A Fire, Born Of Flesh

After the relatively unpleasant introduction he had with the Revolutionary Army, and the fact that he was currently being led into what was essentially a dark staircase covered by trees, it was safe to assume that by now Dante was leaning on the incompetence angle for his previous theory as to why the Revolutionary Arny hadn't toppled the World Government as of yet. The procedure, the process, the people, everything seemed fundamentally backwards.

Thankfully for Dante, that was entirely someone else's problem. He wasn't here to fix the fundamentally damaged infrastructure of a group of paranoid rebels, instead he was here to engage in terrorism and possibly get paid. He was at heart a man of high, noble standards and even higher wages, and forever he would be.

After the fateful handshake between the Dragon and the Devil, Dante had been led down a staircase that allowed them access to the underground bunker that constituted the unseen terrorist activity of Cunolan.

The first thing he noticed upon observing the bunker was how... machine-esq it looked. The place looked almost sterile, yet maintained a sense of proper decor and utility, with surveillance being done constantly on the surroundings of the island.

The second thing he noticed was a man, looking to be in his mid 30s with a full head of hair, hair which wrapped around his neck to create almost a hat on his head. His nose, crooked and bent, was upturned at the arrival of Dante. The man was stood with a hand held against the open air, a hand that was previously held against the staircase used to enter the bunker.

Taking keen notice of this, Dante pointed out the presence of said man, asking an innocent question to begin with.

"Hey, I didn't know you guys had mimes here. Not really sure what the point is, though."

The 'mime' as he has been dubbed took great offense to such a comment, angrily stomping over to Dante, much to the dismay of Dragon who had not prepared Dante's intrinsic ability to infuriate anyone he meets.

Upon reaching the half-devil, the mime attempted to grab at his jacket, only to have his hand swatted away at such speeds that it seemed as though he never moved it at all. The mime tried again. Realising that he could garner entertainment from this, Dante continually swatted the mimes hand away several times as frustration began to give way into unfiltered rage on the mimes face.

"Will you stop fucking doing that!?"

Dante, as straight faced as he could, simply stared the mime down in his eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Before he could begin foaming at the mouth and risk losing his life by trying to attack Dante, the mime was led away by several men who had been watching the altercation. Dragon should have intervened, however he wanted to see how Dante would interact with his troops. An experiment, for the future. One that failed miserably. He sighed.

Dragon began to lead Dante towards a discreet location in the bunker where they could formally discuss between them just what exactly Dragon had been wanting to tell him since he sent his first delegate on Sabaody.

In an action that perfectly encapsulated the childish behaviour Dante exhibited on a day to day basis, entirely by choice mind you, Dante held open the door to the meeting room for Dragon, all the while openly announcing 'Ladies first' as he did so.

...

The reception was as expected. An utterly confused Dragon walking into the room, questioning Dante's mental capacity after he was apparently mistaken for a woman. From there, Dante entered into the room and shut the door tight.

It was time to negotiate some terms, and get on the terrorist payroll.

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It was exactly as she expected. Hancock's initial reaction to Nyon's suggestion had been to utterly deny it before forcing the elder out of the room, then return herself to a brief session of self pity and hopeless whinging. It was a cycle she could not escape, her life had become a void of emptiness, a null scope of regression. Years she had spent yearning for the return of Dante to bring peace to her life.

At least, she thought so. Truly, Nyon's prior assessment was a vast understatement. Hancock was down astronomically bad. She had tried to explain the importance of maintaining a sense of calm and ensuring she have some contact with Dante to ensure she doesn't die soon from love sickness, though the Empress had simply shouted that he was gone and things would never be the same because of it.

Nyon was finally beginning to reach her limit. It had been hours now, and the Empress's screams had echoed through the halls of the Kuja Palace. If the Elder did not solve this problem soon, the Kuja would begin to think Hancock was either having an episode or suffering from mental sickness, and neither would be viable for a brighter Kuja future.

With one last plan in mind, Nyon prepared herself for a significantly less awkward yet equally necessary conversation with her Empress. She could only hope that Hancock would be cured soon, because every second she wasn't was pure suffering.

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The first thing did upon entering the small chamber used to chat with Dragon was seat himself properly, leaning his feet up on the table between the two men and crossing his arms, still ensuring he had quick access to Ebony and Ivory in case Dragon had ulterior motives.

The second thing he did was ridicule the employee who had tried to square up to him and failed so miserably.

"So, what was the deal with Jimmy Crow-nose back there? You didn't even try stopping him."

"Who? I'm sorry, if you refer to my soldier then his name is Andrevo. I have no idea who this Jimmy Groenose is, nor do I wish to. In relation to my lack of action though I must also apologise... I wished to observe how you would interact with my men."

Dante appraised the response for a brief moment before deciding that he had far more important matters to attend to than scrutinising a random man who thought he was hot shit. Dragon decided otherwise.

"If you seek to work with us in the future then I ask that you respect Andrevo, and he too shall respect you in turn. His Devil Fruit is vital for ensuring our covert operations continue."

Now that certainly got Dante's interest.

"Go on then, spit it out. What Fruit?"

Dragon held his arms out as he looked around the bunker, most likely to ensure Dante understood something about the place.

