Trish was relieved to find that so far, much of the golf complex had been empty. If you ignored the scattered bones and corpses in various states of decay, that is. After the creature behind the reception desk, she had met very little resistance, and she wasn't sure if it was because she was being followed while they waited for a moment to strike, or if Dante's presence outside had started to draw their attention. She stepped over a blood stained teddy bear and swallowed hard. She thanked whatever gods there might be that the small creche she'd come across had been dark. Trish shivered as she remembered the glowing pairs of eyes that had turned to look at her as she entered, the light from the hallway reflecting off eyeballs that weren't human. Even after dispatching whatever was inside, she didn't dare turn on the light to check the room for survivors. The smell alone was enough to tell her what she needed to know.
So far she had also checked all of the bathrooms, the staff rooms, and the smaller of the two indoor golf courses. She had been mildly amused to see that the latter was still pirate themed, with a disclaimer that Pirate Pete was a distant cousin of Outback Ollie. Not that anyone probably even read it before rushing in. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure if she'd ever come across a pirate that wasn't called Pete at one of these sorts of things. The only place left now was the larger of the two indoor golf courses. There was of course, always the potential that any creatures had just snuck back into the rooms she'd already checked, but she'd tried to be as vigilant as possible and made sure to recheck a few places as she passed by to act as a deterrent. She looked up at a clock hanging on the wall and sighed. All in all she hadn't really been here for that long, but she still felt like she was wasting time. Nero had to be almost above them by now, and Dante would soon be making his own move.
"Last but not least," she mumbled to herself, heading towards the final room.
Nero was finally getting closer. As his target loomed in front of him however, he realised something. So far, he'd been able to use the tall buildings and the wide-spread light pollution of the city as cover. The area surrounding the golf course however was completely dark, and although there were plenty of warehouses scattered about, the majority were only three storeys high at most. Not only that, but those lights in what he assumed was the parking lot were bright. They'd been able to see the golf course from miles away, which unfortunately meant only one thing – whatever was down there would be able to see Nero approaching too.
A thin layer of sweat formed on his skin, and he tried to tell himself that it was going to be okay. After all, they'd planned for this, right? That was why Dante and Trish had gone on ahead, to draw all of the creatures towards the centre and keep them distracted until Nero arrived. Nero laughed nervously to himself. So why did he suddenly feel so damn uneasy all of a sudden? He did a quick patrol around the rooftop, as much to calm himself down as to check his surroundings. The air seemed to be growing more humid, and he couldn't tell if he felt too hot or too cold. He glanced up and shivered as he saw thick clouds starting to form overhead. He just hoped that whatever had attacked Nico wasn't hiding up there too. The air around him seemed to be buzzing with static, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. As he got closer, the clouds seemed to shrink away from him, no doubt due to the cargo he was carrying. He just hoped the pull of the crystals didn't end up alerting anything to his approach. He could almost feel the crystals vibrating beneath him, and the building was starting to creak. They needed to get this thing into the portal, and fast.
Nero did a quick check of his weapons, then sat down in the middle of the cobbled together aircraft. He found himself wondering – a pointless action given the circumstances – If he hadn't encountered that John guy earlier, what would he be doing right now? Would his father have already dealt with the situation hours ago? Or would Nero still be in this exact, if not a similar scenario, trying to rescue a weakened Vergil from whatever the hell was down there? Nero ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Now was not the time for meaningless speculation. Right now the only thing that mattered was keeping everyone alive and getting rid of whatever had caused this mess in the first place. He was close now, very close in fact. Soon it would be time to look for the glow of the portal and wait for his signal.
"Hey, you doin' OK?" Nico asked, as Kyrie shakily sat back down in the passenger seat across from her. Kyrie nodded and sipped from the water Alisa had left outside the bathroom door for her.
"Sorry, I think I got a little motion sick," Kyrie said quietly.
"My bad," Nico said, taking a sharp corner slightly more gently than usual. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Alisa looking back at her, slowly shaking her head.
"Where's Nero?" Kyrie asked, leaning forward to peer out of the windscreen.
Nico waved a hand in Kyrie's general direction. "Over there somewhere," Nico said. "Lost sight of him due to a road block, but don't worry, he's got this."
