Chapter 17
The Icarus Bomb
Meeting number two, on the ninth floor, Deathstroke’s curated it to be concise. Klarion, with the snap of his fingers, appears with Teekl on his shoulders and a sour frown on his face.
“What a prude.”
Deathstroke opens with a compelling pitch.
“Picture this, you’re ready to be ambushed by Dante, the Legendary Devil Hunter, but a Nephilim shows up instead. Surely you’re tired of being foiled by the Son of Sparda’s angelic wannabe.”
Klarion scratches under Teekl’s chin, bitterly adding…
“Who better to remove this poser than Deathstroke? Do it, Slade, shoot him!”
A wash of light, it’s an Angel Trigger! Directly across from them, right in the middle of the atrium!
Deathstroke turns to a souped up cannon, it’s barrel protruding through a spacious hole in the thick plastic wall protecting the demons from the destructive power of Dante’s white fire.
ZOOM! A rocket goes flying! BUMP, it bounces off the Nephilim’s wings.
Then BOOM! Hundreds of nano-bombs release in the air, all of them clamping onto his feathers so fast, it’s hard to tell what’s happening.
SHWOOP! Pop pop pop, crack, CRACK! Like fireworks! Micro-explosions obliterate his wings!
Feathers go flying, blood goes splattering! Dante goes down, plummets before he even knows what’s hit him!
Killer-Red, who was reaching for him on the other side of the railing, screams!
“NOOOO-“
CRASH! Dante lands in the Fountain of Adonis! And the unsuspecting humans inhabiting the Hub? They’re not sure what to make of it!
The demons surrounding Deathstroke however, begin cheering.
The cocky mercenary, with a holier than thou smirk on his face, makes himself scarce, exiting elusively while the devils hoot with glee. Though he doesn’t want him to, Klarion follows him.
“He landed right in the Fountain of Adonis! Priceless!”
“Go find your master, Klarion.”
“Oh yes, the Demon King is probably so happy right now! Well done, Deathstroke! Come on, Teekl.”
He snaps his fingers and teleports away.
Still on the ninth floor, Killer-Red, wide-eyed and gobsmacked, can hardly comprehend what he’s just seen! It hits him right in the chest! He collapses to the sight of Red Hood standing before him. His back to him. Does he even know Killer-Red is there?
Red Hood feels someone drop to their knees behind him. He turns around to Killer-Red.
A devastated reflection of himself, this catastrophe’s ripped Jason Todd in two!
“Red Hood?”
“Killer-Red.”
“Red Hood, what just happened?! Tell me you didn’t see what I just saw!”
“I saw it. Someone set off a bomb and it hit Dante.”
“Who?!”
“I don’t know. Listen to me, Killer-Red, I need you to go back to the church.”
“No, Red Hood! Help me, Red Hood!”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
“We have to save Dante!”
“We can’t do anything. I’m the only version of you who can handle this. Go back to the church and I’ll meet you there.”
“But-“
“I’ll go get him and meet you there.”
“You’re not real! This is the Fear Toxin!”
“Go back to the church, Killer-Red. I’ll bring him home to you.”
“This can’t be real!“
“You need me to take charge. Red Hood gets shit done. I’ll see you at the church.”
“Did I just lose my best friend?!”
“I’ll know once I’m down there.”
Red Hood turns away, avoiding the sight of himself deconstructing and dispersing into a flock of green-glowing robins.
Wearing his hoodie, padded body armor, combat boots, a partial metal mask covering the bottom half of his face, Red Hood’s uniform makes him seem quite intimidating. Though, he doesn’t feel as powerful as his younger self, who's instantaneously been crippled by this horrid shift in circumstances. Still, he has to trust Killer-Red to obey him.
“Go home, little me!”
Though he senses that Killer-Red needs to see Red Hood’s eyes, needs to see that confidence and no-nonsense finesse, Red Hood can’t bring himself to face the little robins flying away.
An intercom projects Vergil’s proud voice.
“Greetings, my people, you have two minutes to clear the lobby and get away from the elevators. I’m sealing the bottom floor with lasers and pausing all the lifts. Nobody is to go near that fallen angel you all saw plummet right here in the Hub. He’s dangerous. Let me, your King, take care of everything.”
“Son of a bitch!” huffs Red Hood. With no access to the elevators, he bursts into the stairwell, adrenaline kicking in hard! Others are entering the stairwell too! He’s gonna have to shove them all and fast!
“Out of my way, all of you!”
“My faithful, human subjects,” Vergil’s voice addresses once more. “I know you’re probably confused. My demon followers, I’m sure you’re ecstatic. I’ve destroyed my rebellious twin. He’ll never terrorize you again. Yes, that was Dante, the Demon Killer. He’s gone now."
