Author's Note: Hey guys, thank you heaps for the reviews, they make my day.In DMC3 Dante's shop was indeed destroyed, and I know he lives above his store and all. In this story he's got another place besides the shop and the neighbourhood is ace, as you will see in this chap. Ack anyways please disregard any errors I might have made, I have only played the third installation of the series, and am not familiar with the first 2 games.

I've added some creepies, little bit more tension, I hope you will enjoy.

And, uh, yeah, as I said, reviews make my day. : )

There's a loud banging on the door, getting louder and more desperate each passing second. Lady jerks upright, reaching reflexively for her guns.

Dante hops off his chair with liquid agility and swings open the door, unimpressed.

He sees a hysterical, dreadlocked teenager at his doorstep, eyes popping. He immediately recognizes the kid as Jase, the youngest son of a weird religious family that has moved in next door.

"Dante, help! They want to kill me! They killed my dad!" The kid sobs.

"Whoa, slow down buddy, what have you been smoking?" Dante asks, his initial confusion rapidly evaporating at the sight of the father shambling toward them, empty, unholy white sockets for eyes, claw marks across his ruddy cheeks oozing yellow pus, his suit tattered.

His head hangs at an odd angle, his throat ripped, as though savaged by a ferocious wild animal, blackened blood continuously seeps from the open wound.

The boy yelps, wide-eyed and jumpy, dashing past Dante and into the house, ducking behind the couch and putting as much distance as he can between him and the creature that was once his father.

Dante is coolly calm. "Hey there Mr. Ashbury, you're just in time for the party!" He says excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

In an instant, a gun appears in his hand; a pistol gleaming with an ebony lustre.

The mindless creature lunges forward in an attempt to swipe at Dante with a vicious looking claw-like hand. Dante unloads the whole clip into the dead thing's chest. The monster wails, and then drops to the ground.

Dante's eyes scan the darkness ahead, sensing malign, evil shapes a few paces into the distance; a horde of demonic zombies emerge from the alleyway, speeding toward Dante with their white eyes shining.

Lady springs beside Dante, fast and silently like a cat. Whipping out her submachine gun, she begins firing.

In an inhumanly swift and deft manoeuvre, Dante reloads his pistol and blasts the creatures, bullets piercing the air with a deadly dance, and raining on the monsters.

When the last of the reanimated corpses falls, its brains a gory wall decoration, Dante and Lady stop.

Dante surveys the scene with cool eyes, a wide smirk settling on his lips, and he gives a low whistle.

"Damn, that was some crazy shit! First demons, now zombies...And it's not even my birthday yet!" He chuckles.

Lady holsters her gun, her eyes narrow questioningly. "Why do I feel we haven't seen the end of it yet…?" She mumbles.

Jase overhears, eyes widening in shock. "Demons?"

Lady rolls her eyes, walking back inside. "Don't listen to him. He's had one too many tonight." She tries to appear calm and controlled, staring meaningfully at Dante.

"Sure, babe. Whatever you say." Dante smirks, follows her through the door, slamming it shut; he leans against the wall and folds his arms across his toned chest.

Jase looks from the short, raven haired pretty girl to his friend.

"That your girlfriend?" He asks innocently, inclining his head toward Lady.

"Yeah, ain't she special?" Dante grins as Lady bristles. She shoots a withering glare in Dante's direction.

"I'd sooner date a demon!" She says, her eyes widening at what she has just said.

"Be careful what you wish for babe." Dante winks.

Lady makes a face and goes into the kitchen, putting the kettle on, she goes about making tea.

Dante turns his attention to Jase. "So, the town's surely livened up since I've last been." He says. "What happened?"

Jase slumps on the couch and sighs. "Man, damned if I know! They appeared from nowhere! Earlier on, after that godforsaken tower disappeared I saw some whackos in black robes hanging around the cemetery performing some ritual or some creepy shit. And now this…" He says, panting.

Lady sets a glass of water in front of the younger teenager. He nods graciously.

"So, when did this happen, exactly?" She asks absently, her eyes averting at the mention of the "tower".

"Dunno, bout a few hours ago." As Jase reaches out for the water, the raw bite marks on his wrist pushes its way out of his shirt sleeve. Dante's observant blue eyes flick to Jase's wrist.

"Hey bud, would you excuse us for a sec?" Dante seizes Lady's arm and walks with her up the stairs, out of earshot.

"Let go!" Lady fidgets and fumes, her bi-coloured eyes flashing brown and blue.

"Listen to me, Mary." He begins smoothly, in a low, serious voice. He has her full attention now.

"He's been bitten. Gods know what we're dealing here. Personally, I'm not a zombie specialist, but I can feel something's not right about him."

"And your point is?" Lady stares at Dante, she blinks.

"We have to get rid of him."

"No way! Like you said, we don't know anything about the situation yet. He could be cured!" Lady argues firmly.

"Oh yeah? With what? Really, I'm curious, how do you suggest we do that? He might be turning into one of them as we speak!" Dante shoots back, beginning to lose patience.

"Why, demon, you could use your dear mom's ointment! It seems to work miracles!" Lady fires back sarcastically, anger rising in her voice…Her eyes glisten with tears as Dante regards her in hurt, thoughtful silence.

Lady bows her head, hot tears begin to roll down her cheeks. She's had a tough night, and she's sick of seeing innocent people die.

Dante gently places his hands on her shoulders, cocking his head. Something stirs inside him. He has never seen this side of her before, and it's oddly upsetting.

"Fine, have it your way." He says softly.

Lady is suddenly aware of the close proximity of his body, she slowly raises her gaze.

"Why do you care?" She whispers.

Dante remembers another time when she asked the same question. This time, however, he doesn't say anything. Instead, he slowly presses her against the wall, his hands slowly move to her sides.

Surprisingly, she permits him, slipping an arm around him somewhat unsurely at first. Her body quivers, feeling their mutual passion merge and pulse around them. She's afraid, yet she craves. It's not a comforting sensation. Then, all thought dissolves, Dante gently grips the back of her neck, lowering his face to hers.

"Kiss me." He whispers against her mouth. Lady brushes her full, cherry velvet lips against his, but does not kiss him. She places her hand on his thigh, and pulls him closer to her.

She slides her hand a little higher along his thigh, her breath softly tickling his ear. Dante moans quietly, he has never been teased and tortured like this before. He's achingly hard all over.

A sudden, ear-splitting shriek followed by the sound of smashing glass echoes from downstairs. Dante and Lady rush down t to find the window broken, and the boy gone.

Dante grumbles, Lady frowns.

"C'mon. To the graveyard." Dante says hurriedly. He reaches for Rebellion and slides on his trench coat.

Lady nods. "I'm with you."

They walk to a parked Ford V8 and Dante gets in the driver's side, Lady hops in the passenger seat and buckles up.

"This is all wrong. I don't get it. Temen-ni-Gru's gone, the portal to the demon world is closed. Why is all this happening?" Dante muses.

He switches on the headlights and revs the engine, warming it up. "Nonetheless, the party's just beginning." He winks at her.

Lady mutters a "whatever", Dante slams on the gas, car begins to roar, the tyres squealing, and the car speeds through the night toward its hellish destination.

So far, so good…