VIII

Lady's House, A Week Later

Dante had always searched for his family but the last week had seen him do so with increased vigor. Kalina had given him her basement to hide from the police in and he seemed to spend every waking moment (which was a lot for a half-devil) going through old papers and records he got from some of his underground contacts. He had to dig low and quietly to avoid attention. Ever since he fired on the police, they were hell bent on catching him. He even succeeded in becoming near the top of their most wanted. Just a few other, more violent, killers were above him.

He sighed as he thought of that. He hadn't wanted to fire on them and there were no casualties, but fear was a powerful thing. He picked up a file on the Sparda bank. If there was any place to start, his father's business was one of the best.

So, he thought, dad is still in charge of that bank. No address though...He would do it long range. He always did when we were together before. He probably got all overprotective on Verge's butt too.

"Dante?"

He turned, "Oh, hey Lady, what's up?"

"You've been couped down here for a whole week. You need to relax."

A lustful grin immediately crossed his face, "Oh?"

"Not like that!" She growled, "If it's not pizza, it's sex."

"Only with a pretty Lady."

She rolled her eyes, "When I say relax, I mean getting to use Ebony and Ivory."

His interest perked.

"There's been some activity down by the Red Light district. You like hunting, don't you? And the cops will hardly be around there when they're so busy with the warehouse."

He winced a little. The police had searched the warehouse extensively and even questioned Kalina and Lady. Only thanks to a hidden door into a large part of the crawlspace of the house did Dante remain undetected.

He grabbed his pistols from the table and grinned, "Show me where."

Some time later, near the Red Light district...

The neon signs glowed pink in the night's darkness while the dolled up 'workers' tended to their patrons. Dante grinned at the sight. Everywhere a person looked, there was a barely-covering outfit on beautiful women.

A sharp jab in the ribs stopped his admiration of a particularly stunning blonde, "Hey!"

Lady smirked at him, "I didn't invite you to take in the scenery. Come on." She lead him down an alley to a small basketball court, "This is where the demons have been spotted."

"Who're you getting this from?"

"News reports and a source or two."

"Oh? Have some contacts?"

"A girl's got to in this business."

He was about to respond when he felt it. The pull of a rip in the fabric between two worlds. He grinned and drew his girls, "The party's about to begin."

Prides and Envys appeared and attacked the two instantly. Dante and Lady split up and fired their guns. Lady had trained with Dante for years to battle demons. She carried a variety of high impact guns with her; rapid fire and she had gained pretty good accuracy with them.

Dante stuck with his twin pistols: Ebony and Ivory. The best handguns in the world, in his professional opinion, and they were the only guns so far to withstand his devil strength and speed.

Three Prides fell to his bullets, making a whoop of delight leave his lips. He jumped from a fence and spun in the air, firing off bullets at the demons. He became a demon of death himself, fighting alongside Lady as similar cries of glee came from her.

This was what he lived for. His special addiction. The thrill of flying through the air in a kill or be killed position; of hunting the terrors in the night that normal people wouldn't think are real; and the overall adrenaline that pumped through him whenever he shot off Ebony and Ivory.

To sum it all up in a simple sentence; he loved hunting demons.

Lady had been right when she thought this would relax him. What was going on with him and his family didn't seem to be as important at the moment. Almost as if all his problems were melting away. The battle turned into a short massacre for the young hunters and ended quickly.

Dante flipped and landed beside Lady, "Whew! This is what I live for!" He whooped loudly to the moon, a big grin across his face.

She chuckled at him, "I thought you'd like this."

He wrapped an arm around her and gave her a one-armed hug. She smirked a little and batted him away.

"Get off me."

"Awww, but you're so huggable!"

"I will shoot you."

"It won't kill me."

"I'll still do it."

He sighed, smiling a bit, before some sirens sounded. They both ran through an alley and hid behind a dumpster. The sirens came and went, chasing a small-time drug dealer.

"Come on Dante," Lady said, "Let's get out of here."

