A/N: And anotha' one!
-DMC-
Dante overlooked the entrance to the Iceberg Lounge that night, seeing men and women coming in and out through the open doors, all dressed in suits and dresses. Typical, given the place was indeed a nightclub.
The place certainly lived up to its namesake, Dante could feel the chill of the place even from where he stood. He figured he'd wait things out. Chances are, if he was to take out this 'Penguin' character, he'd have to limit the amount of civilians who could be in the way if things got crazy.
He looked back at the motorcycle he left parked in front of a tobacco store, hoping his luck wasn't so bad as for it to get towed or robbed. He nodded, satisfied when he saw it was still there.
'Call it a rental,' Antonio, the shopkeeper told Dante, 'my family's having a hard time keeping this shop, and this shop is what keeps bread on the table. I can't afford to just give the bike away. But, if you handle Penguin and his guys, get him to leave my family's store alone, then you can use the chopper as much as you need to. Just park it back in front of the store at night, Dante.'
"Better than nothin' I guess." Dante said. His eyes went back to the front entrance as he waited.
Someone was watching him. Dante knew this, but he wasn't concerned.
Nightwing stared down at the devil-hunter from atop a water tank that overlooked the building. He pressed a button on a communicator connected to his ear, "Hey Batman, I found that 'perp' you've been so concerned about."
*"Did you now."* Bruce's voice said over the line. The vigilante sat in his Batcave in front of the computer, dressed in his suit minus the cowl. It was nearing time for him to go on patrol, but in the meantime he was watching the news reports on Dante's earlier exploit. He'd also been reading the report as well. He saw the kid from the convenience store giving a report, mentioning something about the 'stranger' that wanted to buy his motorcycle but ending up having to kill a monster in his store.
"What is he doing?" Bruce asked, the news report playing in the background.
"Looks like he's trying to get the drop on Penguin." Nightwing said, "Pistols and a sword tells me he isn't going gentle on their first night."
"He brought Ivy in alive, but I still don't know the full circumstances behind it." Batman said, "He doesn't have an aggressive temperament, so you can approach him. Find out what his goal is, and help him bring down the Penguin if it's necessary. Study him, and inform me. And don-"
"I know, Bats." Nightwing said, "I won't let him kill anyone."
The line disconnected.
Nightwing leaped from the water tank, flipping and landing on one building, before repeating the maneuver for the other at Dante's level.
Though Nightwing landed silently, Dante sighed, "Another one," before he greeted, "How's it hanging spandex?"
"Just enjoying the night." Nightwing greeted back, "Caught sight of the guy the paper's are talking about, figured I'd see if he lived up to the hype."
Dante passed Nightwing a side eye, raising a curious eyebrow, "Papers are talking about me?"
"Cooking a monster in a corner store tends to make a few headlines." Nightwing said with a grin, "If you're worried about publicity, don't be. For now. Outside of a vague description and some crappy security camera footage, you're still lowkey."
Dante gave a half-shrug, "Hate me love me, know me ignore me. I couldn't care less. Who are you supposed to be anyways?"
"Names Nightwing." the vigilante said.
"Nightwing…" Dante let the name sink in, "Not a bad name. Call me Dante."
"Appreciate it… and likewise." Nightwing said as he walked up to the ledge, getting a better look at the Iceberg lounge, "Someone's got a beef with Penguin. What's that all about?"
"Kid at the corner store said he'd let me rent his motorcycle if I took care of his penguin problem." Dante said, "So I'm doing animal control's job."
"It's a deal I'd've made." Nightwing said, giving a shrug.
"Ah, so I wasn't a sucker." Dante smirked.
"I'm curious how you found ole Oswald." Nightwing said.
"Did some math." Dante said, "I figured, if I was a penguin, I'd be somewhere cold. If I was a gangster, I'd be somewhere every gangster cliche goes in the movies… a nightclub. After a bit of driving around, I found the coldest nightclub in this craphole city."
"Fine detective work Sherlock Holmes." Nightwing said jokingly, "What's the plan on bringing him down?"
"I prefer the simple drop in, kick ass, rack up some property damage, and go home a debt slave approach."
