Unbound Love
Chapter 2
Nero awoke to the sun shining through the window. He looked to the side and found Kyrie slumbering undisturbed next to him. Nero got up to get dressed, as he was doing so there was on rather loud knock on the door. He ran over to answer the door to avoid waking up Kyrie.
Nero opened the door to find Dante fully geared-up for their mission.
Dante took in the kid's appearance. "What's the matter, kid? You forget we have a mission this fine mornin'?"
Nero stared at him a bit frustrated. "No, I didn't. I was getting ready until you knocked at the damn door. You could of woken up Kyrie."
"It's alright, Nero." Kyrie chimed in.
Nero looked over to find Kyrie stretching. "Scratch that, you did wake her up."
"Okay, kid. Quit yer naggin' and get ready. I'll be downstairs." Dante told him.
"Whatever." Nero said, shutting the door. "That guy doesn't know how to knock." Nero said, a bit irritated.
"But, he just did." Kyrie said, confused.
"Quietly, I mean. He knocks at the door like Lady gave him a pass on his debt, it's annoying." Nero said.
"Who's Lady?" Kyrie asked.
"Well, it's a bit complicated. You might as well just ask Dante about that." Nero said, getting dressed.
"I see." Kyrie replied.
Nero strapped on Red Queen and Blue Rose and headed downstairs, Kyrie behind him. When he got downstairs Dante was sitting at his desk and Lady was on the couch with her feet up. Nero walked over to the desk.
"Okay kid, here's the breifing. A warehouse owner about six or seven blocks from here has a demon problem." Dante said.
"I've tried to exterminate them myself, but they just keep coming." Lady said.
"Their regular demons, but there's a lot of 'em, so that must mean-"
"A demon gate." Said Nero, finishing Dante's sentence.
"Precisly, kid. Now, your half of the pay is exterminating the demons that come out. My half is to find the demon gate that's spawning the damn things." Dante said.
"Six or seven blocks though, that's a tad close to home don't ya think?" Nero said.
"If I didn't know any better I would be saying he's slacking off." Lady said, from the couch.
"Hey, I had to pick this guys sorry ass up, yesterday." Dante complained.
"Yeah, whatever. How much are we getting paid?" Nero asked.
"Ten grand." Said Dante.
"Don't forget, Dante. Half of your pay goes to me." Said Lady.
"Aww man, the kid gets to keep his entire half while I have to pay?" Dante complained.
"Yep, your debt doesn't apply to them." Lady said.
"Dante, we'll give you half of our too. It's the least we can do." Said Nero.
"Yeah, it's not like we would know what to do with five-thousand dollars anyways." Kyrie said, suddenly.
Dante looked over to them, suprised. "Thanks, kid." Dante said.
"No problem, now let's get this show on the road." Nero said.
Kyrie turned to Nero. "Be careful, Nero." She said.
"I will." He said, walking out the door.
As they both walked down the street Dante spoke up:
"As soon as we get back we're hittin' the books to find out why that old fart can even breathe." Dante said, as he kept on walking.
"Heh, Never figured you for much of a bookworm, old man." Nero said, smirking.
"Their not mine, they belong to Lady. She said they would come in handy so she made me cram 'em in the attic." Dante said, shrugging.
"That sounds like her." Nero said, while stroking the small stubble that had begun to grow on his chin.
"Kid, you snagged yourself a good girl, you know that?" Dante said, totally off topic.
"I know, I would go through Hell and back just for her. What about you, old man? Have you ever found a girl?" He asked.
"Nope. My job doesn't let me, and I doubt any girl would wanna get together with a guy that has every demon in Hell tryin' to kill him." Dante said, turning a corner.
"And you think a girl would wanna get with a guy with a demon arm?" Nero asked.
"Well no-"
Dante was cut off as some clown demons tried to lunge at him from out of no where. Dante dodged and looked at where they were. "We're here already?" Said Dante, in disbelief.
"Yep, and it looks like the welcoming commitee is here." Nero said, as he started cutting down some demons.
"Not much of a warm welcome in trying to kill someone." Dante mumbled, pulling out Ebony and Ivory and shooting as a demon leapt up behind Nero.
"Tell me about it." Said Nero.
"Alright, kid. I'll leave these shrimp to you. I got bigger fish to fry." Said Dante, walking off.
"Heh, while Dante's fighting the big guy of the group I get stuck with these low-lifes." Nero muttered.
The clown demons suddenly turned their attention to Nero, and started their humorless laughter.
"I don't understand why you guys are laughing, Me kickin' your asses isn't funny." Said Nero, as he cut one demon's arm off. He craned his neck to the left, avoiding a clown's attempt to stab him in the face. "Man, all of ya have terrible aim." Nero commented, sidestepping a slash to the midsection.
