DEVIL MAY CRY

CHAPTER THREE: FIRST MISSION

Dante found the kitchen and helped himself to some booze before looking for Sakura to find out where he needs to go to find her team. "Never around when I'm looking for her, but always around to spoil a moment." He came to a door with her number, 207, on it and knocked. It slid open and she stood on the other side. "There you are, been looken' for you."

"Go away." She pressed a button and the door began to close.

Dante put his foot between the door and the wall before it closed and forced it back open. "Hey, don't leave me hangen!" He invited himself into her room and looked around. "Homey."

"What do you want?" she asked leaning against a wall and crossing her arms.

"Geez, I just came here to register for your team of super powered weirdoes." he said taking another drink of the beer. "How about it?"

"The Professor already assigned you to my team, there's no need to register." she said.

"Then why don't we talk?" he asked sitting himself into a chair. "Anything on your mind?"

"No, leave." She said.

Dante got up. "What if I don't feel like it?" Sakura pulled a knife out of her boot. "Girl, I beat you once, and I still got what it takes to take you on." Sakura threw the knife at him. Dante quickly drew Ivory and shot the knife at the tip of the blade and it flew into the wall to his left before falling to the ground. "Looks like I have the advantage."

"…what do you want…?" she said.

"You have a prejudice against my kind, why is that?" he asked pointing his gun at her.

Sakura pulled her hair behind her ear and sat down on her bed. "It's because of your kind; I was an orphan the rest of my life."

"Oh I see, you hate me because demons killed your folks." he said. "Well, I'm a devil. There's a difference; so don't take it out on me." Dante put Ivory down. "I hunt demons too, in case you forgot. Plus, you're little organization needs me, so don't try and kill me yet."

Sakura put her head on her hand. "Leave my room now, or I'll break your legs."

"Tch, whatever." Dante headed out the door and closed it behind him. "Tough bitch." He walked down the halls and a dark skin man walked up to him. He was wearing the same uniform as the men with the high powered rifles and he had sun glasses on. "What cha' need, baldy?"

"The professor has given me orders to have Sakura's team head to the south side of the city to investigate suspicious activity." he said. "And since you are a member of that team, you are going with her."

"Well she just kicked me out of her room, so tell her yourself." He said walking past the man. "Have her yell for me when she's ready."

Sakura was informed and gathered her men in the armory to get ready to head out. Her team contained fifteen men and five women, all of them well trained. "Is everyone here?" said Sakura.

"It appears that way, ma'am." said one soldier.

Sakura walked around inspecting the men. "Where's Dante?"

"Dante?" asked one of the female soldiers. "The demon?"

"Yes him, where is he?" she asked again.

"Haven't seen the guy." said another soldier.

"Shit…" Sakura kicked down the door to the armory and it hit something on the other side. The door fell back in and Dante was standing on the other side of the door way rubbing his forehead. "Where were you?!"

"Waiting for you to kick the door down on me." he said holding his head. "Are you trying to kill me?" He walked in and looked around. "So, these are your groupies?"

"This is my unit." said Sakura. "We're heading out for our new mission in which you are joining us."

"Right, whatever." Dante pulled a belt of hand grenades off the rack. "I always wanted one of these."

"We're heading out, let's go." Sakura's team walked out of the armory and headed to the garage for transportation. Dante followed as they headed down into the same garage that they entered when he was brought there.

"What are we taking?" he asked. Sakura motioned with her head to her left. Dante looked over to see a bunch of motorcycles. "Nice." he said. "But you don't have enough."

"Some of my men are taking the choppers." she said. "Let's go." Sakura took the yellow bike and started it up. Dante took the one that was three bikes down from Sakura's that was red. "Try to keep up."

Dante smiled and cracked his neck. "Lady, I do this for a living." Sakura put on a pair of sun glasses and revved up the bike. She presses down on the pedal and shot forward. Dante followed after her with a few other members of the team behind them. Dante followed Sakura to a tunnel that lead underground and was well lighted. He looked ahead and saw that it went on for miles. 'They have a tunnel system under the entire city? They must be well paid.'

Up ahead, Sakura was keeping her focus forward watching the tunnel. In the middle of it she began to have flash backs of her family's last moments. She had a mother and a father, two brothers, and a sister. They were all running from demons that crawled on walls and ceilings with its sharp toes. Its front arms, however, had scythes on the ends in which it used to slice up its victims while climbing around for them. Sakura tripped while running and fell on the ground. He father ran for her as he loaded his shot gun. He stood right in front of her as he fired upon the demon. She was relieved when she saw him come to save her, but all of that vanished when a scythe was plunged into her father's back and his blood splashed on her face. He was pulled up to the ceiling like a rag doll right after his rifle dropped. She covered her ears as she heard the screams of her family as they too where getting torn to shreds by the same demons. Filled with fear, she got up and ran for her life as her helpless family is slaughtered. Suddenly, she regained focus and released herself from the frightening images. She looked back to see if her team was still with her. Then she glimpsed at Dante whose coat was flying around behind him. She had thought about his appearance and whether it was a cover up for his true form or not. She looked back to the road and saw their exit on the right hand side. It was a ramp that leads upwards to the south part of the city. She drove up it to a road that lead to a gated area where she slowed down and parked her bike.

