Secret Mission One: DvsC

Hello today!

So, this sort of broke the mold I was trying to make it into with how much went into it. Not in size so much as time. This was another way I thought of taking the end of Cinder and Dante's meeting that was cut for time. Ideas were there when I was writing the first few drafts but I wasn't happy with how it came out at the time of release. I wanted to make this work back into the story so that if you wanted to you could think this as an alternative to how Cinder and Dante meet.

Cinder pushed the tan folder to the middle of the table and pulled it open. Inside, papers and documents clipped together came to light; all the documents on their efforts in Vale. "It may seem like 'just business' from here, Dante, but Carcosa is working to stand in the way of those who want the world for themselves." As he leaned forward, she shut the folder, keeping her hand on top. She held his gaze, standing out of her seat, her smile now back to a steady line. "Someone with your skills and abilities could be of great help to us. This opportunity is offered to few, but those who accept can do great things all over the world. Continue to work with me and you'll have more than one node to further your search and what resources we can spare." She gestured towards the card in his hand. "Work with Carcosa, and you could have the four kingdoms under your eye."

Cinder stood, waiting for a response from him. She watched him flipping the card between his fingers, the intrigue in his eyes cooled into a steady glare. Something was wrong.

Dante stood up turning his back to the table and hunched over to look out the window, his eyes scanning the sky over rooftops for the lightshow above. Behind him, all around the room tables and chairs toppled over as guns were raised at the man who would usually wear red. Cinder's power surged through her, ready to release at the slightest sign of threat. Instead, through her glowing eyes, she saw him tuck the card away into his pocket, his grin thinning into a grimace on Dante's face. "That's a pretty good deal. I'm sure that's the kind of deal that got these people to line up all nice and neat for you, too."

Cinder glanced to the forces around her. With these odds, with him unarmed and his back turned, maybe. But for now, they could have him still. "Mutual benefit is a wonderful thing. Wouldn't it be easier to find your brother if you had a little help? You said he was in dire condition last you saw him, Doesn't sooner rather than later sound good?"

"My brother," he scratched the back of his head shifting his gaze up to the sky. "Would be nice to figure all of that out, but what you got going here..."

"Excuse me?" She narrowed her eyes back at him.

"Oh, come on. Secret bases, big promises, shady organizations. This whole operation has 'scape goat' writen all over. I'm guessing that's by design?" He waived a hand to the White Fang behind her to emphasize.

"I can assure you, Dante." She said, straining to keep the frustration from her voice. "Failure for the White Fang would mean too much for my operations here. We cannot afford to do any less then succeed."

"I'm sure you can't." He moved towards the table shaking his head. "All I'm saying is there's gonna be allot more to lose for the White Fang when things fall apart then some business deal and I'm not gonna be a part of that. I'm out. I'll take what intel you got for me as payment and be on my way. Thanks for the shower and wash, I guess."

Before he could reach down to pick up the folders, Cinder stepped in front of him, a hand on top of the folders. Her mind darted for a solution. Appealing to the cause of the White Fang had failed. Offering resources to find his brother had failed. Intimidating him ended pitifully, and her last option fared no better. If she dared, she would need to finish him quickly. She offered her hand to shake between them, a squirming underneath her sleeve.

"That is unfortunate, I was hoping to-." A black jet of tendrils flew from her wrist towards the man's face, but before they could land on their mark, he turned his head, grabbed her wrist, and to her surprise, had shoved the barrel of a large pistol to the side of her head.

"Hey now, you sure about doing this?" he said, pulling her arm to the side, black tendrils flailing away from them.

Cinder found speaking difficult, her frustration catching in her throat as she tried to match his gaze with her head pressed to the side. "You underestimate what I am willing to do to succeed."

He grinned. "So, you've got some guts after all? Good. I like a lady with some guts. I guess its about time we see how that honor holds up."

"My honor..." The tendrils returned to their place in Cinder's sleeve as soon as he let go and she took a step back, the folder under her arm. "Very well, but one request."

