Around one year ago...

It had been a day like any other in the underworld (if one can even distinguish between night and day in such a timeless, dreadful place), when it happened. It started off as a small tear in the atmosphere in one of the less frequented areas of the hellscape. Not an uncommon sight by any means, although to one unaccustomed to such things, it might seem odd to see the very air itself split apart from seemingly nothing. But for the few creatures scuttling around, it was no more unusual than the perpetual screams that served as mere background noise. It wasn't unheard of for those brave enough to try and slip through before such openings closed, but for the vast majority they didn't dare make the attempt; if it were to suddenly close on them halfway, the pressure would be enough to turn them to dust.

What was unusual however, was what had happened next. For rather than fade away as such things are so usually apt to do, the opening started to get bigger. And not only that, but it seemed to be actively pulling the underworld's denizens towards it.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes shot up at once, each drawn towards the sheer force of power that seemed to be radiating from the portal. Whispers and hisses filled the air as they grew closer. The entire area seemed to collectively sigh, breathing in this new found strength. The vast majority of the demons this far down had never even dreamt of such power, let alone had the chance to touch it.

A girl came through first, tossed inside by some unseen hand. She flew through the air like a discarded marionette, limbs flailing, before landing with a painful thud. Not that the creatures were paying much attention to her of course. No, their gaze was much more focussed on the weapon that appeared to be wrapped around her bruised form. The underworld collectively gasped. Yamato.

The girl was followed a few moments later by three more figures, but by then the creatures had surrounded their prize and led her away. The others that had followed were mere weaklings after all, nothing to pay any mind to. They would leave those to the bottom feeders to finish off. The thing before them was much more enticing.

Whether they'd had the girl for mere seconds or for many hours was never quite confirmed, for all who had remained in her presence were now dead. At least, that was what the few stragglers who arrived much later concluded from the decaying mountains of flesh and bone. Even the fact that the Yamato had been there at all was nothing more than a rumour, spread by one or two demons lucky enough to have kept their distance. That was, until they'd seen it with their own eyes.

Not long after the girl had been taken away again, a sonic boom spread across the landscape. Many within a thousand mile radius had perished instantly, their skin melting from their bones like candle wax. Those few who had managed to survive could only utter one word - Sparda.

For months, many would try to get close, only to be repelled by some unseen power that radiated from the area. Rumours spread of two powerful demons roaming the land, killing all in their wake. Many of the underworld's leaders had fallen by their hand in mere moments, each sliced into a thousand pieces if not more. And yet far from trying to take over in their place, these newcomers had instead seemed intent on escape.

It was only as the repellent force around the site that seemed to have brought them there finally began to fade that anything was brave enough to approach the area once more. The latest talk was that the two monsters had decided to return to the very place they'd entered. Those who grew close were shocked to see not the two beasts as described, but two men, and one of them a mere boy at that. Dirtied and exhausted, the older of the two had raised in front of him the one thing they'd all hoped had not been a lie - Yamato.

Its blade glinted as the man drew his arm back, staggering slightly as he did so. If his observers had wished to take it, now was their chance. And yet even despite their haggard appearance, something about the men held the demons back. Or, most of them at least. A small group broke off and charged towards the pair, only for them to turn to dust. The younger of the two men tutted and seemed to tuck what looked like a gun into his waistband. The pair looked around once more and shouted out a warning, before the man holding the sword finished his manoeuvre. The men stepped through backwards, presumably looking for any hitchhikers into what the creatures assumed to be the human world. But the man's swordwork had been sloppy. Perhaps, as so many had theorised, he was not the original owner of the weapon. As the opening closed, an enterprising demon had managed to keep it open just long enough for some of them to slip through. Hardly enough to make a dent in the long run, of course. And that might have been the end of it, were it not for what some curious scavengers had recovered from the site a few hours later.

