Disclaimer: Joss, WB, UPN et al. own Buffy. Capcom owns Devil May Cry, and DMC 2. I don't.

Title: Better the Devil You Know…

Author: Paradigm Shifter

Feedback: I guess I'm reduced to begging again, hmm? Please?

Rating: R.

Notes: I'd like to think I'm now familiar with the keyboard, but not entirely. Anyway, its time to stop using the keyboard as an excuse for atrocious typing…

Crossover: Devil May Cry / Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Continuity: DMC1, not 2 (except for a few enemies). Xander's road trip. That's pretty much it. Enjoy.

*

Xander landed on the ground, and was instantly swamped by the hordes of devils that were gunning for him. Each and every one broke off from Dante and Giles to rush Xander, who put up only a token resistance.

Neither Giles nor Dante could help him, however, they each had their own problems to worry about…

*

Adam stood in the dark of the sewer, his exit for operations from the Initiative base. He could smell someone else here, though. It was a smell that he had noticed one other time… in the confinement area of the base. He smiled to himself as a thought struck him.

He could use this to blame the death of his mother on that creature… one he did not have any data on, and only had the barest outline of knowledge about.

Adam spun as a splash drew his attention away from his internal thoughts and to the area around him. A vampire was skulking through the sewer, and Adam felt his programming take over.

"Vampire. Halt."

The vampire stopped, but more out of curiosity than because it was ordered. "You wot, mate?"

"Halt." Adam said again, as he approached.

The vampire, a thin bleached blonde male, looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Wot are you s'posed to be then? Robocop?"

"I am Adam."

"Yeah, right. And bloody Eve is round 'ere somew'ere… stop takin' the piss, mate!"

Adam seemed to dither for a second. "You are a viable target, but you are not alive. Last given order conflicts with Protocols… ignore protocols in favour of direct order…"

"Wot the bloody 'ell you goin' on about?"

Adam nodded to the vampire. "I was programmed to kill demons, but my last order was to 'Kill Everything'. Since you do not have a heartbeat, you cannot be considered 'alive'. Therefore, it is not required of me to kill you. Seek parameters: live prey."

Spike smiled widely. "You only seek out things with an 'eartbeat?" Then he grinned maliciously. "Come with me, mate… I've got jus' the targit for you…"

*

Dante turned and ran from the uninvited form of Phantom in front of him. Hearing the demonic beast charge after him, Dante headed for the nearest wall, which happened to be a shop named 'Good Memories', which purported to sell old CD's and LP's from any artist imaginable.

Dante put one foot on the wall, and pushed off, twisting in the air as he went, to land behind the monstrous form of the spider like demon. "You just don't learn, do you?" he asked with a shake of his head.

Phantom skidded to a halt inches away from demolishing the wall, and its features split in what Dante hoped was a grin. It was too damned ugly to be anything else. Phantom scratched its head with one leg. "Oh, I don't know, Son of Sparda… you don't seem to be paying too much attention to anything, now…"

Dante spun as he heard a noise behind him. "What the hell is this place? Grand Central Station for demons?!"

His pistols whipped up and seemed to fire faster than mechanically possible. Then he holstered them and drew Alastor as they had no effect on his target. "Can't you take a hint, Angelo?!"

*

Giles looked around amazed at the number of enemies, and suddenly vastly more powerful ones that were coming at them, seemingly from all directions.

This was bad.

Very bad.

Giles hurriedly reloaded his revolver, and cursed at the top of his lungs, "what the bloody hell is this!? A convention?!"

Angelo remained silent, his eyes locked on Dante's. Phantom answered, its voice making the ground itself tremble. "Oh, very possibly, Mr. Giles… or should I call you 'ripper'?"

Compound eyes flickered as Phantom watched the man, who had run into a fight he had no hope of winning. Giles snarled, and for a second, the Phantom could see why he had been named Ripper in his past.

"You, demon, can call me 'sir'!" spat Giles, before aiming carefully. The pistol bucked once, twice and Giles watched.

The first bullet hit off target by a fraction of an inch, and ricocheted off like it was nothing more than a bothersome insect.

The second, however, found its mark. It drilled into the eye, and Phantom reeled back in pain, demonic lava spraying from the wound, before growling something at the impudent upstart who had enough of a death wish to fight him.

"For that, you will die a painful death at the hand of my master…"

Phantom charged, and Giles avoided the gigantic spider only by a lucky dive. Then, as he dodged again, he found himself between the proverbial 'rock and a hard place', as his back met a wall.

"Nowhere left to run, little human?" crowed Phantom.

A voice came from behind him. "No. He just knows to let someone else play tag for a while…"

Phantom wheeled in surprise as the human form of Xander stood, bleeding slightly from a couple a wounds, but otherwise unhurt, behind him. "Impossible!" roared Phantom. "You should be dead!"

Xander smirked. "Never trust what a Devil shows you, Phantom. Its often what they want you to see…"

He pulled out his twin pistols. "Ready?" Xander asked rhetorically.

