This will be a revamp of my old DMC fic. Recently got into the mood to fix it from the dull crap it once was. :)

Chapter 1

Dante didn't even budge as the door to his place slammed open.

"Can't you keep this place clean for one night!" he heard.

As an answer, he rolled over to face the back of his couch.

"And haven't you slept enough? You haven't taken a job from Morrison in two weeks! Two weeks! You still owe me five ice cream cones you know!"

He just muttered and waved to the girl who still had a few years to go until maturity. That was, of course, until a wet mop was tossed at his head, causing him to see stars for the briefest of seconds. "The hell was that for?" he yelled as he jumped up to face the girl who also claimed Devil May Cry as her partial home.

"Pig! That's what you are! I clean all day long, and for what? So you can sully it up the moment I leave?"

"Then tell me why you keep coming back and cleaning it all if you don't want me messing it up again, Patty? This is my building, my call!"

She puffed up and put her hands on her small hips. "You're still so far into debt, and all you do is buy pizza and sundaes! With what money, Dante?"

"I have things called tabs."

"Um, excuse me?"

They both turned towards the sound of a slightly accented and shy voice. A woman stood in the doorway, holding her deep red coat around her body, shivering from the storm that was brewing outside. Her short sapphire-tipped black hair clung to her face in places it fell out of her ponytail, and her boots squeaked on the hardwood floor.

Patty immediately brightened. "Welcome to Devil May Cry. Would you like some tea to warm you up?"

The woman smiled. "That would be a start. Thank you, little miss." She looked to Dante, still slouched over on the couch from when Patty hit him with the mop, while the girl went into the kitchen off to the side. "You must be Dante."

"Depends who's asking."

She came forward, extending a gloved hand. "Dunkel Feuer. Everyone calls me Kel though."

He saw that as she let go of the red heavy duster, she had on a tight and small top with crisscrossed straps, and it attached itself to a skirt of similar material by means of two more small straps. Well hello there. He mentally slapped himself and extended his own hand to grasp hers. "Now that we've been formally introduced, what seems to be your problem?" He got up only to sit behind his desk and prop up his feet.

"My city, half a day's travel from here, has been recently troubled by demons. No one can really say for sure where they came from, but their population is getting worse." She reached into her duster and pulled out an envelope bulging past its bind limits. "This comes from the people in my part of the city. We hope you can do something about this infestation."

He took the envelope and counted the bills inside, nearly choking on air. This broad ain't playing around! "This is… an awful lot for just an infestation."

Her bright green gaze grew sad. "You haven't seen the damage that's been wrought the past few days."

By then Patty came in with a steaming cup of tea. "Don't worry, Miss, he'll take the case, won't you Dante?"

He sputtered while Kel calmly sipped from her cup. "Well wait now, I never said—"

"What? That it isn't worth your time? You want money, don't you?"

"Well, yeah."

"And you enjoy fighting demons, don't you?"

"At times, but—"

"But nothing! You still owe money to Lady and Trish, still owe me ice cream, and you still owe Morrison for three months rent on this place!"

Kel laughed into her cup. "The little miss is right. If you want and or need money, this job is the way to do it."

Patty pulled out a coin. "Heads you win and you don't take the job, or tails, you lose and you head out right now."

"In the storm, are you nuts?"

She flipped it, caught it, and put it on the back of her hand covered by the other.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Dante muttered as they finally approached the tall buildings that marked a city. At least, once tall buildings, anyway. He let out a sneeze. "I should charge more for attempting to give me a cold."

"Stop whining," she said, leading them carefully through back roads. "The main streets of the city of been taken and claimed, but my area is still unharmed. Here on out though, we must walk in silence."

He nodded in understanding and the two proceeded cautiously down back alleys and side streets. It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that she motioned for him to come forward and pointed at a storm cellar door. With his help, they propped it open, and immediately went inside to warmth.

She pulled the doors down once more and locked it behind her, also propping a chair up against it. She saw him arch a snowy eyebrow at her, but she just shook her head and pointed upwards. "My house has been boarded up and I keep the lights off. The demons do not suspect anyone is even in here. I've advised my neighbors to do the same, and only go out to collect what supplies they can in pairs during the day. So far, we haven't seen too many problems, but recently…" She took off her coat and hung it on a rack next to the large wood doors. "Recently, the demons have started coming out during the day. I've lost the neighbors to my left and behind me. Since then, no one's ventured out."

"You said you all travel in pairs. How is it you were able to gather up the money and come get me?"

She smiled a bit. "I'm a bit more experienced in the field than they are. I don't have a second person here, so I don't have to worry about their safety anyway." She nodded towards a pile of books set up by a nest of blankets that seemed to act as her bed. "I've been doing research, and looked up some of the breeds I've seen around. The most abundant are pyromancers and jomothumsiras, but since yesterday, I've heard the ground shaking, as if some massive beast is roaming the streets. That's why I had to come find you."

He got a better view of her setup. Clothes were piled up in a corner, and a little microwave sat on an old bar counter by a sink. A hoard of microwaveable food stacked a wall, as if she had been collecting for days or weeks. "You don't live up in your own home anymore?"

She shook her head. "I don't risk it. Just keeping the lights off and being silent can only last for so long. As they grow more accustomed to humans, they may get smarter on how and where they live." She sat in an old musty recliner, careful to keep her legs closed so he wouldn't get a show accidentally.

"So what do you want me here for?"

She narrowed her eyes. "To help, of course."

"Help? Not take care of it on my own?"

Kel shook her head. "No, help. I was the city's demon hunter, before this went viral. I know my way around the city, and so can lead you to where the nests are thickest. It's too much for just one person to do."

He leaned up against the old bar, regretting it instantly as the old thing moved. "Answer me this then: What plan do you have?"

She pointed towards the storm cellar doors, where the wind was really starting to pick up again. "Nothing, at this moment. The weather foiled the plans I had for tonight. Tomorrow, I suggest we start our hunt."

"I can live with that."

She got up out of the chair and over to her mound of food. "Anything I can make for you? Soup, mac and cheese, pizza?"

"Pizza sounds awesome right about now. So long as it doesn't have olives."

She smiled and pulled a pepperoni out from her stack. "Not this girl. I don't like olives either." She tossed him a can of Budweiser from her bar's mini fridge before cracking one open herself. "Not really much to do to pass the time down here besides getting trashed and reading."

"I could go for the first one," he answered while she set up the pizza for its trip in the microwave. "So long as you have strong stuff. I've got high tolerances."

She quirked a brow and pulled a bottle of tequila from her bar. "Well then, bottom's up."