They began walking back to Lady's home, keeping off the main roads and from the public eye. The city was in full panic mode for the Red Devil. He hadn't killed since Dante had run from the apartment so tensions were high.

"Have you figured out who the Red Devil is?" Lady asked suddenly.

"No and I'm not sure how to narrow down any kind of search. Any human could make a bargain with the Underworld but barely anyone knows about the Old Religion. Not even most demons know about it."

"You're going to have to find your family then."

"Yep. I'm sure they're around somewhere. Dad's still labelled head of that bank named after him in Germany."

"I see."

"I think he'd been well hidden though. He was always really good about hiding before but he'd be in overprotective mode for Verge's sake."

"How are you going to find them?"

"I'm gonna have to ask around." They turned a corner and stopped. Police cars were parked outside Lady's house, "Crap. Looks like I'm pulling an all nighter."

"I'll cover for you. Get going."

He nodded and jumped up a fire escape. He headed deeper downtown by the rooftops, putting as much distance as he could between himself and Lady's house. When he felt he was far enough, he stopped and looked up at the sky. He wasn't sure what he could do for the night.

A quick look around told him he was in the heart of downtown, on the roof of one of the convenience stores. He laid down on it with his hands behind his head. The sounds of cars and the city dwellers meshed into a whitenoise that almost seemed separate from his world.

He sighed and looked at the moon. The sight of it against the black sky reminded him of times when Sparda would point out the stars to his two sons in the countryside.

"See that? That's the Ursa Major, or Big Bear."

The twins looked up at the stars he pointed at with similair 'oooo' sounds coming from them.

"And the Ursa Minor, or Little Bear."

"You're the Little Bear," the blue twin snickered at his brother.

"Am not!"

A grin crossed his face. That comment had turned into a 15 minute wrestling match that resulted in a destroyed garden fence. Eva had not been happy about that, especially when Sparda just said it was normal behaviour and didn't give them trouble for it.

Mom always got mad when Pop didn't give us trouble. He almost laughed outright. He figured it was difficult for a human to raise twin half-devil boys in itself. It wouldn't have helped that the father of the twins thought constant fighting, rough housing, and resulting destruction of walls and furniture was natural.

His eyes focused on the blue moon. He missed those fights - well, he missed being able to throw his brother through walls. He was lost in these thoughts for some time before he really noticed that the sky as well as the moon had a touch of blue.

What? He got up and looked around him.

Everything had a blue sheen. It even rivaled the red of his coat. He inspected himself and the area around him again.

"Vergil..."

Suddenly, he felt something start to move inside him. He winced a raised his hands to his head. Something snapped together within him and forced a cry of pain from his mouth. The pain disappeared as quickly as it came and he was left feeling strangely complete, as if he was missing this something before but never realized it. An image flashed before his eyes. It was of a dirt road leading through a thin line of trees and up to a small mansion. The mansion was surrounded by a large forest and small mountains behind the trees. The road was decorated with a black iron gate and elegant limestone pillars. Another, bigger road lead to a garage built separate from the mansion.

He didn't have long to analyze this image before another portal opened above him. Abyss demons sprung from it, swinging their flaming scythes down toward him. He jumped out of the way, drawing his guns and firing. The Abysses fell back with growls and he jumped down into the alley below. He landed with a heavy slam, the ground cracking beneath him. His senses pulled as another portal opened and a horde of Prides ran at him.

He dodged their sudden attacks with some difficulty and unloaded round after round into them. More tears between the worlds opened as he ran and all the Hells of the Demon Army were soon on his tail. He heard people screaming and the roars of the demons. It seemed this attack wasn't just raged on him. The local hunters would soon be out to dispatch the threat - or try to.

Dante found the majority of the demons still following him. They had to be sent by Mundus. He would do anything to capture him again. He spun around and fired at one of the oil barrels the homeless used for warmth at night. It exploded in a fiery tempest and eliminated some nearby Prides and Lusts.

He continued running, trying to get out of the area before the police arrived. He knew they were sure to come and he'd be blamed for it all. Damn ritual serial killer.

