Devil May Cry

by Linkinpark30101

After what conflicted in DMC3, Dante finds himself involved with an organization made up of physically enhanced humans, that fight demons as well, that require his assistance. Read and Review.

5. Chapter 5

DEVIL MAY CRY

CHAPTER FIVE: DEALING WITH DRACULA

"Oh my GOD!"

"Relax!" Dante turned the steering wheel on the armored sports car that he borrowed for some 'driving practice' with Tifa, who was sitting in fear in the passenger seat of the vehicle. The car screeched in the garage as it spun about in a 180 degree turn before speeding up again at full speed. Dante looked down at the speedometer which displayed him going at 170 mph in an empty parking garage. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!"

Tifa, now thinking that Dante was in over his head and curling up into a ball, looked ahead to see a pillar up in front. "Left! Left! Turn left!!"

"You got it!" Dante spun the wheel to the left and the car went around the pillar. Behind it was another one.

"Right! Right! Right!" screamed Tifa. The car swerved to the right and went around the pillar. "We're gonna' die! We're gonna' die! We're gonna' die!!"

"We're not going to die!" Dante assured. Dante drove the car up the spiral ram that lead to the higher levels and went up two floors before he drove into another garage and came to a screeching halt. He looked ahead to see Sakura standing in front of the car with her hands on her hips and an expression that told Dante that she was not impressed at all. Dante turned the key and pulled it out. "And this is where the ride ends." He said with a confident smile. He looked to Tifa who seemed to be praying with a crucifix in her hand and mumbling something. "Hey." He nudged her shoulder. "We can get out now." He unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door. Sakura was clearly angry at Dante but he smiled at her anyways. "Hey honey, dinner ready?" Sakura slaps him hard. Dante puts his hand on his cheek. "Looks like you want a divorce."

"Do you think this is a game?!" she asked crossing her arms.

"Hey, I just wanted to take one of the organization's sweet rides out for a spin and I just brought the girl along so she can get a taste too." he said motioning with his arm. At that moment he turned his head to see Tifa falling out the passenger side and onto her hands and knees while shaking and breathing hard. "She didn't handle it very well."

Sakura sighed and walked over to Tifa to help her to her feet and started helping her walk to the door. "You're needed." she said to Dante as she passed by him. "Leave the car as it is and follow me." Dante looked back at the car and to Sakura as she went ahead. He started to follow her and clicked a button on the keys to lock the car as he did before tossing the keys up in the air and catching them and putting them in his pocket.

Tifa was able to walk on her own after a while down the halls and followed Sakura with Dante as she lead them to a room labeled: Morgue. Sakura opened the door and held it open for Tifa and Dante. Dante looked around at the white room filled with rolling tables filled with surgical equipment and cabinets all across the walls. But the most noticeable thing in the room was the smell. "Jeez, it smells like my dumpster in here!" He looked at the far end of the room to see the rest of Sakura's team standing around an operating table with something on top of it covered in a white sheet.

"Everyone's here now?" asked Loran upon noticing their entering.

"Yes." said Sakura. She looked to Dante and Tifa. Dante seemed to have adjusted to the smell quite well, but Tifa had a rag over her nose to block it out. She turned back to the table and her group. "Show us."

Marcus, the group's sharp shooter, lifted the sheet to expose a body that had been drained of blood to the point where the skin looked like a raisin. The jaw was hanging open to expose its teeth and its eyes where black hollows staring at the ceiling. The clothes on the body where still being worn. Tifa almost threw up at the sight. "Hey, I see these guys in the streets every day." commented Dante upon seeing the body. He reached his finger out and poked the side of the head a few times for fun. Then he leaned over and got a better sense of the smell it gave off before he started examining it with his own hands. Tifa could barely stand the thought of touching it. "Still fresh." Was the conclusion he came to. "Whenever I see these things outside my store I'd put them in a garbage bag and throw them in the dumpster out back." Everyone glanced a Dante with surprise on how he treats the deceased. "Lately they've been piling up and the smell has been getting worse." He looked at Sakura, who was not impressed. "By the way, did you notice the smell at all?" She still glared at him. He smacked his lips together. "Right, so what's the deal with prune-face here?"

