Everything had been normal so far on that early sunday morning inside the Devil May Cry shop. Dante had just stepped downstairs, dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt, with a red vest and black clasps over it, his pants being simple red in color, though he had a belt on. His iconic coat laid on a rack as he picked up the ringing phone and spoke, ending the peace of the morning. "Devil May Cry, what's the password?"
Dante took a bite of a slice of pizza as he sat at his desk, listening to the caller describe their problems. He explained that he and his wife wished to adopt a young orphan girl, but demonic monsters seemed to be stalking her, and they'd be willing to play a couple hundred dollars. Dante took another bite of Pizza and spoke again. "Alright, I'll take the job. What orphanage is she at?" He asked, listening to the answer and hanging up. Standing up from his seat, he took his pizza and put it in the fridge before slipping on his iconic red trench-coat and grabbing his twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory, and his sword Rebellion. For safety's sake, he grabbed Beowulf and his shotgun before heading out to the orphanage, making sure to close up the shop beforehand.
Walking through the city which's name he could never remember, Dante simply walked past people who paid him no mind. They probably thought Rebellion was a fake for some cosplay, and he figured that was best. People didn't need to know what he did unless they were well knowledged in devils. It was simply for the best. Turning and walking past his favorite diner, Dante wondered why the devils seemed to want this baby girl so much. What did she have that was so important to them? She had to, at most, be only a year old. Finally, he reached his destination. The orphanage he arrived at was, for lack of a better term, pretty terrible. Windows smashed open, the walls looked worn down. The inside couldn't be much better Walking inside, Dante saw an elderly lady sitting at a desk, typing away at a computer with a baby in a pre-set stroller. "Excuse me miss." Dante said as he walked up. "My name is Dante, I'm-"
"Dante? We've been waiting for you." The lady said, not even looking at him. "Mister Roberson called ahead and told us you'd be here."
"He did?" Dante asked, happy the man planned head, but keeping a stoic tone.
The elder lady simply nodded. "The child's only name is Patty. She's only 10 months old, so please be careful around loud noises with her."
Dante nodded in response and took the stroller "Patty" was asleep in and began wheeling her out when he stopped. He didn't know where to take here. "Um...excuse me miss." Dante turned to the old lady one last time. "Do you by any chance know what address I'm taking the child too?" He asked, slightly embarrassed, though hiding it well.
"3043 Jackson Street'" She told him, Dante giving her a warm smile and a salute as he left with the baby.
"Jackson Street eh?" Dante said, rolling Patty's stroller through the streets past people. Thinking back on his memories of the city he lived in, he looked over at the city park and turned the stroller, walking into it. "I can cut through the park, cut the time I'm out in half. Maybe go get a Strawberry Sundae afterwards." He chuckled as the thought of the Ice Cream Treat for breakfast. He was definitely still 19.
As he continued walking, Dante looked down ar Patty in the stroller, watching the baby sleep peaceful as he rolled her stroller down the path for strollers, bicycles, and all that. All of a sudden, she started crying loudly. No warning. No buildup. She just did. Dante almost pulled Ivory out and started looking around, thinking demons where watching them and Patty simply had some kind of uncanny demon sense. Nope, no demons around. He took a whiff of the air. She didn't need diaper changing, which he silne silently prayed a thank you. Only one thing left. She was hungry. "Well great, now what…" Dante checked the stroller, finding a small back under where Patty was laying-er, crying. Checking the bag, he pulled out a small bottle of milk. "Haha, perfect." Dante rolled the stroller over to a bench and sat down, pulling Patty out and holding her gently as he tried to give her the bottle, only for her to just continue crying. "Oh come on, just take the dam- er...dang bottle already. Don't babies love this stuff?" He asked to nobody in particular as he continued trying to force the bottle in the young girls face.
"Dante, you know you can't just force a bottle on infants right?" A familiar female voice spoke to the white haired devil hunter, who looked over to see a familiar face. A black haired teenage girl in a combat modified schoolgirl's uniform.
"Lady, I'm not a children person. I have no experience with kids." Dante responded to Mary, or Lady as Dante called her as she refused to respond to her birth name, as the human devil hunter sat down next to him.
