Warm Welcome

When Dante viewed the name Sabaody Archipelago he expected yet another drab island with sand, sand and perhaps some wildlife with varying degrees of murderous tendencies.

What he did not expect was a bubble-bound utopia. Trees, higher than the skyline and piercing the clouds themselves with humble architecture built around the local nature.

'Honestly, this place doesn't look so bad. I think I might come round here once or twice.' Dante thought to himself, pleasantly surprised by the world around him once more.

From the moment he had disengaged his Devil Trigger and discreetly dropped down onto the mainland from a tree, in the 32nd Grove if the writing on said tree was anything to go by, he had taken the time to simply walk around and try see if any shady, pirate-esq individuals stood out. There was however a snag in that plan.

"Why the fuck does everyone look so damn weird?! What even constitutes looking like a pirate? Where's the damn peglegs and eye patches?" He cried out, astonished that pirates were either so regular that they blended in with common crowds or the folks were so different to his perception of normal that he could be walking among pirates and be none the wiser.

His outburst seemed to have gotten him some good luck however, as a dishevelled man in what seemed to be common rags with an oddly shaped one sided moustache approached him from behind a bar, The Golden Goose. He was surprised they even had geese in this world at this point.

"Hey, mister. Couldn't help but hear that you were looking for pirates. You must be new around here, cause just about everyone is either a pirate or is working for one. Either that or they're with the Marines, God forbid the World Nobles. This place is a hotspot when it comes to activity, trust. Name's Jilky Two Toes, people just call me Jilky. You are?"

Dante, though slightly uncomfortable due to Jilky's proximity and the nature of his full name, still answered politely and wanted to see where his foray with Jilky would lead him.

"Dante."

"Pleasure to meet you, Dante. Now, how's about we talk some business, you and I?"

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Turns out Dante had forgotten one of the key rules of bartering. When you're broke as shit, you don't often get what you want. Thus, the business relationship between him and Jilky ended faster than he imagined, with Two Toes making sure to laugh at his pitiful financial situation.

It did dawn on Dante in that moment that getting a stable source of money or at least food and drink would be a good step in the right direction if he wanted to survive. Thankfully, before Two Toes had gone out of earshot he had muttered something, something about bounty hunting.

'Bounties, huh? Makes sense I guess, if pirates are such a problem then that fits the bill. Easy money either way. Hopefully I can get this over with before sundown and find a place to have some peace and quiet for the night.' Dante mused, lost in thought and zoning out slightly as he wandered the streets.

'I mean I doubt I'm gonna be able to enjoy some real peace with Vergil here. Does he know where I am? Is he playing with me? Since I've got the Yamato and the Beowulf, what the hell does he have? Is he even here?'

Had Dante been paying more attention to his surroundings he would have noticed the bizarre sight of everyone around him dropping to the ground right then and there, prostrating before something he paid no mind to.

After all, the culture probably matched the outlandish nature of everything in this world, and he was slowly beginning to become desensitised to the irregularities here, so he assumed it to be some ritual or celebration.

Dante however was much more wrong than he would initially like to admit, as he soon found himself face to face with the barrel of what looked to be a flintlock pistol, and an eager finger on the trigger.

"Did I miss something, or is this just a casual greeting around these parts?" Dante asked as he looked up at the man holding said gun at his head, seeing what looked to be a spacesuit of some kind, with an air bubble(?) around the head of a... he thinks its a person.

"Get on your knees. Now. I won't stand for this disrespect." The voice was slightly muffled due to the bubble but still quite audible to Dante, who at this point was concerned.

"Why the hell do I gotta get on my knees just cause you told me to? Doesn't that seem unfair? Hey while we're at it, what's with that poor fella behind you? He looks like he's dying, get him out of those chains."

Dante, somewhere in the back of his mind already knew what was happening. Privileged people using others to their benefit, owning them like animals. Treating them like animals too. However, freshly reincarnated and hopeful for the world, he almost didn't want to have his journey tarnished this early on.

He tried to convince himself that it was somehow a big misunderstanding, that he had misinterpreted a detail here once more, though with the sharply dressed men behind his would be executor, the pieces all seem to line up. High class, probably born into luxury, personal protection squad given reverence by the masses, most likely unwillingly, and of course the open, uncontested use of slaves.

Having sharpened his focus on the man upon seeing the dire nature of the situation, Dante was eager for him to pull the trigger. His wish would come true when the man grew tired of Dante's insolence, giving Dante the perfect opportunity to Trick above the shooter and drop down onto his throat, knee first, choking the entitled gunman ever so slowly.

The two suited men, his personal protection squad were each held at gunpoint themselves, face to face with the business end of Ebony and Ivory, scared to even move after witnessing the abnormal movement.

"Now then, given I find myself in such a compromising position, I believe it would be best if this were all to be put under the carpet and forgotten about, wouldn't you?" Dante's voice gave little ease to the noble beneath him, nor his agents, as his demeanour seemed anything but friendly.

'You've been here for 4 hours Dante. You can't make enemies of a highly feared line of nobles, Dante. There's a reason people fear them, Dante and given they aren't powerful themselves they must have powerful friends. You could become a wanted man, Dante.' His thoughts were erratic, actively chastising himself for considering killing them all then and there.

"You... VERMIN! I'll have you hunted down like a dog for this! How dare you even touch me! The World Government will have your head, and your families heads for this!" The voice of the noble, though choked and panting, was still poignant. There was technically no going back since he had already assaulted the man. Besides, it was always going to end up this way, whether he wanted it or not.

"Seems like this ain't gonna be a kid friendly seafaring journey after all. Oh well, who doesn't love overthrowing corrupt governments?" Dante was admittedly saddened by this. He knew he would have to get his hands dirty at some point, having to deal with Vergil and all, but he wanted to at least pretend like it was a grand journey where the real treasure was the friends we made along the way.

The men around Dante were confused by what exactly he was talking about, however Dante did not elaborate, instead pushing his knee into the nobles throat with finality, snapping his neck on the spot before unloading a bullet into each of the agents, all in a succinct time frame.

He got up off of the ground, clapped his hands against one another twice before dusting off his coat and holstering the dual pistols, expecting cheers for fighting against corruption and saving a man in the depths of slavery. Instead he was met with horror and vitriol.

"You... oh god what have you done!? The Marines are going to slaughter you! An Admiral will be here any minute." One man, previously on the floor, spoke up to Dante about what he had just brought upon them, they treated the Marines in this instance as cataclysm given human form.

'Ah. So thats who those powerful friends were. Go figure.' Dante in retrospect had certainly made quite a big oopsy. Though then again he had also just killed 3 men, so that was also a rather large oopsy, though he felt a strange sense of apathy towards that topic.

'Well, maybe Mr Admiral will be a lot more amicable than old 'slave-labour' over here. Here's hoping.'

And so only 4 hours into his new life, Dante was a wanted fugitive, having killed 3 men, yet still seeing the best in a bad situation.

All he really wanted was to have fun on the ocean plains, living the life of a scurvy dog, but alas things never go Dante's way.