CHAPTER ELEVEN
One Party Getting a Little Too Crazy
Felicia had been right. Marth seriously doubted he'd ever forget Japan after what she had shown him. Granted, not a lot of it made sense, but it was at the very least fun enough to make him question why they had nothing like this back where he came from. At the moment, they and Pikachu were at what Felicia called a "club", though to Marth, it looked like a tavern with a ballroom attached. The only problem with that conclusion was that no one was dancing as one would in a ballroom, and whatever they were serving as drinks certainly wasn't mead or rum or anything he was used to seeing. Not to mention there were lights flashing all over the place and the music was loud enough to nearly deafen him.
"I must be getting older faster than I thought. They really have to make that music a little quieter…" he groaned.
That said, Felicia and Pikachu seemed to be having fun. The two were immediately flocked to, Felicia for her fame and beauty and Pikachu for the fact that he was adorable and a Pokémon. Even Marth caught some attention from girls who kept saying in a foreign language that he was "kakkoii".
"Pardon me?" he asked.
"They think you look hot!" Felicia chirped.
"Oh…what?"
"They think you're handsome…actually, I've been meaning to ask this for a while. How old are you, Marth?"
"I just recently turned nineteen. How old are you?"
"I think I'm in my forties now."
Noticing that Marth was raising his eyebrow, she started waving her paws about.
"But catwomen live twice as long as humans, so if you halve it, I'm twenty-two…and a half."
Marth laughed.
"You never cease to entertain me, Felicia…but what's this about 'cosplay' that I keep hearing."
"Oh, that? I guess they think you're in town for Comiket judging from your outfit. Granted, I think it looks great on you, but y'know, you don't really see people wearing things like that in this day and age."
"I see. I suppose my people would say the same about the way they are dressed."
"What do you think they'd say about me?"
"Nothing derogatory. My land has a neighbouring continent called Tellius that's absolutely full of half-human and half-animal people. Laguz, they're called. You look a little different than them, but otherwise, you'd fit right in."
Felicia giggled and sat alongside Marth, taking in all his physical features while he looked away at the scene before them. She already felt a little daunted by the fact that he was royalty even though that didn't mean anything in the current situation, but it was just like those girls had said: he was very good-looking. There was also the fact that he was skilled in both armed and hand-to-hand combat, and that he had saved her for the selfless reason of justice…and he kissed her paw. That always marked a real man.
She subtly raised her tail and touched it to Marth's leg. He didn't notice until he heard a guttural sound coming from her throat.
"Felicia…are you purring?"
He turned to look and saw her looking at him very warmly just as the music conveniently went from loud and booming to soft and romantic. For some reason, he couldn't avert his gaze. Her big blue eyes kept him firmly locked in place until she started to get uncomfortably close, at which point he began slowly leaning away from her.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm sorry…I just have to agree with those girls. You're so handsome…and you're nice, you're heroic…"
Her voice was barely a whisper when she was close enough to lay her lips on him.
"You're amazing."
"Pi-Pikachu!"
The two jumped when Pikachu suddenly dropped down on Felicia's head. The catwoman wasn't unhappy to see her little Pokémon friend, but she felt slightly irritated that he had ruined a perfect moment between her and her literal knight in shining armour.
"Um…what were you saying?" he asked.
"Never mind. I gotta go to the bathroom."
As Felicia got up and left, Pikachu hopped off of her head and onto Marth's shoulder.
"What was that all about?" the prince wondered.
He shook it off and turned back to the bar, quite thirsty and wanting to order a drink but knowing full well that he had no money that would be any good in Japan.
"Allow me, friend." said the red-coated and white-haired stranger sitting next to him. "I'd recommend this joint's trademark beer."
Marth looked to his side and took a better look at the man. In addition to his oddly coloured hair and billowing jacket, he wore a cocky grin and white five o'clock shadow. Marth would have called the odd colour of the stranger's hair into question, but then again, his own hair was blue.
"I don't see why not." he said.
The man nodded and beckoned to the bartender, who quickly poured two drinks and passed them down to the men.
"Thanks." said Marth.
