Chapter 2

One moment I was in Shin's domain, and the next, I was blinking awake in some stranger's apartment with the sun blaring in my eyes and the smell of piss shriveling up my nose hairs. I looked around to see a sea of people half-naked and asleep. It'd been one of those nights.

"The hell, Dante," I groaned, struggling up to my feet. My head was killing me, but slowly, the pain faded. And with that clarity came memories, memories I did not like one bit.

I made my way to the second-floor bathroom, stepping over a few passed-out junkies and a girl on her flip phone.

"Hey, Dante," she said with a bright smile and dark bags under her eyes. She was skinny, in a tank top and baggy jeans. "You're up early. With the way you were going at it last night. I thought you'd be out till noon?"

"No rest for the wicked, Tina," I grunted and slipped into the bathroom. I stared at the broken mirror in rage as it confirmed what my memories already told me.

Fucking Shin!

It wasn't bad enough that he was forcing me to fight the embodiment of life itself. I had to do it in a knock-off version of Dante.

I wasn't Dante from DMC 3 with roguish charm or sick moves or Dante from Devil May Cry 4 with even cooler weapons and more experience. Or the ultra-badass that was DMC 5 Dante with a Sin Devil trigger. No, no, no. I was fucking Dante from DMC: Devil May Cry. The Dante 

from a failed reboot no one remembers.

"Gah!" I slammed my fist into the mirror so hard the wall groaned, and the glass misted. I stared at my bloody hand in surprise.

It was easy to forget that Dante was powerful, even if he was the store-bought variety from a 2013 game that nobody ever talks about.

I felt a sudden strength flow through me, and my bloody fist healed in seconds.

As the memory Shin had gifted me tells it, I was a version of DMC Dante—but younger. A rebellious, drinking, smoking loser with anger issues and a propensity for violence. He had unlocked some of his powers but had the foresight not to go brandishing it.

Rebellion, his signature sword, was a mental tug away. However, Ebony and Ivory were missing. They'd been pawned off for some extra cash to fuel his addictions. Virgil was somewhere in this version of the world, but Dante hadn't seen his brother for years.

I sighed. Well, all that is over now. Dante is dead, and Axel is no alcoholic. I needed to get out of here and get my affairs in order before I settled down to plan.

Dante didn't know much about the Marvel Universe landscape. It was 2003, and there were mutants in this world. No major story beats had happened yet, except for some scuffles between mutant factions and haters, and a major event that happened in the 80s. Magneto had tried taking the Whitehouse and Charles Xavier had been forced to step in.

There were fewer of them than they were in the comics. There was about one mutant in every one million people, but most of them were based in New York. It was where Xavier's school was.

As for the Avengers, Tony Stark was still a playboy Billionaire and hadn't dawned the Iron Man suit yet. Dante was ignorant about everything else. I would have to do recon myself, I sighed. I suppose I couldn't complain.

Dante might've never been alive in the first place. I wonder what strings Shin had to pull to make him appear here.

He wasn't fucking around when he said he had more power than I could comprehend.

One more reason to be wary of the jackass, I sighed.

One problem at a time. I could deal with the existential dread after putting Dante's affairs in order.

I stepped out of the bathroom to meet Tina, whose sweat-soaked face looked at me with surprise. "I heard a noise. Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be," I grunted, still bitter about the bait and switch.

"Is that blood on your hand?" she asked, looking at me with concern.

"Don't worry about it, Tina," I said, looking past her. "I need to go. Do you know who stole my wallet and jacket?"

Dante's memory went blank after he started partying last night. He'd staggered in here with his shoes, jacket, and a bundle of crisp hundred-dollar bills that he'd nicked off some guy trying to jump him.

The guy had been oddly well-dressed for a mugger.

Anyway, from what I could tell, a bigger haul was waiting for me back at his place, along with ID and clothes.

I needed all of that If I was going to skip town and start my new life as Axel.

Tina blinked. "I didn't see anything. It was pretty late when you wandered in last night."

"Tina?" I said a bit forcefully. Given what I knew about her, I didn't think she was the type to steal from Dante.

She was a sweet, mousy girl who ran away from home and sometimes hung out with Dante. 

She was quick on her feet and rolled with a group of kids that lifted clothes and shoes from transport trucks.

Dante looked out for her sometimes.

She folded her arms in defiance but finally sighed. She stepped forward, and I resisted the urge to shrink back. She stunk, I stunk, and with my body's new senses, my nose hairs were practically on fire.

"Moses patted you down when you were out. Said it was payback for taking his girl."

I groaned. That did happen. Moses was a 6-foot-2 bruiser who worked for the local gang that ran the drugs on this side of town. The girl had come onto Dante last week, and Dante being 

Dante, had taken her without regard for who her boyfriend was.

Fucker hadn't even worn a condom.

"You better not have any kids running around, you asshole," I muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Never mind. You know where Moses went?" I asked, and she frowned.

"Let it go, Dante," she said. "You don't want to pick a fight with the Santos gang. Moses might be low-level, but his buddies aren't."

"Come on," I scoffed. "Even I'm not that stupid."

I was that stupid.

The Santos gang might be big and scary, but Moses was just one guy, and I had the power of a half-angel, half-demon badass on my side. I wasn't worried.

Besides, it wasn't like I was planning to kill any of them. I would just knock Moses around for a bit, steal my shit back and all of his money, and split town before I got into more trouble. The more distance I put between myself and this place, the better. I needed time to calm down, think, and test the limits of my powers.

New York was where everything was at-- the Mutants, the Avengers, everything. So, I'd avoid it for now. Maybe some no-name town where no one would think to look for me. Then, when I was ready, I'd move on. After all, Shin hadn't given me a time limit on the caper.

"You are thinking about taking them on, aren't you?" Tina's words broke me out of my thoughts.

"What? I'm not," I huffed. "Just tell me where he is. I want to apologize, talk things out man to man."

She rolled her eyes. "When have you ever apologized?"

A small smile tugged at the edge of my lips.

"Well, there's a first time for everything," I insisted. "You could even come with me if you want. I promise I won't try to kill him. Scouts honor." I made the sign, a playful smile on my face.

Tina scrutinized me. "No punching either."

"Of course."

She still looked at me suspiciously before she spoke. "This way."