Disclaimer: I do NOT own DMC or any of it's content. If I did, I'd be a hell of a lot richer and you'd be watching all this on your big screen TV in beautiful Hi-Definition video. (That's right, if I owned DMC, you'd have a giant hi-def television.)

Author's Note: (Because I couldn't fit this in the Summary) Yes, Dante and Nero will be appearing. Possibly Vergil as well, haven't figured out a way to bring him in. HOWEVER, none of them will appear until near the end of the fic, so please be patient.

The Bane of Lilith


Rain drizzled lightly out in the dark. A small office building was the only building with lights still on, mushed between all the other tall brick structures on the street. An illuminated sign above it's door read Bane of Lilith: Daemon Hunter's Extraordinaire in large red letters. A shapely devil horned women decorated the side of the sign. Inside, a large fan was blowing near the door. A young man sat in a chair, tipping back in it, eyes closed, a half empty bottle held in his fingers. A line of drool ran into the ginger whiskers on his cheek. His arms bulged slightly through the sleeves of his black t-shirt, as well as a rippling six pack. A white jacket lay on the back of his chair. His feet were propped up on a table upon which rested a stereo system blasting out a fast, hard rock tune. A fire crackled in the fireplace across the room, surrounded by a couch and a few cushioned armchairs. Guns, swords, axes, spears and other weapons hung around the walls. The bell above the door rang as it opened, but the sleeping man didn't stir. Inside strode a man, a black cloak around his shoulders. His sandy hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

The door in the back of the room opened and out strode a tall woman. Her wavy hair was black, tumbling messily down over her shoulders and to the small of her back. She pulled her purple silk robe tighter around her and shot an exasperated look at the sleeping man. "Welcome to the Bane of Lilith demon hunters' office sir." She motioned him to a chair in front of the desk and sat down on the other side. "My name is Natalia Burns. How can we help you?" She pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen.

"I am the Baron Dural." The man said, sitting down across from her. "My estate recently came under siege from a group of demons. I had originally planned to go to the Academy for help, but one of my servants suggested I come here." He pulled a roll of bills from the pocket of his poncho. "I trust my time and money will be worth it."

Natalia picked up the roll and flipped through it, scanning the amounts. "I'm going to need specifics. How many would you say attacked? What did they look like?"

The man shrugged. "Couldn't be much more than fifteen." Natalia scratched the information down on the form. "They were tall and lanky and seemed to be patched together. They attacked with large, hooked claws." He crooked his finger as an example. "How soon do you think you can do something?"

Rubbing her eyes, Natalia thought for a moment. "Well, it sounds like we'll only need me to go. I'll be out there first thing in the morning."

Baron Dural looked back at the sleeping figure. "Why only you? Shouldn't both of you come, just to be safe?"

Natalia almost laughed. "Believe me, you don't want my partner to get involved if he's not needed. The second he does, your rate's going to explode through the roof." Handed the form and pen to the Baron. "Sign here please."

The man smiled grimly, scribbling his name. "Well, I'll trust that you know best. Tomorrow then." He stood, pulling the hood of his poncho over his head, and left the shop, closing the door with a bang. The sleeping man twitched, but did not wake.

Natalia stood, laying the report on the desk and slipping the money into her robe pocket. Then she marched over to the stereo and hit the kill switch. The man in the chair's eyes sprang open and he fell back with a mighty crash. "Damn it Zeke." She growled, glaring down at him. "You were supposed to watch the office tonight."

He stared up at her, blinking groggily, brushing the blood red, straight bangs out of his eyes to frame his face. "It's a nice view from down here." She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation, kicking him in the side as she turned. He rolled off the chair and lay on his back, stretching his arms. Zeke groaned as he stretched his arms above his head, then planted them beside his head, flipping back up to his feet. He let his momentum bend his back again and did another back flip, landing in a sitting position on the desk. He spun and lay on his side, his head propped up by his left arm. He stared at Natalia for a moment. "You know, your ass looks so good in that robe."

She rolled her eyes and walked past him, hitting a switch by the entry door. The light outside clicked off. She turned back to him. "Well, since you clearly aren't going to be able to stay awake you may as well go to bed."

"You mean with you, right?" He rolled off of the desk and smiled devilishly at her. She punched him in the shoulder as she passed.

