Fan Fiction ❯ A Deadly Gambit ❯ Mission Improbable ( Chapter 7 )

1

Reconstruction

 

 

Silas's heels made a sharp tapping as he strode down the hall of Mallet Castle. Or what was left of it at any rate. After Dante, the son of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda, lay waste to it three years earlier he and some of Mundus's followers, the ones with opposable thumbs at least, had taken on the task of rebuilding the castle. This had proven to be a much more laborious task than they had expected. As it turned out, when Mundus departed, the vortex that sucked him out also created a barrier around the castle preventing any entrance by a demonic presence. A defense mechanism most likely placed to inhibit the entrance of anyone who would attempt to free the imprisoned demon lord. So Silas and the others had to use some of the standard cleansing methods to gain access. Human sacrifices, the murder of the first born child of some lesser demon with the power to vaporize anyone who got close to him, the standard procedure.

After the shield was broken the issue was where in Hell, literally, were they going to get enough stone to rebuild an entire castle? So Silas was simply wandering round the courtyard with his panthers in tow feeling generally sorry for himself.

 

 

2

A Lull

 

 

Dante, bored as hell like usual, was cleaning out his guns Ebony and Ivory.

"Why do you do that?" Trish asked from the other side of the room.

"Do what?"

"Constantly clean your guns. You haven't shot anything for over a week."

"Don't want 'em to rust up on me, babe."

"There demon made, Dante!" she reminded him, standing up from the couch she was previously laying on. " You made 'em yourself, remember? They can't rust. They cant even run out of ammo for G-d sake!"

"Look Trish, if you have something better for me to do I'm open for suggestions." Dante snapped looking up from his guns to look at her. "But at this point I'm ready to just get on my motorcycle and put up Fuckin' flyers to get some business around here!" He paused and continued to clean Ivory. "Do ya think it's possible that we killed every demon in Hell?"

"No, they multiply like G-d damn rabbits! Besides, I know Silas and his thugs are still sulkin' around somewhere. Well, at least we know their not bothering any one around here."

"Yeah. But were goin broke because of it! Shit!"

"What?" Trish sounded startled.

"I'm outta polish!"

"Oh, screw you!" She exclaimed exasperated, leaving the room.

"I'd be up for that!" Dante called out to her. All he got in response was her middle finger flashed in front on the doorway. Dante sighed and returned to his task.

 

 

3

The Scheme

 

Silas had resigned to the Room of the Melancholy Soul to sit and, well, feel melancholy. The roof had mostly fallen in, however, the great-canopied four-poster was still quite comfortable and the bust of a woman with a sword, aptly named The Death Sentence, shoved through her chest was rather cheery to him.

Direct blood and gore made Silas mildly queasy, but symbolic death and destruction had a certain jus noux cest qua to him. He is a businessman, strictly mass profit and cheap tricks to gain his end. Armani suit, Gucci wallet type of guy. He left the strenuous work to his cohorts and then reaped the benefits of their toil. As of late he had found this easier and easier to do because given Mundus's untimely departure Silas was promoted to Overlord of Demonic Possession. In other words he had the power to tell everyone under Mundus's control what to do. He also had the responsibility to make sure everything that was the demons' stayed the demons' and everything that was destroyed was rebuilt to all it's former glory.

"Might I make a suggestion, Silas?" a thick English accent commented. Silas jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion on his thoughts. He quickly composed himself when he regained his wits.

"Doppelganger. I would consider it a personal favor if you would not listen to my mind. I hold my personal thoughts something of a private matter." Silas said in an exhausted manner. He turned to look at one of his panthers.

Just at that moment the panther melted and reformed into the vague form of a man. His blackness seemed to ebb and flow in a constant irregular pattern. His glowing red eyes were his only defining feature.

"I apologize for my eavesdropping, Silas," Doppelganger pronounced with a florid bow, "If you would prefer I will retain my input and allow you to return to your sniveling."

"Go on Doppelganger, "Silas sighed defeated.

"First of all, I understand not what the trouble is. Is there not an unlimited supply of limestone in Mundus's old quarry? Since in his absence you, Silas, are the Overlord of Demonic Possession you by law of inheritance gain all of Mundus's former assets," Doppelganger explained.

"This is true. However, as we all know our great departed lord was a bit of a paranoid." Silas pointed out. Doppelganger nods wryly. "In his absence he summoned a Djinn to Guard his quarry. He created this Djinn so strong that even he could not defeat it. You do the math."

" Silas, I understand this. However, I do have a plan."

"I'm all ears."

