High School DxD: Scattered Cherry Blossoms

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

Shortly after Dante suffered the attack in his shop, he made his way to the Alaverus estate. Upon knocking on the door, he was greeted by James.

'What's that look he's giving me for?' Dante thought to himself. 'Why does he look so happy to see me? Anyway, if he's in such a good mood, he might pay for the repairs to my shop.'

When James opened the door and saw Dante, he knew the hell he had been subjected to, had finally come to an end. Although more than an hour had passed since he had returned home from shopping with Moka, Leona had been interrogating him about how Moka's kiss made him feel for the entire time. With Dante's arrival, there was now a reason for Leona to let it go.

"Dante, what's wrong?" James asked with a grateful smile. "For you to show up this late, something must have happened."

"Uh... well... I was attacked not too long ago." Dante replied and began to explain. "It seems my brother is planning something stupid and dangerous. I need to go see what it is and then stop him."

'Hmm... Dante's about nineteen now, so I guess it's about that time. But I wonder how the difference in world setting, and my interference will change things?' James thought to himself. 'I know the Temen-ni-gru exists in this world. If I recall correctly, Sparda sealed it to stop the original Lucifer's plan to use it to connect the Human World and the land of the dead. Meaning, it will be crawling with undead and the pissed off path guardians that Sparda sealed when he ruined Lucifer's plan.'

"So, you want to face your brother, and stop him if he's going to do something that will endanger the human world, right?" James asked, confirming Dante's intentions.

"That's right." Dante replied with a nod. "Last time I saw him, he was spouting something about how the only thing he cared about in this world was gaining power, So, I know he's willing to do anything to get it."

"So, the last time you met, did the two of you fight?" James asked.

Dante turned his head away awkwardly in response.

Nodding his head in understanding, James continued. "So, you did. And I'd guess you got your ass kicked."

Without replying, Dante simply grunted in frustration.

"Alright." James said with a nod. "Give me a second to tell Mom, I'll come with you."

"The hell you are!" Dante refused strongly. Before continuing. "My brother is making this mess; I'll be the one to take care of it!"

"Take it easy, Bro." James said nonchalantly, having expected Dante to react like that. "There are a couple of reasons I said I'd be coming with you, and neither of them are because I want to interfere in your fight with Vergil."

"First of all, I'll be coming as a bit of insurance." James said, then continued. "If shit goes sideways, and more enemies than you can handle alone start popping up, I'll handle them and only them."

Nodding in understanding, Dante asked. "And what's the second reason?"

"Regardless of if he's your brother or not, Vergil is a half-devil." James said, beginning his explanation. "I'll have to report to the Four Great Satans. They will have to be informed about devils causing trouble in the Human World."

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Dante finally relented.

"There's another good reason to let me tag along." James said in an enticing tone. "If I have the coordinates, I can teleport over. I know you can't do that. Imagine the money you would have to spend on travel if it's somewhere far away."

"Dante shuddered at the thought.

"Fine, let's get moving." Dante said with a lot less reluctance.

"Sure, give me a second to tell Mom, then we'll go right away." James said with a radiant smile.

'I can finally get away from Mom's angelic interrogation techniques.' James thought to himself with glee.

After that, James ran back inside and informed Leona about his little impromptu field trip with Dante. After a few more moments, James returned.

"Alright, let's get going." James said excitedly.

Scratching his head awkwardly, Dante struggled to tell James one more thing.

Having not heard the acknowledgement he was expecting, James turned to see the awkward expression on Dante's face.

"Is something the matter?" James asked in confusion.

"Well... Ya see..." Dante said stammeringly. Taking a deep breath, he eventually spit it all out in one go. "During the attack while I was at the shop, it was damaged pretty badly, and well..."

"Oh, is that all?" Interrupted James. Then in a sing song tone he continued. "When we're back, just talk to Mom about it. We'll have it fixed up in no time."

Dante sighed in relief. But before he could get too excited, James continued.

"I'm sure the payment plan will be reasonable." James said in that same sing song tone of his. "Now, let's get a move on!"

After that, clearly distraught at the thought of having a new debt, Dante relayed the coordinates provided on the map to James. A moment later, a teleportation magic circle appeared around them and began to rise. When it eventually vanished, James and Dante were nowhere to be seen.

Human World, An uninhabited island in the South Seas.

In the center of the island stands a tall, ancient tower with clear Underworld origins. At the top of the tower stands a pair of men overlooking the tower's surroundings.

The first was the middle-aged man who appeared in Dante's shop a few hours ago. The second is Vergil, a tall young man with swept back silvery white hair, blue eyes, and facial features identical to his younger twin brother, Dante, wearing a blue trench coat over a black shirt, black pants, and black boots with a katana strapped to his waist.

"Arkham, did you deliver the message?" Vergil asked coldly while looking over the island's landscape.

"Indeed." the middle-aged man, Arkham, replied.

"Will he come?" Vergil asked again, this time turning his attention to Arkham.

"I believe so." Arkham said, then he began to explain. "When I first arrived, he seemed uninterested. But after I unleashed a couple dozen hell spawn on him, I am certain he will feel provoked enough to come here."

Nodding his head, Vergil turned his attention back to the tower's surroundings. A few moments later, Vergil saw the light of a magic circle appear in the distance.

"Is that a teleportation circle?" Vergil asked Arkham while pointing out the illumination in the distance.