"Don't mention it. That said, you owe me your name now."
"Marth."
"Cool. Name's Dante."
The two shook hands, Marth quickly spotting two machine pistols on Dante's belt, one shining white and one as black as charcoal. Dante himself took notice of Marth's sword poking out and smirked.
"You a swordsman, too?"
"Yes…but I don't see your sword."
"Probably 'cause I do a better job of hiding it."
Marth smirked in return. He couldn't explain why, but this man's attitude seemed to greatly appeal to him for some reason.
"So where do you hail from?" Marth asked.
"I run a shop in the United States. Business has been pretty good nowadays."
"A shop? What do you sell?"
"Well, it's actually more like an office. You call over the phone or walk on in and make an appointment. Prices can be kinda steep, but you gotta really ask yourself if it's worth it, and usually it is."
"Appointments…for what?"
"Well, I hate to spoil the party, but Marth?"
"What?"
"Right shoulder."
Marth moved just in time as a blade jabbed at him, leaving its demonic wielder wide open for Dante to casually whip one gun out, turn it sideways and fire off a single shot to kill it.
"Y'see, Marth, I work in the extermination business, and let me tell ya: these are some feisty rats…and speaking of rats, that yellow friend of yours is a pretty cute little devil, I gotta say."
Pikachu hopped off of Marth's shoulder and began sparking his cheeks as more demons shoved aside the innocent club-goers to get to the sword-wielding patrons who promptly rose from their seats. Marth smiled with his hands on his hips.
"I have to say that I wasn't sure about this whole 'club' experience, but it just got a lot more interesting."
"Good sir, that's my kinda language." Dante laughed.
The two heard a door kicked open and looked to the side to see Felicia rushing out of the bathroom.
"Marth! Pikachu! Are you two o…"
Then she saw Dante and gasped in a delighted manner.
"DANTE!" she squealed before rushing into the devil hunter's open arms.
"There's my favourite little kitty!" Dante laughed, lightly ruffling Felicia's hair.
"How's Trish been? I mean, I know I don't need to be worried about you guys considering she wears the pants in the relationship, but that's just what I do, y'know?"
"She and I actually have a little business to attend to around these parts, but as you can see, I got a little caught up...and she wears the pants? I'm the badass with the awesome hair. That's gotta count towards something."
He then took the time to cock his head at Marth.
"He seems nice. You two an item?"
Felicia flushed bright red and looked away with a mischievous grin.
"Weeeeeeell…I dunno."
"Just don't let Jon find out. He might be a little hurt, and believe me when I say that guy's more broody than freakin' Batman."
Felicia's ears pricked up and then drooped when she felt a touch of shame. Jon Talbain was a close friend of hers that she almost never saw because he considered himself too dangerous to be in her company for longer than a few minutes. She had no idea where he was, but she yearned to see him again. Now that Dante had brought it up, she felt unbelievably guilty for even considering trying to start something with Marth. But like she had thought before, Jon preferred to stay away from her and essentially feign disinterest, so would it really be all that bad?
She didn't have enough time to decide as the demons started closing in around the group, tossing people aside and smashing whatever they could to get there. Dante whipped out of his gun and raised it in the air.
"Well, well. This party's getting' crazy!" he shouted before lowering the gun and pointing it at the muted speakers nearby. "LET'S ROCK!"
The single bullet that Dante fired was all that was needed to flick the switch and send rock music blasting throughout the room, setting the perfect mood for a good time of ass-kicking that Dante started when he lunged forward and began stabbing into the closest demon at nearly the speed of light with his large broadsword. Marth had the thought to stand back and be amazed at Dante's skill, but knew that he had a few tricks of his own. He unsheathed his magnificent blade, crossing in front of his body the second one of the demons swung at him and lashed out with a massive slash once the beast's blade made contact with it, spinning on his toes and performing an uppercut to knock another demon away.
"Hey, shock rat!" Dante called.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu corrected with an irritated look on his face.
"Yeah, yeah. Charge me up!"
The devil hunter stuck out his sword. Pikachu caught onto Dante's plan and launched a bolt from his cheeks, striking the sword and causing the blade to glow a bright yellow colour and lightly toss sparks.