"This Djinn is as you said more powerful than Mundus himself. However there is another who has such power. Need I insult your intelligence by telling you who?" Doppelganger was answered with a 'deer in the headlights' sort of stare form Silas. "Very well," the demonic figure sighed, "Dante! He defeated Mundus did he not?" Silas nods. "Would it not be possible that he can also defeat this djinn? Silas you're a cunning fox of a businessman, or so I'm told, you should be able to spot a win-win situation when it smacks you in the face like this. Am I going to fast for you?" Silas just shot him an ice-cold stare. "Good. If Dante wins you will have access to all the rock you want. If he loses he will be out of your hair forever. Do you get it now?"

"An acceptable plan, Doppelganger. However, it has one small flaw." Silas noted thoughtfully.

"Oh? And what pray tell would that be?"

"How in the name of Argosax are we going to get Dante to work for us? If you haven't noticed, Dante and I are not on the best of terms, my shapeless friend!" Silas's voice snapped like a whip.

"Calm yourself, my liege." a cool female voice said. Silas turned as his second panther transformed into a female version of Doppleganger. "I too have something to offer to you men." Even despite her amorphous shape Dopplegangara sensually walked over and assumed a sexy pose next to Doppelganger. "Silas I believe you have forgotten what we are," she stated motioning to herself and the figure beside her. "We are Doppelgangers. This means that we can assume the form of any living thing of our same gender." She said this in a soft condescending voice as if she were addressing a toddler. "Brother shall we demonstrate?"

"Of course, sis." In that instant Doppelganger turned into Nelo Angelo and Dopplegangara turned into Hillary Clinton. Silas just gaped, and then a light came into his eyes.

"I trust you two can turn into humans, as well."

"By Jove, brother, I think he's got it!" Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

 

 

4

Back in Business

 

 

After about an hour of staring at his feet Dante decided he needed a sandwich. He walked into the kitchen of Devil Never Cry and headed directly for the fridge. Where he found Trish sitting at the table downing a beer. She, without so much as turning around tossed another beer over shoulder at Dante. He absently caught it, opened it, and drank.

"Sorry I blew up at you, Dante," Trish apologized turning to him. "I...I guess I'm just pissed off about the state of affairs."

"Don't worry 'bout it, Babe, I understand. Can't say I'm content with the shit that's happening either." Dante walked over to her and kissed her. He then sat down and continued to drink. Suddenly, Dante stood up and walked to his guns. As he picked them up and Trish gave him a quizzical look. Dante just clicked his tongue and cocked his head towards Alastor, which was hanging on the wall next to Sparda. It was crackling and blue electricity was coursing up and down the blade. Trish's eyes narrowed. She then smiled and hastily snatched Sparda off the wall. It was time for action. Before the vistors could so much as knock Dante had opened the door and stuck Ebony in their faces. Its newly polished barrel gleamed in the sunlight. Immediately, though, Dante holstered his gun and a look of confusion came over his face.

Before him stood not vicious demons bent on the destruction of the human race but two pitiful looking humans beaten and scorched in the most cruel looking manner. They appeared to be a couple, man and woman.

"Awright who are you?" Dante said gruffly.

"Me kind sir." the man said by way of introduction. He had a thick, lilting Irish brogue. "We 'ave come into contact with th' most 'orrible bein' we 'ave ever 'ad th' misopportunity t' encounter, doncha know. We, m'wife an' I, were told that y' and yer mighty fine lass there were th' best in th' business, y'see. S' af'er encountering this bein' we come 'ere, doncha know, t' seek yer 'elp. I be beggin' y' kind demon 'unters t' use all th' strength given t' ya to 'elp us in our piteous state, y' see. If it please y' o'course.

"Awright, awright." Dante interrupted. "Just tell me a few things."

"What be that m'kind sir?" the man asked.

"A) Who are you? B) What type of being is this? C) How did you come into contact with such a being? And D) Where is this being?"

"We, kind sir, are th' Grisasts, m'wife an' I. M'wife is called Gara an' I be Rasp'taf Grisast." Dante nods. "This bein' be very large. 'Bout three fathoms high an' one across. 'Is 'ole body did burn like a thousand 'earths an' each step 'e took shook the very earth, doncha know."

"Sounds like a Djinn to me." Trish told Dante. He nods in agreement.

"Continue, Rasp'taf." Dante said.

"Thankee, Son of Sparda."

"How do you know that?" Dante's eyes were suddenly on fire.

"Is... is merely sumpin' I 'erd from th' man who told m'of y'." The man stammered visibly shaken. "'Ave I given offence?"

"No... no I just... never mind... continue."

"We...we was trav'lin an' gets very lost, y'see. We found ourselves in a terrible storm an' seeked shelter in this cave we come to, doncha know. In it we sees a light, s'in need of supin' t'do while waitin' out th' storm we follows it an', y'see, we gets lost again. I' our search for the way we came we finds the light. Twas this giant that was afire as we said. So we runs away an' by th' grace of G-d we escapes an' now stands b'fore y'with our plea."

