I do not own Devil May Cry or any of the characters.
War Preparations
Marcus stared at the weapon rack. A bunch of guns. Snipers, assault rifles, Marksman Rifles, shotguns, machine guns, grenade launchers, AA guns, you name it. Dante had promptly given away the rocket launcher Marcus had brought him in a trade for a fifty caliber sniper rifle, and the grenade launcher for an AA-12, which he had somehow upgraded to Devil Arm in order to get infinite FRAG-12s. Not a bad trade, but given the fact that Marcus had been given one of each free of charge, it seemed pointless. Marcus had had Dante upgrade his own AA-12 as well and gave it to Kat, even though she had Pandora with her at all times, and had given the sniper to Nero. Go figure but you didn't really need many guns when you could form a silhouette that was able to crush enemies into paste.
"Are you just going to glare at those guns all day or are you going to come see what the real devil hunters brought to play with?" Dante asked from behind him.
"I don't need new guns, I don't need a new sword," Marcus said. "My sword can turn into an axe, a scythe, shuriken, or gauntlets if I so desire. So what could they possibly have that I'm interested in?"
"Simple," Dante smirked. "Stories, tactics, weapons, and one of them claims to have an aphrodisiac so strong that even a Succubus can't resist it. Bet your girlfriend will like that. Besides, I haven't gotten to meet my future great niece."
"No one but you is discussing marriage," Marcus said standing. "Don't jump the gun. Besides, she's the one who doesn't want to meet you."
"Now that's harsh," Dante said as Marcus walked past him to the large tent where all of the devil hunters, both those who worked for Devil May Cry, and those who didn't, were gathered to show off all of their toys.
Marcus stepped into the tent, looking around. He spotted Nero and Kyrie instantly, Nero sharpening Red Queen while Kyrie cleaned Blue Rose for him. Next, he spotted Trish sharpening her sword next to Lady who was cleaning her weapons. Sitting with them was a tan woman who looked middle eastern, except for her seemingly natural fire-engine red hair. She wore a white poncho with a high collar over tight white belly shirt with three-quarter sleeves, black gloves, tight white pants, and high-healed knee-high leather boots. She had a harness on her upper thighs attached to a knife belt and with a trap on each thigh for her curved blades, which she was currently cleaning and sharpening. The rest of the Devil Hunters were all grouped together in the middle of the tent, drinking, eating, cleaning their weapons, and sharing stories of different jobs. The vast majority of these hunters wore white trench coats with their hoods up and had identical swords, all of which also looked a lot like Red Queen, except more ordinary and white. Some of the devil hunters wore less uniform outfits, however, and carried mostly guns.
"The Order of the Sword," Dante said. "I ended up destroying them once. Then Nero let them restart under Kyrie's supervision and they've been working alongside Devil May Cry ever since. And then there are the ones and twos that work for fun or profit. Not a bright bunch them, but they're still better than the militaries of the world."
"And I'm guessing the one talking to Trish and Lady is Lucia?" Marcus guessed.
"Very good," Dante nodded. "Come on. I'll introduce you."
Dante led him over and Lucia glanced up at him, then at his Devil Bringer, then back to her blades.
"You're Nero's kid," Lucia said. "Strong, fast, cautious. Caution is a rare thing among Devil Hunters. And a priceless one. I hear you escaped the Demon World twice."
"With help," Marcus said.
"Help or not, once more and you'll be as accomplished as Dante," Lucia said. "I'm Lucia. Blade Master of Devil May Cry. Also the only Devil Hunter in the entirety of the middle east, so you'll have to forgive me for being a bit impatient. I'm usually busy, and don't deal with children."
"That's fine," Marcus said. "I'm only talking to you because Dante wants me to."
"Be civil Lucia," Dante said. "After all, this is the kid you're going to be working with."
"No," Marcus and Lucia both said.
"I work alone," Lucia said.
"And I've got a partner," Marcus said.
"Your girlfriend's not a Devil Hunter," Dante said.
"She's been dealing with Devils longer than anyone, even you," Marcus said. "She's lived in the Demon World for about sixty years, and I'm not leaving her side once this all starts."
"Then take her with you," Dante said.
"I will," Marcus said. "Alone. Without Lucia. And I'm going to be going after Vergil."
"Okay, well, Vergil is currently with the Savior, who has an army of Reaper type devils around him, as well as several class threes," Dante said. "Vergil himself, along with the Savior, are both class ones. And you'll have to fight both."
"You know, you've never really explained to me how the class systems work," Dante said.
"Well, there are five classes," Dante said, sitting down. "Class fives, are weak and pathetic, like a single lesser stygian. A normal human could easily kill one in single combat, provided he had a decent weapon. Like a gun. Class fours are things like Death Scythes, or Hell Vanguards. Annoying things but still relatively easy to kill for a Devil Hunter."
"What about Elite Stygians?" Marcus asked.
"High five, low four," Dante shrugged. "I'm giving you the most commonly accepted examples of each. Class threes, would be like that demon you killed when we first met. Or like a Gigapede. A giant flying centipede with a clam for a head."
