This is my first story since coming back to this site. I haven't been writing much in the time I've been gone, so I may be a bit rusty, we'll see how it goes.

A/N: This story was brought about by a combination of: my inability to stop thinking, getting up WAY too early on a day off and ending up with a LOT of time to kill, and my mild form of dementia brought about by a lifetime of insomnia

Warnings: Disturbing imagery, bad language, possible mentions of gore, possible yaoi (though it'll be mild), and excessive use of metaphors and repetitive words (let's all break out our thesauruses, shall we?)

Dedications: I dedicate this entire fic (in all it's suckiness) to Alvara19, Flowing Tears, and Pushka. You guys are without a doubt, THE BEST DxN writers on this site. No joke. I'm a big fan and in no way expect to be as good or better than you.

Little Fact: The title of this story is actually a song by Nox Arcana. I...couldn't come up with anything myself v.v; I...guess it sort of fits.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Infect

"C'mon kid, watch what you're doing!"

"I got it already!"

Nero rolled his eyes as he turned to block an incoming strike from one of the bladed demons that had managed to get behind him with Red Queen. He and Dante had been sitting around bored at the Devil May Cry office when they finally got a call about someone suspecting a demon in a nearby area, their only lead being 'inhuman' sounds. The young hunter snorted at that even now as he cut the small, black creature in half, leaping out of the range of the ripe smelling insides that spilled out as it fell to pieces before evaporating. In his opinion, humans made 'inhuman' sounds if the circumstances were right. Besides, it was probably just some wild animal.

He was sure Dante believed that too, but with nothing else pressing to do, they'd taken the mission. And the instant they made it to the abandoned building that must've once been a warehouse of some kind, several lower-level demons had come up out of the ground as if waiting for them.

Dante had been ecstatic at a real job, even if it was small and the pay particularly lousy. But then, he suspected that Dante had low standards when he was bored.

What really annoyed him was the fact that Dante seemed convinced he couldn't do this devil hunting business right. No matter how good a fighter he was. The elder slayer was always shouting insults his way, taunting Nero and constantly finding reasons to berate him on the battle field…and he wondered why Nero ended up injured on missions nine times out of ten? If the old man would shut his mouth, he might be able to concentrate properly.

And of course, Dante did everything effortlessly, with flair and sarcasm all around. It was enough to make Nero growl in frustration every time he thought about it.

Once the weaker demons had been killed, both hunters paused to take stock of the building they'd been fighting outside of. Roughly two stories, it looked to be falling apart from the outside, broken windows that were half boarded up, a rusty door that was hanging off its hinges. The whole aura of the place was decrepit and depressing.

"Is this really it? Why do demons think it's necessary to infest such shitholes?" Nero wondered aloud as he placed his sword on his back, walking towards the door, tentatively pushing it open with a finger and peering through the crack at the inside. It was dark.

"I don't know. Maybe they do it just to piss you off, kid." Dante answered as he came up behind him, making the younger grit his teeth and swallow the snarky comeback already forming.

Instead he kicked the door open, consequently breaking the squeaky hinges barely clinging to it and sending the rusted metal crashing to the floor. He didn't care that it was hardly subtle or the sound of the door hitting the concrete floor echoed in the large, empty space. Save for a few cobwebs and abandoned, rotting boxes, the place was empty. Even the air was stale and musty.

"Well I don't see anything. If we came out here for just those things out there then I'm—"

"You'll what, kid? Be mad? I'll say." Dante interrupted with a laugh, sauntering past the younger man and looking around the dim interior, Rebellion resting casually on his shoulder. "Hmm…though I have to say, this place is a bit dreary."

"It looks like your place." Nero muttered, ignoring the raised eyebrow sent his way at that, turning to walk further into the building and look around. They were already here, might as well check to see if anymore demons were around…or maybe find the feral cat or whatever was making those sounds.

Dante didn't say anything for once as they both quartered and searched the entire building. They started in the far corners and ended up meeting in the middle, neither coming up with anything, but before they could speak, something heavy began shuffling over their heads.

Two pairs of blue eyes lifted slowly to the wooden beams over them, watching as dust fell down on them as something up there moved around.

And just as they were backing up from each other slowly to try and get a better look, a large shadow suddenly fell to the ground between them, both hunters not even getting a chance to inspect it before an ear-splitting shriek filled the room, both Dante and Nero backing up further and covering their ears at the grating sound.

Nero grunted as he squeezed his eyes shut, as if that would dull the sound that didn't seem to end. When it did, he almost didn't trust that he hadn't just gone deaf, slowly opening an eye as he lowered his hands tentatively, able to see Dante doing the same as the large shadow between them shifted and started to stand, eventually blocking the elder slayer from view.

