The waves of the ocean beat silently against the wall of the abandoned, dilapidated old warehouse that remained from before the city had been destroyed. All around the building was silence, save for the occasional crash of the waves against the cold concrete. The air smelled of salt and iron, remains of the battle that had been fought ages ago. A battle that continues to this day.

A car rode up to the old warehouse. Inside it were two old men, terrified by the new reality given by the Nephilim two years ago. Each wrinkle upon their bespectacled faces told a story of how fear now ruled their lives, despite how wealthy they looked. Though currency retained its value, people had a lot less safety in it than they had before. Investments meant little when compared to what was considered a threat these days.

Their footsteps were light, and trembling. They closed their doors as lightly as they could, however against the dead silence of the old warehouse, the sound was akin to a gunshot. After flinching, both men froze for what seemed like an eternity, wondering if they had been noticed. After having calmed themselves and slowed the pace of their hearts, they looked toward the old warehouse and began their journey toward it, away from the safety of their vehicle.

The air was cold against their skin, and only felt colder as they approached the derelict structure. The trembling in their arms was more a result of their fear of what could lurk around any corner in this part of the town than it was of the cold, however; they were garbed in warm black blazers, dressed to go into a high society party. One held a chrome suitcase while the other held a small pistol. They finally reached the door, that heartless door that seemed to negate human presence.

The man holding the suitcase raised his hand, balled up into a fist, tentatively. It was shaking nigh uncontrollably, his task involved creating noise to gather attention, something he had practiced the last two years of his life avoiding. The other man swallowed nervously, facing the direction of the destroyed city, gun outstretched. Finally, with a breath, the first man brought his hand to the door, rapping against it three loud times.

Their hearts leaped to their throats with each connection, and the one holding his pistol nearly pulled the trigger on reflex. He exhaled when nothing had happened, which was an omen both good and bad. That meant that, while what hunted them had not found them yet, they also had no response from the beings that they were trying to contact. Another few minutes passed between the old men, still consoling themselves from their own actions.

Another three knocks rung out against the silence. This time, however, movement could be heard from within the building. The man with the gun now switched from looking out to looking at the door, the barrel of his gun following his line of sight. The door opened with a metallic groan, and behind it stood a cloaked man. He made a gesture for the two men to walk towards the entrance. He spoke, his voice withered and weak. "The money."

The man with the briefcase nodded hastily and held the briefcase up, sowing that he had it. The cloaked figure nodded and the men entered. The door shut behind them, the metallic grinding of rust providing some comfort. At least in here they would have some protection. Even still, it was a long time before another word was spoken. In the long dark silence, the three men had found their way to a table, where the briefcase was then opened.

Several stacks of dollar bills were in the case, along with a photo. The cloaked man paused at the photo, but began counting the stacks of money. Both of the men nervously looked around the dark room, though their nervousness did not mask what precisely they were confused about. It pronounced it, however; everything was about money, and what wasn't money was what one could get for money. Even though the Demon King Mundus was gone, this remained a habit of humanity.

The man disgustedly looked at the men, and closed the suitcase. One of them adjusted their spectacles. "…s-so…" his voice was raspy. He was a public speaker back in the days men were ruled invisibly by the demons, from their realm of Limbo. After the Demon King was defeated, and Limbo crashed with reality, however, the demons became a much more physical threat to him, and his voice was silenced. Though really, when all around him was lies, did he have a voice to begin with? "…about our deal…"

The man stood there for what seemed like an eternity, before he ran his hand along the groove of the metallic suitcase. The two men looked at him, eons speeding by in the span of a few seconds. "My experiments have come along nicely. The demons will not be able to stand against them." His arms folded, and he turned to face the window. The old men seemed to be relaxed by this news. It amused the one who had been cloaked.

"When can they be tested?" asked the one who held the gun. It had returned to its holster as soon as they were inside the building. Back in the days of Mundus, he was a high-profile bodyguard, though in the face of a demon he found that next to nothing worked in destroying them. That was why they had turned to this man, to find a way of combatting them.

"Interesting question." Said the man ominously, still facing the window. "They can be tested now, if you like. I just need two more ingredients." The speaker and his guard exchanged nervous glances. They had sacrificed much for this, for protection. A fortune and a half was allotted to this man's experiments, though he shared not what the nature of his research was, precisely. Though whatever he did, it kept the demons at distance. It was always better to be safe, however, and not clunk about the warehouse.

"E-excellent." The speaker spoke with as much confidence as he could muster. Two years of running from monsters that were previously too horrible for even his nightmares, it was amazing that he could even speak at this point. "W-what do you need?" The cloaked man chuckled a bit at this question.

