S.T.I.G.M.A.

Chapter 1: Aftermath

The sound of broken wood, metal and demon corpses crunched under my knee high leather boots that fitted snugly over my black jeans. There was debris, blood and what I termed to be just general shit everywhere in the courtyard outside the church of Sparda in the city of Fortuna.

The sun was disappearing behind the ruins of the original demon gate that until two days ago had been spewing out lesser demons while a shadow of a false saviour had been trumping around in the form of a statue of the demon who had saved our world from annihilation by the demon emperor Mundus.

I surveyed the extent of the damage of what appeared to be the result of a colossal battle that from witness accounts involved the false saviour, a psychotic priest and descendants of Sparda.

While to most it would seem ludicrous and hard to believe, I knew better. I had long heard of the order of the sword and I had personally seen with my own eyes to what I known at the time to be the only son of Sparda still living; the devil hunter Dante.

Of course he had no idea I had seen him or knew who he was. My job was to investigate, observe and report while appearing as one of the crowd or even better a shadow on the wall. I certainly knew how to blend in. My curly auburn hair was nothing special and was certainly even less when pulled back into a pony tail. My green eyes which were rarer than even blue eyes were changed to a dull brown by the power of glamour magic by the witches of STIGMA's covenant. I knew how to blend in. I knew how to be completely dull and ordinary.

"Alex, are you even listening to me?" An impatient female voice interrupted me through my headset.

I snapped out of my thoughts. "Sorry Carmen. Just taking it all in."

"Whatever McCann. Report."

"There's not much to report other than this place is a massive wreck. From what I can tell either Dante or the other guy who's name I haven't been able to figure out yet took down the statue and then eliminated all the lesser demons that came after that battle. There are about twenty demon corpses. We'll need a clean up crew here soon.

"Have you been able to get anything from any of the other town's people who live here?"

I shook my head. "Not a thing. They're all too freaked out to talk. It was a miracle we were able to get an account from that couple earlier about the battle. I doubt they'll be talking about it anytime soon."

"Well I'll leave that to the clean up crew. They'll be bound to have more luck." She paused. "Proceed to the church and report what you find."

"Roger that. McCann out."

Carmen Detrius was not only my superior but also my mentor. At times she could be demanding, impatient and a royal pain in the ass. But she had taken me in when I was out on the streets as a kid and moulded me into who I was today. She was definitely one of the most important people in my life.

I hit the small button on my headset on right ear that not only closed the comm. channel but retracted the orange square that covered my right which allowed Carmen to see what I was seeing and reached for my modified desert eagle in the brown holster rig that sat over my plain white t-shirt and under my standard issue black STIGMA wind cheater.. My hand went to the black katana at my right hip. The wind had picked up and it felt very cold and eerie now that night had fallen.

With careful quiet steps I started walking towards the white marble steps that headed to the church. As I ascended I could see the damage that death and destruction had done to this once beautiful place. The red carpet in the hallway leading into the church were stained with demon slime and what smelt like human blood; a smell that I unfortunately was too accustomed to.

The hallways were well lit by torches that seemed to have been burning for some days now. If it were not for them the hallway would have been completely dark.

As I reached the door of the church I checked the magazine of my gun. It was full. I shook my head at my paranoid behaviour. It was something I had never been fully able to shake. Everything had to be checked before I barged in with gun and sword blazing.

I pushed the door open. It didn't creak like in old horror movies. I stepped inside and pushed it shut behind me to shut out the wind.

Inside was not quite as bad as the outside had been. Sure it had the appearance of being ravaged by a battle but other than one corpse there was no grisly remains. The pews were broken up and scattered all around the room. The statue of Sparda was a wreck however. I surveyed the damage from the altar. His once chiselled face was no longer recognisable but was filled with bullet holes and sword marks.

I hit the button on my headset to open the channel to Carmen. "McCann to Detrius."

"Go ahead McCann. What's the status of the church?"

"Not too bad actually. Apart from no longer having anywhere to sit most of it is still intact. There's only one body here too."

"Can you identify it?"

I grabbed a torch from one of the pillars near the altar and walked over to where the body had been sitting.

"It's a male, around 6'2, long dark hair, tanned skin, gold monocle and he's wearing clothing that would suggest he was a member of the order. He has a gunshot wound to the head. But as to his identity I have no idea. He hasn't been in any of the few files I've read about the order of the sword."

"Send me a photo."

I adjusted the viewing scope over my eye and snapped a picture. The data immediately was sent to Carmen.

"Scanning." I could hear her typing away as the picture went through our database. "That is Agnus. He was a scientist for the order and from what I hear; one creepy mother fucker."

I smirked. "What do you want me to do with him? Should I burn the body?"

"No. Our cleaning boys are already on their way. ETA approx 15 minutes. Finish up there and then head home."

"Roger that. McCann out."

I started walking away when I heard a crash in the back of the church.

Like an idiot I whipped my head around and called out. "Hello?"

I could hear someone or something creeping around. I drew my sword and quietly walked towards the source of the noise. With each step I could feel my heart rate speeding up. I could barely see anything. The torch I carried provided only minimal light.

When I finally reached the back I found that a statue had collapsed. I sighed with relief. The damage from the battle inside must have carried a greater after effect than I had originally thought. I rolled my eyes at my stupidity.

I started to head towards the exit when I saw a flicker of blue in front of me.

"What the hell?"

Then without warning it was in my face; a demon with blue skin, fangs and wings. It knocked me down as I pointed my gun at it and fired over and over until the clip was empty. It was knocked back onto the ground.

I jumped to my feet and walked to the body with my sword in front of me. But to my shock it was no longer a demon but a man; a man with silver hair and pale skin. I knelt down beside him and placed my finger on his neck to check for a pulse.

As I touched him his eyes flew open and glared at me with rage. In an instant the man was gone, replaced by a reptilian demon that screamed at me and then flew up and into the roof. Shards of glass felt above me as I ran to take cover under the wreckage of pews.

"Alex, report." I couldn't speak. "Alexandra Louise McCann report in NOW!"

'Yeah I'm here." I spoke in a shaky voice.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Damned if I know."

Author's Note: This isn't the first DMC fic I have written but certainly the first I have published. Reviews are welcome.

Next Chapter: Headquarters