"We're getting close to the place we need to stop anyway, right?" Alisa said from behind them. She was looking at a piece of paper with a poorly drawn map on it. She held it closer to her face and tilted her head. "At least… I think we are?"
"We're not that far off," Nico agreed. "I just need to find another way to get to the lookout point that avoids all these damned barriers." Her grip tightened on the steering wheel, and Kyrie gave her a concerned look. "Hafta say, I'm looking forward to bein' able to take a break from drivin' for a bit."
"That's assuming everything goes as planned," Kyrie pointed out.
Nico looked over at her with a smirk. "C'mon, it's these guys. Sure I had my doubts at first, but you know everythin's gonna work out just fine."
"I wonder…" Kyrie sighed. She stared out at the passing streetlights, which were steadily growing into a flashing blur on either side of them as Nico sped up again. She knew Nico was right – things did have a strange way of working out whenever Dante was involved, even if it sometimes took a little longer than she'd have liked. But everything had to end sometime, right? She just prayed that time wasn't tonight.
Dante was standing outside a fence somewhere between the parking lot and the outdoor golf course. If he squinted hard enough, he could just about make out Nero in the distance, but only because he knew where to look. It was probably time to start making his move. He glanced up at the building, and wondered how Trish was doing inside. If their hunch was correct, then all of the stronger demons would be outside protecting the portal, so all things going well he'd be seeing her again shortly. Dante ran a hand down his face and clapped his hands together, psyching himself up. "Alrighty then, here we go," he mumbled to himself.
He walked along the perimeter until he was about halfway then scaled the fence, landing with a soft thud on the other side. Almost immediately, the sky darkened above him and all outside sounds stopped. Despite the lack of wind, Dante noticed that a few strands of his hair were tickling his cheeks. He quickly looked around and noted the remaining flags flapping gently around him. The pull was weak, just as Trish had described, but he at least had a general idea of what direction to head in. Dante plastered a grin on his face and slowly started to walk towards the alligator Trish had told him about. "Hope I'm not too late to the party!" he called out jovially. "You guys should have told me, I'd have brought a salad!" His arm shot out from his side and fired a bullet into some unknown creature before it could even reach him. "Seriously, all this meat can't be good for you guys," Dante continued, desperately trying to ignore the faceless corpses he was forced to step over.
((FOOL)), a deep voice boomed from seemingly everywhere at once. It sent an electrical shiver down Dante's spine. ((YOU DARE WALK DIRECTLY INTO OUR TERRITORY?))
"Hey now, I don't recall this place changing ownership," Dante said. He raised an eyebrow at a deformed looking kangaroo that seemed to be sporting a hook for a hand. "...Not since the last time anyway."
((WHERE IS THE YAMATO)), the voice commanded rather than questioned.
"You tell me," Dante shrugged. "You're the ones that seem to be so keen on finding it."
((HE WASTES OUR TIME)), another voice seemed to say.
((HE MOCKS US)), said another.
"Let's not jump to conclusions here," Dante said, holding up his hands. "I just came for a friendly chat, that's all. I wanted to see what your deal was, since you seemed so desperate to speak with me." Chittering laughter that sounded like rain falling on leaves rippled around him.
((YOU GAVE UP YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO TALK WHEN YOU SLAUGHTERED HUNDREDS OF OUR KIND)), the voice hissed.
Dante pointed indignantly in no direction in particular. "That's not fair, you guys started it! If you'd just bothered to try having a civilised conversation–"
((ENOUGH!)) the voice roared. ((LET US DO AWAY WITH THIS IGNORANT BUFFOON. WITHOUT HIM BLOCKING OUR PATH WE'LL FIND WHAT WE SEEK IN NO TIME))
"Well now you're just starting to sound like my–'' Dante stopped himself before he could say brother. The less information these things had that could lead them to the Yamato, the better. "...My old man," Dante quickly corrected himself. "Perhaps you might have heard of him, he's kind of a big deal in the demon world."
((WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE, SON OF SPARDA)), came an irritated sounding response. ((WE ALSO KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO HIM. A MERE MORTAL TRYING TO MASQUERADE AS A DEMON. PATHETIC.))