Red Hood scurries down the steps, searching his person for his firearms.
“Where’s Revenant? With Killer-Red! Damnit!”
While he’s strangely reprised his uniform, the Underworld has mockingly stripped him of his weapons. A parasite demon, one story below, tries to grab him using tentacles coming out of it’s eye sockets.
“Shit, no guns! Move it, devils!” He hops over the railing, down a flight, and lands on the tentacle-demon’s shoulders. “I said move!”
SNAP! He breaks it’s neck with his thighs then takes off running again.
Vergil continues…
“My human subjects, do not weep over what you’ve seen. Those deceitfully beautiful wings may have been angelic, but his intentions were to harm you. My intentions are to heal you. I command you all to clear the ground floor.”
“No!” Red Hood speed-runs, pushing several especially terrifying demons aside. “I don’t have time for you!”
When he reaches the ground floor, the sight of his friend’s bloodied wings disappearing, like pixels deleting, like feathers being plucked one by one, what a mess!
Dante lies face down in the fountain, his head submerged, his eyes shut under the chlorinated water.
“Oh my God!” Red Hood yelps as he wastes no time gathering him up, and carrying him to the floor, where he lies him on his back.
“Jesus, Dante, are you…” upon listening for a heartbeat and hearing nothing, the urge to cry nearly overtakes him. “Ah man, ah Dante.”
He makes himself stop talking so he can assess the best way to place him over his shoulders. Knowing he’ll need to pack some heat, he snatches Ebony and Ivory and places them into his empty holster.
“We’re gonna get out of here.” He carefully lifts Dante’s head and pulls his hood over his face. Then he positions himself to carry him. “I gotchu, my friend. One, two, three.”
Swiftly, he lifts him onto his own back, fireman-style, and stands, his eyes narrowed on the doors. In a flash, a wall of lasers erects. He scoffs.
“Fuck me.”
Griffon lands on the rim of the fountain.
“Need an escort? Put him back and I’ll help you, Red Hood. Vergil likes you, ya know. So, how many spines did you break on your way down, huh?”
“I don’t have time-“
“Dante belongs to Vergil.”
“I’m taking Dante home.”
“Like Hell you are! The King has great plans for him. Put him back right now!”
“You keep yapping and I’ll blow you away with his gun. That what you want, Griffon?”
“Put that body back where you found it and I’ll shut up. I’ll even use my lightning powers to shut the lasers off.”
“Not happening. If Vergil wants Dante, he’s gonna have to fight me for him.”
“That’s cute, Red Hood. By the way, what happened to Killer-Red? No offense, but that kid’s got way more going for him than you ever did.”
“He’s not here right now.”
A charming voice, Vergil’s arrived!
“Oh my goodness, is that Red Hood? Red Hood, what a shitshow, am I right?”
“Get this, Your Majesty, Red Hood wants to pick a fight with you!”
“Griffon, find the janitorial staff, tell them to drain the fountain and deliver the waste water to the lab.”
“You got it, boss!”
Griffon takes off.
“Red Hood, thanks for making an appearance in my circus! Now, um, change back into Killer-Red for me.”
Red Hood steps back, raising Ivory to Vergil’s chest.
“Back away.”
“There’s no way I’m letting you take him back to the outskirts of Limbo City, where he’ll rot away in that rotting church. It’s his destiny for his power to reach it’s full potential, through me. There’s a lot I can do with Dante, now that I’ve broken him.”
“I’m not letting you defile him.”
“Oh I’m afraid it’s far too late for that. Give him back to me.”
“You want him back, you’ll have to kill me first.”
Sigh. ”Very well. Sorry it had to come to this.”
Vergil steps back and reaches for his sword. It’s not there!
Gasp! “The Yamato! It’s gone! Where is it?! What have you done with it?!”
“Red Hood did nothing. The Yamato belongs to me now.”
Vergil and Red Hood turn their sights on none other than…
“Deathstroke!”
A few meters away, the one-eyed mercenary stands triumphantly, the Yamato in his hand, a portal back to Gotham already opened behind him.
“Ah yes, Vergil, I tumbled for your blade while you were villain monologuing. Red Hood, let’s go!”
Gasp! “TRAITOR!” Vergil roars, “Give me back my SWORD!” He sends phantom blades from his palms flying in Deathstroke’s direction. Slade avoids most of them but one lands, injuring his abdomen. He stumbles.
“Bastard!”
“You’ve betrayed me, Deathstroke!”
“It’s your fault, Nephilim, you shouldn’t have trusted me to begin with!”
