Devil May Cry - Volume 2 - Chapter 2.2

Phase 2 
Part 2 

"Mister Ducas! Please, a word about your latest win!" 
"Tell us the secret to your success!" 
"I hear scouts from the biggest bookies are now showering you with offers.

Can you tell us which one you'll accept?" 
"Mister Ducas!" 
"Sir!" 
Ducas blinked at the popping flashbulbs and clicking shutters.

He found it increasingly difficult to move in public without immediately being swamped by paparazzi.

He pushed through the wall of lenses and microphones and managed to slip into the safety of his hotel room.

Publicly, Ducas said he found fame exhausting, but in reality he made little effort to conceal how much it thrilled him.

Sir? Me? This is too funny! He laughed as he fell onto the plush bed in the center of the room.

Just over a week before, he had been going to bed hungry and alone.

Yet here he was, hounded by corporate scouts instead of debt collectors.

He welcomed each day by waking up in a suite luxurious beyond anything he had ever dreamed of, with sumptuous meals and imported suits available at the press of a button.

The constant stream of girls eager for a taste of the high life ensured he was never lonely.

But every silver lining has a cloud, Ducas thought as he wrestled with a silk tie.

He hadn't quite gotten used to accessories, and at any rate the Beastheads around his neck was all he really needed to make a good impression, so he decided not to bother with the tie.

He gripped the statue absently.

As long as I've got this thing.

I'll never have to be the old me again! 
Stroking the statue had already become a habit.

The first time he had done so, random and incomprehensible images flooded his small mind.

He had made the connection that first night Chen sent him to the hotel.

Each time he grasped the Beastheads, fragmentary pictures and sounds would wash anxiously over his brain.

It was almost enough to make him throw the wretched thing away.

But at the last moment he would receive a vision intertwined with his own memories.

It was the trumpet that did it-brass waxed to gleaming and prefectly in tune.

Ducas had bought the instrument as a boy, saving money from his first real job to be able to afford it.

The vision was accurate down to the patina of scratches and irregularities in the color unique to all instruments.

My last experience with true happiness, he thought.

I remember it so well.

The golden years; it was all downhill from there.

The vision taught Ducas the hidden power of the Beastheads.

Gripping the statue gave him access not only to experience in his past, but experiences yet to come.

It took him a few days to learn how to channel the visions for personal gain, but now he could look into the future with a high degree of precision.

His admirers considered the triple-headed pendant to be an eccentricity, but Ducas knew it was something more.

It was the source of his power.

He had grown to find its hideous faces adorable.

Ducas held the pendant tightly.

Come on, show me my tomorrow.

He wasn't prepared for what he saw.

Ducas dropped the Beastheads in shock, tumbling to the floor in horror.

"What is this?" His heart thumped to a dangerous rhythm as Ducas struggled to regain his breath.

What's happening? 

The statue had shown him a vision unlike any he had experienced before-an approaching hail of bullets accompanied by a massive sword moving at lightning speed.

And behind it all...a smiling, silver-haired man in a red leather coat.

Ducas realized he was looking at his own death.

He wobbled to his feet and placed the Beastheads gingerly in his outstretched palm.

There was at least one way to test his conclusion.

If he truly were awaiting death in the next twenty-four hours, the statue wouldn't be able to show him a future beyond tomorrow.

Am I really going to die? His mind wrestled with the options.

No! I'm going to be happy forever! But how do I know? 
Ducas felt nausea rise up inside of him.

He was obsequious and cowardly by nature.

He knew he wouldn't be able to grip the Beastheads and verify the vision.

What if it told him something he didn't want to know? 
He collapsed to the floor once more, gripping his knees, rolling into the fetal position.

And then the cold glare of reality shone on him.

The farthest window shattered in a glittering spray of glass, which peppered the carpet like diamonds.

Ducas dove under the bed.

And then he saw the silver-haired man from his vision.

Dante entered Ducas' hotel room and found himself taken aback by the luxurious furnishings.

"Good taste," he said, eyes wide for a moment.

"It falls short of my office, of course." 
Beryl followed him into the room.

"If this is the only way you know to break into a hotel room, it's time to come down from that high horse." 
Ducas watched the pair from beneath the bed, shrinking to the farthest corner.

His teeth chattered out of abject fear.

But Ducas had the wherewithal to consider that the noise might give his position away, so he bit down on his sleeve as hard as he could.

Neither of the intruders seemed to notice him.

"Maybe he ran away," Dante suggested.

"I heard this place has a private bodyguard service for VIPs." 
"Where could he go?" Beryl reasoned.

"He's a celebrity now.

He'd never get past the reporters downstairs without a scene." 
Ducas cowered under the bed like the rat people always said he was, too terrified to even watch the intruders' feet clomp around the room.

He knew he'd be caught if he tried to run.

He gripped the Beastheads in desperation.

Just let it all be over! 
The new vision changed everything.

Ducas' fear faded away, replacing the confidence that had characterized him since that first night at the dive bar.

He smiled evilly from beneath the bed.

Five seconds...

"Mister Ducas! Sir! We heard a crash.

Is everything all right?" The door handle rattled as the hotel guard inserted his key.

"What a mess," Beryl snapped.

"This should have been an easy catch." 
Dante frowned.

"Let's get out of here." 
The mercenaries knew the hotel guards wouldn't pose a problem, but they were innocent bystanders.

A tussle would also create the perfect diversion for someone like Ducas to escape in the shuffle.

"Dante, cover the back door.

I'll watch the front-" 
"Don't give me orders," Dante muttered.

"Beryl, why don't you guard the front door and I'll keep an eye on the back?" 
Beryl rolled her eyes and followed Dante back through the broken window.