"C'mon, there's no need for insults," Dante said, drawing his guns. "Besides, could a mere mortal do this? " He disappeared from view. A shower of bullets rained down from the sky followed by pained screams as Dante spun through the air, before landing back on the ground without breaking a sweat. "And that's before I show you my swordmaster skills," Dante said proudly. He had used his time in the air to scan the area for the portal, and now continued to slowly edge towards it. Some way or another, he'd need to remove the bodies of the poor souls that had been used to cover it so that Nero would know where to aim, but he'd figure that out when he got there. "Hell of a place to pick as your base," Dante called out, trying to further distract the creatures surrounding him. "Fan of the outback, or just like golf?"
((WE FOLLOWED YOU)), the voice spat.
"Me?" Dante asked. "I've never been here in my…" he trailed off as his eyes roamed the fake sandy banks and artificial trees. He caught sight of a discarded Australian flag lying in tatters on the ground and a smile crept across his features. "Wait a second–"
((NO MORE TALK)), the voice yelled suddenly. Dante felt the wind get knocked out of him as something hit him from behind, propelling him almost to the other side of the golf course. He passed over the alligator as he did so, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at its appearance despite the situation. He managed to right himself before he smacked into the ground, his boots skidding across the sand.
"Man if this place survives the night, I have got to come back here for a game or two," Dante said raspily as he tried to catch his breath. He dodged out of the way as something grazed his cheek, and ducked forward as the sky itself seemed to try and close in on him. He rolled onto his back and thrust his sword out above him, feeling a sense of both satisfaction and disgust as something crunched and squelched on impact. He rolled over again, dragging the blade through the viscous black substance in the air as he did so. Pained screams echoed around him. "Guess you guys were serious about the whole no talking thing, huh?" Dante asked, jumping to his feet again.
Before he could orient himself, he felt a set of needle-like teeth embed themselves in his shoulder. He let out a muffled curse and aimed the gun in his opposite hand behind him. No sooner had he pulled the trigger, than he found himself flying through the air again, his own teeth rattling together. It took him a second to realise what had happened, but when he did, a plan started to form in his mind – the damned thing had exploded! Dante ran the back of his hand over his sweat covered forehead and risked a glance towards the building. Although it was mostly obscured from sight now, he could just about make out a set of doors. All things going well, he hoped to see Trish running through them any second.
Trish could sense them as soon as she approached the doors of the indoor golf course. Watching her. Waiting. So this was where they'd been hiding. She let out an irritated tut and felt around inside her top for the mobile device she was carrying with her. A quick glance revealed no messages or calls from Nico before she replaced it. Hopefully no news meant good news. She kicked the doors open and sauntered into the indoor golf course, wondering how much it would cost city hall if she just set the whole place alight to get this over with. This room, she was pleasantly surprised to see, continued the Australian theme from outside. In fact, this one actually seemed to do it quite well. Or at least, the oversized gaudy statues surrounding the holes actually looked like what they were modelled after instead of whatever those abominations outside were.
Trish reached the middle of the room and turned around, hand on hip. "Alright, come on out. I'm a busy girl, you know." The air around her seemed to shift, but the room remained silent. She could feel a strange pressure in her ears as the temperature grew a little colder. Trish sighed and raised a crackling fist. "It's going to happen at some point, no point in delaying it," she said bluntly. She glanced towards the fire escape at the back of the room. "Unless you'd prefer to take this outside?" she suggested. Although it was muffled, she could just about make out the sounds of combat, and she knew she needed to get out there soon.
A low whisper started to form then, echoing around the brightly coloured room. Multiple pairs of cartoon eyes turned to stare at her from the walls, and Trish found that they creeped her out more than if the demons just revealed themselves directly. Finally, Trish sensed some movement behind her and she turned, firing a bolt of electricity before whatever it was had even finished materialising. It shrieked as it exploded into a cloud of flaming black mucus, coating the walls, floor, ceiling, and – unfortunately – Trish's boots.
"Oh come on, I just got these!" Trish protested. She ran her hand through the air over her shoes and the grime disappeared. "Why do I feel like I'm going to be doing that a lot tonight?" she grumbled. She turned back to the room and raised her arms. "Any other takers?" she called out. Again there was nothing, so she chose a random direction and shot a ball of sparks towards the ceiling. The area it struck seemed to lighten, as something seemingly parted to let it through before a shower of plaster fell onto the floor.
