The second of three chapters is now up, the third will follow soon after! I was hoping to get the story rolling by this point. Don't worry, Nero and Credo and Kyrie will show up soon.
Again, I don't own DMC/DmC, I simply place their actors on another stage.
Welcome to Hell~I Mean Fortuna!
Chapter Five-Training Mode
The party's first night in Fortuna passed without further incident, but somewhere between too damn late and too damn early, their favorite phantom decided to wake them up. He didn't even bother doing it nicely, either. For Keeley and Shawn, he just needed to pass his hand through their backs. This sent a jolt up their spines, which feels like when someone drops an ice cube down the back of your shirt. It was even easier to wake the last one up; all he needed to do was possess her which, much to the Dark Slayer's amusement, resulted in an outburst of sleep-addled swears and curses from the angry young woman.
"Not…Funny. You...mizerabello pezzo da merda!" she griped.
"What?" Keeley asked.
"Italian. I'll tell you later." Kate explained. Keeley shook her head and chuckled. Their phantom/self-appointed leader returned to the circle.
"I told you last night that your training begins today." Vergil stated boredly.
"We get that." Kate said. "But was the possession really necessary?" The elder son of Sparda shrugged nonchalantly as Kate rolled her eyes and bit her thumb at him. The brunette then proceeded to gather her sweatshirt and the flashlight she acquired the night before.
"As the priestess so famously said to the actor: What now?" Keeley asked.
"Now, we head back to the Port. There will be more demons there and you three need to learn to detect them without their notice." Vergil explained. Shawn crossed his arms.
"So we're not learning how to fight yet?" He asked. Vergil shook his head.
"We'll get to that once you have weapons. This reminds me, leave the katana here." Shawn rolled his eyes, grumbling.
"Ah, for fuck's sake…" Stretching and rotating her neck, Kate hummed in contemplation.
"Alright then, sounds like a plan. But what happens if some genius picks up on the fact we're not exactly from around here?" She mused. Vergil didn't have an immediate answer, closing his eyes with his arms crossed and apparently focused on breathing. Finally looking back at Kate he replied.
"As my idiot brother often proved, bullshit baffles brains." Kate rolled her eyes again as she fixed the ponytail which had come undone over the course of the previous night.
"Because that works every single time, right." She sarcastically retorted. The elder son of Sparda dismissed her remark and continued.
"When I'm not in this circle, I'll be with the Shrew. She is to relay any advice or instruction I have for the three of you. Now come on, let's go before people start waking up." He ordered, and with that they left.
The morning air was cool, but not to the point of freezing. Her breath took the appearance of a wisp as it passed her lips. Sighing, the mysterious woman got off her motorcycle and adjusted a strap over her shoulder before walking to the Port and what lay beyond. She had a feeling there was something in this town, something she needed to know or to find, and her feeling rarely mislead her. Taking a deep breath, she entered Port Caerula. A couple of Scarecrows were loitering about, but they were easily dispatched. Katelyn, Keeley and Shawn entered the port soon after.
"Wait." Vergil ordered, stopping Kate in her tracks.
"You guys hear that?" Keeley asked. The sound of rapid gunfire broke the predawn silence.
"Someone's using guns here? Well shit…" Kate muttered. Vergil manifested at her side. "Should we investigate?" she asked. Staring pensively in the direction of the sound, he nodded.
"Yes, so long as you're careful. This shooter may be hostile." He conceded. Kate turned and faced her friends.
"Okay team, change of plans. Training has become a recon op. So keep the eye down and hide in plain sight." Keeley and Shawn nodded once and then they pressed on. The woman was too busy shooting to notice their approach, but even with the changed appearance, Vergil recognized her and the rocket launcher strapped to her back.
"Fuck…" he uttered. Somehow his utterance caught the woman's notice. Panicked, Kate ducked behind a crate.
"Shit, Vergil!" she hissed "What the Hell did you do?!" Her ghostly companion snapped back
"How am I to know? Last I knew, that woman wasn't able to perceive spirits!" One of Kate's eyebrows raised, her expression skeptical.
"Oh, so you know her?" she whispered harshly. One look at Kalina Ann resting on her back and Katelyn knew it was the daughter of Arkham whose name was once Mary. Hell, all three of them knew it. But they had to keep up the act that this place and the people in it were complete strangers to them. Vergil sighed.
"Yes, I know her. However, she and I aren't on what you'd call the best of terms." The Shrew rolled her eyes.
"Grea~at…she sees you, then she'll shoot me. Am I wrong?" He shook his head.
"Lady isn't the sort to attack a human without proper reason. The demon over your shoulder, on the other hand…" Kate looked up and saw a Scarecrow looking back.
"WHAT THE SHIT?!" she yelped, punching the Scarecrow in the face as she left cover. It fell over, landing on its back stunned. Lady was nowhere to be seen, but her friends were out and in situations not unlike hers. Keeley was dodging her enemy pretty well, but then Shawn was trying to do another transmutation. Key word trying, none of his attempts were actually working.
