Well I didn't expect to be doing this quite so soon, but inspiration continues to strike, so here we are.
First and formost, this is a sequel story to my previous fic, Reversed Fates, an AU of sorts where Dante and Vergil swapped places as the protagonist and antagonist of DMC3. Because of this, there will be deviations from canon, most of which will be apparent within the first chapter or two.
As for this story, taking feedback, this will be a fic more focused on the day to day lives of the DMC crew. Think less video game story, more TV style. There will be chapters that lead into each other sometimes, but other times weeks or months may pass between chapters. Some will be lighthearted and comidic, others may be more serious.
Also, she's not around yet, but I do plan for Trish to join the cast at some point, I have already planned out how I'm handling DMC 1. Nero, on the other hand, won't be appearing in this fic, DMC 4 is something I'd probably base a whole fic around when that time comes, but we're nowhere near close enough to enough time passing in universe to really justify him now.
EDIT-As of Chapter 21, the above is no longer accurate, and Nero is now in fact in the fic starting from that point.
The flashes of dozens of police lights had lit up the rainy street since the night began. Not the most unusual event, this was a seedy place, crime, drug dealing, even the occasional shooting wasn't unheard of. But one didn't need to be a local to sense something was different tonight. Large numbers of police cars sat in front of an entrance to a dark alley, one that sat between two abandoned buildings. It was an enclosed space, the walls of the buildings it ran between covered the top of it, and the opposite end was nothing more then a brick wall.
The locals knew it well. An alley with only one way in and one way out, it had proven a popular location for all manner of illegal activity. But this was no normal crime. One only needed to look at the grim faces of the officers surrounding the alley, all with weapons trained on it, to see that. In addition to the patrol cars, a SWAT truck sat off to the side, and father back, an unmarked black car with two suited men inside waited, and keen eyes could see blood slowly flowing out of the alley, already mixing with the falling rain.
A good 50 feet back, the police barricade sat, where a number of civilians stood. A scant few were locals, curious enough to override their caution, but most locals were huddled in their houses, hiding from the cops as much as anything else. Most of the remainder were reporters of various kinds, drawn to the scene like carrion birds and huddled under umbrellas. One of them was an intern for a local paper, no older then 20, attempting to sip at a cup of convenience store coffee.
"How you holding up?" Behind him, an older man in a tweed jacket walked up, a veteran reporter of many years at the same paper, and currently saddled with the task of teaching this new intern the ropes.
"I've never seen anything like this." The intern said.
"Guess not, being from the country. How long you been in the city?"
"Couple of weeks."
"So this is your first time at a major crime scene." He nodded. "You get used to it."
"So, did they tell you what's going on?"
"Directly? No. But I asked some discreet questions, and I got the picture."
He walked up next to the intern, sipping at his own coffee. "You heard about the spree killer running around town, last day or two?"
"10 men dead within 24 hours?"
"That's the one. Police managed to track him down. Stormed his hideout, sent him on the run. They chased him, managed to corner him in an alley. 4 officers went in to make the arrest. None of them came out, all anyone ever heard was them screaming bloody murder."
He took a cigarette out of his pocket, and lit it up. "That's when the siege began. SWAT was called in. The alley's a narrow dead end, they knew he had nowhere to go. 5 SWAT members went in."
He pointed over at an ambulance, where a medical team was treating a single man in SWAT armor. "He was the only one who survived. Came out a babbling wreck. He'll probably never be the same again."
"But...just one man?"
The vet shook his head. "Take a close look. At his injuries. What do you see, kid?"
He narrowed his eyes, then gasped as he saw long gashes on the man's right arm. "Wha…..claw marks?"
"That's right."
"A dog?"
"No dog made cuts like that." The vet said, shaking his head. "Rumor has it that when he staggered out of that alley, he was muttering a single word. "Demons."
"Demons?" The intern's eyes widened in panic. "But, the news said they were tracking a man, not a demon!"
"I'm sure they did." He said as he finished the cigarette and flicked the butt away. "But not every demon walks around in the open. Some walk in the shape of humans, just like you and me. Waiting for their chance to strike."
"If, if there's a demon, we need to get out of here, before-"
The vet reached over, putting his hand on the interns shoulder. "Relax. If it was going to make a break, it would have done it already. No, it's trapped. Just a matter of how many more die to take it out."
The intern took a breath. "Ok, ok, so…..what happens next?"
"They're waiting for the backup to arrive."
"Military?"
He shook his head. "Unlikely, at this point. They've probably already made the call to the exterminators."
"Exterminators?"
As he asked, a older style black car that had a dome top and tinted windows pulled up. The doors opened. Out of the back stepped two white haired men, one with slicked back hair and a blue coat, and the other with unkempt hair in a red coat. Out of the passenger seat stepped a woman with short, black hair. The vet gave a low whistle.
"They called in the big guns. You don't usually see all of them on the same job. Buckle in, kid, you're in for a show tonight."
The intern, meanwhile, just looked confused. "But…..just three people? They're not even officers!"