"O.K. And where was this?" Dante was trying to squeeze the information out of this man without causing another nauseating monologue.

"I cannot say. We got ourselves

lost, y'see, an' we simply find ourselves in th' presence of this bein'. So we runs an'-"

"Okay. You don't know. Excuse us. We must talk this over." He turns to Trish and they reenter Devil Never Cry. "This doesn't quite jive with me, Babe. How bout you?

"Yeah, some of the things he said did sound a little funky but they could just be shaken up. I'd take 'em with a grain of salt but we do need some dough." Trish conceded.

"I guess your right."

 

But why the hell did Alastor go nuts when they arrived? Dante wondered.

When the two of them returned to the outside Dante had one final question to ask.

"So, how much are we gonna get paid for this?"

 

5

 

The Merc

 

 

Silas paced back and forth in the Hall of Light. Pieces of Mundus's statue littered the marble floor and there was a gaping hole over the immense throne that his ostentatiousness had once sat in while lying in wait for Dante. The hole was probably caused by the two foes when they blasted off into space. A tall vicious looking man leaned against a wall picking his nails with shard of human bone. He wore a wide brimmed leather hat that was pulled low over his eyes and no shirt. He had some course stubble on his chin but nowhere else. This man wore fingerless leather gloves and loose fitting khaki cargo pants. He wore heavy steel-toed boots that appeared to be made of black dragon skin. His tough brown leather belt was lined with gruesome serrated knives.

"What are you so worried about, mate? Those two will be back." The man assured Silas in an Australian accent.

"It is not their return that worries me, but their success. Dante is not to be taken lightly. And I fear that is exactly what those doppelgangers will do. The Son of Sparda is no push over." Silas responded egily.

"Calm down, mate. So what if they fail?" The man pushed up the brim of his hat. "I'll take care of that walkin' match for you. And if you want I'll take out Dante for you too. As long as I get paid I'm at your service."

"Trapper." Silas stopped with his back turned to the man. "I acknowledge your skill as a bounty hunter."

"The best in Hell, mate.

"However, Dante is the best devil hunter in Hell and the human world. No offense to you Trapper, but Dante did beat Mundus." Trapper took the bone shard between thumb and forefinger and shot it across the room where it stuck solidly in the far wall.

" Silas. That man is only half-demon. I am whole full blood devil. I outta be twice as powerful as that half-ling."

"I'm amazed by you command of second grade arithmetic Trapper, but Mundus was not only full demon but a Demon Overlord. And he got his lordly ass kicked by this 'half-ling'!" Silas turned and snapped. Regaining his composure he continued, "besides I may need you later, Trapper. Dante on the other hand is expendable."

All of a sudden the grand double doors of the hall were thrust open. In the doorway stood the two dark figures of the Doppelgangers.

"So?" Silas asked eagerly.

"So, what?" Doppelgangara asked innocently. But not without a devilish smirk.

"Oh, cut the crap you amorphous bitch! You know damn well what!" Silas almost screamed.

"Oh? Testy today aren't we Silas?" Doppelgangara responded in an injured tone.

"Hook, line, and sinker." Doppelganger announced.

"Oh good, good. So now we just lead him there and let whatever happens happen?"

"Essentially, yes, however there is the concern of Dante's survival." Doppelganger explained.

"Come again?"

"In the off chance that our friendly devil hunters do indeed defeat our mutual foe, this being Flamberge-"

"Who?" Silas intergected.

"As it turns out our friendly neighborhood djinn has a name, Flamberge. A mildly appropriate name, I must concede. As I was saying, in the off chance that Dante and Trish do indeed defeat Flamberge they will still be hanging around the quarry for quite a while snooping and some such thing."

"In other words, Silas, we need someone to eliminate them if need be." Doppelgangara clarified.

Either bewildered or just bored by showy tongue-wagging, Trapper had replaced his hat and was quietly snoring. Upon hearing the last bit of conversation, however, immediately opened his eyes and took his opening.

"G'day girl. My name is Tomas Rittor, but you can call me Trapper."

"Who is this ass?" Doppelgangara asked disgusted.

"I am a bounty hunter, the best in all of Hell in fact. I couldn't help over hearing your conversation and I understand you need two devil hunters eliminated. I would be happy to take the job. For a small fee of course."

A vicious smile formed on Doppelgangara's sable face.

"Alright you're hired...uh...Catcher."

"Trapper."

"Trapper, then."

"About my fee-"

"Take it up with Silas." She dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Doppelganger added. "We had to bargain with Dante about his payment and we're down about three hundred grand." Silas just groaned. "And that's just the upfront fee. There is travel and other expenses, potential damages, and the fee afterwards." Doppelganger counted the costs on his indefinite fingers. With every added fee Silas paled a little more.