Cinder vs Dante

The back alley behind the café became a black gash in the landscape pale with the light of the falling moon, the flash of color from the occasional firework painting the three story building that the café found home in with reds, blues and greens one after the other. The wide back alley had been her favorite part of this node in particular, wide enough to fit a van and with an empty lot in the middle. The kind of space for bulkier operations. In this case, a battle.

Cinder stepped out of the door, her black jacket around one arm and tan folder holding everything for Dante in the other. She passed her jacket and the folder to Emerald who was following close behind, a modest sized bag in her arms as they made their way to the lot. "Have the remaining guard watching the entrances to the alleyway. I don't want any distractions, understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Emerald slid the folder to the side of the folded clothing in the bag and struggled to fold the jacket as they walked.

"Good. I want you on the roof doing the same. Your semblance, violence, excuses. Whatever it takes to keep people away. Now, my glass. Quickly." She stopped, bending over to remove one of the Haven academy uniform shoes and socks.

"Yes," Emerald placed two dark glass high heeled shoes in front of the woman. "But, ma'am. I was wondering why go through any of this at all?"

"Honor is an old-fashioned idea, but if it can get the man on our side it is nessassary to play along." Cinder said without hesitation, her mind focused on keeping balance on one heel while removing another shoe.

"No, I mean him. He may be quick and skilled, but so was Adam, and even then, we had the white Fang's trust after that. Ma'am." She added quickly, pulling out a red dress from the bag.

Cinder furrowed her brow, taking the dress from Emerald's hand and opening it from the top. "Adam was little more than an inconvenience to me." She said, stepping into her dress and pulling it over her shirt. "This man… may be more of a challenge." One sleeve at a time she managed to change, handing the shirt over, then undid the pants to the uniform and stepped out of them. "But for what it will mean if I can bring him to the organization, it will be worth it."

"But he seems so-."

"Enough, Emerald." Picking up her pants from the floor, she straightened her dress around the black shorts she wore underneath before moving on to the lot, her glass heels sending a light plink as she walked. She tossed the pants back to Emerald, the girl catching them in her arms after a quick step. "The roofs. We have used enough time as is."

She heard Emerald go more then see it, a rushing of wind from behind her told her she was alone these final steps. She was glad for any time to plan for what would come next. Slowing her pace to a saunter, Cinder tried to make any kind of profile she could work with to fight the man. A notable habit? A preference to close or long range? Maybe a limit to one of his abilities? To her dismay all they had on the Red Stampede showed that he lived up to the title he was given. An unstoppable force.

"Hey, there you are!" His voice pulled her back into the moment, arriving to the lot. The space was a flat square of concrete in the middle of three building; two storage facilities on its side and a third half demolished that made the lots front. Whatever condemned the building only left scraps of the second floor and the front room of the first, everything after that was a mess of splintered wood and concrete before Cinder had it cleared for their operations. Standing on the shadows of what remained of the second floor, Dante grinned down at her, hands on his hips. "And here I thought you were getting cold feet. You sure you can fight all dressed up?"

She stepped into the lot, glass heels plinking against the scattered gravel over the concrete. Cold air filled her chest sending a chill down her arms. She refused the coiling knot in her stomach, straightening herself, a slim smile adorning an allure gaze. "I wouldn't dream of spoiling a fight like this in an outfit like that. Honestly, I've been looking forward to a fair rematch. Hiding your aura from being sensed is quite a trick."

Dante jumped down from the edge of the ceiling, landing across the lot from her. "Oh yeah? Well, I'm glad I didn't scare you off. But don't worry, I've got a little bit of a game to give you a fighting chance this time, if you'll take it."

"I don't frighten so easily." With a step forward, an amber glow filled the dust infused trimmings of Cinder's dress, the next step turning into a whirl. Around her, gravel and dust joined in her dance trailing her hands in streams of amber heat until they formed into molten blades, cooling with a hiss as she grabbed them from the air at the end of her turn, standing at the ready. "And I don't need some game as a handicap. I'll fight you at full strength if it means proving my honor."

