Chapter 1: So Now the Party Starts

It was a quiet day at the Devil May Cry headquarters. The sun shined like most days, the old ceiling fan still spun yet didn't circulate any air like normal, and Dante sat at his desk with a magazine covering his face. Everything was present in the daily routine. The magazine on the devil hunter's face suddenly slid itself down onto his chest and revealed his closed, sleep-deprived eyes which slowly opened due to the light outside. Dante yawned before re-positioning his feet on the desk.

"Damn, what time is it?" he asked himself, looking around for a clock. It was after mid-day which was normally when he woke up anyway.

Just when he woke up, Lady walked through the door. Dante was a bit surprised since he last saw her only a few weeks ago but knew why she came. She obviously meant business with the serious look on her face and the way she seemed to barge through the door, especially since she never came unless she expected money or was giving Dante a job.

"Oh, Lady. Did you bring me another shit job?" Dante taunted, trying to kick the seriousness out of her.

Lady just smirked. "No, you ass. I came here hoping you have that money you owe me for once."

"Oh," Dante replied, picking up the magazine and opening it to a random page. "Well, forget it, I don't have it today. Come back in… a few months or so."

"Dammit, Dante!" Lady slammed her fists on the desk. "When are you going to get off your ass and DO something?"

Dante truly never did a thing. He only did one job per week, despite the fact he loved to fight, and the rest of the week he added more money to his millions of dollars of debt by buying pizza and strawberry sundaes.

The devil hunter looked up from his magazine emotionless at first but a smirk grew on his face as he turned the page and began reading again. "Settle down, hot stuff. I'll get it eventually."

There was a long silence, followed by a sigh. Lady placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. Dante knew exactly what she was going to say next. She always came with little hope and left very disappointed leaving a few heavy words at the headquarters. "With how far in debt you are right now, I'd predict you'd get out in a few years from now."

She headed to the door and turned around to face him before leaving, even though his nose was still stuck in the magazine. "Next time you earn any money, I'm coming to force my share from you."

When the door slammed shut, Dante looked up from the magazine again, staring at the door. He wore an emotionless façade, but it had a hint of sadness and guilt in it. His hand found his hair as he reclined even more and sighed. "Man, why is it I have such bad luck with women?"

Dante lightly placed the magazine on the desk before leaning back in his chair and thinking. He's been in debt ever since he started Devil May Cry, and every time it seemed he was about to pay off the debt damage repairs from previous missions added to it. He figured he never was good with money, especially since he keeps using it to buy his pizza and strawberry sundaes.

I couldn't give that up, though. He thought to himself. The pizza and strawberry sundaes are like drugs to me. I'd have a damn awful withdrawal effect if I tried not to buy it. He then thought back to the damage repairs. Maybe I should stop cutting loose on missions? Naw, then it wouldn't be any fun.

As a result, Dante thought over and over in circles and let Lady's words linger in his mind to the point where he stressed himself out. He reclined even further in his chair almost to the point of falling off as he rubbed his face with his hands. "Damn…" he mumbled to himself. "This is killing me. The damn debt will murder me before the demons do."

He chuckled getting up from his chair and heading to the bathroom. He needed to clear his mind in the cool, soothing water. He turned the water on before getting undressed and waiting for the temperature he liked.

Dante felt the droplets with his hand then, satisfied with the coolness, he stepped in and let the showerhead's rain relax him. For some odd reason, the thought of Lady and the shower's droplets brought back the memory of when they first met. It was raining, Dante and Lady were both trying to stop Lady's father and Dante's twin brother, Virgil, though they didn't care for each other at first and avoided teamwork. Both Virgil and Arkham wanted Sparda's power, but Arkham wanted it so he could rule this world. In the end, they were stopped. Lady saw him cry at the loss of his brother and they've been working together ever since. Then the shower and Lady brought a dirty thought into his mind, but he remembered how he has no luck with women.

The soothing shower was successful as Dante stepped out completely relaxed and had his mind elsewhere rather than the subject of debt. He dried himself off, pulled his pants on, then stepped out of the bathroom. He dried his silvery white hair some more while kicking back behind his desk.

It was always rather quiet at the Devil May Cry headquarters, but it didn't really bother him until now. He's always preferred his solitude, but for some odd reason he felt sort of…

Lonely.