Why? a voice called out suddenly. Far from the booming voices Nico had described to them, it sounded barely above a whisper and made Trish's head hurt. It did however seem to be using a similar tactic of speaking directly into her mind somehow.
"Why what?" Trish called back. She knew engaging with them was a bad idea, but if it would get them to just show themselves already, then she had to try.
Why do you fight us? Are you not one of us?
Trish scoffed. "I haven't been one of you for a long time," she said, trying to resist the urge to scratch at her scalp. The feeling inside her head was growing increasingly unpleasant.
But you used to be, The voice retorted. It sounded unpleasantly childlike and playful.
Don't you want to act how you really want to? a different voice piped up. How you were made to be?
"What would pathetic lesser demons like you know about what I want?" Trish retorted. She knew they were trying to distract her by getting inside her mind, and she wasn't about to let them. She tried to push against the pressure radiating inside her head.
You can't go against nature.
Yes. You're strong, why waste your strength helping pathetic humans?
When they all die what will be left? You're going to live forever you know, might as well enjoy yourself while you do so.
The voices echoing inside her mind continued to increase until she could hardly think any more. It was easy enough to ignore what they were saying, but less so the throbbing pain starting to pound through her skull. "Alright, that's enough," Trish said through gritted teeth. Dante had been right; these things were much stronger than the demons she usually dealt with. She started to make her way over to the metal fire doors with both arms raised. The electricity running between her fingertips grew in frequency until there was a high pitched buzzing sound in the air.
There was a child in there, you know.
Trish's fingertips paused a few inches away from the door. "What are you walking about?"
In the nursery.
A little boy.
He was waiting, all alone for so long…
Trish turned to face the room again, fists clenched at her sides. "Impossible," she spat. "Nothing human could have survived in that room." Her left eye twitched as she felt something slithering around behind her eyes. Why was she still talking to them? This was exactly what they wanted!
We were looking after him.
Kept him alive.
"Now why would you bother doing something like that?" Trish asked, trying to keep her voice steady. "Weren't you just saying how much you hated humans?" The room itself seemed to grin.
It was a fun project.
We wanted to see how much human flesh a mortal could consume before it killed them.
As it turns out, it doesn't have as much of an effect as you'd think…
Trish squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think back to the brief time she'd spent in the doorway of the creche. In the brief flashes produced by her guns and electricity, she'd seen nothing but black scales and smears of red. There hadn't been anything in there but demons, she was sure of it. But what if…
One of your bullets went right between his eyes, one of the voices whispered directly into her ear, making her jump.
It certainly made for an interesting spectacle.
Who knew the small humans contained so much blood?
Trish shook her head and clapped her hands together, reigniting the electricity flowing between them. She needed to end this now before she started to doubt herself. There were no survivors in the building, she was sure of it. She'd searched the damned place up and down. The chances of anyone, let alone a child, surviving for this long were less than zero. The voices were still whispering around her, but she wasn't listening any more. She spread her arms, trying to ignore the feeling of dread that was creeping up her spine with every step. There was no one, she reminded herself. And even if there had been, the chances of recovery after such an ordeal were… She suppressed the urge to cry out and reached for the metal fire door. "I should have just done this to begin with," she hissed quietly, more to herself than to the creatures in the room with her.
WAIT! the voices simultaneously shrieked.
Perhaps we can make a deal!
Yes, a deal!
Trish held back for a moment, hands hovering just in front of the exit doors as something slammed into them from outside. She heard Dante's voice and smirked. "Sorry, but I already made a deal with a demon," she said. "And right now I need to fulfil our contract." She gave Dante a few seconds to get out of the way, then pressed both palms firmly against the metal. Trish's hair stood on end as the entire rear wall lit up and the electricity started to climb across the ceiling and spread throughout the entire room. She ground her heels into the floor and pushed as much power as she could through her arms, gasping in relief as the uninvited pressure of the demons finally left her skull. Around her, the indoor golf course erupted into a cacophony of screaming and crackling flames, and she could feel her skin starting to burn a little. Finally, as the sounds behind her started to die down, she pushed down on the bar of the doors and tumbled forward into the night.
