Sparda- A Guest Post by Udayan Das

DISCLAIMER- The following writeup is a piece of fan fiction about the video game, manga and anime series Devil May Cry. It is set in a time before the games have taken place. All rights reserved by the  companies involved with the series.

The sun was setting in Paradise city. With its dying time, it had taken on a scarlet hue, bathing the horizon in red. As the day bled into night, a solitary figure stood at the docks watching. If one looked closely enough, one would notice the ghost of a smile on his face. If one looked even closer, one would see his eyes just a little wide, like a child who has seen the most wondrous thing in existence. Of course, the lonely figure staring at the sunset was no child. Tall and wiry, he was dressed in a slightly crinkled white shirt and dark trousers, holding a flamboyant jacket he had evidently taken off over his shoulder. His white hair was swept backwards, although a few strands stubbornly hung in front of his face. He looked to be in his thirties, but there was something in his eyes that made him look younger.

“That’s the last of it” he murmured. “Good riddance.” Without a backward glance, he walked away. He was new in these parts, and was liking them more and more with each passing day. They had a curious drink here that they called “Coffee”. It was, in his honest opinion, the best thing he had ever tasted. To this end, he found his footsteps carrying him to Elysium, the extravagantly named but charming cafe where he seemed to be spending most of his time these days.

By the time he had arrived, so had evening. He walked in through the door and headed for his favourite window booth. To his intense surprise, he found it occupied. Very quickly, he had a mental debate about whether he should take the issue up with the occupant.
Before he could come to a decision, he took his first real look at said occupant, and audibly heard his jaw drop.

It was a woman, and what a woman she was. Hair red like fire, and eyes cool as the deep. He felt his breath catch. This was not his first time seeing her. A long time ago, in a place far far away, they had met before. They had even spoken, though he doubted she would recognize him. A lot had changed with him since then.

Despite this, he found himself making his way over to her. The voice of reason in his head said something that sounded like, “She’s out of your league”.
I’m in a fine league, he argued back, with perfect accuracy.

Before he could formulate anything vaguely resembling a plan, he was already standing in front of her. She happened to be reading a book. The cover was dark purple, with gilt lettering for the title: A Devil Who Cried. She looked up when she noticed him, a questioning expression on her face.

“You’re in my booth”, said the man, before he could think. Good work, genius. Foot in mouth again. He internally shook his head at his own clumsiness.

“Your booth?” asked the woman. “That’s interesting. I can’t seem to find a name written anywhere here.”

“This is where I take my coffee every evening.” For some reason, he found himself ploughing on although he knew he was in the wrong here.

“Not this evening”, replied the scarlet haired woman suavely.

“Oh really?” said the man, not one to back away. It was at that exact moment that he felt a force about to collide with him. Years of training kicked in, and he braced himself. It was a subtle shift, and most people wouldn’t even notice what he did. Instead of standing with both feet next to each other, he put one foot back, using that leg as a support. When the force hit him, he felt his hair swept back, as though by wind, but he didn’t flinch.

It was the woman’s turn to be surprised now. How did he know? Her eyes widened when she realised that the man was emanating demonic power. Just a small amount of it, hardly enough to sense, but it was still there. She shook her head. It didn’t make sense. Someone with that little demonic power shouldn’t be able to block her spell. Then it hit her. He didn’t use magic. He blocked it with sheer physical strength.

She felt a grin tugging at her face. “It’d be a shame if we wrecked this place. How about we do this outside?”

The man brushed his hair back into place with casual elegance. His awkwardness from moments ago was gone, replaced by the calm of absolute confidence. It was almost like he was a different person in a fight.
“That’s fine. The docks are empty at this time.”

A few minutes later, they stood facing each other on the docks. The woman tied her hair behind her head and slipped on black gloves with runes on them.
“You showed some heart by agreeing to this encounter, but you should know: with your level of power, you don’t stand a chance. So I’ll give you one last opportunity to back away.” She looked him in the eyes. “Well?”

The man carefully hung his jacket on a post. “I don’t back away from a fight.”
Her eyes gleamed at that. He had heart, she’d concede that much.
“Very well then.”

Without warning, she raised her arm to cast the spell that would slow down time, thereby freezing him in place. Before she could gather her power to do so, however, a blade screamed through the air right at her face. She leapt to the side to avoid certain death.
That speed! He’s no amateur…

Before she could continue that thought, the man had already closed the distance between them.
“Think I don’t know what you are?” He said. “Umbra Witches can manipulate time. But it takes focus… and right now, that’s not something you have!”

He pushed his palm towards her, aiming to stun her with a quick attack. But the witch was no amateur either. With blinding speed, she summoned up a small barrier, stopping his strike before it could reach her. Not missing a beat, he followed up with a knee strike, which she also blocked with a barrier. The man frowned. With almost no wind up motion or tell, he launched into a barrage of strikes. With stunning precision, she blocked each of the attacks with small barrier spells, each of them the size of her palm.

“Peak human strength”, said the woman. “No, you’re actually stronger. Each of those blows would have killed an ordinary human. Didn’t anyone ever teach you how to hold back?”

“You’re not an ordinary human”, he deadpanned, not to be taken in by her words.

She laughed at that. “You have some skill. However…” she said, summoning a shining straight sword, “This is where it ends!”

She leapt forward, swinging the enchanted weapon. He dodged, and the slash he avoided left a jagged crack on the wooden platform of the dock.

“I was hoping to avoid this, but you’ve left me no choice”, he said, summoning his katana. My demonic power is all but gone. I’ll put my faith in you, Yamato. I can’t lose here.

He unsheathed the blade, which glowed an eerie, angry blue, as if baring its fangs at any who would threaten its master. 

“That sword…” said the witch. “It can’t be… no, I must be mistaken.”
She charged forward with an attack that channeled her powers into her blade. The man rushed in to meet her head on. As the two swords clashed, a shockwave was unleashed. Around the two fighters, the platform cracked, almost collapsing. Several metres away, the shockwave crashed into a massive signboard, breaking its metal supports. With a horrible noise, gravity tore it free, and it rushed downwards… towards a child.

NO! All thoughts of the fight forgotten, the woman closed her eyes, summoning her power. Her focus was razor sharp, and time ground almost to a halt, slowing the signboard before it could crush the child.

Next to her, she felt a surge of demonic power unlike anything she had ever experienced. A figure, larger than human, rushed past her towards the child.

He’s moving this fast in slowed time?!

The figure reached the child just before the signboard landed on him. With a swing of his arm, he sent it flying through the air till it crashed into a car with a crunch, totalling it.

For an instant, she saw him. Leathery body glowing with the power of demons, insectoid wings stretched wide in all their glory.

Her eyes widened.

Before she knew it, the power faded. His form shrank, becoming once more the white haired man.

He sank to one knee, breathing heavily. “What are you waiting for, kid? Run for it.” The child didn’t need to be told twice. The man struggled to get to his feet. That little stunt had cost him the last remnants of his demonic power. He looked up as the woman approached.

“Well, it seems you win this one”, he said, grinning sheepishly. “As you can see, I’m in no shape to fight right now.”

She shook her head, smiling. “No. Anyone who can give away the last of his power to save a life is a winner in my book.”

That brought a smile to his face as well.
“I never did get your name”, he said.

“Eva. But you already knew that, didn’t you… Sparda?”