Disclaimer; Devil May Cry is the property of Capcom, All John Woo quotes belong to the movies that they came from and the respective companies that made them. Please Don't Sue

Authors note. This started off so easy, just your average 'Devil hunter hunts unstoppable beast' cliches. One night involving far too many John Woo movies and it was a very different beast. I'm easily influenced.

P.S. Kudos and muchas gracias to HanyouKayleeSama and Penniewise for your kind words regarding my last story.

The Replacement Hunters

It was dark here, so dark that the man couldn't see an inch in front of his face. And cold, so cold that it felt like a knife cutting through his body. But that was not the reason that the man was shaking. That was not the reason why he wished so desperately to be anywhere but here. He had heard the hideous, inhuman cries and had just had to investigate. What a fool he had been. When he laid eyes upon the beast that had made that horrible noise he had felt his skin crawl. He had seen it and it had seen him and no matter where he ran it would chase him. Now he was here, in the cold and the dark, and it was going to find him...

-

Erika hated swords, no two ways about it. Dante had decided that it was something that she needed to know and there was no changing his mind. Erika had tried to explain that she didn't think it was so important. She was already an expert at martial arts and while she may not be as good with guns as Dante was, she was getting better all the time. Dante could not be swayed. That was why she was stood in the large yard behind Dante's office, holding a sword in an unconvinced grip and listening to Dante trying to coax her into action.

"Dante, this is stupid. It's not as if I'm helpless" Erika complained, making him smirk.

"Giving up already? Don't be such a wimp" he teased before lunging forwards with his own sword. Erika dropped her sword and ducked underneath Dante's arm, grabbing it and putting her weight on his back, forcing him to his knees.

"Who's the wimp?" She asked. Dante just laughed.

"That's good, but now you're unarmed. What if I do this?". Without dropping his sword Dante pushed back onto his feet, catching Erika and flipping her over his shoulder. As she landed he pointed the sword at her face.

"Now you're helpless" he laughed, lowering his sword. Erika got to her feet and went indoors. Dante watched her go. It had been nearly two months since that night that they had met. The last vestiges of the torrential snowstorm hadn't quite melted away yet but outdoors wasn't too bad, just a few icy patches and general slush here and there. One of the first things Dante had suggested was to teach Erika about swords. He had thought that it would be a good way to build a bond between them but so far Erika didn't seem to want to get involved. The frustrating part was that she had picked it up pretty quickly. Dante couldn't work out what was wrong. Indoors, Erika had sat down on the sofa. Dante had insisted that she move in with him. Her powers hadn't fully developed yet, and Dante wanted her where he could keep an eye on her. Erika had only agreed to this because she hated the new owner of the garage where she worked.

"Hey, you ok kiddo?" Dante asked.

"I'm fine" she said quietly.

Two months was long enough for Dante to figure out what this meant. Erika was far from fine.

"Want to talk?"

"No". For a moment she was silent. Dante just looked at her with his strange ice blue eyes. She looked away, tapping her fingers on the arm of the chair. Dante kept staring.

"Do you know what that snake thing called me?" she asked, finally breaking "'Sister of Son of Sparda'"

"Those things just like to hear themselves talk. Besides 'daughter' doesn't have a 's', it couldn't hiss it". The head of the snake demon in question was hung from the wall. It's long tongue hanging so low it touched the head underneath it. Erika was not exactly crazy about being the half-sister of the notorious devil hunter. She didn't even consider herself to be truly Sparda's daughter. Dante gazed at the snake's glassy eyes; trying to think of something worth saying. He had tried to get her involved in as many cases as possible. When it came to defending against devils there was no substitute for first hand experience. Whether she liked it or not the devils were going to come. Erika was even starting to look like a Sparda; her hair was gradually turning from black to silver white. Right now it had the appearance of tiger stripes. Erika often joked that she could feel her IQ dropping as she turned blonder.

"I know that look, that's the same look this kid I used to know had when he was trying to figure out what really happens to cats on hot tin roofs" Erika commented. Dante had the perfect comeback all lined up when the phone rang, making him forget it.

"Hold that thought" he said as he got up to answer the phone. "Devil Never Cry". Dante listened to the speaker. Then he hung up. The look of concentration back on his face.

"Are you gonna tell me what that was about or do I have to start checking the roof for the neighbourhood cats?"

"Very funny. How do you feel about taking a little trip?"

-

Detective Li sat behind a small mountain of files and paperwork on his desk. Most of it was about two of the most infamous Crime syndicates that Hong Kong had seen in the last decade. The two gangs, lead by a man named Han and a man named Chu respectively, had been at war for the better part of the past two years. Li was the head of a task force assigned to bring the mobs down. That had been his life for as long as he could remember. During his time as captain of the task force he had been behind some of the largest operations that had caused the most damage to the two mobs, but the price he had paid for his successes was terrible. He had seen too many of his friends and colleagues either give their lives or lose loved ones over this. But by far the worst blow had come just recently. Five months ago Li had married a beautiful woman, and three months ago she had told him that he was going to be a father. Li had been shocked; he hadn't expected anything like this so soon. But he was also overjoyed. Two weeks ago an informant had told one of the bosses, either Han or Chu, that Li was planning a sting operation that would severely damage the flow of illegal drugs into the bosses territories. Two weeks ago on of the bosses, either Han or Chu, Li wasn't sure, had kidnapped and murdered his wife. Li could still feel the building dread as he had walked along the corridor to the morgue, could still feel a part of his soul dying as the pathologist had pulled back the sheet. Li had sworn that he would bring down whoever was responsible, which was why he was here despite everyone in the precinct telling him to take some time off.