Dante came up behind her and came to a screeching halt right next to her. He looked back as he turned off the engine. "Looks like your boys are late." After he said that, the rest of them have caught up and stopped where Dante and Sakura were.

One of them took of his helmet and walked up to Sakura. "Choppers are in the air and are right on schedule, ma'am."

Sakura nodded. "Alright, open the gates now." One of the other men walked up to the right side of the gate where a control pad was installed into the wall and typed in the code. The gate labeled Gate 23 opened down the center and slid apart slowly. As they did, the light of the sun peaked in through the opening.

All of the ground members readied their weapons. Dante grabbed the grenade belt on his bike and threw it over his shoulder. "Let's kick some ass!" He said as he strolled through the gates. Everyone followed and looked around. The whole part of the city was deserted. All of the buildings where in bad shape too with broken windows, holes in the walls, and caving in roofs. The streets were all cracked with weeds growing in them and the cars still sitting on it were covered in rust, dents, and smashed windows. To top it all off, there were dead leaves, and paper all over the ground. Dante examined the brick building that was barely holding up that contain the gate they just exited. "This has demonville written all over it." he commented out of the blue. Sakura looked at him because of his comment. "And you don't have to put a sign up or anything, it just plain out says: Welcome to Demonville; stay the hell out." he said writing it out with his finger in the air.

"That's enough." she said walking forward. Everyone else followed her out of the building, weapons ready. She looked around at the sorry state that this part of the city was in. "Our mission is to stop the demon breeding in this part of the city and whatever offspring it has. Arthur, locate the demon." she commanded. Dante looked to his left to see a man with long brown hair lift it up to reveal his ear. "Everyone stay silent."

Dante looked at the man. "Is he listening for the demon?" he whispered to Sakura.

"Found it." said Arthur, "It's in the building straight ahead."

Everyone pulled their guns up ready to fire as they approached the building. Dante stared into the black window where he saw movement. Each team member slowly advanced to the window. "Why is everyone so quiet? We want it to come out right?" Sakura glared at him. He put his hand up to his mouth and called out. "Hey, ugly whore, you done in there? Then get your ass out here and join the fun!" After he said that, a loud screech was heard from inside the building and a pair of long, red legs reached out of the building's busted window. Then the head came out, it was the head of a large insect with six red eyes and large pincers. The whole body came out slowly and was well armored. It screeched again as it revealed itself. The whole insect was about twice Dante's height and three times longer. "That's the mom right there!"

Sakura aimed her gun. "Get ready everyone!" She aimed for the head of the demon. "And…" Before he continued, the demon leaped at them. Then a sword was thrown at it and plunged into the chest of it. The force also pinned it to the building it came out of. She lowered her gun and looked at Dante knowing it was his sword.

Dante looked at the demon with a proud face and his hands on his hips. He looked at Sakura noticing her staring at him. "What? Mission Accomplished." Then he heard the demon screech again. Everyone turned to the large demon that had green blood leaking from it. It lifted its head into the air and made a loud screech as if it was calling for help. "Dammit, what now?!" said Dante. After it stopped screeching, the demon collapsed, still pinned by the sword.

Everyone looked around hearing a rumbling noise from the buildings. "This is not good." said one of the girls. As everyone grouped up, an army of demon insects spilled out of the windows and doors onto the streets.

"Now I know how an exterminator feels; kinda." Dante said pulling out his guns and firing into the barrage of demons. Everyone else opened fire at the demons as they came closer.

"Dammit, I didn't expect there to be this many!" said Sakura taking shots out of the demons. "Where's the choppers?!"

"Looks like we can't depend on them now!" said Dante. He looked at the mother demon with his sword in it. "Hey Sakura, back me up!" He said dashing for his sword.

"Wait!" she said running after him while firing at the demons behind her. "Arthur, take command!" He nodded in acknowledgment and went back to firing. One of them got too close and he had to back spin kick it back. Sakura ran up to the building with Dante. Dante had jumped up to the Demon and grabbed his sword. "Hurry up!"

"Jesus Christ girl, it's not like its jammed three inches in there!" said Dante. He yanked hard and the sword came free and so did the demon. Dante jumped to the ground next to Sakura. "Got it." One of the demons jumped right at them once he turned back to the scene. "Move it!" Dante pushed Sakura into the building and jumped back as he fired a single bullet into the insect with Ebony.

The demon fell to the ground as soon as Sakura hit the floor of the building. She landed next to a pile of corpses that were already decaying. "Ugh, disgusting." Dante waltzed in with his sword on his shoulder. "You really know how to treat a woman." she said.