Nero had a problem. Well, another problem in addition to the ones he already had, anyway – There was no portal. At least, not one that he could see. He was drawing in close to the golf course and was now skirting around the edge of the brightly lit parking lot. Beyond it lay nothing but darkness, which he assumed was where he was meant to be aiming. No matter how much he squinted however, there didn't appear to be any indication of the portal that Trish had described to them. In fact, there didn't seem to be any indication of anything beyond the parking lot. It was like the world just disappeared at that point, swallowed into a black void that seemed to consume everything around it. Nero felt a wave of panic rising in his chest. He'd be above it any second, and overshooting was definitely not an option if they wanted to have any sort of hope of this working. He took a moment to steady himself and strained his ears, seeing if he could hear anything below. If he could gauge a rough location, then maybe he could make this work somehow… Nero held his breath and listened carefully. Nothing. Nero buried his face in his hands and groaned. He had at most, maybe two minutes before it was too late. He laughed despairingly to himself. If ever there was a time for Dante's unexplained luck to kick in, now would be great.
Dante, who had been raising his arms to aim at something overhead, jumped back as the doors to the building swung open and he caught Trish instead. He carefully set her down then fired off a round of bullets before kneeling next to her. "I was starting to think you'd got lost," he grinned.
"Sorry I'm late," Trish said, pushing herself to her feet and brushing herself down. "Hope you saved me some dessert."
"We haven't even got to the main course yet," Dante said, leaping through the air and leaving a cloud of blood spatter in his wake. He flicked some gore from his guns then turned to face Trish, taking in her slightly dishevelled appearance. She stared back at him and raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Dante looked away and scratched the back of his neck. "...Nothing. You doing okay?"
"I'll live," Trish replied, firing a small ball of electricity at something over Dante's shoulder.
"What happened in there?" Dante asked, adjusting his position so that they were now standing back to back.
"Nothing you need to worry about right now," Trish replied, ducking as Dante swung his sword over her head. She raised her arm to shield her face as whatever Dante's weapon had hit exploded. "More importantly, how are things going out here?"
Dante clicked his tongue and glanced up at the overcast sky above them. "Now that, we do need to worry about," he said. He nodded to Trish and started to make a beeline for the alligator with Trish close behind.
"Those aren't just rainclouds, are they?" Trish guessed. She shivered as something slimy brushed against her cheek.
"Not your standard ones, at least," Dante agreed. "We also have another slight problem, but I'm working on a solution."
"Is it...?" Trish asked, concern seeping into her voice. "Did something happen to the…" she trailed off, not wishing to accidentally give their enemy information on the plan.
Dante shook his head. "Not as far as I'm aware, but if we don't do something soon, we'll have to deal with more problems than just these guys."
"He's close," Trish stated, feeling the hair on her arms start to prickle. The very air itself seemed to be squirming, and the quiet whispers that had been floating around them increased in volume.
Dante nodded. "We need to act fast or that building isn't going to be able to hold those crystals for much longer," Dante whispered. He placed a firm hand on Trish's shoulder and looked her in the eye. "Reckon you can keep these guys distracted for a bit?" he asked seriously.
"I'll see what I can do," Trish said.
Dante gave her a tight smile then stepped back. "I'll just need a minute or so to find what I'm looking for. When you hear me yell, take cover." Trish gave him a thumbs up and fired a crackling ball of lightning into the air.
"Alright, who wants to come and play?" she called out. Somewhere behind her she heard the echoes of something that sounded like Trickster, and then Dante was gone.
Lady let out a yelp as her foot landed in a puddle, and steadied herself against Vergil to stop herself from stumbling. The warm late summer evening had changed shortly after they'd decided to leave the fairground, and the storm had come seemingly out of nowhere. Vergil had already placed his jacket over Lady's shoulders, but it did little to stop her from shivering and they weaved their way through the small forest behind the field they'd been standing in.
"I'm starting to wonder if we're going to make a habit of getting ourselves drenched at this time of year," Vergil said into Lady's ear. She could feel him smile as he pulled away, and it sent a pleasant warm feeling down her neck.
