[Part 4]

Truth be told, it was hilarious to see Rainer struggle to understand that there were more people that looked like his masters. We couldn’t possibly tell him that the two guys were from a video game, though I was pretty sure Rainer had connected their name to the names of Marcy’s favorite video game characters. Still, I knew Rainer would never jump to crazy, out-of-the-world conclusions, so my butler took them as normal guests.

It surprised me when Dante didn’t misbehave at all. I had expected for him to do something crazy, or maybe attempt to escape from the mansion, but he had done none of it. In fact, he and Daniel and Marcy seemed to have a crazy obsession with playing the Devil May Cry games all over again –in which Dante got promptly disgusted when Daniel forced the guy to watch his animated self die at the hands of low-level demons.

While the kids were locked up in their room playing Devil May Cry, Vergil and I were out searching for clues. For a disguise, we had him dressing as Daniel, and forced him to take a crash-course on Daniel 101, making him learn Daniel’s walk and talk.

It was slightly disturbing to see Vergil talking and walking like Daniel, but at least he didn’t attract attention. He seemed to have a harder time coming to terms with the fact that people called him Mr. Kries, though. Be it Daniel or me, there was no one in this town that didn’t know us as ‘Mr. Kries’.

Vergil and I went back to the portal to search for evidence. The police had combed through most of the stuff, but there were still some demonic ashes and blood left on the floor. The portal had been entirely sealed, so we couldn’t force it open or anything. Besides, Vergil had explained to me that the amulets meant for nothing in this world, so he had to bring the amulets back into the Devil May Cry world before he could turn Yamato into a portal-opening sword. It was a stupid idea, but I vaguely remembered his mother telling me the same things about the amulet back in Limbo before I made it back here into this world.

By pure searching, though, Vergil had somehow managed to track a trail of demonic power that belonged to neither him nor Dante. Together, we had followed the trail like dogs, till we met a dead end. Careful investigation from Vergil revealed that a portal had been opened and closed where the trail ended, implying that this intruder had returned back either to Hell or to the Devil May Cry world.

We didn’t really find more things afterwards, but one thing became clear –that the one who was opening the portals, the one with our faces and body, and a similar sword to Yamato, was a full-fledged demon. Worse, this demon was one the likes of Vergil had never seen nor experienced before. The power was something Vergil was unfamiliar, and since the guy had spent a portion of his life in Hell, he should have known something or someone like that.

But Vergil didn’t, and that was what scared me.

Keeping our thoughts on the mysterious doppelganger aside, one week passed easily in which we locked Dante in the game room, letting him –being the narcissist he was –discover and relive exactly how ‘awesome’ he was. We did point out to him that in Devil May Cry 2, he was all serious and no joke, but he protested saying that it probably would happen in his future, where he became all stony and silent like Vergil.

On the video game, Dante loved killing his brother over and over again. You would think that their physical fight wasn’t enough for him. Dante replayed Mission 7 in Devil May Cry 3 over and over, using different combinations of swords and guns. Then, when it was clear that killing Vergil once wasn’t enough, he replayed the last mission over and over, increasing difficulty each time.

“Because hearing Vergil die is my lullaby.” He stated as he mashed the buttons on the controller, eyes alight with joy and the delight of a child who had just found his favorite game.

We tried to point out that Vergil really didn’t die at that point, but I guessed sometimes he just wanted to know that he was better than his brother. Though, he DID skip through the last cut scenes where he cried and embarrassedly tried to hide it from his later-girlfriend.

He did fantasize about the rebooted Devil May Cry though. Initially, the guy was disgusted at the fact that Eva was made an angel in the story, with her heart pulled out and chewed on by Mundus, but ever since he discovered the joy of Osiris and Equila, there had been no complaints in that sector.

Daniel and Marcy entertained themselves with him, but it was obvious that they were doing it to avoid me too. Ever since that day, we hadn’t had much conversation, and even if we were in the same room, they would be hiding behind the screen of their phones.

But I couldn’t blame them. No. Since we met, Daniel had never experienced the true show of my anger –since he had been wise enough to back off before I broke. Marcy, on the other hand, had been past too long without remembering exactly what kind of a beast Kevin and I were beneath our normal, nice guy exterior. The last time I truly let my anger loose was in the Devil May Cry world, and that itself hadn’t even been as severe as this time.

True to that; my very own siblings saw me as a pariah, someone they didn’t know. Perhaps only Trish was the one keeping me together, and I was nothing but grateful of her presence.