"So, what's with the kid?" Lady asked, swiping Patty from Dante's arms and rocking her gently to calm her down. "I didn't take you for the parenting type. Who's the mother?"
"No clue, she isn't mine." Dante said as Patty's crying did slow from Lady rocking her, Dante handed his "friend" the bottle and let her feed Patty. "Her name's Patty, I'm bodyguarding her from demons while taking her to a family that wants to adopt her."
Lady raised an eyebrow as Dante's comments of demons being after the infant she was currently feeding. "Why would demons be after her? She can't be even a year old?" She asked, earning a shrug from Dante.
"There's the million dollar question." Dante responded, watching a couple children play in a nearby playground. "I'll fill you in on anything jucy if I learn anything."
"I can't come with you?" Lady asked, putting on a fake hurt tone of voice to play with Dante.
"I work alone. Thanks for getting the kid to stop crying though." Dante said as he took Patty from Lady and stood up, putting the child down in her stroller as she went back to sleep.
Lady stood up herself and stretched her legs a bit. "No problem. We still on for cards tonight?" She asked, Dante nodding yes as she smirked. "Cool, see you at nine." And with that, she walked away. Dante just chuckled and shook his head as she once again began pushing and stroller, continuing his way to his destination.
"Danteeeeeeeeeee" A mysterious, eerie, almost demonic voice said as Dante continued walking down the streets, still rolling the stroller along. "Son of Spardaaaaaaaa...you can't protect the child…"
"Wanna bet?" Dante asked as he rolled the child's stroller into an alley, away from public view. "Bring it on…"
And suddenly a demon came from behind, only to take a stab from Rebellion straight to it's chest, giving Dante a good look at it. It look kinda like a zombie from Dante's perspective, although it obviously could speak, and didn't seem like it wanted brains. Looking behind it, he saw a few more of the Zombie Demons, and turning around he saw a few more. "This is more like it. Let's rock!"
And with a loud tearing sound, Dante tore the emon he had stabbed in half and turned around, slashing Rebellion down at one as he kicked behind him, knocking another one back as he made sure that Patty was not in danger at any moment. He flew forwards using Stinger and impaled at least 3 of them at once, stabbing the blade into a wall before activating Beowulf, flipping backwards and kicking one's head off, then punching the other's head into a wall. Turning around, he walked back over and pulled Rebellion out and slid it back onto his back, the demons collapsing to the ground. "Huh...I feel like I'm forgetting something…"
And then Patty started crying again.
"OH SHIT THE KID!" Dante ran over as his Beowulf gauntlets disappeared and he slowly reached down, picking Patty up gently and rocking her. "Shhhhh, shhhhhh it's okay. Dante's gonna keep the monsters away." Dante said, mentally reminding himself how stupid he probably looked right now. Luckily though, it did work and Patty calmed down, though her eyes remained open. "Gonna stay awake? Alright kiddo. Just don't be loud." He knew she probably couldn't understand him, but it was worth a shot. Either way, Dante set Patty back into her stroller and once again began rolling her away.
"See something you like kid? Maybe a fancy dress?" Dante jokingly asked to Patty, obviously not expecting an answer. The infant had been staring at him for the past 30 minutes, most likely his white hair, and he couldn't really blame her. It definitely did not look normal, and it never would. Well, maybe not never, but not anytime soon.
"Finally, 3034 Jackson Street." Dante looked at the address he was given, then the building at it. An apartment complex. "Made it, and it's not even twelve in the morning." Dante smiled and walked inside, finding a man at a reception desk. "Hey, what floor does a Mister Roberson live at? I'm here to deliver him something."
"Third floor, room 5." The man responded, not even looking at him. Dante was getting tired of that.
"Thanks." Dante said and walked into the elevator, the door closing behind him as he pressed the button to take them up to the 3rd floor. Leaning against the wall, Dante's eyes darted up at the top when he heard a thunk. Looking down at Patty, he jumped up and opened the safety escape hatch on top, finding another one of those zombie type demons at the top. "I don't have time for this." Dante said to the demon, which just dove at him. In response, he shot it in the head with Ebony. Dropping back inside and closing the hatch, the elevator door opened and Dante put Ebony back in it's holster as he rolled Patty off, walking past a few doors before stopping at Room 5. "Hey, it's Dante. I brought you your kid!" He said as he knocked on the door.