"I've killed one of those," Marcus said. "They're not very strong."
"For you, no," Dante agreed. "For a lower ranking Devil Hunter, they're more problematic. Now, class twos are where we start to get into trouble. Succubi are class two for their ability to control Devil Hunters' minds. Demons like Agni and Rudra are class twos for their raw power. Doppelgangers are class twos for the fact that it's ridiculously hard to fight yourself."
"I've fought a doppelganger," Marcus said. "It wasn't that strong."
"From what you said, you had it permanently solidified," Dante said. "That makes it weaker, closer to class three. Any other time you fight one, the doppelganger uses dark rooms to its advantage, remaining untouchable but deadly."
"Wouldn't that make it a class one then?" Marcus asked.
"No," Dante laughed. "You see, as a demon climbs the ranks, they become more diverse, and unique, but also more powerful. Class one is reserved for the absolute most deadly, the kind that even the strongest Devil Hunters don't want to fight. There are only a handful that exist. Vergil, the Savior, Arius, Samael."
"Mundus," Marcus said.
"Mundus is a class all his own," Dante said. "And you are not allowed to go near Mundus. Devil Hunters are ranked too. Look around. What do you see?"
"A bunch of guys in white cloaks with swords who think they're tough," Marcus said.
"They're all class three," Dante said. "And every single one of them would be absolutely slaughtered by a class three demon. Demon Hunting is as much a game of numbers as it is a game of skill and luck. Demons' numbers are always in spades."
"Alright, so what about the Devil May Cry employees?" Marcus said.
"Lady and Lucia are both Class two," Dante said. "As is your girlfriend, I'd wager. Kyrie is between two and three, Nero, myself and Trish are all class one."
"And what about me?" Marcus asked.
"When you went into the Demon World you were high class two, and that only because of your Devil Bringer," Dante said. "Your skill alone rates you between two and three. If my father gave you a power up like you said, you're probably high two, maybe low one."
"What about Credo, and Sparda?" Dante asked.
"Credo is high two," Dante said. "Low one in his demon form. My father, is on level with Mundus."
"And you're not?" Marcus asked.
"I am when I use the power my father left in Sparda," Dante said, indicating Trish's sword. "Otherwise, no. I'm not."
"What about Vergil?" Marcus asked. "Are you stronger than him?"
"I'm not sure," Dante said. "But I'm going to find out."
"If I don't beat you to it."
"It's a war, Marcus," Dante said. "You've got to fight the soldiers in order to reach the generals."
"Or I can just fly over them," Marcus said.
"There's a reason we have AA guns," Trish said. "Eighty percent of devils possess some form of flight."
"Then I'll kill anything that tries to fly with me," Marcus said.
"No," Dante said. "You're family. I'm not going to watch you die, again, for revenge."
"I'll be fine," Marcus said. "But I'll fight the war your way until we get to them."
"Good," Dante said. "Now where's your girlfriend?"
"I'll go get her," Marcus sighed.
He walked out of the tent and to Kat's, finding her cleaning her AA 12 while Agni and Rudra talked to their brothers, Indra the lightning elemental blade and Varuna the water and ice elemental blade.
"Is something wrong?" she asked when she saw the exasperated look he was wearing.
"My family wants to meet you," Marcus said.
She slowly set her gun down and nodded, swallowing hard.
"It's alright," Marcus said. "Dante's the only one who's going to annoy you, except maybe Trish, and possibly Lady."
"It's not that," Kat said. "It's...there's something I should have told you before. I...After Dante fought Vergil the first time, he and I...we were...very close before I died."
"You were together?" Marcus asked before his eyes widened. "Well shit. This is about to be really really awkward then."
Kat nodded.
"I'm sorry," Kat said. "I should have told you. I understand if-"
Marcus kissed her, silencing her instantly before smiling.
"Don't even think about it," Marcus said. "I love you, Kat. I'm not letting you go that easy."
Kat smiled and nodded. Marcus smiled back before standing, collecting Indra and Varuna and putting them on his back as Kat collected Agni and Rudra and the two of them walked to the Devil Hunters tent, Marcus walking in first. Dante looked over, meeting his eyes instantly with a grin and a raised eyebrow, but it faded as Marcus's cold stare met it. Then, Marcus felt his face heat up and his cheeks turn slightly pink as he stepped out of the way and Kat stepped inside, blushing furiously and barely able to look at Dante. Dante's eyes widened and he stood slowly, staring at her, open-mouthed and disbelieving. Then, he all but sprinted across the tent, picking her up in a hug and spinning.
"How are you alive?" Dante asked, setting her down. "What are you doing..."
His eyes darted to Marcus and back before his disbelieving expression turned into a knowing grin.
"Oohh," Dante grinned, staring at Marcus for a moment. "I get it. That explains so much. How he was able to survive in the Demon World for the first six years of his life, how he escaped, how his friend knew about demons and a portal that would accept both humans and devils. It was all you. I understand now."
"It's good to see you again too, Dante," Kat said, hugging him before stepping back and glancing at the others.
"Oh, right," Dante said, walking to the other members of Devil May Cry. "This is Lucia the most beautiful middle eastern Devil Hunter I've ever met."