On the other side of the portal, many thousands of miles away, a low wage employee was smacking his headphones around in frustration when he saw something that quickly made him forget about the fact that his music was skipping. He hung the headphones around his neck and edged closer to the crystalline substance that he'd been preparing to sweep into his third bag of debris that day. They'd been trying to clean this place up for months now, and if what he was seeing was any indication, he doubted they'd be finishing the job any time soon. He quickly pulled out his walkie talkie and stammered something down the crackly line.

Within moments, City Hall had arrived.

Present Day...

"I told you, we're closed."

"If you're closed then why are you here?" Dante asked the frustrated receptionist.

"Because of people like you," she retorted. "If you need to speak with a specific officer then you can leave a message and they'll get back to you. I can't just let you go back there."

Dante let out an irritated sigh and started to pace up and down the small foyer. He didn't have time for this! "Look lady, City Hall told me to come here, so here I am. This guy specifically asked to see me." He walked over and slammed the small business card down on the desk. "I'm an associate of Morrison's."

"Good for you," the receptionist said, turning back towards her computer screen.

"Doesn't that name mean anything to you?" Dante asked in disbelief.

"Apologies sir, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the woman said absently. "The station is closed until further notice."

Dante let out an annoyed tut and pocketed the card again. "Okay fine, send someone out here to remove me then. I'm sure they'll understand what I'm talking about!"

"Our officers have better things to do with their time," the receptionist said calmly. "You can stay here if you like or leave a message, but you're not going back there." When it was clear he wouldn't be getting anything further from her, Dante shot one last glare in her direction then stormed outside.

Dante slammed the front door to the police shut and angrily propped himself up against one of its walls. He could tell something was wrong with the building as he'd approached it. Even without being able to see inside it, it was obvious that something wasn't right here. He could practically feel his skin tingling as he got closer. The feeling was all too familiar to him, and he didn't like it. If left much longer then… Dante yelled in frustration and rubbed at his eyes, which were suddenly feeling unusually dry.

He took the business card out again, looking for some sort of phone number in the dim lighting. His first port of call had, of course, been the address listed on the card - City Hall. He'd been to the place a few times in the past for various reasons, but generally he ignored their existence and they ignored him. And that was just the way he liked it. On the way to the orphanage they'd tried to get through to Morrison himself, just to make sure this wasn't yet another trick. The last thing they needed was any more trouble, after all. It had taken a few tries - Morrison wasn't exactly the type to make himself easily found either - but Dante had been unable to stop the grin that spread across his face when he'd heard that deep, familiar voice.

Dante… Well I'll be damned, I thought you were gone for good this time.

It's a long story… Listen, I gotta ask you something and we don't have much time...

As it had turned out, this 'John' guy was legit. Of course he was. Trouble just had a way of finding them, as usual.

A whole goddamn year I waited, Morrison had said. But hell, a man's gotta take a vacation sometime. It appeared they'd missed each other by mere days. Morrison refused to disclose his location, just that he'd apparently wanted to get as far away from the hellhole that was Red Grave as fast as possible. Although he hadn't been informed of the issue with the crystals until after his departure, he'd had a bad feeling for a while and wanted out.

And Dante? He'd added, just before they'd ended their call, I'm counting on you to make sure I have a city to come back to.

Having finally located a number for this so-called 'John' (the name had elicited an unexplained chuckle from Morrison), Dante scanned the area for a nearby phone box and was relieved when he noticed one right next to the police station. He jogged over and stuffed himself inside, disregarding the sign that stated the phone was not for general public use and was for out of hours and emergency calls to the police only. He grabbed the receiver and was halfway through punching in the numbers when a rather disgruntled female voice answered.

"Red Grave police, how can we help?"