I kept away from them, likewise. Vergil and Dante spoke no words about it, but I saw similar questions in their eyes, wondering if their presence were destroying the relation between me and my siblings. Perhaps it was that surprising self-guilt from both of them that had them disguised, and sitting across us at the local dessert store, facing each other. For the first time, Vergil and Dante worked together on a plan as mindless as this, as they watched in joy while we rushed in from different places –me in the midst of settling some minor problems in my empire, Daniel from tinkering on his bike, and Marcy from her shopping spree with her friends.

Thinking that they run out of the house without proper disguise, causing uproar everywhere with our voices and faces, there was obviously reason why we rushed when we received calls from them.

“I’m seriously going to kill them. That’s it. When we go home, we’re going to make Dante sit there and watch as we kill him over and over again.” Daniel growled as his slammed his fists on the table, making the cups of strawberry sundae rattle.

“Chill! We’re here anyway. Serves you right for being so stupid to rush here.” Marcy scolded, though she had been the one to rush too.

“You rushed in here too!” Daniel protested, but Marcy wouldn’t take any of it, simply sticking her tongue out in her own form of protest.

“Fine. What are we supposed to do now?” Daniel finally conceded, looking around boredly.

No one replied him, for no one knew what to reply, save the two men sitting in the stall behind us, eavesdropping in on us to make sure we were talking. But about what?

We sat in uncomfortable silence for a long time, until my almost-hyperactive brother couldn’t take it.

“Someone do something around here…” He complained as he fidgeted, shaking his legs as if high on drugs.

I kept my mouth silence, only staring. I didn’t need the demonic twins to play matchmaker to us. Reuniting us siblings was probably a harder job than that.

In the end, it was neither one of us that initiated the make-up.

Someone slammed the door to the dessert store open, making us jolt and eyes to immediately find the man who was heavily tattooed, with a long, ugly scare on his forehead in proclamation of his hardiness in gang, street fights. Of course, it could be seen that he had some lean muscles, and the expression on his face was definitely not friendly.

Surprisingly –or shockingly –enough, the bald man made towards us, a large, angry frown tilting the corner of his pierced lips down. Eyes stuck on me immediately, running quickly to appraise the beauty that was my sister, and then stuck fast to my twin after a quick check of our appearance. It became apparent that he was here for Daniel, since he was obviously making for the man dressed in casuals rather than my usual suits.

Daniel, for his redemption, fidgeted uncomfortably, signaling that he knew perfectly well why the man was making towards him.

For the first time since we entered the stall, I made a form of a noise –a sigh.

“What the hell did you do this time?” I hissed quietly, taking Daniel’s attention while keeping the advantage of the fact that the guy was advancing at us at the speed of a snail.

“I might have stepped on his toe a few weeks back when he bitched me about stealing his girl. Melanie broke up with him for another guy, but he caught me in bed with her. He thinks it’s me she left him for. But I swear, me and his girl; one night only. Nothing more.” Daniel raised both hands in surrender, as if I were pointing a gun at him, demanding an answer.

Again, I sighed. Sometimes, Daniel couldn’t keep his dick in his pants like his life depended on it. I guessed it was like Dante; how the man used to screw around, and think of screwing around when he already had a girlfriend with a rocket launcher and a bunch of guns in her arsenal.

“Swear on your name that it’s the truth.” I said, seeing the man stepped closer. Someone needed to take charge here, and it seemed like I was the only one about to do that.

Daniel’s eyes widened at that realization, a flicker of relief flashing through his eyes. He raised three fingers up, looking at me solemnly.

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

I refrained from the urge to tell him that he had broken that swear million times over, and should have died a million times over if the swear applied to him.

The guy reached our stall, placing a heavy fist on the table, making everyone shake and rattle. Behind Daniel’s seat, I saw Dante and Vergil seeking at us, wondering what could foil their crazy plan of reconciliation.

“You took Melanie from me, you stinking bastard!” He belched out, and even from a slight distance away, I could still smell the heavy scent of alcohol on him. This man was crazily drunk.

“Whoa, rear up the growl. It wasn’t me that Melanie ran to. She’s got another boyfriend now, but it ain’t me, Buddy. You’ve got the wrong guy.” Daniel continued with his surrender sign, backing up a little as the guy towered over him, squishing Marcy.

Not that she was complaining to him or anything, since he was blocking her from the drunken guy.

“How can it not be you, you rat! So what if you are rich? So what if your father’s the founder of Kries Techno? You ain’t nothing but a piece of shit!” Tattoo-Guy leaned heavily on the table, leaning over to grab a handful of Daniel’s shirt.

I stood up, taking the attention.

“Keep your hands off him.” I kept my tone calm and composed, eyes bland but staring.

“This none of your business, Damon Kries.” Tattoo-Guy reached a hand out to push me roughly back in my seat, but I hit it away with force that must have shocked him. Like I said, living as Vergil once had made me almost slightly supernatural.