"Get some sleep." She said, turning off the lights in the main room as well. "Who knows what could happen tomorrow. Don't want you dieing on me, now do I?"

The next morning Zeke stumbled out of his room, shirtless and shoeless. He yawned, stretching his arms high above his head. The rings on the ring finger and thumb of his right hand sparkled in the sunlight. He leaned back, cracking his back and headed over to the table, starting the coffee pot heating. Stretching out on the large, cushy couch in front of the fireplace, he picked up a book from the table where it rested next to a scribbled note. He picked it up and squinted at Natalia's scrunched handwriting. "Out on a last minute job." it read. "Be back tomorrow. DO NOT go anywhere without me!"

Zeke raised his head slightly, looking at the door as it thumped. "We don't open for another two hours." he called. "Come back then." The thumping continued. "I told you to get lost!" He yelled. There was one last thump, then all was quiet. Then, Zeke grabbed the back of the couch and pulled it over top of him as the door imploded. He kicked the piece of furniture with all his might, sending it hurtling towards the door, slamming it against the cloaked demons that stormed in through the gaping hole of the doorway. He stood, brushing off his legs and he turned to the door. The demons gathered into the small shop, readying their scythe blades. Zeke smiled at them. "Well, looks like we have guests." He raised his leg above the table and brought it crashing down. The legs splintered and threw the contents of the table up in the air. He reached out, his hand brushing the handle of the sword that had been laying there, and grabbed the remote from the air. Pumping his fist he cried out, "Let's get rocking!" and hit the play button on the remote.

The demons rushed forward as surfer music blasted from the speakers. He caught the handle of one's scythe, spinning it around his body and impaling it's owner through the back with the blade and pinning it to the wall. He spun and kicked one in the chest, stepping up onto it's chest and kicking it's head with his other foot. The skull came flying off and ricocheted around the room, knocking two more demons' off their feet. Propelling himself off the decapitated demon, he landed behind the others. His bottle of whiskey from the previous night lay on the table. He grabbed it, taking a large gulp and swished the drink around in his mouth. Grabbing the handle of an axe on the wall, he launched it with a heave, decapitating two more demons. Another rushed at him. Grabbing a burning candle from the table, he blocked it's strike with the metal. The flame illuminated the things hollowed eye sockets. Taking a deep breath, Zeke blew the alcohol through the flame, causing a huge fire cloud to engulf the demon's head.

Dropping to the ground, he ducked under a demon's strike, and rolled to the wall. Springing up, he reached up, grabbing the handle of a long, single sided sword. The sword's blade was four inches across and extended down, forming a bladed finger guard over the two-handed blade. Glancing around, he saw that his office was in shambles, weapons had fallen to the floor, the sofa had been ripped in half, and the floor was on fire. He spun the sword into a back hand grip and pointed at the remaining demons. "You guys better have some good insurance, or I will sue your asses to the moon." One of the demons darted forward, jamming it's blade through Zeke's stomach, the tip erupting out of his back. He sighed. "And now you gotta cover my medical bill. You just want keep giving me money, don't you?" Drawing his fist back, a bubbling, red scarred infection trailed up his stomach, around his back and shoulders, and finally settled on his right arm. One of the gray scabs cracked open, revealing a bloodshot, yellow eye. "Something tells me that you won't be able to cover the bill, so..." He brought his right fists spiked knuckles crashing into the demon's face, exploding it open. Bits of skull scattered everywhere. "I'll have to settle for that." He said, pulling the blade from his stomach.

The other demons roared and rushed him. A second later they exploded out into the street in front of the shop. Zeke walked calmly out after them, pulling a black t-shirt over his head. Jabbing his sword into the ground, he donned a short white jacket. More demons appeared from the shadows on the edges of the street. Civilians, dressed in simple tunics and robes, ran about, screaming. A young woman ran past Zeke, pursued by a lumbering demon. Reaching out, Zeke grabbed the demon by the arm, lifting it up in the air and tossing it aside. "I'll bill ya' later!" He called to the girl. All around, demons were attacking people, leaping and knocking them down. Zeke adjusted the rings on his hand, and hoisted his sword to his shoulder. "I had a feeling today was going to be exciting." He adjusted his fingers on the hilt. "Time to clean up. And get rid of a few demons." He glanced around and sighed, walking towards the nearest group of demons.

