Legacies // By: Duff
Prologue: After the Great War
“Is it over? Please let it be over. This is starting to get boring.” Rausten said standing over the bodies of the dead demons with his large sword Eternity in his hand which was pulsing with green energy. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light and a huge grinding sound in the distance and his devils body turned into a human who appeared to be in his early twenties. He then proceeded to examine it with the sword in his hand. Long white hair spilled past his shoulders and gold rimmed eyes looked back at him from the sword.
“There you are. Are the last of the demons dispatched?” Sparda said walking up; also human, except he appeared to be in his early thirties and he was carrying Yamato and Rebellion; and a strange amulet hung from a chain around his neck.
“Yep, there all gone, I see that you and that girl sealed the tower. Did she suffer?” Rausten asked.
“No she did not suffer, she only asked for me to hold her hand while I did the
deed. Thank you for giving us the cover we needed, and keeping the demons at
bay for so long. Let’s leave this wasteland.” Sparda said turning and walking
away.
“First we should put on some clothes.” Rausten remarked throwing him a pair
of purple robes from his pack as he put on a pair of green ones.
“Yes I suppose so; did you seal half of your power in the Demon World like I told you? Or did you put it in your sword like you said you would?” Sparda asked preparing for the answer as he caught the robes with his hand as he set Rebellion in the ground.
“Yes I put it in Backlash, to use it as kind of boost if I need it. Do I ever listen to you?” Rausten said grinning at Sparda.
“Damn you, what if it fell into the wrong hands?” Sparda asked angrily.
“Take a rest big brother, it won’t fall into the wrong hands, you worry too much.” Rausten said walking past him with his swords and pack.
“Give me some food and one of the water skins; we will need nourishment now that we are humans.” Sparda said putting a hand on his chest and stopping him.
“Yes General Sparda, right away sir.” Rausten said with a mocking bow.
“If you are truly my brother and love me you will never call me General again. We are no longer devils, we are humans.” Sparda said quietly as Rausten fished out some food and one of the water skins and put them into the extra pack he had brought for Sparda.
“I’m sorry Sparda, I didn’t mean it.” Rausten said his smile fading as he handed Sparda the pack.
“No harm done, so what do you intend on doing walking away like that?” Sparda asked curiously, for he and his brother were hardly ever separated except for the first few years before he decided to defect against Mundus with his older brother.
“Well, considering the fact I’m no longer a Knight of the Demon World, I intended to explore the wonders of this one.” Rausten said seriously.
“I intend to do that also, are you going to come with me?” Sparda asked.
“No this is something I want to do alone; we’ve been together for too long.” Rausten said shouldering his pack.
“That is a mature decision for you.” Sparda remarked thoughtfully.
“I know, isn’t it terrifying?” Rausten said with a crazed grin.
“On second thought, the invitation to come with me has officially been revoked.” Sparda said with a smile for the young human.
“I’d just irritate you anyway. Well, I guess this is goodbye.” Rausten said embracing his brother his eyes starting to tear up for the first time.
“So I guess we’re truly humans, my crying like this.” Rausten said as he walked away from his brother.
“I’ll see you around.” Sparda called after him tears pooling in his eyes also.
The two met up from time to time to slay demons or other supernatural beings, as soldiers in Rome, samurai in Japan, and knights in the Old World. Even as soldiers in World War I and II they met up both to each others surprise. First as soldiers fighting for the Crown, then in World War II fighting as American soldiers against the demons that were summoned by the Axis or the ones who appeared because of the bloodshed and strife. The two walked through the ages relatively untouched by time and slaying any demon or other beings who intended harm against human’s right up until thirty years ago.
* * *
“So tell me why the Legendary Knight came all the way to New York? It can’t be just to look at my pretty face, you’re far too happy for someone coming to see their brother.” Rausten said with a grin as he sat down at the table across from his brother in the relatively empty bar, as it snowed on the moonlit streets.
“Eva and I have twin sons, they were born two years ago, and it took me that long to find you and track you down. You’re a hard man to find.” Sparda said.
“I like it that way, that’s why I was only mentioned in a few books concerning the Great War.” Rausten said he ordered a Coors when the waitress came as his brother drank from a tumbler of Jim Beam.
“Yeah, you’re probably afraid someone would try to kill you because of your smartass mouth.” Sparda said with a laugh.
“Everybody loves a comedian, so what are your kid’s names?” Rausten grumbled after he took a sip of his beer.
“The younger ones name is Dante, he’s the wild one, and the other one’s Vergil, he’s the calm one.” Sparda said his eyes shining with pride.
“Did you rip off the Divine Comedy? You know the poem that Dante Alighieri wrote? I met him after he was exiled, pretty interesting guy, so was Virgilius, the guy who wrote the Aeneid, he was weird though.” Rausten said rambling on about Virgil.
