Chapter 1: Lady and the Devil Hunter

"No, no, make that a supreme with extra cheese. Why the hell would I want pineapples on my pizza? They come with a free order of cinnamon sticks tonight? Ah, alright."

Dante hung up the phone and sat there at his desk. The shop had been quiet all day. Not even the phone had rung to annoy Dante. With his feet propped up on the desk, the half-human, half-demon man yawned in boredom.

He looked all over his shop. It needed to be cleaned, but he wasn't about to move from his chair. Old pizza boxes sat around and inside a small trash can to the corner. A lounge chair, two couches, coffee table, and television sat next to a staircase in the other corner. The staircase went up to an open second floor balcony where Dante's extra junk laid about in messy silence. The window next to the bed was halfway blocked by a letter off of his 'Devil May Cry' sign outside. There was a door next to that very window that led up to the roof of the building.

Of course he had his large jukebox to the far left corner from the front doors. Beside it was Dante's drum set, terribly dusty and worn out. To the right of the doors sat his pool table that hadn't been played in days. Dante didn't even want to think about the bathroom. Located on the other side of the door behind him, the bathroom needed cleaning, along with the tiny, dusty kitchen in the back that was smaller than even the two small bedrooms. One of the rooms was Dante's, messy and closed to the public. The other room was a guest bedroom that was the cleanest room in the whole entire shop.

Sighing, Dante averted his eyes again. He caught sight of some cobwebs in the corner. He even saw a spider eating a moth. It amused him for only a second before he heard the front door knock.

He got to his feet and answered it. He saw Gerald in front of him with two boxes. His dumpy old pizza car sat running behind him on the road. Gerald was the pizza delivery boy from 'Billy's Fine Pizza'. Gerald was a thin boy in his late teens, timid and shy, really.

"Ah! Dinner, finally! I'm starved!" Dante exclaimed.

Before Dante could grab his supreme pizza and cinnamon sticks, Gerald stepped back. He gulped down a breath, and smiled sheepishly at the devil hunter.

"Ah, Mr. Dante…Billy told me to get your debt from you before I hand over your pizza….from last month."

"Last month? You saying I didn't pay?"

"Uh, yeah…And you owe us $546.87 altogether."

"Phh, yeah right! That much for pizza? Nice try, kid. Tell Billy that was funny."

"Uh, you order pizza almost every night. That's how much it is for a whole month, not including tips for delivery."

"Fascinating, Gerald, but I don't have the money. How about next time?"

Gerald seemed unsure. He looked from the pizza boxes in his hand to Dante. He had to deal with this almost every time he delivered to the son of Sparda.

"Look, my food's getting cold," Dante stated with a look.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Dante! I can't until you pay me!"

"I keep telling Billy that I will repay him if you guys ever get attacked by demons. I won't charge him for the extermination in exchange for the pizza I get all the time. Sounds fair, right? And I'm giving you guys a good deal, because I charge a pretty penny for my work."

"Umm, umm, well…"

"Just talk to him about it, alright? Now, give me the pizza, Gerald."

Gerald handed over the pizza and cinnamon sticks with a defeated sigh. He gave the devil hunter a pleading, yet questioning look.

"Are you sure, Mr. Dante?"

"Sure, kid, sure. Good night!"

Dante shut the door in his face. He walked victoriously back to his desk and chair. He heard the pizza car leave a minute later. Dante sat his food on the desk, and went into the back room. He came out with a bottle of dark beer and sat down. Popping open the lid with skill, Dante took a drink, and then opened the pizza box.

"Good, my little spider friend gets a moth to eat, and I…I get some delicious pizza!" Dante laughed.

He grabbed a slice out of the box. He looked it over, his belly growling for food. He put it to his mouth to take a bite. Before his tongue could even touch the freaking pizza, the front doors burst open.

"Pizza again, I presume? I saw Gerald. Boy, I actually think you made him cry this time, Dante."

"Ugh, I just lost my appetite," Dante mumbled, dropping the pizza back into the box.

Lady vaulted herself up to sit on top of Dante's desk. She gave him a mischievous smile. Dante gave her a look, and leaned back in his chair. Lady grabbed the same slice Dante was going to eat, and took a bite.

"That wasn't very nice," she stated.

"Yeah, you can have some, help yourself," Dante heaved.

"Well, if I made you lose your appetite, then I guess I'll take the whole damn box. What's in this one?"