"Shit." Keeley muttered. Kate stomped on her opponents head, finishing it off and tearing off the blade it had for an arm and then charging the other demon. Shawn saw her coming and fell back to dodge the blade as she swung. Keeley ran over to Shawn and helped him up while Kate and the Scarecrow locked blades. "What were you thinking Shawn? We don't know how to tap into our powers, let alone USE them!" the raven-haired woman fumed.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time!" Shawn defended.
"Wouldn't it!" she angrily retorted. The Scarecrow which had been chasing her hobbled up behind them, poised to strike, but then the angry Keeley turned around and killed it with a rage-filled roundhouse kick that would have made Chuck Norris proud.
"Nicely done, Kee!" Katelyn yelled encouragingly over her shoulder. This Scarecrow was stronger than the others; Kate theorized that it was because this one was what she liked to call a "legger." That is, a Scarecrow with a blade for a leg instead of an arm like all the other three Scarecrows they've faced here. It began to increase pressure on its attack and Kate, untrained pacifist shrew she is, knew that she couldn't hold out much longer. Just then, a gunshot snapped everyone from their thoughts as the last Scarecrow toppled over with a few new holes in its head.
They looked to their left to see Lady standing there holding a smoking SMG expertly in her hand. Vergil watched as Kate finally lowered the heavy blade with a sigh of relief, Keeley and Shawn running over to her. Keeley placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder.
"How are you holding up, Kate?" She asked. Katelyn nodded at her before looking to the Devil Hunter that was more or less her idol.
"I'm fine, Kee. Though that might not have been the case if she didn't intervene. Thanks for that, by the way Miss…" she said, prompting an introduction from the woman with the SMG.
"Call me Lady." She supplied, walking over to the three teens.
"Nice to meet you Lady, I'm Katelyn." The brunette smiled politely. Keeley and Shawn smiled and introduced themselves as well. Lady nodded once.
"So, you three reacted differently than anyone else I've met here. I'm guessing this wasn't your first fight?" Depending on who you were looking at, the response was a sheepish smile, a chuckle, or someone rubbing the back of their neck as their cheeks turned pink.
"First fight was yesterday, actually." Shawn said. Keeley nodded, crossing her arms.
"Though today's fight definitely went better than the last one. This time we remembered we could fight back." The ebon-haired woman added. Kate rested a hand on her hip and leaned back a bit.
"Yeah, but yesterday it was just the one…" she mused. Vergil kept close to the brunette; keeping a wary eye on not just Lady, but for any more demons that might have been in the area. On the other hand, Lady noticed the presence of a spirit near the shortest member of the group. Lady had a hunch that the ghost was someone she knew, and she wouldn't be surprised if the girl it was near was also aware of it.
She stared at them for a bit and sighed. Of course they were different from everyone else in Fortuna; all three of them had auras suggesting that powers recently awoke within each of them. Meaning that demons would constantly seek them out, regardless of circumstance, and the three would need training. Someplace where they would be safe from demons, with room to practice and learn to master their talents. Luckily, the heterochromatic huntress knew a guy who could provide shelter and protection at the very least. As for their training, odds are that the guy and she had enough books on the subject between them to suffice. Humming contemplatively, she finally nodded and spoke.
"You three aren't normal, are you?" Looking at one another, they nodded.
"Not anymore, at least," Kate replied. "Not since yesterday." Lady nodded.
"I think I can help you guys out. It takes a couple hours to get from here to Capulet City and back." She started. "I came here on a motorcycle, but it looks like we'll need a car. Anyhow, while I'm gone, would you three do me a favor?" Kate tilted her head to the side, eyebrow raised again in curiosity.
"Depends on the favor, what do you need?" Her final statement earned a snicker as Lady pointed in the direction she came from.
"Before we met, I was going to investigate a tip I'd gotten. Unfortunately, I can't get any further than the drawbridge. So if you three could find a way to get to the other side and tell me about anything suspicious you come across, I'd owe you one." Looking over at Keeley and Shawn, Kate shrugged.
"Might be fun?" she offered. Her friends shrugged, and then Keeley replied
"Alright Lady, we'll see what we can do." Lady looked relieved, as though a heavy burden was taken off her shoulders.
"Thank you, I'll find you when I have the car, and we can talk more then." She said, heading for her bike. They waved at her, Kate giving her a two-fingered salute as the huntress sped off. Then they faced each other once more, Shawn asking the question on all their minds.
"Alright, so how are we going to do this?"
And that's that. Yeah, Kate more or less idolizes Lady. Not in a creepy way, no weird-ass shrine full of pictures and fan art (Conrad Verner, she is most certainly not.) ; but if Lady says jump, she'll ask how high. She respects Trish, too, but she likes that Lady is a human who can still beat the shit out of demons. Hope you guys enjoyed, don't forget to review.