Chapter 12: Chemistry and Curse

"So, that Garm devil must have been one of Deterion's followers," Trish said as she, the twins, and Lady got back to the Devil May Cry office.

Lady nodded. "Yes. He said so himself. But…"

"But what? What happened, Lady?" Dante asked, studying her closely.

Lady could feel their eyes on her. She didn't particularly want to tell them about the demon she thought was Jester. It would be a mistake not to though, and they all needed to know what was going on. She let loose a sigh.

"Why did you run off?" Vergil asked.

"I thought I saw Jester…err my father…but it ended up being another devil that just lured me to the park."

"Who was he? Did he say?" Dante asked.

"Yes. He said his name was Hex. He was a shape-shifter. He turned from Jester to a black cat to a raven before flying off. I don't know what his true form is."

"Hex?" Vergil inquired, his tone sounding surprised.

"You know him?" Trish asked, folding her arms.

"Yes," Vergil growled. "He is a very powerful devil. We should definitely be careful when dealing with him. He is a master at deception and manipulation."

"What is his true form? Do you know?" Dante asked, looking to his older brother.

Vergil shook his head. "No. The most common form he uses is the cat."

"That's just great," Trish heaved. "I wonder who else Deterion has on his side."

"Does it matter?" Dante growled. "I don't care who is who so long as Lady is safe."

"It is good that we understand who we are dealing with. You should get that through that thick skull of yours," Vergil snorted, thinning his lips. He turned to walk over to the pool table. Dante glared at his brother's back.

"I have a thick skull? I wouldn't be talking too much, Vergil."

"You both have thick skulls," Trish put in before the argument could even start. "Now is it too hard to stay out of trouble until Matier and Lucia get back?"

"There shouldn't be a problem unless Lady here decides to run off again," Vergil answered her briskly.

It was Lady's turn to glare at Vergil. "I couldn't help that I thought I saw my father."

"And that will get you killed," Vergil retorted as he walked over to her.

Lady didn't know what came over her. The anger hit her like gasoline to a flame. She swung her fist at Vergil, striking him in the lower jaw. Surprisingly, Vergil hadn't expected it, and now he glared at her icily while touching where her fist popped him.

"Okay!" Trish exclaimed, trying not to laugh as she grabbed a hold of Lady and started dragging her to the back of Devil May Cry. "We need to have a little woman on woman talk for a moment!"

They slammed the door behind them, leaving the twins alone in the front office. Dante looked from the door to his brother. He had no idea whether he should have been laughing or not. Soon enough, Dante was cracking a smile.

"What's wrong? Stunned?" he asked.

"She…definitely doesn't hit like a girl," Vergil chuckled.

"Nope…most of the time she doesn't slap, she punches. I've seen her beat the crap out of some asshole twice her size."

"She isn't as weak as the other humans," Vergil stated, looking toward the door as well.

"Well, you did deserve it. She gets touchy with her father and mother. You should know that by now," Dante said, rubbing his neck.

"I was only trying to get her to understand that it is too dangerous for her to run off like that. She knows her father is dead, so there is no need for her to fall for Hex's tricks."

"Is that all Hex will have up his sleeve?" Dante inquired.

Vergil eased a smirk, slowly shaking his head. "I'm sure he has many things planned for us. Now would be the good time to start following instinct, Dante. If something doesn't seem right, then we better check it over and be cautious."

"I just hope that we can get through this and everything can return to normal," Dante sighed.

"Hope?" Vergil sneered. "Hope has never helped us before. Are you second guessing your abilities? It has never stopped you any other time."

His brother spoke the truth. Dante was starting to second guess himself and his ability to protect Lady. He was never one to do such a thing, always believing that he could get through anything. The brothers of darkness were a different matter however. There was something dark and sinister about them that made Dante question his abilities. It wasn't fear of them, it was fear that they could actually succeed at taking Lady.

"And what about you then, brother? Are you second guessing your abilities?" Dante returned the question.

Vergil slightly chuckled. "I'm going to regret saying this but I believe that as long as we stick together, then we have a good chance at destroying Deterion and Angulus and their followers."