He rubbed the back of his head and looked away. "Ha ha ha. Well, you're half right. Call it a bet then. Land a single hit on me, and I'll cooperate. No questions asked. And if you don't, I take the info you got me for my last jobs. How about it?"

Cinder couldn't tell whether to take the offer as an insult or not, instead narrowing her glare and lowering her stance for a lunge.

"Well, I'll take that as a yes. Alright." Dante reached back and a metal pipe as long as he was tall appeared in his hand seemingly out of nowhere.

Cinder recognized the trick from earlier with the pistoles that were nowhere to be found on his person at the moment. She drew more power from her maiden aura, eyes ablaze, when she saw the pipe take up a faint red glow in his hands.

"Now, are you ready?"

Before her next breath a haze of red plumed in front of her and from it the led pipe came down against the concrete, shards of rock and rubble pelting against Cinder's aura. She jumped back, raising her blades overhead in time to block a second downward swing from Dante. With every step she took he was on her, pipe clashing against her blades, more toying with her defenses than going in for a strike. She found the opportunity to attack when a forward stab allowed her to scrape along the pipe's length for a counter attack. Sliding into a deep lunge, she swiped her blades up against the man's chest only to miss by a hair as he leaned back.

An eager breath filled her chest, she pressed the break in his attack, taking a step forward and setting her blades to work. The glass barrage scorched through the air locking Dante in her new rhythm, the man dodging and weaving in and out of her reach to the tempo. Between the lights of her burning blades a boyish grin stared her down no matter how close she managed get.

"Come on. If this is the best you've got what makes you think you can pull this whole stunt off, huh?" He swerved back, a double edged swipe eating the air where he stood. Cinder could just make out a blur before the pipe came down on her, but she felt her glass blades shattered against the metal and concrete. Surprise snared her attention, the shimmering shards of her weapon scattering around her and at the center of the pieces the same led pipe, this time sheathed in a darker crimson aura then before.

The jab landed square in her gut uncorked the knot in her throat and sent her tumbling across the lot, her aura crumpling against the sudden impact of the tip of the led pipe. Pain gripped her stomach as she staggered up from the floor, a throbbing filling her ears with every moment her lungs fought against her. She'd expected his strength to be a threat, maybe even for Hazel, but this? She wasn't even entirely sure what had happened, her aura infused with the maiden power should have been enough to stop most anything. But somehow his one hit was enough to rend her shield so thin that the blow hit with little resistance.

"I… am just… getting started." Cinder croaked, air trickling back into her lungs. Making it to one knee, the glow from her eyes waivered before an amber glow enveloped her, her aura restoring.

"I don't know about that. Looks like you're coming out more bark than bite to me." Putting the pipe on the floor, Dante crouched down clapping his hands together. "But, I'm still not sure so let's keep this going. Come on girl. Come on!"

"E-enough…" Cinder sucked in air through grit teeth, what aura she had left swelling to the surface, her amber glow burning scraps of wood and gravel around her. From their ashes four smoldering javelins formed in the air, all pointed towards him.

"You son of a-" She twisted her body around, arms outstretched, a pillar of flame engulfing her. She stretched her arms forward sending the cyclone of flames spiraling forward, red hot javelins darting towards their target, but it wasn't enough.

"Bitch!" The strain on her aura told her to stop, the tingling pain in her stomach still a bright reminder of what another mistake would bring. But her anger refused.

"Rrrraaaaa!" From her palms jets of flame streaked across the yard adding to the assault, fueling the inferno that engulfed the man. The fire that swarmed him climbed higher until they towered over the ruins of the building that was their cover, yellow light filling the dark alley with heat enough to warp the concrete around her mark and send anything small that could burn to ash.

"Ha, haha!" She watched the flames spiral into the air, the heat greater then anything she managed before. Weather it was her rage or desperation, she found enough strenght to finally catch him. Land a single hit? I do hope this will suffice, Dante. No. We must focus. Victory with grace, as she would. There will be time to-.

"Not bad!"

