11 Meticulous Fraud

Beneath his cool, collected exterior, Dante was fucking beaming. 200 million, just for roughing up some schmucks? Scratch that, 25% of 200 million, which is still a monumental sum of money to simply have on hand. Hell, he could almost smell it now, the sweet feeling of having all the money he would need for his prized vessel.

His interaction with some of the main cast was definitely brief, however Dante didn't so much care for it. At this point, there was no real main character. Any choice he made could turn this story into a whole separate adventure. Though from what he gathered, Lucy(?) was the main man and the captain, Nami was a Grade A swindler doing Grade C work, and the nose guy was comic relief simply by sheer virtue of character design.

Summoning his prized Devil Sword, Dante readied himself to dash across the island at high speeds to reach the 'Franky House' and take back the cash by force, only to hesitate slightly and frown. 25% of the cash to go and do their job for them? He probably should have asked for a bigger sum, and maybe negotiated a better deal. '...Eh, oh well. Money's money.' He thought, eager to fill his pockets.

Jumping into the sky momentarily and zeroing in on the location of the house, being around the outskirts of the bottom layer of Water 7, Dante dashed forward, the world around him twisting and turning black entirely for a brief moment, and found himself at the very welcoming front doors to the Franky Gang's humble abode.

Already he could hear the sounds of laughter and cheers, meaning they were already celebrating their most recent heist. He had to admit, they certainly got lucky and were he a lesser man he too would rob unsuspecting folks of all their riches because it seemed quite the lucrative business. Though the steampunk, makeshift decor of the place put that lifestyle into question because the place simply looked as though it were on the last dregs of life.

Sighing once to himself in exasperation that the main characters had managed to be robbed of all their riches, Dante continued his blossoming career as a door-to-door salesman and knocked on the front door exactly three times, the chatter and hubbub of the building going silent immediately afterwards. A single distant voice shouted the words "Piss off!", and laughter ensued, leading to the atmosphere returning exactly to how it was.

Dante however was not a fan of being ignored, not one bit. And so, eager for his hand on some big money, Dante kicked open the door, causing it to be hurled into the room, colliding with an unsuspecting member of the Franky Family, and shattering both the door and his nose. Walking in through the gaping hole he left behind, Dante brushed his shoulders for any splinters and cracked his knuckles, his form blacked out by the sunlight.

"You all have 10 seconds to give me the 300 million before I go in there and make you. Starting now."

Sadly, due to his figure being obscured by the shadow his back cast in the sun, none of the Franky Family realised this was a fight they couldn't even dream of winning. Perhaps if they had known he was the Red Devil, they would have spent even a second longer thinking about their next action.

"Get him!" "I'm gonna break your face!" "Just you wait till Franky hears about this!" "Die!"

'Yeesh, could've just said no.' Dante thought, not looking forward to the upcoming brawl. Not out of a sense of fear, not even close, no, but simply due to a sense of boredom.

Since he encompassed every power Dante ever held and all aspects of him, he's pretty sure that makes him Universal level in terms of powerscaling, though perhaps he forgot a few details and feats. He thinks. Dante's powerscaling is horribly inconsistent, after all.

Anyways, he could presumbaly utterly destroy this world on a whim, some guys in a street gang simply don't make for a fun battle. 'Oh well, guess that's why being stylish is so damn fun.' He mused.

And with that thought on his mind, Dante rushed out to humiliate each and every one of these poor, merciless criminals.

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The ensuing clash wasn't so much bloody as it was comical. Dante simply dodged and evaded every attack sent towards him that eventually many if not all of those present had taken themselves and eachother down.

Each weapon poised to take off a limb ended up either embedded in the floor, or in arms and legs, and they certainly got the message when he started slicing tendons. Admittedly, Dante didn't want to kill these people, because in the end he had invaded their home and started slaying out. He didn't want to keep his reputation as a vile murderer sustained.

Wiping his gloves clean of any dirt and or blood on them, Dante whistled in appreciation for the rustic interior design before gazing out upon the stacks of fallen bodies.

"So... wanna tell me where the money is yet?"

A hollow chuckle followed by gurgled words of 'Franky' and 'Spend' in the same sentence told Dante all he needed to know. 'That asshole is spending my money!' In a panic, Dante did what he does best, and hunted the fucker down like a dog.

Activating Quicksilver, slowing time to such a degree that it seems to have stopped entirely and painting the world in shades of grey, Dante began dashing through the streets of Water 7 as fast as he could go in his base form, tearing down pathways, blitzing across alleyways and markets, sprinting over just about every stone pathway he could find, and within fractions of seconds he finally he saw the man.

Blue hair, Hawaiian shirt and the most offensive speedo he ever laid eyes on. The only reason Dante recognised the man as Franky was thanks to the plethora of self portraits he had of himself within the Franky House.

The only problem however was the lack of any openly definable money on him. No suitcase of Berries, no bag or even a cheque. In utter frustration, Dante dismissed Quicksilver and ran up to the man, grabbing the collars of his shirt and pulling him down face to face.