Dante cracked a smile. "Aw, that is so sweet, Vergil. I knew you would start to come around sooner or later."


Lady complained the entire time that Trish dragged her through the back, right into the kitchen. The female demon made sure that the Sparda twins didn't follow before turning to face a huffy Lady. She was glaring at Trish with her arms crossed.

"The nerve of him!" Lady hissed.

"Now, now, you know Vergil was just telling you how to keep yourself from getting killed," Trish answered, heaving a sigh.

"Why the hell did you pull me back here anyway? Woman on woman talk? Come on!"

"Well it sounded better than saying BFF huddle or something," Trish joked, seeing another glare come from Lady. "Well, anyways, I just wanted to tell you that you are handling Vergil quite well."

"What? Vergil?" Lady grunted.

"Yes! Don't you see that he is warming up to you?"

"By…being an asshole?"

Trish put her hand to her face, trying to rethink her words so Lady would understand. "You don't see it, do you? The way he has been watching you and talking to you? He is starting to get the same feelings for you that Dante has."

Lady burst out into laughter. "No way!"

Trish glared at her. Lady was chuckling until she saw Trish's face and then her laughter slowly died to where she was shaking her head at the she-demon. "You are going to make me sick."

"Oh really? Well the chemistry between you and Vergil is as plain as the sexual tension between you and Dante!"

Lady's face went deep red, both from anger and embarrassment. She grabbed a skillet that was on the kitchen counter and threw it at Trish, who casually dodged it. "What the hell, Trish? You are out of your mind! There is no chemistry or sexual tension of any sort!"

"Deny all you want, Lady!"

"What the hell are you two ladies talking about? Did I miss something?"

Lady and Trish had jumped at hearing Dante's voice. He was grinning like the Cheshire Cat while leaning on the threshold to the kitchen. Vergil was standing next to him with a much smaller smirk.

Lady glared at Trish. If looks could kill, Trish would definitely be dead. Trish only grinned sheepishly. Lady heaved a sigh, heading out of the kitchen by slipping in between both brothers. "Yours is coming, Trish!" she called as she went to her room.

There was silence after the door to Lady's room slammed shut. The twins now had their complete attention on Trish, who was twiddling with a fork in her hands. She smiled at the brothers.

"I guess she didn't want to believe any of that yet."

"Believe what?" Dante asked. "All I heard was something about chemistry and sexual tension. This completely has my interest."

Trish chuckled. "I'm sure it does."

"So are ya gonna tell me?"

"Hell no! Lady would kill me!" Trish answered, pointing the fork at him.

"He probably won't leave you alone until you tell him," Vergil stated, slightly shaking his head and glaring at his younger twin.

"What? You mean you aren't interested in it, Vergil?" Dante asked, as if surprised.

"It's Lady and Trish's business, not ours. It isn't our business to be interested," his brother answered.

"Oh, but you are! I can see it in your eyes!" Dante laughed.

Just as Dante finished his words, a loud, rumbling siren started to echo across the city. They all became silent, Lady coming out of her room to join them. They stood there listening to the humming, loud siren. It was the city's emergency siren, used to warn for dangerous storms, tornadoes, and terrorist attacks. It was eerily lifeless as it rang away, stunning them and filling Lady with a cold sense of dread.

By this time, they heard the door to the front office burst open. They all got ready to attack whatever it was that came in, but they saw it was Lucia, eyes wide and breath rough.

"We gotta move! Deterion is going to freeze the city! If we get caught in the spell we will be frozen too!"

"What?" Lady yelled.

"I'll explain later! Get out of the city! We need to meet Matier in the next city over! Now let's move!" Lucia ordered.

"Shit!" Dante cursed, grabbing Lady and yanking her forward to follow the fleeing Lucia.

Trish and Vergil were right behind them. They only grabbed their weapons and headed out. Lady vaulted herself up onto Dante's back and he took off running. They ran through the streets at inhuman speed, having to dodge running humans and attacking demons. More obsidian spikes were sprouting from the ground, tearing up concrete and asphalt in its wake.