Dante paused, his finger hovering over the next button while he tried to comprehend what he was hearing. "Wait. Aren't you the-"

"Sir, is that you again?" the receptionist's exasperated voice sighed through the crackly line. "I thought I told you-"

"What's going on here?" Dante demanded. "Did you tap the line or-"

"Sir the phone outside connects directly to the police station," she explained. "You have a few seconds to type in the emergency number if you need immediate assistance, otherwise if I'm on duty I will answer. If I'm not here then there is an option to leave a message." There was a short pause as she sighed again. It was obvious she had learnt the explanation off by heart and more than likely had to repeat it multiple times a day. "...Do you require any assistance today?" she asked. "I must inform you that all calls are recorded for training and-"

"Forget it," Dante huffed. Back to City Hall it was. "...Thank you for your time," he added, suddenly feeling a bit sorry for the lady on the other end of the phone. He resisted the urge to punch the metal structure as he shoved his way out of the phone box again. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked up at the sky (clear… for now), calculating his next move. From the way he was starting to feel, he didn't want to spend much longer around here anyway. He just hoped that Nero and Trish were having slightly better luck.

He'd barely taken a few steps when he heard the click behind him.

Nero was not having a good time. For one thing, he didn't have even the slightest idea of where to start searching for Lady and his father, and for another, he was feeling restless. The events of this evening so far certainly hadn't helped matters, but he knew it was more than that. He'd been feeling this way ever since they got back - tense, jittery… bloodthirsty. He clenched his fists a few times as he stalked through the back alleys and busy streets. Now was definitely not the time to seek out unnecessary conflict. The less attention he drew to himself, the better.

He flinched as someone walked just a little too close to him, his hand instinctively reaching for the Blue Rose. He still wasn't used to this. Being back around people. Being surrounded by thousands of bodies that weren't trying to strip his skin from his bones every second of every day. Heck, he wasn't even used to days any more. Hours, minutes, seconds… It had all become meaningless to him. He forced himself to relax and ran a hand down his face, trying to ground himself in reality again. Dante made it look so easy, just coming back and carrying on like before. He'd even wanted to go out for a meal! Didn't he feel even slightly - Nero paused and leant against a wall as a wave of dizziness came over him. A sudden realisation had hit him - was this how his father had felt back then? Nero had been gone for what, a year? But Vergil… Nero felt bile rise in his throat and suppressed the urge to vomit. This explained so many things. Guilt washed over him. When all of this had been dealt with, he had some apologising to do.

He took a moment to compose himself, breathing in a few gulps of the early evening air. It felt so good to be outside again. To feel something other than endless, sweltering heat. He hoped this would all be over soon so that he could finally relish in his returned freedom. Nero pushed away from the wall and stared ahead with steely determination. Such thoughts could wait. For now, he had a job to do. He remembered the CCTV image again as he marched forwards, peeking inside restaurant and pub windows as he passed them. Just what had Lady and Vergil been doing together exactly? And dressed in such fancy looking clothes at that… He shook his head. Find first, ask questions later. He just hoped he would be able to get to them before this night got any worse.

They were being watched. He could feel it, and he was pretty sure she could sense it too. Vergil and Lady were sitting at a small wooden picnic table, eating some hamburgers in silence. It perhaps wasn't the most elegant meal, but Vergil couldn't deny that it tasted good. They glanced at each other nervously as they took sips from their paper cups and dabbed at their sticky fingers with napkins. Vergil had used the small break in activities to re-wrap the Yamato, even more firmly this time. It lay on the ground at his feet, hidden in the shadows but easily reachable if required.

"So, what do you want to do next?" Lady asked, shivering slightly.

"I am at your disposal," Vergil said calmly. His expression remained neutral, but his eyes flitted around, taking in every minute detail of their surroundings. He turned his gaze back to Lady, noting how pale she looked under the artificial light. Her carefully styled hair had long since been blown out of shape by the variety of rides she had insisted on trying (while he watched from the ground, of course), and most of her makeup had rubbed off through a combination of both sweating and eating. He found that her slightly dishevelled appearance pleased him however - she finally looked like herself again. He had come to realise over the course of the evening that while her unexpected makeover had indeed made her look more beautiful than ever, he simply preferred her in her natural form. She seemed stronger this way. A fighter.

