Coming Home from a Dream

[helluvaboss]

Hell has a habit of sucking in hapless, tortured souls... including those from other worlds, it seems, when helped along by portalling magic concocted by Stolas of the Ars Goetia. Hell, in fact, is very receptive to the devised spell, sucking in those that portal from the land of dreams, songerein.

Residents of hell walking through the portal find themselves startled awake where they were, but newcomers? Their forms become physical, tangible, changing them into the creatures they dream themselves to be - for the best and most certainly for the monstrous. It is Hell, after all.

Welcome home, I.M.P. : D.M.C.!

Comments

[strawberryredgrave]

(Somehow, it happened. With enough study into the field, Stolas got the spell going and brought everyone along to their version of Hell. How many has Dante seen by now? Enough that he needs to slow down and think about it. The Conception and the drama with Lucifer, the one held back singlehandedly by the absolute chad, sir Arthur, Earth 616...

Can't say any of them directly impacted Dante as much as this one has. Sporting a notably different appearance from before, between red scales, wings and a tail, his human features were traded out. Probably to help him blend in; sinners were similarly transformed when entering Hell, as he learned from Angel and Alastor. He could work with this. And just in case anyone here has any grudges against Sparda, it might be slightly more difficulty to identify Dante. Slightly.

But these are a lot of thoughts to process after literally crashing through a window. Or a fish tank. Maybe both? He is picking himself up from a puddle of water that may or may not have been there before his arrival. At least he's resilient enough to walk it off without issue. The sight does give him pause as he looks around.)

...Huh. First time I'm the one crashing into an office.

1/2

[helluvaboss]

MOXXIE YOU FUCKER!! NOT THE EELS AGAIN!!

[Blitzø charged into the room, out of his little office, and--

[helluvaboss]

[...Wait. Wait!! That mug ain't the same, but he recognizes him. Holy shit! Blitzø bounces over, grinning horn to horn.]

Holy SHIT! It's Dante! You actually fucking made it, that means everyone can make it through the portal!!

[strawberryredgrave]

(Blitz's voice and his appearance bring a smile to Dante's face, looking greatly relieved.)

It worked! Son of a bitch, it worked!

(A great success all around! They made it out and...you know what, fuck it. Blitz gets a firm hug from Dante. They braved a bunch of shit together and met again on much more favorable terms.)

[helluvaboss]

[Fuck yeah, a hug!! Blitzø easily returns it, squeezing that big scaly neck.]

Hot fucking damn, and you're so sexy, now that you aren't stuck with a human mug! Stolas is gonna lose his shit.

[strawberryredgrave]

Yeah, he is. Don't know if that was on purpose, but I can work with this. Guess I owe him a favor now.

(Dante's not in a hurry to pull away from the hug. Damn if hanging out with the crew didn't make him more receptive to this kinda thing, especially Blitzø.)

A thought comes to mind, though. Since Stolas' plan worked and it's your neck of the woods, IMP deserves its place in front of DMC.

[helluvaboss]

Always did! But I gotta give you the out, first - I.M.P. takes jobs from sinners down here to go topside and murder humans. Pretty much all of those fuckers end up down here, sure, but that's the job and the branding.

[He knew a lot of his companions in the dream world definitely had more apprehensions about murdering innocent people.]

If that doesn't fly then no hard feelings. You could definitely make a hell of a living being a personal gorgeous defense force.

[strawberryredgrave]

(Dante himself is definitely one of those people. He can never claim he hasn't killed humans before - they all deserved it - but innocents? That's gonna be a difficult transition, but if they've really done some fucked up stuff...

Truth be told, he didn't want to leave the group even with the conflicting ideologies in mind.)

Gorgeous Defense Force has a ring to it. Gotta use that someday. Maybe if I ever gotta distance myself from the office.

(Dante snickers.)

You're not getting rid of me that easily, Blitzø.

[helluvaboss]

That's what I like to hear! You can be our secret defense division if people keep fuckin hiring us for bodyguarding down here. Don't worry, you are TOTALLY fucking invited if we're going up top to murder a cannibal freak or a billionaire!

[strawberryredgrave]

Those I can handle no problem. Did I ever tell you about the time I killed a CEO? This nutjob wanted to summon one of the most powerful devils in my world to use its power himself. Shot him out the top floor of his skyscraper and gravity did the rest.

(Ignoring the whole "he lived long enough to be a boss someone else fought" thing. Still dead.)

Far as bodyguard work goes...we're back in Hell and some of our pals are back in rough spots. Angel, Stolas, Via...the job's commission work, sure, but I dunno about leaving 'em to all that.

(And arguably, not leaving Blitzø to his troubles, but hanging around the office will cover that.)

[helluvaboss]

Be careful on some of those... killin' people in hell will land you in jail, and if they're blue bloods then they'll get actually fucking serious. Not that many people have the tools to even hurt them.

[strawberryredgrave]

I got what I need.

(Of course, having the tools and doing the job was never a problem for Dante. A new Hell means new rules, as it always does, but there's a lot more people his actions could impact. That gets him shaking his head with a sigh.)

...Buuut I guess I should get used to a few things before flipping this Hell on its head, too. Can't promise I'll be on my best behavior for long.

[helluvaboss]

Hey, as long as you come bail out your pals when we're in trouble, we're coming to bail you out of the shit you get yourself into, too.

[strawberryredgrave]

Of course! What's a little jailbreak between friends?

(Especially if they go with a traditional breakout and not just Dante kicking through a wall. Keep that one in if they're ever in a hurry, though.)

And since we gotta get into some shit to get locked up, what's there to do for fun? We're in your backyard now, Blitzø.

[guns_and_swords]

Watch it dragon breath!!

[Yes, that is the voice of one little sister. Noticably not a unicorn]

[strawberryredgrave]

Oh. Right.

(Cue Dante just casually stepping away and giving the smaller dragon her space without a thought.






Double take. Wait a minute...)

...Holy shit. Dante?

[guns_and_swords]

Yeah. I was headed back to my own office, opened the door and walked into this.

[She waved her claws around. She still had Rebellion on her. She was a little older, wearing a different coat but still not his age.]

[strawberryredgrave]

It's...complicated. Went to another world, met new people, one of em magic'd us a way out. Must've brought you along, too.

(Dante's always iffy on giving the details to his sister. He didn't wanna risk spoiling a few things and altering timelines as a result.)

No ponies this time. Welcome to Hell; this one doesn't have Sparda, so we're in the clear for now.