"That's always fun." Nightwing said, "Unfortunately, guys like Penguin don't just go away after putting a foot in their ass. You gotta put'em behind bars." he kneeled down to get a closer look at the club interior, "And without hard evidence, you won't get him on extortion."
Nightwing activated the 'detective mode' vision installed in his domino mask, checking out the scene of the club below. "Alright, three meatheads with guns… ooh, illegal fully automatics, something to bust him on. That's three gunmen surrounding cobblepot, two gunmen on the upper ledge, another eight unarmed in total." he pulled a small device from his utility belt, pressing the button on it several times. With each click, a 'beep' would resound from said device, "And that's it for the guns." Nightwing turned to Dante, "Wanna crash this party?" Nightwing said, "If you're trying to wait for things to die down, don't bother. You'd be here all night."
Nodding, Dante said, "Loud and proud. If that's the case, lets get crazy." Dante allowed Nightwing to leap off the roof first, before following the vigilante down through the glass skylight, shattering it and sending glass through the Iceberg Lounge.
The two men landed in the middle of the club V.I.P section, earning shrieks of shock and curses from men and women close by and on the dancefloor. The civilians attending quickly fled the building.
Dante turned to Nightwing, "By the way, great ass Wingman." he said jokingly.
"Thanks." Nightwing said pridefully, "Talk all the crap about Gotham you want, but that's Gotham's ass you're looking at."
"What the bloody hell is this?!" a short man with a hook nose and monocle said. He sat at a table piled with raw fish he was feeding on. He had goons standing on both sides of his table. The goons at the upper level found they were unable to use their guns, the men coming down to the lower level.
"Heya Cobblepot, ya missed me?" the oldest former Robin said with a wave.
Dante took a good look at the Penguin, his face dropping in disappointment, "You know, when I was told I'd be dealing with a mobster penguin, I had something else in mind."
Penguin was unamused, his goons already surrounding the two men.
"Who do you think you are?! You come here, lousing up my night!" Oswald said, aiming his umbrella/cane/shotgun at the thing closest to him, Dante. Being faster on the draw, Dante whipped out his own gun and shot the cane out of Penguin's hands, sending it clattering along the floor behind him.
"Some people don't like midgets extorting money out of their businesses." Dante said, "So I think I'm gonna drop kick your little ass back to Alaska."
"There are penguins in Alaska?" one of Cobblepots thugs asked another, the man shrugging.
Penguin's top lip curled back in fury, "Boys, kill'em."
With equally smug smirks, the two vigilantes took on the Penguin thugs.
Nightwing whipped out his escrima sticks, mixing strikes from the sticks in with fluid acrobatics to dismantle thugs. He smacked a thug in the throat with his baton, finishing him with a roundhouse kick. Nightwing performed a somersault to dodge a punch from behind by another, before throwing his baton to nail that thug in the face. Before the baton could even hit the ground he grabbed it in a flip, and followed up with a fluid snap of a kick.
The former Robin activated the electricity function of the sticks, giving them an extra jolt that even further tipped the fight in his scales. Jumping up, he whipped a kick into the side of a thugs skull, instantly knocking him out. He ducked down, dodging a punch, before he swept the legs of the thug responsible with his baton. Grayson swiftly finished the man by sticking the electric bit into the small of the man's back.
"Oh come on, pick up the slack boys!"
Nightwing could hear the sound of Dante's trash talk, the first Robin paying mind to the way Dante handled his adversaries.
Dante used a mixture of martial arts from karate to classic boxing techniques to dispatch penguin's thugs. Dante, holding a boxing stance weaved a punch before delivering a jab to another's nose, breaking it. He finished the thug with a hard right hook to the jaw. He drove a palm into the solar plexus of one, sending him back across the floor before swinging a wide kick to knock another one out cold.
Two of the thugs present tried firing their assault rifles, but found they couldn't.
"The hell is wrong with the burners!" A thug cried
"Screw it! We'll grab the others!"
They ran to a locked weapons cache located behind a bar on the edge of the dance floor. They both scrambled to unlock the case.
"Heads up!"
