Chapter Text
A boy of the age of eight is hiding in the bushes with his father, mother and little twin brother looking at a troop of gorillas eating, playing, sleeping and taking care of their babies. The young boy was named Vergil. He has white hair that was slicked back in a spiked style, wearing a white shirt, black shorts and blue vest with a blue necklace that was a broken crystal while his twin brother wore the same thing, but his vest and necklace was red. His name was Dante.
His father, wearing a white shirt with a purple vest, dark blue jeans and a monocle on his left eye. He looked like an older version of his sons, white hair and ice blue eyes but his hair was slicked back but not the same as Vergil's hair. His name was Spadra. Next to him was his beloved wife Eva, who had blonde hair and green eyes, wore black skirt/shorts, a black t-shirt with a red vest with a camera around her neck.
Vergil and Dante were in awe of the gorillas, fascinated with them. As Sparda explained to his sons about the gorillas, Eva takes pictures with her camera. "A gorilla's outer body is tough and all of those muscles are from because of how they walk and from swinging all day. (Points to the male gorilla) That's a male. You can tell the difference between male and female based off size from afar. The female gorilla is smaller than a male and has less muscle mass then the male." "Wow." Vergil says in awe as he looks at the gorillas interact when Dante suddenly says. "The females also don't have weewee's hanging out for everyone to see." "Dante!" The family quietly scold him for his words.
Eva and Vergil with a blush on their cheeks that Dante would say that while Sparda looked a little amused by his youngest's humor. Eva sighs and says. "That's not what your father meant Dante." Dante giggles and says. "I know. But it was funny." Eva sighs again and Vergil looks at his brother, unamused by the joke and says. "It was stupid and not funny at all." Dante looks at his brother pouting and says. "You're not funny with those poetry jokes." Vergil glares at him and he glares back but before they can start arguing, their parents put their hands on their sons' shoulders and say. "Okay, let's not argue and reveal ourselves to the gorillas. Let's head back to camp."
The boys nod and the family head back to camp.
-
At the camp site, Vergil was reading his beloved poetry book he brought for the trip and read as Sparda talked to their guide, Eva going through her pictures and Dante was doing what Dante did in his spare time. As Vergil was reading, he was so engrossed in his book that he didn't notice something approaching him from behind. The creature was quiet and it's breathing was soft. As it got closer to Vergil, he flips the page when suddenly a loud roar and hissing sound could be heard behind him, causing him to yelp in fear and toss his book into the air. He looks behind him in shock when he hears familiar laughter.
It was Dante laughing so hard that he was on his back, holding his stomach as he says. "I got you good Verge! (Laughs) You didn't even notice I was there!" Vergil glares at Dante as he calms down his racing heart. Wondering how they hell Dante imitated a leopard! After calming down and Dante's laughter turns into giggles, Vergil asks. "How did you do that?" "Do what?" Dante asks, giggling still from scaring his brother. Vergil glares at his brother and says. "You know what I mean! Imitate a leopard!" "Oooh! That! I just watched the leopards and practiced in private."
Vergil sighed at this and went back to reading as his brother decides to climb a tree. His little brother was always getting on his nerves and always did things annoyed him to no end and just wished he'd stop pretending to be an animal when he wasn't.
-
Vergil was under a tree, hugging his knees as tears going down his face as he wipes them away roughly and sniffs. His face littered in bruises and scratches from earlier.
He and Dante had gotten into an argument again and fought. Vergil was trying to read again, tired from the day and Dante had scared him again. Vergil, tired and not wanting to be bothered, snapped whacked Dante in the head with his book. He had told him to stop scaring him and being annoying and Dante fought back by punching him, telling him that he wouldn't have to be annoying if Vergil just had fun.
The two had tussled, punching each other in the face. After kicking Dante away, Vergil had screamed out that he hated him and wished he had a normal brother that wasn't an animal, before running out of the tent and into the forest.
After a few minutes of running, he stopped and leaned against a tree and started to cry. He didn't mean it when he thought Dante was an animal or that he hated him. He liked how Dante was able to imitate animals and the sounds they make. It benefits him in the future when he became a zoologist and tell people about animals. It was their career choices that they made when they were seven. Vergil would become a photographer while Dante worked at a zoo as a teacher.