“Do you ever focus on one thing?” Sparda interrupted remembering the reason he didn’t often visit his brother, Sparda was a very patient person, but when it came to his little brother he could get irritated very quickly.
“Yeah, I heard you, Dante and Vergil.” Rausten said rolling his eyes as he downed his beer in one gulp, then proceeded to snatch away Sparda’s tumbler with lightning speed.
“You ass.” Sparda growled.
“You do what you know.” Rausten said with a smile.
“So, to get the reason why I’m here, do you want to come and meet the boys?” Sparda asked.
“Yeah, why not? I’m not in a relationship or anything right now so I guess I’ll go.”
“Can I stay at your apartment tonight? Our flight doesn’t leave until the morning.” Sparda asked.
“Sure, I have a pretty nice dive.” Rausten said as the bill came; he stared straight ahead while he finished the tumbler and pushed the bill to Sparda who frowned.
They climbed into Rausten’s ’65 Porsche and drove to his dive. As they took the elevator ride up they chatted about old times. They walked into the well lit dive which had tapestries, and old statues and paintings. They sat around and drank and talked about old times, mainly the war, until they both fell asleep.
* * *
“Eva you remember Rausten right?” Sparda asked as they walked through the door the next afternoon.
“Yes, it’s been awhile.” Eva said with a smile as she hugged him.
“So let me get this straight you plan to split the amulet between the boys?” Rausten asked while they were talking about the boy’s inheritance.
“Yes, is that a problem?” Eva asked.
“No, just curious.” Rausten said. After that the boys fumbled into the dining room from their room and Rausten took turns playing with his nephews.
That night as Rausten held the boys on his lap while they ate supper he took a drink of his beer and said something that both boys would never forget even at that young of an age.
“Here’s to both of you, hope you guys make it, and if I have a kid, I hope they make it too.”
Mission One: The Lucky Devil
“Man this sucks, business is so slow; I haven’t had a decent job in weeks.” The young man moaned as he moved his head around on the large oak desk. He slowly raised his head and looked around at the office. A large mahogany cabinet sat in the corner behind the desk contained two swords and a pair of gun belts with a large gun in each. The swords were unusual in decoration. The one which was roughly five and a half feet looked like a medieval knight’s sword except the hilt was two silver bones and the handle held a large black crystal the size of a fist. That was Eternity. The other looked one looked like a long samurai sword the sheath was a rich black and the handle was wrapped with red and black. That was Backlash. The guns were oddities too. The left handed one had red grips and the right handed other had black grips. A picture of the ace of spades on fire was on both grips. Both grips had indents in them to comfortably place fingers. They bore the names Dusk and Midnight. They were custom made black .45 semi-automatics designed with rapid firing and accuracy in mind for each. Each gun’s personal name was inscribed in silver cursive along the barrel. The only other decoration sat on his desk; it was a picture of the young man and an older man who greatly resembled him in a large study filled with shelves of ancient books, and both of them were grinning broadly.
“Do you plan to sit in here and mope all day Holden? Or did you just forget that this place has two purposes?” A woman’s voice asked as the front door to the office opened.
“Can I please? I know this place has two functions, I’m the one who started it.” Holden sighed as he ran his fingers through his long snow white hair.
“Well we have customers to serve, and as your case manager and full partner in the bar, I want to remind you why the Lucky Devil is also a bar.” The woman said.
Holden sighed and looked her over, twenty three, brunette, cute; Kim Sayre was the first friend he had made when he moved to New Jersey after graduation last June. He had met her when he saved her life from a demon summoned by a jealous ex-boyfriend. She said he was too controlling and abusive, so she left, and he summoned a demon which promptly killed him then set forth to complete its mission so it could release itself of the bonds that the human had set on it. She was now engaged to a college guy by the name of Marc Reese, they were expected to get married in the spring. They were the only two people in New Jersey who knew his secret. After he had saved her they started the Lucky Devil (which was his nickname in high school, and only a handful of his friends realized the irony of it) together so he could make money off of devil hunting, and when that was slow work the bar. He turned the two stories building into a bar/detective agency and turned the top floor into a house for himself.
“I know why it’s a bar.” The nineteen year old demon hunter said crankily.
“You just wish there was more action. Now hang up your coat and get out there and quit hiding.” Kim said with a knowing smile for her handsome young partner.
“Fine, I suppose if I can’t do one job, I’ll do the other.” Holden said taking a black trench coat with fancy padding in the shoulders off the chair and put it on the coat rack by the back door which led to the alley. He then pulled a small black hair tie out of his pocket and tied back his long white hair.
