Worms May Cry
Adjustment – Chapter 2.1: First It's Ebony
[Dante]
As Dante entered the city, he found himself earning a lot of strange looks from the people walking on the sidewalk. Part of the attention was brought onto him because of how unique Cavalier looked in comparison to any other motorcycle. After all, most motorcycles don't have enough sharp points on them to be used as a murder weapon. And with the forward-facing prongs on Cavalier, it was definitely made to hurt something.
Other strange looks came from how the man appeared. A very flashy long red coat, white hair, oh, and the bits of demon blood splatter on him. Yet, that definitely didn't compare to the third reason for all the strange looks. Quite a few of these people had been witnessing the footage of Dante breaking the PRT barricade with little effort, and no injuries, funny enough.
Continuing down the street, the demon slayer surprisingly obeyed the traffic law of waiting at the red light, even if he showed great impatience in doing so. With fingers tapping on Cavaliere's handlebars, he took a moment to examine the street for anything of interest. And for a few moments, he found himself sorely disappointed until his eyes spotted an oasis in this barren desert of preferred vices.
Tapping his foot in slight giddiness, he throttled on Cavaliere less than a millisecond after the light turned green and may have broken a city ordinance speeding law to do so. Upon arriving at the beautiful place of dreamt happiness, Dante pulled over to the side of the street.
With the property of Cavaliere being a devil arm, there also came the convenience of never having to look for or, more importantly, pay for parking. And so, Cavaliere disappeared in flames that seemed to consume the devil arm, scaring away multiple pedestrians while others were already recording the event.
Dante pushed the door open with a happy sigh as cool air compared to the warmth outside blew into his face while a bell rang on the door, announcing his entrance. Once inside, he stood in line behind two others with a watering mouth that stared at images he hadn't seen in what felt like months.
Ice cream and sundaes.
So enthralled in his train of thought at one of his two favorite foods, did Dante not realize that two customers had already left the shop while a table of teenagers remained where they sat recording the man from the news.
Happily, the people in front of Dante had been served and he found himself standing before a young blonde woman named Jessie from the yellow nametag that the demon slayer saw on the blue and white uniform. "Hello, welcome to Sundae's Best, how may I take…your…order…" The woman quickly noticed and recognized the man as, behind him, was a TV flipped to the news channel.
And plastered on it was a recording of Dante literally jumping over a PRT barricade.
If Dante noticed this change of tone, he didn't bother to even acknowledge it as his eyes flickered to the nametag before looking back up to the menu, "Good afternoon, Jessie. Could I get a large strawberry sundae with lots of nuts, chocolate shavings, and a cherry on top?" He asked with a grin.
Jessie seemed to just shrink at this, "H-How d-do you kn-know my n-name?" She asked terrified.
"Uh, it's on your nametag." Dante replied while pointing to it. Jessie's eyes flickered down, then back to Dante's.
"O-Oh. Uh, y-yeah." As if to try a move this transaction along quickly, her hands shakily began typing into the cashier. "Th-Th-That'll b-be $10.95, s-sir." Jessie said, hoping that this didn't anger the man to do something horribly violent.
With a nod, Dante reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and put $11 onto the counter which Jessie took and quickly gave the man his change back. Following this, he reached into his pocket, and Jessie almost jumped as she expected some tinker weapon. Instead, it was just a bunch of loose change that the demon slayer emptied into the tip jar, making the young woman sigh in relief.
"I-I'll go g-get your order." She said nervously as she rushed to the fulfill the crazy cape's order and hopefully get him out of the parlor. As for Dante? The man just hummed a tune to himself while considering what his next move would be.
He was still able to follow that Qliphoth trail traveling east. The one thing that Dante felt thankful for is that this demon killing task was an easy enough trail and not fully hidden like quite a few of his jobs could end up like. Too bad he just didn't know how far this demonic trail went.
That, and he still had no clue as to where Vergil ended up. At best, his too serious twin was doing the same thing he was, chopping down Qliphoth roots. At worst, Vergil was trying to once again attain power at the cost of an extreme amount of collateral damage.
But that kind of thought was something that the Legendary Devil Hunter quickly waved off. For one thing, both he and Vergil were some of the strongest beings around, so attaining even more power than that just started giving diminishing returns. Another reason is that Dante's very presence along with their tempered rivalry gave Vergil an outlet for his urge to test his strength. Finally, even if his stoic twin tried to hide it, Vergil's time as a human had changed him.
He had become considerably more empathetic to humanity than he was once before. The very fact that he felt regret for what he had done when creating the Qliphoth was a massive breakthrough. And even though Dante didn't pry into it, the man believed that his twin might hold a measure of regret for Temen-Ni-Gru all those years ago, and not for how it led to him being forcibly turned into a minion of Mundus.
That was a sore spot that even Dante, as much as he liked to tease and taunt Vergil, would not touch. He still hadn't asked the man about the experience, even after spending a lot of time in the Underworld with him.
If his twin ever wished to tell Dante about that period of his life, then Dante would allow him to do it at a pace the Dark Slayer felt comfortable with. Until then, he'd at least try to act the supportive brother, even if said support involved teasing his brother or clashing swords with him.
