[CLOSED] Another Reunion

[gundemon]

[WHO] Dante [gundemon] and Vergil [ultravioletnite]
[WHERE] Sinfonia Park.
[ABOUT] After hearing Vergil's voice over the Tone and convinced that this is the mission target he needs to defeat to get home, Dante goes to track down the "doppelganger" to get it over with.
[WARNINGS] Bad language and violence. Most definitely. :|a

---

Comments

[gundemon]

The aura. The speech pattern. The stance and air of authority. It was getting harder and harder for Dante to believe this was merely a doppelganger even though he'd seen Vergil fall into Hell, had the ruined glove to prove it. He didn't respond to the taunt right away, blue eyes flickering over Vergil's form, taking it in. Image usually wouldn't be enough to convince him in this situation and in fact it wasn't. It was just the way he felt. Doppelgangers were just mirrors; they copied image, not feeling. Not even the high-leveled ones who could maintain a form without needing to have someone to copy in the immediate vicinity.

It was becoming more and more likely that this actually was his elder twin standing before him. But how?

Finally he opened his mouth to respond to Vergil's earlier words. "Nah. Just decided to be generous and let you have the first verbal shot for once. But man was it a waste. That was pretty lame, Verg." His eyes moved to look at Yamato closely and his body tensed imperceptibly beneath his coat, prepared to draw Rebellion at a moment's notice. Meetings between them never ended without at least one fight. What would this be, the fourth? "I thought with all your flaunting about being so studied you'd come up with something better to cut me down with."

[ultravioletnite]

Vergil smiled slightly--one of his haughty, self-assured smirks that made his eyes gleam with an unnatural and altogether icy glow. "My apologies, Dante. I was too worried that my grandiose words would fry your small brain before the true fun began. You know how I just adore thee so much--I didn't want to hurt you, little brother."

The half-devil's left hand twitched. "Much more admirable than that bulky thing on your back, yes?" he said mockingly. "Come, Dante. Show me what you've learned in our time of separation."

And with those words he entered his favored Iaido stance, expression going completely blank as his mind also entered his preferred frame-set for battle.

[gundemon]

"Oh, I always appreciate you looking out for my well being. Really." Dante rolled his eyes at the statement, thumbs hooking in the band of his low-riding pants as he shifted his weight to one foot, putting on an air of disinterest and boredom. In fact he was mentally sizing up his twin, assessing each and every word he spoke. If this was in fact really him... he was acting like they hadn't seen each other in years. Like Temen-ni-Gru hadn't even happened. What was going on?

He raised a brow when Vergil slid into stance but didn't attack, a little surprised. Usually he would have swooped in for the kill by now. Shaking it off he raised one hand to grasp Rebellion's hilt, tugging the sword off his back, showing off the open-mouthed skull and the red pinpricks of light glowing dully in the eye sockets. The point of the legendary blade dug lightly into the soil as he stood there for a moment, a lazy grin sliding across his face.

"Rebellion may be bulky but it's served me well -- especially against you. I'd take this thing over your little poser sword any day." And with a speed many may not have attributed Dante with he moved, rushing at Vergil with Rebellion held out to his right side. He slid the last foot into striking range of his brother, eyes as cold as ice as he swung Rebellion around in a wide arc towards Vergil's chest.

[ultravioletnite]

Vergil stayed focused throughout Dante's words although he had to take note of the way he phrased them so carefully adding in specific bits. The elder twin was at a loss for the way Dante spoke; they hadn't fought yet--why did Dante sound so confident? Why did he say those things? Especially against you. That implied they'd fought before--well, they had in their younger years--but they hadn't seen each other in...well over a decade.

The blue devil's eyebrows knit together in frustration, and he was upset about the remark made against his specious sword, too. But other than that he remained stoic and focused.

When Dante attacked the half-devil was ready. Vergil shifted Yamato's sheath upwards to block Rebellion's sideways slash and at the same time he unsheathed Yamato in a powerful upward stroke, which he after reserved and swung heavily downward at Dante's form.

