The night was indeed, icy-cold. Every breath Jason exhaled became a white puff in the air, his lips drying up so much they started to crack. The office frosted over before his eyes and it seemed as though he would become a meat popsicle. 

 

Unbeknownst to him, it was actually the heat of Dante’s Devil Trigger that made him comfortable enough to rest. Devil Triggers, however, are costly and not only did this mean that Dante didn’t sleep, but he had to keep going into the Wood of Suicides in the cold, to battle demons and recharge this unique power. Using his own body heat to keep the room warm, that came at a price, yet, somehow Jason slept through it.

 

The next morning, outdoors, on the church grounds. The two rehydrate with the water stash and check each other.

 

“How you feeling today, Killer-Red?”

 

“Killer-Red?”

 

“Yeah, Killer-Red. Thought you could use a new name since all the other ones seem to carry a lot of baggage.”

 

“I like that. Killer-Red. I’ll take it. I’m doing really good. A little banged up from the night before but all and all, doing alright.”

 

“I’m sorry, man.”

 

“Nah, don’t sweat it. How ‘bout you? Didja sleep is good as I did?”

 

“Doing fine, but you know we’re out of food again. Here.”

 

He hands Jason an enchanted shotgun.

 

“Duuuuuude!”

 

“This is Revenant. She fires bullets, bombs, and fireworks, and she never runs out of ammo.”

 

“I’m not the star acrobat, just warning you now.”

 

“I have faith in you. Come on, through the woods. The moving trees are demons. They’re stationary though, so it’s hard to miss. It’s a great place to get comfortable with a new gun.”

 

They head into the woods, where trunks and branches come to life. Viciously, they thrash and moan. 

 

“Easy targets when you’re not too close, but deadly if they hit you. Follow my lead.” 

 

Dante guides the way, plowing down timber-devils with his blade. Jason goes for demons further in the distance, honing his aiming abilities. 

 

Squawk, squawk, squawk! Massive birds with weathered human-faces and condor-bodies flap above the branches.

 

“Welcome home, Little Robin!”

“You’re right where you belong!”

“Befriending an angel,”

“Won’t save you from your fate.”

“We’ll peck out your tongue!”

“We’ll gouge out your eyes!”

 

Jason pauses, “Do I shoot those things too?”

 

Dante, still slashing and hacking, replies, “Only if they attack.”

 

“They’re disgusting. What are they?”

 

Dante glances over his shoulder, “Divine Harpies. Only six of them left. Guess you could say they’re an endangered species.”

 

“I can see why.”

 

“They keep aerial demons away so they can live another day, as long as they don’t put their claws on you.”

 

The two wisp through the arbor, no sweat.

 

“I can’t believe this gun! It’s awesome. Do all your weapons have names?”

 

“I told you you’d do well. Yeah they all have names, of course. Though, I’m not the first person to call my guns, Ebony and Ivory.”

 

“Man, some of those trees looked like people crying.”

 

“Don’t shoot those.”

 

“I didn’t.”

 

“Good. We need those trees. They protect the church.”

 

They press onward to Limbo City, around the corner. When they reach the concrete, Jason asks…

 

“Was it always this empty around here?”

 

“No. There used to be a lot of humans. Most of them died when the Demon World revealed itself. Something you need to know, my friend, is that the demons follow Vergil as their king. He is no king. He’s Nephilim like me. My evil twin. I’m trying to protect you from him. You need to know that, okay?”

 

“Okay. What about the animals? Do they need protecting?”

 

“Like dogs and cats?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I don’t see too many animals anymore. Angels came and took them away.”

 

“They took the animals but not the humans?”

 

“They took some humans too.” He stops and nods at a fortress a few blocks away. “He’s watching, give him the bird.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Dante flips the fortress off, strolling along at the same time, his coat catching a hint of gust. He knows the sight is on him and finds this funny. Jason follows his example, flipping the fortress off too. 

 

At the fortress, the reticule shifts to Jason. The souped-up, one-eyed mercenary aiming at the kid’s head, pauses. An intimidating sniper, a successful destroyer, he lowers his weapon at the sight of someone he normally considers an equal rival.

