Here's an omake to expand upon the last chapter where we followed Emmy and Tay and also set up for the next interlude. Be gentle, it's my first omake.
IMPORTANT NOTE: some elements in this omake have been rendered non-canon for plot reasons. Specifically, the discussion about Devil Sword Dante's capabilities did not happen, which means Taylor is unaware of the true power the sword holds.
Everything else is canon tho :v
Diplomatic Immunity 17.7.5 (Overdue Conversations)
"Well, that was a thing, I guess." Emmy said as he walked out of a gap and into the Heap's kitchen, before making a beeline for the fridge.
"Ughh. Please don't tell anyone about that. I don't think I'll ever be able to use the tower without fear of messing up like that again." Taylor groaned as she plopped down on one of the chairs around the kitchen table while massaging her temples.
"Bah, you're fiiiine." Emmy's arm popped out of the fridge and waved her off, before disappearing alongside the rest of his torso back inside the suspiciously deep fridge. Faintly, she could hear the sounds of bottles and tupperware being shoved around, as if from a great distance away. Looks like she needs to have another talk with Mem about why using Primordial Runes to enchant random house appliances without telling anyone is a bad idea. She'd rather avoid another repeat of the toaster incident.
"Y'know, I honestly expected that whole ordeal to turn out way worse than it did. Somehow, you only ended up reviving thousands of dead people and giving yourself a whole bunch of new kids to look after." Emmy sassed at her as he resurfaced from the cavernous kitchen appliance, a bottle in each hand.
"Ehh, not really. Just the two, to be honest" She made a so-so gesture with her hand. "Gram and Yew are the only ones that are bound to me like Mem and Simone are. Mainly because they were the only ones within the ritual circle's area and soaked up the brunt of the spell's energy. The rest of them were outside the circle and too far away for that to happen, so they're unbound. I don't think they'll consider me their mom like the bound ones do."
"Well, at least you won't have to pay child support for all of them. Happy little accidents, eh?" Emmy smiled sarcastically as he flicked the beer bottle's cap off and took a large swig while absent-mindedly tossing her the other one.
She snorted as she casually caught the bottle in one hand. Apple cider, ah well. "Pffft. Try telling that to Piggot. Woman's gonna have my hide."
"Nahh, you're overthinking things. They already had you under contract for doing this whole thing in the first place. You simply did it a lot faster than anticipated. As if they could even be mad at you for bringing back thousands of capes who died defending the world from the big bad monsters. Besides, it's not like anyone other than Piggot and a handful of people at the very top of the PRT hierarchy even know it was you. They'll just slap another case number on it and file it under 'weird inexplicable magic crap' to cover for you." Emmy said as he leaned back on the chair and put his feet on the table. Rude.
Taylor hummed in thought as she took a sip of her apple cider. "Well, I suppose so. This guy got a lot of experience dealing with 'weird inexplicable magic crap'?"
"Oh, tons. Well, more like weird inexplicable demon magic crap, but same thing, really." Emmy shrugged.
Taylor rolled her eyes. "I really don't think it works that way. I should know, what with having 5 different kinds of magic by now and none of them being alike."
"You see enough magic crap, you eventually start to file it all under the same category." Emmy shrugged with a sigh, seemingly casting his mind back into the past.
Taylor raised an eyebrow at that. "What's the deal with this guy, anyway? I get that he's part demon and he's pretty strong and all, but still, what's up with him? Seriously, I mean."
Emmy paused mid swig at that, before raising his eyebrows in surprise. "...Huh. I guess we never did sit down and talk about that. Things have been kinda hectic lately."
"Yeah, that's one way to put it." Taylor snorted before taking a swig of her cider.
"Ah, well. I guess it's about time I explain this whole thing, anyway." Emmy sighed as he took his feet off the table and sat up on the chair, beer forgotten off on the side.
Taylor perked up at that. "Oh? We finally doing this? Alright then." She said before scooting her chair closer and placing her bottle on the table as well.
"Okay! So!" Emmy said as he slapped his hands on the table. "Name's Dante, son of Sparda and Eva. This guy runs a demon hunting-slash-private investigator business back in his home reality. Even if he only actually takes cases occasionally, just enough to pay the rent… most of the time. Still, gotta say, he's pretty damn good at it. Hell, I'd even go so far as to say he's the best there is, at least in his world. Ended a few demon invasions, killed God and sealed his stony ass back into Hell, stopped a few apocalypses too, and even saved the world a couple of times over the years."