[gundemon]

Dante expected the sheath block; it was one of Vergil's favorite moves. Noticing the blade coming down for him Dante broke the lock, shoving hard against Vergil in hopes of knocking him off-balance even the slightest before he quickly sidestepped out of Yamato's path, managing to pull himself -- and, thankfully, his coat -- out of range of the slim blade. Despite the cold look in his eyes he flashed Vergil an easygoing grin, one wide enough to show off the canines that were more like fangs he possessed due to his mixed heritage.

"Gotta move faster than that!" he crowed, bringing Rebellion around smoothly for another strike. Despite the weight of the great sword he handled it like it weighed nothing at all, so used to the way it felt in his hands. Especially ever since his true powers had been unlocked. For some reason ever since the battle they'd had in the rain it had grown lighter, almost more compliant. Maybe the sword itself, the memento his father had left for him, had a soul of its own and could recognize the change in its master and approved. Really, he wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case, considering the change in the sword itself.

He didn't ponder on this long, though. He was locked in battle at the moment and the most important thing right now was to focus on his twin. No matter the oddities he had noted in Vergil he had no doubt that he was still as fast as ever and to lose focus on him was just asking for Vergil to hurt him.

Speaking on the oddities... maybe it was time for a test. Dante did adore mid-battle banter, after all. "Too bad it's not raining, eh? It'd be a real case of deja-vu there."

[ultravioletnite]

Yamato came down hard on empty air and Vergil's breath came out as a small fwoosh as he hopped back from Dante's push, not so much off-balance as recalculating his stance. Still. His movement didn't stop in the least as his feet barely touched the ground before he was pushing off it with extreme force despite only using the tips of his toes. For nothing else got the chance to touch the ground.

He met Dante's next attack head-on, flashing a set of sparks across the air as the two locked weapons once more. Apparently he was paying his twin's words no mind; he hated the other's instance on "friendly" banter but refused to be distracted by it. This time he ended the deadlock as he leapt backwards lightly on his feet to set up for re-engagement on his own terms.

However, he hesitated for that slight second that would cost him his advantage as his brows furrowed in what didn't appear as anything more than annoyance but in Vergil's lacking expressive tones equated confusion. He had no idea what Dante was talking about.

"...You sound like a fool," he grunted as he pushed forward once again on the offensive, "uttering absurdities. Do you even know what that word means?"

[gundemon]

Dante's grin disappeared at Vergil's hesitance and confused expression, replaced by a frown and a narrowing of eyes. As Vergil went on the offensive Dante took to the defensive to buy himself some time to think of what this meant. The thought that Vergil was merely trying to confuse him crossed his mind for a second but he brushed it off as quickly as it came; he wouldn't try that kind of tactic without a very good reason and there was no visible reason for this. So either Dante was blind or Vergil really had no idea what he was talking about.

"Did you hit your head or something?" Dante asked as he deflected a blow off the flat of Rebellion's blade before rushing for a full-on shoulder slam. Due to having more muscle and therefore more weight than Vergil, it'd probably do a good job of throwing his dear brother off-balance if it connected. "You're the one who sounds like an idiot. You really have no idea what I'm talking about?"

Things were making less and less sense the longer this encounter went on. A Vergil who may or may not be a doppelganger who was supposed to be in Hell if he wasn't and who didn't seem to remember anything from the Temen-ni-Gru incident. What was this? ... was it some sort of trick? Had Mundus done something to his brother then sent him back to mess with his head? The idea did have validity but for some reason seemed quite doubtful. He shook his head, forcing himself to keep the doubts in the back of his mind -- he had to concentrate.

[ultravioletnite]

Vergil watched Dante's movements carefully--but that didn't mean he didn't also catch the younger twin's expression with his keen eye. He had to wonder on that considering it just felt wrong coming off his twin. Just because they had been apart for so long didn't mean that much had changed, and Vergil suspected that Dante hadn't changed very much in his years. If that were true and Dante remained essentially as he had been as a child, then surely this atypical expression right here meant something special.

The half-devil in blue didn't have time to dwell, however, especially as Dante rushed him with his shoulder and butted the slighter twin off-balance even as he dodged. Vergil spun off to the side for a moment as Dante's momentum kept him rushing past since the elder managed to dodge just enough to not take the brunt of the blow. He gritted his teeth and caught his balance enough to glare at the younger.