"We found this body in the south side of the city. Its blood was sucked out via these holes." Loran gestured to the holes on the side of the neck with rubber gloves. "There where a number of these bodies scattered in the area and they were people that went missing the night before."

Marcus added to the inspection. "We concluded that the causes of the attacks were…"

"Taberu Chi bat demons." said Dante interrupting him. "The demons that helped bring to life the legend of Dracula."

"…yes." he said. "And they always feed at night, but not in the same place again." The others brought over a table with a map of the area. "The Taberu Chi have struck in these marked areas." Marcus pointed to the places on the map with a red X marked over them. "We'll need to cut them off soon."

"Then find the nest." said Dante crossing his arms and sitting on the operation table with the corpse on it.

"Easier said than done, Dante." said Marcus. "The city is big."

"Then take an educated guess."

"You're not helping, Dante." said Sakura as she examined the map as well.

Dante groaned and walked over. He noticed Sakura taking in a breath of air before putting the rag over her nose. Dante picked up the red marker and started connecting the strike areas together with lines until they looked like a poorly drawn circle. Then he put the marker in the center of the circle and circled the center. "There's your nest. No demon would stray to far away from their hiding place. All of the attacks would have had to have taken place around the nest."

Marcus looked to Sakura. "He's right."

Sakura looked at the map and called over Loran. "What is this building here?" Sakura asked pointing to the structure in the middle of the circle Dante drew.

"That's an old church." she said.

"It's perfect."

"Well done, Son of Sparda." said Marcus.

"It takes a demon to catch a demon." he said. "I'm expecting a raise after this." Dante walked over to the table on the opposite side of Sakura. "So what are we waiting for? Let's raid the nest."

"That's suicide, we'd all be sucked dry if we all went in there." said Loran.

"Then I'll go in my self."

"No!" shouted Sakura.

Dante looked over to her. Her face was showing concern and he smiled. "What's this? A crack in your emotionless exterior?" he asked as he casually strolled over to her. "Is this concern I'd getting? You're worried about me aren't you?"

Sakura noticed that all the eyes in the room were on her. "N-no that's not it! I'm concerned because Prof. Graves finds you important and I feel that we can't afford to lose someone important to the Professor."

Dante nodded slowly. "Good cover."

Sakura stood straight. "Right, we should get ready to move out." She turned to Marcus. "Marcus, have a chopper ready for us." he nodded. Sakura turned to Tifa. "Can you shoot a gun?" She nodded. "Go with Dante and Loran to the armory, I'll go verify the mission with the Professor." Tifa nodded and followed Dante and Loran out the door. Sakura put the sheet over the corpse and headed out last. She went left down the halls and headed to the Professor's study where she encountered Shaun. "Hello, Shaun."

"Are you going to see the Professor?"

"I am" she answered. "I'm going out on a mission and I want to let him know."

"Are you bringing that heathen, Dante, along?" he asked.

"I am."

Shaun nodded. "I will tell the Professor of your leave."

"Thank you, sir." she said.

Shaun approached her. "Please keep a short leash on Dante; I, for one, don't trust him."

"If the Professor trusts him, then we can trust him." said Sakura. She bowed before turning around to leave Shaun and follow her team. Though she said those words, part of her agrees with Shaun. She never did trust a single demon in her life, why should Dante be any different? But, are all demons bad? Are there demons that are sentimental towards humans? These questions crossed her mind ever since she met Dante and she has yet to answer any of them since she has put them aside to concentrate on the job before her.

Sakura met up with her team at the chopper launch pad with the black out helicopter started and ready for lift off. She walked against the gust of wind from the spinning blades towards the cockpit and jumped in next to Wong Li, their martial arts expert. "Good timing." He said with his strong Asian accent.

The helicopter took off with the whole team inside. Dante was sitting in the back next to Tifa. He looked down at her to see her looking down while she clutched a semi-automatic rifle. "Hey kid, what's up?"

"...those blood sucking demons killed my parents…" Her words were rather quiet.

"I see." he said. Dante crossed his arms and legs.