He couldn't put his finger on why, but the feeling suddenly wrapped itself around him. No one was in the office but him, like it mostly is. It got sort of ghostly to him.

A knock on the door shattered the silence. He dropped his towel on the desk only to find that the pizza guy was at his door. He paid for the food, brought it back to his desk, and started eating away. It was about the time he was close to finishing it when Nero walked through the door.

"Hey, kid. What's going on?" Dante asked with some curiosity. It's been quite a while, maybe a month or two, since Dante has last seen Nero. The kid only came to the headquarters when he needed something or he had a question.

"I need a job." Nero said as quick as Dante finished his sentence, obviously some rage in his voice trying to force the demon hunter to give him what he wanted.

Dante forced out a laugh. "You're shit out of luck, kid. I can't afford to have anyone else work for me-"

"Scared I'll add more to your debt?"

So much for the soothing shower. Dante shook his head. Typical Nero, always challenging Dante. With how things were going, he wasn't going to win. "You don't get it, do you, kid?"

Nero crossed his arms and approached the desk, giving Dante a very serious face. "Look, Dante. I need this job if I'm going to be living with Ki-" Nero's hand flung to his mouth for a moment, then descended, "Um, by myself."

"Ah…" Dante smirked. He found something to entertain himself with. This was the perfect opportunity to tease the kid. He always found it amusing since Nero always got so frazzled by it. "So you want another job just so you could impress Kyrie?"

"Do not, you ass!"

"Your face is turning red."

"Shut up!"

"Admit it, you wanna get lucky with her, huh?"

"WHAT THE-"

The phone ringing silenced the both of them. Dante sat still for awhile, not wanting to pick it up but since it kept ringing he sighed and gave in.

"Devil May Cry?"

"Hello. Is this the famous son of Sparda that slays demons?" A welcoming yet dark voice greeted him on the phone. It sounded odd, even sinister, but it was a customer so Dante had to bear with it.

"If it's a job you want me to do, then you have to have the password before-"

"'Eva' is the password, isn't it?"

Dante caught his breath in his lungs hearing his mother's name, but it was true. He touched the frame of his mother's picture that sat on his desk before turning his attention back to the conversation on the phone. "Ok, what is it?"

"Of course, you're a demon hunter. There's a specific demon I want you to hunt down for me."

"For how much?" Dante rubbed his chin, feeling the stubble on it. Any money was better than none right now, but the demon hunter was hoping it was a lot.

"This one's been giving me quite some trouble, so I'll offer… Hmm, is a hundred million dollars good enough pay?"

Dante nearly dropped the phone. A hundred million dollars? That was enough to pay off all his debt and have some extra cash on the side. This client was going to be his lifesaver. "So this guy's been giving you a shit load of trouble for you to offer me that much, huh?"

Nero stared at him in wonder. He couldn't hear the conversation, but he's never seen Dante this surprised.

"Yes, he's quite a trickster and a very clever one at that. His name is Saccularius. He's a shape-shifter so I can't tell you what he looks like and he can teleport himself so I can't really pin-point where he hides out."

"Any clue would be helpful, buddy." Dante sighed. The demon sounded like a frustrating one, but it brought him a little joy. For once, he would have a bit of a challenge.

"Well, he always has bright red eyes no matter who he imitates and he talks in olden terms."

Dante smirked. "Thanks, that's not much but it's helpful."

"Thank you so much!"

"Your welcome." Dante hung up the phone and the big grin on his face gave away the secret to Nero.

"They just offered you a shit load of money, huh?"

"Yeah." Dante replied, so excited that he could barely contain it. "Damn, I love this customer. He's going to offer me so much money that it pays off my debt and then some!"

Nero's lips found a sly smile. "So I can join, then?"

"Sure, I don't give a damn now. I'm getting PAID!" Dante jumped up celebrating in his own little way, doing this goofy little dance that no one's seen him do before.

Nero chuckled. The demon hunter looked like such a dork right now.

Dante plopped back down in his chair and stomped his feet on the desk. "So now the party starts, huh?"

Nero nodded. "Shall we call Lady and Trish in on it, then?"

"Oh, I think we shall." Dante's smirk got wider and wider as he started to feel like his younger self again. "With the four of us, this will be one hell of a party!"