"Just be glad it's not a fire hose this time," Lady called back as a peal of thunder roared across the sky somewhere in the distance. The rain seemed to be growing heavier, and although they didn't say it out loud, both of them felt a deep sense of unease at the similarities to the sudden shower at the restaurant earlier that evening. Lady snuck a quick glance up at Vergil, but it was hard to tell if he was looking any paler than usual under the brief flashes of moonlight that managed to break through the clouds and trees above them.
Suddenly, Lady found herself being pulled towards Vergil, and it took her a few moments to realise that they were now standing under a large willow tree. "Perhaps not the most elegant solution, but I'm hoping it will offer sufficient shelter while we come up with a plan," Vergil said, giving Lady's shoulders a light squeeze. Lady shook some rain from her hair and gently pushed him away.
"They say it's dangerous to stand under trees during a thunderstorm," she pointed out.
"We'd best come up with a plan quickly then," Vergil said with a smirk that was just visible enough in the darkness to make Lady's cheeks tingle.
Lady sighed and took a moment to catch her breath. The rain falling on the leaves around them sounded like the hushed whispers of an invisible audience. "Hell of an anniversary, huh," she said at last, smoothing down her definitely-ruined-forever dress.
"It's certainly been a memorable one," Vergil said, doing a quick survey of their surroundings. He turned towards Lady. "I apologise if next year doesn't quite live up to it."
"Next yeah, huh?" Lady said with a grin that Vergil could easily see, despite the gloom. "So you really are planning to stick around."
"At least as long as you'll let me," Vergil said. He tried to wink, but it ended up as more of a scowl, and he turned away again and sighed. "And, of course, providing nothing else gets in our way."
"We'll just have to make sure we don't let it," Lady said, perhaps a little too cheerfully.
Vergil wiped some rain away from his forehead and pushed back a few loose locks of hair. There were often times when he found his slightly longer hair style irritating, but he couldn't deny that it tended to stay in place a bit more easily now. "I'll never understand how you manage to cheer yourself up so quickly," he said. "Just earlier you were–" He stopped himself then, before he could say something that might ruin the evening even further. His date plan had gone out of the window hours ago, but perhaps this was still salvageable if he tread carefully. Maybe. At the very least, Lady hadn't run away yet.
Lady stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. "It's probably a defence mechanism," she said. When Vergil looked at her with mild dismay, she rolled her eyes. "Just kidding. Probably." She lightly elbowed him in the side. "A little humour goes a long way you know, you should try it sometime."
"Either way," Vergil said, regretting even bringing the topic up, "We can't stay here all night, interesting though it may be to try. What would you like to do now?" Truth be told, he wasn't even sure why they'd headed for the forest rather than the city. It just seemed to be the most reasonable thing at the time, given that they were trying to avoid the police.
Lady hummed thoughtfully and pulled Vergil's jacket tighter around her. "Well, I suppose I would like to go home and dry off at some point, but…" she glanced down at the Yamato and swallowed.
"We should avoid drawing too much attention to ourselves given what happened at the restaurant," Vergil said, moving the Yamato behind him. He shivered as a drop of water ran down his back. "Unfortunately I feel returning to our original vehicle isn't an option at this point."
Lady chewed her lip, then sighed. "Well, I guess we're already soaked through, so it doesn't really matter how we get back, right?"
"Go on…" Vergil prompted.
Lady crossed her arms. "First of all, do you have any ideas yourself?" she asked suddenly. "Why am I the one coming up with all the solutions here?"
"That's not–" Vergil closed his eyes and tried again. "That was not my intention," he said, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the sound of the rain. He glanced down at the Yamato. "If you really want me to, I can just–"
"I know a way back to my place that manages to avoid the city," Lady said, somewhat resignedly.
Vergil raised an eyebrow. "Is that not a good thing?" he queried. "Why do you sound so upset about it?"
"Because…" Lady looked out at the forest. The storm seemed to be growing heavier still, but it appeared to be passing overhead now.
"Mary?"