"Ever since then, I wanted to seek the power to destroy those creatures that took my life away from me. I'm willing to risk my life to avenge my family…"

"Is that so?" When Dante heard the lines about seeking power, it reminded him of Virgil. His brother was now in the demon world because he wanted to become all powerful. "Losing your life isn't going to change anything. If you lose your life trying to avenge your folks, then it's the demons who've won." Sakura looked up at him. "Are you sure you've gone down the right path? Do you think that all your parents want you to do is live on?"

"I…" She was cut off by the sound of lightning right outside the chopper. She jumped in her seat.

Dante looked out his window. It was raining hard where they were and lightning flashed every fifteen seconds. "Fuck, that was a big one."

Sakura looked at the CG map of the city and where they were positioned. We're close. She looked back. "Is everyone ready?"

Everyone nodded. "I live for this shit!" said Dante.

Sakura looked away and back at the map. "We're here, take us down." Wong Li brought the helicopter down and chose a location for the landing.

As they lowered, Tifa was able to get a good look at the old, run down church. The roofing was in terrible condition with place already caving in. Every window seen was smash and every statue was damaged to the point that you could not make out what it once was and pillars where leaning on one another. The only thing that looked untouched was the cross at the top. "It's incredible…"

"Spooky too." Dante said. The helicopter soon landed and the engine turned off. Everyone exited the helicopter one by one and ran into the church through the hole in the doors to get out of the pouring rain. Once inside it was almost pitch black. The only light was the light provided by the holes in the ceiling and the flash lights. The room they were in was the main chamber. The alter on the other side of the room was still standing with several rows of old benched between them and the alter. "I love gothic architecture."

"How can they do this to a house of God?" said Loran in disgust at the condition of the church.

"This is no longer a house of God, lady." said Dante as he walked deeper into the church with his flash light waving around at the area. "If you ask me, God has abandoned this place a long time ago." He said as he looked up and down the rows of benches with his flashlight. "And God is not here with us now." He said approaching the alter while pulling out Ivory. He pointed his flash light down at the rotting corpse behind the alter of what looked like the remains of the reverend of the church. "Or else he would have protected this poor guy here." Dante turned and started walking back. "Now I've never met the guy myself, but in times like these I think God's starting to pick favorites."

"Stop it, Dante!" said Sakura as she flashed her light at him. "Loran's Christian. Stuff like that is offensive!"

Dante looked to the silver haired woman and back to Sakura. "Sorry about that, lady." Dante quickly noticed Tifa looking around with her rifle in front. "You scare or something, kid?"

She looked to Dante and lowered her rifle. "N-no."

Dante walks back over to the group in a lazy manner. "Okay, but don't come crying to me when you're left alone in the dark." Dante quickly turned his head to the right when he heard a faint sound from a hole in the wall. The hole was pitch black so he couldn't see anything. He walks over to Sakura. "We've been spotted."

"We should split up." said Marcus. "It's best to cover more ground."

"Right." said Sakura. She turns to Wong Li. He had no gun, just close combat weaponry, which he always preferred. "Li, you go with Dante, and Loran." He nods. She quickly turns to Tifa. "Tifa, you're coming with me and Marcus." Tifa nodded and ran over to them. Sakura inspected the room and looked over to the hall on the right. "We'll take the right." Sakura's team headed down the dark hallway in a near single file line.

Loran walked over to Dante. "We're going left." She passed him and walked down the left hall, which was in worse condition than the right.

Dante cracked his neck and followed. The hall they were walking down had more light in it because of the large hole in the ceiling of it that stretched half way down the wall. The hall branched off in several directions, but they were impossible to get to unless the large amounts of debris blocking the paths were moved. Li led the way as he walked calmly ahead. Loran was constantly pointing her gun in the direction of her light incase of attacks. Dante was behind them with Ivory still in his hand. "Hey, where's your gun?"

Li looked back at Dante and looked forward while he continued to walk. "I prefer not to use such crude weapons."

Dante looked at his side to see a Chinese broad sword and a straight sword sticking out of a single sheath. "Swordsman, eh?" Everyone stopped when they heard an inhuman screech come from down the hall. Loran pointed her flashlight and her gun in that direction to search out the noise. Dante had the same reaction as her. Noticing this, Dante moved his eyes over to her. "Are we related?"

