Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction / Devil May Cry - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Knights of the Realms ❯ Ch 11 - Cells ( Chapter 11 )

KNIGHTS OF THE REALMS

 

 

Cells

 

 

 

 

“Where's Tifa?”

 

“Look, Buddy,” said Dante, “I don't know. I was hired to kill the doppelganger and—“

 

“—bring Cloud back to join some secret group we've never heard of, in some place that we've never heard of, to fight something—wait for it—that we've never heard of!” yelled Cid Highwind. After Barret had convinced Cloud and Vincent not to kill Dante, he'd called around to the rest of their rag tag group. So now Cloud, Vincent, Barret, Cid, Yuffie, Cait Sith, and Red XIII were all in Seventh Heaven confronting a slightly annoyed Dante over the body of a demon.

 

As sad and strange as it may be, no one present thought the situation as too weird.

 

“Yes,” Dante agreed, wondering just what about it was so hard to understand.

 

“Where's Tifa?” Cloud asked again, unrelenting.

 

“I dunno. He didn't give me that particular tidbit of information.”

 

“The guy who hired ya, right?” Barret interjected.

 

“No, the demon inside of Vlad over there,” Dante said sarcastically, nodding at Vincent. The room was strangely quiet. “What? Something I said.”

 

“How do you know about Chaos?” asked Vincent, his voice dangerously quiet.

 

“Oh, so yours has a name?” Dante scratched his chin. “Never thought about giving mine one…Rocky? No…Daemon? Too cliché…Vance? Not tough enough…” he trailed off when he realized everyone was staring at him. Again. “What?”

 

“That's why you felt…familiar,” Vincent said. “How did you acquire the Chaos gene?”

 

“You wouldn't happen to be a friend of one Professor Hojo, would you?” asked Red XIII, his voice threatening.

 

“Who?”

 

“How did you obtain the Chaos gene?” repeated Yuffie, looking up from the demon's body which she had been prodding with her foot.

 

“What,” asked Dante, now just as confused as everyone else, “is the Chaos gene.”

 

No one spoke for a minute, letting Vincent answer in his own time. “Chaos,” he said at last, “is a monster. I was given the Chaos gene when I was experimented on, near death. It's…demonic.” His red eyes bored into Dante's. “When I look at you, I feel like I'm looking at it.”

 

The other's, having witnessed the destructive power of Chaos, and knowing the burden it was to Vincent, were all respectfully silent.

 

“Oh…” Dante said. “Is that all?” His laughter cut the silence of the bar, leaving the others irritated and confused.

 

“What do you mean, `Is that all?'” asked Yuffie. “Did you hear nothing he just

said?”

 

“I heard it, cutie. Don't be gettin' your panties in bunch.” The ninja girl's face turned several shades of red and her eyes narrowed. “It's just funny to see people get so worked up about it. I mean, it's only a demon. Oh sure, it's pretty powerful, but from what I'm feeling from it, I've seen worse.” The others just stared. They'd been through military raids, kept it together when fighting the Planets own WEAPONs, defeated the most powerful being alive…but after only minutes of conversation with Dante, they were all at a loss.

 

“So. Cloud.” Said Dante. “How `bout it? We get outa here, go meet up with my employer, go kick some ass. Hell, I bet you'll even get to rescue your damsel in distress. Whaddya say?”

 

“I say no,” Cloud said flatly as he turned away to leave.

 

“Aw, are you just gonna be a sorry little bitch and run away again? There goes Cloud, off to mope about his dead ex—“

 

“What do you know!” Cloud couldn't have stopped himself even if he had wanted to. The shortest blade of the First Tsurugi embedded itself to the hilt in Dante's throat.

 

Dante's eye hardened and he growled, the sound escaping through his wound. He grabbed the sword and pulled it out. “What do I know?” he asked as his throat healed. “I know that this Tifa chick needs you right now. I know that if you don't come with me, you'll just runaway and retreat into the little cells that you've set up in your mind. I know that you'll be letting down not just the people in this room, but all over the world. And not just this world.”

 

Cloud was surprised. He felt humbled, something that happened extremely rarely. He hated Dante all the more, because he knew he was right.

 

“I also know that my paycheck will be severely reduced if I go back without you.”

Cloud grabbed his blade back from Dante and stormed out of the bar.

 

“Just what the hell are you?” Barret asked, voicing the opinion of everyone in the room.

 

“I'm a half-demon, to be blunt. My dad thought that giving me super powers would make up for all the future missed birthdays.”

 

“Why just Cloud?” asked Cait Sith. “History has proven that we tend to get more done when we all work together. I mean, sure, we may not all be as proficient with a sword bigger than ourselves, but we each can hold our own in a conflict.”

 

Dante stood over him, looking down the five foot difference to the small stuffed cat. “You can?”

 

“I'll have you know this isn't my real body,” said Cait Sith, the very picture of injured pride.

 

“Here's the deal as I see it. My employer is getting together a group, a “super team” if you will, of the best warriors that he has come across, myself included. While I can't speak of the combat skills of any of you, save Red here—“

 

“You didn't fight Red, you fought Vincent,” interjected Yuffie.

 

“Yeah, the guy wearing red.”

 

“I am commonly referred to as Red XIII,” said Red XIII.

 

Dante sighed. “My bad, didn't mean any offense…”

 

“Well, get it straight. Red and Vampire Boy are two different people,” said Barret.

 

“That doesn't matter! The thing is, I was sent to bring back Cloud. Nothing was said about you guys.” Dante turned and walked to the door.

 

 

Cloud was leaning against the wall outside the door. Dante stepped out into the sunlight and took up position on the other side.

 

“You leaving?” Cloud asked after a while.

 

“Not without you.”

 

Another lengthy pause.

 

“Why do you want me, anyway?”

 

“I don't know exactly why I was sent to get you, but…Ya got skills. `S been a while since I've had a fight that fun. Not gonna lie.”

 

“Why should I go with you?”

 

“I wasn't given a brochure on the highlights of what we'll be doing, but I have a good feeling we'll be whuppin' some ass. Don't know whose, but I'm not picky.” There was more silence while Cloud wrestled with opposing thoughts. “But if you don't go, well, then I call first dibs on this Tifa chick. Was that doppelgangers illusion true to life? I assume so, cause you didn't notice and all, but DAMN, that is one hot piece of -“

 

“I'll go,” said Cloud, cutting off Dante before he got any farther.

 

“Great, it's all settled then. You wanna go back in and do the whole goodbye thing, or shall we just mosey along?”

 

Cloud was already straddling his motorcycle, Fenrir. “I'll call them later. Where are we headed?”

 

Dante got on behind him. “Sorry bud, but my bike got trashed, remember? We're going to a place called Hyrule.”

 

“Never heard of it.”

 

“Yeah, me neither. My employer gave me this world traveling doo hickey, though, and it worked to get me here.”

 

“One other thing. How did you know about…Aerith?”

 

“My employer told me. He knows a lot about you, and a lot about me. Knew some things that I didn't know. Kinda creepy, but don't tell him I said that.”

 

“Who, exactly, is your employer?” Cloud asked as he revved the engine.

 

“Guy calls himself the Drifter. Don't know much about him, but he seems a decent guy, and his money's legit. Uses swords. White hair.”

 

Cloud swore. “Why does it always have to be white hair?”