One of the thugs turned just in time for one of his unconscious buddies getting thrown at him (courtesy of Dante), knocking him out as well. The last remaining thug finally managed to get the cache opened, the man pulling out an AK-47.
"Careful!" Dick warned,
"I got it." Dante said, casually pulling Ebony and Ivory. The second the penguin thug let off automatic fire Dante rapid fired his pistols, every bullet of his cancelling out the thugs.
Once the thug ran out of ammo, the stalemate stopped. The thug dropped the AK as Dante approached. If the thug's face could be seen through his ski mask, Dante would see the man sweating in fear. Once the son of Sparda had the man cornered, the thug curled up into a ball against the wall, aiming to make himself as small as possible.
He whimpered as Dante put Ivory to his head…
"Bang!" Dante said with a smirk, the thug gasping in surprise, "Relax, I'm just messing with you."
He lowered the gun... to the man's knee,
*BANG!*
The penguin thug cried out and blubbered, "You son of a bitch! You shot me!" as he grabbed his bleeding knee.
"Walk it off you big baby." Dante said as he walked away from the man, "Probably didn't even hurt that bad."
Oswald slinked back into his chair as Nightwing and Dante approached, "Guess this little penguin went to market." Nightwing said.
Oswald slammed his hand down hard on the table, "Croc! What are you doing?! Get out here and do what you were bloody paid for!"
…
...
The cups and glasses set along the bars and tabletops rattled, the floor vibrating as something made its way towards the V.I.P area.
Dante looked to Nightwing, "There are Bats, Robins, Plants, Penguins, and Crocodile people in this town?!"
"Everyone has a gimmick." Nightwing admitted. He smirked at Dante, "Guess yours would be cowboy, eh Clint Eastwood?"
Taking a look at his chaps and boots, Dante nodded, "Touche...:"
Dante's eyebrows raised in fascination as the subject rounded a corner. What could be described as a massive humanoid crocodile dressed in ripped sweatpants walked up to the two vigilante's. Killer Croc, as expected, had a mouth filled with flesh ripping teeth, bone shredding claws, and a bone crushing muscular physique. His eyes were bright, yellow, and slitted. His flesh was that of hard green scales capable of stopping bullets. While Nightwing had faced Croc before, he knew that to do so in hand to hand would be suicide. He took a few steps back, noticing Dante did no such thing.
Killer Croc walked right up to the son of Sparda, Dante standing his ground as the Croc stood inches from him. Dante looked up at the Croc that towered over him at 11 feet. The son of Sparda barely came up to Crocs chest.
Dante smirked, "You my friend, are one big lizard. What are they feeding you?"
Croc grinned hungrily, "People."
"That explains the lovely breath." Dante said as he fanned the odor from Croc.
"Careful Dante." Nightwing said, "Croc's size does not hinder his speed. At all."
"Heh," Dante chuckled, the hunter bouncing on the soles of his feet. He cocked his arms into a boxers stance "good for me. More fun. Why don't you steer clear and keep Mr Popper company?"
Nightwing stretched his arms, "Well, if it keeps my risk of pulled muscles to a minimum," before getting penguin into a quick chokehold, the man trying to sneak past Nightwing, "I'll sit this one out."
Dante focused back on Croc, "Alright King K. Rool," he held out an open palm, beckoning him forward with the tips of his fingers, "lets dance."
Croc snarled as he swiped his clawed fingers at Dante, aiming to slice the man to ribbons. Dante gracefully flipped back, landing on the dance floor as he gained distance. Croc lunged forward, hoping to grab Dante and tackle the devil hunter down to the ground.
Dante jumped up as croc neared him, slamming the flat of his foot on top of the mutant's head, sending Croc face first into the floor.
Croc swung his meaty leg at Dante, hoping to nail the man while his back was turned. Dante, sensing the attack, raised his leg and stopped Croc's kick cold with his shin.
Before Croc could climb back to his feet, Dante leaped up beside him, grabbing him by the back of the head, before leaping forward and sitting, driving Croc's head back into the floor again.
"Bulldog." Nightwing nodded, impressed, "Someone watches wrestling."