Lady caught him staring and blushed a little, looking away. "What is it?" she asked, wiping some ketchup from her cheek. Even after a year, she still found him doing this occasionally; looking at her with those intense eyes of his - analysing her. It wasn't like she wasn't guilty of doing the same of course. Often after he had fallen asleep, she would just watch him for a while, gently running her fingers through his silken locks. His hair never seemed to tangle for some reason, even after he'd agreed to grow it slightly longer upon her request. It wasn't much of a difference, but it made him look younger somehow, similar to when they had first met so briefly all those years ago. He had of course drawn the line at anything too long - he was getting mistaken for Dante enough as it was. At the very least, it did mean he had to brush his hair out of his eyes less, but it didn't stop him from making the gesture nonetheless. Definitely a comfort thing, Lady reminded herself as she watched him do it once again, almost subconsciously.

"It's nothing," Vergil said. His mouth remained open as he debated whether to mention the obvious tension in the air, but he instead forced a smile. Somewhere nearby a small child started to cry, and Vergil's expression quickly returned to one of slight frustration. Lady suppressed a giggle. Vergil had a beautiful smile, but only when he wasn't trying. "I suppose the cinema is off," he said dryly. "Given…" he hesitated. Given that it's probably safer to remain somewhere open with lots of escape routes. "Given our appearances," he finished.

Lady - who was still barefoot and starting to feel the consequences - nodded slowly. "Yes, you're probably right. I think I'm still having fun here anyway." She took another sip of her drink and glanced around. While she had been trying her best to enjoy herself, she couldn't help but look over her shoulder every now and then, expecting Dante to suddenly appear, sword swinging and guns blazing. She couldn't be the only one that sensed something wasn't quite right here, could she? There had been a steadily growing thickness in the air, and she'd seen more than a few people throwing up seemingly out of nowhere. Even for a fairground, the number of people looking unwell had seemed higher than usual. But they had both agreed - no working. Not tonight. Lady sat up straighter and smiled. "How are you feeling?" she asked, hoping to change the topic.

"Out of place," Vergil admitted. He crushed his now empty cup and tossed it into the overflowing metal bin next to their table. "...Tense."

"You know, I hear they're planning to do fireworks later," Lady said, looking around again. "If you're up for it of course, that is."

Vergil drummed his fingers on the peeling wood. What he really wanted more than anything was to go home. Then he could at least say they had ended their evening without issue for once. Of course, both of them knew that wasn't a viable option. Whatever had followed them here seemed to be struggling to pinpoint their location. Why make it easier by wandering off alone? There was however also the risk that their presence here may pose to the thousands of civilians wandering about. If, in fact, whatever this was was looking for them to begin with. It was just as easily possible that - once again - they had just happened to wander into the wrong place at the wrong time. If that was the case then Lady definitely wouldn't want to leave. Not when this many people were potentially in danger. It seemed for now, they had no choice but to wait. But for what, he wasn't sure. "Fireworks…" Vergil said absently, trying to remember the last time he'd viewed such things. "Sounds pleasant."

"Perfect," Lady said, forcing another smile. She wondered briefly for a moment whether she should just try to contact Dante herself and get this all over with, then mentally kicked herself. If Dante spotted them here, dressed like this, then it was all over. Her eyes flicked down to the Yamato at their feet. It was fine. If anything happened, they were more than capable of defending themselves. They would see it out until the end, she decided. Once the fairground was closed, then they could officially declare the date as over. Then they could deal with whatever this was and fight to their heart's content. She cringed as a kid ran past and accidentally wiped some rapidly melting ice cream along her arm. There'll be less casualties to worry about too, she thought to herself as she wiped herself clean.

"I don't think I've ever been anywhere quite this sticky before," Vergil stated, handing Lady one of his disposable napkins and pulling her out of her train of thought. "Except maybe the orphanage I suppose…"

"Speaking of which, we should totally take Alisa and the boys here if it's still around later in the week!" Lady suggested. "It would be a nice opportunity for you to catch up with Nero too, I'm sure he'd love to come along-" She immediately stopped talking when she saw Vergil stiffen.

