Something had struck the Long Haired Man as interesting. The Son of Sparda was famed for always carrying two handguns, yet when they had met he had only held one. Interesting. The man decided that this was worth investigating...

-

Erika had stood by Mai's grave for a very long time. She could still feel the last vestiges of that black and poisonous hatred pulsing through her. It scared her that she could feel that way about anybody. Trying desperately to force her mind in another direction she wondered just how Dante had known to check here. Li was hiding something, Erika was sure of it now. Just thinking about him was enough to send fresh waves of hate through her. If Li really did know something why wouldn't he say? How many people have to suffer because he was too much of a coward to do the right thing? How many innocent people had died needlessly for him? Was this woman dead because of him? How many more would have to before this was over? Erika felt sick just thinking about it. Somehow it strengthened her resolve. In all the time she had spent with Dante there was one thing that kept coming up, that was that as an heir of Sparda's legacy she had a duty to protect innocent lives from evil. The old Super hero cliche was how she had considered it. With great power comes great responsibility, she had read plenty of comics to know. Dante was a hero, a legendary devil hunter. She had never felt like any kind of hunter, much less one like Dante. If anything she had always thought of herself as a poor copy. A flawed clone that didn't deserve to be a part of any of this. Not an honest to goodness child of Sparda. Dante didn't think that. He had never cared about her past, the Brajin cult or how they had made her. She knew that he thought of her as his little sister, recently she had even found herself starting to think of him like a brother. Now, faced with this, she finally felt what Dante had spent the past two months trying to tell her. That regardless of how it had happened, she was the Daughter of Sparda. Maybe, just maybe, Dante had been right all along. Her mind was made up. She went after Li, and if she had to beat the answers out of him then God help her, that's just what she was going to do. This had gone on for long enough.

-

The Ballistics lab was virtually empty at this time. Only Yuen was there. He had run every kind of test imaginable on the 45. and he was still no closer to finding any answers. From what he could tell it just never ran out of bullets, bullets that had no recognisable marks whatsoever on them (save an indentation from the firing pin) and glowed blue under the microscope. It just didn't make sense.

"Burning the midnight oil are we?" Said a rich accent from behind him. Yuen spun around to see the intruder.

"What an interesting weapon you're examining. Would you mind if I took a look?" The man was dressed in expensive looking clothes and had long flowing hair. He definitely didn't look like he should be here.

"Who are you?" Yuen demanded, sounding braver than he felt.

"Tsk tsk, where are your manners?" He asked as he came forward.

"This is a crime lab. Unless you've got clearance you can't come in here" Yuen said as he backed up. Subconsciously he picked up the gun that bore the name 'Ivory' as he went.

"But I have clearance! Wouldn't you like to see?". The Long Haired Man advanced...

-

Dante had already made it back to the apartment when Li stormed in.

"Goddamn bitch thinks she knows it all!" Li was muttering to himself as he slammed the door.

"Hello to you too!" Dante said nonplussed. Li looked shocked that he was not alone. He stared at Dante for a long moment.

"Hey! Policeman, you can have my autograph later. Wanna tell me what this is about?" Dante childed him. A dark look descended over Li's face.

"You! You were supposed to kill it! You bastard!" He swore at Dante as he drew his gun.

"How am I supposed to kill it when I don't know what it is?" Dante said icily. Li didn't answer, he kept his gun pointed at Dante's head.

"I had you figured all wrong, I thought you had guts" Dante said cooly as he approached Li and drew Ebony, still imposing, even without its twin. Li flinched visibly but held his ground

"You don't know anything about me"

"Believe me, I'd be a happy man if I didn't" Li stared at him, then decided that he was no match for the hunter. He turned away and headed to the door.

"Where do you think you're going" Dante called after him.

"He's not going anywhere" said a voice just outside the door. Li had about a second to take this in before he was thrown back from the door as if a wire team had just pulled him back. He crashed into the wall behind him as Erika entered, fury pouring off her to the point where it was almost visible.

"He's been lying to us ever since the start" She said with a conviction that Dante had never seen in her before. Li staggered to his feet.

"You sound sure of yourself, bitch, where's your proof?" He spat as he staggered towards her. She lashed out at him, breaking his nose and flinging him to the ground. He pulled himself back up. Again Erika punched him. Casting him down. He landed on the old rug.

"Erika, what are you doing?" Dante grabbed her and held her back.

"He deserves it, he knows something and those officers at the hospital died because he wouldn't say what!" She hissed.

"Calm down kiddo, how do you know that?" Erika pulled away from her brother.

"Ask him why he got so angry when I found his wife's grave! Ask him where he was when the devil was tearing his buddies apart at the hospital! Ask him what he was going to do when it got that boss guy!" There was a ferocity in her eyes that Dante knew only too well. Dante had had that look in his eyes before and he knew exactly what it meant.

"Erika, let me handle this. Or do you want to kill him?" Erika was stunned. She had never meant to do that. She stepped back. Dante picked up Li's prone form as Li garbled something he couldn't quite make out. In doing so he moved the rug entirely, revealing the red symbols on the ground that it had previously been covering. Dante's eyes narrowed. He knew exactly what those symbols meant. Li continued to babble

"I'm...sorry, plase...forgive me...I didn't...didn't mean...". Dante flung Li's worthless hide onto the nearest chair.

"Dante, what does that mean?" Erika asked quietly.

"It means you were right kiddo" Dante said too calmly.

An ambulance pulled into the hospital. It's sirens blazing like wildfire, Paramedics scrambling like fighter pilots. A trolley was pulled off the back and rushed into the building so quickly that a casual observer might think that they had just imagined it. Doctors swarmed around the occupant of the trolley as paramedics reported a list of injuries, the young man screamed in agony. One doctor approached the closest Paramedic.

"What in the hell happened?" He asked in a no nonsense manner.

"Honestly, I don't know. He's a mess, I've never seen anything like it. I'm amazed he's still alive at all" The paramedic replied.

"That's not what I asked" said the doctor.

"We picked him up at the Police forensics lab. I don't know if he's been working with any chemicals or anything that may be a hazard. He was the only one there".

Across the street, watching with an almost amused air about him, was the Long Haired Man. In his right hand he held a beautifully made silver 45. A gun with the name 'Ivory' carved on the side...