"The Stair-Stair Fruit. A cousin of the Door Door Fruit, it allows the user to traverse anywhere be it up or down vertically through the use of stairs. It can change any structure into that of a staircase."

Dante's reaction was one that was to be expected upon hearing that the greatest terrorist organisation in the world was reliant on a man with stairs for superpowers.

"Pfft! Hahaha! Oh, man that's good. Staircases, god what a power."

Dragon simply sat there patiently. He waited for Dante to finish his outburst, until he suddenly jolted and looked at his watch.

"I apologise, however I have no choice but to cut this meeting brief. I have an extremely important matter to attend to. Dante, to make this quick, I wish to ask of you for your assistance in our goal. I ask that you aid me in destroying the Wor-"

"I'm in."

"-ld Government. Oh. Well then, it is a pleasure to be working with you Dante. Now, since I must take my leave soon I ask that you take something with you when you leave."

Dragon held an arm out, and from a collection of cages that were in the farthest corner of the room an owl emerged and landed on Dragons open arm. Dante felt it strange that Dragon wished to flex his bird collection while on such a tight schedule but followed nonetheless.

"The Den Den Mushi network is monitored extensively. I fear if we use any form of modern communication then we would be found within hours. Thus, we here at the Revolutionary Army use a much more... archaic form of communication. This here is a messenger owl, and shall be your main line of communications with us."

Slowly, delicately, Dante took the bird from Dragons arm and held it close to his chest, stroking it slowly as it chirped in appreciation. It was as though an instant connection had formed. He found his Parrot, though it was much larger and less talkative, he had taken another step on the path to piracy.

"Thanks, Dragon. Let me know when you need me. Until then, I'll get back to what I do best."

"Destabilising military powers? Eradicating islands? Ruining hard worked plans?"

"No? I meant making money. The hell are you going on about?"

Looking at Dragon as though he were inhibited mentally, Dante decided to give up on it and departed by Yamato portal once more, straight back to Sabaody so he could claim a prize.

A prize that was long since overdue.

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When he returned to Sabaody, directly retracing his steps as he looked for the corpse of Akainu, Dante took distinct notice of the large presence of Haki signatures in his usual training area with Rayleigh.

Choosing to ignore such a detail for now, the Red Devil continued his path towards the corpse, only to reach said body and frown momentarily at Rayleigh's method of protecting the body.

A simple sign, crudely painted and placed on the floor near to the body, reading 'Property of the Red Devil Dante.' It was admittedly funny to Dante, though that was mainly because he was technically about to turn Akainu into property. It had been a theory he long since held after discovering Haki and the imprint of Devil Fruits on a person.

The Devil Fruits act as a fundamental alteration to the person. That much is simple. However, some fruits go beyond changing. They completely morph. And yet, every time the person remains entirely human after usage of the Devil Fruit is complete.

Dante was willing to bet a small portion of his large fortune that Devil Fruits directly affect the soul of an individual, he had not much evidence at all to back such a theory up, but it seemed to be the most likely given the importance of the soul in this world with Haki.

Add to that the fact that the Sea Devil became directly incorporated into that person after ingesting the fruit, it made relative sense to Dante that he could manipulate the Demonic aspect of the Sea Devil into forming a new Devil Arm from the souls of deceased Devil Fruit users. A gamble entirely, but also an idea he held since his first meeting with Vergil.

He saw a feint glow emanating from Akainu's chest, a small glow that began to turn brighter and brighter as he reached further towards it. His theory held merit. Devil Arms could be replicated. A bright flash, and the corpse of Akainu had disappeared entirely, instead transmutated into the weapon Dante now held in his hands.

A large warhammer with a spiked hexagonal face, a single sharp claw on the backside and a long handle, though it was only to be wielded with one hand, neatly bound in a package of pure trauma.

Though, the main power of the weapon did not lie in the force of its swings. It held an ability, not too dissimilar to his Balrog, to ignite, though instead of plumes of fire the hammer would spit out magma alongside each swing, glowing vibrant orange with pure heat as a result.

It was the Abbadon, a tool designed to make every impact hurt. A lot. And Dante could not be more pleased with it.

"I simply cannot wait to use this thing. Don't you agree, bird?"

The owl, that had been resting on his shoulder for the time being, gave a single low hiss in response. Dante had no clue they could do that, but he wasn't about to question the calls of an owl. Instead, he used his large brain and realised why the owl was so sad.

"Hey, it's okay buddy. It must suck not having a name, huh? Well, don't you worry pal."

He poked the chest of the owl, shifting his head close and staring the avian creature in the eyes. After a few moments, he realised he had no idea what to really call it. Giuseppe wasn't exactly the most intimidating name for the trusty companion of a pirate like the Red Devil himself, after all.

"I'll get you a name later. Gimme a while, I ain't the best at thinking."

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With the moment passed, Dante returned the unnamed Owl to his shoulder and summoned the Yamato once more, intent on opening a portal to his ship so he could check in with Hancock and see how she had proceeded while he was gone.

His expectations were high, the Empress seemed motivated and passionate about this, so it stood to reason that she may have already finished forming a declaration of alliance between them.

Dante was hopeful of such a future. He had faith in Hancock, despite her rampant ego.

That faith would soon be shattered.