"Please feel free to go ahead," Vergil said coldly. He stared out across the increasingly litter covered field, which was teeming with people. "I think I have had enough of… this to last me a lifetime."

Lady sighed. "Okay, but… Even if we don't come back here, you are planning to see Nero soon, right?"

"When the time comes."

"He's been gone for an entire year, Vergil," Lady said firmly. "And let's not forget where he's been during that time. It's not like he's just been living it up on an extended vacation, y'know."

" I know- " Vergil snapped, before taking a deep breath and continuing, "I am well aware, thank you," he said.

"It can't have been easy for him, you know," Lady said sadly. "Unlike you and Dante, Nero hasn't actually been there before." She looked Vergil in the eye. "He probably needs you now more than ever."

"I thought you said this evening was about us?" Vergil said, gritting his teeth. "I am not in the mood to discuss this right now."

"Fine," Lady said curtly, pushing herself to her feet. "But if you don't arrange to meet up with him soon, then I will." She walked around the table and dragged Vergil from his seat. "...I know you feel guilty about what happened," she said gently into his ear as he bent to retrieve the Yamato. "But avoiding the problem isn't going to make it any better. We both know that."

Vergil straightened and ran a hand through his hair (again). "Thank you for your concern," he said calmly. "Now let's see what other things this godforsaken place is hiding. I'm sure there must be yet another flavour of candy floss we missed…"

"Vergil," Lady called out as he started to storm off into the crowd. He paused but didn't turn to face her. Lady caught up with him and gently ran her hand down his arm before interlacing her fingers with his. "I'm here for you," she said, resting her head on his shoulder. "And don't you forget it."

Vergil freed his hand and slinked his arm around her waist. For a moment he considered making some sarcastic remark, but instead bent slightly and kissed the top of her head. Without saying anything further, he tightened his grip and the pair stepped forward into the throng.

Dante's gun was muzzle to muzzle with the other man's weapon before its wielder even had a chance to register the movement. They both stood for a moment, arms outstretched, as they stared each other down. A cocky smirk adorned each of their faces as they both puffed out their chests, each trying to make themselves look as tall and intimidating as possible. When it was clear neither of them intended to back down, Dante moved his coat aside to reveal Ebony's companion. The man before him let out an irritated tut and lowered his weapon. "So that's how you're going to play," he said. Before Dante could respond, the stranger slowly lifted his free hand and opened it, revealing the clip for the gun he was still holding at his side.

Dante looked him up and down before finally holstering his own weapon. "Lemme guess, John?"

"How could you tell?" John asked, sliding the clip into his gun and tucking it away.

"Only an associate of Morrison's would be crazy enough to pull a stunt like that," Dante grinned. He held out his hand. "Dante."

"It's about time we finally met," John said, shaking Dante's hand firmly.

"We'd have met a lot sooner if you hadn't wasted my time like this," Dante said, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I had to be sure it was really you," John sniffed, pulling out his cigarette pack. He offered it to Dante, who shook his head. "This is a top secret mission after all."

"Is that so?" Dante asked, waving his hand through the air as John blew out a long stream of smoke. Friend of Morrison's or not, the guy was already starting to annoy him. "I heard you were looking for my brother."

"I was," John nodded. " Am, in fact, unless you think you can help instead."

"Talk me through it," Dante commanded, shoving his hands in his pockets. "And make it quick, I'm on a tight schedule here."

"Perhaps it's easier if I just show you," John stated, heading towards the police station. Dante let out a resigned sigh and followed behind.

A few moments - and one very confused receptionist - later, they were standing outside a door towards the rear of the building. There was a thin rectangular window along the length of the door, but it appeared to have been covered with police tape.

"What's this?" Dante asked. The unpleasantly familiar feeling from earlier had grown stronger, and he suspected he already knew the answer.

"This is - was - the employee break room," John explained. He turned to face Dante. "I trust you are aware of the reason I sought your assistance?"

