Die A Fucking Legend: Neon Raven

Chapter 1: Living Legend

Dante places the flat of his blade in front of him and braces against it as a fist thrice his size crashes into him. The next moment, he jerks awake to the sensation of wind whipping past his face. His weightless body spins over himself. Below, he sees the city of New Hel's Edge rush past him. From this height, the screaming pedestrians running for their lives look like ants. From where he was launched, he sees a demon the size of a skyscraper. Seeing it, something in his head clicks.

"Oh right, that's what I was doing." He cranes his neck up and sees an upside-down building fly at him. He twists his body, righting himself and then jams his sword into the roof of the building to stop his flight, landing. "Dante!" The demon roars with a booming voice. In three steps the demon covers the distance from his destroyed apartment to the one he landed on this time, readying its fist.

Dante dislodges his sword from the roof and dusts it off. "Alright Nero, lets do this girl." He says. He hops towards the demon and swings the sword like a bat. The sword clashes with the titanic demon fist. The sword unleashes a vicious blast. The pressure shoots through the demons arm, ripping open its hand, and launching the forearm bone past its elbow, piercing through the skin. It roars in pain, stumbling onto a different building for support.

Dante looks at his sword Nero, steaming with heat. Thousands of pistons reveal themselves between the blade itself and the mechanical spine it's attached to. Now that all the built-up pressure in the pistons are gone, the sword immediately feels weightless. If not for the handle, Dante wouldn't be able to tell there's a sword in his hand. He places the sword against his back and it miraculously sticks to it as always.

He looks to the sky and spots a small object flying through the air. "There it is!" He shouts, tracking it down. The object flies toward him like a frisbee getting closer and closer. "There!" He hops up and grabs it. The heat immediately transfers from the box to his hands, warming them up. He brushes off the top of the box, revealing the logo "Antonio's Pizza".

He cracks it open just a touch. A preliminary wave of deliciousness slips its way into his nose. Unable to hold it back any longer, he throws it open. He holds a fist up to his mouth as a single tear streams down his cheek. "It's beautiful." He says, looking at the radiant glow of the pizza. He takes a slice and brings it up to his nose, sniffing it like a wine connoisseur. He finally takes a bite.

The pizza begins to dance as it steps onto the dancefloor of his tongue. The meat charges in first, stepping sharply like a tango. Bacon, pepperoni and ham lock his tongue in place, demanding his attention. From below, the savoury flavours ooze in with a sense of flair. The cheese and tomato sauce flow like a foxtrot, melding with the tango of the meat. The crunchy and perfectly baked bread sets the tempo. All of the individual elements coalesce into a fast venus waltz. The flavours swish to and fro in his mouth. At the end, they come together, face the audience and take their bow before getting gulped away.

"You insignificant worm! I'll get you back for this!" The demon yells, bringing Dante back to reality. It struggles to get itself back on its feet. "Do you mind?" Dante shouts, his mouth full. "I haven't had breakfast all morning. Hell, you should just sit down, take a load off, eat some pizza. You're not you when you're hungry." He says, taking another bite of his exquisitely crafted pizza.

"Fuck you!" It tosses debris of the building at Dante. Try as he might, the debris knocks the box from his hand. Dante watches his heart break in slow-motion along with the pizza slapping onto the floor. He clenches his fists and grinds his teeth, staring at the murder of his pizza. The only thing missing from the grizzly scene are the chalk lines. He flips back his white jean jacket, exposing a strap across his torso. On it is a holster with his gun in it. He takes it out with a twirl.