"The only middle eastern Devil Hunter alive," Lucia said. "Don't let him fool you. He's only flirting with me because he's not sure if he's going to get laid with Trish tonight."
All of the other assembled Devil Hunters laughed.
"And this is Lady, the best gunslinger after myself," Dante continued, blushing slightly. "My nephew, Nero and his wife Kyrie. And this is Trish. She's my business partner."
"Is that what I am?" Trish asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Only because he doesn't have the balls to kiss you," Marcus said.
"As I was saying," Dante spoke up, cutting them off before they could taunt him anymore. "Trish, Lucia, everyone, this is Kat. The human that helped me in Limbo City."
All of them stared, having heard his description of her, and how much he had cared about her, numerous times...when Dante was drunk enough to talk about it.
"I-I'm sorry," Lucia said. "I didn't mean to offend-"
"It's alright," Kat said, raising his hands. "I died sixty years ago. Whatever me and Dante were back then, it ended. Besides, he's a little too old for me now."
"Ouch," Dante said. "I've still got more years left than..." Dante trailed off, eyes flicking to Marcus who stared at the floor.
"I know," Kat said, looking to Marcus. "We'll deal with that after the war, alright?"
Marcus looked up at her then nodded.
"I think that's enough meet-and-greet for one day," Dante said. "Come on. Have a pizza with us. I'll bet it's been a while since you've eaten anything decent."
Marcus smirked before a thought occurred to him. What, if anything, had she eaten in the Demon World? The two of them followed Dante and the others out of the tent to building where the cooks were, and Dante walked up to one who was still wearing his Domino's uniform. The man instantly scrambled away from Dante to the oven and Dante sat at a table, propping his feet up on it as the others sat around the table with him, Nero and Trish also propping their feet up.
"You have horrible manners," Marcus said, watching them.
"Oh you'll be fine," Dante said.
"I think you could all learn something from Marcus," Kyrie said. "He has more manners than all three of you combined."
"His parents probably...oh," Dante said. "Sorry."
Marcus rolled his eyes just as the Domino's guy set several pizzas on the table and scrambled off.
"What, free?" Marcus asked.
"The President has repaid all of the debt Devil May Cry-" Dante began.
"Your branch of Devil May Cry," Nero interrupted.
"My branch of Devil May Cry," Dante grumbled. "Has accumulated, as well as promising any Devil Hunter willing to fight free food during the war, and free food, housing, life insurance, medicare, and tax exemption for life for whoever kills the three devils in charge of the devil army."
"That's very generous," Marcus said. "What types?"
He opened the top one and grimaced, passing it down the line. Dante's kind. The next was even worse. Anchovies. Lucia took that one. The last was simply a meat lover's. Marcus got himself two slices as the others dug in. Dante ate four slices himself. Marcus eating three, Kyrie ate one, Lady and Trish both ate three, and Lucia and Nero ate two. Kat, ate six.
"You were hungry," Dante said.
"No, but I missed pizza," Kat said.
"Alright then," Dante snorted. "Hey, let's get some alcohol over here!"
"I don't drink," Marcus said.
"Me neither," Kat said.
"Aw you guys are no fun," Dante snorted.
"Someone needs to be sober enough to fight if we get attacked," Marcus said.
"Oh don't be so serious all the time," Dante said as one of the cooks set several thirty racks of beer on the table. "We can all fight drunk."
"And what if Vergil decides to come and find his brother?" Marcus asked.
"Spoil sport," Dante grumbled, opening a beer and draining it.
"I'm leaving," Marcus said. "I'll see you guys later."
He stood, walking away from the others and after a moment, Kat followed. She looked around once outside but there was no sign of him. She began to wander around, asking people if they had seen him, but no one had. Finally she went to the tent they were sharing and found him sitting inside, cleaning his sword. He smiled as she entered and set his sword aside, picking up a pair of ice cream cones that Varuna had been keeping cold, holding one out to her.
"I told you I was going to buy you an ice cream when we got out," Marcus smiled.
Kat stared at it for another moment before taking hers and licking it, a wide smile spreading across her face. Marcus smiled as well, both enjoying their ice creams in silence. Once they had finished, Kat leaned on Marcus's shoulder, wrapping her arms around him as his own went around her shoulders. She closed her eyes, enjoying his presence. After a little bit, he lay down on his cot, pulling his blanket over them. She snuggled into his chest and he kissed the top of her head lightly. She smiled up at him before reaching up and kissing him. He kissed her back, hands resting in the small of her back. After a moment, he trailed his tongue along her lower lip and she granted it entrance, moaning slightly as her own tongue met his.
His hands began to trail up her sides, but before they reached their goal, Kat pulled back, sitting up and catching them, moving them to her hips. He opened his mouth to apologize but stopped when she reached up to the zipper of her jacket, opening it and dropping it on the ground beside them. Then, she slowly pulled her top off, allowing him to see her bare skin. His eyes drank in the sight before he looked into her eyes questioningly. She nodded and he sat up, pulling her into a kiss as his hands began to explore again.
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