The two walked out of the front office door and entered the bar. It was a dimly lit bar and had booths in the corners and wood tables and a large stereo system hooked up for music. Besides Kim the only other employee was Zach who was Kim’s younger brother. He didn’t want more then two employees. He kept to his father’s saying ‘keep it simple, otherwise you’ll get a headache’ he didn’t need any other waiters because the bar had never attracted a big crowd. Mainly he used the bar as a tax write off. There were only ever twenty to thirty people there.
“Looks like a small crowd today.” Holden said as he walked toward the bar to serve drinks. Most of the patrons of the bar knew Holden from around town and were friendly to the young man. But there was always a few who had to poke fun of his white hair and they landed out in the street wondering how they got there due to Holden’s short temper. No one knew about his secret life besides Kim and her fiancé, but there were always rumors about him. It was around 3:45 and the bar opened for business from three to eleven Sunday through Friday except if the local high school was playing hockey. Saturday’s Holden went down to the hockey rink to watch the local high school teams practice. While a big fan of hockey, Holden had never played for the fear of hurting someone. He played baseball and basketball in high school, but always had to restrain himself when doing so. Especially when lifting weights, the first time he had done so he put four 45’s on each side of the bar and did fifteen reps without breaking a sweat before he noticed everyone staring at him.
* * *
The bar was fifteen minutes and no customers to prevent it from closing when Holden got his first official weirdo for the day. Holden was in the back cleaning up and Kim was mopping the floors, and Zach had gone home; when he walked in from the from the April rain that plagued the town for weeks on end. Holden sighed and went to serve the customer.
“What can I get you cowboy?” Holden said looking at the man’s boots which actually had zip up leggings over them. They didn’t go at all with the rest of his attire what looked like chaps covered most of his blood red pants which were supported by a weird looking belt buckle; a zip up vest with three buckles securing straps that went across the vest, and to top it off the joker was wearing a blood red trench coat with the sleeves rolled up.
“How are ya doing? Can I get Jack on the rocks?” The man said from beneath a ball cap.
“Not a problem.” Holden said as the man took a few crumpled bills from his coat pocket and set them on the table.
Holden took the money and put it in the register as the man took off the soaking wet ball cap on his head. Holden pushed a button behind him under the bar with his foot and the stereo system blasted to life with some hard rock.
“What the… oh very funny.” Holden said as he handed the man his drink.
“What? Oh the hair, you like it?” The man said grinning at him with ice blue eyes.
“Who put you up to the dye job? Was it Bobby, the guy I kicked out for making fun of mine?” Holden asked starting to get angry.
“Calm down, no one put me up too it, it’s just natural, I’m like you Holden.” The man said seeing anger flash in Holden’s gold eyes.
“Like me, are you a half demon?” Holden asked his anger being replaced with suspicion.
“Yeah, I’m Dante, your cousin.” Dante said watching the effect that particular bomb had on the young man.
“Impossible, my mom was an only child and my dad… well he never mentioned anything about having a brother or sister before he died. I’ve heard of you, rumor is you’re a damn good devil hunter.” Holden said.
“Your dad is my uncle, and my old man is Sparda. I’ve heard of you too, rumor is you haven’t had a huge job yet, you know, the kind that involves end of the world stuff. ” Dante said.
“Probably because you took them all… wait your dad is Sparda, as in the Sparda? Why the hell did Dad never mention him?” Holden asked.
“Because, your dad might have wanted to keep quiet about it.” Dante said enigmatically.
“Yeah, he always wanted me to figure things out for myself, never gave me the answers to anything.” Holden said as he fixed himself a glass of Jack Daniels and Coke to relieve the shock.
“Is everything okay?” Kim asked as she came over.
“Yeah, Kim this is Dante… my cousin.” Holden said watching the effect it had on her.
“Wow, nice to meet you Dante. We’ve heard about you in some circles, about you and Mundus and a few other stories.” Kim said shaking his hand.
“Likewise; yeah, I’ve heard about Holden too, but mostly it’s small stuff like the attacks in California when he was in school. But I hear he does a good job and has fought some higher level demons. So, to quit jerking off and get to the point why I came here, I need you for a job; a big one.” Dante said then took a sip of his drink tired of all the talking.
“What kind of a big job?” Holden asked suspiciously.
“The difficult kind, three demon kings Mundus couldn’t kill he had sealed up in Hell with the Fallen, now they’ve found a way out and they’re gonna bring all of Hell with them.” Dante said.
“Sounds heavy, I’ve never had that kind of job, but I’m down.” Holden remarked casually.
“Good, and don’t worry, there’s a huge payday.” Dante said.
“This is sounding better and better all the time.” Holden said with a grin.
“Do you know how long you guys are going to be gone?” Kim asked.
“Can’t say for sure, but it won’t be too long.” Dante said.
“If you need an extra hand you can call Marc, tell him I’ll pay him.” Holden said already making plans in his head.