Phantom stamped the ground in preparation.

Xander narrowed his eyes. "Then… LET'S ROCK!"

*

Dante and Angelo were engaged in a classical example of the fencers' art, but with the rubber tips and padding taken off. Each parried and riposted the others attacks, moving around with speed and agility unmatched by any swordsmen in the world.

Angelo's superior strength began to tell, as he ground his blade along the edge of Dante's, and locked them at the hilt.

Then he proceeded to kick Dante in the groin. Not exactly playing fair, but whatever works, right?

Dante folded with a moan, and seconds too late, realised his mistake. Underneath his helm, Angelo smiled viciously, and raised his blade for the final strike. Dante watched the blade arc in the air, and rolled with the cleaving blow, wincing as it cut into his shoulder, but at least he hadn't lost his life. As he dove out of the way, he brought his sword round, the tip touching the tarmac of the road briefly in its travels, and bouncing up to catch Angelo a glancing blow to his ankle.

As Dante staggered to his feet, inching away from Angelo while the taller fighter healed, he winced and stood up slowly, facing his nemesis.

"Do you have any idea how much that hurts?!" He seemed to calm down for a second, before he raised his sword and it pulled on his injured shoulder. "And how much this coat cost!? I'm going to make you eat that damned sword, brother or not!"

Angelo paused, and his head tilted to the side, as if he was thinking. Slowly, the helm slid away from his face, exposing his features. Quietly, he asked, "why?"

The battle of Xander near them, his fight against Phantom faded into the background, Giles too, went unnoticed as he stood by, watching the exchange between the two.

Dante glared at him, and tried to get back his rapidly waning anger. "Because you… you became that!" Dante spat. "I know mother died, but you, you! You dishonour her memory by serving the very cause of her death!"

"I was…" Angelo paused. "I…"

"You were what, Angelo?" asked Dante harshly.

Angelo looked up at the heavens. "I am sorry, mother…" he whispered.

Dante exploded. "No! Wrong direction, asshole! Try looking in the blackest pit of Hell, where the Traitors go!"

"She… she's in Hell?" Angelo asked weakly.

"How do you think she gave us birth?! She mated with a devil, brother…" Dante sneered, "and if you failed to notice, devils don't go to Heaven!"

"You're… you're… wrong." Angelo's own voice sounded weak, trying to convince himself.

"Go ask you're master, apprentice." Dante whispered harshly.

Angelo vanished with an anguished scream.

*

Buffy marched down the street, nearing the end of the road and turned into the next one. The sight that met her eyes made her stop suddenly in her tracks in shock.

Giles, the unknown man and another… the one in the green coat, Xander, he traitorous mind provided for her, were fighting for their lives against a huge spider-like monster.

Giles fell backwards as the spider swiped ineffectually at him, and was relieved to see Dante drawing it away with gunfire, at least for the time being.

Xander was in a world of his own, fighting alongside Dante and Giles, but not relying on either of them. Aware of his surroundings, but detached from the same. He could feel the battlefield, each and every imperfection in the road; the individual molecules that went into make up each and every thing around him. The beating hearts of Dante and Giles…

…and another.

Buffy.

"Time to show her she doesn't know what she's talking about," Xander whispered. "There are worse things in both Hell and Heaven than Vampires…"

Phantom snapped at Xander as he approached, but he dodged every attempted strike. Ragnarok danced in the air, light glinting off the blades edge as it cleaved through its target.

A powerful middle limb arched out of nowhere, trying to attack from a side that Xander was not adequately protecting. He skidded under it, and flattened out against the ground as the skid took him underneath Phantom.

This was going to hurt.

Dante saw his intended sortie, and screamed at him, "Xander! No!" running toward the inevitable, both Dante and Xander knew he would be too late. Giles stood watching the unfolding scene, knowing that truly for once, he was so far out of his depth he was lucky to have survived. Buffy stood a few steps behind him, the axe she had wielded so forcefully in the charge here touching the ground, barely being held by limp fingers.

Phantom had so far seemed almost impervious to harm from either Dante's or Xander's normal attacks, and both were becoming desperate to end this as soon as possible.

Xander launched Ragnarok up into Phantoms unprotected belly with both hands, embedding it to the hilt, and forcing it further.

The whole sword vanished inside the monster, Xander's hand following it, and quickly his arm. As the burning of the lava hit his exposed skin, he Triggered involuntarily, forcing the blade deeper still with his change.

Mundus, aware of his new servants failure, called Phantom back to the Hell he had come from.

…

…

With Xander along for the ride…

*

"NOOOO!!" Dante's scream rent the air, the sounds carrying for miles, and continuing in people's ears long after Dante had become silent.

Giles and Buffy stood shell-shocked, unable to fully comprehend what had happened. They watched, in awe as Dante Triggered involuntarily, his pain becoming a physical thing that battered their minds as he took to the air and spiralled into the sky.

Then he, too, was gone.

*