Growling in anger, through his daze Croc's large hand grabbed Dante by the torso. Thinking he'd had the white haired man restrained, he grabbed with both hands and squeezed to keep Dante in place, "You… really piss me off." Croc snarled in Dante's face.
"I have a knack for that." Dante said smugly.
"Not anymore." Croc said as he opened his mouth wide, prepped to bite Dante's face off.
Dante dropped his weight, throwing his knee up under Croc's chin to slam his mouth shut. Following up with the swing of a kick to the same spot, Dante snapped Croc's head back, chipping several of the mutant's teeth and dazing him enough to release.
Taking a few steps away from the oversized thug, Dante gave Croc his back, "That can't be all you got Leatherhead." he shook his head with disappointment.
Croc got back to his feet, vision turning red with blood lust. His breathing grew ragged as what little remained of his human mental state evaporated. He charged Dante like the wild animal he was, the son of Sparda turning as Croc lunged at him again, leading with his mouth and claws.
The devil-hunter had to stifle a laugh as he simply flash-stepped to the side, grabbing Croc by his left wrist before whipping the mutant up over his head, before bringing him down hard into the glass floor.
Luckily, for Croc, the glass only cracked.
Nightwing stood next to an unconscious Cobblepot, the former Robin rubbing his chin, "Strong enough to throw Croc around like a ragdoll. He's definitely no human. Meta-human possibly."
Instinctively, Dante put his right forearm up, allowing Croc to chomp down right onto it.
Raising an eyebrow, Dante had to admit, he was somewhat surprised, "Damn. When you said you eat people, I was thinking that was just a scare tactic."
"Eat… your bones!" Croc snarled as he dug his teeth deeper into the flesh under Dante's coat.
"Well... if you're so eager." Dante grinned, before he used his free arm to force Croc's mouth open, and shoved the arm Croc bit down on deep into the mutant's throat. Croc's eyes widened in shock and pain.
Dante put Croc into a chokehold so he couldn't get out. The mutant gagged as Dante forced his forearm deeper, "Aw, what's wrong baby, too much for you?" Dante mocked.
Having been a former wrestler, Croc did the only thing he could think of… tap out.
Dante pulled his arm out of Croc's throat, letting the thug retch and gag over the floor. Dante flicked saliva off his fingers and waved phlegm off his woundless arm.
'Healing factor too…' Nightwing noted.
"Lemme know when you're ready for me to call animal control." Dante said to Killer Croc, knowing full well this fight was over since it started.
The mutant shuddered violently on the floor, before letting out a predatory roar straight out of Jurassic Park.
Now in a berserk rage, the Croc swiped at Dante with his claws every which way he could, the son of Sparda shifting back into a boxers stance and weaving every swipe before landing hard and quick jabs into Croc's torso, and uppercuts into his jaw. Whenever Croc would come in for a wide swipe, Dante would simply flash-step back to gain more ground.
"Hey Dante," Nightwing called out, "his limbs grow back. Do with that what you will."
"Perfect!" Dante said, throwing up both hands to slam against Croc's palms, stopping the mutant's assault cold. With superior strength, Dante threw Croc's right hand down to the floor, pinning it with his left foot before using his free hand to pull Rebellion. With one upwards swing, off came Croc's left arm.
Croc roared in pain and rage, the dismembered arm flopping down onto the glass.
The second Croc raised his free arm, Dante swung his sword down on that, severing it as well.
Holding Rebellion with his left hand, Dante balled his right hand before launching an uppercut under Killer Crocs chin, knocking the thug up high through the air and allowing him to land head first onto the floor, unconscious.
Dante put his foot down on Croc's chest, "Eat your heart out, Crocodile Dundee." he said more to himself than anyone else.
"Well well," Nightwing said, approaching Croc to make sure he wasn't dead. When he saw the mutant still breathing, he finished, "You are every bit as impressive as I thought you'd be."
"Impressing is what I live for." Dante said sarcastically. He and Nightwing looked to the entryway, hearing the sounds of footsteps running in. It was the GCPD.
Gordon looked to the aftermath of the scene before him, the man looking to the two vigilante's standing in the middle of it, "What did Penguin do this time?" the other officers fanned out to observe.
