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Shadow May Cry "Yuri, wake up!" yelled the ghoul. No response. "I said wake up darn it! I need your help with something!" Still no response. Sighing, Roger Bacon went over to what appeared to be the equivalent of an early 20th century stereo system. Pressing a single button, loud music that can only be described as swing…bad swing... echoed through the tiny house. The Harmonixer jumped to his feet. "Damn it old man! What the hell are you trying to do? Make me deaf? Insane? Both?" Yuri exclaimed. "Well, at least I got your attention. Now listen here, Yuri. I have got some info on the whereabouts of an ancient object and I want you to investigate it for me!" "...you don't sound very confident about it this time," Yuri responded. "Well, I got it from was some weird clown who wouldn't stop making cracks about my appearance, so it may very well be a trap. Of course, I'm at a loss for leads at the moment, which is exactly why I'm sending you." "I see, I see. You're too weak and old to do it yourself, so you're sending in me to look for it for you, and possibly kill anything that might get in your way, or try to stop your research of it, right?" Yuri said, after yawning some. "So, what the hell am I looking for exactly?" "A fabled Crystal of Lightning! People believed there to be only four Crystals, representing Fire, Water, Wind and Earth. But apparently, there's a fifth, which may yet prove my hypothesis that the Suikoden worlds and Final Fantasy worlds are indeed connected!" Roger Bacon exclaimed. "Ok, no. I'm calling bullshit on that one. There's no way you came up with that theory until about five minutes ago." "Whatever. Either way, I need you to go looking into it for me! Besides, it's not like you have anything better to do!" "Well..." Yuri paused, looking at his schedule, which consisted mostly of things like "Time with Alice", "Feed and Walk Blanca", "See Edge's next insane scheme, and watch it blow up in his face, and probably involve Piastol or Orlandu somehow." "...I suppose I could fit it in sometime soon. Guess I might as well get it over with." "Good boy, Yuri! I knew I could count on you!" "Yeah, yeah. I also know that if I said no, you'd find a way to force me into doing it anyway, so I figure I'd just avoid that altogether." Yuri walked out of the house, carrying a crudely-drawn map with directions to the (supposed) Fifth Crystal of Amazingness. ----- In a building topped with neon letters spelling out "Devil May Cry", a phone rings… "Devil May Cry. No, sorry, we just closed. Try again tomorrow." A red-coated man with white hair was sitting in a chair with his feet on the table. "What's with these people always calling me after closing time? I should put a sign up or something," Dante said, spinning around in his chair. Moments later, the doors of his joint flew in with a crash, and an unfriendly-looking man in a jester suit walked in. Dante sighed. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been down this road before. "Let me guess. You have a special job for me, and it can’t wait." "You're sharper than you look, Dante, son of Sparda." "You looked my name up. Congratulations, but that isn't exactly impressive. What kind of job is it?" "There's special object of which holds great power in the Tower of Syrcus, 200 miles north of here. I would like you to investigate it. I believe others - unworthy others - may be looking for it as well. Such a pity. Take them down if they interfere." "And what's in it for me?" "Do a good job, and I'll see to it that you're well rewarded. You may even learn something new about your father." "The usual, huh?" Dante said, looking down for a moment. "Fine, you got yourself a deal." Dante brought his head back up only to notice that the odd clown had left. "Well, at least he didn’t try to kill me before the lecture. Whatever, let's get this party started!" Dante backflipped off his desk and seamlessly jumped out of the door onto his ride. ----- The Tower of Syrcus, a crystal tower that is said to lead directly to the Dark World. As usual, it's filled with easily-dispatched monsters. "This...*huff*...tower...*puff*...is...*wheeze*...too...*pant* HIGH!" Yuri said…well, gasped…as he finally got to the top of a staircase that felt like it could have reached the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Of course, he wasn’t at the top yet. All he saw was more doors. "God damn it, Roger! Why didn't you tell me this tower was so damn high! I wouldn't have passed up that free lunch on the way here, damn it!" Yuri shouted. "Well, this is as good a time as ever to take a breather. Good thing the demons here are all pretty much wi-" Yuri's line was interrupted by a bullet, grazing his ear. "So, he wasn’t lying about competition, then," said a man in a long coat, pointing a white handgun at Yuri’s head. "That’s a nice way to say hello," Yuri said as he turned around. Dante stood behind him, not they recognized each