5 Wanted: Preferably Alive

Dante, blissfully unaware of the presence of his brother who was seemingly quite eager to prove himself, was currently having a pretty good time. Why exactly?

"Full Throttle!"

The crossed blades of the Cavaliere dig deep, flesh being torn from bone at an alarming pace as Akainu's right arm begins to lose mass rapidly, causing the man to swiftly enter elementalisation, using his liquid state to float behind Dante and rain hellfire upon him, only to watch in fury as Dante stylishly dodges each one with a Trick.

"That all you got, pal? I was beginning to think the Marines were actually a threat, but you clearly don't seem like one." Dante's voice was steady, his breathing calm. He was barely winded. Akainu, on the other hand, was hoarse from shouting obscenities at Dante.

"You lousy pirate piece of shit! You're not leaving here alive, there's your threat!" He transformed his left hand into compressed magma and threw his arm forward, unleashing tens of magma missiles in the shape of his fist, all the while condensing the magma beneath his legs to erupt, hurling him towards Dante.

The first few magma projectiles sent towards Dante were easily blocked by a perfectly timed Royal Guard, however those after were blocked by an array of Summoned Swords after having summoned his Devil Sword Dante, allowing Dante to Trick above the still charging Akainu, pull out Ebony and Ivory and unleash a hail of bullets on the man.

Following this, Dante once more dropped down onto Akainu blade first, rending his flesh, his actions mimicked by his Swords Formation, culminating in Akainu being beaten down into the ground, his body not bouncing after being embedded slightly in the soil.

His resolve burning, Akainu once more stood on shaky legs, gashes now littering his form as the Hawaiian shirt lay in tattered fragments. His body ached, his jaw trembled in either anger or pain, he couldn't tell.

"I have no respect for your kind, pirate. Nor do I ever want to. In fact, I'd rather-"

Midway through Akainu having started talking, Dante decided that letting his enemy give themselves a pep talk was a bad idea, and so Tricked underneath Akainu's chest, summoned Balrog and began to unload blow after blow, with spin-kicks spliced in between, fracturing ribs and bruising heavily, activating his Ignition and repeating the process, stunning Akainu allowing him to switch into Kick Mode.

From there, Dante flipped backwards, the front of his Balrog greave impacting Akainu's chin, with the Marine Admiral being sent upwards into the air momentarily, after which Dante Tricks above him once more and finishes the battle with a devastating downward kick into his skull, slamming Akainu onto the floor.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." Dante brushed his shoulders in self-praise, before looking around and seeing that anything in a 50 meter radius of him was utterly devastated by the collateral of Akainu's attacks.

'Man, that was boring. Oh well, fella makes for good target practice, I'll keep him around. Can't guarantee I won't kill him next time though. God I'm never gonna have a peaceful day off again.' It was at that exact moment that Dante felt something odd, almost akin to a tingle down his spine, a chill on his back.

Thinking nothing of it, Dante summoned the Cavaliere and drove off to find a way off of the Island and see if he could visit any of those hotspots Akainu had on his map, having missed Vergil walking out to the site of his battle entirely.

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'Pathetic.' Vergil's analysis was cold, hard and uncaring in a neat bundle. He had expected better from his little brother, but this was concerning. 'The battle should have been finished in a half second at absolute worst, was he toying with the man?' Vergil prodded the half dead form of the once great Marine Admiral with his boot.

Ever since he had been spirited away from the brink of death before he could separate his demonic and human half and forced to follow Dante into an entirely new world, his anger had been festering as time grew.

He knew Dante had no part in it, but he still needed to blame something, and Dante just so happened to fit the bill. The only thing keeping him calm was temperance, and the fact that his power seemed to have multiplied extensively in his time here.

While the new world and the journey that came with it was exciting, what was more exciting was the prospect of finally one upping Dante through his newfound strength, and being able to definitively call himself the Strongest, the greatest progeny of Sparda. To ensure that the decade of torture as Nelo Angelo was worth something. That his life was worth something.

Further unknown by both Dante and Vergil though, another unseen man had been watching the altercation. One with far more importance to this world than would initially be expected given his gravelly old looks and damaged flip flops. And this old man was certainly intrigued by Dante's powers.

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'I doubt I'm gonna be able to fly everywhere I want to go.' Dante thought, helplessly. He was finally confronted with the fact that in an ocean world, he may need to adapt and overcome so as to not be left wanting if ever he needed a speedy exit and had no juice.

Thankfully, the Holy Map as he had begun to dub it listed two places that one could have boat repairs and commissions done. The first was Marineford, which he recognised and immediately wanted nothing to do with, especially given that he is more than likely a wanted man by this point.

The second was a large island marked as 'Water Seven' with an odd CipherPol written beside it in different colour pen. Ignoring the cryptic naming conventions, he immediately began setting course for Water Seven, eager to buy himself a boat, unsure of what to name it. The Redgrave? Eva? Deadweight?

Thankfully, he had used his brain before leaving the Golden Goose and still had a large amount of Berries that he had taken from Two Toes using Quicksilver, leaving the man nonethewiser. Some would call that theft, or perhaps scamming, however Dante would call it good business.

So, as Dante was beginning to consider what he would design his boat to be like, he also unknowingly had become a full fledged pirate, with more than a few eyes on him.

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"And you mean to say that this random man, with powers you can't explain through any known Devil Fruits, simply walked all over one of my best men after having killed a Celestial Dragon in broad daylight? And he got away, scot-free?"

The fury present on the face of the Den Den Mushi was palpable, it could even be felt in the air across such a distance. The meager Ensign that had been on Akainu's ship earlier that day confirmed the details.

"Yes, Fleet Admiral. Wielded a plethora of weapons, red coat, fingerless gloves and silver hair to go alongside it. The second he killed the Celestial Dragon, people already dubbed him the Red Devil, for fighting against so called 'Heaven'." The silence dragged.

"And did you get a picture of him?"

"The only picture we have is of Akainu almost dead with the Red Devil standing over him. Are you sure we should show that to the public? I recommend we use a simple sketch."

"Fine then. A sketch will suffice. Do we have a name for this so called Devil?"

The Ensign shifted through several documents, each being various eye witness testimonies and statements about what occurred in Grove 32.

"Only one person reported a name. Said a cloaked man spoke with him before his encounter with the Celestial Dragon, Saint Thursol. The name was Dante."

"I'm wiring you through to Bounties and Finance. Give them this exact information, no stone unturned. We'll have him in the papers come tomorrow. And take Akainu to Grove 9, there's a transport vessel waiting to bring him to Vegapunk for surgery."

"Yes Sir!"

The line goes dead shortly after, leaving the lone Ensign wondering how he is supposed to bring a 15 foot tall, hundreds of pounds Akainu miles across the Archipelago.

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