 

Intrigued, a whimsically avian demon lands beside him on a stack of bricks.

 

“Robin,” says the assassin.

 

“Actually it’s Griffon.”

 

“I fucking know that.”

 

“Top of the morning to you too, Mr. Wilson. Who are we offing today? Dante? We both know ya can’t assassinate him. He’s too clever. Besides, that’s Vergil’s prerogative. The Demon King has big plans for his brother. So I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

 

“Buzz off, Griffon.”

 

“You know I have to make my rounds, Mr. Wilson. You should be a lot more grateful that my Master gave you all this military equipment to play with. That was real generous of him.”

 

“It’s part of our contract. You can tell him I’m running low on grenades next time you see him.”

 

“Sure thing. Don’t worry, he’ll provide. Trust me, you’re one of his favorites. We have that in common, you and me. He lets us get away with murder around here.”

 

“That’s because he knows he’ll have to deal with the power of Trigon if he wants to turn on me. Your Demon King is nothing but a lesser version of the guy who banished me to Hell in the first place, and you know it.”

 

“I don’t know nothin’.”

 

“You’re a bad liar, little chicken. Now what the hell do you want? 

 

“Whose the new kid? Do you know him?”

 

“Robin,” Mr. Wilson repeats, swapping out the hollow point ammo in his gun for incendiary  ammo. 

 

“Robin? Oh, you mean the one all the Joker demons wanna kill?”

 

“I might need to be the one to kill him actually, with fire. I’ll need to get closer though.”

 

“Oooo, yeah! Burn, baby, burn! Kill it with fire, Mr. Wilson!”

 

“Quit calling me that.”

 

Sights back on Dante and Jason as the two carry along towards their destination.

 

“Whoa-ho-ho, you’re not kidding around. The big bad mercenary’s not afraid of a little robin, is he?”

 

“Where I come from, Batman’s Little Robins are the bane of my existence, and Dante’s always reminded me of Robin. This is a bad dream, seeing them side by side like this.”

 

“Ya know, you’re right. They do look like twinzies, don’t they.”

 

“I can see the look on that little punk’s face. He’s protecting Jason, for some stupid reason.”

 

“I know, right? The kid will either sink or swim here in Hell. The Nephilim can’t prolong weeding out the weaker ones forever.”

 

“Jason Todd is hardly weak. He’s a killer, like me. Ungrateful bastard.”

 

“That’s a lot of anger ya got towards a mere child, Mr. Wilson. He must be a real brat.”

 

“A brat and a thief. Dante’s looking right at me now. He’s onto me. I don’t need another blast from those damn wings.” 

 

“OOF, good call, even the lightning powers from my resurrected wings can’t counter that Angel Trigger shit. I’m out of here!”

 

Griffon flies off as the assassin ducks. 

 

“Who were we flipping off just now?” Jason asks.

 

“Deathstroke,” Dante says nonchalantly.

 

“What?!”

 

“You’ve heard of him?”

 

“What’s he doing here?”

 

“It doesn’t matter. He brought it onto himself. Shouldn’t have fucked with… never mind.”

 

“Tell me.”

 

“Deathstroke killed another Devil Hunter. At least, that’s what I heard from a pretty reputable source. So I don’t like him.”

 

“Which Devil Hunter?”

 

“Someone with the same name as me.”

 

“Oh! You mean Dante, the Legendary Devil Hunter! No no, he’s not dead. He’s friends with Nightwing. Wait a minute, are you his son?”

 

Dante pauses, peering ahead, his expression stern. He lets this information sink before replying, almost disappointedly.

 

“Me and him were never close. Glad to hear he’s not dead but I don’t wanna talk about this.”

 

“Say no more, I feel the same way about Bats.”

 

“Hmm, interesting. Listen up, this is important, alright?”

 

“Alright.”

 

“Always give Mr. Wilson a proper greeting when we cross this road. He’s a cunt.”

 

“You don’t have to tell me twice. Believe me, you’re preaching to the choir with this one.”