I do not own Devil May Cry. I do own all the original characters in this story though. So yeah.

Chapter 1: Where am I?

Everything seemed hazy. The first thing he felt was pain. Sharp pain, though he felt too dizzy to fully react to it… it felt as though his life was drained right out of him. There was a dim light in he room, lit by a few uneven candelabras.

He felt as if he was going to fall unconscious from the pain racking his body, and the dizziness causing him to sway heavily. It felt as if he had way too much to drink, but he knew he hated alcohol… it was disgusting.

Then a certain stench hit him. Blood.

He knew whose blood it was… he looked straight down, and it hit him. His blood. To be precise, gallons of his blood. There was a gaping hole in the front of his black t-shirt, and he could feel the cold, hard stone on his bare back, another hole. What was even worse, was that the wound in his chest had not quite healed properly… what was going on? He felt powerless… and with that thought in mind, he lifted his warped right arm.

No light was streaming through its demonic veins… it was just a dark blue hue. It felt like how his arm felt 6 years ago, when it was still human. Nero slowly pushed himself up, getting himself into a whole new world of pain, cringing at every movement as the gash in his chest began to sting. When he finally managed to support himself on his own two feet, albeit leaning against the wall, he caught a glimpse of himself in a tinted mirror at the side of the strange, dark room.

He looked terrible. His hair was wet with sweat, his left eye black with a large bruise. A great big hole was torn in his shirt, the left sleeve of his blue denim trenchcoat was ripped clean off, the right sleeve torn in half. The coattails were tattered, and his jeans were littered with holes. His boots remained fastened to his feet, however they were soaked from the pool of blood he was just recently lying unconscious in.

There were cuts all over his face, left arm and knees, however, his Devil Bringer arm, despite being completely devoid of its once powerful beaming blue light, was still unscathed. It appeared his healing ability had gone, as well as a lot of his strength… "Shit… this isn't good…" he panted to himself. All in all, he looked like hell. Something then caught his attention when he looked in the mirror… a shiny sword lay next to where he was lying before.

He turned around to inspect it. He saw this sword before, he just couldn't recall when. It had a rather simple design, gold markings on a steel curved hilt, and a medium-length shining blade. He picked it up, and checked its weight. It still seemed light in his hands. "Jeez… where the hell do I remember seeing this?"

It looked strangely familiar, as if he had seen it recently. His memory was blurry towards the present, and was starting to become less vague as he kept in motion. He stepped forward, off the wall, and tried to walk, but almost collapsed due to the blood loss & dizziness. The sword he held hit the ground before he did, and he used it to support himself.

Despite his hazy vision, the young ex-knight could still see a way out. Half of the room had been reduced to debris, but a small gap in the far left side seemed big enough for Nero to make his way out. He slowly staggered to the hole, and crawled though, holding onto the new sword with all his strength, as if it were the last thing standing between him and his death. Things began getting more blurred as Nero felt the pain in his chest grow ever more acute. Soon enough, he managed to crawl out of the debris and slowly stood up, supporting himself once again with the sword, using it as a cane.

He slowly hobbled through the hallway he had just entered, taking note of various things throughout the area. Flaming torches adorned the rough hewn stone walls, and a staircase going downwards waited ahead for the injured ex-knight. He was beginning to get freaked out. "Where am I?" Nero asked himself. He kept staggering toward the stairs, his body feeling heavier with each step. Every step he took pounded in his head. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Boom. Boom. BOOM.

He knew he couldn't take it for much longer, and he was about to pass out, when he suddenly heard something.

Footsteps.

He began to feel a little more energetic, a renewed hope coming with the realisation he wasn't the only one there who was still alive. He began hobbling a little faster down the stairs, when he suddenly tripped and fell down. He felt his already pained body crashing down the set of stairs, each crash bringing him more and more pain. He finally landed with a thud at the bottom of the stairs, half-dead with exhaustion. Slowly, he began to rise. When he got back up to his feet, he muttered to himself, "Well… that was a great idea, Nero. Fucking idiot…" His attention was soon turned to a sight before him.

Oh shit.

A group of scythe wielding, bloodied horn-headed devils stood before him, groaning in an inhuman manner. They seemed to be smiling… Nero knew this would happen. He'd never make it out alive. He was a fool to even think of escaping.

However, to his great surprise, a voice could be heard on the other side of the wall. A woman's voice.

"Show Time!!"

KA-BOOOOM!!!!!

The resulting explosion seemed to vaporise the devils, as well as knocking Nero back, and into the wall. His vision got even blurrier, and his ears rang out, as well as his entire body being racked with pain.

Right before he fell unconscious, he noticed a pair of brown-booted feet approaching in his direction.

Everything went black after that.

End of Chapter one!! Please read and review! Thanks to those who favourited my fanfic "A Day for Revenge". Check out my art for this fanfic on my deviantart gallery. Enter "the-blake-man".