Tattoo-Guy’s eyes widened with shock, before it turned to apprehension.

“Sit down, and I won’t be nasty. You don’t want to be on the front page with a black eye, Mister.” He growled threateningly, but perhaps he didn’t know one important fact –when Vergil and I growled, most people peed in their pants, thus making us a million times more threatening than him.

“I would advise you to the same, but it would be wise if you let my brother go and walk out of here. You don’t want your mug shot to be with a black eye, right?”

Daniel covered a hand over his mouth to stifle a chortle that very near escaped him at my words. Maybe he thought taunting was his and Dante’s thing. Apparently not.

Tattoo-Guy didn’t seem to understand that I wasn’t bowing down to him, but rather challenging him. Slowly, trying to give me a chance to back down, he let my brother go, turning to me fully as Daniel scrambled to hide in the stall.

“Are you challenging me?”

I gave him a deliberate look over.

“Does it seem like I wasn’t?” Daniel grinned; thankfully unseen by Tattoo-Guy.

“Besides, the reason your woman left you is most probably because she couldn’t stand you lumbering your punches around. I’m surprised that she landed in my brother’s bed, for she must really be THAT desperate to get away from you.”

Marcy giggled a little at my subtle dig at both my brother and the guy, before covering her lips quickly at the glare of Tattoo-Guy.

“You’re going to pay for that.” He seemed to have nothing else to say about my challenges, which was pretty surprisingly, seeing his experiences in fights.

“The strawberry sundae? Oh yes, I do intend to pay for my meal, thank you for your reminder.”

This drove Tattoo-Guy over the edge. In the span of one second, the barely-sophisticated man turned into a man who could only talk with his fists.

Vergil jumped up at the reaction of the man, thinking to help me deal with the troublesome wannabe gangster. However, that itself was unneeded, for I had the situation perfectly under control.

I dodged the punch fluidly, shifting my weight quickly as I ducked beneath his range, using both hands to twist his arm behind his back. This made a yell from him, and he, in his pain, tried to shake me off with his other arm, trying to punch me blindly. Again, I dodged the strike before it could reach me, this time using my faster-than=normal speed. I pressed down hard on his arm, forcing his shoulder joint to pop out with a loud crack. He tried to kick at me, but I kicked back, aiming my leg at his ankle. Losing his balance, Tattoo-Guy began to fall and I helped to the process by pressing down on his shoulder again.

He hit the floor with a loud thud, and it satisfied me very much, so I let him go, straightening back up quickly, brushing the imaginary creases off me suit and withdrawing my businessman aura.

The dessert sore broke out in thunderous applause as Vergil sat back down consciously, Daniel catcalling for me while Dante stared. Tattoo-Guy didn’t complain about the lack of attention though, as he groaned, holding on to his shoulder as if it would crumble to pieces if he let go.

“You’re going to pay for that!” He finally said; the first coherent sentence he could make after explicit curses trailed like a long train.

“Yes, I am. But before you think about making me, Daniel, or anyone of my siblings pay, Mister, I would like you to remember that my siblings are my closest kin, and any problem you have with them is a fucking problem with me. And you don’t want to have a problem with me, because I will crush you down so hard, you will be begging me to just kill you.” I stepped lightly on his chest, looking down at him.

Naturally, he didn’t bother to stay around for a longer conversation. He found a way to his feet and limped his way out of the dessert store, looking as if he already regretted coming in.

Applause continued as I took a moment to revel in it, before taking my seat again.

“That was the best shit ever! Man, if you did that to every guy I’ve pissed off, my life would be sooooooo awesome!” Daniel gushed like a teenage girl while I returned to my quiet version, staying silent while I finished the rest of my melting strawberry sundae.

“Hey, Damon?” The tirade of gushing from my sister and brother stopped abruptly when Daniel suddenly called my name, at which I looked up to.

“Thank you. I didn’t actually think you would stand up for me and all, seeing how we…… stayed away from you this week. But you did. And you’re awesome. No matter what kind of a crazy person you are when your alter ego comes in.” Daniel sounded uncomfortable with seeing how much it tortured him.

“’Thank you’, Daniel? That’s all you say to someone who saved you from worse then what I gave to him?”

My brother gave a perplexed look. “What else?”

I looked meaningfully to my empty cup, then back at him. Marcy giggled.

“Fine…” He grunted, signaling the waitress over.

He began to order, but I stopped him halfway.

“Make it one more for this beautiful lady here and another two for the two gentlemen in the stall behind him.” I cut in pleasantly, sending the waitress off quickly before Daniel could change the order.

Marcy laughed at the horrified face my brother gave, meeting my eyes as I smiled.

All was well again.