Dante was quiet as he held Vergil in his lap, not wanting to speak to him knowing that he is furious with him. Suddenly the baby nephalem jerked and whimpered, a few tears coming to his eyes.
"What's wrong?" The elder cambion quickly asked,
"It just stung really bad for a second," Vergil said quietly. Dante knew he was talking about his hands. He gently grabbed the baby hybrid's hands and kissed them softly. Vergil smiled lightly, some of his anger going away. The older hybrid smiled and looked over at the almost finished festival. Dante saw a sign and smiled, getting an idea.

"Hey, Verge," Dante said in a light tone,
"What?" Vergil responded, not liking the stupid smile on his older brother's face. Dante just pointed at a sign and let Vergil see what caused the stupid smile on his face.
"Eating Challenges?" Vergil asked, Dante nodded and said "They have the McNugget challenge, the Like A King challenge, the taco challenge, so many eating challenges. I can see some of the booths."
"What's the 'Like A King' challenge?"
"You have to eat 1 of every kind of burger from Burger King, going from the regular hamburger to the triple whopper."
"Okay, so why did you want to show me that?" Dante smiled more and said "Well, I thought you would like to try them out and have some fun. You could make yourself sick if you want." Vergil smiled and said, "I want to try the Reeses challenge." Vergil said and pointed at a booth almost hidden among the others. Dante smiled lightly, completely missing that one, and said, "If you want to then go ahead." Vergil smiled and bounced in excitement.

Once the fall festival was finished setting up, a single firework was shot into the sky and Creature Feature's 'The Greatest Show Unearthed' started playing. Dante stood up and took Vergil to the eating challenges stalls which were now sheltered by a giant tent. Before Dante could enter the tent, Vergil tugged on Dante's shirt and said: "I wanna do that!" The elder nephalem looked and saw a small stage that said "Slap Challenge." Multiple contestants try and see who can take the most slaps to the back, and Dante knew why Vergil wanted to enter in it. The winner gets a 6-pound box of Crunch bars and $100.

"I will not let you enter, you're very young and very small. You'd get hurt." Vergil was about to protest but Dante quickly said "I'll enter in your place and if I win then you get the prizes. But I want some of the candy." Vergil smiled brightly and said "Deal!" Dante walked up to the stage and said to the man hosting the challenge "I'd like to participate."
"Good. Go up and wait on stage." Dante walked up and set his little brother down next to him. As soon as he took his stance, a woman shouted "It's Dante! He's gonna win for sure!"
"Oh please, I can kick his ass, easily." Two men walked up on stage and the host said "Okay! We have our contenders! In this challenge, these three men will be repeatedly slapped in the back and see who can take the most punishment. The winner will receive a six-pound box of Crunch bars and $100. Now, without further ado, let's get this started!"

Three muscular women walked up on stage, each taking a place behind the three men, who told to take their shirts off. The two men took off their shirts to reveal skinny frames. When Dante took off his shirt, practically all the women cheered and awed. There was a loud tick, a second one, then a ding. The women slapped the boys on the back hard. Dante didn't flinch, the second man winced, and the third man yelped, causing Dante to laugh. After 5 more smack, the third guy fell to his knees, his back all red.
"Well, it's just you and me, buddy." The second guy said to Dante with a smug look. Dante didn't say anything, he just gave him this look as if to say "Did you really talk to me?" which pissed the guy off. Dante inwardly grinned, his little plan worked like a charm.

The boys were smacked 4 more times, making 10 in total. Dante was starting to feel the pain but he wasn't showing it, same with the second guy. The ticker started again, on the ding the boys were slapped on the back again. Dante winced a bit, but so did the other guy. This went on until they had received 20 slaps in total, which is when the second had tears in his eyes and Dante was starting to show his pain. The second guy's back was bruised but because of his fast healing abilities, Dante's bruises were disappearing faster than he was getting them. Dante was showing his pain, which caused Vergil to get scared. Dante never showed pain.