Dodging to the left, he brought his sword around, cutting a demon in two. Then he twisted, kicking another away and leaped high into the air. Drawing his arm back, he threw the sword into the group, sending them flying in all directions and creating a large crater in the street. Landing in the shallow hole, he tore the sword from the rubble, spinning just in time to block another demon's attack. He launched himself at it with a flurry of strikes, cutting bits and pieces off of it's body. With a mighty slash he cut it's remaining body in half, right down the center. The two halves fell to the sides and Zeke readied himself into a fighting stance and charged.

Twirling, he carved through the sea of flailing demons, severing head, hands and arms. And still, more burst out of the shadows. The infection on his right arm slid over to his left as he grabbed a demon's incoming blade, lifting it up by it's weapon, and slamming it into a wall. He spun his sword into a backhand grip and stabbed a demon that jumped at him from behind, then pivoted, cutting another in half at the waist. As four more rushed him, he turned, hearing a revving motor. A bus careened around the corner, speeding towards him. Several more demons danced on top of it, laughing. With a grim smile, Zeke caught the blade of the closest demon with his own. As the bus neared, he shot out his left hand, the one that the infection was currently residing on, and grabbed the front of the bus. With a mighty heave, he flipped it over his head, bringing it crashing down on the group in front of him. Straightening, Zeke rolled his shoulder and smiled, turning to fight the seemingly endless horde.

Except the horde was gone. "What the hell...?" Zeke said to himself, watching the mass of demonic bodies rush away, climbing cars and buildings and flying away. Laughing, Zeke stuck his sword into the ground. "Yeah, that's right. Get outta here, ya' pussies." Massaging his shoulder, he turned. A group of black robed people stood before him, swords drawn, hot, sweaty and bloody. "Heh, you guys look like you should find a different job," he smirked.

The man closest to him looked up, wiping blood off of his cheek. "You..." He straightened. "Tell me, are you a demon hunter?"

"No, this is just part of my early morning workout." Zeke scoffed. "Seriously now, leave this to the professionals."

The young man smiled slightly, pushing his sweaty matted brown hair back from his forehead. "If only we could." He walked towards Zeke, extending a hand. "What did you say your name was?"

Zeke took a deep bow. "Zeke of the Bane of Lilith, Demon Hunters Extraordinaire." He swept his hand towards his shops sign with a flourish. The man gave him a strange look and Zeke turned towards his business. "Ah, hell no!" he yelled. The buildings on either side of the shop were fine, but the Bane of Lilith office had collapsed into a pile of rubble. A burning pile of rubble. "Oh no." Zeke said, falling to his knees. "Oh no, oh no, oh NO! All my money was in there!"

The man smiled. "Perhaps this is fate."

Zeke whirled on him. "Well tell fate I WANT MY MONEY BACK!" He turned back towards the burning wreckage. "Oh man, it was so much MONEY!."

"Perhaps we can help each other." The man said. "My name is Andre. My associates and I are in need of a demon hunter. And you are in need of a job."

Zeke froze. "How much we talking here?" he asked, staring at Andre from the corner of his eye.

The black robed man was taken aback. "Don't you want details on the job?"

Zeke chuckled, turning to face them as he slung his sword over his back. "As you can tell from the fact that I'm still alive, there hasn't been a single demon out of hell that I couldn't take. The job doesn't matter, just make sure you pay up."

Andre smiled. "If you are as strong as you claim, you will have all the money you need. Deep in the desert, there exists an ancient fortress, Tru'Va Mandu. In the time of Sparda it was an outpost of the demonic forces, subjugating the entire desert to it's masters' wills. A powerful demon known as Gormaun escaped from the spell that we tried to place on him and has summoned his army to that fortress. He intends to march on the human world, to enslave it. You must stop him."

Zeke smiled. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, how much we talkin' here?"

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Author's Note: For those of you who may have read my other work, the events in the Bane of Lilith sub-plot in Diovni Arms and Protection: Eyes in the Shadows are NOT canonical to this fic. Yes, there are some big similarities (such as much of this chapter), but neither story impacts the other in any way.