"Behind us!" Trish called.

Lady turned to look. She saw a thick fog rushing their way, as if it was the speeding debris of an avalanche. The Temen-ni-gru tower was all but lost in the rushing fog that was consuming the entire city. It was coming up on them fast.

"Transform or we will never make it!" Vergil called out, instantly changing to his full demon form.

He then shot forward like the speed of a bullet. Lucia and Trish followed him. Dante tightened his hold on Lady. "Hold on!"

"I am!"

Dante transformed, doubling his speed in seconds and bursting forward to meet up with the others. They barely made it out of the city's limits before the fog made it. It soon dissipated into nothing, but darkness had now come across the area like a thick curtain. They stood there catching their breaths, looking to see any damage but saw nothing of any type. However, they witnessed the horror of the time freeze. There were humans, animals, even demons all frozen in whatever they were doing. It looked like a sick version of a paused movie.

"Come on! We must meet up with Matier! Let's move before the brothers send out devils after us!" Lucia called.

They all silently nodded. It was a forty mile distance to the next city; the city of Kurage. Lady stayed on Dante's back riding as they ran along the highway to get to their destination. Lady looked over her shoulder, back towards the paused metropolis. It looked like a haunted nightmare, especially with the Temen-ni-gru towering above everything with the faintest light at the very top of the tower, like a distant lighthouse.

Lady turned to face the direction they were headed, burying her face into Dante's hair. She closed her eyes tightly. I have to believe that we will get through this…


Outside the city of Kurage, up in a forested area that had a large house and property was where they met up with Matier. Down in the front of the property, there was an opening and cliff that looked out across the smaller city with a great view. They were relieved to see Enzo had made it out of the city already, and was staying in a hotel in Kurage. The house was large and almost luxurious, with four bedroom and two and a half bathrooms. Though Lady was impressed, she did not feel as though this was the proper safe house for them.

"Matier, is this your house?" Dante asked as they came inside to look around.

"Oh Heaven's no," Matier chuckled. "It is a friend's. He knows what is going on and is allowing us to stay and plan here. He will be here shortly."

"So, what happened back there?" Trish asked, folding her arms and looking almost grim.

Matier's face fell, and the old shaman woman became serious as she beheld them all with her wise gaze. Lucia stood beside her, watching the shorter woman closely.

"Deterion has frozen the city with a curse. It will start deteriorating slowly, until the entire city is nothing but ashes. If we are able to defeat him and Angulus, the curse will be broken, and the city will return to normal," Matier explained. "It doesn't stop there however. They are using Temen-ni-gru as their base of operations. That means while the city is frozen, it will be a battlefield for us and their followers."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Vergil asked, slightly glaring at the old woman.

Matier shook her head. "I really do not know. They will be trying to get Lady in their grasps. I don't know if we should wait until they come to us, or if we might as well head back to the city and Temen-ni-gru to go to them."

"How long until the city is gone?" Lady asked.

Matier's lips twitched. "I give it a week…maybe a little longer."

"That doesn't give us much time," Trish sighed.

"We don't have much manpower either," Lucia put in.

"Numbers don't matter," Dante said, shaking his head. He then looked to his brother. "Vergil…are you up going through Temen-ni-gru once again?"

Vergil twitched a smirk. "You know, that sounds so much better than waiting around."

"Then Lucia and I will stay here and protect Lady. Trish, go with them," Matier agreed.

"What? No, I want to go too!" Lady argued.

"Stubborn woman, we are doing this to protect you," Vergil growled.

"How chivalrous of you," Lady retorted.

"Alright, you two," Trish called.

"We will talk more tonight. Let's just focus on getting settled here. There is food ready for you in the kitchen, and you may pick your rooms," Matier explained.

"Food sounds good!" Dante exclaimed, heading straight for the kitchen.

Lady took this time to explore the house and find herself a room. She decided to make herself at home in a large bedroom upstairs. She looked out of the window, taking in the surrounding mountains and view that sloped down into the city. This made her sigh, feeling guilty to the events that happened to their own city.

