Absorbed : 113 people.
Dante flew through the air, cutting through effortlessly as if the encounter with Hawks had never happened. No limp, no wound. Just the same expressionless face.
Below, in the middle of the street, a desperate mugger shoved a trembling man against the wall, a switchblade in his grip.
"I said, give me your damn wallet—!"
WHAM!
One second, he was yelling, the next, he was thirty feet in the air.
"Wha—?! W-WHAT THE HELL—!?"
Dante said nothing at first, his grip tight around the man's collar, sludge already slithering up his arms and around the mugger's body like a snake.
"Tell me about the League of Villains," Dante said coldly, eyes locked forward as he flew high above the city lights. "Where are they? What are they doing?"
The man struggled, panicking. "I don't know anything, bastard! I just rob people! I don't mess with them!"
Dante stopped midair. Hovering. Silent.
Then his voice dropped, quiet and flat. "If you needed money, you should've got a job."
"Wait—wait, I—!"
He didn't get to finish that sentence.
The sludge surged and enveloped him like a tide, engulfing the man whole, his strength became Dante's, his knowledge became Dante's.
As a matter of fact, he lied about not knowing anything about the League, thanks to that man, Dante had an idea of another person that is in the league. Someone named… Dabi, not much about the guy but it seemed he was the one who started the fire that burnt down the gym.
"Good, you're finally doing what needs to be done." Little Dante whispered deep in his mind.
"Yes…"
Next, Dante spotted a group of four young men behind a convenience store, huddled around a beat up van, passing a bag and counting bills. The smell of weed and synthetic chemicals clung to the air like filth.
Dante descended slowly this time. No sudden movements. Just a silent landing on the concrete, scarf fluttering behind him.
The dealers turned at the sound of his bare feet hitting the pavement and froze.
They didn't run, nor did they shout.
They just stood there, wide eyed and paralysed.
The tallest one tried to keep calm. "L—Look, we don't want any trouble—"
"I'm not here to cause trouble," Dante muttered, his eyes glowing faintly red under the shadows of his tangled hair. "I just want information."
The air around him felt wrong, heavy. though, they were just drug dealers. Realistically, they weren't necessarily harming anyone, so Dante didn't care what they did, but drug dealers are around often, they see everything.
"You got any… any information on the League Of Villains?"
They exchanged looks. One of them, the shortest, nodded quickly.
"T-there's this truck, Alright? Real weird. Doesn't belong to any company, no markings on it or nothing. It's been making stops at abandoned buildings, usually at night. We've seen it around three, maybe four times the past few weeks."
"Where about?"
"Near the docks… and west side near the underpass."
Dante's expression didn't change. "Noted."
He turned to leave. But then he paused.
His eyes fell on a small plastic container sitting on the crate, inside, a neat row of pre rolled blunts. The kind sold on the street with cheap labels.
He pointed at it. "Don't do too much, bad for you."
The taller man blinked. "Uh—yeah, yeah, sure. Thanks."
Dante gave one last look, nodded and then flew off into the sky without another word.
The dealers stood in stunned silence long after Dante had gone.
One of them finally whispered, "What kind of hero would just let us go?"
The others said nothing.
Next, dante spitted a group of around 15 men pressing a trembling young man against the wall. The kid looked barely eighteen, clothes torn, eyes wide in panic.
Dante flew down fast, his scarf whipping through the air as he landed between them and the kid.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Suddenly, three gunshots echoed through the alley, slamming into the back of Dante's head. His body jerked slightly, but he didn't fall.
THUD! THUD!
Two more shots, straight to his abdomen.
Dante slowly turned his head to the young man, he was holding a gun aimed at Dante's head.
"Really?" He muttered.
The boy only hesitated before another man shouted out, "he's the one! That's him! That's the one they told us to kill!"
They all rushed at him at once.
Dante looked down. Then he started giggling.
Behind his mask was a disgusting grin.
And in and instant, his entire body exploded into a storm of flames. His scarf and pants both withstood the fire. Ember trails coiling into the sky like serpents of fire. The alley turned into an oven, the temperature skyrocketing. Screams tore through the air as the flames swallowed them whole.
But Dante wasn't quite done yet.
As the fire died down and smoke choked the alley, the men who hadn't died to the fire staggered in confusion, some rolling on the floor to stop the fire, others trying to escape.
And that's when it happened.
From every inch of his body, sharp dark red sludge erupted, like a swarm of angry sentient spears. The tendrils twisted through the blinding smoke like blades, slashing and impaling every last target with scary precision.
The men didn't even have time to scream again.
Dante stood still as the sludge retracted back, pulling the writhing bodies into him and then he DEVOURED them whole. It was over in seconds, the alley was quiet again, save for the crackle of dying flames and the strange noises coming from Dante.
He looked at his hands, they were shaking.
Not in fear, but…
Pure ECSTASY
"We can't hide it anymore, right? You love this feeling, get high off it…"
"Ha… haha.. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
Dante's deranged laugh echoed out through the alley as he stared down at his bloodstained hands.
"Get used to this feeling… we will burn them all down."
"Yes… yes!" Dante's eyes started to shake violently, his mind was being corrupted by all the evil he'd been consuming.
And as a matter of fact, after absorbing these men. He learnt that the League of Villains were the ones that had put a bounty on him.
And the fact there was a bounty on him…
Good.
"More friends to kill…"