stabbed by one of its spikes. Her drunk friend however wasn't that fortunate, a spike cut clean through the back of her seat and carried on through her chest. Letting out a gasping sigh that ended with gurgling in her own blood, Ada's friend jerked around in cramps before falling lifeless back to her seat with the spike still in her chest.
Dante tried again with slamming his sword into the devil, but the result was still the same. The little prick didn't even notice he was taking hits and Dante was practically giving it all he got. Sword in his right, Dante drew one of his guns and tried a second approach; guns and bullets. In a spray of raw caliber pistol bullets Dante emptied his clip.
That did bring about a response, Dante's favorite. The devil shrieked in pain and jerked away. «Guess you're 'old-school', so instead of getting medieval on your spiky ass, I'll pump that ugly face full of modern bullets.» Dante grinned, reloading his gun. Seeing its chance, the cat demon shifted its head and shoulders into a large spike and slammed it against Dante's side, smashing him out through one of the windows.
In the nick of time Dante managed to catch one of the edges and swing himself up on the trains roof. The devil came crashing through the roof, screaming with fury and wasted no time unleashing a series of swift stabs at Dante. Through a series of jumps and dodges, Dante avoided them and only got scratches. His guns roared angrily over the demon's screams of pain and the steady clatter of the train riding over the tracks that laid before it.
When Dante was running dangerously low on bullets, the cat devil seemed to tremble as if it had problems holding its shape. Its form began to melt away and soon a glowing core like ball revealed itself little by little. Sticking his head through the hole the devil made when pursuing Dante to the roof, Dante spotted his sword on the floor. «Ada! Sword!» He shouted.
Ada somehow understood what Dante wanted and did her best to had it over as fast as she could. The sword was large and by no means light. Dante was probably the only one around that could handle that thing with such ease. Ada had to use both hands to just drag it over the floor. She managed to get it standing, but couldn't for the life of her lift it as much as an inch off the floor.
Dante leaned down as much as he could and managed to get his fingers around the tip of the hilt. It wasn't much, but it was enough for him to get it up. By now the shadowy exterior of the devil was about to restore itself. «The hell if you do!» Dante shouted, unleashing his own devil and slashed away at the core with all his might. In the end the core shattered and the devil appeared to die.
Resting his sword on his shoulder, Dante smiled with a sadistic satisfaction. He turned and looked down through the hole at Ada, who walked over to her dead friend and closed her wide open eyes. Dante's work was done here. He'd give the details to Trish tomorrow and leave the aftermath to Ada. Spreading his wings, Dante let the wing take hold and lift him up to the night sky. He might have to wait a while for Ada to calm down before he visited the police station again, but right now he didn't give a damn. Dante never did when he was like this, a devil high on violence and killing.