Demons started to thin out over the next half hour.
"Well, it looks like Dante took out the boss of the bunch. Better wait for him out front." Nero said, walking toward the front of the warehouse.
"Alright, kid. I'll leave these shrimp to you. I got bigger fish to fry." Said Dante, walking into the warehouse. When he walked into the warehouse, he noticed it had a wide first floor, and a set of stairs that led to a catwalk. He looked around the first floor, then the catwalk. "Hmm, no demon gate, huh?" Dante said, scratching his ghost of a beard.
A growl from seemingly under the warehouse led Dante to a revelation.
"Ah, playing hide and seek, I see" Said Dante, jumping over the rail of the catwalk. He pointed his sword down and slammed it into the floor of the warehouse, causing it to cave in. He landed on his feet from what he guessed was at least a ten foot drop.
"The infamous Son Of Sparda." Said a mole-like demon.
Dante turned to where he heard his title. "You sure ain't the prettiest thing to look at are ya?" He said, taking in the demon's furry appearance, claws and beady eyes.
"Silence! I will avenge my demon bretheren slain by your sword!" Said the demon.
"Bretheren? Don't cha' have to be the same species before you can say something like that? Your the first kind of mole-type demon I've ever fought." Dante pointed out.
"Die!" Said the demon, lunging at Dante in a twister-like attack.
Dante sidestepped the attack, cutting the creature in the side. "A uni-directional attack is way too easy to dodge. Man, you guys need to learn some new tricks." Dante commented, slashing the monster right between the eyes.
The monster cried out in pain. "There will be more of us! Some idiot human is summoning us left and right!" The monster ground out.
"Tell me something I don't know." Said Dante, with a sigh. That old fart is causing more trouble than what he's worth. Dante thought.
The demon was cradling his face, wailing in pain. This caused Dante a huge headache.
"Shut up, already!" Said Dante, as he pulled Ivory out and shot it in the eye.
The demon faded into the air.
My shot was off... Well no use in cryin' over spilled milk. Thought Dante, heading to the front of the warehouse to find Nero.
"What the hell took you so long?" Asked a suspicious Nero.
"Cut me some slack. I had to fight a freakin' mole for god's sake!" Said Dante, irritated that the headache he had gotten earlier only got worse.
"Woah, hold your horses, old man." Said Nero, raising his arms in surrender.
"Look, can we just get back? I got a headache and have to pay back a very bitchy woman on top of it all." Said Dante, rubbing his head and walking toward the shop.
"Speaking of that, where do we meet up with the guy that's supposed pay us?" Nero asked.
"Right here, young sir." Said a voice.
Nero turned around and saw a short man in his late sixties holding a suitcase, presumably filled with their payment. The man walked up to Nero and handed him the suitcase.
"Mind if I check this?" Nero asked, not wanting to be ripped off.
"Go ahead." Was the man's reply.
Nero checked, and every cent of the money they had been told they would receive was there. "Thanks, mister." Said Nero.
"Your welcome. It's been a pleasure doing business with you." Said the man, as he scooted off.
"Kid, can we go already?" Said an unusually whiny Dante.
Nero chuckled. "So Dante the devil hunter fights demons on a regular basis and comes out unscathed, yet gets taken down by a measly headache." Nero said, teasing Dante.
Dante gave him a death glare.
They went the rest of the way in silence. Once they reached the shop Dante went to his desk and fell asleep.
"What's got him so tired?" Said Kyrie, as she came down from upstairs.
"Well, Dante the devil hunter has a headache." Said Nero. He heard Lady chuckle as she walked through the door.
"That's rare, I hardly get a break from his smartass comments." Lady said, sitting on the couch.
"Don't get too happy. He called you 'bitchy' on the way back." Nero said, setting the suitcase down and opening it.
"Oh, did he now? I'll have to get him back for that later." Lady said.
Nero divided the money equally and gave Lady her half.
"You know, you don't need to give me your half, Nero. Dante's the one that owes me, not you." Lady said, with kindness in her voice that only seemed to show when Dante either wasn't around or was asleep.
"Like we said, we wouldn't know what to do with five-thousand dollars." Kyrie said.
"Alright, if you insist." Lady pulled her half towards herself.
Dante was snoring loudly at his desk now.
"Good god, he could wake the freakin' dead." Nero complained.
Dante then murmured something from in his sleep that sounded like 'fuck you', but Nero just though he was having a bad dream.
"Hey, Kyrie let's go do some shopping." Nero said.
"Are you sure we should? I mean, Dante may wonder where we went." Said Kyrie.
"I can stay here and watch 'im." Said Lady, from the couch.
"You sure?" Nero asked, knowing Lady had better things to do than watch over a sick demon hunter.