She turned to him. "Why?"

"Because we have the same instincts and hair color." he said not moving from his position.

"Then it would be by coincidence." She responded. "My original hair color was brown." Loran looked deeper into the darkness. "Something's moving around in there."

"It's only one." said Li. He reached for his straight sword but quickly grabbed his broad sword instead and pulled it out of its sheath. "Here it comes."

As predicted, a bat-like demon jumped out of the shadows with its wings spread out and its jaw wide open. The demon was grey and looked like skin and bones. As it revealed itself to Dante and the others, Loran and Dante let out a barrage of bullets at it. While it was distracted, Li jumped over it and removed its head with one swing of his sword before he touched the ground. The demon flapped onto the ground and the head rolled towards the wall. Dante and Loran approached it with guns ready. "This, my friends, is a typical Taberu Chi." he said giving it a kick to the ribs.

Li wiped his sword off with a piece of cloth before sheathing it and walking around their kill. "Are they all this emaciated?"

"Yep." said Dante. "How else do you think they fly through the air so easily?"

"So this was the best they've got?" asked Loran after putting a new clip into her gun.

"This one's female, the males have a bigger wingspan." Dante looked to the dark hallway filled with stone debris. "We might be going the right way after all." Dante continued to walk down the hall with his flashlight on.

Sakura looked around with her light when she heard the bullets. "Looks like the others got into a bit of trouble already." said Marcus.

"It appears so." Sakura turned around and pointed her light to Tifa. Tifa was against the wall and panting. "Tifa, it's all right." Tifa nodded while still panting. Sakura motioned down the hall. "Let's keep going." She went ahead of the other two. Marcus followed while pulling Tifa with him. Sakura looked around the halls moving around her flashlight at any place good for hiding. The halls where quiet with the only sounds being the footsteps from her and her team and the rain beating down on the old roof that's barely sitting on the church so it was easy to pick up anything crawling around. At the end of the hall was a set of old doors sealing off a room. She put away her flashlight and motioned Marcus to come back her up as she opened them. Marcus stood with his back against the wall as Sakura takes out her gun and pushes the door open slowly. Sakura turned her head and looked inside the crack she made to see an old corridor with a set of spiraling stairs leading down. Sakura pushed it out the rest of the way. "We're going down."

Dante shined his flashlight to an old door being held on by only one hinge at the end of the hall they have been traversing through. "Only way to proceed is through that door.

Loran puts her arm over her nose as she advanced towards it. "What is that smell?"

"That's rotting flesh, lady." Dante said. He moved around Loran and over to the door. He put his hand on the handle and yanked the whole door off the wall. "C'mon."

Loran and Li exchanged glances and followed Dante down the stairs on the other side. The stairwell was completely made of stone and seemed to spiral down three stories. There were indented places in the walls where candles previously provided light after every two yards. The smell got increasingly worse as they traveled downward. The stairs stopped at a hall that led to another door. Dante casually walked over and kicked it open. The source of the smell was in the room beyond the door. All three of them squeezed through to view a floor covered with rotting corpses. Loran almost threw up in her mouth. "This is horrifying."

Dante squatted down and looked at a rotting hand of a woman that seemed to be reaching out to the ceiling and clenching a large silver cross. He reached out to the hand and pulled out the cross. "This must have been a safe room." He stood up and pocketed the trinket. "These people were lead down here to hide from the taberu chi; you can see how well this worked out."

"This is terrible." said Li.

"Time to catch up with Sakura and the others." said Dante moving his light across the sea of bodies. "This is as far as we go."

Sakura opened the door and looked around with her flash light and gun. The room was large with windows providing light to the room. Sakura looked around the room to notice golden candle holders standing on stone and a statue standing near the fall wall. In the middle of the room were about nine coffins. They were in a crypt. She switched off her light. "I think we found where they sleep."

"How do you know?" asked Tifa. She was advancing into the room slowly out of fear of being surprised by the demons.