Adamantly, Red Hood wisps past them, into the portal. Instantly deposited onto one of Gotham’s urban rooftops, he’s hardly keen on exposing his friend to the night’s cold, unwelcoming rain.
“You’re the worst mercenary I’ve ever known!” Vergil regrets.
“I’m the greatest!” Deathstroke hollers, flailing the stolen blade, but the portal can only hold the door open for so long.
“No one steals my katana! You’ll pay dearly for this!”
“Never! You’ll never take me alive!”
“Deathstroke, you stubborn motherfucker!” Red Hood shouts. “Get over here!”
But Deathstroke’s found himself in a battle of grips over the Yamato. Inches away from Gotham, both he and Vergil have their hands balled around the hilt and are attempting to kick and wrestle one another for it.
“I said come ON!” Red Hood yells, firing a blast from Ivory at their hands. This doesn’t hurt Vergil much but Deathstroke almost loses his fingers over it.
“You shall DIIIEEEE!!!!” With a war cry, Vergil lunges to impale him, but Red Hood pulls the assassin into the vortex by his bearded face and shoves him onto familiar, wet concrete.
SWOOP. The portal seals shut before Vergil can dive in. Ragingly, he slices the air with the Yamato, over and over again, opening more portals, but not a single one reopens to Gotham for him.
“Come back here! I’m the King! I’m not done with you, Dante!"
With a bullet hole in her forehead, the blood dried down the bridge of her nose and over her pink lips, Frisky Frances approaches him out of the blue.
“Hi-ya, Vergil!”
She reaches for his shoulder. He nearly cuts her in half when he turns to face her, but with her ungodly reflexes, she instantly hops backwards, his blade missing her stomach by mere millimeters. This really turns her on.
“Whoa, that was super hot!”
“My creation, don’t you ever get that close when I have the Yamato unsheathed!”
“Sowwy, pookie pie. I just wanted to tell ya that Dracula’s broken.”
“Frances, how?!”
“Harley Quinn. I saw her run outta the lab. I chased her but she got away.”
“This is terrible! How could everything go so wrong so fast?!”
Klarion teleports next to Vergil, Teekl sitting politely at the Witch Boy’s feet.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, I can fix this, I can open a portal for you. Look, see, I got it, I got it!”
He snaps his fingers. They teleport a few feet away. Vergil seethes.
“Klarion-”
“Oh. Um, still in the Hub?”
“Mra-ow-wah,” Teekl meows disappointedly.
“Dang it!” Klarion stomps.
“Damn it, Klarion!” Vergil scoffs and storms off. Frisky Frances frolics after him.
“Wait for me, my precious puddin’!”
Meanwhile.
In Gotham…
“Goddamn you, Jason Todd!” Deathstroke shouts, scrambling to his feet and holding his side. “I was THIS close to finally having one of the Sparda Brothers’ Devil Arms! Trigon’s power still courses through my veins, I need Devil Arms!”
“You’re welcome for saving your shitty life!”
Deathstroke grunts then swiftly grabs Dante’s wrist.
“At least you saved somebody today.” He drops his hand, letting it dangle. Huff. Grin. “But you don’t need me to tell you he doesn’t have a pulse. I saw the whole thing. What a humiliating way to go. He finally got what was coming to him, didn’t he, Red Hood.”
“No.”
“You have him on your back. You know he’s dead. You can feel it. Don’t get sentimental.”
“Stop.”
“Good riddance.”
“I mean it, lay off.”
“We should team up. You and I could get a lot done around here. Your time as a lost boy was therapeutic, I’m sure, Killer-Red.”
“Never call me that.”
“I saved your ass!”
“I’ll admit, I’m glad you showed up, but I remember thinking the same thing at Arkham Asylum. Touch him again and I’ll blow your other eye out.”
He aims Ivory at Deathstroke’s one eye. Deathstroke backs up, palms raised.
“You stole his Devil Arms, huh? I would have done the same thing. We are so much alike, Red Hood. You’d really kill me after everything I’ve done for you?”
“That I didn’t ask for!”
“I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I need a new home base. Maybe Blüdhaven. Maybe with a second in command. How can I break you into submission?”
“You about to repeat the same mistake you made with Red X?”
Scoff! “You know what your problem is, Jason? Your problem is your attachment to him. I’m not one to dither with a dead body but you need closure. Little fucker might still have a spark in him.“
“WHAT?!”
“Snapping his neck will solidify his death.”
“He’s still alive?!"
“He always was a real menace!”
Slade goes for it!
“NO!”
Red Hood shoots him in the shoulder!
“GRAH!”
“Go fuck off to Blüdhaven!”
“Red Hood, you little punk!”
“GO!”
“FINE. We’ll be in touch.”
He rapidly fucks off via the fire escape.