When the ticker started, Vergil grabbed his big brother's pant leg and tugged, saying "Dante, stop!" The boys were slapped on the back again, Dante showing more pain and the second guy's tears falling. Vergil kept tugging but Dante just patted his head and said: "I'll be fine." Vergil stopped tugging but kept a grip on his older brother's pant leg. He knew he would be fine. Dante can take a lot of punishment and because of his fast healing abilities, the pain will be gone soon after the contest is over. After three more smacks, Dante was feeling more pain, kind of wanting to give up, but he refused. He was determined to win for Vergil. Before another smack could be delivered, the second guy threw up his hands and said: "I give up!" Everyone cheered and some of the girls in the crowd blew kisses at Dante. The host presented the box of candy and $100 to Dante and said "Congratulations! I've never seen someone take so many smacks like that." Dante pocketed the money and said, "I've taken worse beatings than that." The elder cambion picked up his little brother and said: "Okay, next stop, the eating challenge tent!" Vergil smiled and bounced excitedly.

Once at the tent, Dante calmly walked in and saw so many stalls.
"You do the Like A King challenge, I'll do the Reese's challenge." Dante smirked and said, "Okay, sure." Dante walked up to the Reese's stall and said: "My brother wants to take your challenge." The guy nodded and said "'Kay. you have to eat 60 king size Reese's Peanut Butter cups in under an hour." Vergil smiled and nodded as he was set in the seat at the table behind the booth. 60 Reese's cups were set up in front of him in stacks of ten.
"Start whenever you're ready." Vergil immediately grabbed the first peanut butter cup and put the entire thing in his mouth, chewing happily. Dante watched in amusement, wondering how long it takes till Vergil gets sick.

Vergil finished the first stack in 3 minutes, smiling and saying "This is easy!" He started on the second stack, eating two at once. The second stack was gone within 5 minutes, but now it was getting harder. Vergil ate 4 more cups before started to feel sick. On the 28 cup, Vergil felt like he was going to throw up. He ate the last two cups and groaned. Suddenly the guy appeared and handed him a cup of milk to help wash down the chocolate and peanut butter. Vergil quickly drank the milk, but not too much, knowing he's gonna need every single drop to help him through the next 30.

Vergil was eating them slowly now, trying hard not to throw up. After what felt like forever, the fourth stack was gone and Vergil was trying not to throw up. The guy came back again and put a bucket next to the baby half-breed, knowing he's gonna puke. Vergil picked up the 41st cup and groaned, slowly taking a bite and chewing, not liking the taste of the chocolate and peanut butter anymore. After he finished it, he reached for a second cup but instead quickly grabbed the bucket and started throwing his guts up. People still cheered and one guy called out "You did good, little buddy!"

Once Vergil was done, Dante wiped his mouth off with a napkin and said: "Okay, I'll do the Like A King challenge like you wanted." Dante approached the stall and was immediately set at a table. Vergil sat down on the tiny stage and watched as Dante started eating the first burger. Dante did it quickly and easily, no problem. Same with the second and third burger. Dante was downing them like they were nothing. Though he slowed down when he got to the whopper. He ate that one slowly and calmly, knowing if he wants to get through this without throwing up, he's gonna have to go slow now. After he finished it, he unwrapped the double whopper and took his first bite. He was starting to feel sick, but not bad. If he can eat two and a half pizzas then he can surely do this challenge. Though this is just to entertain Vergil so maybe the baby cambion would like to see his big brother get sick. Soon Dante had down the double whopper and the third whopper, which caused everyone to cheer.

Dante was handed $50 and the girl hosting the challenge said "Congratulations! That was amazing!" Dante smiled and said, "It was easy." He pocketed the money and picked up his little brother, saying "Let's go see what other things this festival has to offer." Vergil nodded and said, "I want something to drink." Dante adjusted the box and his little brother and said, "Okay, I'll get you something to drink." They left the eating challenge tent and went over to the food stalls, noting that some have a sweet aroma coming from them and a delicious savory aroma from others. They decided to go up to a random one with decorative decals all over it. They looked over the drink menu and saw that they had some pretty good stuff.
"What do you want to drink?" Dante asked his little brother, who smiled and said: "I want the key lime soda!" The guy behind the counter smiled and said "Ooh, good choice. We also have a key lime cheeseball, if you want that. It's absolutely delicious. We copied the recipe from Tastefully Simple before they went out of business." Vergil looked up at Dante, who nodded and said: "Go ahead." Vergil looked back at the guy and nodded like Dante.

As the guy was getting his soda, he asked Vergil "What would you like to go with the cheeseball? Because it's sweet we usually use stuff like vanilla wafers or cookies, but you can use crackers if you want." Vergil thought about it and said "Uhm, wafers." The guy nodded and looked at Dante, saying "What would you like?"
"Cherry cream soda."
"That's it? You don't want anything to eat?"
"I just did the Like A King Challenge."
"Oh god, you actually did that?"
"Yeah, my little brother here wanted me to do it."  Once they had their sodas and Vergil had the key lime cheeseball, Dante gave the guy the ticket and they went over to a small table that was set up and sat down, the baby cambion being in the elder's lap.