He didn't mean it; he was just tired and didn't want to be scared by Dante. He loved his brother and his quirks. Just as Vergil was about to head back and apologize to Dante and his parents, he hears voices that he doesn't recognize. He quietly stands up from his tree and follows the voices. When he gets there, he finds that he's near where the gorillas are and listens to the voices. They say things like, 'we found them' 'let's get them' 'let's cage them up.' and 'they'll give us a good price.'
Vergil's eyes widen at this, realizing they were poachers. He had to warn his father and the guides along with the gorilla's that they were in danger. As Vergil scrambles to come up with a plan, he remembers that his father gave him and Dante both whistles to call for help if they ever get lost and to scare away dangerous predators. Just as Vergil was about to take it out, he hears footsteps coming his way and gasps in fright as he looks over to see a man in all black wearing a hat. Vergil couldn't make out his face but could see a logo on the front of his jacket. "Hey there, little boy."
Vergil shook as the man got closer and says. "It's okay, child. We're not here to hurt anyone. Just relocating some animals." Vergil's breathing became panicked as the man comes closer to him and was about to grab him but Vergil, being the quick-witted boy, he was, bit the man so hard that he drew blood. The man yells in anger before punching Vergil in the face, causing him to let go and fall to the ground, feeling blood drip down his face. "You little-." The man says but Vergil grabbed his whistle and blows into it, causing a loud noise to echo through the area.
This caused all of the Gorilla's to wake up and panic as they start running away. This distracts the man long enough for Vergil to run away. As Vergil runs, he hears gun shots along with his father's voice. "Father?" Vergil whispers as he runs towards the voice, being careful as to not get seen by the poachers and the Gorilla's. As Vergil ran, he sees his father running up to him, holding his side. "Father!" "Vergil!" Sparda says, pushing himself to the limits to get to his son.
When they get closer to each other, Sparda falls to his knees and they hug each other. Vergil cries and says. "I'm so sorry father! I didn't mean to run away, and I didn't mean what I said to Dante! I swear! I don't care if Dante acts like that and I don't hate him! I-I!" Vergil sobs as Sparda strokes his hair and says. "I know Vergil. I know. You were just tired and you were just upset. I know that. I'm just glad you're okay. (Coughs)" Vergil separates from his father as he starts to lay on the ground. "Father? What's wrong?" Vergil asks before gasping in horror of seeing his father's shirt slowly turning red as blood sweeps through his shirt.
"Papa." Vergil whispers, something he hasn't said since he was 4, extremely worried about his father. But his father just smiled and says. "It's okay Vergil. Those poachers didn't get any of the gorillas. There were a few casualties but there were none captured. Their safe for now." More tears go down Vergil's face in both relief and sadness. Relieved that the Gorillas were safe and sadness that his father got hurt. Sparda places a hand on Vergil's cheek and says. "Vergil, never forgot this. Me and your mother love you very much. Dante does as well. Be a good boy and protect the animals. Be a man and follow the path home." Vergil, with more tears going down his face, chokes out a sob and nods. Sparda smiles at this and says. "Good boy." Spara brings him into a hug and says. "Sing with me buddy." Sparda then starts singing an African song and Vergil sings with him as well, a bit softly as he was still crying. As the father and son sang, Sparda's life slowly faded away as he sang with his son one last time.
-
Vergil sits on the ground while hugging his knees and watches the guide and guards Investigate and clean up the camp site. While the others were dealing with the poachers and looking for him, his mother, brother and another guard stayed behind to watch over camp, but when everyone got back, the camp had been destroyed, and the guard was killed by a leopard. They deduced that it was Sabor. A man-eating leopard that has been terrorizing the people for a long time. The officials tried hunting him down, even going as far as hiring hunters but they all either got hurt or killed.
The thing about Sabor, is that he only eats one part of the body and mauls them to death, eating a different limb and moving on to the next person. Everyone has tried killing Sabor, but nothing worked. Even the poachers gave up on killing him. When Vergil saw the dead guard, he was worried about his mother and brother being dead, but the guide mentioned that they don't see their bodies, and he thinks they managed to get away.
As Vergil patiently waits for the search party to return, he clutches his necklace and his father's locket as he hopes to see his mother and brother again. Wanting to apologize to them for what he said and for worrying them. He looks up when he hears sing and sees the search party coming back. His eyes widened as he watches the men singing somberly carrying a body. He immediately recognizes the arm that falls from the stretcher. It was his mother. His mother was dead. He gets up, trying to see if Dante was alive or they were carrying him as well.
