Devil Trigger (Devil May Cry/Worm AU)
- Thread starter SkyRig
- Start date
- Crossover
I'd remove the word or turn it into maybe.
Well, here's hoping the PRT still has the original Alternator Cannon!
TheStranger
Of course you realize, this means war.
- Location
- Take a Guess!
- Pronouns
- Who
Isiri Pudireach
Predictive text can go duck itself
Yeah, Taylor still needs her gun!
- Location
- Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Taylor's Hero Name = Vergil
Vergil + Guns = ERROR, FALSE VERGIL DETECTED.
Vergil - Guns = True Vergil.
She doesn't really care for Guns. She's a WEEB
TheStranger
Of course you realize, this means war.
- Location
- Take a Guess!
- Pronouns
- Who
SkyRig already said Taylor wasn't going to be a full copy-and-paste of Vergil. IIRC, she's supposed to get her gun this arc, likely from the corpse of whatever demon the Fallen dragged up from the Underworld.
Speaking of, considering Armsy immediately thought of "Endbringer", any guesses? I'm betting Belial or Echidna.
Additionally, Vergil did borrow Ebony in DMC3 to finish off Arkham and also used Dante's Rebellion after a weapon swap. Even the OG could try something new once in a while.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eRfT1CjFJw
Justforkicks
I'm just here to have fun and stuff.
Bio-tinker was mentioned, so any demon that spawns other demons from its body. Echidna fits perfectly actually. Can't really think of any others currently.
Yeah, either an Echidna or maybe a Nighmare (that thing have other demons inside of him) for other options i would need to go to the anime, mangas or novels and i doubt the first Boss would be a demon so obscure
The good thing is that the PRT would soon realize that they should be thankful they only have the Endbringers, until now that is.
The good thing is that the PRT would soon realize that they should be thankful they only have the Endbringers, until now that is.
Isiri Pudireach
Predictive text can go duck itself
Why do you guys assume its a minion maker? Where here does it mention the demon spawning adds?
It could very well be that the mention of a 'biotinker' is referencing either just the boss itself, or random demons that happen to be in the area. I know in Velocity's shoes, I would take one look at a group of demons and call in about a possible biotinker.
Isiri Pudireach
Predictive text can go duck itself
Just asking for clarification: How powerful do you think Rodin is?
- Location
- UK
Rodin is one of the most powerful individuals on his planet. He is the strongest being in Inferno and when he was an Angel, he was so powerful that he was second only to Jubilaus. Thats the creator deity and ruler of Paradiso by the way. Not only that, but he has millennia of experience and skill to boot. Vergil lost to Mundus and I highly doubt that Rodin is any weaker than him.
Are you tripping?
In both Bayonetta games, Rodin is quite literally a super boss.
- Location
- Sea of Quanta
I'm perfectly aware of his Father Rodin and 'The Infinite One' forms. Are you aware of what Mundus is capable of? I mean what's written in the novelization? Same Mundus that exists outside of space-time and warped reality while sleeping. Same Mundus that created an infinitely expanding universe as a battlefield for him and Dante (something that Kamiya confirmed in a twitter post.) Same Mundus who's power would end reality if he were to come into the human world, due to it being too massive so he had to create a proxy - a gigantic statue. The guy that Dante curbstomped into the ground, and it was pre-DmC5 Dante, who Vergil was able to easily match.
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TheStranger
Of course you realize, this means war.
- Location
- Take a Guess!
- Pronouns
- Who
You do recall Loptr and ol'd Jubby were pretty much capable of the same thing, right?
- Location
- UK
What the Stranger said. Jubilaius could likely do pretty much the same as all that if she had both Eyes and Asier was even more powerful. And Bayonetta flattened the pair of them with just a little help, while Rodin can wipe the floor with Bayonetta fairly easily just after getting his powers back.
Now can we stop this debate? It's bringing back memories of a highly uneducated man's postings on a KanColle story thread. Full credit to @Harry Leferts for the following spaghetti of said man's "logic".
WWII warships would easily get sunk by modern ships before they even got in range to harm a modern warship. Thus, Abyssals, being armed with WWII weapons and radar/sonar, would be easily killed by modern warships. And thus be no worse than a widespread version of Somali pirates with shipgirls being treated as cheap, fast reaction forces at best. And when told that one of the few solid pieces of canon for KC outright stated that humanity was driven from the ocean by the Abyssals, declared that canon was wrong.
Granted, Nameless continually came up with bad takes. Such as declaring that if you created plate armor with modern high strength steel, you could get hit with a cannonball from a naval cannon as late as the early 19th century and be uninjured. They dismissed the fact that said cannonball could punch through said steel because modern steel is so good. Or, if it didn't, that it would create a dent that would crush your ribs… and if that somehow didn't happen, the kinetic energy would transfer into your body and liquify your organs. Because they knew better than the rest of us.
Or the idea that modern militaries should stop teaching hand to hand to soldiers because it was useless. They had guns and so did their buddies. If someone attempted to grapple them or knife them, they could easily shoot them, or their buddies could shoot them rather than use hand to hand. And that such time could be better used teaching soldiers how to do intel work and such.
And in a thread with about a dozen posters either in the military actively or had been members of the military… it went down real well.
Yeah...just hearing about this gave me an extremely thin skin about these "X would Curbstomp Y" debates.
WWII warships would easily get sunk by modern ships before they even got in range to harm a modern warship. Thus, Abyssals, being armed with WWII weapons and radar/sonar, would be easily killed by modern warships. And thus be no worse than a widespread version of Somali pirates with shipgirls being treated as cheap, fast reaction forces at best. And when told that one of the few solid pieces of canon for KC outright stated that humanity was driven from the ocean by the Abyssals, declared that canon was wrong.
Granted, Nameless continually came up with bad takes. Such as declaring that if you created plate armor with modern high strength steel, you could get hit with a cannonball from a naval cannon as late as the early 19th century and be uninjured. They dismissed the fact that said cannonball could punch through said steel because modern steel is so good. Or, if it didn't, that it would create a dent that would crush your ribs… and if that somehow didn't happen, the kinetic energy would transfer into your body and liquify your organs. Because they knew better than the rest of us.
Or the idea that modern militaries should stop teaching hand to hand to soldiers because it was useless. They had guns and so did their buddies. If someone attempted to grapple them or knife them, they could easily shoot them, or their buddies could shoot them rather than use hand to hand. And that such time could be better used teaching soldiers how to do intel work and such.
And in a thread with about a dozen posters either in the military actively or had been members of the military… it went down real well.
Yeah...just hearing about this gave me an extremely thin skin about these "X would Curbstomp Y" debates.
- Location
- Sea of Quanta
Those were the easiest examples to use. Mundus and those comparable to him (Pluto, who moves so fast he bypass the dimensional axis of the time stream. He's also the one that separated Human Realm from the Underworld in the first place, turning them into separate universes. He also got murdered by Mundus ._. Argosax, who with his presence warped space and time, causing a crap ton of time paradoxes to happen. Mind you, only a piece of his power was released at this point. He also stated to be stronger than unchained Nightmare that is said to be able to 'life the entire structure of the Underworld with sheer strength and destroy it', yet was unable to overwhelm Mundus, causing them to share the Underworld in two parts with each ruling only a half.) were, so far, shown to be quite a bit more impressive. Perhaps because Bayonetta doesn't have novels/books it's hard to say for sure - but from the games alone, nothing Rodin has shown in-game and from those descriptions is superior to Mundus.
Looking forward to the next chapter!
SkyRig
Wake the f#ck up, samurai.
- Location
- Someplace in California
- Pronouns
- He
The topic's already been discussed and resolved, but to reiterate and make sure I get the point across, there will be no power wanking of any kind. Having debates about who win a fight against who is fine, but please make sure it doesn't derail the thread and get it locked down.
- Pronouns
- He His
Back to the topic at hand, I find myself liking how you portrayed Armsmaster. He is just now discovering how he messed up, but is still trying to do the right thing. He does not quite know how to set things right but by god is he trying.
Muscle 3.10
SkyRig
Wake the f#ck up, samurai.
- Location
- Someplace in California
- Pronouns
- He
I decided craziness could wait a while. Between Purity dropping a bombshell and that debrief, I did not want to deal with anything in Brockton Bat at the moment. Heroics could wait as could demons. Boss brooked no complaints and said nothing, happily giving me the rest of the day off, which of course meant I was free to pursue life at home.
It was almost dizzying to realize how little I actually remembered what being 'normal' was like. Sure, I spoke with Dad more often and could actually enjoy school now, but more often than not, I was out on the streets fighting punks or killing anything that went bump in the night. Demon slaying had become so part of the norm for me I wondered if my civilian life had any real meaning.
Giving up this, being Taylor Hebert—a normal girl living with her father—was out of the question. Nothing could make me give this up.
"So, how have things been at school?" Dad asked me as we prepared dinner. Tonight was the rare occasion we worked together in the kitchen; my father was not a lousy cook per se, but he had a bad habit of burning anything not called 'meat loaf'. "Found a boy that's caught your fancy yet?"
I rolled my eyes as we revisited this conversation for what must have left like the umpteenth time this week. "I have several boys who are friends, and I'm not interested in any of them. Besides, one is already in a relationship and I'm pretty sure another is gay." At least I assumed Chris was gay. And maybe half the school. It escaped nobody's notice how interested he was in Trent Darren's, pardon my French, fucking ripped body in P.E. Not that I blamed him; Trent was quite easy on the eyes, but that's all he was, just eye candy.
"In that case, any lady friends?" Dad snickered at my flummoxed expression. "I won't judge, kiddo. Before Annie and I hooked up, she was dating a girl two years older than her." His face grew nostalgic and perhaps a little thoughtful if the creased brow was any indication. "Now that I think about it, Clarice really didn't like me when Annie introduced us."
"Was she part of Lustrum's gang?"
"I think so, though I couldn't be sure. She hated me at the very least, though that might have been because I was a close friend of Annie's."
That had been a somewhat recent discovery. Since we reconnected, Dad was slowly growing more open talking about Mom. A few weeks back, I once asked him what Mom was like when she was my age. As it turned out, she was quite the rebel in the past; she was actually part of Lustrum's gang of feminists, though Dad wasn't sure if she was a hardcore member who swung bats at people or was part of the rank-and-file. I did a little research on Lustrum myself and learned she was sent to the Birdcage, though the circumstances leading to that event were not what I expected.
She wasn't sent there because of a confrontation with the PRT. Lustrum walked up to their front door and turned herself in. The public statement was that she was taking responsibility for one of hers going too far. Some poor shmuck ended up castrated by a member of Lustrum's crew, though the news articles and PHO didn't say whether the guy lived and who was responsible for said castration. It mattered little anyway as Lustrum's gang fell apart without her and vanished with the wind. She still had some supporters here in the Bay, but they were all regular folks without a major voice to back them up.
I found many other gangs like Lustrum's as well. Brockton Bay's criminal history before the Golden Age of Parahumans wasn't like what it is now. There were the occasional gangbangers and street thugs, but they could be counted on one hand alone. The first parahuman gangs in the city that were not the Empire or the Teeth ended up phasing out real quick, either driven by independents like the Brockton Bay Brigade and other solo heroes or absorbed into others, and even those gangs ended up vanishing.
The Empire Eighty-Eight stood alone, Allfather leading the group until his untimely death. Even when the Teeth showed up, they were still the strongest power in the city.
"Seriously, though, is there anyone you like?" Dad pressed on. "I would eventually like to play the Dad card at some point in your life."
"Then you're gonna be waiting a long time, old man," I snorted. "Because there's no one like that at Arcadia. Romance isn't exactly high on my list of priorities, you know? Besides…"
He frowned. "Besides what?"
My hands stopped moving. I thought back to the locker and Winslow. I thought back to Sophia and Emma. I thought back to the day I met Rodin and fought Orthrus. The sigh leaves my mouth before I realized it. "I…don't think I'm cut out for this dating stuff. I'm not pretty, I'm not smart, and my hair's…" I pinched a few white locks between my index finger and thumb. "It's not what you would call normal. Plus there's all this baggage. I just don't feel comfortable sharing that sort of stuff with other people."
"…Taylor." I looked at my father. He looked like he aged several years, crow's feet looking more obvious than ever. "It shouldn't matter if your pretty or smart."
"Mom was both of those things," I pointed out.
"I didn't fall in love with your mother because she was smart or she looked pretty. I loved her because she was the sort of woman who took no shit from anyone and spoke her mind. Love isn't just about appearances, kid. Anyone who dates or marries somebody just because they look hot as hell just means they're fucking shallow. Beauty fades as you grow older. I'm not exactly young anymore, and in a few decades, I'll be as shriveled as a prune. So would Annette if she were still here. Would I still love her then? Of course I would."
Dad sighed. "What I'm trying to say is, you shouldn't fall in love with somebody for shallow reasons like that. One day, you'll meet a boy or girl who will love you because of who you are, and you love them the same way." He shook his head and stepped away from the counter, setting down the knife and rag as he turned to look at me fully. "Me and Annette weren't perfect. We all had our secrets. I didn't know she was with Lustrum until we'd been together four years and she called me to help bail her out when shit with the gang went south. I never told her about the stuff with my parents until we had you."
"Your parents?" Now that I thought about it, I never heard Dad talk very much about his family. I knew about my grandmother from Mom's side, but I knew zilch about Dad's. "Did something bad happen?"
Dad grimaced. "My parents and I never got along. They were old-fashioned who thought they knew what their kids wanted. Suffice to say, what I wanted and what they thought I wanted were two entirely different things. Last time we ever spoke was when they yelled at me for marrying some 'snot-nosed punk' who wasn't good for me. They haven't bothered to talk to me since."
I stared with a mix of guilt and anger. Guilt for bringing up something that Dad clearly did not want to talk about, and anger at my grandparents over on Dad's side of the family. They sounded far too much like the stereotypical over-controlling parents you hear about on news feed and website blurbs way too often. I sincerely hope the day when I meet them never comes.
Dad looked like was going to say something else, only to stammer and frown. "….Shit, where was I going with this again?"
The smile on my face couldn't have been any bigger. "You were saying something about me finding the right special someone?"
"Oh, right. A-anyway, my point is that the special guy or girl you run into? They'll love you because you're Taylor. That's it, really." He paused for a moment, then smirked. "And if they think you look cute? Well, added bonus. Plus there's the whole 'beauty in the eye of the beholder' and all that."
"…you suck at giving advice, do you know that?"
"Your mother thought I was good at giving it. Unfortunately, it seems my rebellious daughter doesn't have a very good brain. It could be defective."
"Hey, this brain's defective because of you. In fact, I think you should reimburse me."
Dad grinned. "Oh yeah? How?"
"Stop talking and help me finish dinner."
"Fair enough."
That night, I didn't think about my cape life at all. The concerns and state of Brockton Bay were the furthest thing from my mind at the moment. I ignored it all in favor of a lively and animated talk with my Dad at the dinner table, tossing back jokes and recalling old memories involving a hellion called Taylor and a woman by the name of Annette Hebert.
The next day I went to school. Victoria was here, looking no worse for wear, albeit walking unsteadily. "Oh, h-hey." She smiled when she saw me, joining me on the way. "Been a while."
"Feeling better?" I asked. "Your walking kind of funny, though."
"Slight screw-up on the way here," she assured me. "Not to mention I think my legs might be asleep. What about you, stranger? You look like you're in a good mood?"
"You think so?"
"You're smiling more than usual. It's kinda creepy, to be honest."
"Wow. Rude much?"
"Hey, I gotta hit the daily quota somehow!"
As usual, classes were a mixed bag of exciting and boring, but lunch was more excitable than usual. The boys were happy that Victoria was back, especially Dead. Cuddle time was back to being a regular thing, as was Dennis and Chris' jokes they should get married. That said, Amy was still absent. Victoria said there was a situation at home that needed to be handled and she volunteered to deal with it. I chalked it up to family drama, as well as a reminder as to who her family was.
"Do you mind if I ask a personal question?" I asked suddenly.
Victoria shrugged. "Go right ahead, so long as it isn't anything creepy."
"What's it like having a cape family?"
Next to me, Dennis snickered. "She gets that question more than you'd think."
"It's not too bad, I guess?" Victoria looked thoughtful. "I mean, my cousin and aunt are still going even though New Wave's pretty much disbanded, but outside of the family barbeque stuff I normally don't see them very often. Mom hasn't gone out for heroics since…" Her mood darkened some, but otherwise she kept up her smile. "But, not many people bother her. Sure, we get the occasional fan coming up to greet us, and me too because, hello, daughter of Brandish and all that, but other than that it's pretty normal."
"…huh."
The blonde girl grinned. "What, disappointed it's not as exciting as you thought?"
"Nothing like that. I just thought you'd have a bunch of creeps looking to get into your good graces because of who your family is."
"Oh, she did and still does," Dean chimed in. "As well as the occasional stalker."
I deadpanned. "…are they still alive?"
"In prison, but yes," Victoria answered without missing a beat. "Sometimes Mom scares them off with a lightshow. She might be retired, but she's still a cape. Enough about me, though. How about you, Taylor? What's your family like?"
Once again, everything in the world felt right as I ignored everything else. Unlike last night, though, I felt something was wrong. There was this feeling in the back of my head, my hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
But…what?
"Is everything all set to go for the party?"
"Yes, Your Grace. Everything is prepared for tomorrow's festivities…"
Strix looked away from the nameless grunt and at the stage. He took count of the number of people gathered for the upcoming performance. All the actors were in place, save for a few last minute additions. A few extras was nothing to worry about, though he would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. Ever since his arrival in the Human World, he expected to find a decent challenge and found his opponents wanting. The capes were nothing to write home about, and the one Devil Hunter he encountered was no more than a greenhorn.
"Vergil" as she called herself was a curiosity. He felt Zion's Shard within her, but there was no mistaking the demonic energy coursing through her. A half-breed was nothing special beyond being quite the appetizer, but something told him that girl was different. It was instinctual, he realized. Something in his bones told him that girl was unique.
"If she shows up, this might be exciting," Strix said mostly to himself. He was not going to hold his breath, however. Per that annoying git Valefor's orders, the festivities were kept to the down low with the utmost secrecy. Only a handful of outsiders knew where the party would take place, all just as twisted and crazy as the rest of these idiots.
He hoped she would show up regardless, if only so that he could have an outlet to relieve his boredom.
It was almost dizzying to realize how little I actually remembered what being 'normal' was like. Sure, I spoke with Dad more often and could actually enjoy school now, but more often than not, I was out on the streets fighting punks or killing anything that went bump in the night. Demon slaying had become so part of the norm for me I wondered if my civilian life had any real meaning.
Giving up this, being Taylor Hebert—a normal girl living with her father—was out of the question. Nothing could make me give this up.
"So, how have things been at school?" Dad asked me as we prepared dinner. Tonight was the rare occasion we worked together in the kitchen; my father was not a lousy cook per se, but he had a bad habit of burning anything not called 'meat loaf'. "Found a boy that's caught your fancy yet?"
I rolled my eyes as we revisited this conversation for what must have left like the umpteenth time this week. "I have several boys who are friends, and I'm not interested in any of them. Besides, one is already in a relationship and I'm pretty sure another is gay." At least I assumed Chris was gay. And maybe half the school. It escaped nobody's notice how interested he was in Trent Darren's, pardon my French, fucking ripped body in P.E. Not that I blamed him; Trent was quite easy on the eyes, but that's all he was, just eye candy.
"In that case, any lady friends?" Dad snickered at my flummoxed expression. "I won't judge, kiddo. Before Annie and I hooked up, she was dating a girl two years older than her." His face grew nostalgic and perhaps a little thoughtful if the creased brow was any indication. "Now that I think about it, Clarice really didn't like me when Annie introduced us."
"Was she part of Lustrum's gang?"
"I think so, though I couldn't be sure. She hated me at the very least, though that might have been because I was a close friend of Annie's."
That had been a somewhat recent discovery. Since we reconnected, Dad was slowly growing more open talking about Mom. A few weeks back, I once asked him what Mom was like when she was my age. As it turned out, she was quite the rebel in the past; she was actually part of Lustrum's gang of feminists, though Dad wasn't sure if she was a hardcore member who swung bats at people or was part of the rank-and-file. I did a little research on Lustrum myself and learned she was sent to the Birdcage, though the circumstances leading to that event were not what I expected.
She wasn't sent there because of a confrontation with the PRT. Lustrum walked up to their front door and turned herself in. The public statement was that she was taking responsibility for one of hers going too far. Some poor shmuck ended up castrated by a member of Lustrum's crew, though the news articles and PHO didn't say whether the guy lived and who was responsible for said castration. It mattered little anyway as Lustrum's gang fell apart without her and vanished with the wind. She still had some supporters here in the Bay, but they were all regular folks without a major voice to back them up.
I found many other gangs like Lustrum's as well. Brockton Bay's criminal history before the Golden Age of Parahumans wasn't like what it is now. There were the occasional gangbangers and street thugs, but they could be counted on one hand alone. The first parahuman gangs in the city that were not the Empire or the Teeth ended up phasing out real quick, either driven by independents like the Brockton Bay Brigade and other solo heroes or absorbed into others, and even those gangs ended up vanishing.
The Empire Eighty-Eight stood alone, Allfather leading the group until his untimely death. Even when the Teeth showed up, they were still the strongest power in the city.
"Seriously, though, is there anyone you like?" Dad pressed on. "I would eventually like to play the Dad card at some point in your life."
"Then you're gonna be waiting a long time, old man," I snorted. "Because there's no one like that at Arcadia. Romance isn't exactly high on my list of priorities, you know? Besides…"
He frowned. "Besides what?"
My hands stopped moving. I thought back to the locker and Winslow. I thought back to Sophia and Emma. I thought back to the day I met Rodin and fought Orthrus. The sigh leaves my mouth before I realized it. "I…don't think I'm cut out for this dating stuff. I'm not pretty, I'm not smart, and my hair's…" I pinched a few white locks between my index finger and thumb. "It's not what you would call normal. Plus there's all this baggage. I just don't feel comfortable sharing that sort of stuff with other people."
"…Taylor." I looked at my father. He looked like he aged several years, crow's feet looking more obvious than ever. "It shouldn't matter if your pretty or smart."
"Mom was both of those things," I pointed out.
"I didn't fall in love with your mother because she was smart or she looked pretty. I loved her because she was the sort of woman who took no shit from anyone and spoke her mind. Love isn't just about appearances, kid. Anyone who dates or marries somebody just because they look hot as hell just means they're fucking shallow. Beauty fades as you grow older. I'm not exactly young anymore, and in a few decades, I'll be as shriveled as a prune. So would Annette if she were still here. Would I still love her then? Of course I would."
Dad sighed. "What I'm trying to say is, you shouldn't fall in love with somebody for shallow reasons like that. One day, you'll meet a boy or girl who will love you because of who you are, and you love them the same way." He shook his head and stepped away from the counter, setting down the knife and rag as he turned to look at me fully. "Me and Annette weren't perfect. We all had our secrets. I didn't know she was with Lustrum until we'd been together four years and she called me to help bail her out when shit with the gang went south. I never told her about the stuff with my parents until we had you."
"Your parents?" Now that I thought about it, I never heard Dad talk very much about his family. I knew about my grandmother from Mom's side, but I knew zilch about Dad's. "Did something bad happen?"
Dad grimaced. "My parents and I never got along. They were old-fashioned who thought they knew what their kids wanted. Suffice to say, what I wanted and what they thought I wanted were two entirely different things. Last time we ever spoke was when they yelled at me for marrying some 'snot-nosed punk' who wasn't good for me. They haven't bothered to talk to me since."
I stared with a mix of guilt and anger. Guilt for bringing up something that Dad clearly did not want to talk about, and anger at my grandparents over on Dad's side of the family. They sounded far too much like the stereotypical over-controlling parents you hear about on news feed and website blurbs way too often. I sincerely hope the day when I meet them never comes.
Dad looked like was going to say something else, only to stammer and frown. "….Shit, where was I going with this again?"
The smile on my face couldn't have been any bigger. "You were saying something about me finding the right special someone?"
"Oh, right. A-anyway, my point is that the special guy or girl you run into? They'll love you because you're Taylor. That's it, really." He paused for a moment, then smirked. "And if they think you look cute? Well, added bonus. Plus there's the whole 'beauty in the eye of the beholder' and all that."
"…you suck at giving advice, do you know that?"
"Your mother thought I was good at giving it. Unfortunately, it seems my rebellious daughter doesn't have a very good brain. It could be defective."
"Hey, this brain's defective because of you. In fact, I think you should reimburse me."
Dad grinned. "Oh yeah? How?"
"Stop talking and help me finish dinner."
"Fair enough."
That night, I didn't think about my cape life at all. The concerns and state of Brockton Bay were the furthest thing from my mind at the moment. I ignored it all in favor of a lively and animated talk with my Dad at the dinner table, tossing back jokes and recalling old memories involving a hellion called Taylor and a woman by the name of Annette Hebert.
The next day I went to school. Victoria was here, looking no worse for wear, albeit walking unsteadily. "Oh, h-hey." She smiled when she saw me, joining me on the way. "Been a while."
"Feeling better?" I asked. "Your walking kind of funny, though."
"Slight screw-up on the way here," she assured me. "Not to mention I think my legs might be asleep. What about you, stranger? You look like you're in a good mood?"
"You think so?"
"You're smiling more than usual. It's kinda creepy, to be honest."
"Wow. Rude much?"
"Hey, I gotta hit the daily quota somehow!"
As usual, classes were a mixed bag of exciting and boring, but lunch was more excitable than usual. The boys were happy that Victoria was back, especially Dead. Cuddle time was back to being a regular thing, as was Dennis and Chris' jokes they should get married. That said, Amy was still absent. Victoria said there was a situation at home that needed to be handled and she volunteered to deal with it. I chalked it up to family drama, as well as a reminder as to who her family was.
"Do you mind if I ask a personal question?" I asked suddenly.
Victoria shrugged. "Go right ahead, so long as it isn't anything creepy."
"What's it like having a cape family?"
Next to me, Dennis snickered. "She gets that question more than you'd think."
"It's not too bad, I guess?" Victoria looked thoughtful. "I mean, my cousin and aunt are still going even though New Wave's pretty much disbanded, but outside of the family barbeque stuff I normally don't see them very often. Mom hasn't gone out for heroics since…" Her mood darkened some, but otherwise she kept up her smile. "But, not many people bother her. Sure, we get the occasional fan coming up to greet us, and me too because, hello, daughter of Brandish and all that, but other than that it's pretty normal."
"…huh."
The blonde girl grinned. "What, disappointed it's not as exciting as you thought?"
"Nothing like that. I just thought you'd have a bunch of creeps looking to get into your good graces because of who your family is."
"Oh, she did and still does," Dean chimed in. "As well as the occasional stalker."
I deadpanned. "…are they still alive?"
"In prison, but yes," Victoria answered without missing a beat. "Sometimes Mom scares them off with a lightshow. She might be retired, but she's still a cape. Enough about me, though. How about you, Taylor? What's your family like?"
Once again, everything in the world felt right as I ignored everything else. Unlike last night, though, I felt something was wrong. There was this feeling in the back of my head, my hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
But…what?
"Is everything all set to go for the party?"
"Yes, Your Grace. Everything is prepared for tomorrow's festivities…"
Strix looked away from the nameless grunt and at the stage. He took count of the number of people gathered for the upcoming performance. All the actors were in place, save for a few last minute additions. A few extras was nothing to worry about, though he would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. Ever since his arrival in the Human World, he expected to find a decent challenge and found his opponents wanting. The capes were nothing to write home about, and the one Devil Hunter he encountered was no more than a greenhorn.
"Vergil" as she called herself was a curiosity. He felt Zion's Shard within her, but there was no mistaking the demonic energy coursing through her. A half-breed was nothing special beyond being quite the appetizer, but something told him that girl was different. It was instinctual, he realized. Something in his bones told him that girl was unique.
"If she shows up, this might be exciting," Strix said mostly to himself. He was not going to hold his breath, however. Per that annoying git Valefor's orders, the festivities were kept to the down low with the utmost secrecy. Only a handful of outsiders knew where the party would take place, all just as twisted and crazy as the rest of these idiots.
He hoped she would show up regardless, if only so that he could have an outlet to relieve his boredom.
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SkyRig
Wake the f#ck up, samurai.
- Location
- Someplace in California
- Pronouns
- He
A fresh reminder that I have a book out on Amazon. If your interested in supporting me financially, please consider buying Chase Ryder and the City of Lost Memories. I recommend the kindle version as its the cheapest. Also, not to be confused with Jo Ho's book series of the same name which caters to dog lovers.
Also, thoughts on the chapter?
Also, thoughts on the chapter?
What the
You're for both.
What the