Taylor simply stared at him, baffled. "...Really? Just like that? You're not even gonna elaborate on that?" She deadpanned.
"Well, it's not as simple as that, no." Emmy chuckled. "How about I take it from the top, then? I'll tell you the tale the same way a good Lady friend of mine used to tell it. The legend of Sparda." He smirked and leaned in, placing his elbows on the table and crossing his arms.
Taylor, sensing the gravity of the situation, leaned in as well, an intrigued expression on her face.
"Long ago, in ancient times, a demon rebelled against his own kind for the sake of the human race…"
By the time Emmy finished the tale, Taylor sat with a pensive expression on her face, seemingly mulling over what she had learned as she absent-mindedly ran a hand over Nemesis' hair, who had popped in to sit on Taylor's lap at some point to listen to the tale as well, before falling asleep.
"So… Let me get this straight." She began. "Hell exists in this guy's world, and God is a giant marble statue of a three-eyed bearded man, who is also a demon that ruled over the endless armies of every single dimension of Hell and used them to enslave mankind."
"Pretty much, yeah." Emmy nodded along.
"And your dad…" she continued, pointing at him "...was one of his lieutenants, who decided to rebel against him to fight for humanity, and then went on to single-handedly beat the crap out of the entirety of Hell so hard that even after two thousand years, both humans and demons are still singing legends about him, like he's some kind of demon Jesus." Taylor said, staring pointedly at him.
"The old man was pretty impressive, yeah." Emmy nodded with a smirk, arms crossed.
"So after he solo'd all of Hell." She stressed, seemingly ignoring his idle comment to focus on that. "He used one of his three conceptual magic demon swords to cut the connection between the human and demon world for a couple thousand years."
"I mean, he didn't just cut- Well, actually… he did cut it with the Yamato- But there was a whole complicated sealing ritual involved! And a demon tower!" He exclaimed.
"A demon tower." Taylor raised an eyebrow in response.
"Yup! Temen-ni-gru. Eventually it resurfaced and started pouring demons out into the human world. But that was its own whole thing. First time I saved the world, too." Emmy nodded proudly, as if that explained everything.
Taylor stared at him, before deciding to move on. "Anyways. After all that, your dad met your mom, fell in love, had you and your brother, and gave each of you one of his super sick and cool swords, before disappearing off into space with the last sword or whatever."
"Yup." Emmy replied.
"Ah, that's a shame. I would've liked to meet him." She pouted, before perking up. "And the one you have wouldn't just happen to be the one that cuts the barriers of conceptual reality like wet tissue paper, would it?"
"'Fraid not. That'd be my brother's."
"Well, that sucks…" She grumbled under her breath.
"I'll have you know that my sword is just as good as his. They're a paired set, you see. What his can do, mine can do the opposite of, and vice versa." Emmy explained, before pausing. "Or, well… at least in theory, I guess." Emmy said, scratching the back of his head.
"In theory." Taylor gave him a look.
"Hey! Give me a break! I only figured out that it works that way a few weeks ago!" Emmy exclaimed in indignation.
"...Right. Well, might as well visit this guy's world at some point. Seems pretty cool. What did you say your brother's name was again?" She asked idly.
"Oh, Vergil."
"Verg-" Taylor froze, seemingly still for a few seconds, before closing her eyes. She slowly heaved a deep breath, tilting her head upwards as if to draw strength from the heavens.
"You're kidding me." She breathed out.
"What?" Emmy looked at her oddly.
"Dante. Vergil. Hell. Demons. I'm an idiot, it's Dante's Inferno." Taylor groaned as she slowly dragged her hands through her face. "This guy and his entire world is literally just an action movie adaptation of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. I can't even. Why."
Emmy laughed at her. Laughed! "Well, I can't say I've heard about it, but it can't be weirder than the Greek Gods being spaceships, right?" He smirked playfully at her.
Taylor threw her hands in the air, exasperated. "This again? Of course it can't! There is nothing out there in this vast and ridiculous multiverse that could possibly be weirder than that! But this is still pretty up there for me, you know?! Because I can still remember actually reading the Divine Comedy back with my mom. Needless to say, I didn't expect Dante to be an unwashed hobo that goes around shooting demons with a gun while wearing leather boots and a red overcoat!" She exclaimed while pointing accusingly at him, seemingly offended by this emulation's very existence.