Lady opened the smaller pizza box and found sweet smelling cinnamon sticks warm and ready to eat. Her smile broadened, and she looked to Dante.

"Ooh, cinnamon sticks, my favorite."

She saw Dante raise an eyebrow slightly, and his handsome face twitched a tiny smirk that Lady could spot a mile away. Lady took another bite of her pizza.

"This is pretty good. You should've put pineapples on it though."

Dante grimaced, "Yuck."

Lady chuckled after putting the slice down. She went to grab the beer bottle, but Dante took it out of her reach. His eyes flashed playfully, and he took his own drink.

"I don't think so, missy."

He went to take another drink, and Lady glared at him. She snatched it out of his grasp just before he could put it to his lips. She took her own drink without any hesitation.

"Hey! You could've gotten your own!"

"Well why didn't you say so? Go get me one."

"Hell no," Dante growled. He slapped the pizza box lid shut. Lady only shrugged, and continued drinking Dante's beer. He watched her closely, and sighed.

"Geez, it looks like a pigsty in here, Dante. Did you not take my advice from what, a week ago? You need to clean this place up."

"Hey, I've been busy today, thank you."

"Busy doing what?" Lady asked, squinting her different colored eyes.

Dante averted his eyes from her. He hasn't done a damn thing all day except sit there at his desk. He wasn't about to admit that to her though. He saw her smirk widen, and he knew he was too late at answering her. He heaved a sigh at her.

"You were that busy, huh?"

"And what about you? What have you been doing? I didn't even hear your motorcycle this time. Did you walk here?"

"I've been doing more than you, if that's what your insinuating. As for my motorcycle, it's in the shop. My last hunt kind of put it in bad shape. So, yeah, I did walk here, what of it?"

"It wouldn't have happened if I would've been there," Dante muttered lowly.

Lady gave him a look. "What?"

"Nothing, babe. Nothing," he quickly replied. He took his beer back and finished it off. Lady only deepened her glare at him.

Lady sighed, "Well, I guess I better leave you to your food. See ya around."

She got up and headed for the door. Dante watched her for a moment, and then leaned forward in his chair, putting his feet down onto the floor. He hated seeing her leave.

"Wait. Was there a point to this lovely visit?" he asked. He let his eyes wander her body until she turned around to face him, then he looked her in the eyes.

Lady's eyes danced playfully, and her smile was back on her face. "Well, since you put it that way. Are you up for a bet?"

Dante felt himself smirk wolfishly. He adored absolutely everything about Lady. He coveted her so bad. Betting was something they loved to play with each other with, and Dante loved every minute of it.

"Alright," Dante nodded, getting to his feet and walking over to her.

"If I shoot the eight ball in, then-"

"Oh no. Not that trick again. Try something else, babe."

She gave him one of her looks. Dante couldn't tell if it was because he refused to do her eight ball trick, or that he kept calling her babe, even though she hated it.

Dante took out a coin. He tossed it up in the air, and then caught it. He gave her a boyish look. He showed her the coin from afar.

"How about the simple flip of a coin? Sounds easy, right? Fifty-fifty shot for each of us. Now, what is the bet?"

Lady was glaring at him suspiciously, but then surprisingly gave up. She nodded at him, even though she still had that look in her eye.

"Fine. Heads, I win, and you get to come with me to an abandoned church to the south to investigate," Lady answered.

"Why do you get heads?"

"'Cause I called it first."

"But I want heads." Dante gave her a pouted look.

"So what, I called it."

"But baby!"

"Don't baby me! How many times do I have to tell you?! No calling me baby or babe! End of story!"

"Babe, come on," Dante said gently. He was loving this on the inside.

"Alright! You can have heads, just stop calling me that!"

"Great! Now, if you lose, then you get to spend the night with me. How does that sound, babe-I mean, Lady?"

Lady crossed her arms, glaring at him. "Whatever, but I get to flip the coin," she growled.

Dante shook his head, an impish smile on his gorgeous face. "Oh, I don't think so, honey. I'm flipping it."

He absolutely loved that glare he just got from her. She hated honey too. Anything that Dante called her as a lover, she hated, especially in public. Before she could say or do anything, Dante flipped the coin up in the air. When he caught it, he flipped it onto his palm. He grinned, and showed her the outcome.

"Looks like it's just you and me tonight, baby."