Sakura walked around the coffins while keeping an eye on them. "The story of Dracula was based off the existence of the taberu chi, right? If that's true, then we can bet on them sleeping in coffins." She stopped and tried to read the markings on the middle coffin, but they were worn out and covered with claw marks.

"Very good, child."

Sakura and Marcus spun around and pointed their guns at the statue of a warrior in the room. The voice came directly in its direction. "Using your deductive reasoning to come to this conclusion was very clever of you." Tifa watched the statue closely. The statue did not even move so it seemed impossible. "If what you say is true and most of the story is based off our existence…" A large claw reached over the shoulder of the statue that held up a broken sword and a large arm followed. "…then I must surely be Count Dracula himself." A head with a large red eye peered out from behind the statue.

Marcus advanced with his laser light pointing at his target. "I hope you enjoyed your last meal, bastard. Your time is up."

The demon's shoulders raised above the statue and its wings as well with all eyes on him. "Oh, I think not!" The demon tore the statue out of the ground to reveal its large body to his pursuers and let out a screech. Sakura and Marcus let out a barrage of bullets once it was exposed. The taberu chi spread its large wings and rose above the firing and flew across the room.

Sakura watched it fly over head and in Tifa's direction. "Tifa!" The taberu chi landed with Tifa clamped in the claws of his feet. "Tifa!" The demon took flight again in the direction of the small window and broke through the wall with Tifa. "Damn it!" Sakura took out her communicator. "Li! Target acquired! It's heading for the roof and it has Tifa!"

"Copy that, proceeding to the target area!" Li put his communicator away and turned to Dante and Loran. "Follow me!"

"Yeah!" shouted Dante after taking out Ebony and Ivory. "Let's get this party started!" He and Loran started running with Li. Dante stopped after hearing a screech and turned to his right. Another taberu chi jumped out of the darkness and brought Dante to the ground. Dante grabbed onto the jaws of the demon to prevent it from biting him. It hissed and waved its head to break free with saliva flying everywhere. "Ah, this one's female too!"

Loran stopped and turned to see Dante pinned to the ground with the demon on top of him. "Dante!!"

Dante used both of his hands to hold the jaw closed. He heard his name called and looked to Loran who was standing near a hole in the wall that led to the raining outdoors. "You guys go on ahead; I'll deal with this cunt!" He pulled one hand off and punched it in the face. Loran nodded and followed Li. Dante kicked up off the ground and pulled out Rebellion. "C'mon, you ugly bitch!" The taberu chi shook its head and glared at Dante. After it screeched at him it lunged forward with its claw coming down at him. Dante quickly moved to the side before slicing its claw off and jumping onto the air and decapitating the demon. The demon fell to the ground hard before Dante landed on his feet and put Rebellion back on his back. Dante looked down at his kill with annoyance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a silver blur coming at him. He pulled his head back and it flew across his face. He quickly pulled out Ebony again and fired three shots into the blackness. There was total silence. Whoever was there was gone. Dante put his gun away and looked over to a pillar where the object that was thrown at him was protruding out of. He walked over to it and looked at it. It was a silver dart the size of a pencil. Dante pulled it out and looked at the sharp tip that was covered in a glossy substance. Out of curiosity, Dante licked it and spat it out when he quickly realized what it was.

The large taberu chi flow to the top of the roof in the harsh weather with Tifa screaming in his claw. He landed on the very top of it and looked down at her. Tifa was trying to pull away but she was pinned to the wet shingles of the roof. "Young blood is always the best!" Looking at her face, he leaned down to take a bit out of her and suddenly stopped. He looked closer at her face and studied her eyes. "Have we met?" he questioned. Suddenly, Li jumped out of the church and stabbed the demon in the back with his straight sword. The demon screeched out to the sky and started to shake Li off. Li finally lost his grip and flew into the bell tower. Loran showed up shortly after and fired rounds out of her gun at him. However, the bullets had little effect and he struck Loran with his claw. Loran fell down hard and her gun fell off the roof. The taberu chi reached into his back, pulled out Li's sword and dropped it onto the roof. "How brave of you two to forfeit your lives for me to feed!"