"Well, the thing these machines I've built need is a body…" he began to explain.

"Mechanized suits, then?" The nervousness was evident in the guard's voice. It could be heard in the faint stutter in his voice, it could be felt on his every breath. His sweat could be smelled from a mile away, and the fact he cut off the cloaked man while he spoke was a giveaway of his fear. The man nodded at this statement.

"In a way, yes." His response put both men at ease. The cloaked man's footsteps could be heard as he stepped across the warehouse, to a few covered shapes. They looked humanoid enough. "Unfortunately, there is a fatal flaw in the design." The speaker sputtered a bit at this.

"W-well, fix it! I am not paying you for flawed work!" Bravado is sometimes a very hard thing to fake, especially when just two years ago you lived in what you considered the lap of luxury, not having any fear of death, nor need to prepare for anything of the sort of mimicking bravery. However much the man wished he sounded intimidating, his bark sounded more akin to a desperate little animal, cornered and its last escape shut off from him.

"This fatal flaw is what makes these such an effective demon fighting tool, however." The man continued, having been cut off twice. He cared not for their impudence or irrationality at this point. He pulled the cover from its resting place, and the men stared in awe at what they looked upon. "Now, who's up for testing this?"

The seemingly empty warehouse had two visitors that night, and though before it had been the quietest district in the city, now some of the most blood-curdling cries came from it. The cloaked man's laughter could be heard in the background to their cries for help, however there was nobody nearby who could help. The man picked up the photo, an image of a black-haired man wearing a hoodie displayed upon it. He smirked and walked away from the scene.

The sound of the stereo filled the small trailer as a young man stepped out from his bathroom, rigorously scrubbing a goop into his midnight-black hair. He looked in a mirror he passed as he did so, making sure to cover every bit of silver he could find there. He let out a sigh when the phone started going off, his arms falling to his sides. It would dry, he decided, given time. He picked up the phone that lay beside his stereo, and spun to fall into the recliner beside it, letting his foot fall on the "mute" button as he answered.

"Demon Dante's Shack of Attack, how can I help you?" His voice was smooth as he spoke, though confident. He waited a moment before he moved to hang up, then he heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Sorry, Dante. Just…the name of your store…I can't take it seriously." Dante rolled his eyes, listening to his ally, Kat. She was the person who had helped him set up his store in the first place, though she continually refused to help him name it. Perhaps she got some sort of sadistic pleasure out of it, he thought.

"What would you have me name it, then?" He kicked back in his recliner, raising his feet. There were a few moments of pause, and then Kat changed the subject.

"I have another freelance job for you, in the Old Residential District."

"Awful lot of me not getting paid, Kat. How do I keep this hunk of junk if I have no cash?"

"The world is filled with demons, Dante. The market will eventually call for people like you to destroy them. Until then…"

"Get my name out there. It doesn't help when I have to keep changing my name, though."

"It's a rough time we all live in." Dante exhaled and looked around his wrecked little home. He could not help but remember that his last place was used as a weapon against him by the Hunter, a demon sent to kill him by Mundus. Fast forward two years and his new home was still as much of a mess as the old one.

"…okay. What is the job?"

"There are demons infesting an old corporate building. One of my contacts needs them all eliminated. He has scouted out at least three dozen demons."

"What kind are we looking at, here?" Dante stood up from his chair, walking towards his door.

"Low-level demons, should be pretty easy to take on for you."

"Got it." Dante hung up the phone, grabbing his coat off the rack by his door. He kicked it open, his fresh-dyed hair not flowing whatsoever with the wind from the outside. Before him was a well-kept street; he hopped onto the pavement of the road and began his trek forward from the trailer. He and Kat had taken up residence in the human stronghold of "New Limbo", named for its proximity to Limbo City. It was a good community, he had no real complaints as to the other residents. Kat refused to live in his trailer with him, so he saw her every once in a while when he wandered the streets looking for work, but not much else.

When he and Vergil had defeated Mundus, crashing Limbo into the real world, demons suddenly became a much more real threat. It allowed them to defeat the Demon King, however it also meant that humans knew demons existed, with all the implications that followed. Limbo City's destruction was known world-wide, and is considered ground zero for the demonic threat. As such, the people who retreated into New Limbo were cut off from the rest of the world.

All around him were posters of how the people should fear the demons. Dante could only look at them and feel a personal failure. This was not what Vergil wanted with the world, not how he wanted the humans to react. Perhaps he thought he could control these people. It was a mockery, and he should have known it. The man exhaled angrily, who would have known that his actions would be the prologue to modern day Earth.