Once he was sure they were gone, Ducas crawled out from under the bed and raced toward one of the intact windows.

If he waited for the guards to storm in, they'd turn into a virtual prison.

But if he ran away now, he could start a new life with the power of the Beastheads behind him.

The window faced away from the broken pane the intruders had used, giving him a head start.

The penthouse towered over the neighboring buildings.

As far as escape routes went, it was strictly for the birds.

Even so, Ducas had no hesitation.

He opened the window and flung himself into empty air.

Every last trace of the craven rat under the bed was replaced by a Ducas so confident that he didn't worry even when his body started plummeting toward the ground.

A few moments later, Ducas darted up like a feather.

Black wings had sprouted from his back and were beating against the chill night air.

The appendages lifted him heavenward in defiance of gravity.

"Ha ha ha!" Ducas laughed with a purity he hadn't felt since the day he'd bought his trumpet.

His elegant new wings grabbed at the wind and put distance between himself and the hotel.

He was still laughing several miles later.

"What is that?" 
Dante craned his neck to see what Beryl was pointing at.

Dark clouds had drifted in front of the moon, cutting off its silvery light.

Even so, both warriors saw the strange figure darting through the velvet sky.

Ducas rose and fell in great swoops as the black wings on his back beat up and down.

"How is that possible? Was he a demon the whole time?" she murmured.

Dante sidled his motorcycle beside Beryl, who was paralyzed with awe.

"Get on." 
"What?" 
"If you don't want to go after him, fine.

I'll go alone if I have to." 
"Chase him? He's in the sky, Dante.

He's flying." 
"He can't fly forever.

We'll follow him until he gets tired.

I thought you said you were a Devil Hunter?" Dante lifted Beryl up and gingerly placed her on the seat behind him.

He gripped the throttle forcefully and took off into the night, pausing only briefly to pop a flamboyant wheelie.

"I can't breathe back here, Dante.

Slow down!" 
"We'll lose him! He's already getting tired.

Look!" 
Ducas' peaks and troughs were rougher now.

He appeared to be losing altitude, and Dante was certain he'd be back on the ground soon.

"We need to catch him before he lands.

If he gets mixed up in the street crowds, we're going to have a real problem on our hands," said Dante, weaving the motorcycle through a crowded intersection.

Beryl clutched Dante's waist.

"Wait! Slow down! I'll be thrown off!" 
"Right here, Mister Ducas.

Ho ho.

Come land, just like that, please." 
Ducas honed in on the reassuring glow of a searchlight rocking back and forth on a nearby rooftop.

He managed to land with a minimum of tumbling.

Flight had been amazing, but the constant beating of his wings was unexpectedly exhausting.

Thankfully, Chen had been on the case, scouring the sky for his newly mobile underling.

"I'm so glad you were able to get away safely, Mister Ducas.

I was worried about you." Chen clasped Ducas on the shoulders and gifted him with a patriarchal smile.

"Boss? What are you doing here?" Most in the underworld never met Chen once, let alone enjoyed a repeat encounter.

Ducas had expected to be welcomed by hired hands.

He didn't know the proper etiquette for greeting Chen, so he opted in favor of prostrating himself on the rooftop.

"Now now, Mister Ducas.

Let us dispense with the niceties.

Follow me, if you would be so kind." Chen took Ducas' hand and led him to a helicopter.

"Boss, this is..." 
"I don't know if you are aware of this, but the friends who broke into your room are on their way here even as we speak.

Please allow me to help you escape to safety." Chen smiled graciously.

"It's just that a person of your status doesn't usually help people like me." 
"My dear Mister Ducas! Are we not Family? It is as if you are my own child.

It's a bond that demands my personal protection." 
Ducas wasn't one to recognize melodrama of sarcasm.

He was moved by Chen's words and agreed to be escorted to the helicopter.

The wind from the craft's whirling blades swept away his tears.

"Thank you very much, boss.

To be able to work for a man like you, I'm truly..." 
Chen's henchmen turned away and tried to suppress their laughter.

Chen brought his full bearing on Ducas, widening his ever-present smile.

"From here, this helicopter will fly you to my yacht out at sea.

You will board the ship and hide yourself until I contact you again.

You must be patient, Mister Ducas.

We must make sure it is perfectly safe for you to return to the city.

In the meantime, I shall contact your pursuers and see if we can discover a solution to this misunderstanding." 
Personal attention from none other than Chen himself! It was almost too much to bear for Ducas.

"I'll never forget the kindness you have shown me! My body and my life-both are yours, boss!" 
The display was too much for one of the minions, who let loose a heartfelt guffaw.

But the noise of the helicopter rotors drowned out the misstep before it reached Ducas' ears.

Chen smiled magnanimously and waved a hand as if brushing away a gnat.

"Go now, Mister Ducas.

I shall take care of the rest." 
Ducas nodded vigorously and then scampered into the helicopter.

When the vehicle was several blocks away, Chen let his smile fade.

"When I heard he had taken to the air, I wondered what would happen.

But we retrieved young Mister Ducas easily enough.

That means others will have easily followed him as well." 
Chen snapped his fingers and several figures emerged from the shadows.

The mysterious Ghost Knights wore their traditional black jackets and etched masks.

"Dante is doubtless on his way here.

I assume you are up to the challenge of eliminating this variable." 
The figures nodded and then merged with the shadows once more.

Chen led his minions to a second helicopter atop a neighboring helipad.

I heard the power of the Beastheads increases as its owner is backed into a corner.

I'm relying on you to draw out that power from me, Devil Hunter.

Ho ho!