"No. Obviously I do not," he growled. Ignoring his shoulder's protests Vergil flashed forward once again with Yamato in an attacking while unsheathing move.

[gundemon]

Knowing that Vergil would attack as soon as he saw Dante's back from the charging move, Dante tucked into a roll to avoid getting caught by Yamato. As he came to his feet once more he shifted Rebellion to his right hand and took out Ivory with his left, spraying off a barrage of bullets.

This was all too confusing and he hated being confused, especially when he felt like he shouldn't be. He watched Vergil closely, comparing his movements and techniques now to how he moved in their second-to-last battle when Vergil had still been wielding Yamato. And it quickly came to his attention that he was fighting more like he had in their first battler atop the demonic tower, when they had seen each other and fought for the first times in years. "What's the last thing you remember then?" Dante asked over the hail of gunfire, unable to help himself.

Dante had to be the only person in the world who felt holding an inquisition in the middle of a battle was just fine.

[ultravioletnite]

Vergil countered the barrage of bullets with a simple flick of his wrist that sent the Yamato spinning in a circle in front of his form. No doubt another familiar move to his brother although the elder twin himself knew nothing of that.

He grunted with annoyance at Dante's question. Why was the stupid little twerp bothering him with a game of Twenty-Questions in the middle of battle? Then again, why was he not really surprised by any of Dante's actions even between all those years.

"Do you mean the last time I saw you or the very last thing I remember before here?" he asked snidely, deciding for some bizarre reason to humor his baby brother. He was a bit curious anyway. "Because obviously there has been a long time between the last thing we did anything together, dear brother."

[gundemon]

Vergil's last statement answered the question for him. With a narrowing of eyes Dante holstered Ivory, wound back Rebellion and threw it like a frisbee at Vergil; no doubt a move that, Dante theorized, would now be new to Vergil despite the fact that he had seen Round Trip, as the younger had dubbed the technique, many times by now and effectively learned to counter it. As Rebellion went flying Dante took the chance to charge after the great sword, pulling a different gun off his back as he went -- the shotgun.

He closed the distance between himself and Vergil, a dangerous tactic due to his brother's command of close-quarters combat, but a risk he was willing to take. He aimed the shotgun at Vergil's shoulder, keeping eye contact with his brother. His expression matched one that Vergil himself might wear, cold and detached.

"No, Vergil. It hasn't." That was all Dante said before he pulled the trigger, loosing two shells from the sawed-off shotgun. At the moment it really didn't matter to him if the blast hit or not. He had mainly been aiming to shake Vergil up a bit with his words, and he felt he had accomplished that goal quite well.

[ultravioletnite]

Vergil watched Dante's sword fly at him with a hint of mild amusement; he didn't sense the magical power put behind it until it was closer, but that didn't matter much. It still amused him that his brother thought hurling his sword away was a good idea. He deflected it with his katana and only afterward returned his attention back to his twin.

He was only a little startled to find that Dante was much closer than he had anticipated, and that quickly slipped into a superior smirk once he'd calculated the same as Dante: that Vergil was much more adapt at close-quarters combat than his twin. However, this expression too slipped very quickly, not because of the shotgun suddenly bearing down on him but because of the words that Dante uttered to him--and the expression upon his twin's face as he said such words.

Vergil had never seen Dante more serious. This is what truly through him off.

The report of the gun had already reached his ears by the time he started to twist away from the shot, and before his body could move lithely out of the way he felt a double tap of searing lead on his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, knowing the pain would soon go away as his body quickly healed, he maneuvered back out of line of sight--out of the line of fire--followed up with a lame slash that he knew Dante would evade. But that was all right; that was what he wanted: space.

He leapt back after that, briefly cradling his shoulder as blood dripped down his coat onto the ground. Then the wound was sealed, healed completely and gone, and Vergil dropped his hand away. He stared at Dante.

[gundemon]

True to expectations Dante easily rolled away from Vergil's slash, getting back to his feet and catching the returning Rebellion with one hand, the shotgun held in his other. His mind screamed at him to take advantage of the opening he'd created, take advantage of Vergil's hesitance. There was only a split second of thought on Dante's part before he launched himself at Vergil again, Rebellion and the shotgun going back into their proper places. He leapt into the air, and with a flash of light he had donned yet another weapon -- the demonic set of gauntlets and grieves gifted originally to Vergil by the vengeful devil Beowulf.

