A 24-hour fast-food joint on the streets of Los Santos.
Soren and Lady grabbed a window booth. The table was buried under boxes of fried chicken and burgers.
Alessa clutched a fried chicken leg in each hand, cheeks puffed out with fries like a hamster.
Soren took a sip of Coke, watched her, and shook his head with a helpless grin. "Great. Another bottomless pit."
Lady rested her chin on her hand, staring out the window. Hearing him, she glanced at Alessa.
"So… you're really just gonna keep her inside your body like this forever?"
"I don't know. Her dark essence is anchored to me—she can't go far."
Soren rubbed his temples. "But if I let her run loose and she throws one tantrum… half of Los Santos might get turned into Silent Hill."
"So your plan is to carry her around like a backpack charm?" Lady raised an eyebrow. "You're not even gonna send her to school? Let her live a normal human life?"
Soren looked at Alessa, who had completely abandoned table manners, and shook his head. "We'll figure it out later…"
"I'm scared she'll string up every bully kid in the schoolyard like piñatas."
Lady pictured it and let out a soft laugh. She dropped the subject and switched gears.
"Take the next couple days to rest up. In a few days I'll take you to meet that weapons dealer I promised."
"Oh? What's his deal?" Soren perked up. Anyone Lady personally vouched for had to be big-time.
"She's a crazy woman named Nico. Pretty sure you've heard the name."
When she said it, Lady's smile was half admiration, half headache.
"This chick's a top-tier mechanic and alchemist. Drives around the world in a beat-up old van, always chasing weird demon materials."
"She's heading back to Los Santos soon anyway, so I figured I'd introduce you two."
"So that's who you meant…" Soren muttered to himself.
In his head he immediately pictured a tattoo-covered woman with a cigarette permanently hanging from her lips.
He remembered that Dante's favorite twin guns—Ebony and Ivory—were made by Nico's grandmother.
Come to think of it, the holy-flame shotgun Enzo gave him was probably one of Nico's creations too.
Even though he was on good terms with Nero, he'd never actually met the genius mechanic face-to-face.
Like Lady, she and Nero were always out on the road and rarely came back to the office.
…
A few days later.
A loud screech of tires cut through the quiet outside the office.
A filthy, mud-splattered van executed a perfect powerslide and parked right out front.
A neon "Devil May Cry" sign was even mounted on top.
The office door flew open with a bang.
"Hey! Did you guys miss me?!"
Nico strode in with a half-smoked cigarette between her teeth, but her bright grin froze the second she saw the empty room.
She looked around in disbelief. "Holy shit… did you get robbed? Or did a demon army trash the place?"
Lady, who was cleaning her guns, looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Well, well. Nico. What brings you here on your own? Nero didn't tag along?"
"Don't even mention that little shit!" Nico rolled her eyes dramatically. "He stopped taking jobs, stopped hunting demons—his brain's completely occupied with playing house with his girlfriend."
"It's been almost six months since I got any new demon parts to study. My hands are itching like crazy. Had to hit the road myself and find some fun."
She scanned the room again. "Speaking of—which hole did Dante crawl into this time?"
"Who knows?" Lady put her gun down and patted the couch where Soren was sprawled. "Here, Soren. This is Nico. I'm sure you've heard of her."
"Haha! So this is the little boy you keep talking about?" Nico laughed heartily and clapped Soren on the shoulder like they'd known each other forever. "Nice taste—he's actually pretty damn good-looking."
Soren's eye twitched. He really wanted to say something, but after one look at the two women in front of him, he wisely kept his mouth shut.
"Anytime you need a weapon modded, just come find me!" Nico announced, still patting his shoulder. "As long as you can pay and bring me some interesting materials, I can build you anything—from guns to actual Devil Arms!"
"Perfect. I actually do need to restock some supplies," Soren said with a grin, glancing out at the van. "Mind if I take a look at what you've got in there?"
The second she smelled money, Nico's eyes lit up. She immediately got hyped and waved him over to her van.
"Come on, come on! Let me show you some of this genius's latest inventions."
She popped the back doors open. Despite the van's small size, the interior was packed wall-to-wall with ridiculously over-the-top gun parts and weapons.
Boxes of custom ammo filled every corner. It was basically a mobile armory on wheels.
Mechanical arms of every shape, size, and color hung along both side walls.
"Check these out." Nico lifted her chin proudly and patted the metal arms. "Custom Devil Breakers I built for Nero."
"If some demon ever rips your arm off, just come find me. I'll hook you up with one that shoots fire and lightning. Way better than the original."
Soren picked up a couple, examined them, and set them back down.
He was actually pretty interested in Nero's multi-function prosthetic arms—they had serious Iron Man vibes.
But his current skill set was already well-rounded. Between the demonic hand for offense, Royal Guard for defense, and Trickster for mobility, a mechanical arm felt a little redundant.
What he really needed right now was raw firepower and better weapons.
He couldn't just keep charging demons with his fists every time.
After thinking it over, he decided to stock up on shotgun shells. Enzo's supply was almost gone anyway.
In the end, he bought a batch of 12-gauge pure-silver armor-piercing rounds, high-concentration holy-water incendiary shells, and a few boxes of 9mm silver bullets.
Lady, standing behind him, watched him spend so freely and teased, "Looks like I went too easy on you last time. Should've charged more."
She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "Those little 9mm rounds are a gift for Patty, right? How come I don't see you buying anything for me?"
Soren gave a quick glance at the comically oversized rocket launcher on her back. "Lady sis, your heavy artillery expenses would empty my entire bank account."
Beep—
The card reader spat out the receipt.
Nico lit a fresh cigarette with a satisfied grin and said:
"Since you're spending so generously, I'll throw in some free demon intel."
"You been keeping up with all those missing-persons cases in the old forests of West Virginia lately?"