The key lime soda was very sweet and very fizzy, which Vergil enjoyed very much and hoped the cheese ball would be just as good. He didn't know a key lime cheeseball existed! It had a crust on it, it looked like crushed graham crackers. The baby nephalem dipped a wafer in the cheeseball and popped it in his mouth. He chewed slowly and the moment he tasted the creamy, rich, key lime flavor, he was in heaven. Vergil ate more, going slowly to enjoy it more and so he doesn't get sick again.  While Dante sipped his soda, he looked around at all the game stalls, thinking of which ones to go to.

Vergil finished all the wafers but the cheeseball still remained. Dante noticed this and said, "I got a solution to that." Vergil picked his head up to look at his brother and said: "What's that?"
"Close your eyes." As soon as the baby half-breed's eyes were closed, Dante picked up the remainder of the key lime cheeseball and stuffed it into Vergil's mouth, laughing when the little brat struck him.
"You have to admit, it's better like that," Dante said a grin, Vergil chewed the cheeseball, it did taste better by itself, but he wouldn't admit it. Instead, he just glared, hoping to give off the pissed off impression but Dante just laughed and said "I can tell you like it." Vergil rolled his eyes, wanting to get back at Dante. Vergil could pretend to throw up and spit the cheeseball on Dante. Nah, that'd be a waste of a good key lime cheeseball. Vergil just swallowed, not happy with his brother.

Dante finished his soda and threw away the cup, picking up his little brother and saying "Okay, let's play some games." Vergil didn't say anything and just kept a hold on his soda, wondering what could actually be fun to play, he knows the games are rigged. As Dante carried him around, the baby nephalem was focused on his soda, until he saw something that made him gasp.
"What? What is it?" Dante asked, following his little brother's sight to a  5-foot stuffed white wolf. Dante smirked, thinking it was cute. He was gonna let Vergil play until he saw in order to get the wolf you have to shoot down targets.

Realization hit Vergil and tears started to form in his eyes, if he tried to shoot a target he would be knocked back on his ass.
'Oh shit.' Dante thought, quickly going up to the stall, presenting his ticket and saying "I want to play." the girl behind the counters clipped the ticket and nodded, saying "Okay, you have 100 BBs and 3 minutes to shoot all the targets." She handed Dante a BB gun and started a timer. Vergil sighed, thinking Dante has to be completely stupid to play this game, not only are festival games always rigged and you never win at them, this game has 3 minutes to shoot down 30 duckling sized targets. There is no way he can win.

Suddenly, PANG! 1 target down. Vergil looked up and saw that Dante had already shot one down. PANG! PANG! PANG! 3 more down. Vergil was getting excited, Dante was shooting them down like it's nothing. Guess he underestimated his brother's skill. Within 45 seconds Dante had shot all 30 targets. The girl grabbed a 5 foot stuffed black rabbit but Dante shook his head and said: "I want the white wolf." Vergil's eyes went wide when Dante said he wanted the white wolf. The girl grabbed it and presented it to the elder nephalem, who smiled and handed it to Vergil, saying "Here you go." Vergil hugged the stuffed animal tightly and said happily "Thank you!" Dante smiled and said, "What game do you wanna do next?" Suddenly a girl came running up to them with a red wagon and said "Mister, you forgot your wagon. Every participant at the festival gets a wagon so they can carry their prizes easier." Dante thanked the girl and set the box of candy in the wagon, though when he tried to set the wolf in it, Vergil wouldn't let go of it. Dante decided to just let Vergil be and he continued on through the festival.

In between the game stalls were snack stalls like cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones, lemonade, and soda. Dante bounced his little brother in his arms and said: "Hey, you want a snack or drink?" Vergil had already finished his key lime soda and had discarded the cup, though he was thirsty he wanted a snack more than anything.
"Can I have popcorn?" Vergil asked, Dante, nodded and said "Sure." He walked over to the popcorn stall and said: "1 bag of popcorn, please." The guy nodded and said, "Is it for one of you or both of you."
"It's for my little brother."
"Okay, coming right up." The guy grabbed a medium sized popcorn bag and filled it with the delicious buttery popcorn. He handed the bag of popcorn to Vergil but the baby cambion dropped his wolf while trying to grab it. A kid came running by, grabbed the wolf and shouted "MINE!" and started running off. This caused Vergil to snap.