"The money. Where is the money!?"

"Hah?! Who the hell are you? Where'd you come from? What money?"

"You borrowed money from my business partners, the Straw Hats; you took the money, they want it back, whats not to understand!?"

The two women who had been standing either side of Franky, dramatically posing over a rooftop that granted an admittedly nice view of the surroundings, were stunned into silence that some random man had up and grabbed their boss and was now shaking him.

"Ha! You think I'd tell you, huh?"

"Buddy, let's be real here. You wear a speedo, you're made of metal, and you run a street gang. What could you possibly spend 200 million berries on so quickly?"

"Wood. Not just any wood, but SUPER wood, wood straight from the Adam Tree!"

Wood. The word rung around in Dante's head for a few moments, and he stood there as if in a trance. All the while, Franky had been trying to tug himself away from Dante's iron grip, to little success so far, causing a bead of sweat to form on his head.

'Wood. Adam Tree. Must be one special tree if it cost 200 million for some damn branches. Didn't Jilky mention something about that? Gold Roger and his ship? No, that doesn't matter right now.' He thought, currently in an odd mix of fury and confusion.

"Fine then. No more money. Not my problem anyway. In fact, how about we make a deal, you and I? You give me that fancy wood of yours so I can sell it and get the money back, yeah?" Franky looked to the side for a moment, as if thinking though it was obvious to see that he was pretending.

"No."

"God fucking damn it."

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And so, it was now that Dante more than ever decided he needed two things, a drink and a break, either one would suffice. He would return to the Straw Hats later, hell he could've sworn he saw their ship so he knows where to go now.

Walking through the packed streets of Water 7 once more, he simply resigned himself to his fate of being eternally broke, until he caught sight of the most odd thing he'd seen in years.

'Was that a fucking reindeer? No way!' He thought, excited at the prospect of seeing a real life reindeer and possibly seeing if the red nose truly was a unique trait to Rudolph.

With a goal set in mind, Dante began speedwalking to the now dashing reindeer, who seemed to be shouting in a far more human manner than he initially expected. A few moments later, he was side by side with it, seeing the desperation on its face.

"Robin! Robin! Please, where are you!?"

"Woah there, Rudolph. What's got you all gloomy?" Entirely ignorant of the fact that the reindeer was capable of speech, chalking it up to some kind of Translate fruit, Dante struck up conversation with the creature.

"Who's Rudolph? No, wait I don't have time for that! Have you seen my friend? She has black hair, a black dress, tan skin, have you seen her, anywhere, have you heard anything about her? I lost her and I don't know where she is!"

'Okay, wow. Certainly did not expect that. A friend gone missing, how could they abandon such an adorable little creature like this? Screw it, new mission. I'm gonna find this little monster's friend and I'm gonna make sure it stays happy.' Dante had attained a new goal in the wake of his financial instability.

Perhaps it was because he didn't like the idea of what was essentially a child all alone. Perhaps he simply wanted to see where it would lead him, expecting a quick twenty minute adventure.

"Say no more, buddy! You wanna get your friend back? You've come to the right man. Come on, we ain't got time to waste."

At this point, Dante believed himself to be indulging in what was essentially a side quest, unaware that he was quite literally on the path to ruining the plot.

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'Scum.' Vergil mentally insulted his enemy, feeling himself insulted at the pathetic display they had shown in attempt to 'capture' him. The truly confusing part was their labelling of him. 'Red Devil.'

He snorted in both disgust and revulsion, as if the mere concept of being confused for Dante despite their identical nature offended him. It would seem as though his brother dearest had gotten himself in trouble once again.

Though, it seems as though Vergil himself had too, because currently he was testing the limits of these 'Logia' fruits with his newest subject, a Marine Captain of the name Smoker. The Marines had attacked first, mistaking him for Dante who was currently one of the most wanted men in the world, and Vergil had responded in kind.

'Fascinating', he thought to himself, once more astonished with the power of his lineage. It all seemed to make sense. The Sparda heritage allowed for permanent damaging of demonic entities, ceasing regeneration unless used against another member of the Sparda lineage.

Given that Devil Fruits allowed the user to take on an aspect of the Sea Devil himself, the Sparda Negation seemed to take effect against those aforementioned users. Truly, it was as if this world was made to exemplify his newfound power, to show him an ocean of possibilities and methods to defeat Dante.

A plan had begun to form in Vergil's mind. By now, surely Dante had realised this same fact. Perhaps he would try create more weapons for himself to use through this process. Well, Vergil wouldn't allow himself to be one-upped in such a way.

Embedding his Devil Sword in the chest of the Marine Captain, he watched in glee as his theory bore fruit, a bright glow emanating from the body until he felt a new connection in his soul. A rare smirk on his face, Vergil found himself once more thanking whoever brought him to this world.

"Just you wait, brother." He thought aloud. "My power shall be absolute!"