“How did you afford this place, did you play pizza delivery boy from five on?” Dante asked curiously.
“My mom is Heather Graves; she’s loaded with the Grave’s billions as the sole inheritor. She bought it for me as a graduation present.” Holden said.
“Wow, ain’t you lucky?” Dante said mockingly.
“Yep, guess I’ am.” Holden said looking at Dante.
“Well that’s enough chit chat, get your stuff ready and let’s go.” Dante said.
“I’ll finish mopping up.” Kim said.
“Follow me.” Holden said as he and Dante simultaneously downed their drinks and walked to the office. When Dante stepped into the office he sat in the large old fashioned high backed chair like he owned the place, while Holden grabbed a large black gym bag from the bottom cupboard of the cabinet and put the swords and guns inside after wrapping the swords with cloth, he then got his coat off the hook and put it in the bag too.
“Those are some pretty sweet swords you have there, the guns look badass too.” Dante said.
“Thanks, my dad had the guns custom made for me before he died.” Holden said proudly.
“Is that you and him in that picture?” Dante asked as he picked it up off the desk.
“Yeah, it was taken when I was fourteen, a couple of weeks before he was killed by demons. After he died I hit the road, moved to this little town in California by the Oregon border and lived with some people for a while who knew my dad, then I got a job and my own apartment and went to school from freshman year on.” Holden said remembering the fun of high school.
“Sounds like you’ve done a lot; your dad was killed by demons on Mundus’ orders more than likely, still following them even after I beat his ass.” Dante said.
“Yeah, that’s what I figured, we never found the body, but we knew.” Holden said as he closed the cabinet.
“You ready to go?” Dante asked getting up from the chair.
“Almost, gotta get some clothes.” Holden said walking to the back door which led to the alley.
Dante and Holden walked out the back door then up the fire escape steps which led to his house, he unlocked a door which had a small dog door in the bottom
“Damn this is pretty cool.” Dante whistled as he looked from the small entry way into the living room. Holden had a 40 inch plasma screen T.V with a surround sound hookup along with a PS2. In the large living room was also a pool table with a Jack Daniels lamp over it and a poker table sat in another corner. He also had a large leather sofa, a recliner and a coffee table with some paper work on it.
“Follow me.” Holden said as he led Dante through a large tidy kitchen, then down a hall past a bathroom and then into his room on the end. Right across the bedroom was a huge exercise room which was the size of a small gym. The room was a large typical teenager’s room. It had posters of bands like Breaking Benjamin and a few other alternative rock bands and also some Lynyrd Skynyrd and other Southern Rock bands, and a laptop sat on the table by his bed. He crossed the room, passed a sofa and a T.V on a small entertainment center by the door and went to the dresser by his bed and put some clothes and both chargers for his red Razor in a small black travel bag he pulled out from underneath his bed. He then packed about three weeks worth of clothes and called it good. He looked around his room which was neat and tidy like the rest of his house and mentally said goodbye as he did every time he left for a job.
“Let’s go, I need to say good bye to Kim.” Holden said and threw Dante the bag of clothes which he took with a grimace as Holden took the large bag with the weapons and coat in it.
They walked out the door, down the steps, and back into the bar to say goodbye.
“That’s about it; if you could feed Black Jack while I’m gone I’d love ya forever.” Holden said as he embraced Kim and headed towards the door.
“Who’s Black Jack?” Dante asked.
“He’s a stray black cat that I found as a kitten, he always hangs around Holden’s house, there’s something different about him though, and he’s not like a normal cat. Holden hates cats, but for some reason he took a liking to Black Jack.” Kim said as she shook Dante’s hand and told him that it was a pleasure to meet him.
Dante and Holden walked out the front door and Holden looked for Dante’s car.
“Where’s your car?” Holden asked only seeing his truck.
“Oh, did I mention I flew? So you get to drive yours.” Dante said with a grin.
Mission Two: Welcome to Devil May Cry
“This place is a shit-hole!” Holden exclaimed as he walked in the door.
“Oh yeah, it’s automatically a shit-hole because it’s not as tidy as your bar!” Dante fired back as he flipped the light switch.
“That and the fact I had to drive all the way here you bum, you could have at least drove three of the six days instead of eating and sleeping.” Holden said.
“Oh yeah, sorry about that, I’ll make sure to fill up your truck before you get home.” Dante said grinning like a little kid and scratching his head.
“Okay.” Holden said looking around the messy shop. The place was a wreck and had strange objects on the walls, a pool table in the middle and a jukebox and drum set in the corner. Whoa, Holden thought, a little bit more of a bad fashion sense and mom not buying the place in Jersey for me, this might’ve been me.
“My crew should be here any minute; they’re finishing up a job in Nevada and said they’d be back today.” Dante said.