"Extortion." Nightwing said, he pointed to the weapons lining the floor, "You can also throw some illegal weapons charges in there."
Gordon sighed, looking around at the scene. Nothing new. "Alright then." the GCPD began making arrests.
XXX
Dante stood next to Nightwing, watching as the now conscious Penguin was led into a cop car in handcuffs.
"Well Happy Feet, I guess you'll be dancing in the big house from now on." Dante said with a shaking of his head.
"For now at least." Gordon said as he lit a cigarette, "For all the good it does." Gordon looked to see Croc, chained and bound, getting carted into a transport big enough to fit him, the vehicle set for Arkham.
Gordon turned to the devil hunter, the commissioner honestly not liking the look of Dante's sword and guns, "You must be new around these parts."
Dante turned to him, "You could say I'm new around all parts."
While Dante was telling the truth, Gordon took it as him just being a smart ass. Nightwing spoke up, "He's cool, Gordon. I give him my seal of approval."
Gordon passed one more glance at Dante, not exactly comfortable with another vigilante in his city. He knew the Batman, and trusted him and his family… well, with the exception of one. He never knew what sort of trouble a new comer could bring.
He walked back up to his car.
Nightwing passed a two finger salute to Dante, "Good on tonight." he nodded to the beat up motorcycle Dante rented, "I'd say you earned that ride."
"Heh, she's a beaut." Dante said as he stepped up to his ride. After he sat down, he revved the engine, "Be seeing you around Wingman." he said before he drove off.
XXX
Batman and Robin answered the skylight call, meeting up with Jim Gordon on the rooftop. The commissioner was alone.
"Is he the one responsible?" Gordon asked the Dark Knight.
Batman didn't have to be the world's greatest detective to know that Gordon referred to the bodies in the morgue the other night, "Yes." Batman said, Gordon's brow furrowing, "He confirmed that what he killed wasn't human. His claims are that he acted in self-defense. After monitoring his movements throughout Gotham, I believe him."
"Will he be a danger?" Gordon asked.
"I'm still figuring that out." Batman admitted, "It seems he has no ill intentions. But, if these creatures go hostile with his presence alone, that could spell trouble."
"What are you going to do about him?" Gordon asked.
"I won't lie to you." Batman said, "I'm not sure. Fortunately, Gotham isn't a place he's aiming to settle down. When I find a way to get him where he's trying to go, that'll be a lot less problems for us to deal with."
The commissioner knew how Batman operated. He knew there was a laundry list of things the vigilante wasn't telling him, but he knew that trying to pry answers out of the hero was pointless.
"Alright," the commissioner settled, "I'm trusting you to make sure he didn't rustle up a storm of shit."
"If he becomes trouble, I'll personally take him down." Batman promised.
Gordon passed the dark knight another glance, a silent understanding between the two. Gordon flipped the switch on the light to off, before he left the two vigilante's alone.
As the police commissioner swung the door to the rooftop exit open, Nightwing made his appearance behind the door as it swung closed.
"How did your encounter with him go?" Batman asked.
Nightwing gave a sigh, his head dropping as he put his hands to his hips in disappointment.
This raised Batman and Robin's concern...
"Cool guy!" Nightwing said with a smile, flipping the mood on its head.
Damian scoffed, "He is not cool." he folded his arms.
"What did you learn about him?" Batman asked.
"Whelp," Nightwing started, leaning back on the guardrail as he folded his arms, "he took on Killer Croc. Tossed his ass around like a feather."
Batman nodded, "He took on Poison Ivy as well. I didn't see it, but I knew that demonstrated his skill well enough."
"Thought him handing your asses to you showed that." Nightwing said with a smile.
Neither Batman nor Robin responded.
"Touchy subject. Got it." Nightwing said. He continued, "Dante's fast. I can tell you that much. He can move faster than my eyes can track."
"Dante?" Robin asked.
"It's what he said his name was." Nightwing said with a raise of his hand.
"Well we hear different." the boy wonder said.
Batman looked down in thought, "According to the homeless shelter I had him check in at, he gave the name Tony Redgrave. Dante must be an alias."
"Or Redgrave is." Nightwing added.