"They're "specialists". Demon hunters. They call themselves "Devil May Cry", and I'd sure as hell be crying if I heard any of them were after me."
They walked around to the back trunk, and popped it open. The two men pulled out swords, the one in blue a katana, and the one in red a long broadsword. The woman, meanwhile, started yanking guns out left and right and strapping them to her body, culminating in her pulling out a gigantic rocket launcher and slinging it over her body.
"Holy shit…." The intern muttered.
"They don't play." The vet said. "They opened up shop a few months back, and haven't failed to take out a target since. You're looking at some of the best of the best."
"I haven't seen any ads for them…."
"They don't advertise. They don't need to. You're new in town. Stick around long enough, you'll hear the rumors about them. Folks around here, they know who to call and where to go when things go bump in the night."
The intern nodded. "You seem to know more then just rumors."
"I wrote an article or two about them, month or so back. They did me a solid, figured the people deserved to know about em."
The trio walked over to the ambulance, the woman stopping to speak to the SWAT officer.
"The two men, they're brothers. Twins, although you'd never know it just talking to them. The one in blue, his name's Vergil. Serious type, the kind who prefers to let his actions speak louder then words. No one ever sees him carry anything other then that sword, but the demons die all the same. The brother in red, name's Dante, and he's the complete opposite. Loud, expressive, always has a smartass comment ready to go. But he's earned that right, he's got the skills, when he can be bothered to get off his ass. And the woman, she goes by Lady. Not the name on her license, but few know her real name and those who do don't use it."
She must have heard them, because she took a quick glance in their direction with her multicolored eyes, one blue and one red.
"She's beautiful…." The intern muttered, earning him a wack upside the head from the vet.
"Don't even think about it. She may look young, but that's probably the most dangerous woman in the city. Way out of any of our leagues. I haven't seen her in action, but no one who packs the kind of heat she does is someone you want to risk pissing off. On top of the standard job duties that one assumes comes with hunting demons, she handles all of their pay negotiations. By all accounts, she's a ruthless bitch on the negotiating table. Don't make the rookie mistake of assuming she's just a pretty secretary, she'll find a way to make you regret it."
"They charge?"
"Gotta eat somehow, kid. World ain't all sunshine and rainbows, otherwise they wouldn't be needed."
"But what if someone doesn't have enough to pay them? They just let them get eaten?"
The vet shook his head, sighing at all the questions. "Not quite. For average joes, like me or you, they might cut a break on the charges, or sometimes, they'll let you go on a payment plan. Don't take that second option if you can help it, Lady also doubles as their collection agent on her off days, and I've heard horror stories about the things she'll make people do to pay back her debts. But for people with the means to pay, government, rich folk, and the like, their rates are….. considerable. They probably squeezed the city for every penny before saying yes tonight."
"But-"
"Look, kid, think of it this way." The vet said with irritation as the trio of demon hunters lined up alongside each other and approached the alley, cops stepping out of their way. "Doctors charge a lot, right? So do lawyers. Anyone in a skilled trade gets to name their price. It's no different for them, only every time they go to work, they're putting their lives on the line. The city's accountants will bitch and moan, but they'll get every cent they demand, cause they're that good, and there's few enough people with their skills on the planet. Probably increasing property values just by virtue of living in the city.
The hunters entered the alley, and the vet raised his hand in the air to shut the intern up as the crowd held their breath. "Here we go."
There was silence for some seconds, then a hideous, inhuman roar. The sounds of rapid gunshots went off, the alley lighting up with the flickers of gunshots causing shadows of the hunters to be visible, mixed with a random explosion or two for good measure. After several seconds, the gunshots halted. Footsteps started approaching the exit, and the officers tensed.
Then, Vergil exited the alley, Dante and Lady just behind him. He held up his free arm, which was clutching a severed demon head. He dropped it, and let it roll forward. The tension broke, and cheers went up through the crowd.
"See?" The vet said. "Nothing to it."
The intern, meanwhile, stood in shock. "But…..that was just…it took them seconds!"
"I told you, kid. Best of the best."
A few officers walked up to the trio, and Dante laughed at one before pulling out a pen and signing something for him. Vergil stepped to the side, flicking some demon blood off of his blade, and Lady ducked around the crowd, approaching the black car with suits, where they now stood waiting with a duffel bag containing their pay.
"Any questions?" The vet asked.
"I…..I just…." It was clear the intern was still processing this. "If they can kill demons that easily, then people, they could-"
"They don't kill humans." The vet interrupted. "They're not hitmen. They don't take those kinds of jobs. Only work they take is demon related. Anyone else gets turned away."
"So you're saying they're….what? Heroes?"
"I don't know if I'd use that word, life ain't some comic book, and no one's flawless. Dante's a lazy shit most of the time, Vergil's an ass, and Lady's just the scariest damn woman I've ever met."
The trio, finished with their business, reentered the black car, which started moving.
"But when the chips are down, and you're deep in the shitter, you'll be glad they're on your side. Remember that, kid."