“Well I’m going to go get my stuff and take a shower.” Holden says looking at his black ‘89 four door Dodge truck glinting in the mid-morning sun through the dusty windows. He had found the truck in a wrecking yard and restored it because he thought it would be a durable vehicle under a demonic attack. It had actually withstood a demonic assault on him and two friends in high school during Christmas vacation; he had found them stranded on the side of the road after their car broke down, then a few miles to his apartment the demons had attacked.
“There’s a bed and dresser for you in the back room.” Dante said as he sat in his chair and crossed his feet and propped them on the desk, then he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the chair.
“Okay thanks.” Holden said as he walked outside to the truck.
He watched as a motorcycle and a dark blue ‘76 Ford Mustang pulled up beside the truck. There was a woman dressed in what looked like a white leotard of sorts sitting on the motorcycle pulling off a helmet revealing short hair and eyes hidden behind sunglasses. Damn she’s cute, Holden thought. Then a man in a blue trench coat got out of the car and ran his free hand through his spiked white hair, while the other hand grasped a long samurai sword.
A woman got out of the passenger seat who was a tall blond dressed in leather, she was saying something to the man which Holden couldn’t make out but it had to have been funny because he started to laugh. Holden leaned against the truck and looked at the sign above the shop and pretended not to be listening.
“She lost the bet fair and square Trish. Now she has to treat everybody to supper.” The man said with a smile.
“I wouldn’t have lost if some egotistical maniac hadn’t tried to kill every demon in sight!” The woman with the sunglasses said. The man in the blue coat cleared his throat and nodded in Holden’s direction.
“Hey, how’s it going? I’m Trish. This is Vergil, and that’s Lady.” The woman in the leather said, breaking Holden’s concentration.
“Hey, I’m Holden.” Holden said as he took his bags from the back of the truck and walked to the door and shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you, do you want some help with those bags?” Lady said walking up.
“Yeah, that’d be nice, here you go.” Holden said and gave her the one with the clothes in it, because he didn’t like anyone touching his weapons.
“Damn did you pack enough clothes?” Lady said as she felt the weight of the bag. Holden just grinned and opened the door for her.
“You should see what I got in the other bag.” Holden said with a grin.
“Let me guess, you got some big toys for big boys, right?” Lady said smiling back.
“I got toys for girls too.” Holden said grinning broader.
“I’ll remember that.” Lady said with a smirk as she walked into the office. Cute little shit, he’s better than Dante in the pickup line department, Lady thought smiling as she walked toward the back.
“Ah man, and here I was thinking I’d get a nap in.” Dante said with a groan as he took his feet off the desk.
“No such luck little brother.” Vergil said holding the door for Trish as Lady and Holden walked to the back room with his bags.
“Only because you’re such an ass and hound me all the time.” Dante said stretching like a large dog while Trish laughed.
“So, how’s your business?” Lady asked as she helped Holden unpack.
“Well it’s been kinda slow for the past few weeks, but I get good jobs every now and then. I guess you guys are my competition.” Holden said as he laid his swords within easy reach from the bed and his guns on the nightstand by his coat.
“Well most people know about Dante and Trish and how they work together. Me and Vergil work alone, I get commissions but I don’t think Vergil ever gets paid. He wanders from place to place fighting demons; he’s kind of a loner, but he’s changed a lot since I first met him.” Lady said as she put his briefs and socks into the top drawer.
“Let me do that.” Holden said trying to hide a blush.
“I’ve seen underwear before Holden.” She said as she started unpacking his T-shirts and his blue jeans.
“Huh.” Holden grunted as he finished and watched Lady while he sat on the bed.
“You just dress in regular clothes; the only thing that’s out of the ordinary for you is the coat. We dress in fashion.” Lady said with a smirk.
“Yeah, my dad had a flair for the clothes when he went hunting, my mom always laughed at him.” Holden said with a smile.
“Where does your mom live?” Lady asked as she finished putting away his T-shirts and jeans.
“Vermont, it’s where I grew up, she and Dad met there and they hit it off.” Holden said.
“Sounds nice, bet you grew up in style considering who your mom is.” Lady said with a smile.
“Yeah, but being a rich kid is boring, I had to attend functions and stuff with my parents; I don’t look too bad in a suit by the way, but it gets boring. Thank God Dad taught me how to fight demons, it kept things interesting.” Holden said.
“What do you do in your spare time?” Lady said sitting beside him on the bed.
“I run a bar, and play the drums and a little guitar, nothing special.” Holden said nonchalantly.
“Sounds like fun, so how about you give me a little demonstration of how you handle those guns.” Lady said leaning in close to him.
“I could give you a couple of really good demonstrations, and not all of them involve guns or swords.” Holden said leaning in half an inch away from her lips.