Looking in the direction Vergil indicated, Arkham squinted his eyes to get a better look and replied. "Yes, it is."

"When did Dante learn a trick like that?" Vergil thought aloud.

Once the teleportation magic circle vanished, James and Dante appeared in its place. Taking a look around to survey the surroundings, they both caught sight of the gigantic tower in the distance.

*Whistle!*

"That's a big ass tower." Dante said accompanied by a whistle.

James on the other hand was not so flippant, outwardly. Feigning surprise, He narrated everything he knew about the Temen-ni-gru to Dante.

"This is bad." James said with severity in his tone. "You have to stop your brother, or the Human World will be overrun by those undead whose souls were too tainted for the cycle of reincarnation."

Dante nodded his head with the same severe expression.

"OH, and if you screw this up." James said with a smirk replacing his severe expression. "Don't worry. Not only will I save your sorry ass, but I'll clean up the mess for you too."

"Get lost." Dante replied with a shooing gesture.

"Alright." James nodded in response. "Just remember, I'll be watching. So, make it stylish."

And before Dante could respond, James Flash Stepped away.

"Damn. He really is fast." Dante said with the same level of amazement he had when he first saw James use the Flash Step.

Once James left, Dante began making his way to the tower. From the top of the tower, his two observers were confused.

"Who was the other guy?" Vergil asked, confusion lacing his tone. "And why did he leave?"

Taking a few moments to consider, Arkham replied with the most reasonable answer he could come up with.

"Perhaps, Dante hired him strictly for transportation." Arkham said with a bit of uncertainty. "It would have taken him days to get here otherwise."

Considering Arkham's hypothesis for a moment, Vergil agreed.

"Are all the preparations complete?" Vergil asked.

"Yes, everything is ready." Arkham replied with a nod.

"Very well, then let's begin." Vergil said as he turned and began walking away. "I shall take Father's power as my own."

At the same time, standing about 325 feet (approx. 100 m) below Vergil and Arkham, James watched Dante make his way to the tower's entrance. But before he could enter, Dante was stopped by a 20 foot (approx. 6 m) tall ice-blue three-headed dog. After a bit of conversation and an angry roar, the three-headed dog released an ice breath at Dante.

"Since this Cerberus isn't one of the Demons representing the seven deadly sins, I wonder what the story behind it is?" James thought aloud to himself. "Since it's guarding this path to the land of the dead, maybe it's one of Hades creations? A failed creation?"

At that thought, James clenched his fists and started leaking pressure to his surroundings. As it turns out, the Alaverus blood line is a failed experiment of Hades during the days leading up to the Devil Civil War. As a failed product, Cassiel was slated for disposal. He, however, managed to escape. An extermination squad was sent after him to destroy the evidence of Hades experiments. Lucky for him, though, Cassiel was saved by Sirzechs and Ajuka. Unfortunately, they still are not sure what Hades was hoping to gain through his experiments nor do they know how he was creating devils, seemingly out of nothing.

"[Partner, calm down. If you keep letting your demonic energy leak like that, someone will notice you.]" Ddraig warned James when he noticed his partner's surge in emotion.

Taking a deep breath to regain his calm, James thanked Ddraig then continued to observe Dante's progress.

While James was lost in his thoughts, Dante, after half an hour of swift and heavy sword strikes, gunshots, and icy breaths, finally defeated the Cerberus. After some more conversation, the Cerberus large body shrunk down into a basketball-sized ball of light. Dante then reached out to it. Once it was in his hands, the light dispersed. In its place was a three handled set of nunchucks. After an over-the-top display of skill with the new weapon, Dante put the nunchucks away.

Finding the sight of a large three-headed dog transforming into a set of nunchucks interesting, James Flash Stepped next to Dante.

"What the hell was that?" James asked, wanting to know how devil arms worked in this alternate universe.

"It's a technique passed down in my mother's lineage." Dante explained. "When defeating a strong enough supernatural being, I can seal its soul and turn it into a weapon that has the same characteristics from when it was alive. We call the weapons created from it, [Devil Arms]."

'Well, that was less interesting than I thought.' James thought to himself.

"Okay, got it." James said, patting Dante on the shoulder. "Now, go forth young man."

At that moment, they could hear the sound of an engine approaching from the distance. Once it was close enough, they identified the vehicle as a motorcycle. And its rider? A pretty, young woman with a scar across her nose, chin length black hair with bangs that reach her eyebrows, and heterochromatic eyes, the left being red and the right a blueish green, equipped with a large multipurpose weapon slung across her back and a pistol on her hip. With no intention to avoid them, the young woman sped in James and Dante's direction.

"I'll be leaving the rest to you." James said as he Flash Stepped away.

Dante on the other hand, side stepped the speeding motorcycle then asked. "What's the hurry? Didn't get an invitation to the party?"

Having stopped the bike before Dante started speaking, the young woman pulled the large weapon off her back, took aim, then fired a missile at Dante, without saying a word.

Dante, with his over-the-top style, avoided the missile and somehow boarded it like a surfboard. After riding it around in the sky for a while, he directed it into the side of the tower before jumping off. As he landed safely on the ground, the missile exploded against the tower.

Once again without speaking, the young woman rode past Dante and entered the tower ahead of him. Dante then looked in the direction the young woman left with interest.

"This just keeps getting better and better." Said Dante with a smile.