Miles Porter disappeared, thanks to Morrison's Cursed Technique. As with anyone, Dante always found himself wondering how he would beat it. He wouldn't have any luck here, of all places, especially without a domain.
"Alright, now that the kid is gone," Dante yawned, "let's get down to bidness."
"Twenty-two, take it or leave it." Morrison took a drag
"The fuck!? Twenty-two is nowhere near enough. I had to get rid of hundreds of Hell Cainas."
"The deal is for the Devil Fruit, not the job. You were never technically hired."
Dante reached over the bar, receiving a sharp glare from Morrison, and grabbed the nearest bottle he could. "Okay, and technically I could have done nothing about them, killed the Gore Devil, and left the rest to wander!"
"And technically, you would have been hunted down by the JSA or the U.S. Government for grand negligence of the responsibility you agreed to bear." Morrison turned, and he never raised his voice. He technically wasn't arguing for himself, after all.
"Oh, c'mon, the government won't bat an eye at a couple thou."
Morrison set down his work and turned fiercely. His words became sharper. "A 'couple thou' can lead to mistrust. And Dante, I promise you that trust is the entire reason they don't have your head right now."
Dante finished pouring his drink and wandered away. "Well, it seems like someone's after my head anyway." He walked across the room and began playing a subpar game of pool. "Any updates on that?"
Morrison relaxed onto the bar, loosening his shirt. They always danced like this, history and business. A back and forth, neither could really be sure which was authentic. Dante himself couldn't tell if he was asking to evoke a worry in Morrison or doing a reasonable check-in with a business partner.
Morrison sighed, "Nothing. Put out all my feelers, and the only person who wants you egregiously dead is someone named Enzo Feri—"
"Yeah, yeah, that guy's old news. Used to be my broker." A glare from Morrison. "But he was, and still probably is, kind of a dumbass."
"Figured that by his record. But no, pretty much nothing."
"I see... Thirty?"
"Nope."
"Twenty-eight"
"Hell no."
"Fifteen and a salary"
"Ha!!" he actually reeled at that one, too. He thought for a moment and said, "Alright. Twenty-five, and I'll get the JSA off your back."
"Whaat? I thought that would be assumed. Dante missed a shot and nearly sent a ball onto the floor.
"Kid, don't assume shit with me." He laughed again.
"Ugh, fine." Dante placed his cue on the wall and reached into his coat. The Devil Heart pulsed, even as sealed as it was. Resisting the hunger that began to boil within him, he placed it on the bar counter.
"The Gore Devil…" Morrison lingered on those words.
"Well, if that's everything," Dante twisted and cracked his back, "you can beam me up out of here."
Morrison furrowed his brow, "You sure? It's still looking pretty nasty up there."
Dante drank the last of his bourbon and slammed the glass on the counter. "I'll be fine. Lying low and all that, right?"
"Sure. Oh, and Shoko will be up there waiting to meet with you." Sparks appeared around Dante.
"Dude, for rea—"
[Cursed Technique: Hotline]
Hotlines' Cursed Technique Lapse allows for the conversion of electricity into Cursed Energy. Its potential has only improved with the progression of the electrical industry, allowing users to draw high levels of energy from modern power grids. However, its true strength lies in Cursed Technique Reversal, which Morrison uses to perform the inverse, converting anything imbued with Cursed Energy into electricity. By utilizing Lapse and Reversal in tandem, J.D. Morrison can communicate, travel, and transport over extremely long distances faster than anyone else (with the exception of Satoru Gojo.) The retention of the matters' original shape is only made possible by a Binding Vow to use only landline phones.
*RRRRIINGG*
Dante appeared in his shop, Devil May Cry. He was well used to being thrown around by Hotline. The dusty smell of his office filled his nose before his vision cleared.
The scent of smoke seemed to have followed him until he realized it was coming from downstairs. He strolled away from his unkept office and calmly walked to the shop's lower level. He saw her before he fully descended. Shoko Ieiri, liaison of the Japanese branch of the Jujutsu Society.
Her outfit today was unlike her usual business attire. It was more casual with a tan turtleneck, layered by a leather jacket and dark pants. Her hair was always unkempt, and cigarettes were almost an accessory with her. It's not like it could harm her, but many others of her skill didn't match the habit.
"To what do I owe this finest pleasure, madam?" Dante bowed as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
Shoko held her posture and looked around the room. The place was completely trashed after the other night. The tables were flipped, bullets littered the walls, the massive hole in the ceiling, and worst of all: the saloon doors had been ruined.
Luckily, demon blood evaporated after a while, so he wouldn't have to worry about cleaning that part up. He couldn't see outside, as the sun blocked his vision, but he assumed the Gore Devil left quite the stained mess.
"Love what you've done with the place," she poked. No laughter, though, which always made her strike people oddly. Dante liked that about her.
"Yeah, I had a little toss-up last night. A few hundred demons, but got a Devil Heart out of it."