“Well, we can test you later.” Lady said getting off the bed, leaving Holden excited and confused at the same time.
* * *
“At last he rejoins the land of the living.” Dante said as Holden stepped out of the shower with nothing but a pair of jeans and socks on showing of his tanned six-pack and biceps.
“I was only in there for half an hour; it takes time to dry hair.” Holden said as he tied back his long hair into a loose ponytail.
“Whatever girly man; so do you like Mexican food?” Dante said.
“Yeah I do, why?” Holden asked, and then he noticed everyone was dressed in normal clothes. Trish was in a yellow summer dress and sandals, Lady was wearing a long blue dress and tennis shoes, while Vergil was dressed in black pants and a blue snap up T-shirt with low cut boots, and Dante was simply in a pair of faded blue jeans and a red long sleeve shirt, and wearing heavy black motorcycle boots.
“Oh, let me get ready.” Holden said, as he walked quickly to the back room and strapped his right hand gun Dusk around his waist. He then thought better of it and took it off and took the gun out of the holster, and put it in the back of his pants. He put on a pair of sneakers, and then grabbed a white tank top out of his bag along with a deep black button up shirt and put it on and buttoned it up to the second button from the top without tucking it in. He checked to make sure the shirt covered the gun without it showing. He rolled up his sleeves twice and walked out.
“Leave the gun here.” Vergil said looking at him.
“How could you tell? You can’t even see the bulge.” Holden said amazed.
“I can just tell; we don’t take weapons when we go out. We only get to do this rarely, so when we do we don’t take any weapons.” Vergil said calmly.
“Fine, I see your point.” Holden said as he took out the gun and twirled it around a couple of times with lightning speed, then turned around and dropped it; he then spin-kicked it by the grip and sent it flying into the holster on his bed.
“Let’s go.” Trish said as she walked to the Mustang with Dante and Vergil in tow.
“There’s not enough room for everyone to ride comfortably, and Dante’s car is in the shop.” Vergil noted as they stood beside his car.
“Yeah I kinda wrecked it on my last job.” Dante said smiling like a little kid as he got in the passengers seat of the Mustang.
“I’ll ride with Holden.” Lady said suddenly.
“There’s enough room in the back for two.” Vergil said looking at Lady with a small smile.
“Yeah, well maybe Holden doesn’t want to ride alone.” Lady said looking at Vergil.
“I didn’t feel like driving, but yeah I don’t mind I guess.” Holden muttered as he fished his truck keys out of his pocket.
“Then it’s settled; can we go now? I’m starving!” Trish said as she tilted the driver’s seat forward and got in back.
“Yeah, God forbid you get hungry, you might eat someone.” Dante said with a laugh as he propped his feet on the dashboard.
“Enough idle talk, let’s go and eat, Dante get your feet down, or I will take them down for you.” Vergil said with a scowl for his little brother, to which Dante took his feet down with a grumpy look.
Holden and Lady climbed into the Dodge and he started the truck. They followed Vergil through the maze of the city in silence for about five minutes.
“So do you like the job?” Lady asked.
“It brings in money, plus I can help people, so there are a few benefits.” Holden said.
“Have you ever had like a bad experience while working?” Lady asked wanting to know more about Dante’s mysterious cousin.
“There was this one time, Christmas vacation Junior year. My friend Aaron’s car broke down and him and his girlfriend were stranded on the side of the road and his girlfriend was freezing so we put her in the back seat and let her get some sleep. We were driving back to my apartment so they could get some sleep because they lived in the next town over. Then right in the middle of the country these three demons appeared and I had to slide to a stop. Notice those two holsters attached to the back of our seat? Well I pulled out one gun and went out to deal with them and left the other with Aaron just in case. I got jumped from behind by another one and slammed to the ground. That’s when Aaron came out firing Midnight like a madman, scared as hell. Then he runs out of bullets and the demons come for him and I grab the gun and waste three of them. The other one was a tougher, bigger, high level bastard. So I charged like fifteen of my shots because I didn’t want to transform then I jumped on his shoulders and ripped off his head. Aaron and Emily were fine, Emily was still asleep. But the weirdest part was that Aaron wasn’t afraid of me, of what I did. Didn’t blame me, didn’t hate me. Just stood there quiet then he said ‘thank you, for everything’. Then I thought, ‘you know they could have been killed’. That’s when I realized.” Holden stopped and was quiet as they pulled up to a stoplight.
“That’s when you realized what?” Lady asked gently.
“That I never wanted to see any of my friends get hurt ever. That’s when I started to kind of wish I was a full human, that I was normal. Right up until that moment I loved what I was, I loved my dad. But it passed; it was just a part of growing up.” Holden said as a small tear ran down his cheek. Another devil that cries, he’s pretty mature for his age, Lady thought with a sad smile for the young half-demon.