"Nice! We're in for a shocking good time now!"
Marth rolled his eyes accompanied with a sigh of disgust.
"He doesn't always do that, does he?"
Felicia shrugged.
"That's how he is. His fighting style's all about showing off and humiliating his opponent with insane moves. Just let him have fun."
And fun Dante most certainly had as he kicked a demon into the air and swung his blade through the air, launching the bolt through its chest and sending it into the wall.
"Hey, don't be so overwhelmed, guys! Come join the fun! There's enough for everyone!"
Marth and Felicia looked at each other and shrugged before lashing out at the demonic forces, Felicia quickly catching onto the fact that Marth had just as many cool moves as Dante when he thrust his sword into the air and soared upward, kicking his opponent back to the ground before gracefully turning himself around in mid-air and plummeting back down to impale it through the chest. The difference seemed a little obvious with Dante's moves coming out suddenly and wildly like he was an out-of-control beast, while Marth focused on stringing his attacks together flowingly and mesmerizing his opponents with each swing.
Dante was stylish, while Marth was elegant, and both were just as greatly effective as the other. Of course, Felicia's claws and Pikachu's bolts of electricity didn't slack on the demons, either. Felicia grabbed onto one, hauled herself up onto its torso and started slashing away at it while Pikachu knocked one into the air with Iron Tail, then raised his hands to the sky and brought down a massive bolt that sent all the demons close enough flying away.
"Dante!" Felicia called as she kicked a demon square in the chest to send it surging to the devil hunter. "Think fast!"
Dante obliged, rearing back his fist and uppercutting the demon on the back of the head.
"Donkey punch!" he cheered.
It seemed like they had only just felled the last demon when a strange blue light erupted from the ground. It was a scantily-clad woman with dark black hair and light-blue skin, but the light came from the blue force field surrounding her.
"Hey, gorgeous." Dante said haughtily. "You make a wrong turn?"
The woman simply stared up at the group lifelessly, gritted her teeth and raised her hands high. Three glowing red spears appeared above her head, and with a flick of her wrist, she launched all three at her opponents at once.
"Whoa, heads up!" Dante shouted as he and the rest of the group rolled out of the way. "Freakin' witches, man!"
"Hey, Dante." Felicia snickered. "Y'know what rhymes with 'witch'?
"Hm? …ah! I get it! That's clever, Felicia!"
As another one of the spears appeared over the witch's head, she let out an ear-piercing scream and contorted her arms into all manner of shapes. Marth, Felicia, and Pikachu winced at the horrid noise while Dante simply rolled his eyes.
"It's no wonder he left ya, you moaning cow!"
"Dante, look out!" shouted Marth. "There's another one!"
The two witches threw their spears at Dante, who slipped between them and twisted at near impossible angles to avoid them before whipping out his guns and firing off as many bullets as he could. They merely bounced of the witches' shields.
"Nuts. Gotta break those shields somehow."
The words "break" and "shield" immediately turned on a light bulb in Marth's head (or rather lit a candle, since you know. No light bulbs back where he came from) and he rushed toward the first witch, planting his feet firmly on the ground and holding his sword behind him like he was going to swing it like a baseball bat. The witch mindlessly rushed toward him, paying no attention to the light ascending up Marth's blade until she was too close to escape. Marth swung the blade downward at such a force that it shattered the shield the instant it made contact with it. Once the witch was vulnerable, Marth dispatched her with a series of slashes that flowed together almost like a sort of dance.
"Though I don't like to brag, one must admit that was flawless." he said with a smirk, not realizing that the second witch had just cast a spear right at him.
"MARTH, LOOK OUT!" Felicia cried, about to run forward before she saw that someone had beaten her to it.
Marth turned just in time to see the spear just a few feet away from him when he was suddenly shoved out of the way, and all he heard after hitting the ground was the sound of impalement and Felicia gasping. When he recovered and looked behind him, he saw why: Dante had taken the blow for him and was on his hands and knees gasping for breath with the spear sticking through him. He weakly smirked.