other. "You’ve got some guts, trying to kill me with nothing more than a pistol." "So you think you're tough, eh? Well try this on for size!" Dante said, seamlessly pulling Rebellion, out of the sheath on his back as he rushed at Yuri. The Harmonixer turned away a Stinger with his claws, and threw a swift kick as Dante leapt back. "You're pretty good. More than I can say for anything else in this tower." Yuri was amused to finally fight someone who might be worth the time. Maybe. "And here I thought this was a wild goose chase," Dante replied. "Well then, what d’ya say we finish this!" Dante charged even faster this time, and the slash struck home, cutting off Yuri’s left arm. "Now, I might let you live if you give up now," Dante said. Yuri just sighed, picked up his left arm with his right, and held it to the stump. The wound knitted in seconds. "God damn it! I hate when that happens." Dante wasn’t exactly stunned by people the trick. "So you're not entirely human either? Never thought I'd actually meet someone capable in this tower!" "Yeah, well, it’s mutual! You'll find I'm full of surprises!" Yuri charged forward, shoved a claw into Dante’s chest, and quickly Fused into Death Emperor. The blast of power and extra strength was enough to knock Yuri through a window. “Now you know not to let your guard down against the likes of me!" Yuri shouted as he watched Dante fall to his doom. ...or not. Moments late, Yuri heard the sound of a motor approaching. From outside the tower. And fast. He turned around in time to see Dante come flying through the very same window he was knocked out, this time on a motorcycle and looking virtually unscathed by Yuri's attack. "I'm...no, I've seen too much weird stuff in my day to even bother trying to figure any of this crap out. Including where you got the goddamn bike." "It's part of the job." "Fine. Whatever. Either you’ve got some demon in you or these stairs have driven me completely nuts. Either way, how about we stop this fooling around and get serious!" "Sounds good to me..." Dante said, squaring off in his own ready pose. "Let's rock!" ----- Glaring into a crystal ball, Dhoulmagus could be seen watching the two "demon hunters,” for lack of a less punny description, go at it. "Yes, this is perfect. The son of Ben Hyuga against the son of Sparda…they’re bound to destroy themselves! Such a pity. It will prove interesting entertainment indeed, and end with the deaths of two potential threats on my way... to supreme power!" he exclaimed, followed by his trademark evil laughter. So the question remains: WHO WILL WIN? Will Yuri and his plethora of fusions, martial arts skills, and awesome brown trench coat emerge victorious? Or will Dante, with his unique ability to make even something as mundane as eating pizza look badass, come out ahead? |
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SageAcrin Yuri's record: Leveling Shanghai. Destroying army contingents alone. Killing a god. Dante's record: Slicing his way out of a whale demon. Riding up a collapsing tower on a motorcycle. Killing a god-like being. Being a party to killing another god-like being. (Hell, there's probably a third or fourth in there, I never did quite beat 4 or bother with 2, and you could make SMT3 arguments. But never mind that.) Conclusion: Two men. Masters of disaster. United in one simple battle. The result? --- "...man. I swear to god, you have to go through a lot to get a pizza here." Dante sighed, as he scooped up a piece of pepperoni pizza. "Yeah, tell me about it." Yuri sighed. "And it's pretty much like this every week for you?" "...every other week, every week, depends on how lucky I am." "Damn. I want your job." Dante shrugged, as he munched on pizza. "So." Dante said, finishing his piece. "When's this Lenneth chick going to be by to recreate the planet?" "Hell if I know." Yuri shrugged. "At least we got in Zuran before it blew, though. Next time, we need to fire the crystal out of the cannon when we're closer to the shuttl-wait a second, I'm starting to sound like Edge. If there's a next time for this, I'm just going to punch the person that suggests a plan like that instead." "At least the shuttle had the stuff to make a pizza." Dante smiled. "I've had some real problems with managing to actually eat these." He finished, munching another piece. "And this is sure as hell the closest I'll ever get to not getting attacked during one, ev-" "...why didn't anyone offer me a piece?" Demi said unhappily, as she walked into the room. "...er." Dante sighed. "Well, two pieces out of a pizza is damned good." He finished, tossing the last couple of slices to the surprised android. She wasn't surprised enough to not eat them, though. Hey, androids can taste, even if they don't need to eat. And so, the Duelling League was recreated. Again. Lenneth is demanding a pay-raise. Yuri: 18 Dante: 10 Dhoulmagus: 6 All hell breaks loose: 21 Lezard Valeth
Taishyr
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