With tremendous speed he came back down, one foot stuck out to either hit Vergil in the chest or impact the ground to create a huge crater, whichever came first. This didn't make sense. Either Vergil had a huge case of amnesia or... or somehow he had been taken from a point where they had still been separated, when Dante had still thought Vergil was dead.

It was a bit terrifying that the latter option didn't seem so impossible anymore, in a place like this.

Either way it meant Dante had a huge upper hand in this fight, in weaponry, skill and experience. Thinking about that nearly made him lose the will to continue this battle, to carry it out to its inevitable end but when he and Vergil started fighting the battle never really ended until one of them had come out on top. And he knew Vergil wouldn't take kindly to being pitied.

It was good that Dante was the nicer of them two, because hell knew that Vergil would probably have walked away solely to piss Dante off if the situation had been reversed.

And he said nothing else as the battle raged on. He had nothing more to say.

[ultravioletnite]

Vergil stared at Dante with the most blank face ever conceivable as he watched his twin fly through the air towards him, and in the process switch his weaponry to that of a Devil Arm. Where had he gotten that! It upset the elder twin to think that Dante had gotten anything of power that Vergil could not match. Inwardly he seethed while outwardly he once again became impassive and cold.

He dodged out of the way with another leap backwards away from his brother. The impact of the light imbued weapon Dante welded impressed Vergil but he showed nothing. Instead he was no longer hesitating, and he disappeared from sight in what was practically a teleportation maneuver. He reappeared behind Dante and quickly made an attack.

As the fight went on and on, longer and longer, Vergil's curiosity caught up with him. His brother still hadn't spoke since the last statement that had startled Vergil into a poor move. Finally he couldn't stand the gnawing feeling anymore. "What's the matter, Dante? No paltry remarks to give out today?"

[gundemon]

Dante was caught after Vergil's teleportation, getting a light gash across the back from Yamato's strike. He didn't waste any time, however, whirling about to face Vergil and launch a flurry of punches before he could back off or teleport away again. When his fist flew for a final strike it didn't connect -- instead he uncurled his fingers from the fist they had been in to grab the collar of Vergil's coat instead and slam him into the ground.

"I thought you'd be happy that I stopped running my mouth for once!" Dante finally responded, breathing only slightly heavier from his furious attack as he danced lightly away from Vergil. There was an obvious change in Dante since he'd donned Beowulf; whereas his moves were usually sloppy, ungraceful and disjointed, every move he made now was fluid, one connecting into the other in an endless chain. He never seemed to stop moving, whether he was bouncing on his feet or swaying lightly from side to side in a manner that would usually only make him look drunk but looked graceful now. He only took a few moments to allow Vergil to get to his feet again before he pressed forward once more, spinning out with a fast roundhouse kick that was aimed to connect heavily with Vergil's jaw.

It seemed this time he was leaving all the banter up to Vergil. He wasn't intent on replying unless spoken to, set on literally beating in the physical difference between him and Vergil that shouldn't have been there.

[ultravioletnite]

Vergil was stunned with the ferocity in which Dante launched his melee attack. When he hit the ground his vision faded to black as his head connected heavily with the pavement and he was very nearly pushed into unconsciousness with the blunt force trauma. But his head healed, his vision cleared, and he shrugged it off with a grunt as he stood back up without delay.

Only to be caught again by Dante's vehement attacks. He took a step back and leaned precariously away from Dante's roundhouse kick, surprised it did not connect despite his own speed. He was loosing. This was not acceptable!

He growled at Dante and sent a flicker of power streaming at the younger twin with a flick of his wrist. The air around the devil in red warped and bent unnaturally as Vergil concentrated his dark power there. He leapt back again--damn, he kept needing to put distance between himself and Dante. Unacceptable!

"So one would think..." he commented idly. He wouldn't admit to the fact that he was more perturbed by Dante's lack of annoying banter than by the power which his twin welded. He wouldn't admit that it just felt...wrong.