The baby nephalem dropped his popcorn and jumped out of Dante's arm, running after the little boy who took the wolf. He was about 6 and Vergil is only 2, so this should be amusing. Vergil tackled the boy and shouted "My wolf! Don't take my wolf!" He then punched the kid 3 times before getting off him and grabbing the wolf. The mother came over and said "You little brat! Give him back the wolf!" Vergil glared at her and shouted, "No! Go to hell!" The mother was about to slap Vergil, who tensed up, already being slapped so many times he was scared for another blow, but Dante quickly grabbed her wrist and pinned it behind her back, growling out "If you hit my little brother, I'll break your fucking arm. That wolf belongs to MY brother, not your little runt. I won it for MY brother and my brother only. Grab your kid and get the hell away from my little brother before I make you regret ever coming here." Dante twisted the woman's arm a bit before letting go and shoving her. She scooped up her kid and ran away from the game stalls and away from the festival in general.

Dante sighed and looked down at Vergil, who had his face buried in the fur of the wolf and was clutching it like a lifeline. The bruise on the baby hybrid's cheek had still not healed and it must still hurt, no wonder he was so scared of being slapped again. The elder cambion knelt down and picked up his little brother, saying "It's okay, she's gone. I wouldn't let her hurt you."  Vergil picked his head up to reveal tears in his eyes. He was scared of being slapped by the woman, but he was also scared of Dante being mad at him for attacking the boy, he thought he'd get spanked for it since Dante has no trouble doing it and seems to enjoy doing it. Though Dante wasn't mad instead he said: "I'm disappointed in you." Vergil sniffled and put his head back down, Dante smirked and said "You should have beaten the hell out of that kid." that caused Vergil to laugh lightly. Feeling better, he picked his head up and said: "Can I get another bag of popcorn?" Dante smiled lightly and said "Sure."

The elder cambion carried his baby brother back to the popcorn stall and asked for another bag of popcorn. Dante realized he didn't pay for the first bag, remembering that as soon as Vergil got it, he dropped it to chase after the kid who took his wolf and he came running after him. A medium-sized bag of popcorn is 50 cents so Dante pulled a dollar from his pocket and handed it to the guy behind the counter, but he just shook his head and said "You only have to pay for this bag. It's not fair to pay for popcorn you didn't get to enjoy." Dante smiled and handed the guy two quarters and grabbed the popcorn, saying "I'll hold this so you don't drop your wolf again." Vergil smiled and thanked his brother, grabbing a few pieces of the popcorn and popping them into his mouth.

As soon as they stepped away from the popcorn stall, Vergil pointed at a stall across from them and said: "Let's go there!" Dante had to resist laughing. It was the stall where you have 3 darts and have to pop balloons. There is no way Vergil would be strong enough to throw a dart far enough to hit the balloons much less pop them. Just to humor him, Dante walked over and put the ticket on the counter. The girl clipped the ticket and gave Dante the darts, who just shook his head pointed at Vergil. Once the baby nephalem had the darts, he looked up at one of the prizes, determined to win it.

Before Vergil could look away, four slutty looking girls walked over and said "Aw, look, the baby thinks he's gonna win the Orca. Let's get it so the baby can't have it." The girls laughed and got behind Dante. The baby cambion whimpered and threw the first dart, it not going far enough to any of the balloons. When the girls laughed, Vergil threw the second dart harder, that one hitting the board.
"Last dart, baby!" One girl said in a mocking tone. Vergil didn't know why but he was feeling really upset, his hand was shaking and he couldn't concentrate. Before he could throw the dart, Dante ripped it from his hand and it threw it with so much force he hit a balloon and shook the board so hard the four balloons surrounding it all popped. Dante pointed at the Orca and said: "Give it to me." The girl nodded and grabbed the Orca as well as a blue whale and gave them to Dante, who looked at the girls and said: "Aw, you didn't get the Orca, too fucking bad!." The girls glared as Dante walked away with the stuffed animals and Vergil. Vergil popped his head over his big brother's shoulder and flipped the girls off.