When it opened, Dante came face to face with a young man, looking like he was in his mid 20's, with slicked back jet black hair, kinda looking like Vergil. If Vergil had weird Raven Black hair that just didn't look right. "Dante Sparda, thank you. You don't know how much this means to my wife and I. Would you like to come inside, stay for a bit?"
"Sure, sounds nice." Dante said. Might as well, no need to be an asshole. As he stepped inside after Mister Berson, something in his mind clicked. How did he know his last name was Sparda? The sound of a gun cocking could be heard as Dante pointed Ebony at the man. "How do you know my father?" He asked, his tone becoming serious.
"I've done my share of research. I really mean you no harm." He said, not even the slightest bit scared. Dante glared, and asked his next question.
"Why are these demons after Patty? She's innocent." He asked, actually sounding angry this time. "She's a baby!"
The man simply chuckled. "She is the descendant of the ancient sorcerer Alan Lowell, who sealed away the power of the Demon Abigail."
"That's a dumb name for a demon." Dante said, cutting the man off.
"Her blood is needed for the ritual that can break the seal. I won't put that burden on an infant, but-"
Dante never let him finish. He pulled the trigger and blew his head off, watching the body fall to the floor. "Your like Arkham. You were going to give your humanity for Demonic Power." He holstered Ebony and began walking forwards. "Your "wife" probably isn't even real-AH!" Dante suddenly yelled in pain as he felt something sharp stab into his back. A young yellow haired woman, one who couldn't be much older than Lady, grabbed a butchers knife and stabbed at Dante.
"For the great demon Abigail!" She said as Dante pushed the stroller Patty resided in back and pulled the knife out of his back, a steak knife, and threw it at the woman, who just caught it out of the air and swung both at Dante. The demon hunter stepped back and sidestepped the oncoming attacks. "You won't ruin what we've planned for!"
"You people are crazy!" Dante responded as he threw a punch,knocking the woman back. As she got up, his eyes widened as he saw her pull a gun from a drawer. He quickly reached into his coat and pulled out one of his two guns, both he and the lady pulling the triggers.
And, of course, the crazy woman slumped over, dead. "Jackpot…" Dante said with a slight chuckle as he staggered a bit, being shot wasn't fun, but put his gun away and walked over, picking up Patty who was once again crying from the surrounding carnage. Dante couldn't help but rock her, repeated what he had told her earlier. "Don't worry, I'll keep the bad people away. I promise." As he said that, something dawned on Dante. Demons would always be targeting Patty for the Lowell blood, so would any nutcase that knew about Abigail. He looked down at her, the child's crying slowing as he protectively held her. He could adopt her himself, but did he have what it takes to raise a child AND run a demon hunting business?
"D...Dada…" Dante suddenly looked down. Patty was looking directly up at him, even reaching up at him, an innocent baby smile on her face. "Dada…" A heartwarming smile formed on Dante's face. How could he say no to that?
"Alright fine, I'll be your dad."
Hours later, Lady pushed one of two doors to the Devil May Cry shop open and stepped inside. The shop was never that dirty, but she usually took the liberties to clean the shop for Dante before leaving. "Hey Dante, you ready to loo-" Lady didn't exactly finish her sentence as she found an unexpected sight in front of her. There was Dante, sitting on his couch, with the infant from earlier. "Dante...is that the child you were protecting?"
Dante simply nodded.
"You can't steal children." She said, actually a little worried. "Why is she here?"
"The people where going to use her blood to summon some kind of Demon. They were like your daddy." Dante said, shifting his position so Patty could sleep comfortably in his lap. "'Side's, she likes me."
"So you adopted her yourself?" Lady asked as she pulled a chair up and sat down across from him, a coffee table with a game of poker set up in between them.
"Guilty as charged." Dante said as he grabbed his hand, Lady doing the same. "Alright, game on?"
"Let's rock Dante' Lady said with a chuckle.
"Hey, that's my line-"
The door suddenly opened and drew Dante and Lady's attention, a couple men in suits walking inside. "Are you Dante, owner of the Devil May Cry shop?" One asked.