She heard the door open to the bedroom open up behind her. Lady turned to see Trish enter. The beautiful female devil took a moment to look the room over before focusing on her good friend.

"You should come down and eat something. Matier says her friend will be here shortly," Trish stated.

Lady nodded. "Alright."

The two women made their way downstairs into the large, luxurious kitchen. The twins had already gone off to check the house out. Matier and Lucia were here in the kitchen discussing something with hushed hurry. They stopped when they saw the women enter. Lady felt her stomach growl in hunger. There was cooked food lined out on the counter. There were plates and silverware set up and ready. Lady got herself a plate, along with Trish and they sat down at the long dining table to eat.

As evening turned to night, they gathered in the main hall as Matier's friend entered into his house. He was a tall, aristocratic man with the looks of a Native American descendant. He had his dark haired pulled back into a loose ponytail, and his onyx eyes beheld them with a sense of mysticism.

"All of you, this is Red Hawk. He is a witch doctor, and this is one of his many houses he is letting you stay in, so be grateful," Matier informed. "Red, you know the twins of course, but this here is Mary-"

"Lady!"

"I apologize, Lady…and Trish."

Red Hawk bowed slightly at them, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "It is an honor to meet all of you."

"You know us?" Dante asked, insinuating himself and Vergil. "But we don't know you."

"My grandfather was a very loyal comrade to your father Sparda. He told my father and me stories about his battles to destroy evil. I hope my home here can provide you with a safe haven while the darkness spreads."

Dante looked to Vergil, who was glaring almost coldly at Red Hawk. The older, darker twin didn't say a word, but they could feel the ice on his eyes.

"Thank you, Red Hawk. I owe you greatly," Matier said, dipping her head.

"No need, Matier. You were great to my tribe for many generations. It is the least I can do. As a shaman, I have nothing but respect for you and Sparda."

The witch doctor dipped his head at them once again. "Well, I must take my leave. If you need anything, Matier knows how to get in touch with me. Take care and good luck."

Red Hawk turned and headed out of the house to leave. Dante, Vergil, Lady, and Trish turned to Matier and Lucia.

"Why such the cold gaze, son of Sparda?" Matier inquired.

"I don't like him."

"You don't like anybody," Dante chuckled. "Relax, will you? He's allowing us to stay here."

"How was this ready so soon?" Vergil asked, motioning to the entire house while glaring at Matier.

"As soon as I heard that Deterion and Angulus were going to put the curse down, I had Lucia run to get all of you and I came here to talk to Red Hawk," Matier answered.

"Why freeze the city?" Lady asked.

"Because it would have been easier to get you," Lucia answered briskly. "After freezing time all over the city, the brothers could seek you down and take you. We were lucky to have made it out in time."

"This will only anger them. We must move out," Vergil growled.

"And exactly what do you have planned, Vergil?" Trish asked. "You are starting to sound like Dante. Let's just break in and kill them! Yeah right, like it is going to be so simple!"

"Hey now," Dante grumbled, giving his comrade a glare.

"Let's just settle for the night. We can make a decision in the morning," Matier told them, slightly shaking her head. "All of you are bickering too much. You all remind me of children! None of us survive if you spend most of our time fighting amongst ourselves."

They all glared at each other, but soon calmed down. They soon broke down and headed off to their rooms. Lady held Vergil's gaze for a long moment, before he looked away and headed for the front door. She hoped he wasn't planning on doing something stupid. She looked to Dante, whose eyes were set on his brother for the moment but soon he felt her eyes on him and he looked to her. He gave her a weak smile, rubbing her back for a moment as he headed past her towards the stairs.

For a moment, Trish's words to her earlier came back to her mind, and Lady lowered her eyes to the tiled floor. I need to be careful for my feelings for both of them…


A/N: So sorry about the delay in this chapter! DX I wanted to go one way with this story but then changed it, lol. So yeah, here ya are! Hope all of you enjoy! :) So there is some VergilxLady chemistry going on here, but don't worry DantexLady fans, this is still a DantexLady story isn't it? Okay, well I'm outta here! Til next chapter guys! Thanks for reading and reviewing! XD