Once they were a good distance away, Dante handed the Orca to Vergil, suddenly calm, saying "Here you go." Vergil smiled and took the stuffed animal and hugged his brother tightly. Dante looked at his watch and said "In two hours it'll be morning. Let's go home so you can have a nap, that way you won't fall asleep when we go get breakfast." Vergil said, "Wait, there's one more game I want to play."
"What is it?"
"That one!" Vergil said and pointed at the bobbing for apples stand. Dante smiled and said, "Okay, but this is the last one." He put everything won so far in the wagon and pulled it along to the stand.

Dante didn't see a sign anywhere saying how much to play so he asked the lady at the stand, who smiled and said: "This is a free to play game!" Dante smiled and set Vergil down in front of the bucket, saying "Go ahead." Vergil reached over and tried to dip his head in. As soon as he bit an apple, he fell in the bucket. Dante quickly pulled him out of the cold water, knowing the fall air is gonna make him freeze to death if he doesn't get him home immediately. The baby half-breed still had the apple in his mouth, a green apple. The lady clapped and said "Congratulations! You got the green apple!" The lady presented a gigantic lollipop to Vergil and said: "You win the big prize!" Vergil smiled and thanked the lady. Dante immediately put it in the wagon and said: "Come on, we're going home." He immediately started walking away from all the stalls and out of the park.

Vergil couldn't understand why Dante was in such a hurry to get home until he remembered he fell in the water and is now soaked to the skin. A cold gust of air blew and the baby nephalem shivered, clinging to Dante for warmth. Dante growled in annoyance, making Vergil think he's angry at him for falling in the bucket. Vergil put his head down and tried not to cry. it's not his fault he fell in the water, it was an accident! The closer it got to morning, the colder it got, and now Vergil was shaking violently.
"God damn it!" Dante shouted and started sprinting, seeing him so angry made the Vergil start crying.

Dante made it to the shop, quickly throwing open the door and running inside. He quickly closed the door and carried Vergil upstairs. He ran into the baby cambion's room and grabbed a thick fleece onesie and a diaper and then sprinted to the bathroom. He grabbed a towel and immediately started to undress Vergil. When he was drying him off with the towel, that is when he realized he was crying. His skin was blue, he was shaking furiously, and he was crying, damn it. Dante quickly got his baby brother into the diaper and onesie and said: "Shh, it's okay, you're okay." Dante said reassuringly, not realizing that Vergil was crying because of him. He picked up his little brother and walked back downstairs, grabbing the wagon and pulling it up the stairs. Once it was upstairs and in Vergil's room, the elder cambion grabbed the wolf and put it in Vergil's arms and kissing his forehead.

The baby nephalem seemed to calm down a bit, which made Dante relieved, but only a little. He picked up his little brother and carried him into the kitchen. Vergil was still shaking so Dante turned on the heat and set Vergil on the grate on the floor, the warm air immediately gushing from the vent. Dante watched his little brother until the shaking started dying down, and when it did, he immediately started making hot chocolate, hoping Vergil didn't catch a cold or get sick.

Vergil watched Dante make the hot chocolate hurriedly, he turned around and said: "You doing okay?" Vergil just yawned in response.
"Shit, don't fall asleep just yet," Dante said and finished making the hot chocolate, putting it in a bottle. He quickly picked up his brother and put the rubber teat of the bottle in his mouth.
"Come on, drink." Dante pleaded gently. Vergil didn't drink, instead, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, which scared Dante, who thought his little brother had hypothermia. He didn't know if you had to take someone with hypothermia to the hospital but he did know you can't let them fall asleep and you have to warm them up. Dante pinched the soft and overly sensitive part of Vergil's forearm hard, causing the baby to cry out.
"I'm sorry, but you can't sleep yet, you need to warm up," Dante said and tried to get Vergil to drink again.

The baby half-breed sniffled and tears formed in his eyes which immediately started to spill. Dante bounced him gently and said "Please, drink. You need to warm up. I'm pretty damn sure you have hypothermia." As soon as Vergil heard that, he immediately started drinking, ignoring the pain of the scorching liquid. Once the bottle was empty Vergil had stopped shaking. Dante realized the bandages on Vergil's hand were soaked and ruined, so he quickly removed them and covered the cuts with ace bandages. The elder nephalem walked into his room and got in bed, Vergil right next to him. He held him close to make sure he would stay warm.
"Okay, you can sleep now," Dante said quietly, watching Vergil close his eyes and immediately fall asleep. As soon as Vergil fell asleep, Dante closed his eyes and pulled his brother closer, eventually falling asleep himself.