"Hey! That hurts my feelings, you know! So what if a few of my emulations are weird versions of historical figures? I don't remember you objecting this much to Sigurd's existence!" Emmy complained right back.
"Well, yeah! Because Sigurd was- was… Ugh, you know what, I'm not even gonna answer that one. Nope." She turned away with a frustrated pout on her face.
"Hmmrrrghh… Shut up already! I can't even sleep without you idiots getting into a shouting match with each other! Ugh!" Nemesis exclaimed as she woke up from her nap in Taylor's lap, before violently shifting back into sword form.
"Oh, crap. Sorry, kid. My bad." Emmy raised his arms in apology.
"Sorry, Nem. Forgot you were there. I'll get you something nice to eat later, don't worry." Taylor patted her handle reassuringly, getting a satisfied rumble from the sword in return before it went still, seemingly asleep again.
Taylor sighed before turning back to Emmy. "Well, where were we? Something about your dad's swords? What happened to the third one, anyways?"
Emmy nodded "Right, funny you mention that. See, thing is, I actually have it."
"Wait, really?!" Taylor startled, an excited expression on her face.
"Yes. Sorta. It's complicated." Emmy made a so-so gesture with his hand. "Remember the demon tower thing? Well, essentially, when pops sealed Hell off, he used a bunch of things to do it."
He leaned back and listed off with his hand. "The souls of seven powerful demons, the blood of a priestess, his sword, which contained most of his power, a special amulet, and seven gatekeepers he imprisoned to guard the tower as well. Some of them were actually friendly, even! Y'know, once I beat them and they stopped trying to kill me." As he said this, he absent-mindedly summoned different weapons onto the table. A set of three frozen nunchucks linked by a chain, a pair of orange and cyan serrated blades with odd heads on their pommels, and a dark purple and very sharp electric guitar.
"Demons can be friendly?" Taylor leaned in and eyed the demonic armaments with open curiosity.
"Indeed they can, if you prove yourself worthy." One of the serrated blades replied to her in a deep, conversational tone, making her jump back into her chair.
"Quiet, you." Emmy hushed in annoyance, knocking the sword's pommel against the table, before turning back to her and making a so-so gesture. "Well, sorta, but not really. Yes, there are a few genuinely nice demons like my dad out there, but they're the exception, not the rule." He shrugged in a 'what can you do' gesture.
"Usually, you have to force them to be nice, or prove yourself to them. You see, pure demons are pretty big on the whole 'might makes right' mentality. Law of the jungle and all that nonsense. So if you actually beat them, you can either take their souls and turn them into devil arms, or they'll respect and acknowledge your strength and become your minions. If you don't beat them though, they'll probably just try to kill you, eat you, or take your soul and blood to use for some dark ritual. Obviously, Dante always kept his devil arms in weapon form, but I guess his dad collected a couple minions along the way." He shrugged, before eyeing the purple guitar suspiciously. "...A couple of groupies too, I suppose."
At that, the electric guitar seemed to almost purr mischievously, before going quiet.
Emmy grumbled under his breath, before dismissing the pile of demonic weaponry lying on the table.
"So that's what all the giant demons helping us beat the Grimm back on Remnant were? All the devil arms you have, manifested into their original forms? Oh, I guess that also explains what you did to Uber back then, too." Taylor mused with a hand on her chin.
"Quite so. Granted, the real Dante would've never let his devil arms run wild, but I can be a little more flexible than that, in the right occasion." Emmy smirked.
"Wait, but Uber wasn't a demon, so how come you turned him into a devil arm anyways? Neither was Salem, now that I think about it." Taylor tilted her head in confusion.
"Well, thing is, my version of that ability is a little different from Dante's, because there aren't any actual demons around to use it on, at least to my knowledge, and I'm not dumb enough to waste time giving you a power that you can't even use in the first place." Emmy scoffed, before pointing at her and explaining. "The version that I passed onto you works on any sufficiently powerful non-human entity. Obviously, there's some caveats as to what's generally considered 'non-human'. But basically, anything human-adjacent is off the table. You can't turn Blake or Po into devil arms, for example. It only works on big bad monsters, and whatever it was that Uber drank made him monstrous enough for the ability to work." He shrugged at her in a 'what can you do?' gesture.