Dante nodded. "But what's it doing here?"

"Well, we couldn't just leave them all out in the open now, could we?" John tutted. "We tried the evidence room at first, but we swiftly realised that just wasn't going to work unless we wanted a ton of lawsuits on our hands. City Hall didn't want it anywhere near them, and the breakroom was the next biggest place we had access to."

"Let me see it," Dante said. He had to admit, this wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting, but he could work with it. Maybe. He'd actually thought, based on where these things had likely come from, that he'd be making a trip back to the remains of Vergil's old apartment tonight. Part of him had even been looking forward to it a little - he was curious to see what had happened to the area after he'd left. From what he'd heard, it wasn't pretty.

John reached up and grabbed the top of the tape before slowly peeling it away, revealing just enough space to see inside the room. "Well would you look at that, it got bigger again…"

Dante glanced over John's shoulder and was more than a little surprised at what he saw. Rather than the deathly black or blood red demonic crystals he'd been expecting, he noted that the entire room was covered floor to ceiling in glowing golden shards. They stretched out from almost every surface, jagged and rough, yet strangely beautiful. His mind flashed back to the cellar, to the last thing he'd seen before passing out and somehow ending up in Hell. This golden appearance couldn't be a coincidence. He could almost feel himself being drawn towards them before John quickly slapped the tape back over the glass.

"And there you have it," John shrugged.

"I don't…" Dante shook his head, trying to break the strange spell that the vision had cast over him. "How did this happen?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that," John said, raising an eyebrow. "Preferably sooner rather than later. Do you have any idea how difficult it is having to deal with police officers who can't access the coffee machine?"

"I'm sure I can imagine," Dante said absently, tearing his gaze away from the door. He glanced back in the direction they'd come from. "Is this why the lady at the front desk was being so difficult?"

John wrinkled his nose. "Yes and no. We, ah, don't really tend to get the guys working here too involved. They've been told the main police station is closed, and they know enough to know they don't ask questions." John sighed. "Poor Candice though, bless her heart… She's been doing a great job holding down the fort while the others use a different building for a while. It would be a shame to lose her."

"You mean to tell me you're actually letting some random civilian look after this place alone with something like that just a few metres away?" Dante asked in disbelief. "I thought-"

"Now isn't the time for an ethics debate," John said, holding up a hand to silence Dante. "Can you fix it or not?"

Dante turned to face the door again. While he wanted to say yes, he also knew that based on the strange tingling sensation that was currently running up and down every inch of his skin like an electrical current, he definitely did not want to open that door. If they were going to deal with this, it would have to remain contained. He hummed thoughtfully. While he'd anticipated having a little more space to work with, this might actually end up being to their advantage. It all depended on just how those things that had been chasing them down kept coming back. "This room…" Dante said at last, "You said it's at the back of the building right?"

"That's right. It's flanked on either side by a couple of locker rooms, but the back wall just leads to the outside."

Dante nodded. "I think I might have an idea," he said slowly. "But I'll need some time."

Wind whipped through Trish's hair as her bike sped through increasingly busy streets. Even though it was getting later into the evening, the night only just seemed to be beginning. She was torn. On the one hand, she had a job to do, and an important one at that. On the other hand, just where were Lady and Vergil right now? If they really didn't have any sort of idea about what was going on, then they were sitting ducks. She wondered if they were still having a good time at least… Her grip tightened on the handlebars. No. Nero had this. He was out there looking for them, right now. There was no point in two people doing the same job, and she knew that. But she also knew that if Nero came across them unexpectedly then… She sighed and slowed her bike to a stop. How had she let it come to this? She should have just told them about her concerns straight away; asked them to delay their date by a few days until this was all resolved. But you only get one First Anniversary, she thought hopelessly. Mission or not, she would do everything in her power to make sure their night wasn't interrupted any further. If it wasn't already too late that is…