"Hey, Daimus!!" The demon turned around and saw Dante standing on the roof with something in his hands. He looked down to them and noticed that they were the heads of the two taberu chis that Dante and Li killed. Dante tossed the two head over to him and they rolled to his feet. "It's been a while, so I thought I'd give you a gift!" he said with a smirk.

"DANTE!!"

"By the way, look what I got!" Dante reached into his pocket and took out the cross. Once the demon spotted it he let out a loud screech and flew up into the sky. Following him was seven other taberu chis that bursted out of the church and flew up into the dark sky with him. Dante tilted his head to one side before putting the cross back in his pocket. He ran over to Tifa, who was sitting on the roof looking up at the sky. "Hey kid, you gonna' make it?" he said over the pounding rain.

Tifa nodded. "What about Loran and Li?!"

Dante turned his head at his companions that were injured in the confrontation. "Get Li!" he said to Tifa as he ran to Loran. Dante kneeled down next to her and picked her head up. "Hey, you okay?!"

Loran looked up at Dante. "I'll…manage…" Dante looked down at her shoulder which was sliced open.

Tifa ran to Li's side as he got himself up against the tower. "Li, are you alright?"

"It's just a scratch!" he said holding his arm. "Tifa, please retrieve my sword!" Tifa nodded and ran to get it.

Dante walked over wile holding Loran. "Okay, let's get back to the chopper!"

Elsewhere…

Daimus and his followers flew to the roof of an abandon building and touched down behind one of its towers. While hidden behind its shadow they changed their grotesque form into that of a human's and revealed themselves to a man in a cloak. Daimus appeared to be a man in is late forties in a black suit with his black hair pulled back and a black mustache. The others appeared as women in white gowns with different hair colors. Daimus approached the man. "You said there would be hunters there, but you didn't say that Dante would show up too!"

"I did say that there would be a formidable foe among them." responded the cloaked figure.

"They killed Anna!"

"They killed Anna!"

"And Isabel! They killed Isabel"

Daimus heard the words of his followers. "As you can see because of him, two of my wives are dead. Decapitated like peasants!" he said angrily.

"Be patient, I will bring Dante to you and you may do whatever to him as you please; I promise you."

The following morning…

The elevator to the professor's office opened his doors and Dante strolled in. In the room was Prof. Graves sitting at his desk with his cane leaning against it. Sakura was also present. She was leaning against the desk with her arms and legs crossed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. The demon escaped!" he said as he approached them. "But look on the bright side, they will be laying low for a while and no one got killed!" Dante stopped at the desk and turned to Sakura. "But right now I what to know what the hell is going on!"

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

Dante reached behind her belt and pulled out a silver dart. "I'm talking about this!"

"I-I don't understand what you're suggesting, Mr. Dante." said Graves in confusion.

"We carry throwing darts to defend ourselves." said Sakura still keeping calm about Dante's anger. "But I don't know what that has to do wit-"

Dante reached into his pocket and pulled out the dart he had with him and stabbed its point into the desk before moving back to have them glance at it. Sakura looked at it with astonishment and Prof. Graves gave the same look. The dart was the exact same as the ones Sakura carried. Dante kept his angry face and pointed to it. "That dart was thrown at my head in the church. It had venom on the tip!" Dante glared at Sakura. "And I'm suspecting you!"

Sakura walked back. "Me?"

"It seemed too convenient at the time to kill me while Li and Loran weren't around wasn't it?" asked Dante threw Sakura's dart onto the desk as he advanced towards her. She took two steps back. "And you already have a prejudice against demons so it makes you the prime suspect in this case!"

"I-I was with Marcus the entire time and we were in the crypt." she said in her defense.

"Dante." said the professor as he examined the dart. "You said the dart was thrown at you?"

"Yeah!"

"Very well thrown?"

"Right at my head!"

Graves looked to Sakura. "Sakura can't throw these darts very well; she only holds them in her hand until she gets close to her opponents." He looked to Dante. "Dante, I promise you, I will get to the bottom of this."

Dante grunted and headed for the elevator. "Excuse me, Doc." He stomped out of the room. Sakura was panting from the situation. She looked down at the professor who still remained calm and was staring directly at the dart that stuck out of his desk.

TO BE CONTINUED…