“You’re a smart kid; I wish I had your kind of optimism when I was younger.” Lady said and kissed Holden on the cheek which made him blush crimson red.
“Yeah, well it just comes from trying to have an upbeat attitude.” Holden said with a smile.
“That must be hard at times.” Lady said as the light turned green.
“You said it.”
They drove the rest of the way to the restaurant in silence, until they parked in a space Holden considered too narrow for a proper truck.
“We’re here.” Vergil announced as he stepped out of the car.
“Thank you Captain Obvious.” Dante said in mock awe as he walked toward the front door.
“Dante, for the love of God please be quiet.” Vergil said smiling at his brother as he led the way to the door.
“Well at least this isn’t the type of place where you need reservations.” Trish said as she locked arms with Dante while Vergil held the door quietly.
“Well, may I assist you madam?” Holden said with a grin as he offered Lady his arm.
“And a gentleman to boot, you’re really something else Holden.” Lady said as she took it.
“Like I said, I was born a rich kid, so I learned proper manners growing up and attending those boring functions.” Holden said thanking Vergil as he got to the door who merely smiled in return.
“Well I have no problems with it.” Lady said as they walked to a table and sat with Lady on his right and Vergil came and sat on his left, while Dante and Trish sat across from them.
“Yeah, but it’s not all that great to be manners and fancy clothes. I’m really kind of a slacker to tell the truth.” Holden said as he picked up a menu and examined it.
“Oh, so finally there’s someone else who has a relaxed outlook on life?” Dante said with a mouthful of chips and salsa.
“Yep, but the only difference between us is I’m not a pig.” Holden said which got Vergil, Lady and Trish laughing while Dante swallowed his chips and made a face at Holden.
“Yeah well I like to be fed, what can I say?” Dante said tilting back his chair.
The waitress came to the table and asked what they wanted to drink Dante ordered beer for everybody, the waitress asked to see Holden’s ID Dante looked at her sweetly and said that it wouldn’t be necessary. When she looked him hard in the eye, he said that there would be something in it for her later. She arrived with everybody’s beer and whispered in Dante’s ear that she got off at 10:00.
When their food arrived the group ate in relative silence except for the times when Dante tried to steal food off everyone’s plates after he finished his meal which was bigger then anyone else’s. When he tried to do it to Vergil, he was rewarded with a knife in his hand which resulted in Dante yelping loud enough to cause everyone in the restaurant to look at him strangely. Vergil wiped the blood off the knife with his napkin and continued eating like nothing had happened. Holden finished his fifth bottle of Coors Light in silence and watched his new found friends tell stories of jobs they had had.
“So the bastard used Vergil’s sword for some ritual and damn near pulled it all the way off. If it wasn’t for that kid we might not have made it. When Vergil came back he got his sword from the kid and came to my place to crash for awhile.” Dante finished.
“The boy wasn’t very eager to give up Yamato but in the end he complied when I said it had belonged to me once.” Vergil said as he took a drink of Budweiser.
Vergil took care of the bill as Holden went outside to the parking lot to get some air as Dante went in search of the pretty waitress. All of the things they’ve seen and done, it’s amazing, Holden thought as he sat on the hood of Vergil’s Mustang and closed his eyes and put his hands on his face, thinking that the jobs he had done were puny compared to them. Suddenly he felt something pressed against the temple of his head and he opened his eyes.
“Very simple, give me your money and nothing happens. Don’t give me your money, and this goes off.” A man in a grey baggy sweatshirt with the hood pulled up said as he pointed a small revolver at Holden.
“Look, I’m not in the mood for this right now; can I take a rain check?” Holden said with a sigh as he took out his wallet.
“What the hell are you saying? I have a gun pointed at your head!” The man screamed.
“Pull the trigger, see what happens. Go ahead.” Holden said calmly as he closed his eyes still holding on to his wallet.
There was a blast that echoed through the parking lot as the man pulled the trigger. Holden fell off the hood of the Mustang as blood and brain matter splattered to the ground from his head. The man tried to take the wallet from Holden’s hand but couldn’t get the hand to release it. The man gave up and started to walk away after half a minute.
“Fuck that hurt! Shit; you know you could warn somebody before you do that, give ‘em a chance to prepare for it.” Holden said as he got up and spit the bullet out then put his wallet back while the man was still walking.
‘No way, you’re dead! I shot you at point blank!” The man said turning around.
“Yes you did, let’s see what happens when I do that to you.” Holden said then vanished from view with a sound that sounded vaguely like a small sneeze. The man looked around and started waving his gun. Suddenly Holden was behind him. He kicked the man in the back and tried to take his gun after he fell. When he wouldn’t release it Holden broke his wrist.
“These are dangerous, you shouldn’t play with them.” Holden said checking the balance of the gun while the man cried in agony as he clutched his wrist.