Propaganda aside, the people inside New Limbo held much fear for the outside world. With a weak connection through the net, they were only able to get the faintest ideas of what the outside world thought, through scraps of information and data they managed to retrieve. They feared a beast that still wandered Limbo City, and those fears propagated New Limbo's own fears of what existed outside.

Soon the gate to New Limbo was within a visible distance. On it was graffiti, done by Kat to help keep demons out of the city, though the residents thought her just a vagrant who kept up her own sin. That was fine with her, so it did not bother Dante very much when they tried to clean it up. Kat just reapplied it as necessary. At the gate he could see a small, hooded figure. He smirked and continued on his way to meet her.

"What are the chances?" he asked as he approached the figure. She looked at her.

"That you'll stop dying your hair that color? None." Dante chuckled at her quick response to him. He looked at the graffiti on the gates, a circle that was decorated all sorts of odd seals that made no sense to anybody but Kat.

"You hear to say 'goodbye', then?" The black-haired demon hunter asked, poking the seal, giving him a shock that shook him to his very core. Kat glared at him while he recovered from his poor choice of action.

"The seal deters demons for a reason, Dante. It's not just a fancy marking that looks weird to them." Dante held the hand he touched the seal with as though it burned, but he managed to force a smile anyway.

"I dunno. Looks strange enough to keep me away." Kat shook her head.

"Don't forget that you aren't human. Please." Dante shook his head.

"Nah, I'll be fine. Look, see?" He waved the hand he touched the seal with, showing it had fully recovered. The girl had a worried look on her face, one that killed the smile on Dante's face. "Promise. Nothing out there can kill me."

Kat shook her head and smeared one of the symbols on the gate. She opened it up, and Dante looked her in the eyes. He gave a last reassuring smile, slipping through the doors while the alarms went off. Nobody was permitted to leave the stronghold without the permission of the whole community, represented by a singular council. Kat would be spraying on the door to repair the seal, and could explain her reasons easily enough. "I was tagging the gate, and accidentally touched the switch…" He could see her getting away with that.

Dante stepped away from the gate, looking around at the ruined city of Limbo. It was commonly known as the Old City to the people in the Stronghold, though they rarely even spoke of it. Finding his way around the ruins of Limbo City was not difficult, especially since demons could not pull him into the alternate, demon reality known as Limbo any longer.

Finding the building in question, however, was a more difficult proposition. He looked around at the many dilapidated buildings. Even in their broken state, something brought about by his own actions, they had a sense of grandeur. Larger than life, one might say. Though many humans evacuated Limbo City when the Gate to Hell was closed by Vergil, and Limbo merged with reality.

He let out a breath and folded his arms, looking up at the various buildings in the once great metropolis. His arms fell to his sides when he heard a low growl from around the bend. He recognized that growl from anywhere, the growl of the monsters that had hunted him for the better part of his life. Demons.

The hunter felt a familiar weight on his back as his sword, Rebellion, materialized. He reached up and grabbed the handle, his other hand reaching for one of his pistols, Ebony. His movements were slow, but they were deliberate. The demon did not know of Dante's presence, and as such he had the upper hand for now. He approached the corner, and rounded it slowly, looking at two demons before a building.

It looked like a nightclub, in all honesty. Dante was somewhat confused as to what the demons were doing infesting buildings. They weren't zombies or anything, they were every bit as intelligent as a human being, so why would they all hang around a building like that? He stood back a moment, and pondered, then looked at the demons again. "Hey, shitheads! Remember me?" he drew Rebellion and walked towards them. "I dunno what you guys are doing hanging out here, but no party's ever complete without me."

They were grotesque abominations, demons. Even though what he gazed upon were merely pawns, they were monsters of the highest, most disgusting, caliber. Scarring covered their bodies, like they were composed of burnt flesh and paper, bones sticking out at next to every joint. They held serrated blades, and their eyes glowed a bright red as their gaze fell upon him. "…Dan…te…" one of them muttered, moving towards the black-haired demon hunter.

"You got it," Scoffed Dante, pointing his blade at his enemies. "Anyway, the neighbors called, place smells like crap. Guess it's time for you assholes to head out." He pointed Rebellion in a random direction, a gesture complementing his statement. With that, the demons flew towards him, quickly enough that any normal human would not have had the time to react.

Dante was no human. He slammed the broadsword into the ground before one of the demon's path, causing the monster to slam face-first into the flat of his weapon. The demon hunter took the opportunity to stomp the demon's spine into the ground, leaving Rebellion in place while he took flight, landing a few meters behind the demons. He drew Ebony's sister pistol, a silver pistol by the name of Ivory, and aimed them both towards his enemies.

