voicetesting... . . .

[redoubtable]

So, you asked me to come. Here I am.

What are you even hoping to gain from this? No one will accept you, not with me. Do you even have a plan? An idea? Or you just wandering through this aimlessly, throwing everything against the wall and hoping that something will stick?

I thought so.

It doesn't have to be this way. Complacency never really suited either of us, did it? Neither did failure. There are other paths we can take. You just need to be willing to take them.

I can lead you there.

Comments

[redeemable]

Yeah, word of advice? You don't want him to lead you anywhere.

[redoubtable]

Dante.

I didn't expect to see you here, brother.

[redeemable]

Yeah? Didn't expect to be here, either. But to hear this one talk it's like there was no other choice.

[redoubtable]

Our players have that in common, then.

Though, for them, maybe there was no other choice. Somehow, we all knew that things would end up this way. One way or the other.

[redeemable]

Maybe you did. Can't say I ever thought I had a brother before.

[Welp. This is getting too serious.]

Or that'd it be so easy to kick his ass.

[redoubtable]

Easy?

If it was so easy, you're welcome to try again. I seem to remember you limping towards the end.

[redeemable]

Come on, you were fighting two on one.

[redoubtable]

They were both still me.

I could've taught you that trick, if only you had let me. If you hadn't drawn your sword on me like a child.

[redeemable]

You know, you've got a funny idea of what kids are, bro. First humans, now me.

But no one asked you to babysit.

[redoubtable]

And I never wanted to. Not you, anyway.

It's possible to act childish without actually being a child. You're doing it again, right now. Why can't you see that I'm doing what's best? Not just for humanity, but for the world. Humans now have the capability of destroying the entire planet, and with how unpredictable and chaotic they are by nature, doesn't that worry you?

I want you by my side, Dante. I've always wanted it. But you're the one who can't see reason here. Not me.

[redeemable]

What's best, huh? And you're going to decide what's best for them? What they'll do without even giving them the chance to make decisions for themselves? How is that any different than what Mundus did?

[redoubtable]

No. Of course not. Personal freedom, Dante. They'll be allowed that -- something that Mundus would never give them. But politics? Economics? War? Do you trust them? Can you trust them? How much of their history do you actually know?

[redeemable]

That isn't freedom, it's --

[He stops, too tongue-tied by an inability to express himself. This is important. And he doesn't know what the fuck he wants to say. Or how to say it.]

You know it's funny. Mundus tried to force the same argument. Only difference is, he wasn't blind enough to believe it.

[redoubtable]

[Vergil sets his jaw, seething with anger, but too in control to let it get the best of him.]

Of course he didn't believe it. He was a tyrant, only seeking power. I am not.

[redeemable]

How much of that history you're talking about is the work of some demon's influence, huh? How many different ways do you think they've been fucked over the years, and you're just gonna hold that all against them?

You said it yourself, right? There's always been angels and demons, and there's always been a war. And who do you think's been caught in the middle the whole time?

And you're not even going to give them the chance to prove you wrong.

[redoubtable]

They've had their chance! Yes, there has always been a war. There will always be a war. But do you really think that there have never been downtimes? That the battlefront has always been here, on earth?

Think about it for a moment, Dante. This is a fight against angels and demons, but where were the angels to help when we needed to take down Mundus? Where were they when the demons killed our mother? Sometimes, as in war, one or both sides are too weak to fight for a time. The humans are no different. Many times, they could have risen up then and taken control, but instead they bicker and fight among themselves as children -- taking their chances to misbehave when mommy and daddy aren't around to keep them in check.

[redeemable]

So we help them! We help them pick up the pieces, and stand on their own. Just like what you did for me and Kat.

We can help them, protect them, without ruling them.

[redoubtable]

Kat is one person, Dante. She is intelligent and capable and [what's the right word...] exceptional, but the rest of humanity is not.

And even if they were, how better to teach them than to lead by example? Either way, the result is the same. They cannot be left to their own devices.

[redeemable]

Oh, so now she's an exception, when it's useful for her to be.

[redoubtable]

She was always the exception, from the moment I found her.

[redeemable]

[This here is one of those awkward silences, because what does he do with this, even.]

Might want to clue her in on it.

[redoubtable]

She knows. [and that's all he's saying about that.]

[redeemable]

[Dante's just. Taken aback really, pardon him.]

And you were still willing to abandon her, to leave her to die.

[redoubtable]

The fate of the world is more important than Kat's life. It always has been. It always will be. That's just the way it is.

[regretzio]

[strum]

♪ Dante's had a hard time lately
Change can always hurt
But the important things remain innately
And now he gets a shirt ♪

[redeemable]

[Wait. What?]

Yeah, and who the hell are you, pal?

[regretzio]

[strum]

♪ What Vergil may believe
Depends on what you perceive
But when he gave his opinion
On how to fight evil's minions
Planned Parenthood asked him to leave ♪

holy shit this post is now diamonds LMFAO i love you so much. ignore vergil, he's a crankypuss.

[redoubtable]

That's supposed to be a joke?

This is the closest I have ever come to being sorry

[regretzio]

[strum]

♪ You can kill demons by the score
And beat all the monsters that come to eat us
Things you should be remembered for;
But you shoot one fetus ♪

I JUST SPIT OUT MY TEA AND LAUGHED FOR FIVE MINUTES STRAIGHT. THAT IS FANTASTIC.

[redoubtable]

[Vergil has a bit of an inner turmoil over this for a moment, because while that verse annoyed the crap out of him, he gets the joke. And maybe he'll never admit it, but it's funny. And accurate.]

Everyone has that one goat that they've fucked. Mine just happened to go viral.

[redeemable]

Remind me to keep you out of the petting zoo.

[dirtydiva]

...good luck talking some sense into your mun, from what I have come to understand they never ever listen.

[redoubtable]

It isn't enough to just talk. Sometimes, people need to be shown through action. I intend to do just that.

[dirtydiva]

Mm. [ a small smile as she spares him a glance over her shoulder. ] Actions do speak louder than words, as they say, ...

[no17]

Who cares if you're accepted?


The only thing that matters is having fun.

[redoubtable]

The two concepts can be mutually exclusive.

[no17]

What does this path you're talking about consist of?