Lady threw her hands up and grabbed onto Vergil's arm. "Just follow me," she said, dragging him out into the rain again. Vergil pulled his arm free and slipped his hand into Lady's instead. He wasn't sure why he had been about to suggest the obvious solution to their problems, but he had no intention of bringing up the Yamato again. It still felt like every fibre of his being was telling him not to use it at any cost, and he had no idea why. It was clear that Lady felt the same.
The pair stumbled along in silence for a while, and at first Vergil thought they were heading back to the river again, before Lady took a sharp left turn which brought them out onto a shabby looking concrete overpass. Based on the overgrown weeds and broken glass littering its surface, it appeared to have been unused for quite some time. Before Vergil could question where they were, Lady let go of his hand and ran towards the railings. She vaulted over the edge without pausing, landing with a soft splash on the other side.
"Come on, then!" Lady's voice called up from somewhere down below when he didn't follow. It sounded echoey. Vergil, who had been frozen in shock, shook his head and slowly made his way over to the crumbling edge of the overpass. Now that he was closer, could see that the top of the railing was covered in rusted barbed wire, probably to prevent this exact sort of thing. He peered down and saw Lady's pale face grinning up at him.
"I knew the date was going badly, but I didn't expect you to try and end your life over it," Vergil shouted back down. Lady pulled a face at him then disappeared under the bridge. As Vergil landed on the cracked paving below, he noticed a stream of dirty looking water running beside them.
"Care to explain yourself?" Vergil asked as he joined Lady under the temporary shelter of the overpass.
"Aww, did I scare you?" Lady asked teasingly, standing on her tiptoes to place a kiss on Vergil's rain soaked cheek.
"I was merely surprised," Vergil tutted, hoping she hadn't felt how quickly his heart was beating through his shirt.
Lady stepped back and spread her arms. "Disused tow path," she explained. "Goes right through the middle of the city and comes out not too far from my apartment." She looked down at her cheap sandals and sighed. "Hope you're up for a lot of walking."
" I don't mind, but…"
"I'll be fine," Lady said, somewhat unconvincingly. "It's a little overgrown, but it's mostly flat ground."
Vergil leant against the curved algae covered wall behind him and sighed. "Mary, I… I apologise," he mumbled. "This isn't how this night was meant to end. We should have been leaving the cinema right about now, or… Maybe going for a pleasant walk along the boulevard, not…" He gestured at their surroundings. "Whatever this is. I've failed, and I'm sorry."
Lady stepped forward and placed both hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Vergil, it wouldn't be us if at least something didn't end up going wrong," she said. "Besides, this is the most fun I've had in months! Better than the standard cookie cutter dates that most people have by a long shot."
"Do you really mean that?" Vergil asked, loosely taking her hands in his.
"It's like I said back at the restaurant," Lady replied. "Turns out the whole 'dating' scene isn't really my thing after all. I'm much happier just being able to spend time with you and do things that we both find fun and exciting." She let go of Vergil and ruffled her hair. "Trish is probably gonna kill me when she finds out what happened to the makeover she gave me though."
"Then we'll just have to make sure she doesn't find out," Vergil said, leaning forward and placing a kiss on top of Lady's head. "Besides, I don't think she'd be too impressed with me either. She did make me promise to return you in the state you went out in, after all."
"Oh did she, now?" Lady asked mischievously. "I can't tell if that makes me want to seek her out, or make sure we avoid her even more…"
"Perhaps we should just focus on getting back first," Vergil said firmly. "The last thing we need is you getting ill on top of everything else tonight."
"I don't get ill," Lady said confidently. "Illness is a sign of weakness."
"We'll see about that," Vergil said. He spun Lady around and started marching her in front of him. "Now let's get this over with."
"You're going the wrong way," Lady said bluntly as he led her towards the entrance they'd come through. "We need to head through the other end of the tunnel." Vergil let out a muffled curse behind her and released her shoulders.
"Please, lead the way, then," he huffed.
"That's what I've been trying to do," Lady grinned. She winked at him, knowing full well that unlike her, he could see almost perfectly in the darkness. "Just warn me if I'm about to step on anything gross."
Vergil trailed behind her, enjoying the brief shelter that the overpass was providing from the rain. It didn't take long until they reached the exit at the other end, and he braced himself as they stepped outside. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the rain had now lightened to a mere drizzle.