As he continued waiting for his order, Dante felt some gazes upon himself. Looking around, he spotted a few teens with their phones out and pointed at him to record. "Seems that I've got some fans." Dante muttered to himself in amusement.
No doubt evading the highway patrol and superhero cosplayer was something that got noticed. Probably best that Dante got his sundae, a short break to eat said sundae, and then a quick exit from the city.
With a smirk, Dante gave a wave to the recording teens who looked a little surprised at the acknowledgement. "Oh, my God. It's really the guy!" An extremely pale kid with glasses whispered to his friend, another teen with dark skin a closely cut hair.
"Dude, not so loud. The guy might be able to hear us. You can never tell with capes." His friend quickly shushed back.
Huh, there was that word again. Before Dante had more time to contemplate this, Jessie was back with his order slid across the counter to him. "S-Sir, here's y-your order."
Dante looked back to Jessie and saw the styrofoam bowl with his delicious meal resting inside and a spoon sticking out of it. "Jackpot." The Legendary Devil Hunter remarked as he picked up the bowl and walked over to an empty booth and table. "Thanks, Jessie." He said with a playful salute.
Sitting down, the man began eating his meal, savoring every delicious bite with a smile. After working for a long time without break, it was the simple things like this that helped to make life bearable.
During this enjoyable respite, Dante's ears picked up the sound of the bell at the door ring, announcing a newcomer's arrival. At the same time as this happened, the Legendary Devil Hunter's eyes look a mixture between star-stuck and worried as she rushed to the backroom of the parlor while peeking around the corner to continue watching.
Lazily flicking his eyes over as the sounds of heavy boots echoed from the floor, Dante saw another oddly dressed individual approaching his table. This person was dressed in some suit of armor painted orange and red. The armor lacked any seams that one would expect armor to have which would allow movement.
One might even assume that the figure was a robot if not for the feminine lower face of caramel-colored skin that remained oddly exposed. Dante felt that this woman's need for vanity really hampered whatever good defenses the woman had going for her.
His ears also picked up the tell-tale sounds of a hum, like energy being charged.
Dante was prepared for a fight, but found himself pleasantly surprised when she spoke, "May I sit here?" She asked, pointing to the seating across from him. The white-haired man pointed with his spoon towards the spot and gave a nod.
That gave him more time to savor his sundae which he greatly appreciated. With a swallow, Dante asked, "Love the getup and all, but do I have any name I call you by aside from Robocop?"
The armored woman gave a smirk and quick laugh, "I'm called Orange Dawn. Would you be willing to give me your name or should I refer to you as the Wacky Woohoo Pizza Man that's been spreading on the internet for the past few hours?"
Orange Dawn got a chuckle from Dante as she asked that. "Okay, that's actually hilarious! Guess that's just another title to add to the pile. But just to be polite to the lady that gave me her name, mine's Dante." The man replied while taking another bite of his sundae.
"Then it's a pleasure to meet you, Dante." Orange Dawn returned, "Would you be willing to answer a few questions for me?"
Dante gave a smirk and shrugged. "Since you're being relatively polite, and I'm on a break, fire away. You've got until I finish my sundae, though." Dante answered and took another bite.
Orange Dawn's hidden gaze behind her helmet looked to see that the man was halfway finished with his dessert. She would have to be quick, "What do you know about those creatures in Elkins and on the highway?"
That threw Dante off since, at this point, pretty much everyone should know what demons are after the second Redgrave Incident. That made Dante more worried about a growing thought in his mind, especially because he didn't recall the US having superhero cosplayers running around working with the feds.
"They're demons. Simple as that."
"Demons don't exist." Dawn replied.
The Legendary Devil Hunter restrained the urge to roll his eyes, "What do you think they are?" He questioned, interested in hearing what this superhero cosplayer believed.
"A bio-tinker's pet project." Dawn answered with another weird term that Dante couldn't figure out just yet. If he had to guess, tinker referred to someone that made weird stuff, and bio-tinker referred to someone who made weird animals.
"Sure. Go with that." The red-clad man conceded as he was probably not going to get far with convincing her that demons existed, especially when she had an explanation for them already cooked up. It's better to just focus on his sundae instead of wasting his effort. Besides, he was a self-admittedly lazy person who didn't like having to do more work than he needed to.
"Where are they coming from, since this is the second time they've appeared, and you were there both times?" Dawn said with a tone bordering on accusing.
"No idea. If they appear, I just go in to put them down and then move on." Truthfully, Dante could tell her that they came from the Underworld, though what he couldn't specify were where the different species of demons spawned from. The Underworld was a massive place after all. "Only wish that I was getting paid for doing this job compared to others."
"What other jobs did you perform?"
"Oh, this and that." Dante answered while waving his spoon back and forth, "Kill a demon or two, act as a bodyguard, save a cat from a tree. Real fun stuff. Even have my own little company for it known as Devil May Cry." Dante joked.
"Devil May Cry?" The armored woman asked with an interested pursing of her lips.
