"So, mister idiot author decided to buy Devil May Cry 5... That fickle bitch he calls a muse did the rest. Don't ask me if he plans on going anywhere with this thing, he just needed to get the idea out of his system. So don't go in expecting the most eloquent of dialogue. I should also clarify that... ah, what's the point? Not like it's gonna affect your opinion of this garbage he calls a story. But some suspension of disbelief will be required ahead. And seeing as how the game opened up with a quote or whatever, he decided to add one here that sounds deep and thought provocative, but really doesn't mean jack.

Enjoy~."

(-)

"And with God's words long forgotten, they took a bite of the apple rotten..."

(-)

When the demon that V referred to as Urizen first made his appearance, he was accompanied by the emergence of the Qliphoth tree from beneath Redgrave city. The tree acted as his fortress, and its inhabitants as his army. It was an overwhelmingly imposing sight to behold. A gnarled tree reaching towards the sky with countless tendrils sprouting forth to impale any humans in the vicinity, compounded with the addition of the demonic insects known collectively as Empusa.

To your standard human, it was akin to an apocalyptic event. But for the demon slayers, it was just another day on the job.

And yet the vanguard comprised of Dante, Trish, and Lady, were completely overwhelmed by the demon kings sheer power. The attack seemed all but destined to fail, yet two more combatants had made their way towards the kings throne to provide backup.

The first was the mysterious man known only as V. A very guarded individual who knew far more than he let on, and was perfectly content to stand back while others fought and wait for the path of least resistance to be revealed before acting. It was this man who originally approached Dante in order to employ his services in defeating Urizen. But V wasn't satisfied with relying solely on Dante's crew to beat Urizen, so he sought out another hunter to act as a contingency plan. One who had an ax to grind against the king.

And so it came to be that Nero was brought along as extra firepower should Dante fail. The demon slayer was more than happy to go after the demon who stole his right arm. But V was keenly aware that between Nero and Dante, Nero was currently the weaker of the two, even if he wasn't missing his right arm.

Still, the manipulative man had organized the pieces on the board as best he could, and needed only wait for the opportunity to guide them where he wanted. Should Dante fail, he knew that Nero would force himself to get stronger in order to finish the job.

...

But all that careful planning went straight out the proverbial window when Nero somehow turned into a demon during his fight with Urizen and managed to beat the shit out of the ugly fucker during their first encounter. It was so anticlimactic that initially everyone just sat there silently, trying to process what had just happened.

Nero had completely put aside his whole 'demon transformation' thing, in favor of just staring at his regrown arm. Trish and Lady looked back and forth between Nero and the now empty throne where Urizen sat as they tried to figure out what happened. Dante was laying on his back, whining to himself about how Nero of all people managed to surpass him, if only for a single fight. And V lost his grip on the book he always held and only managed to remain standing by virtue of his cane.

It wasn't until the arrival of the encroaching swarm of Empusa that things finally started moving along. Any and all questions or concerns about what had just transpired were pushed aside for the time being. Urizen was gone, but they still had a tree to cut down.

Hours passed by as the five fighters systematically slaughtered all remaining forms of resistance throughout the sapling Hell tree, picking up some useful new weapons and abilities along the way, such as Dante's new 'pet dog'. As they inevitably neared the base of the tree, which fortunately hadn't yet torn open too big of a hole between Earth and Hell, Dante sent Trish and Lady back to the surface to hunt down any stragglers who escaped, as well as do damage control.

And so the three remaining guys stood before the hole from which the Qliphoth tree had sprouted, eager to go all lumberjack on the damn thing.

"Alright, time to chop this bitch down." Dante remarked as the demon blade bearing his name materialized in his hands. The stars must have been aligned for such a thing to occur, but somehow Dante managed to trip and impale himself with Rebellion, which resulted in the blade combining with the sword Sparda that Trish was holding. It was an overly complicated affair that they all just decided to push to the side for the time being.

Nero chuckled. "Never thought I'd be using my sword to prune a tree." he said as he revved up Red Queen. "But I suppose there's a first time for everything."

However the final member of the trio remained uncharacteristically quiet, even for himself. Not even Griffon was flying around and talking smack. Dante and Nero weren't quite sure what had happened to V, but ever since Urizen's body faded away, the emo-looking man had subtly changed. He seemed to constantly be lost in thought and muttering to himself in a tone far too low for them to hear. His book had remained strapped to his waist ever since that final battle, and his very presence seemed to have been altered.