"Come now, even I'm not that narcissistic." Dante remarked at the demon whose face was flattened against Rebellion's blade. Blood was painted across the small bit of floor it remained upon, as well as on the hunter's boot. The other demon looked his way, and he stared directly into its eyes. This must have been quite a shock to the demon, who by now was more than likely used to hunting humans who'd flinch at the very scent of these demons, let alone their visage.

Dante gave the monster no time to ponder what he was, and fired several bullets from his pistols. The demon casually danced through the pellets of lead, however, and took a beeline straight to their source. The hunter smirked as he sidestepped the linear attack, decorating the side of the demon with several bullets as it passed by him. His coat swayed as he faced his enemy who'd just struck at him.

"If you want to dance with classy ladies like Ebony and Ivory…" mocked the demon hunter, kissing the barrel of Ebony, "…you're gonna need better moves than that." The demon, covered in blood that had splashed out from the impact of each bullet, moved to face him with slow, pained movements. He gazed directly into its eyes once more, holding Ebony out to face his enemy.

Pain filled his body before he could pull the trigger, however; he looked down to see the blade of Rebellion piercing his chest completely, his own blood oozing forth from the entry and exit wounds. He gasped in pain while the demons reveled in their victory. Then, the sound of a gunshot filled their ears, and the demon that had held Rebellion dropped to the ground. "Caught me by surprise that time." He stated as he turned to face the demon, which was now on the ground, stunned by his actions. "You know my name, but do you know who I am?"

It would have been quite a sight for anything to see. The demon hunter moved and spoke as though he did not have a gigantic broadsword piercing his chest, and yet blood still spilled forth from the wound. The other demon took its chances and charged from its spot, blade pointed towards Dante's chest. The demon hunter scoffed and let the attack connect. He grunted as the weapon pierced his ribcage, then he grabbed the weapon and pulled it deeper, forcing the demon to share his fate upon Rebellion.

He then raised his leg and kicked the demon off, with such force that it flew into the building behind it. Dust raised violently from the destruction, and Rebellion was pulled all the way through the hunter due to the action. The blade fell to the ground with a dull clank, and Dante cracked his knuckles. The wound had sealed up already, and the hunter picked up his sword. "My name is Dante." He looked toward the demon on the ground, stabbing its shoulder, pinning it to the ground. He picked Ivory up from where it had landed on the ground. "Son of the demon Sparda…" he fired, the bullet piercing all the way through the demon's skull, killing it instantly. He stood and faced the demon he kicked earlier, which had already returned for a second lesson in pain. "…and the angel Eva."

He pulled the trigger as the barrel of Ivory lined up with the demon's skull, and it dropped as quickly as the last had. He exhaled as he looked at the corpses, holstering Ivory and grabbing Ebony and Rebellion from their places in the corpses. "…and now I'm talking to fuckin' demons…you're losing it, Dante…"

He looked back to the building, holstering Ebony. Rebellion remained in his hand as he approached the building. No telling who resided in there, especially if Kat's intel on the building was correct. Thirty two lower class demons was nothing to the hunter, he was just playing with these two. He kicked the door open and walked in to the dusty old buildings. "Alright, cowards!"He called out, but received no response from his actions. "Where the fuck are the rest of you?!"

He walked through the old lobby. There were no signs of decoration or anything, nothing to specify at all where he was or who owned the building prior to his battle with the Demon King. He pulled out of his pocket a cell phone, and dialed Kat's number. Ring, ring, ring, all the sound in the world and no demons came out. The demon hunter was a bit disappointed, but heard an answer from the other end.

"I'm about thirty demons short, Kat." Dante said as he leaned against a wall next to an elevator.

"Dante, you have to return to New Limbo—now." He chuckled a bit at Kat's command, surely she was joking about that one.

"Look, I got a little bloodied up, but that's no reason to pull the mission. Where do you want me to go?"

"It's not that! Dante, you need to listen to me. Get back here, now."

"Just tell me what I'm looking for in these buildings and I'll head back."

"Did you kill all the demons?"

"I think so, but like I said, most of the guest list did not attend it looks like."

"There is something else in those buildings, Dante. My contact just got back to me, told me to get you out of there." A tremor could be felt. The demon hunter's heart rate picked up a bit. He smirked and acted as though he'd felt nothing.

"Would that 'something else' be a stronger demon?"

"Yes, now would you please—"

"Cause I'm lookin' at him now. Tell your contact to give me a grocery list. I'll be back within the hour." He closed the cell and walked around the lobby, eager to see what followed him into the building. "Fashionably late to the party, eh?" He spun to see a large ape-like creature had appeared behind him, fist raised. He leapt backward, avoiding the attack and the after effects of said attack, and held Rebellion before himself and his foe.