"Yup, that's the name. Now, as much as I would love to chat about my personal life, it looks like I've finished my sundae." The Legendary Devil Hunter replied before dropping his spoon down into an empty cup.
Dawn's eyes followed the spoon dropping, realizing that her time for questions was up. "Looks like we'll have to do this another time, Dawn. For a first date, it was pretty good." Dante flirted with a grin.
"What if I were to order you another sundae? Would you be up to talk for a little bit longer?" Orange Dawn quickly asked, hoping that the strange cape would be agreeable.
For Dante, he was so sorely tempted to agree to that offer. At the same time, he recognized the honeypot for what it was. Hmm, free sundae at the cost of answering questions or no sundae, but he wouldn't need to work on giving Orange Dawn a bunch of doctored answered.
Tough choice…
His stomach won out. "When a beautiful woman in power armor offers to buy me food, who am I to say no?" As Dante said this, he saw a faceplate quickly slam shut over her exposed face. Dante smirked as he just 'wondered why' that may have happened?
"O-Oh-" Orange Dawn coughed before getting ahold of herself. She then turned to Jessie, still hiding behind the backroom doorway, before asking, "Would you mind getting a second serving of whatever he ordered. I'll pay for it."
Hesitantly, Jessie came out and nodded before rushing to make another sundae.
"You know, unlike all those cops and superhero cosplayers, you're not acting unreasonably hostile. Why might that be?" He asked while leaning back into his seat.
"Sometimes, the peaceful approach is better. The fact that you brazenly pulled into the city after breaking a roadblock and stopped into an ice cream parlor says that you're either insane, stupid, or strong enough to not be bothered by the local authorities. Since I've seen enough footage of what you can do, I'd say it's the third option."
"Then where does that leave us?" Jessie soon arrived and placed a bowl in front of Dante before picking up the empty one. A compartment opened near the hip of Orange Dawn's suit and she pulled out a $20 bill and handed to Jessie.
"Keep the rest as a tip." Orange Dawn added, earning a nod from the young woman before she ran off once more.
"Thanks, Jessie!" Dante said after the fleeing woman before digging into the sundae. The armored hero then turned her attention back to Dante as her faceplate slowly slid apart once more, revealing her lower face with a slightly quirked smile.
"As for where it leaves us? I don't want a fight in this city and you have no urge to go into police or PRT custody." Dante nodded in agreement, "The last option is that I let you leave this city without issue."
"Now that is an idea I can get behind. Any particular reason that I'm being offered this option?" Dante questioned after another spoonful of sundae. Personally, he could easily guess that it was mostly because the woman didn't have any type of heavy hitter that she believed might be able to go toe-to-toe with him.
"Aside from a few speeding, traffic, and weapon laws being broken, you've done nothing else. In fact, half of what you've done could be justified as self-defense considering the monsters that you were fighting. We'd be having an entirely different conversation if there had been a murder charge added to your list of crimes." Orange Dawn explained.
"That's very reasonable of you. Trust me when I say I'm very appreciative of how generous you're being right now. So, in appreciation of this gesture, I'll even let you ask another question from me." Dante said as he finished his sundae and set the spoon down into the bowl.
Orange Dawn's lips broke out into a smile, "Would you mind telling me what it is that you've been doing? I saw the footage of you firing a laser of all things at some distant object."
"I was blowing up what are known as Qliphoth roots. They are those large black roots that look like they've been dipped in evil. I have the ability to sense the general direction of them, so I'm just performing a little bit of trimming on the overgrown weeds before they could grow into a big problem." Dante replied calmly as he rested back into his seat.
"I see. Then I will wish you happy hunting and pray that you don't do anything unforgivable." Orange Dawn warned before adding, "I'll be watching you to make sure you leave town peacefully."
"With a woman like you keeping their eyes on me, I'd say that this has been the best location I've stopped at to date." Dante said with a cocky grin as he slowly stood up from the table. Hilariously enough to the demon slayer, Orange Dawn was a bit lost for words. "You know, Dawn. We should have another date like this again, except ditch the professional outfits and go casual. I'll pay next time."
Finishing this offer with a wink, Dante walked past the superhero and right out the door of the parlor. Moving further onto the streets, the Legendary Devil Hunter summoned up Cavaliere in a burst of flames.
Orange Dawn had still been standing where she was with a speechless look of surprise on her face before her faceplate slammed shut once more, obscuring whatever expression she might be showing. Thanks to Dante's very good demonically enhanced senses, he heard that noise once more before bursting out into laughter.
"Later, Dawn!" Revving up Cavaliere's demonic engine, Dante earned a roar of excitement from the devil arm. Then, he sped off once more down the street. As for Orange Dawn, she quickly realized that she was still standing in place and rushed out the door after Dante before boosters in her boots shot her into the air.
The two teens who had still been in the restaurant as the meeting occurred looked at one another with a mixture of excitement and astonishment. "Trav, this video is going to get so many views." The teen with glasses said.
Trav nodded, "Let's get home, Zeke. We gotta upload it!" With this agreement made, they quickly ran out of the parlor without a further word spoken.