"Ah, I see. Fair enough, then." Taylor nodded thoughtfully.
"Also, that means you could, in theory, turn Behemoth into a pair of boots. That is, if you actually manage to beat him in the first place." He quipped at her.
Taylor simply raised her eyebrows in surprise at that. "Huh. Well, I don't know about boots specifically, but that is actually pretty cool."
Emmy grinned before switching topics. "Anyways, we kinda got sidetracked there. You wanted to know about Sparda's swords, right?"
Taylor nodded. "Yes, that."
Emmy sighed dramatically. "Well, as I was saying, dad split off his power and used a couple other things to seal Hell away, which also left his sword and most of said power stuck on the other side. The key to the seal was a special amulet that our mom split into two and gave each half to me and my brother. Some years after mom died and my brother disappeared, he came back with a new friend named Arkham, beat my ass up and stole my half of the amulet to open the gate to Hell, because he wanted dad's power for himself."
"That's rough, buddy." Taylor patted his hand consolingly.
Emmy sorted at that. "Heh. Long story short, we fought, he beat me, I killed a lot of demons, we fought again, Arkham betrayed him and stole the amulets from us while we were weak, used them to open the gate to Hell and stole dad's sword for himself. We chased after him, killed some more demons, teamed up to stop him, kicked his ass out of Hell, and we fought over the sword again, because my dear brother still wanted dad's power." He said sarcastically.
"Sounds like your brother was a little obsessed." Taylor huffed.
"Oh, absolutely. Mom's death hit him really hard, and he just blamed himself for being too weak and became obsessed with power." Emmy nodded in agreement. "Anyways, I beat him, got the sword, and he got his half of the amulet back. The gate was collapsing because we had separated the amulets, so I had to leave, but he decided to stay in Hell. Jumped off a cliff and ran off to try and kill the king of Hell on his own to spite me, or live up to dad's legacy, or to save his pride, or something." He shrugged at that.
"I take it didn't go well for him?" Taylor mused.
Emmy snorted. "Nope. Years later, I met him again while on a job. A gal named Trish had contacted me to investigate an island that Mundus, the three-eyed asshole my dad fought, was using to stage his return. When I met my brother, Mundus had corrupted him into his minion, and, surprise surprise, we fought."
"Y'know, I'm starting to notice a pattern here."
"Yeah, yeah. Thick as thieves, my brother and I." He chuckled, before straightening up and continuing. "So, after fighting him a whole bunch, I eventually managed to get his half of the amulet back and…"
After a long retelling of history, arguments about demonic entities and their abilities, the ethics of gathering power, the importance of family and one's humanity, and agreeing to help Nero if they ever visited his world, they reached this point.
Emmy sat, arms crossed and with a smug expression on his face as Taylor boggled at the sword on the table.
"So you're telling me..." She began, lips suddenly dry as she stared intensely at Devil Sword Dante. "That this sword…" she pointed at it. "...is in fact two swords, combined into one. One of those two swords has the conceptual power to combine with other swords, which, despite you owning it for your entire life, have only just figured out that it can do that, barely a week before this guy got emulated. The other one of those two swords is also, in fact, another sword, combined with the two amulets that open the actual gate to Hell, which, also, contains the entirety of your dad's power. Your dad, the legendary knight who beat every single demon in Hell. On his own. With this sword. That you now have. On this table." Taylor stressed, a look of hunger in her eyes.
She took a deep breath before continuing. "And on top of all of that, it has the power to summon even more swords that you can control with your mind. And not only that, but this sword is also the key to becoming a 'King of Hell'." Her voice took on a slightly unhinged tone near the end.
"Got it in one." Emmy nodded sagely at her, before pausing to rub his chin in thought. "Well, actually…"
Taylor leaned over the table, staring unblinkingly at him and breathing heavily. "Yes…?"
"Now that I think about it, I don't think Rebellion had the power to combine with other swords." Emmy mused.
"Oh."
"It probably just had the power to combine with anything." He surmised.
"Oh."