"What else?" Batman asked.
"I noticed he has a healing factor. It's strong enough for him to recover a bite from Croc near instantly." Nightwing said, "The extent of it's still on a need to be seen basis."
"Long story short, definitely meta-human as we thought." Robin said, "If he's even human at all."
Nightwing looked to the Dark Knight, "What are you planning on doing about him Bruce?"
Before Batman could respond, a sound resounded from the hero's communicator. Batman pulled up his forearm, a holographic screen activating to check who was contacting him.
"What is it, Superman?" Batman asked as he answered the call.
"This call goes out to the entire League," the Man of Tomorrow's voice said through the comm link, "you're needed at the Watchtower. It's urgent."
XXX
The door to room 3E opened, the son of Sparda stepping into the dimly lit room for the homeless. There was a small cot in the room and an old lamp against the wall... nothing else.
While his stamina wasn't gonna be shot after walking a mere 20 blocks, having had to return the motorcycle back to that convenience store kid, mentally, he'd had it. He leaned Rebellion up against the wall and dropped his red duster over the lamp, making the room even darker. Before he hopped into the bed, he saw a small white envelope neatly folded on the middle of bed.
Naturally, he picked it up and opened it. He pulled out a piece of paper, a plastic card also falling out and onto the bed sheets. Ignoring it, he read the contents of the letter,
Hello Tony, you and I have never met, but as a show of our support during these hard economic times, my organization has pushed to provide more charitable endeavors to those struggling in Gotham. I hope the few hundred dollars on that card will be enough to keep you afloat, at least for a while, and I hope someone such as yourself can make a push to lend a hand to your fellow man in need.
Thank you, B.W.
Dante's eyebrow raised, 'B.W.? Betty White? Bruce Willis?' his eyebrows raised in joy as he suddenly thought back on the motorcycle he left behind earlier, a grin crossing his face, "Well thank you Mr Willis!" he said as he hopped down on the bed, grabbing the card from under his thigh.
He folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.
XXX
A/N: Alright! So, my word to you guys is that this story will move into 'the League' edge of things next update. I just needed a jumping off point, and I figured why not Gotham. I know things have been lowkey, with a hero reference here and there, but the world will expand next chapter.
Now, to address some things (mentioned in reviews and PM), Dante won't be curbstomping EVERYTHING. Against some of DC's elite tier (Superman, Doomsday, Darkseid, etc etc), expect Dante to have to put in some work or possibly even lose in some cases. I just can't have fun writing a story where a character curbstomps everything that's thrown their way.
Next thing, pairings. I admit, one of the funnest things about crossovers is playing with different pairings. BUT, canonically speaking, Dante has TERRIBLE luck with women from a LTR standpoint. IF we were to stick with canonicity, Dante won't be getting paired (in anything romantically long term). BUT, since Dante is a guy who could honestly steal anyone's woman, expect him to be a chick magnet. I can play with pairings and potential pairings with women who'd mesh well with him.
Wonder Woman wouldn't be a good match in my opinion, but I imagine Zatanna would be fun, Huntress possibly, and definitely Harley Quinn or Ivy. He could honestly mesh with most Heroine and Neutral-ish characters. Regardless, this is NOT a romance fic, so don't think I'd put a whole lot of focus on just pairings.
Do tell me what pairings you'd wanna see, I'm genuinely curious.
Last thing, Devil Arms (because that's inevitable). I figured, it'd be fun to come up with some original weapons that Dante could gain, but I've also had some readers mention wanting to see the Faust, Cavalier, and Balrog appear in this story (remember this story takes place just shortly after DMC4). While I love the DMC5 weapons, I don't think it's possible to make all of them appear without completely kicking logic in the ass, and I do enough logic twists in this story already.
A compromise I'm willing to make, is that certain variations of those weapons could appear, as in a weapon LIKE Cavalier could come up, but it may not be called Cavalier. Get it? Let me know if there are previous DMC weapons you'd like to see make a comeback, even if it were just an in-story variant
Alright, enough of the long author's note. I'll catch you guys later. I'll be dropping shorter chapters to get updates to my stories out faster!