"Li! What are you doing here?" The shout broke Li out of his deep thoughts. It was the station superintendent; a sour faced old man by the name of Chang.

"Sir, I've been following up on a couple of leads..."

"I don't want to hear it. You have been ordered to take some down time and I intend to see that you take it" Chang yelled. He knew it was pointless, Li was like a man possessed, but Chang was in charge here and what he said was final.

"Go home Li. You! What's the latest on those animal attacks?" Chang wheeled onto a young detective who reminded Li of Barney Rubble from the Flintstones. Li took a last look at his desk before rising to his feet. He wasn't going home though, tonight he had other places to be.

-

Hong Kong was a lot bigger than Dante had expected. He was supposed to meet the mystery caller at a jazz club called 'The Dancing Crane'. So far so cliched. As he approached the club he took note of the security outside. He had managed to drag Erika along, although she was feeling bitter about it. She hated flying. Dante had time to wonder how he was going to get his sword Alastor and his guns past the bouncers when a man approached them.

"You are aware that loitering is illegal" the man said, flashing a detective badge.

"Guess you'd better let me know where its safe" Dante replied before adding "what kind of lame code is that anyway?"

"One that works, follow me". He led them to a small apartment building at the end of the street. The room he led them to was bare. There was nothing to give the impression that somebody lived here other than a large rug that looked like it had been hastily dumped and a framed photograph of a young woman. The detective wore a gold ring on his left hand. Maybe she was his wife.

"My name is Li, am I correct in assuming that you are the devil hunter Dante? I'm sorry but I don't know who your friend is"

"You're wrong actually, he's Tom, I'm Jerry" Erika spoke up. Clearly she didn't trust Li.

"Ignore her, she's grouchy. What's this about?" Dante asked. Erika made an annoyed sound at being called grouchy.

"The first thing you need to know is that this entire area is in the middle of a gang war between two of Hong Kong's biggest criminal syndicates" Li pulled a folded map out of his jacket pocket. He had already highlighted the sections in question. "I chose this street as our meeting place because it's exactly between the two territories. Kind of like a No-man's Land between the mob soldiers".

"Wait a minute, you called me for a gang war?" Dante interrupted him.

"Please, I can handle Han and Chu, and all their petty little soldiers. I called you about something different. About a week ago people started disappearing. There have been 20 reported so far and this area is rife with homelessness so the real figure could be a hell of a lot higher. What we have found is more body parts than you get in your average Frankenstein movie, all of which look like they were mauled by some kind of animal, and so called eyewitnesses who described a lion about 10 feet tall"

"An animal, now we're getting somewhere" Erika commented sarcastically. Dante couldn't tell if she was still sore about the flight or if she just didn't like Li.

"Look, 'Jerry', I don't know what you're problem is but let's have less of the attitude!" Li snapped. Considering how coolly Li had described the situation Dante found it strange that he should rise to a little thing like that.

"Ok, first things first, where were the attacks?"

-

Li had come prepared. One of his hobbies was restoring motorcycles, and outside he had left a little something for Dante. A 1996 Triumph Thunderbird. Erika usually hated motorbikes, she had always preferred cars, yet now she was more than happy to ride with Dante if it meant she was away from Li. Dante couldn't figure out why she had taken such a dislike to him. There would be plenty of time to worry about that later. Right now they had a job to do. The area Li had described wasn't hard to find, Dante made it there in less than ten minutes.

"Do you mind explaining to me what all that was about?" Dante asked as he stopped the bike.

"What all what was about?" Erika said coyly

"Don't play dumb kiddo; you've got a problem with Li. Now spill"

"I don't have a problem, I just think he's being liberal with the truth"

"'Liberal with the truth', what is that supposed to mean?" Dante mocked. Just then a loud noise caught their attention. Dante drew Ebony and Ivory in the blink of an eye, sensing rather than seeing that Erika had followed suite with her own weapons. Moving slowly they advanced on the source of the sound, guns ready. Something furry and fast moving darted past them, they turned to face it, ready for anything. It held its ground and hissed at them. Nothing more than a stray cat. Erika let out a small sigh just as Dante noticed that they were stood in almost the same posture.

"It's like looking in a mirror, only not" He joked.

"I wouldn't care but I love that movie" Erika groaned. Dante just laughed.

"Yeah, John Woo kicks ass"

"My god, do we actually have something in common?" Erika asked as she lowered her guns. The irony of discussing John Woo films while aiming guns hit them, they couldn't help but laugh. Another loud crash caught their attention, followed by loud yowling from the stray. With an unknown demon on the loose now was not the time to take chances. They went to investigate. Dante rounded the corner just in time to see something the colour of a ginger tomcat leap straight up the side of a building. Without pausing for an instant he followed it. Erika stopped at the bottom. She was still a little tentative about some of the things that Dante could do. As she considered her options a small flash caught her attention. The kind of flash that comes from a camera. Dante could take care of himself, Erika decided, but someone taking photos was a definite problem.