"See, Rebellion and Yamato are supposed to be two sides of the same coin. And Vergil had always used Yamato to cut anything. Demons, buildings kilometers away, Hell gates, demon trees tall enough to reach into the edge of the atmosphere, the air, his own soul, space itself, the fabric of reality." Emmy mused, gesticulating with his hand. "If Rebellion has the opposite power, then I guess it probably has just as many uses. Well, Devil Sword Dante now." He shrugged in indifference.
Taylor stared at him, trying to calm her breathing in silence for a minute, before scooting her chair closer.
"And you haven't given me this sword yet because…?" She asked leadingly, staring intensely at him.
"It's on the list." Emmy nodded, as if that explained everything.
"The list."
"I have a mental list to keep track of all the stuff I want to pass on to you before this emulation expires. The sword is on the list." He explained, nodding his head at it.
"Ah. Well. Okay then." She agreed easily, before turning back to stare at the sword on the table with a manic look in her eyes.
"...Wouldn't Nemesis disagree with you getting another sword?" Emmy raised an eyebrow at her.
"On any other case? Yes, she would. Hard. But this sword is the sword that fuses with other swords to make better, stronger swords. I think this might be quite literally the only sword in existence that she wouldn't object to, on account of it being more of an upgrade for her instead of just another sword. Well, at least if I manage to combine them like you did with yours, which may or may not work. But still, it is far too useful to pass up, I want it." She stressed, pointing at it, before sighing and leaning back on her chair.
"You really like swords, huh?" Emmy wondered aloud.
"Yes."
"Alright then." Emmy replied, uncapping his third bottle since the conversation started.
"You know…" he mused out loud before taking a swig. "This whole conversation has me wondering something I don't think the real Dante ever thought about."
"Hm? Which is?" Taylor raised an eyebrow.
"In all of the legends, Sparda only ever had one sword. Yet, after splitting his power and sealing it away alongside Hell, I know for a fact he had three swords, because he gave two of them to his sons. So now that I know Rebellion had the power to combine things all along, I can't help but wonder…"
Taylor slowly sat up at that, staring at him in shock.
"...Have I never actually seen Sparda's real sword?" He whispered, staring off into the distance.
"So… What?" Taylor asked, eyes nervously flicking between the sword on the table and him. "You think the sword he used to beat all of Hell back is actually all three of them combined into one? Wouldn't that mean you're still missing the one your brother has to have the full thing?" Taylor furrowed her brow at that. "How come you're only asking about this now? Wasn't he your dad?"
Emmy snorted, previous mood dispelled as he leaned his head back and emptied the bottle in one go. "The old man was very private about his life before he had us. He preferred to keep history as just that: history. So, he never really went into much detail about his past, beyond the basics. Or, well, he never really told much to the real Dante." He shook his head, dispelling the thought.
Taylor simply stared at him, humming in thought.
Emmy raised an eyebrow at that. "What?"
"Ah, nothing, it's just… it's a little odd seeing you like this."
"Oh? Like what? Drinking my sorrows away?" He replied with a smirk before taking another swig of a newly opened bottle.
"No, I mean when you have these little moments where you seemingly forget you aren't actually the person you're emulating. I didn't want to mention it earlier, but you kept slipping back to referring to yourself as if you were the real Dante. Are you aware that you do that? It's kinda interesting." she mused, tilting her head in curiosity.
Emmy's eyes widened at that before he started choking on his beer. He sat up, coughing and sputtering as he thumped his own chest. "G-God damn it, that caught me off guard. Don't just say stuff like that outta nowhere!" He exclaimed with an annoyed expression.
Taylor snickered. "Alright, alright. I kinda asked you a question, though."
Emmy just rubbed his chin in thought before shrugging. "Ah well, I think it's just that I was feeling pretty comfortable in this guy's shoes. Kinda easy to forget I'm not him, y'know?"
"Ah, yeah, I think I get it. How come y-" was as far as she got before an odd pop of displaced air interrupted her, which was followed by the sound of bottles and tupperware being moved around before someone kicked the fridge's door open.
From the inside.
"Jesus, I swear people keep moving things around in this place for no reason. And why is the fridge so damn big on the inside?! Gah!" Katherine complained as she walked out of said fridge, an annoyed look on her face as she shoved energy bars and some drinks into a backpack that was practically bursting at the seams. Idly, she noticed one of the sleeves from her costume hanging off of it.
