Disclaimer: They belong to me! Mine! *clutches Dante's leg as Capcom lawyers try desperately to pull him away* Oh, and if anyone can figure out what Ray is from they get a prize. Or something.

A/N: I've recently come across some secrets in DMC2 that completely offset where I was heading in this fic. So now, this is no longer my addition to Canon but instead a fic about what could have happened in-between games if things had worked out in favor of drama.

Mission Four: Ray's Occult

I stepped through the doorway of a tiny, dank shop filled with ancient books and vials of illicit liquids. The jangle of the welcome bell caused Trish, who followed me closely, to jump.
"Welcome to Ray's Occult, your number one source for all of your supernatural needs," greeted a man absentmindedly from behind the counter. His nose was buried in a thick leather bound book. He was aging and obviously growing chubby. His brown hair also seemed to be thinning. He was one of those jumbled masses of all human ailments, arranged into a fairly normal looking man. "Now, Ray. Do you greet all of your old buddies with commercials?" I said. He broke his eyes away from Incantations for all Occasions and moved them onto me. "Dante?" he said through a thick New York accent. "Goddamn, it's been a while." I wrapped one arm around him a brotherly hug. "What is it this time? You need to see the god of time? Lemme just take you back." "Not this time Ray. Just looking for some information." "Yeah? All right then. Are you sure I can interest you in some impulse items?" he said with a gesture to a rack bearing a sign reading 'Dracul's Bane brand silver nitrate 'n' garlic'. "No thanks. You know I'm not in the vampire game." "Well, in that case, what kind of information are you looking for?" "You wouldn't know where I could find another sword with a resident spirit?" "Spirit? Hrm. What's the matter, you finally lose Alastor? I told you it was gonna happe-" His eyes skipped quickly over my equipment. "Good god almighty, you've lost Sparda!" "Not lost. Stolen." "Stolen?! Who in the underworld would wanna take your old man?!" "That's another question I was looking to ask you. You know about some whack job, go by the name of err . . . Shin I think he called himself." "Shin? Maybe. What's he look like?" "Black hair, orange streaks, no shirt. Ring a bell?" "Hell yes. Shin, he's a big timer. One of the top devil hunters, right up there with you. Egon, back in The Apple says he's been on the Ghost Busting business too. More than that I'm clueless." "Clueless? Ray, you're never clueless. You know more than your saying." "Nothin', honest. Nobody's seen him work. He just goes in and comes out a few thousand red orbs richer. He never leaves anything living. You can even tell a place he's cleansed, he so damn clean." "Yeah, well. He left me living. I don't even think he had to."
Ray sent out a long amazed whistle. "Man, halfie. You're messing with some bad jujubes."
"Bad Jujubes? What the hell?" "Oh. Yeah, that's one of Peter's."
"Should've known." It dawned on me that I couldn't waste all of this time smalltalking. "Ray, about the sword . . ."
"Oh yeah. Okay, lemme just dig out your genealogy chart and the mystic items guild. It'll only be a sec, Jeannine just reorganized."
Ray disappeared through a doorway with bizarre odors and noises drifting from it. Trish glanced over at me. She had been standing there uncomfortably since we entered. This was her first venture into Ray's and I could tell she was slightly put off by his failure to even notice, let alone mention her.
"Don't worry about Ray. He knows you exist. Your just lucky the old guy hasn't started hitting on you."
"Dante, you hang around with the creepiest-" Trish's snide remark was cut short by Ray's reentry. He was carrying a piece of folded parchment and a large emerald leather book.
"Here we go," he said, spreading the parchment over an old oak table. He flicked on a light, making the heading to the parchment visible. It read Lineage of Sparda Blacksiege I. Ray expertly scanned over it, cross- referencing various branches of the tree with pages from the book, titled Swords and Souls. As Ray continued his search my eyes fell onto my own name at the very bottom of the tree scribbled in Ray's hand. He had jotted it there on my very first meeting.
"Hmm. It looks like your bloodline entitles you to quite a few blades. Good ones too." Ray's eyes continued down the page. "Let's see. There's Vendetta series. But those were all set for scrapping in some corporation-controlled city somewhere in France. Too bad. That one seems right up your alley. What else, what else."
I stood uneasily on the spot, ice spiders creeping up my spine. The uneasy feeling of my precognitive sense for danger loomed ever closer. Something had to becoming closer. Something familiar.
"Well, there's The Sabre of Vlad Tepes. But I don't think the whole blood sucking repercussions are worth it. Ah! Here it is! I knew this one was in here somewhere!" Ray's voice broke through my unsteady thoughts. "Rebellion! Good balance, nice power. The size you macho guys like. Yes, an all around good sword. Plus, it was forged my a human, used and enchanted for a devil, your great uncle I think, so it'll work perfectly with your freak-o morph. Now, what about it's current whereabouts." We stood in grim silence for a moment as ray skimmed over ancient pages. I glanced over to Trish with an apprehensive look, wondering if she could feel the dark presence edging closer. She replied with an equally shaky expression. "Damn!" shouted Ray, "It says here that it's been totally lost since the second Tri-World War. Man, you'd think someone would have found it on accident by now. Oh well. What else is there." He looked over his book once more then snapped shut. "Nothing! Sorry buddy, your gonna have to stick with Alastor. Not the best thing if your gonna be goin' up against someone like Shin but at least it's a shot. Plus, I'd just keel if the twins didn't put up a fight."
"Yeah, well Eb and Iv may have to go to work sooner than you think. Thanks for your help Ray, but you may want to lock up the shop and hold up in the back for a bit. I have a feeling something is about to happen."
"I'll take any excuse to take a little time off. Go on, get outta here."
"Take care, ol' buddy." With that last remark I turn to the door. I had just laid a hand on the brass handle when Ray's voice abruptly stopped me."
"Hey, Dante. Aren't you gonna introduce me to that tall drink you got there?

The click of Ray's door locking behind us had only just passed when a foul odor hit the air accompanied by the beating of wings.
"Dante," whispered Trish, "Is that. No it couldn't be."
"It is. It has to be ol' feather face." As if on cue, the outline of a huge bird rose from behind a clump of buildings that lined the street.
"Again we meet son of Sparda! Master Shin has agreed to let me repay you for what you did to me and Lord Mundus," boomed the voice of Griffin.