It drew back, then lunged at him. He gracefully rolled under the attack, and ended up behind the monkey demon. He drew Ebony and fired a few bullets at the creature, though they seemed to bounce off of its thick hide. It turned to face him, its grotesque facial features twisted into what looked like a mocking grin. It charged at him once more, continuing its onslaught through the lobby, splinters of desks and seats flying through the air.

Dante backpedalled again and again, staying just away from the monkey's attacks, until he finally ran into the wall. He leaped back onto it, and kicked off, pushing him above the attacks. He landed into a roll, spinning and firing a few more bullets from Ebony, and while the bullets themselves bounced off harmlessly, the force of them pushed the monkey off balance and through the wall. "You know, in most games you get marked down for friendly fire!" the hunter called out. The monster looked back at him after pulling itself free of the wall, this time he had the cocky grin that would piss off any number of enemies.

It lunged at him, this time he sidestepped the attack. He could feel the air flow by him as the attack connected with the ground, and grimaced at the thought of it connecting with him. He needed to stay light on his feet for this battle. Before he had any chance to continue his motion, however, the monster spun and backhanded him outside of the building.

He landed hard on his back, letting out a grunt of pain. His eyes widened, however, at what he saw next. Given no time to recover from being smacked through a building, Dante had to roll out of the way of a ten ton gorilla thing falling from the sky, though like any good impact it sent everything near it skyward. Dante spun and landed on his feet, his bones mending themselves as fast as his skin had. He drew Rebellion across the ground, sparks flying as he did so. "I guess it's time to stop fooling around." He let out a sigh as the monkey flew at him once more.

He holstered Ebony and gracefully danced aside the attack, drawing his sword across the side of the demon as it passed him. Blood sprayed forth from the demon's thick hide as he did so, coating him and the ground around him. It let out a blood-curdling roar as he wiped his jacket off and wiped some out of his hair. "What's the matter? Your feelings hurt by a prick?" he taunted, then looked at his hand. He then looked at the ground, realizing that the blood that had landed on his head was a few shades darker than the blood on the ground.

"Damn it!" he muttered, and looked at the demon. "Do you know how much a bottle of hair-dye costs these days?!" He flew at his wounded foe, dragging his blade behind him as he did, and swung the weapon in a full arc as he approached his enemy. The weapon cut through the demon like a hot knife through butter, blood flying through the air as the demon realized that the hunter had torn along its throat.

Dante finished his attack with a swift kick to the face, launching the monster's head off of it before it could even bring its hands to its throat in surprise. He landed on his feet, panting for a moment while his body regenerated from the attacks he had just endured. He pulled out his cell, which had miraculously survived the fight, dialing Kat's number. It rang for a few moments, and the hunter kicked the corpse of the monkey while he waited the girl's answer.

"Killed it." Dante said smoothly when he heard Kat pick up on her end.

"You…killed it?" The surprise in her voice made Dante scoff.

"It wasn't that bad of a monster. I slew Mundus, give me some credit." There was a silence on the other end, which the hunter took advantage of. "So, find out what the client wanted yet?"

"I…thought you were coming back."

"You didn't ask." Dante exhaled, disappointed in her lack of trust in his abilities. "I'll head to the top floor while you get in contact with the client. Tell them I want extra for slaying the demon, as it was not a part of the original contract."

"I'm not your secretary, Dante."

"Please?" Another silence, one in which Dante had covered distance in the ruined lobby during. "I'll take the silence as a yes. Thanks, Kat." He hung up and looked around at the destroyed room he was in. He pushed a button on the elevator, and rested against a wall, looking at the broken wood and glass that lay upon the floor. The doors opened with a ding, and Dante walked into the small space. When next the door opened, Dante walked into the top floor of the building.

To his surprise, the room was still fully-functioning, as though humans had just left. Computers hummed with life, and numbers were sprawled across screens everywhere. What he saw on the computer at the far end of the room, however, was the most surprising part of the whole thing. He gazed upon a diagram of what looked like a humanoid, but the caption was "Anti-Demon Project".

His cell rang with Kat's tune. He picked it up, listening to it for a moment, and enjoying the music, before finally opening the device and putting it to his ear. "Hey Kat."

"The clients want you to return, since all the demons are gone. They'll do the rest themselves," explained the girl over the phone. Dante nodded, staring at the screen a moment longer. Then he shook his head.

"Okay. I'll be back in a few."

"Something wrong, Dante?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Replied the demon hunter. "Expect me back within the hour."