She dismounted her bike. She would do her best to find these bastards quickly, and then she could head for Nero. As long as she managed to distract him then he might not notice anything unusual. Yeah, like that's really gonna work. She sighed and surveyed the area. She had returned to the place where she caught Nico. It was the closest thing she had to a lead right now, and she hoped she'd be able to find at least some indication of where the creatures had gone. She looked up at the sky, which was now completely clear. There had to be something here. Trish closed her eyes and started to walk around the empty parking lot, trying to sense any sort of change in the air, any unusual scents, any changes in temperature… After making the loop a few times she returned to her bike and kicked at the ground in frustration. One minute the damned things had been everywhere, and now they were nowhere to be seen! She wondered out loud, "If I were a bunch of irritating clouds, where would I go…" Her first instinct was somewhere warm, but she couldn't think of anywhere nearby even remotely hot enough to compete with Hell. Somewhere familiar then? She crossed her arms and leant against the bike, trying to think of anywhere that might attract a bunch of demons. There was the main city of Red Grave, of course, but for once there hadn't been any reports of unusual activity for a while - she'd checked. Then there was the town where Vergil's old apartment had been - that had been one of her first thoughts - but she knew from checking in on there every now and then during the last year that demons were still avoiding that area like the plague, her included. It seemed most of the old power sapping wards had disappeared along with the building, but there was still an unsettling presence in the area that kept most beings with more than half a brain cell at bay. Heck, just the town's reputation had been effective enough at keeping things away. Even City Hall had delayed the clean-up process until just a few months prior.

She took a moment to consider the full circumstances. While Dante had sheepishly admitted that his poor use of the Yamato may have contributed to the first few stragglers that followed through, he'd sworn blind that he and Nero had dealt with it there and then. They'd even double checked that the portal was fully closed. So then why. And why so many? She wracked her brain, trying to think of something, anything that might lead her in the right direction. They had to be getting through somehow. Coming up blank, she jumped back on her bike. Just as she was about to kick it back into gear, her pocket started to buzz. She fumbled with the phone for a moment, still unused to the device despite having had it for a while now. She was surprised that anyone other than Lady even had her number.

"Hello?" she answered at last.

"Trish?" Nico's tired sounding voice said from the other end. "Where are you?"

"You're awake," Trish pointed out, ignoring the question.

"Yeah, yeah, l'm fine," Nico said dismissively. "Listen, Kyrie told me y'all were out lookin' for those bastards that sent me flyin'?"

"Something like that," Trish said, checking her watch. She was due to meet up with Dante and Nero in just over an hour. The plan was to wait for Nero to get in contact with Kyrie, and then she and Dante would head over after checking in at the orphanage. Circumstances permitting of course - no one knew what to expect on their respective missions.

"Have you found 'em yet?" Nico asked. There was the sound of a can opening in the background, followed by frantic gulping from Nico.

"No luck so far," Trish said dryly. She definitely didn't have time for this.

"Okay well listen, I think I might have some information that could help," Nico said with a belch.

"I'm listening," Trish said, suddenly much more alert. She dismounted her bike and leaned against it again, waiting.

"I'm sorry for not mentionin' it earlier, but in case you didn't notice I kinda passed out…"

"Get to the point."

"Okay, okay, so… Once I woke up and Kyrie told me what was happenin', I suddenly remembered somethin'." She took what sounded like another deep swig from her can. "So, thing 'bout bein' thrown up into the sky is, you kinda get a real nice view of everythin' for a good few miles. Obviously sightseein' wasn't my top priority, but just before I fell, I think I saw where they were headed." Trish could almost feel Nico smile through the phone. "I think I might know where they are!"

A/N - Ohh boy, sorry it's been a while! Hopefully this slightly longer than usual chapter will make up for it!
I won't bother going into it too much, but let's just say the last couple of months have been a little rough, so thanks for bearing with me haha...

Unfortunately I have a busy couple of months coming up again, but I'll try to work on this when I can! Thank you again for your support and sticking with this silly story so far! ^_^