"...Why were you so worried about coming this way?" Vergil asked after a short while. "Other than the obvious reasons of course," he added, gently pulling her aside before her sandaled foot collided with an outgrown tree root. Lady didn't answer, and for a moment he wondered if she hadn't heard him over the noise of the water running next to them. Just as he was about to ask again, she spoke.
"I come here sometimes when I need to spend some time alone," Lady said quietly. "In all the time since I discovered it, I've never seen another soul along here, not even any demons." She shrugged. "I guess I just kind of liked having something to call my own."
"That can still be possible," Vergil replied. "I certainly have no intention of coming here again after tonight.'
"It's not the same though," Lady said, scratching her nose. "You know about it now."
"And I can easily forget about it."
"Yeah, but…" Lady sighed. "Never mind, it had to happen eventually I guess."
"I'm sorry," Vergil said, unsure how else to respond.
"It's okay," Lady said. "I'm the one that suggested it. Besides, if there was anyone I was going to share it with, I'm glad that it's you."
Vergil felt his chest tighten and he pulled her into a light embrace beside him as they continued to walk. "You need to be careful saying things like that, otherwise I might start to think you actually like me," he said.
"Well, we wouldn't want that now, would we?" Lady responded, still feeling both surprised and a little pleased at how much his sense of humour had improved over the last year or so. She leant her head on his shoulder, enjoying the damp warmth, despite how much more difficult it made it to walk along the path. "I love you, you idiot," she mumbled.
"Mutual, I'm sure," Vergil replied, earning himself a light swat to the back of the head.
With Dante gone, and the demons pausing their attacks for a moment, Trish found her thoughts turning back to Lady and Vergil. She hoped, more than anything, that they were doing okay, especially after what had happened at the restaurant. The desperation of the situation earlier had almost made her be willing to break her promise to ensure that Lady had an uninterrupted romantic evening, but not any more. Not when they were so close to ending this. The last update she'd had was that Nero had seen them at some sort of fairground. Not the first place she'd have expected to find Vergil, but she hoped that it meant their date night was still going as planned – demon free and uninterrupted by the usual stresses that had plagued their small group since Trish had met Dante all those years ago. And if Trish had anything to do with it, their evening would be staying that way.
Trish recoiled as something cold slid across her arm, and she fired an electrically charged bullet into whatever was at the end of it. Small explosions seemed to be echoing all around her, and they seemed to be getting closer. Nero had to be above them now. She could almost feel the pull of the crystals, and her attacks seemed to be losing their intensity. The creatures surrounding her seemed to be slowing down too. Just as she was starting to get worried that something had gone wrong, she heard Dante's cry echo through the air and threw herself down onto the ground, taking cover behind an overturned plastic palm tree. She watched as a writhing black mass seemed to fall out of the sky towards the alligator's mouth, followed by what looked like a flaming bullet accompanied by a scream of Gunslinger! An explosion rang out across the golf course, making the ground shake. Trish quickly covered her head and buried her face in the grass, hoping that the ringing in her ears wasn't going to be permanent.
Above her, Nero stumbled as the police station suddenly rocked violently and the clouds below it seemed to dissolve. He covered his eyes as a fiery bright light shot through them, making his skin tingle. Nero barely had time to register what he was looking at before a leathery beast covered in flames burst through the gap and stopped in the air just above him.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Dante's garbled demonic voice crackled through a layer of fangs.
"Actually, you're just in time," Nero grinned. "As usual." Nero's skin radiated with a blue glow as his wings erupted from his back and his nails started to elongate. Soon he was up in the air, flying alongside Dante as they waited for the building to line up with the glowing portal, which was now clearly visible.
"Ready?" Dante asked.
"Let's do this," Nero agreed. They put some space between them and the building, then came down on it hard, sending it hurtling towards the ground below.
A/N - Howdy! Thank you so much again for waiting a bit longer than planned for this chapter.
I always feel like I'm making excuses when I write these, but the last few months have not been very good for me, due to various health and family issues, but hopefully things will improve soon.
I anticipate maybe only one or two chapters left now, so I hope you'll stick with it, and thank you for reading all this time! ^_^