He turned a corner to come in direct contact with two Wraths. With a moan, they slammed their pulsing weights to the ground, causing a concussive force that flung Dante back against a wall. He felt it and his spine crack at the force of it. He struggled to recover but failed to do so quickly enough. Demons surrounded him and advanced. He grimaced. There were far too many of them to take down with just Ebony and Ivory and he had no escape route. He needed something suited for close-range battle.

He needed a sword.

They started jumping toward him. He fired and kicked back, some power of the devil inside him responding to his desperate situation. However, he was overwhelmed when an Abyss demon knocked his pistols from his grasp and pinned his arms to the walls.

He growled as he stared into it's red eyes. He could almost hear Mundus' laughter in his mind, taunting him in the fact that he had been captured again.

No! Not again!

Instinct took over within him. A voice inside him called out for something and he felt yet another connection in his mind. Something fell from above him and embedded itself in the ground beside him. Dante grabbed it swung it, cleaving the Abyss demon holding him in two. As soon as it was down, he surged forward and attacked the rest of the demons around him. They all fell easily to his strikes and dissolved into the dust and sand shortly after.

When they were all gone, he was left panting against the wall. He took a moment to regain himself before focusing on the massive broadsword held in his hands. A skull and ribcage served as the handle and there were two notches at the tip of the blade. It had responded it his call for it.

"Vergil," Eva called gently, "Dante. Happy birthday."

"Wow!"

"Cool."

"I want the chocolate!"

"No! I want the chocolate!"

"Boys," Sparda laughed, "both cakes are chocolate. Now, I have a present for you."

"Awesome!"

"Sweet!"

"Vergil, this is Yamato and, Dante, yours is called Rebellion."

He lifted the sword he got for his fourth birthday, stunned. It looked as though it should be heavy and cumbersome, but, to him, it was like an extension of his own arm. A faint red aura surrounded it and it seemed to thrum in satisfaction.

A slow smile crossed his face, "Looks like we're back in business."

The smile turned to a grin as he practiced swinging it, destroying a garbage can and a full trash bag in the process. He missed this sword. It thrummed more and reminded him that it was one of his father's devil arms before he weaved spells to give it and Yamato to his sons. They were both loyal devil arms that protected the sons of their former master Sparda.

"So, you've been with dad all this time. Maybe you can help me find him."

It thrummed again. He smiled and picked up his guns, holstering them. Most of the demons were defeated and the remainder were being taken care of by the local hunters and police. As the sirens filled the area, Dante took his chance to leave.

With his old sword back where it belonged, he felt on top of the world and ready for anything. It was as if he regained a lost power. He felt whole.

He thought about this feeling and the one that he felt before the attack started. Rebellion had been what he connected to the second time but what was the first? He couldn't remember any other devil present being given to him other than the sword and the amulet. He had both, so what was the first connection?

The image came to his mind again, A mansion in the countryside? Well, dad did complain about city noises a lot...and he has enough money for one. We did live in one before it burned too...Maybe that was the twin bond thing again. Guess I gotta find that mansion.

With the commotion downtown, he could easily get back into Lady's home. He made it there quickly and found the police gone. Still, he avoided the front door and slid into the window that lead into the basement.

No one was down there, and he didn't hear anyone up above other than Lady and Kalina. He leaned Rebellion against the wall and journeyed upstairs. He walked into the kitchen to see Kalina white as a ghost and Lady trying to comfort her.

"What happened?" he asked, immediately worried.

"Dante," Lady gasped, rare fear in her eyes, "Arkham escaped from prison!"

"What?"

"The police were here to warn us that he has escaped. They want to put us in protection again."

He hardened, "They'd never be able to stand up to him. If he's out, he'll try to gain power again and come after us. He'll know that we've grown stronger and step up his game - especially against me..."

"What are we going to do?" Kalina asked.

He looked down, giving it some thought. His skill at warding wasn't great. He welcomed demons so it never concerned him much. Lady was strong with guns but, if Arkham's storage was anything to learn from, he had demon magic on his side. She would be at a disadvantage, I don't know what the hell to do...

Review please!