Standing to its full height, the creature was nearly a head taller than him, taking a step closer as Nero lifted his right arm, the light cast by his devil bringer allowing him to see most of the thing's features. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen anything uglier. The demon had dull red eyes, its skin a sickening pale blue and black, almost like a walking corpse. In fact, it looked almost entirely human, which disturbed the younger man. Its back was slightly hunched over, its body so frail and thin looking that he could see all its individual bones poking through. Nero wasn't sure why, but he found the most odd thing about this demon not its lack of attacking immediately, or its appearance of a person, but the way it appeared to have a potbelly, the abdomen distended and round like it swallowed a beach-ball.

Nero heard Dante whistle low. "Wow, now there is someone to win the ugly award."

He had to agree, broken out of his staring stupor when the demon suddenly shuddered after Dante spoke, lifting its too large hands up and covering its distorted face, shivering as if it were freezing before it shrieked again.

Whatever it was, it was noisy and neither appreciated the greeting.

Both hunters drew their weapons as the second scream filled the warehouse, the crack of firing bullets joining it until the whole area was deafeningly loud. The three currently in the fray didn't seem to care, however, as the demon suddenly leapt away, landing clear across the room. Nero glanced over at Dante who had a stupid grin spreading over his face. Great…the old man was starting to think this ugly fucker was challenging him. This wouldn't end well.

"Hey kid…dinner's on whoever cuts off Mister Ugly's head. You in?" the devil hunter in red asked.

Nero snorted and didn't openly say that he was in…they both knew that he wouldn't turn down a challenge. Especially not from Dante.

Both drew their swords and ran at the demon from either side, the battle that ensued was surprisingly difficult. For all its awkward proportions and stumbling, the demon was fast and seemed to only get angry whenever one of them landed a blow. Dante was clearly loving it, but Nero was getting annoyed that he could barely land a superficial hit before the demon was across the warehouse again. But if he lost, then he'd never hear the end of it. Revving Red Queen, Nero leapt at the demon again, anticipating it dodging and reaching out with his devil bringer to stop it, glowing talons wrapping around a thin leg and yanking it back towards him. He hesitated to deliver a blow, however, as he felt the frail bone snap in his grip and he dropped his sword to cover his ears when the demon shrieked again, louder than before if possible. It probably didn't help that it was right in his face this time.

It was close enough that he felt the rush of air as it screamed, could smell its rancid, cold breath, hear its skin and bones creaking as they struggled to support the awkward weight of its middle when there was no muscle on the damn thing's body.

So why, when it suddenly grabbed him, could Nero not break free?

He dimly heard Dante call his name, but was trapped by the dull red eyes boring into his own. For some reason, in that split second that passed like minutes, he was all but hypnotized by the demon, and he swore he saw…pain behind those eyes. Desperation. As if it almost WANTED to die…but survival forced it to fight. Nero's lips parted slightly at the thought and blue eyes widened when a small, wispy cloud of black smoke suddenly seeped from the demon's mouth and misted over his face, making him shudder and begin coughing violently at the stench, the sensation of something he could only suspect was the cold of death brushed over him, slipping into his mouth on a strained inhale. He struggled weakly, but didn't get a chance to free himself, as suddenly the world came back into real time.

A loud shot rang out, everything going still enough Nero could hear a single shell casing from a bullet ringing as it bounced off the floor. Black pupil expanded to engulf dull red and the demon let go of him and fell heavily to the ground, black blood pooling behind its head an instant before it slowly disintegrated, blue-black skin melting off fragile bones, the rounded belly popping like an oversized pimple and oozing into the cracks of the concrete.

And God, if Nero thought it stank before…

"Kid!"

Nero blinked as he felt someone shaking his shoulder roughly, looking up from the disgusting, yet fascinating sight of the dead demon to see Dante standing next to him, the elder looking almost concerned as he stared at him. "Huh?" Genius, Nero.

"You alright?" Dante asked, gripping his shoulder tightly before letting go and taking a small step back to inspect the younger for any injury. Nero seemed out of it, but other than that, he was unharmed. Relieved, the older slayer immediately started to tease his younger counterpart. "Ha, guess I win."

Nero shook himself slightly at that and his usual fiery glare was directed at the devil hunter. "Yeah right. You said winner was the one who cut off its head. You shot it. It doesn't count."

"Yeah, but you got stupid and let it grab you. I had to act fast and you were across the room." Dante improvised. "So you have to pay a 'stupid kid' fee. You're buying dinner."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, old man."

Dante laughed at that defeated response and started to walk back out the open doorway that was now lacking a door. Nero paused to look to where the demon had fallen again, seeing nothing but a black stain on the concrete. For some reason, he got a chill and rubbed absently at the armored knuckles of his right hand, still feeling the weak bone snapping against his fingers. He'd ripped demons apart before…why did this one broken bone stick with him? Maybe because it looked so human and pathetic he felt bad….

"Come on, kid, I'm getting hungry! Move it before I charge a late fee too!" Dante called, snapping Nero out of his thoughts once again.

Nero huffed at that before heading towards the door, deciding to put the demon and the weird connection he'd seemed to make with it when it grabbed him for that split second in time out of his mind, running his tongue over his teeth as he found a bitter taste forming in the back of his mouth.

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