"What can I say? I have experience." he said mockingly. Then the floor cracked. "What was that?" Dante looked down with Sakura right before the floor collapsed under their weight and they fell in. Dante landed on his back on a dirt ground and Sakura fell on top of him. Dust flew up everywhere as the pieces hit the ground as well. "This place is shityer than I thought!" said Dante coughing from the dust. After it settled he looked up to see Sakura on top of him with her glasses missing. "Now this is a familiar scene." He commented. Sakura looked down at him. "Now if only we were in bed." Sakura jumped up off of him and kicked him in between his legs. "Ah!! Don't you get tired of doing that to me?!"

"Oddly enough, no." she said. She found her glasses in the dirt and put them in her chest pocket. She took the time to look around at the situation. "It's like a tunnel."

Dante scrambled to his feet. "I think you killed my balls." he said. Then he looked down the tunnel. "Something's down that way." He proceeded down the tunnel with Sakura close behind. She reached behind her and pulled out a small hand gun. The tunnel was dark with the only light in it was from the hole they fell through. It went of for a long distance and only had one turn. Dante looked around it with his back against the wall. There was a large chamber on the other side with several large black spheres all over the ground. "I think this is the nest…"

Sakura took a look. "Oh my god…"

Dante and Sakura came around the corner seeing as how it was unguarded. "That mother must have been going to town with her buddy." he said examining the nest. Sakura looked in amazement. She pointed her gun at one of them and took aim. Dante grabbed it and pulled it down. "Don't."

She tried to yank it out of his grasp. "Why not?!"

"Sound gets these things going." said Dante. "It's best to kill them off all at once."

"Then what do you want me to do, drop a bomb?" she said. "Do I look like I have one strapped to me?"

"No, you're not middle-eastern." joked Dante. Then he remembered something. "Oh, yeah!" He reached under his coat and pulled the bell off his waist and dangled it in his had in front of her. "What do ya think?" He said smiling. She just stared at him. "C'mon say it. It won't kill you."

She sighed. "Good thinking…Dante…"

"I'm always good at thinking, some of the time." he said pulling off all of the grenades. He handed some to Sakura and held the other half in his hands.

"Pull the pin and run." said Sakura pulling out one pin but still holding down on the trigger.

Dante was just about to throw one into the nest until she said that. "Wait, there's a pin? I just thought we throw them and they blow up." He pulled out the pin in each of them with her staring at them. "Sorry, I just saw people throw these on the television and didn't pay attention to the pin part."

Sakura rolled her eyes. After they got that settled they spread the grenades all around the nest. Some of them actually hit the eggs before hitting the ground. "Run, now!" Both of them spun around and ran at full speed down the tunnel. "If we get around the corner we'll make it!"

Dante looked back and saw the grenades go off. That's when he grabbed Sakura and jumped around the corner. They put their backs up against the wall as dust, rocks, and demon parts flew by and hit the far wall. Both of them sucked in their breath and let it out in relief. "Now is kinda smells down here." commented Dante.

Sakura got off the wall and walked down the tunnel. "Come on, we need to help my team." As she got closer to the hole, the sound of helicopter blades was getting louder. This sound made her feel relieved. She came too the hole and jumped out gracefully onto her feet. Avoiding the corpses of the former residence, she looked out to see her team gathering up; then she noticed one of them putting a white sheet over a body. She hurried over to them. "Loran, what happened here?"

The woman next to the body stood up. "Arthur's been killed, ma'am." she said.

Sakura looked down at the sheet to see blood quickly stain it around the neck area and down the chest. Dante walked out of the building casually swinging his arms and looking at the scene. "Mission accomplished now, let's head back; sound good to you guys?"

Sakura glared at him. "How can you be so laid back?! One of my men is dead!" she said. "I should have expected as much from a heartless demon." she said looking away.

Dante looked down at the body. "Your prejudice is going to get you into trouble some day." he said. He walked around her and kneeled down next Arthur's corps. "But you're right; I don't feel bad for this poor bastard. I'd like to be in a world where I don't have to see these ugly dicks come out of nowhere and chomp your throats out like him." Sakura turned to him is surprise from his comment. "But I'll have to wait a few hundred years or so until then." He stood up and walked to the chopper. "Let's just get out of here for now and mourn later." He said in his usual tone.

Sakura's eyes followed him ever since his comments. Was she wrong about him? Those were her thoughts. She looked down at Arthur's corps as it is picked up and placed into another chopper wondering if Dante was telling the truth. She heard one of her men call out for her. Sakura regained focus on the current situation and jumped in next to Dante. The chopper took off soon after. She looked down to make sure that every last one of the demons was dead. Then she looked to Dante, who was looking out the window with his chin on his hand, and wondered again if that was his true form.

TO BE CONTINUED…