The roaring pillar burst in a gust of frigid wind, shards of ice scattering across the floor freezing the burnt slate where they fell, the gust nocking Cinder back and ending her flames. Where the ground was once a black patch of molten concrete, frost plastered over the slag, frost burnt stone hissing in brittle tones crunched as Dante stepped from the center of it all, a metal ring with three chained bars swaying in his hand. "Might even call it a warm breeze, but I like to keep it cool."

"Of course." Cinder said under her breath, pushing herself off of the ground. "Why would it be that easy." Two more blades forming into her grasp.

She charged him, four flaming bolts launching themselves at Dante. Each one extinguishing against the frosted edges of his nunchakus, the metal twirling from hand to hand in a blinding twist of speed. She hacked and slashed, every hit brushed off by a stroke of ice. What infuriated her more then the exhaustion or her worthless attacks was the addition of hoops and yells that accompanied any of Dante's movements.

"Getting sloppy already? And here I wanted to kick it up a notch." Ducking underneath one of her swipes, he launched her back with a quick kick to the chest, picking up the led pipe as he rose. She charged at him again, led ready to meet her in place of the nunchakus.

"I guess I've been-." But, instead of meeting glass with led, the scorched metal, frosted over with ice crystals along its side and its form caved in from the super heating, shattered as it lit up with a red aura, slag crumbling to the floor.

"Well-." Dante said, throwing himself back.

"Ha!"

Before he could speak, Cinder unleashed another volley of flaming spikes keeping him off balance. The spikes buried themselves in front of him, Cinder already on top of them. Flames burst from beneath her feet, and with one last burst of her strength she launched herself using the spikes as a spring board, her blades crossed in front of her.

"I have you!" Her heart skipped a beat, the look of surprise on his face reason enough to push her already straining aura; the flames sending her to greater speeds. Caught off balance with his feet still in the air, she was already too close to Dante to stop herself even if she wanted too.

She was only inches away when it hit. Something longer then her body slammed into her back sending her crashing to the floor, her speed sending her skittering against gravel and concrete until she met with a pile of rubble along the alley wall.

If the pain from before was bright, this was blinding. Any movement drugged up a chorus of agony, her muscles straining to tear themselves free from the torment. Her hands groped through wood chips and scrapped iron for anything solid, finding the brick wall to lean against, staggering onto her feet. What little remained of her power was shatering around her, shreds of her aura rippling to nothing across her body. "Th-that's… not… ah."

She brought a hand to her face, warm red clinging to her skin spilling over her left eye, an aura barely left to smolder. In her right eye she could see a huge sword being leveled at her. Holding the blade in one hand, Dante stood in the center of the scorched lot, the moon shrouding his face in shadow as it loomed over them, his blade catching the light. Dark stone running down its middle into a talon like cross guard with a bright red jewel fixed at the end of the hilt, the blade's most defining feature was the aura it shared with its user. Alone his presence already felt overwhelming, at its most unruly a fog that singed her senses. The blade held an intensity all its own, power thrumming from within matching its wielder's own.

"H-how!" Cinder pressed her back to the brick wall behind her, its roughed edges and flecks of dirt stinging against her tender back, sweat clinging them to her. "How can you have so much power? I am the Fall Maiden! I have overcome everything this world has thrown at me to attain this power. Even now it should not be-!"

Ice shot through her veins as she saw both sword and swordsman charge her, the point of the blade gliding through the air leaving streaks of red aura in its wake. The act of raising her arm felt slow in the time she had left, the crawling under her skin only beguining to start down her arm.

"Ma'am!" A blur of green and brown toppled Cinder over, Emerald's arms wrapped around her as her body cushioned the fall, mortar and stone crunching behind them as the large blade buried itself into the wall behind them.

Cinder bobbed in the Emerald's arms as she bolted across the lot to the alley, the girl's eyes looking all around them. Before they could make it, a plume of red blocked their path, Dante stepping out, his blade overhead. She shut her eyes, frustration at her reflex stealing what dignity she had left, hoping the final blow to be quick. Instead, she felt Emerald's grip around her tighten before being jerked back. Bursts of noise erupted around them when she opened her eyes again, Dante swiping at the air around them before disappearing in another cloud of red and appearing half way across the lot, crimson blades arching around him.