But they weren't. One of them was holding a familiar vest, shirt and shoe in his arms. They place Eva's body next to Sparda's and places Dante's clothes in between them. The guide walks up to him, kneels down to him and says. "I'm so sorry Vergil." Vergil's lower lip quivered as he asks. "W-what happened t-to t-hem?" The guide sighs and says. "You mother was mauled by Sabor. We believe Dante was attacked, his shirt being ripped off and he fell off the cliff, into the river. They sent a few men down there to investigate but his body may never be found." Vergil's eyes widened at as tears start rolling down his face as he starts crying. The guide brings Vergil into his arms and hugs him, Vergil hugging back as he starts sobbing uncontrollably, calling out to his family and telling them he was sorry.
-
Vergil watches as the men bury his family as three men sing a somber song. Vergil looked at his parent's bodies blankly, his whole body numb from the mental roller coaster he's been through caught up with him. According to the guide, the poachers got away but they were on their most wanted list but unfortunately, with how the men disguised their appearance, they had no clues and Vergil could only describe how cold the man was as he was still in shock and didn't remember anything.
Vergil looks at his brother's grave, which was just a box full of stuff that he would love. A drawing of a pizza, a red rose, an imitation of his half of the amulet, and a photo of them a family. They couldn't find his body and Vergil just accepted that he'll never find Dante's half of their amulet. After their buried, Vergil runs off, the guide not even bothering stopping him because he knows he wants to be alone.
Vergil makes it to a small cliff that over looks at jungle. As he stares out at the view, tears start streaming down his face as he falls to his knees, clutching his amulet as he sobs. He glares angerly at the jungle, as a tear falls down his eyes and he yells out in anger for his family's death.
-
A grown-up Vergil suddenly jerks awake as he clutches his chest and necklace, trying to calm his racing heart. He takes sighs and takes off his reading glasses, rubbing his eyes. He had fallen asleep reading a book while waiting for his Destination. Vergil was now 18 years old and was now working to save the jungle in Africa.
He put his book up and looked at his Equipment that he was bringing to Africa for the expedition. It was a camera and some batteries along with some memory cards. Vergil was a photographer and zoologist for a wildlife center and preserve in Los Angeles. He hears giggling and groans as he turns his head to see the couple he was traveling with.
The woman had black hair and Heterochrome eyes. Her name was Mary Ann Arkham. An heiress to the Arkham name and one of their major Sponsors that was supporting this Expedition. While the man was blonde and had green eyes. His name was Matthew and Vergil was not a fan of this couple whatsoever but unfortunately; he had to bring them along since Mary's father was paying for this trip and they wanted a vacation before the wedding. Why Africa and not somewhere more romantic is beyond Vergil.
He puts his bag up and takes out his father's locket, opening it to look at the picture of his mother and brother from when he was young. He takes a shaky sigh and whispers. "I'm coming back mom, Dante. I'm going to protect the jungle and save it. I promise." He closes it before looking at window of the private plane and mentally prepares himself for what was coming.
-
In a construction site, a man with a black helmet is talking to his boss about something. "How many Equipment had been destroyed?" The boss asks, looking rather annoyed that Demolition of the jungle was being delayed. His worker tells him grimly. "All of the wiring and fuel takes have been tampered with. The wires have been pulled out and the fuel takes are filled with dirt." The boss growls and slams his fist against the table and says. "We cannot be delayed further! My sources tell me the wildlife Preserve hippies are sending in someone to prove the wildlife here exists and if they find out about our work here, then they'll take it to the court! (Stands up) Have you found who the culprit is?"
The worker shakes his head and says. "No sir but the workers believe it might be the work of the legendary white ape that has been around for eight years." The boss huffs and says. "Then, hire two men to capture this white ape and serve me it's head on a silver platter." The worker nods and says. "Yes sir." The worker walks away as the boss look at the plans in front of him, it was a hotel and casino that he was building and nothing was going to stand in his way. As he wrote on piece of paper, his hand has a bite scar on it that looked old.
-
Somewhere in the jungle, the white ape was swinging through the tree, doing tricks and jumping off branches. When the white ape makes it to a cliff, it does the famous gorilla yell and bangs his chest. Showing to all of Africa that he was the king of the jungle.
To be continued.