She perked up, even holding her cigarette farther away, "Oh? Which one?"
"The Gore Devil."
"Hm," she thought for a moment before taking another drag. "Was it strong?"
"It could be, with the right conditions. By itself, no, not really," Dante propped up the nearest chair and sat, keeping about two tables' worth of distance between the two. Things always got weird otherwise.
"I take it you've heard?" she mentioned
"Yeah, Morrison filled me in. How long until it leaks?" Dante leaned back in his chair, pulling the front two legs off the floor.
"Dunno. We probably have about a week or so, but that's highballing it." She got up and started walking towards Dante.
"A week until the end of the world, huh?" he chuckled. He felt a pit appear the closer she got. Where was this going?
Her eyes gazed at his jacket, sullied with dirt and blood. "You don't seem beat up about it."
"Neither do you."
Damn! There it was. Was she flirting? Or was this her genuine, sadistic form of conversing? She reached into her inner jacket and threw an envelope at Dante's table. The bulk peeking through the packaging gave away its contents. "You're hiring me?" he asked.
She flicked her cigarette away, and it burned up with Cursed Energy. Shoko sighed, "I can't convince the higher-ups to search any longer. All of our resources have been moved to prevention and containment of any rampant cursed spirits, curse users, or god forbid any devils." Her heels dug into the wood as she walked to the open hole that used to be the door. "I have to fly back to Japan now, but Jujutsu Tech, formally me, is hiring your services to continue where I can't."
Dante eyed the package. "You trust me with something like this?"
She turned her head, "I know that feeling you have. Like he'll just turn back up. I've had it before too, but…just in case." Shoko waved before exiting the bar. "Call me with any leads."
She was gone.
Dante waited a while, even wondering if he should call Morrison first. He opened the envelope. Within it lay a buttload of cash and a thorough incident report.
[The Disappearance of Satoru Gojo]
May 21st, 2006.
Jujutsu Tech Second-Years Satoru Gojo (Grade 1) and Suguru Geto (Grade 1) are assigned to the retrieval and protection of the Star Plasma Vessel, Riko Amanai. Once the Vessel is transported to Jujutsu Tech, the merger between Tengen and Riko Amanai begins.
May 22nd, 2006
Gojo and Geto make contact with the Star Plasma Vessel.
May 24th, 2006
Gojo and Geto fail to make contact with Jujutsu Tech. A limited search begins.
May 25th, 2006, 6:28 PM JST
Gojo and Geto make contact with one of Tengens barriers.
May 25th, 2006, 5:48PM JST
A conflict between Satoru Gojo and an unknown Curse user begins.
May 25th, 2006, 5:55 PM JST
Satoru Gojo's Cursed Energy signature disappears from Tengen's barrier. Blood belonging to Satoru Gojo is identified at the scene. No other Cursed Energy residuals found.
May 25th, 2006, 6:01 PM JST
Suguru Geto engages in conflict with an unnamed curse user. Riko Amanais Cursed Energy signature disappears from Tengen's barrier.
May 25th, 2006, 6:11 PM JST
Suguru Getos' Cursed Energy signature disappears from Tengens barrier. Blood belonging to Suguru Geto is identified. No other residuals are found.
May 25th, 2006, 7:13 PM JST
A wire transfer of thirty-million yen is made from the Star Religious Group (AKA the Time Vessel Association) to Toji Fushiguro, formerly Toji Zenin (Grade 4).
May 25th, 2006, 8:23 PM JST
Toji Fushiguro is found dead outside of the Star Religious Group building. Cause of death: eradication of the left torso. No residuals are found.
May 26th, 2006
Contact with Tengen is attempted by Jujutsu Headquarters, with no success.
May 28th, 2006
A major investigation is performed on the Star Religious Group by Jujutsu Headquarters.
June 1st, 2006
Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, and Riko Amanai are declared missing.
June 2nd, 2006
Contact with Tengen is declared impossible.
June 3rd, 2006
A covert mission to terminate the Star Religious Group is performed by [REDACTED]
The Star Religious Group is destroyed and found to be a singular entity of the Time Vessel Authority.
June 5th, 2006
Jujutsu Society prepares for the release of Gojo's disappearance.
...
That was the end of the report. A few other documents remained, mostly detailing the nature of Tengens Cursed Technique and the Star Plasma Vessel. Finally, a note from Shoko.
Dante, hope you aren't too heartbroken about how abrupt my visit was. The higher-ups are always watching. They think I'm just hiring you to poke around dead leads, but there was one piece of info they don't know I have. There were a few documents that were salvaged from the Star Religious Group raid.
To be fully honest with you, Gojo is a complete loss. Thanks to you, we know it isn't the Prison Realm, but we have to wait until the worst of the chaos before whoever orchestrated this makes their move. That means my only lead is Tengen. It's a long shot, but the records we found mentioned two things that can only be traced to the U.S.: Something called a "cardinal system" and a single name:
'Kirito'
Good luck, killer ;)