“What the fuck are you?! You’re not human!” The man shouted between sobs as he got up.
“No I’m not, I’m something else.” Holden said pointing the gun at him.
The man tried to run and Holden shot him in the foot, suddenly he fell down screaming.
“Hmm, guess you don’t get over being shot so quick do you?” Holden said. He then emptied the chambers and crushed the gun in his hand and tossed it to the man while the bullets were still falling to the ground.
“What the hell are you?” The man cried.
“Like I said, I’m something else.” Holden said as the others rushed outside because of the gunshots.
Mission Three: Interlude
“Damn, that was a crazy dream.” Holden said as he woke up around 6:05 Saturday morning with visions of demons with feathery wings heralding some awful apocalypse with Backlash still in his mind. He looked around the dark shop. Dante had gone home with the waitress and the others had gone back to their places so Holden was alone in the shop. He got up and situated his underwear and looked out the windows watching the sun rise for half a minute. Holden then started stretching and doing his morning regimen which consisted of many different exercises. He started with one hundred and fifty pushups and sit-ups, and then walked around the shop on his hands. He then stood on his index finger for five minutes, then on his left one for another five. After that he did his sword practice with Eternity first, and Backlash second. He would have done some gun practice but decided against it because he didn’t want to accidentally shoot a hole in Dante’s shop. He then started seeing how high he could jump. He jumped once then again as a black flash of energy appeared under him while he was still in the air. He then did cartwheels, back flips, front flips, double somersaults in the air, and a bunch of hand-to-hand combat practice which varied because of his vast knowledge of martial arts and other fighting styles his father had taught him. When he finished he cleaned the shop from top to bottom; he dusted, swept, mopped, cleaned the T.V, threw a bunch of empty pizza boxes in the trash, and cleaned Dante’s living space upstairs. Afterwards he grabbed a sleeveless grey t-shirt, some socks and briefs, and a pair of knee length shorts. It took him a little over three hours to complete everything since waking up.
After he got out of the shower Holden put his wallet and phone in his pockets and sat at Dante’s desk and noted how much cleaner the place looked now, he then proceeded to look at a photo of a woman on the desk. Suddenly Holden picked up a handset next to an old fashioned phone before it began ringing.
“Uh, Devil May Cry?” Holden said pushing the talk button on the second ring.
“You’re supposed to say ‘we’re closed’ after you say hi.” Dante’s voice issued from the phone.
“Sorry, we’re closed, even for the owner.” Holden said sarcastically.
“Well I would have called your cell phone but I don’t have the number.” Dante muttered as a woman’s voice murmured something in the background.
“Yeah, so when are we going to do this job?” Holden asked not wanting to sit around while the end of the world came.
“My source says that the portal won’t open for a few weeks, so in that time I’ll have to train you to fight against tougher devils.” Dante said.
“Well why you were sleeping in this morning I actually got some things done, like cleaning your filthy shop for one.” Holden said thinking Dante would be impressed.
“There’s a girl who usually does that, in fact she should be over in a little bit.” Dante said not bothering to stifle a yawn.
“Fine, see you in a while.” Holden said then hung up, halfway angry at his flippant cousin.
The bell on top of the door jingled as a little girl of seven or eight entered with cleaning supplies and a very shocked look on her face.
“Hey, Dante actually kept the place clean this week. Who are you?” The little girl demanded of Holden who had got out of the desk to play the drums.
“Oh, I’m Holden, Dante’s cousin. I’m the one who cleaned today.” Holden said sheepishly because the little girls tone frightened him just a little when she had addressed him.
“I’m Patty, how come I never heard of you before?” She sad putting her hands on her hips.
“I dunno, maybe Dante forgot to tell you.” Holden said hoping his answer would satisfy her.
“Humph, well Dante is a lazy bum.” Patty said with a shake of her head.
“Yeah, he does come off like that doesn’t he?” Holden said grinning.
“He does more than that.” Patty said with a smile.
“Yep, he’s a weird guy.” Holden said with a nod as he walked to the door.
“Well since you cleaned for me I guess I can hang out.” Patty said walking to the T.V.
“Okay, do what you want; will you be fine on your own?” Holden asked curiously.
“Yeah, hey where are you going?” Patty asked as she turned on the T.V.
“If I don’t get lost I’m going to find a place that serves breakfast. Do you know Lady’s phone number?” Holden asked.
“Yeah hold on.” Patty said giggling at her play on words as she wrote down the number and tore a piece of paper in half.
“Very funny kid, if you can’t tell I’m laughing on the inside.” Holden said having heard jokes about his name his entire life. They didn’t bother him at all but after a while it got boring.
“This is her cell phone number; she should be up by now.” Patty said glancing at the clock on the wall.
© 2008 Duff