Here's chapter two. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

-!-!-! next scene

'The younger twin reached out, but pulled back when Vergil swung Yamato before him, slicing his palm.

Vergil closed his eyes as he felt himself falling. He'd be fine without Dante; he'd been before. And he wouldn't have to worry about someone interfering with his plans. Everything would be perfect.

Except…

Dante, laying half-on and half-off the ledge, had grabbed his hand.'

­Chapter 2: Where Things Get Rough

Dante gave him a strained smile. "Third time's a charm."

"Dante," his brother growled, warningly. "Let go."

To his surprise, the younger twin muttered something that sounded like "Thank God he doesn't have a gun", unconsciously tightening his grip.

"Dante," he growled again, tapping Yamato's hilt against the rock wall to get his full attention. "I said let go."

Dante's eyes flashed angrily, as though Vergil had said something offending. "No, not again. Never again. I let you go once, and looked at what happened!"

For once in his life, Vergil had nothing to say. Instead, he tightened his grip on Yamato and swung it towards his twin's wrist. If he wouldn't let him go, he would make him, in a more painful way.

Crying out, Dante kept an unwavering grip on his brother's hand as he screamed to the sky. Then, panting, he looked down at his brother. The blade was lodged deep in his wrist, near the bone. Droplets of blood had dripped down onto Vergil's blue trench coat and pale face. His cold blue eyes were dark with anger. And, he noted with some satisfaction and surprise, that his brother's hand was gripping his wrist, although it was most likely unconsciously.

It surprised Vergil that he wasn't giddy with joy about being able to harm his brother one last time. In fact, he was passive. He tore his faithful katana from the bloody wrist before swinging it again.

"Idiot." Dante murmured before hauling his brother up and successfully knocking him out.

!-!-!

The demon slayer Lady was waiting outside, gazing up at the sky. After the storm had passed, the sky had turned a beautiful sapphire blue with only a few grey clouds obstructing the view.

A human through-and-through, Lady had earlobe length black hair that was matted and untidy from her sojourn. Unlike Dante and Vergil, she had peachy skin with a scar across her nose. She wore a white blouse, a blackish-grey skirt over black shorts and lots and lots of guns. Mismatched blue and brown eyes continued to stare at the sky lazily.

A crash behind her caused her to gasp and turn, her hand reaching for a gun.

"Whew, what an ordeal." Dante walked forward, a bloody hand holding a body over his left shoulder and his right was holding her all-purpose rocket launcher, Kalina-Anne, over the other. He looked languid, his aura radiating sorrow and lethargy. His blue eyes were dark and didn't hold the mischievous quality they did when she had first met the silver haired demon.

He stopped when he reached her. "You're still here."

Lady gestured to the launcher. "I need that back."

He held Kalina-Ann out to her, but pulled it back when she reached for it. "No late charges, I hope." His eyes had a joking sparkle in them, but it was almost drowned out by the languid look.

She almost smiled. Almost. "I'll think about it." Taking the launcher and trapping her it across her back, she nodded towards the body. "Who's that?"

Dante's mood seemed to worsen as he set the body carefully on the ground.

She gasped, fumbling for a gun on her belt.

It was Vergil and he was still alive.

Ivory was pressed against her jaw line and she heard it click as it was set. An echoing warning, dripping with venom, was whispered in her ear. "Make one more move and I'll blow out your vocal cords so I can't hear you scream. Because, I swear, if you touch him, I will kill you."

Her throat was dry and clenched tightly, allowing only a whimper pass her lips. She knew, right at this moment, that Dante wasn't in his human form. No voice, no matter what sadist said it, could inspire such fear in her. Only a demon's voice could hold such malice and deliver such a threatening promise that it made her neck hair stand on end. Slowly, she held up her hands in surrender before moving away from the muzzle. She turned slowly to see him, unsure of what she would see.

The silver haired demon slayer was standing, smugly, where he had been earlier, both guns tucked safely into their holders. A dark violet smoke caressed him before evaporating into the air.