"Y-yes…" Dante said.
"Your being charged 1000 dollars in damages at the Jackson Street Apartment." The other said. "Do you have anything you would like to tell us?"
"How about-" Dante started when another voice cut him off.
"Excuse me if I may." A new voice said. Everyone looked over to see a man with yellow hair and a slight mustache. "I'll be paying off the damages. If my partner causes any more troubles, I'll pay things off." The man handed over the cash to cover the damages Dante caused, and the two left.
"Um...who the hell are you?" Dante asked, confused. "Because I am not partners with anyone."
"Relax. My name is Morrison, and I would like to offer a partnership to you." The man, Morrison, introduced himself. "I'll bring you jobs and pay off damages you cause."
"And in return, what do you want?" Dante asked, gently patting his newly adopted daughter's head.
"You pay off the thousand dollars you owe me." He said.
Dante thought it over, eventually shrugging. "Ya, sure. Why not? I already owe you money. If you're bringing me jobs, I can pay it off faster."
Morrison smiled. "Thank you Dante. I get the feeling this is going to beneficial for both of us." He said, Dante once again shrugging. "Call me if you need help." Morrison left Dante his number and left, leaving Dante and Lady to their game.
"Think you can pay him off?" Lady asked as she and Dante turned their focus to poker, Dante nodding in response.
"Shouldn't be too hard." He said as he showed his cards. "Four of a kind."
Lady chuckled in response and showed hers. "Royal Straight Flush. I win."
"Lucky." Dante said as he handed over some cash to her. "Your gonna take all my cash if we keep this up."
"Maybe you should start taking more jobs?" Lady suggested. "Call me if you help with Patty."
"I can do that. Doesn't mean I will." He said as he picked Patty up and carried her upstairs, Lady's curiosity leading to her following. Dante laid Patty down in the middle of his bed and covered her up in a blanket, leaving her to sleep. "Gonna have to buy a crib. And a blanket." He turned around to see Lady watching. "Your still here?"
"You'll make an amazing father. So long as you're responsible." She said, Dante rolling his eyes. "Alright, alright, I won't make fun of you." She chuckled and started walking downstairs, Dante walking after her.
"Whatever. How's your solo hunting going?" He asked as he grabbed a pizza box and pulled out a slice, taking a bite as Lady grabbed one of her own.
"It's fine. I don't have a shop, but it's not a problem." She said, taking a bite of her pizza.
Dante opened his mouth to say something when a call came in. Reaching over, he picked up the phone and answered. "Devil May Cry, what's the password? ...uh-ha. Alright...you're paying how much? ...alright. I'll be there." He put the phone away and got up. "Duty calls."
"Oooo, can I tag along? Sounds interesting." Lady asked, readying her Rocket Launcher Kalina Ann.
"Sure, just don't expect to get paid." Dante said as he readyed his Rebellion sword and Ebony and Ivory.
Not to long later, he and Lady arrived at the location, a construction sight, finding more of those zombie demons. Dante chuckled and pulled out Ebony and Ivory, spinning them in hand before gripping them as Lady pulled out a Submachine Gun and Pistol. "Let's rock!" The two proclaimed together before opening fire on the demons.
Hey, Author here. I'm just gonna clarify some things real quick:
If you couldn't catch on, this is an AU where Dante adopts Patty (the little girl from the anime) when she's still a baby. I loved the anime's father/daughter dynamic between them. So I expanded it into a fanfic.
This fic (at least this chapter, and the next few) take place in between DMC3 and DMC1, this one specifically only being a few months after 3. So any Devil Arms used will only be the DMC3 ones until we pass DMC1. Also means Trish won't be showing up for a while.
This is Dante and Morrison's first meeting. I want to show Dante slowly fall into debt to all his friends.
According to the DMC Wiki, Patty is around 10 to 13 in the anime, so, assuming she's 10 Patty being a baby here is logical. (Also means she'll be around Nero's age when we reach DMC4 time).
Dante is in his DMC1 outfit, as he switches to it in the very end of DMC3.
Also, does anyone have any good parent nicknames for Dante? The only one I have so far is "Dadte". Either way, I'll see you all around next time for whatever I post next.