Dante vs Bayonetta Chapter 4

An angel attempts to cleave the woman’s exposed back.  Its efforts are stopped with a bullet to its head.  With its halo shattered, the angel disappears in a bright flash of light.  The woman continues to effortlessly evade and attack her divine assailants.  She spins.  She twirls.  She flips.  She dances her way around the angels and their weapons with acrobatic grace and stylish flare, all the while firing both her hand guns and foot guns.  While its brethren kept the woman in black occupied, one angel decides to finish what they started and kill Dante.  The angel slowly creeps toward him.  During her furious fighting, the woman in black spots the lone angel.  She quickly dispatches a couple more of heaven’s helpers with stylistic flare before going after her next target.  The angel is close to Dante.  It raises its staff.  The others angels prevent the woman from stopping their comrade.  She mows them down as she continues toward Dante.  The angel draws its staff back and swings.

A loud clang rings out.  The angel looks on in shock.  Somehow Dante was able use his sword to stop the staff from carving into him even though he can’t see his attacker.  The man in red cracks a smile.  “Nice try.  You’re gonna have to wake up early to get me that easily.  Thing is,” he twirls the black gun and aims it over his right shoulder, “I don’t sleep much.”  Dante squeezes the trigger, aiming for what he believes the head would be.  The angel’s halo is destroyed along with its owner in a flash of light.  “Now let’s see who’s playing hide and seek,” Dante says nonchalantly.  He begins tapping into his demonic powers.  The same trick worked for him in the Underworld when he challenged and defeated the King of the Underworld.  Using just enough power, he can make out about a dozen or so figures.  Focusing his powers lets him see them a bit more clearly, to where he can make out the halos above their heads.  The images were blurry but a lot better than nothing.  “Angels, huh?  And who else do we have?” asks Dante.  Though he can’t see her clearly, he can tell that the last shape is unmistakably female.  He thought it might’ve been his partner but she’s off on another mission.  So who is the new girl? 

The woman stares at Dante.  If she was as surprised as the angels, she hid it well.  “He can see them?” she says.

“I don’t what you angels are doing down here, but I never asked you finish my job.  So if you think about taking me on I strongly wouldn’t recommend it.  You’re better off keeping watch over some kid and keeping them outta trouble,” Dante said.

Undaunted, the angels renew their efforts and attack Dante.  The woman tries to stop them.  She begins firing her guns as she chased them down.  A couple angels change course to return their attention to the woman.  She flips over them, squeezing out a few rounds as she corkscrews through the air.  Her feet touch the ground while the angels’ bodies slam into it.  The woman has successfully blasted off their wings and halos.  The bright flash of light signals their defeat.  She turns to help Dante, but stops short amazed by what she sees.  Though he can barely make them out, Dante is, nevertheless, fending off his would-be attackers.  He can feel their energies and just aims his guns where they feel strongest.  The angels’ numbers start to drop from Dante’s stylistic fighting.  He sways from the path of their swing staffs and casually blasts away their halos.  The woman in black watched the man acrobatically evade nigh-invisible attackers and eliminate them with stylish flare all the while wearing a brimming smile that exuberated confidence.  She was rather impressed his abilities—and with him.

Dante ducks under what he sensed is a midlevel strike and rolls forward when he feels something coming at him from above.  Popping back up, he holds his arms out to his sides and blasts away the two angels trying to flank him.  He throws one arm behind to take an angel going for a sneak attack, and then quickly clears out the two angels in front of him.  Sensing that all seemed to be clear, Dante gives his pistols a final twirl before returning them to their holsters.  As soon as he gets one gun in, he reaches over his left shoulder and catches something.  One last angel has its attack stopped casually by him.  Dante finds the angel’s legs with a kick and shoulder tosses it forward, slamming it on the ground in front him while keeping a grip on its weapon.  He presses one foot on the angel’s chest and aims his remaining gun at the glowing halo above its head.  “Just be glad I went easy on you this time,” Dante says wearing a cool grin.  “The next time you guys decide to get in my way, I’m gonna be thoroughly pissed.”  He casually blasts the halo and kicks the angel away.  It disappears in a bright flash a moment afterward as it slid across the ground.  “Now let’s see who our heroine is,” he says.  Dante tries to feel for the woman’s energy.  A couple moments pass.  No energy.  Deciding against searching for her, he places his hands in the pockets of his coat and strolls out of the alley with the familiar feeling of another job done.

Unknowing to Dante, the woman of his search has retreated to a nearby roof top.  Now completely visible, she watches him as he leaves the alley, taking in his identity.  The woman in black smiles with anticipation, hoping they will meet again someday.  As for Dante, whether he meets the woman again doesn’t matter to him.  He has no strong feeling either way.  If or when that day comes, he will greet it just like any other day—with a brimming smile and a cool strawberry sundae waiting for him when it’s over.

To be continued…