V's gaze drifted to the cane he was leaning on. His eyes locked onto it as for a brief moment the image of a katana superimposed itself over the unconventional weapon.

"V!"

The man blinked and shook his head, casting aside his conflicting thoughts as he turned to address Nero. "My apologies. I was merely lost in thought."

Nero inclined his head in agreement. "Seems like that's been the case ever since I sent Urizen packing."

V dismissed him with a weak wave of the hand. "It's nothing. Just trying to come to terms with how... surprising your fight with him turned out."

Over-dramatically grasping at his chest with his free hand, Nero began to weep comically. "O' yee of little faith! You insult my strength by underestimating me!"

Sighing heavily, V approached the trunk of the Qliphoth tree. "For its beginning was the same as all else, but a seed wanting a place to call its home. And so it was, that a planted seed will grow."

"Can we drop the pretentious poetry just this once and simply chop down the damn thing?"

"Hnn, no appreciation for the literary arts." V remarked as he pressed the tip of his cane against several points on the tree, trying to pinpoint something. Finally halting its movement, V pointed at a single point on the tree trunk. "Cut here, three feet deep. Then I'll take care of the rest." he instructed as he pulled out a Nidhogg parasite.

Dante huffed in amusement. "Ya' really think that ugly little tick will do the job?" he asked as he drew his sword.

V shook his head. "On its own? No. But I don't intend for it to." he answered with a twirl of his cane.

"Alright then." Nero responded as he began to slice at the tree with Dante. "Let's see what you can do!"

As the two demon slayers hacked away at the tough exterior of the Hell tree, V began to quietly chant the aria that was required for what he was about to pull off.

When he had first set out on his journey, he did so with the intent to return to his rightful place as the human-half of Vergil. But when Urizen was defeated, it ended up being the demon-half that had fused with him. At least, it was in the process of doing so. His body was still frail by comparison, so the lingering power of Urizen was forced to slowly flow into his body, lest he be overwhelmed and outright die. It would take months for the process to be finished, but for the moment V needed to draw upon what he could. All he had to do was attach the parasite to one of the trees 'veins' and then utilize the Yamato's spacial rending ability to spread the effect throughout the entire structure. The entire Qliphoth would be drained of its energy, and quickly rot from the inside out. But for him to do this he needed the strength to summon the Yamato, if only for a few moments.

The sound of sword swings finally halted, and V turned his gaze up to see the opening that Dante and Nero had carved in the tree.

"Time to shine book boy!" Dante remarked as he moved out of the way.

Ignoring the white-haired mans remark, V approached the tree and held the parasite towards the soft interior. "I would be tempted to yell timber, if not for the fact that I'm rotting the tree instead of cutting it down."

"Just get on with it already." whined Nero. "I just got my arm back and I'm itching to show it off."

"This is a very delicate procedure." V snapped back weakly. "Unless you wish to become fertilizer for this poor excuse for a thorn-bush, I recommend you stop rushing me."

The parasite in V's hand latched onto the exposed interior to the tree, and began to drain nutrients from it. He knew that the moment Dante felt the presence of Yamato, the man would react in some way or another, so he needed to be careful in how he went about doing it. Placing the tip of his cane against the parasite, he slowly began to push as the end transformed into the Yamato. Just as Dante's body tensed upon noticing it, V plunged the blade deeper into the tree and unleashed its power. Blue flames began to erupt all throughout the tree as the effect spread, and the ground began to tremble underfoot.

"The fuck did you do V?!" Dante shouted as he stumbled before regaining his footing.

V kept his back facing the man as he pulled his cane out from the tree. "But as with all things, the tree which grows will eventually wither and die..."

The Qliphoth tree rapidly began to shrivel and die as the flames consumed it, practically turning the entire area into Hell on Earth. Branches the size of bridges began to break off and come crashing down from far above, while the ground cracked and rumbled as the hole through which the Qliphoth tree grew began to collapse in on itself.

"Okay, job done, let's get the hell out of here now!" Nero shouted as he turned and made a run for it, eager to not get crushed underneath the giant plant.

Dante's gaze remained locked on V, even with all the shit going on around them. The man in question however, simply walked past Dante without even stopping. "Questions can wait until we aren't about to be buried beneath a flaming tree the size of London. Wouldn't you agree?"

Dante clicked his tongue. "You will answer all of my questions when this is over."

V nodded in agreement. "But of course."

With their job finished and all seemingly going smoothly, the trio headed back towards the surface where everyone was waiting for them... And since everything was going so well, it was of no surprise that everything suddenly went south.