"H-how did you—?"

Dante, still with that smug look, drew Ivory from its holder and pointed it at her. "I told you not to move." He fired.

She heard an inhuman scream from behind her, and realized that a horde of demons had surrounded them. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" she asked angrily, drawing her guns and firing rapidly.

But Dante wasn't listening. Resetting his bloody wrist, it healed in seconds. Then he strode over to Vergil's unconscious form and set it over his shoulder before turning to Lady, nodding in farewell, and casually walking away.

She was furious. "Where do you think you're going!"

He didn't turn, continued walking and drew his gun. "To my shop. I'm not fightin' them here." He targeted an approaching demon and shot it before continuing to walk away.

"Dante!" she roared, setting Kalina-Ann over her shoulder and firing, the blast scattering demons here and there, clearing a path and racing after him. "Don't leave me here!"

"You can catch up." Was all he said.

!-!-!

On a nearby building, a lady around the age of twenty lay comfortably on her stomach before a chessboard, fiddling with a white pawn. Standing, she'd be a few inches short of six feet. Shiny, silky blonde hair fell to her mid back in ringlets, caressing skin too white to be humans'. Her black, tight fitting, skimpy leather clothes showed mostly skin than leather and exaggerated the paleness of her skin. She was inhumanly beautiful and could ensnare any man in her web of deceit.

However, although she was stunningly beautiful, her blood red eyes were cold, hard and cruel, concealing the malice in her intentions. An evil smirk curled her plump red lips into a malicious smile. Her body may be beautiful, but her soul was hideous.

Slim digits moved the pawn to the center of the board before retreating back and holding her chin. She watched the scene in amusement.

Three other pieces, a king, a rook and a knight, had appeared on the board and were moving on their own accord back to their side. A legion of black pawns followed them.

"Run my little pawns," she murmured her voice husky with excitement. "For every move you make lands you closer to the Queen." She picked up the rook, examining it with an evil eye. "Moment by moment, step by step, word by word you're moving closer and closer—" She closed her hand into a fist, crushing the piece into a fine powder. "—to checkmate."

She cackled maniacally before disappearing into smoke.

!-!-!

Weaving between the allies, Dante led Lady through the maze of streets, shooting Ivory the odd time at a demon that strayed to close. Although Vergil, still unconscious, added some dead weight to Dante, the silver haired demon slayer kept a fast pace and showed no sign of slowing or tiring.

Lady on the other hand, was panting and had asked countless times if they could stop to take a breather. But she knew that if they stopped, they would be mince meat.

Suddenly, a sharp pain swam through her veins, lighting all her nerves on fire. She gasped, and stumbled, gasping, "D-dante!" She leaned on the nearby building for a moment, but a second later, it stopped. She shook her head, confused.

"Not much further," Dante exclaimed over his shoulder, sheathing Ivory and switching with his shotgun. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up."

Lady nodded—deciding to keep the incident to herself until she knew more of what happened—and fled.

"Hey, bone heads!" he yelled mockingly, cocking his shotgun with a click and holding it out in front of him. "C'mere and get a piece of this! I'm dying to share it with you!" He smirked as more of the skeletal, scythe wielding monstrosities came into view. Then, holding the trigger and feeding his power into the guns, he shot bullets of red lightning that scattered, instantly killed all the demons in the front line and knocking the others back.

He chuckled and, mock saluting them, said, "Au revoir, mes amis! I'll have fun killing you later!" Then, with a final blast of his shotgun, Dante took off.

Lady was waiting for him, looking quizzically up at his ruined store. When he arrived, she asked, "This is you're store?" It wasn't phrased as a question.

He shrugged. "Life's a mystery. You just have to live with it." He walked up to the pile of rubble that once served as a door way. "It wasn't my fault that Vergil's invitation wrecked my business!" With his free hand, he shoved the rubble aside easily, remaking the entryway. Then, with a flamboyant wave of his hand, he beckoned Lady in.

She followed him in, shaking her head.

