red grave city au with alastor

[carvemyname]

 

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[brokenfuse]

Hey, wait.

[ Dante raises his hand. ]

Am I gonna have to cross to Movieland to meet them?

[ That's gonna be a trip. In the meantime, Nero looks cheery about the suggestion of time. ]

I'll be here awhile, so that works great.

[superstylishsquid]

Normally, the answer would've been yes, but...that demon who scrambled things? Did so badly enough that it managed to make Movieland bleed into the real world, and then Joe somehow broke the barrier down even worse? So Movieland natives with access to a portal can exist in the real world now.

[carvemyname]

[ Dante understands that whole explanation perfectly, but Nero just looks like his head hurts more. ]

I still want to see it eventually. [ Dante thinks the place sounds fun! ]

[superstylishsquid]

Well, I don't think it's going anywhere as long as movie theaters still exist. Maybe even after that, who knows how it'll react to the shift to home viewing.

[carvemyname]

How did you even get mixed up in all this weird stuff?

[superstylishsquid]

A mix of boredom and curiosity. I was checking out some hole in the wall theater showing retro superhero movies, the Captain Blue series actually. Noticed some magical residue there, and realized there was...sort of a dimensional thin spot in the movie screen. I decided to look into it, and found myself in the middle of the movie I'd been watching.

[carvemyname]

[ Dante whistles low, while Nero gives Alastor a questioning look as he thinks of something. ]

Is it going to be hard to balance being in both worlds?

[superstylishsquid]

Maybe a bit, but time works...differently in Movieland. Think about it: how much time passes in movie settings that you never see on this side? But on the other hand, years can pass between movie releases, while the amount of time that passes in universe is negligible.

So long as no one else from the real world is mucking about in there without me knowing about it, I should be able to go back to about the time frame I left from without causing any issues or retcons.

[carvemyname]

[ Nero... doesn't really understand. It's way more thinking than he's used to doing, and about a topic that's unfamiliar to him. But he'll trust Alastor that he knows what he's talking about. ]

Hey, did you guys stop by for any particular reason or just to mess with me?

[ Dante snorts. ]

To mess with you!

[superstylishsquid]

For the record, it was all Dante's idea. I just tagged along to make sure he didn't get into too much trouble.

[brokenfuse]

I figured. You're much more mature than him.

[ Nero scowls at Dante, who spreads his hands in front of him. ]

Hey! It's called having fun!

[superstylishsquid]

If you ask me, it's more fun to not do things that are likely to have undesirable consequences.

[carvemyname]

I like to live on the wild side.

[ Nero snorts at that, and gives Dante an annoyed look. ]

If you mess with me more, you'll be wildly dead.

[superstylishsquid]

Come on now, how's he supposed to help deal with his backlog of messes if he's dead?

[brokenfuse]

[ Nero looks skeptical. ] I'm sure you can teach him to make up for shit from beyond the grave.

[superstylishsquid]

Maybe if he did a good job of tying his soul to that new sword of his, but if not, do I look like I wanna go rooting around the underworld for a missing soul? They're harder to find than you might think.

[carvemyname]

Yeah! So you can't just up and kill me! [ Dante sticks his tongue out at Nero, fully assured he's safe. ]




...I can still beat your ass. I just have to avoid killing you.

[ Actually, that might be more fun... ]

[superstylishsquid]

His ribs are a particularly nice target. Just don't count on being able to pin him to anything that way...

[He still remembers how Dante escaped being pinned to the floor. He's so glad they went swimming before his hilt got too sticky.]

[carvemyname]

Hey, you're supposed to be on my side, not giving him tips!

[ Dante can't help but whine. ]

[superstylishsquid]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. If you don't pull any more dumb stunts like this, it won't be an issue.

[carvemyname]

[ Nero snorts at that and Dante just frowns. ] Fine, I won't play that prank again.

[ Nero raises his eyebrows at Alastor. ] What kinda power do you have, to extract promises like that from him?

[superstylishsquid]

The power to understand him, I think.

[He gives Dante a pat on the back.]

It's not even an original prank, anyway. Poltergeist myths originated from people in Purgatorio moving things around.

[carvemyname]

[ Dante thinks that's right. It feels comforting to have someone not only want to try to understand him, but actually succeed at it. So many people he's known just didn't bother.

He can't help but throw his arms around Alastor in a sudden, grateful hug. ]

Forget about the prank, it was dumb anyway.

[superstylishsquid]

Gah-!

[The sudden hug knocks him off balance for a second, before he lets out a breath and returns the hug.]

Exactly. If you wanna mess with people, at least come up with something actually funny.

[carvemyname]

He'll take that as a challenge. [ Nero is sure he's right, which is why he looks confused when Dante retorts differently. ]

Nah, I'll give it a break for the day. I was promised a bar, anyway!