"Uhhhh…" Taylor trailed off as she stared at her.
"Oh, hey!" She perked up, before waving at them. "Sup, kid? I like what you did with the hair, it's very stylish. Hey, Emmy. How's it going?"
"Why were you inside our fridge?" Taylor deadpanned at her.
Kat shrugged. "Eh, beats me. Just wanted to stop by the kitchen and stock up on some snacks before I go."
"Oh? And where are you going?" Emmy asked curiously.
"Towards adventure, of course! I shall go where no mouse has ever gone before!" She said with a flourish of her hand, striking a pose dramatically.
"Ah, okay then. Need anything before you go?" Taylor asked idly.
"Nah, I'm goo-" She waved her off in reply before pausing, realizing who was offering her help. Slowly, a grin started to stretch across her face.
"Actually, now that I think about it, you wouldn't happen to have any of those super useful tags of yours lying around, would you?" Kat asked, leaning in very close to her face.
Taylor leaned back inversely proportionally to how much Kat leaned in. "...Sure." She drawled, before eyeing her backpack. "You might want a bigger backpack, though."
Kat snorted. "Nah, it's fine. Any more than this would just weigh me down."
Taylor simply stared at her. "One moment," she said as she opened a small gap, shoved an arm into it and started poking around, before retrieving a much smaller backpack covered in odd scribbles and tossing it at her.
Kat caught it with a raised eyebrow. "Uhh, kid? I'm not gonna be able to carry much of anything in this, y'know?"
Taylor chuckled. "Just open it."
"Okay? Sure, but why would I…" Kat trailed off as she looked inside the backpack. She stood still for a good ten seconds, simply staring at it. "Holy shit." She uttered.
"Hold it open for me for a second, will you?" Taylor asked as she opened another gap directly above the backpack's opening, before a seemingly endless stream of paper tags rained down on it.
"Uhhhh…" Was all Kat managed to put together, seemingly frozen in place.
Emmy, meanwhile, was trying really hard not to laugh at the situation.
After a couple seconds, Taylor closed the gap, stopping the rain of paper tags.
Kat idly noticed that the backpack, somehow, still weighed about the same as before. That is to say, nearly nothing.
"Um. Wow, okay…Thanks?" She said in a daze.
Taylor snorted. "Don't thank me, thank Mem. She's the one that puts those things together in her spare time."
Kat nodded. "Aight, noted. Uhh, I gouda get going now. Thanks a lot for the help!" She half stumbled and turned around.
"You sure you don't need anything else at all? Hm?" Emmy shrewdly asked, stopping her in her tracks.
"Ahh, uhh, well…" she mumbled, gaze switching back and forth between him and Taylor before stopping herself with a deep breath. Seemingly mulling something in her head, she bit her lip and asked. "So, uhh… That thing you did for Danny that made him all strong and stuff? Thinkyoucouldmaybedothatformeprettyplease?" She asked in a hurry.
Taylor stared at her for a moment. "Sure." She shrugged.
Katherine then proceeded to teleport-tackle-hug her out of her chair with a loud cry of joy.
Kat marveled at her hands as they glowed in a blueish-purple outline. "Whoa…"
Taylor grinned at her. "Pretty cool, right?"
Kat beamed right back. "Pretty cool?!" She exclaimed, slamming her hand into Taylor's with a loud clap of a handshake that would've absolutely demolished every single bone in a normal person's hand. "Hell freaking yeah it's pretty gosh darn hecking cool!" She cackled as she rapidly shook her hand up and down.
"Okay then! This Mouse has got to bounce! Adventure calls for me. But worry not, citizen! For the Hero of Cheese always remembers her debts and repays them tenfold!" She posed dramatically before wrapping her and Emmy in a bone-crushing hug.
"Now, it is time I make my departure! Until next time! Ciao!" She exclaimed, grabbing her backpacks as she ran off, cackling along the way, before slamming the door shut behind her.
The fridge door.
"...Did she really just run into the fridge?" Emmy asked, dumbfounded.
"Yup." Taylor replied, popping the 'p'.
"Think she's gonna be ok?" He wondered.
"Honestly? I'm more concerned for whoever has to deal with her." Taylor mused.
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Mouse Protector will return in: Accidentally Satan, a Projection Quest Sidestory