She watched him carve concrete and slate into charred scraps, his blade leaving scars of molten slag in anything it cut. After another haze he was near them again, his eyes chasing some unseen target with a grin. Cinder watched as Emerald carried her into the ruined building for shelter, his volley of blades launching into the air were the last she saw of him before Emerald set her down. She eased Cinder onto her feet leaning against singed brick. "Ma'am, oh gods you look really hurt!"

Cinder didn't need to look over herself to know that. Most of her body was in enough pain to make standing up straight a challenge, the blood and splinters scattered across her body hadn't even registered. "It's… nothing. You are interfering."

"Nothing? It looked like he was about to kill you. We need to leave before-"

"Leave? I thought we were just getting to the good part, or are you out of gas already?" Dante stepped into the ruined shop, his blade on his back.

Emerald was the first to turn, her scythe blades drawn and aimed at him. "Shut your mouth and keep that freak sword away from Cinder!"

"Emerald, that's enough! Go and do what I've told you." Cinder rolled to her other shoulder on the wall, her face twisting at the pain her back brought until she could face him.

"No!" The girl charged Dante, bearing her blades down against him, his own blade back in his hand in one smooth motion, the green arcs of Emerald's twin hand scythes pressed against his sword held in front of him to block in one hand. "I'm not leaving you with this old creep."

Her blades scraped against his, sparks flying between them, Emerald's strenght doing little to gain an inch in their struggle. He laughed, hoisting his blade and the girl off the ground with one hand. "Easy there, kid. The fight's done. I've seen what I need to see."

She was face to face with him now, her legs dangling inches off of the ground. A heeled boot flew past his head just missing, a knee making no better of an attempt. Emerald swayed from grip to grip, each kick she sent only grazing his mop of white hair. Their brief exchange was brought to an end after Dante heaved the girl off of his blade with one swing sending her flying back to Cinder. Before they could collide, the girl planted her two scythes into the brick, their tips scraping two jagged lines along the wall bringing her to a halt inches from Cinder.

"Why you." Emerald pulled her blades from the wall, but before she could move against Dante again an arm caught her shoulder.

"I said stand down, Emerald! Do you think he could not have killed the both of us if he wanted to?"

Emerald looked from Cinder to the man before holstering her weapons as she turned, offering her help Cinder. "…Yes ma'am."

Dante clapped his hands, the blade extinguishing in flames behind him. "Not bad. Not bad. You're definitely more than some two-bit villain. Can't say you passed with flying colors though, but man that ending."

"Score? Was beating her half to death just a game to you?" Emerald said, leaning on Cinder on her shoulder.

The grin on his face waivered, his clapping stopped. "Well, when you put it that way I sound like a real demon. And apparently, one of the only two devils in this place."

"Devils?" Cinder tried to straighten herself. "This nonsense again?"

"Devils and demons aren't nonsense. A human could get in some pretty serious trouble if they. Well, don't worry about that. But its safe to say your peoples power comes from your weird souls leaking all out of you as far as I can see." He waived his hand at the both of them. "Not a whiff of demonic power from anyone durring this whole fight, unless you're still holding out on me?"

"Our souls? Look who's talking? I can barely feel your aura."

"Emerald, enough." Cinder pulled on the girl's shoulder. "So, this whole duel was to measure my power after all?"

Dante took a few steps closer to them, his eyes gazing upward. "Power is not the only thing that matters. I'm not my brother. Now that guy would have been another story. No, I figure you've got power enough to do whatever you need to, but what I needed to see was heart. You were running a pretty standard bit from what I saw; a tightly run racket with the white fang and all. But, in the fight I saw you. You got sloppy. You got mad. And, you sure didn't take kindly to losing, oh boy." He leaned his back against the gashes in the wall beside them. "But that last little assault you gave to protect your friend at the end, now that was something."

Cinder's eye fell quickly to Emerald, catching the girl's guilty stare for a moment before she looked away. "The things we can accomplish under pressure." She said.

"I'll say. I really had to double time it to keep you off me. I even thought I lost you two at the end if your souls weren't so leaky. Can't tell you how often I see people in you line of work leave their team behind. It's a shame, really. Glad to see you got enough honor to stick your neck out."

"Leaky?" Emerald said.

"So, have you reconsidered joining then?"

Dante pushed off the wall, his back to them. "Well, I've decided not to cut your operations short at the very least. But joining? I'm gonna need a little more time on that." He walked to the edge of the wreckage, turning his head to give them one last look. "I've only just arrived to this world. Meddling in its affairs before getting to know the place would just be bad manners. For now, I'll just Look for my brother on my own, hire a detective maybe. Can't be that hard to make some money in a place like this." With that he jumped, disappeared in a plume of red.

They watched in silence as the haze faded, bursts of light echoing through the ally reminding Cinder of the festival and the little time they had left. A cool breeze found its way into the exposed room sending a chill down her back; her aura too weak to resist even that.

"Emerald, let go of me." She said, feeling the girl tense under her.

"I- uh. Yes ma'am." Emerald said, risking a glance at her before slowly letting her carry herself on uneasy feet. "What should we do now?"

She limped to the edge of the ruined shop; the result of her duel etched into the concrete around her. Warped and frozen, the lot was unrecognizable from its origional integrety, the gashes where Dante had cut into still red. When had he started taking her seriously, she thought? Did he even?

What strength she had left seemed to leave her then, her legs sending her to the ground in a heap.

"Ma'am!" Emerald said, hurrying to the woman.

"No. Leave me and fetch my things, I need my scroll." Cinder grabbed the wall beside her and started pulling herself up.

"Let me help you-" She kneeled down; a hand outstretched.

"No. I will stand on my own." Cinder ignored the hand, planting one glass slipper into the ground and lifting herself to stand over the girl. "Now go!"

Staggering back to her feet, Emerald turned and started across the lot. "I- Sorry ma'am."

Cinder watched her go, but frowned. "Emerald."

"Yes ma'am?" she turned.

"You did… well. We may not have acheved all that we hoped from today, but we did discover a few valuable things about our apparent guest because of you."

She stiffened, poorly contained joy mixed into a surprised nod. "Oh. Uh, yes ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

"Good, but do not make a habit of disobeying me. Understand? Now hurry."

Hey again,

So, fight scene. Hope you liked it. I almost used this as an end to Cinder and Dante's encounter in the previous chapter, but I cut it because I could never get it to where I wanted it to be. I focused on trying to make the scenes clear with what was going on as well as have a good pace to it. Although the action came out ok, in the end I think it ran a little too long for my liking. So many people were confused by the two aura idea that I felt like I needed to address that. I was going to cover it more in the next chapter, but I was working on this and It just made sense to introduce the idea before properly getting into it. I tried making the pacing and actions keep things interesting, but for the points I wanted to reach and the details I wanted in I'm worried it got a little bloated.

But, for all the bloat I really liked how this came out compared to how the old one went. I tried writing it so that it could sort of replace how their encounter went. Not too much should be changed for Dante, him spending the evening with Penny. Cinder on the other hand ended with allot more to deal with. Part of me wants to completely rewrite the call, but looking at it I couldn't say Salem and her council would give any more important information then what they gave. Their reactions could differ, between hazel and Cinder the most. But I don't know how long that would take and its already been a bit since. Writing this took a lot longer then I thought it would. I'm coming to realize I'm not very good at keeping with a consistent release schedule. Sorry, I don't mean to drag my feet, but allot of this is still setup for things I wanted to explore in this fic. This next chapter should be the last one used for most set up though like covering what's going on with Remnant, the auras, what the breaking caused, what's happening to Yang, and some other stuff.

A few more things: Sorry this took so long to write in the end. I think I need to accept the fact I'm a slow writer right now. I'll keep updating the story as best I can. I was also debating whether to just update chapter four with this in it and an altered Cinder ending but I thought it might make some people miss the update or not want to read chapter four all over again. Like I've mentioned before, it shouldn't change much so rewriting didn't seem worth it for all the confusion.