"Heh…might wanna watch your back from here on out, Marth. It'll do you…some good…"
The witch flew forward and prepared to deal the final blow, but Pikachu moved to quickly for her to do so. He lashed out with Iron Tail and broke the shield before charging up its cheeks and…being swatted aside when the witch brought up a large black growth from the ground.
"Damn you!" Felicia cried. "Not Pikachu, too!"
The witch set her sights on Felicia and was about to lunge forward when she felt the unnerving sensation of a gun pressed against the back of her head.
"Jackpot!" Dante mocked a millisecond before pulling the trigger.
The witch dropped dead and Dante put his weapons away, leaving his allies to stand marvelled that he was still alive.
"What?" he asked before looking down at his chest and laughing. "Oh, yeah. Think I deserve an Oscar for that?"
"Sheesh, don't scare us like that!" Felicia whined. "I keep forgetting you're half-demon!"
Marth raised an eyebrow.
"Dante is half-demon?"
"Long story." Dante replied. "Anyway, looks like we're all done here. Everyone alright? All the innocents get out okay?"
"It would seem so."
"Alright, excellent…say, can I ask you three something?"
Marth, Felicia, and Pikachu looked at each other in confusion before nodding.
"Have the three of you seen a girl yay high? About fourteen years old with short black hair. Answers to Saya Kusanagi."
"Nope. Sorry." answered Felicia.
"Shit. Oh, well. Thanks, anyway."
"Why? What's the matter with her?"
"Trish was supposed to pick her up at the train station in Osaka, but she didn't show up. The two of us are looking for her, but it looks like Trish got a little side-tracked. Last time I checked up on her, she'd partnered up with some…talking fox girl with psychic powers or somethin', I dunno. Anyhow, can't let a good kid like that get in trouble."
Marth sheathed his sword and smiled at his comrades.
"Well, I'd say we'd be more than happy to help."
"You don't have to. I more of a lone wolf kinda guy, anyway."
"Really? Then who is this Trish? Your wife?"
"God, I wish…but you do make a good point. Should be a hell of a lot easier with all four of us. You up for it, Felicia?"
The catwomen nodded with a bright smile.
"Yep! Nothin' like a road trip with a whole bunch of friends. Besides, I can't rest easy knowing there's an innocent little girl out there that could use my help."
"Atta girl. Alright! We're off!"
As the four stepped out of the club, none of them noticed Jedah standing on top of a building looking down at them with a sneer.
"Son of Sparda…you most certainly need to be eliminated as soon as possible."
This is one of those chapters I'd identify as filler. Doesn't really have much relevance to the plot, but I'm pretty sure a lot of people just wanted Dante (the red-coated one from the original series) to kick some ass...and spew some funny one-liners. Also, why am I doing a slash romance pairing Felicia with Marth? Well, anyone who's played Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon or done some research on Marth knows that this is setting up for a huge joke later on.
SOUNDTRACK SO FAR
Saya, Ness, and Lucas- "Pollyanna" from Earthbound (SSBM)
Marth to the rescue- "Together We Ride" from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (SSBM)
X and Zero versus Kirby and Meta Knight- "Meta Knight's Revenge" from Kirby Super Star (SSBB)
Link versus Morrigan- Morrigan's theme from Marvel versus Capcom 3
Link versus Dante- "Never Surrender" from DmC: Devil May Cry
Krystal and Trish versus the Moblin horde- "Lock and Load" from Devil May Cry 1
Krystal versus Mewtwo- "Poké Floats" from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Saya versus Ghirahim- Ghirahim's battle theme from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Frank versus Ghirahim- "On a Mission" from Dead Rising
Courthouse caving in- "No Redemption" from DmC: Devil May Cry
Samus escapes- Metroid Prime main theme
Chun-Li versus Samus- Chun-Li's theme from Street Fighter IV
Standoff on Mount Fuji- "Douchuumen" from The Mysterious Murasame Castle (go on Youtube and look for a version by a group called ysk1210)
Saya and Lucas- "Love" from Mother 3
"LET'S ROCK!"- "Devils Never Cry" from Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening