DMC5 AU (For @whollyconsumed)

[superstylishsquid]

[It's not often that Alastor lingers outside of Movieland after paying a visit to his friends on this side of the silver screen, but this time...this time something's wrong. A deeply unnerving type of wrong that's far too familiar. The demon bugs, Empousae, only enter this world to feed a Qlipoth sprout. Checking the news confirms his fears, and gives him a location at that.

Joe, Silvia, and Jet are doing their best to protect people from the wandering demons, but Alastor knows enough to head for the source. He doesn't bring them with him, not for this. Anything else, maybe...but he knows what he's going to see when he gets there, and it's not a sight he wants to inflict on them. Not one he's sure they could handle, spared the horrors of truly gruesome deaths as they have been.

What he sees is what he'd expected. It's a scene from a nightmare. Last time, he'd held back and tried to stay out of things. That had resulted in Mundus, to say nothing of countless innocent lives lost that he might have saved. This time will be different. This time, he'll tear this infernal plant up by the roots if he has a chance, even if it risks all of Hell knowing he's escaped his prison.

The first step to that is loosening those roots. Flying above the carnage of the city, it's easy to spot their weak spots. He's surprised to also see something human shaped moving down there, but the root is the first priority. Calling a replica sword to his hand, he takes a plunging dive down, blade point first, to tear open the straining membrane of the root. It's messy, the boil-like protrusion bursting open in a shower of blood, but it's efficient...and he rather thinks the image it results in, of him kneeling with his sword buried in Qlipoth flesh and surrounded in blood splatters is a striking one. Even if he is going to have to wipe the bloodstains off his armor and clothes.]

Comments

[superstylishsquid]

[He gives the bird a look that's suggestive of raising an eyebrow and then actually laughs.]

This rabble? They might as well be a midnight snack.

[He gestures, and a sword appears from nowhere to fling itself at one of the demons in question. Honestly, barely more intimidating than Gedow's Flatties.

His greater attention is on V, who he looks at with a curious tilt of the head.]

You, though...you're interesting. Who are you?

[wholelyconsumed]

Hey! Don't ignore me! Who the hell are you?

[ Griffon seems perturbed? He flies towards the skewered demon, examining the sword. V just ignores him, looking at Alastor with interest. Is it possible this man sees a part of what he is...? ]

In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown.

I am but a traveler.

[superstylishsquid]

Uh-huh...literature fan, huh? Well, if that's the introduction you're going to give, then I'll just say I'm the one who whispers back to the Devil, 'I am the Storm.'

[Two can play at the 'mysterious unknown factor' game.]

[wholelyconsumed]

[ Griffon squawks at that, and before V can say anything, the bird is flying his way and attempting to push him down. ]

Fuck! Get down and bow, V! It's Emperor Alastor!

[ V just pushes him away and Griffon settles on the ground, bowing his head repeatedly and frantically. ]

Emperor, huh?

[superstylishsquid]

[That? Gets a laugh with a hint of bitterness to it.]

Haven't been called that in a long time. But yeah, they called me the emperor of the Thunder Hell, way back when. So you see why I'm not exactly cowering from the riffraff drawn to claw scraps from the Qlipoth.

[wholelyconsumed]

[ Griffon continues to bow his head and V presses the handle of his cane on top of it, pressing him flat to the ground. Stop embarrassing me, he wants to say, but keeps it to himself. ]

You'll excuse me if I don't show proper respect. I am but a human, after all.

[superstylishsquid]

And something tells me you have some more pressing concerns than whether or not you can convince me to call up some rain. It's fine though, I always considered the formalities to be more for show, anyway...manners, on the other hand.

You have something to call me, so I need something to call you. 'S only fair.

[wholelyconsumed]

V.

[ V tilts the book in his hand towards him, showing off the large letter on the cover. ]

[superstylishsquid]

Well, there's an obvious pseudonym if I ever heard one, but I'll let it slide.

What I'm more interested in...is how a human ended up in the middle of all this without ending up fertilizer, and why you smell like you could be related to a guy who I really doubt has any close human relatives.

[wholelyconsumed]

[ V's eyebrows raise at the 'smell' part. ]

I can answer the former, at least. I have magic.

[ He pokes Griffon with his cane again. ]

Get back in.

[ Griffon disappears back into the tattoos, too overwhelmed to argue. ]

[superstylishsquid]

Not exactly a dabbler, then. Didn't think there would be any powerful warlocks left, but I'm not going to complain about not having to do all the weeding on my own.

It's the other question I'm more interested in, though. I have some really good reasons to be confident he doesn't have any close cousins on the human side of his family tree.

[wholelyconsumed]

Ah, Dante? [ V isn't sure how to dodge this. And he really, really needs to - he can't tip his hand to any of his allies, let alone a stranger. ] Our relationship is... a complicated matter.

[superstylishsquid]

Right...well, guess I could say the same. And before you start worrying, it's not the 'I want to kill him and everyone he's ever met' type of complicated.

[wholelyconsumed]

Then I'm relieved for my own life, though I would not care if you killed him.

But at least wait until after he has fulfilled his purpose here.

[ Not that Dante was currently in commission. Should he tell Alastor that? ]

[superstylishsquid]

Ugh...should've known he'd already be in the middle of this.

[He gives a heavy sigh, and his tail twitches irritably.]

I wouldn't say I want to kill him, I honestly support what he does. I've just got a bone to pick with him, and not high hopes for giving him a piece of my mind doing anything but getting me stuffed back in my Arm.

[wholelyconsumed]

Right now he's unconscious, so I don't think you need to worry about much.

[superstylishsquid]

Not from him, anyway...if something managed to put him out of commission, it sounds like I'm gonna have to be prepared for the worst when I carve my way into the tree proper.

[wholelyconsumed]

Ah...

You're planning on confronting Urizen?

[ Now this is interesting. ]

[superstylishsquid]

That's the guy who started all this? Then yeah. I'm not gonna just sit back and risk another Mundus, and I can't imagine anyone willing to turn an entire city full of people to dust has anything pleasant in mind for the fruit.

[wholelyconsumed]

That's the guy.

He is a nasty piece of work.

[superstylishsquid]

I take it he's also the one who put Dante in the proverbial infirmary? Sounds like I've got a serious challenge ahead of me.

[He's both excited, and a little bit afraid. He's not at all sure he can pull this off...but he's very sure he'd never stop regretting it if he turned tail.]

[wholelyconsumed]

Tell me more about your power.

I've been the one gathering allies for this.

[superstylishsquid]

I'm good enough that I managed to take control of the entire Thunder Hell, for one thing.

[He holds up a hand and pounds his fist into it.]

Seems like you can ask your feathered friend for details on that. I'm an electrical devil, and also a pretty good swordsman if I say so myself.

I can also teleport, though that'll be most relevant once I actually find a way into the tree.

[wholelyconsumed]

I can lead you into the tree.

I know the entrance.

[ But is it smart? ]

[superstylishsquid]

We'd be better off clearing out a few more roots first, though. It'll make it easier when it comes time to tear the whole thing up.