Her eyes flashed, and she was immediately on him. Dante had good reflexes. He couldn't let her have the coin. At first, it started out as a mild dodge and evade encounter. As Lady got more pissed, however, she was able to knock Dante to the floor, and they started wrestling. Lady was trying to pry the half-demon's fingers open, but Dante effortlessly flipped her over to where he was on top of her. He held her wrists down with his hands, coin still snug in his left hand.

Lady fought with him, but all his weight was on her. Dante just sat there until she finally gave up. She was rough with breaths, and she was giving him the evil eye. Dante got just centimeters from her lips.

"Wow, babe. I didn't know you were so excited to stay with me."

"Get off me before I castrate you! And I said don't call me that!"

"But I won the bet. It's only fair, babe."

"Let me see that coin! I know you did something! You cheated!"

"What? Now why would I do that?"

They were in the middle of the floor, in a bad position. Dante was completely on top of Lady, holding her down. Dante was taking his only chance, and inhaling her sweet scent. He dared nothing else, for when he let her loose, she really would castrate him.

To make things worse, the front doors opened. Dante and Lady shot their heads over to see who the visitor was in complete surprise. Of all people, it was Enzo Ferino. The man that gave Dante this very building to set up his shop, Enzo was some sort of vigilante of the city. Dante knew very little of Enzo, and same with Enzo to Dante. However, Enzo had an unknown reason of humbly giving this building to Dante.

Enzo Ferino was a tall, good-looking man with untidy black hair and green eyes. He wore nice clothing. He was in his late twenties, and only dealt with human criminals. He did not deal with demons like Dante did.

Enzo froze at the sight. "Wow, I guess I should've knocked. I guess I'll come back another time, Dante. Sorry for interrupting."

After clearing his throat with much effort, Enzo left before Dante could stop him. And to make things worse, Lady took Dante's distraction to her advantage. She kicked up hard, and quickly flipped the devil hunter over. Dante dropped the coin, and it started to roll along the wooden floor.

They both went after it. Scrabbling across the floor in a pitiful race, the two also wrestled each other out of the way to snag the coin. Lady was barely successful. She quickly looked at the coin while fighting Dante off.

"You jerk! This is a one sided coin! You gypped me!" Lady yelled, getting to her feet.

Dante got to his feet a little bit slower. He was now on guard. He was in deep shit now. Dante put his hands up in feeble peace and defeat. He gave her the most sweet and innocent smile he could muster, putting on all the charm to try and dissuade her from killing him.

"Now, now, babe, it was only a joke! You cheated me a few times in your bets, so it's only fair!"

"Yeah, but I always ended up letting you have your share of the bet because I felt bad for cheating you! You weren't even going to do that!"

Lady let loose a rough breath. Dante warily walked over to her. He gently took the coin from her, their hands brushing. Lady gave him a warning look, but Dante only smiled softly.

"What can I say? I like your company, Lady. We never get to spend some alone time together anymore. I guess I was getting sort of desperate."

Lady heaved a defeated sigh. She gave a look like she was thinking of smacking herself in the forehead, but she didn't do it. She finally looked Dante in the eyes.

"Well, why not accompany me to the church? And…while we're there…I'll think about staying with you tonight."

Dante's smile broadened into a smirk. She saw his beautiful blue eyes flash with something that she couldn't read. She hardened her gaze on him a little.

"And I said think. I will think about it."

"Well, then, let's get this show on the road. The sooner we get there, the sooner you can decide to come back with me for tonight."

He didn't even look to see her face or wait to see if she was going to say anything else. Dante was back over at his desk shoving the rest of the pizza down his throat so they could hurry up and go. Lady watched him, only for a small smile to creep on her pretty face. He was like a little boy sometimes. And even right now, as he stuffed his face with pizza, he was very charming.

This will be an AU, by the way. Many of the characters from the series like Lucia will be in it, but this story mainly focuses on Lady and Dante, along with Vergil. I have a few chapters of this already done, so I will post them here and there to get it going while I work on my other fanfictions. I hope all of you enjoyed this first chapter! XD Remember, this is a Dante/Lady fic, but I will also put in some Vergil/Lady just for some drama lol! I made Enzo Ferino into my own type of character, since very little is known about him in the series! Oh, and just to fill curious readers in...there will also be a lot of flashbacks to when our two favorite twins were little...mostly little funny ones when Dante dreams. Thank you for reading and reviewing!! XD