-

Dante landed on the top of the building, disturbing a flock of pigeons that had taken over the rooftop. As they flapped and fluttered about furiously he realised that Erika had not followed him. As he turned to find out what was keeping her he heard it. That deadly low growl. Dante turned and saw it fully for the first time. It was inhumanly tall, eight foot easily but its strangely elongated limbs made it look taller. A giant man sized cat with ugly matted fur the colour of rust. It opened its mouth to hiss, revealing hideously lengthened fangs and a long forked tongue that made the snake devil's look like nothing. It shook two fiendish barbs on the ends of its tongue at him. They coiled and twisted like separate living things.

"Cute, now I know why vets neuter strays" Dante remarked.

Ebony and Ivory felt hot in his hands, eager to go to work. The beast leapt forward on those freakishly long limbs. Dante rolled forward, it sailed harmlessly over his head. Then Ebony and Ivory burst into song, a lullaby that Dante knew off by heart. The creature screeched it's own melody. A perfect harmony to the tune of the twin 45's. The pigeons danced and twirled as they sang. Then it rushed at him. Dante spun away from it; dancing to the deadly chorus as the monster howled out it's frustration. Then Dante leapt into the air and aimed down. Ebony and Ivory sang once more. A crescendo of hot metal rained down on the brute, it roared to the music, then fell into the deep slumber that so many devils before it had fell into. Lulled to sleep by the same tune. Cautiously Dante approached the prone figure, Alastor in hand. The thing didn't move. He put the sword away. Wondering where Erika had got to, he turned his back to the beast. Then the pigeons took to wing once more, drawing his attention. The devil was gone.

-

The flash had come from a building opposite the one that Dante had climbed. Erika hadn't felt confident enough to simply leap as Dante had done, she had climbed up a fire escape. This building had a perfect view of the one Dante was on. Erika took a moment to watch what he was doing when she heard a loud crack and felt something incredibly hard punch its way into her shoulder, knocking her to the ground. Her shoulder felt as though it was burning, she put her hand to it and it came back bloody.

"Trespassers" said a rich voice. Erika turned her head to see the speaker. He was tall and immaculately dressed in a white silk suit. He wore designer shoes and sunglasses, and his hair was long and a luxuriant brown colour. In his hand he held a smoking pistol.

"Who are you?" Erika shouted at him but he ignored her. Out of the pocket of his elegant suit he pulled an expensive looking digital camera. He then turned his back on Erika and started taking pictures of Dante.

"Hey! My brother doesn't like cameras" Erika shouted, realising what she had said only after it came out. The Long Haired Man looked down on her with a look of mild interest.

"Family, interesting..." He commented before aiming his gun at her face "devils grow craftier every day. I could have sworn you were human. Not too bright though... pity". Erika didn't like the way this was headed. Still crouched low, she lashed out, kicking at his leg and tripping him over. As he fell he dropped the camera. Erika dived for it; grabbing it and letting her momentum carry her forward and over the edge of the rooftop. The Long Haired Man watched her go...

-

Li sat alone in a darkened room, holding the picture of his dead wife in his hand. Her name had been Mai and he had loved her more than anything in this world. He thought of their wedding day, of how happy he had been and how he had wished to feel like that forever. Then his train of thought took him to the faces of Han and Chu. One of them had taken her from him. He felt something dark and poisonous well up inside of him at that thought. The sound of voices disturbed him.

"Dante, he was taking pictures of you and that thing! It doesn't take a genius to work out that he's bad news"

"I know, but devils that won't die are bigger problems than long haired creeps"

"So what? We don't do anything about him?"

"That's not what I'm saying..."

"Would you two shut up!" Li exploded "Is the demon dead or not?"

Dante told him what had happened while they had been out. Li's face grew darker as he listened.

"You shot at it. Of course, it's not as if that hasn't been tried before! Give a man a gun and he's Superman, give him two and he's God!" Li raged.

"You could have told me that before now. How do you expect me to fight it when I don't even know what it is?" Dante retorted icily. He could get good and angry without getting loud and angry. Li glared at him as if he were scum, then he stormed out.

"Still think I'm the one with a problem?" Erika observed. Dante said nothing.

-

In the magnificent office of an classy penthouse apartment the crime lord known as Chu sat behind a desk that was bigger than most people's houses. His back was to the door so he never saw who entered, he was talking on the phone so he never heard his assailant until it was too late. A thick gold chain was looped over his neck and pulled tight.

"Was it you?" A silky smooth voice whispered in his ear.

"What?"

"Was it you who summoned the beast that killed my partner?" He pulled the chain tighter.

"I... don't know... what... you're... talking about..." Chu spluttered. The chain was removed from his neck, then the assassin kicked the back of the chair, sending it hurtling towards the window. The Long Haired Man watched as Chu fell...