"Yeah, I gotta get him back for that comment he said earlier." Lady said.
"Dante's gonna hate me for that later." Nero said, as he and Kyrie walked out the door.
They had soon found a JC Penny and Kyrie was making Nero try on a white t-shirt and swim shorts.
"Sorry, Kyrie. I don't do shorts." Nero said.
"Oh, come on Nero. It's not like you'll be wearing them in public." Kyrie said, giggling.
"Fine." Nero said, sighing in defeat. Kyrie had already coaxed him into some very unpleasant things already, including a blue one-piece scuba diving suit that he knew he would have no use for.
"Try to act a little happier Nero." She pouted.
"Hey, Kyrie. How about this?" He said, pointing to a tank top that had the saying I'm The Queen on it, and a pair of khaki shorts that would come down to just above her knees.
"I love it!" Kyrie said, smiling and bouncing up and down.
Meanwhile at Devil May Cry...
Dante was just waking up after a good nap, his headache was still present but more bearable now.
"Morning sleeping beauty." Said Lady.
"Huh, where's the kid and the girl?" Dante asked, standing up stretching.
"Shopping." Lady simply replied.
"I thought we were gonna hit the books when we got back?" Dante asked, still somewhat half asleep.
"That's what Nero said, but apparently you got taken down by a headache and needed naptime." Lady said, smirking at his situation.
"What're you smirking at? At least I don't drive people out of house and home with some outrageous debt." Dante argued.
"You brought the debt upon yourself Dante!" Lady half-yelled at him.
"How the hell did I get in debt with you anyway?" Dante shot back.
"I don't know. Probably the same way you get in debt with everyone else you work with." Lady retorted.
"An example being?" Dante asked.
"Like, you still haven't paid the repairs on Enzo's car after borrowing it last week." Lady told him.
"It's not my fault it got electrocuted to the point of not starting! I was being chased by three Blitz last week! Not one, Not two, but three!" Dante said, trying to reason with her.
"It didn't just get electrocuted, it was fried! All electrically-reliant components in the car were damaged beyond repair." Lady said, proving a point.
"Whatever, Lady. I'm gonna go upstairs and get some aspirin." Dante said, marching upstairs.
Douchebag. Lady thought.
Dante got the aspirin from the medical cabinet and popped five pills into his mouth. The regular dosage was only two, but Dante's demon blood lowered the effect so he had to take more to compensate. I can't believe how fast me and Lady can go from being casual to down right arguing. Dante thought. With these thoughts in mind, he went back downstairs. She was still on the couch looking up at the ceiling.
"Oh, hey." She said, as she glanced at him, her voice much more mellow than a few minutes prior.
"Lady, you can go home if you want. My head is better." Dante said, in an equally mellow tone.
"I would, but my motorcycle is in the shop." Lady said. Actually, her bike was sitting in a hotel parking lot a few blocks away. She just felt since it was already seven-thirty in the evening there was no point in going back home, she was just going to go to sleep anyway.
"I have an extra blanket or two, but your stuck on the couch for tonight." Dante said, scratching the back of his head nervously. He knew the mood they had going could deflate any second, so he tried not to piss her off.
"That's fine." Lady answered, calmly.
"Um, I'm really sorry about what I said earlier. I know I brought my debt upon me on my own, It just gets so hard to pay sometimes, ya know?" Dante said, still nervous.
"No, Dante I'm the one who should be sorry. I know how hard demon hunting can get, but I guess I just have a problem about getting impatient too quickly." Lady said, with kindness Dante had rarely ever heard.
"Thanks, Lady." He said, in almost a whisper.
She responded by giving him one of her rare, kind smiles.
Dante took off his trench and weapons, putting them in their respective places throughout the shop. "I'm going to bed early. Tell the kid we can hit the books tomorrow."
Lady, and almost anyone who worked with Dante knew he hated working on the weekends. His schedule was Monday through Friday, no exeptions. On the rare days that he was sick, Instead of telling the customers he was sick he would say the shop's under renovations. He wanted people to think he didn't get sick at all so it would get him more customers, it rarely ever worked.
"See you in the mornin' Lady." Dante said, as he went up the stairs.
"Night, Dante." She said.
When Nero and Kyrie got back the shop was quiet.
"Dante said you and him'll hit the books in the morning, he went to bed early." Lady told them.
"You stayin' the night?" Nero asked.
"Yep." She answered.
"Alright, It's time for us to get some sleep too." Nero said. Taking their stuff up to their room they soon closed the door.
I think I'm gonna lighten up on Dante a little. He's really sweet and I had no reason going off like that. Lady though, before going off to sleep herself.
I hope that was a good chap. I named it Dante's Bad Day because of all the issues he has in the chapter.
Sorry for the weird timeline in the mission.
-A