The sound of glass shattering and space tearing open was followed by a strong force that began pulling everything towards the newly opened rift at the hole in the tree.

"What the hell's going on?!" Nero shouted as he stumbled from the sudden event and struggled to stay standing.

All three men were being forcefully pulled towards the tear in space as it sucked in everything like a vacuum. Even as the Qliphoth tree continued to burn, branches and other debris were consumed by the expanding vortex.

"What did you do V?!" Dante demanded as he stabbed his sword in the ground for support.

V did the same with his cane as he resisted the pull. "It's not like I intended for this to happen!" he responded as he summoned Nightmare to help hold him back. "This isn't exactly something I tried doing before!"

"So you decide to test it now of all times?! Are you freaking insane?!"

"Well I didn't see you coming up with any useful plans Nero! What would you have done; trash talk it to death?!"

"This ain't the time to be arguing guys!" Dante yelled as the three of them were being dragged closer to the rift. "Any ideas on how to stop this?!"

"Destroy it maybe?!" opined Nero.

"By all means, go ahead and try!" V answered. "I'll be with you in spirit!"

As they continued to struggle, a large rock came barreling towards them from behind. And unfortunately Nero wasn't able to fight the pull and avoid it at the same time. The rock struck him on the side and sent him flying towards the rift.

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" he shouted as the vortex swallowed him up.

"NERO!" the elder demon hunter shouted in concern.

"He'll be fine!" yelled V. "That rift can't destroy anything, only move it!"

"So he could be fucking anywhere now?!"

"Anywhere but here!"

Dante's sword began to slip out of the ground as the pull became stronger and dragged the man towards it.

"You know V, let me tell you what I think of your plan!" he shouted with a smirk.

"Don't you dare say it!"

"In my honest opinion,"

"I'm warning you!"

"If I had to use one word to describe it,"

"I swear to Satan!"

Dante's resistance finally gave out and he was sent careening towards the spacial tear.

"IT REALLY SUUUUUUUUUUUCKS!"

V groaned in annoyance as the man vanished into the hole to join Nero. Still able to remain in place with Nightmare's aid, V glared at the hole for a few moments before sighing and shrugging his shoulders.

"One cannot truly know what lies in the abyss unless one were to jump in themselves." he muttered before surrendering his resistance and tossing himself towards the void.

With V gone along with the presence of the Yamato, the rift slowly began to shrink before snapping shut.

(-)

The shattered moon shone bright over the large body of water on the continent of Anima known as Lake Lazuli. Besides being one of the largest natural bodies of water in the area, it is more commonly known for the crystal-clear blue water that it is made up of. The lake would be considered a tourist hot spot, if not for the large Kraken Grimm that lies beneath its waves. All in all though, it was just another serene night on the water...

Until three individuals literally dropped in out of nowhere and began floundering in the lake.

"What the hell just happened?!" yelled Nero as he tried to stay afloat. "Where are we?!"

Meanwhile Dante had made his way over to V and grabbed him by the neck. "Alright V, you have till the count of 'What the fuck!' to tell me what the fuck just happened!"

The black-haired man tried to remove Dante's hand from his neck, but the half-devil was just too strong. "T-time... and p-place! Not... when... d-drowning!"

"Enough with the question dodging! I. Want. Answers!"

"Argh! Fine!" V snapped as he finally managed to lessen Dante's grip. "The truth is-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHH!"

As if intending to interrupt them, the massive Kraken emerged from beneath the waters surface and let loose a blood-curdling roar as it glared banefully at the trio.

"Fuck off! We aren't in the mood for this crap!" Dante shouted as he performed an air-hike and fired a barrage of lead at the Grimm with Ebony and Ivory.

The beast roared in anger as the bullets bore holes in its body, and it began to thrash its tentacles about wildly. It was then hit by a powerful bolt of lightning courtesy of Griffon, followed by a stab to the eye from Nero.

One excessively violent beatdown later, the Kraken was reduced to nothing as the three men dragged themselves back onto dry land.

"V, I'm charging you extra for this..." Dante remarked as he lay down to take a breather.

V chuckled weakly. "Send the invoice to my office... I'll get to it later..."

"This has to be the craziest shit I've dealt with since the last crazy thing that happened..." Nero added as he flopped on his back and stared at the sky. But as he took note of the state of the moon, his brow began to twitch. "Mother fucker... Hey guys, any idea as to who broke the friggin moon?"

The veteran demon hunter huffed in amusement. "Todo, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..."

V groaned with a cringe. "Oh shut up already..."