Dante began walking up the stairs. "Make yourself comfortable, unless, of course, you want to put those guns to good use." He gestured to the door before disappearing upstairs.

Turning to where he pointed, she grinned when she saw the horde of demons beginning to appear outside. Grabbing two guns from her belt, she checked them to make sure they were loaded, and then cocked them. "This'll be fun."

The floor creaked as Dante walked down the short hall to his room, listening to the sounds of shooting and defiant screams sounding from outside. "Hope she saves some for me," he muttered, opening the door and walking in to the small room.

His bedroom was fairly small with a ruffled double bed off in a corner, an open closet beside that and a bedside table near the foot of his bed with a half broken alarm clock sitting on it. A barred window was on the left wall, as was a large oak wood desk littered with papers and pens. The hard wood floor was concealed by the mass of dirty laundry and old pizza boxes lying idly about.

"Oh yeah," he murmured, smiling, "I haven't cleaned up in a while." He set his brother's unconscious form on his bed after clearing it of a few clothes and an old box of donuts. Then he turned back to the room, removing his red trench coat and draping it over the desk before setting his hands on his hips determinedly. "Not the best place to wake up after being abducted." And then he began to clean.

By the time he was done, the room was neat and tidy, the garbage properly disposed of and the laundry stuffed into his closet. With a nod of approval, he looked again to his brother's sleeping form before returning downstairs.

Lady was sitting casually on one of the crimson couches under the stairs when he saw her. She grinned at him, moving a stray strand of black hair back behind her ear. "What took you so long? I was finished ages ago!"

Dante frowned, looking out the door expectantly, only to see the bodies of at least three dozen demons lying inanimate on the torn up pavement. "Aaww," he moaned, turning back to her with a disappointed look on his face. "You had all the fun without me! That was totally not fair!" He scuffed his boot on the floor grumbling, "And I was supposed to be the host of this party for once" as he slouched over to her.

She raised an eyebrow before asking, "So what're you gonna do with him?"

"You mean Vergil?"

"Who else?"

He shrugged, all playfulness gone. "Well, I can't say I'm gonna keep him; he's not a dog, but—" he trailed off, looking up at the stairs with clouded eyes.

She waited, but he didn't appear to have anything else to say.

"Why are you doing this," she inquired carefully, checking his face for any sign of anger or hurt. An angry devil was the last thing she wanted on her plate. "I mean, Vergil is an evil son of a— " She stopped and flinched back when he glared at her.

"If I let him go as he is," Dante snarled, eyes flashing dangerously, "He'll cause an even bigger mess that I'll have to clean up. And—" he gestured to his shop "—another invitation like the last one will totally destroy this shop!"

"Um, no offense and sorry to burst your bubble," she commented softly, "But, your shop is already destroyed."

He rolled his eyes, sighed and walked over to his desk and, sitting down, propped his feet on the table. Leaning back, he set his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, apparently ignoring her.

An odd silence fell upon the room and Lady fidgeted uneasily on the sofa. She didn't want to make him mad. After all, if he decided to attack her he would defiantly have the upper hand…

"He's my brother, Lady." Dante's quiet voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "If he does something like this again and succeeds, it'll be my fault." He paused. "My fault for not taking this chance to change him."

His response startled her. She wasn't expecting such an honest and heart filled answer since he was normally cocky and playful. "And if he just turns around and slits your throat?"

He opened his eyes and stared hard at her. "Then I guess that's what I deserve for thinking I could change a heartless demon like him."

Their eyes remained locked for what seemed like forever before Dante leapt up, stretched and walked into the kitchen beside the stairs. "You want anything to drink while you're here?"

She blinked. "Um, sure. Just non-alcoholic."

There was a clatter before the silver haired demon slayer returned and tossed her a can of Pepsi. "Have fun with that."

She blinked again, not moving to open the cold can in her hands. "Are you serious about this?"

He shrugged, taking the seat at his desk again, chugging his pop. Then he replied, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Grinning, Lady watched him as he took another long drink before saying, "Then I'll stay here, too."

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