Diamondback CHAPTER 1

You guys asked for it and you know how I like to please ;) So I'm doing a story based on chapter 12 of Rebellion and Blue Rose Productions.

This will hopefully at some point become a DantexNero so if you don't like it get out now.

I do not own Devil May Cry and I'm writing this story purely for entertainment purposes!

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"Devil May Cry." Nero answered the phone groaning mentally at how much he sounded like a receptionist, he'd been working with Dante at Devil May Cry for a few weeks. He'd finally gotten tired of the sideways looks from the townspeople of Fortuna. Kyrie had gotten herself a new boyfriend that didn't like him and Nero decided it was time to go. He was young, and he could find work.

"Okay. Location?" He paused listening for a moment. "Where is the thing at?" he clarified with a roll of his eyes. He scribbled quickly on a pad of paper. "All right. We'll send someone right away." he promised before hanging up.

"Where's the fire kid?" Dante asked with a stretch and a sleepy eye rub.

"Fifth and main." he said. "Let's go."

"What is it?" the elder slayer asked.

"Dunno. Guy said it was a snake thing."

"Huh. Great." he said picking up Rebellion placing Ebony and Ivory in their holsters looking up to see Nero taking off out the door. "Hey!" he protested, running out after him.

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The two arrived near fifth and main to find a large reptile like creature, it had blue scales covering the body with white spikes protruding from it's back. It had bright green eyes and large needle-like teeth. It had no arms or legs just a long serpentine body. It spotted the two half-demons and roared at them, flicking it's tail forward to crush them. (1) Dante and Nero quickly dodged out of the way. The elder slayer pulled his trusty firearms shooting at the creature's face as Nero pulled out Blue Rose hoping the more powerful gun could find a weak spot.

"Not working!" the kid shouted. "I'm going to Red Queen!" The two had to constantly communicate or they would end up shooting or slicing each other's body parts off. The younger hunter jumped onto the snake's body running up and revving Red Queen as Dante stopped his rapid fire assault so he wouldn't hit him. The elder slayer pulled out Rebellion trying to find a different place to check for weakness. He leapt into the air to avoid the creature's tail again as it tried to crush him, before glancing up to check on the kid.

Nero made it up the creature's neck and slashed at it's face.

"Watch it kid!" Dante shouted as the snake snapped towards the younger hunter. Nero quickly dodged out of the way grabbing onto one of the creature's spikes with his devil bringer, to keep from falling to the ground.

Dante became so distracted with making sure Nero was okay he missed the creature's tail coming around as it reached up to grab the younger slayer, knocking him over before it wrapped around Nero like a boa constrictor.

"Nero!" Dante gasped as the kid accidentally dropped Red Queen. He couldn't reach Blue Rose with the snake wrapped around him, and he felt his breath rush out of him as the snake started crushing him. Dante started attacking with Rebellion trying to find a weak point, but the tough scales covered the creature's body like armor and the blade slid off barely scuffing the royal blue scales.

The kid cried in pain as he heard his ribcage crackle under the pressure and he fought back the only way he could. He dug his devil bringer in and dragged it against the grain of the scales pulling them up and revealing the bleeding muscle beneath. The creature screamed and threw the young slayer onto the ground, who clenched his teeth around his scream, his human arm wrapping around his chest, struggling to breathe, it hurt so much!

"Hang in there kid!" Dante shouted, getting a weak nod in response. Dante spotted the bloody gash that Nero's claws had caused. He leapt up to it. He didn't have time to fuck around, Nero was hurt. He slammed Rebellion into the wound making the creature shriek as it flailed and snapped at the more experienced hunter. Dante used his devil trigger grabbing the hilt of his sword tightly and pulling against the grain of the scales pulling them up and off as he injured the creature's insides making his way up to the head as quickly as possible.

The snake hissed and shrieked, trying to buck Dante off. Nero looked up from his position on the ground and pulled out Blue Rose, glaring at the monster taking careful aim and firing making a large green eye explode with red distracting it from killing Dante as he made his way up to cleave it's head in two.

Seeing Dante alive and well and the monster dead, Nero turned to himself discovering that a portion of his ribcage was acting…wrong. When he breathed in, that part of his chest would push in instead of out causing him extreme teeth gritting pain.(2)

He heard the elder slayer's boots on the road running to him and kneeling beside his body.

"What's broke?" he asked.

"Ribs." he hissed. "It's bad Dante. Real bad-it hurts." he managed to get out without his voice cracking.

"All right. Hold on kid, okay?" he said, carefully turning Nero onto his back, the younger hissing a bit at the movement. "Damn." he mumbled, seeing the detached part of the kid's ribcage. "This is going to take more medical know-how than I have Nero. I'm sorry, this is gonna hurt, but I gotta take you somewhere." he said, sliding his hands under Nero's back and behind his knees.

The younger slayer's left hand clenched at the back of Dante's red trench coat. "Christ! Ugh, Dante. What is it?" he managed.

"Looks like part of your ribcage got detached. Just hold on okay? Try not to talk too much." he advised moving at a quick walk since running would cause the younger more pain.

"Dante-get Red Queen." he hissed.

The older hunter glanced over and spotted the intricate blade sticking out of the pavement. He rolled his eyes. "You're mortally wounded and still more concerned with getting your sword back than getting patched up." he chuckled.

Nero glared, but Dante walked over and grabbed his blade putting it on his back before continuing on the track he'd been going previously.

"Where we going?" Nero asked.

"A girl I know. I'll explain more later, okay?" he said. The younger nodded obediently and tried to focus on breathing correctly.

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After a short walk, which was an eternity for poor Nero they arrived at a small unmarked building. By that point he'd run out of will to care, he just wanted the pain to stop.

"Dorri!" Dante shouted, followed by some movement in the building and a woman answering the door. She had dark blue hair in a pony tail as well as hot pink eyes, she quickly backed up allowing Dante to take Nero inside. (3) She motioned to a sterile looking table and Dante placed him on it.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"His name is Nero. We got in a fight with a snake-"

"And lost?" she inquired looking over the younger slayer.

"Actually-no." Nero managed to mumble.

"Well that's good news. I'm assuming you were crushed by the thing." she said.

"How'd ya guess?" he asked sarcastically.

"Don't talk." the woman mumbled. "Focus on breathing. You need oxygen." she said, looking around the clean space until she located what she wanted and walked toward it.

Nero opened his mouth to speak and Dante shot him a warning look. "You heard the lady." Nero closed his mouth and ground his teeth until a mask was placed over his nose and mouth giving 100% oxygen.

"Okay Dante. I have some work to do that you may not like seeing. You should probably wait in the back."

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"Demon healing is one hundred times faster than a human's. Therefore setting the bones back in place for a few minutes will be enough to heal them back in place enough that they'll heal correctly. As for how I'm going to do it…I'll give Nero a lot of anesthesia and he won't be able to tell either."

The younger slayer looked slightly alarmed by this, but Dante merely chuckled. "All right Dorri, I trust you." he lightly ruffled Nero's hair. "You're in good hands kid. I promise. Just do what the lady says."

The younger looked up through pain clouded eyes and nodded slightly. Dante turned and walked out, certain he never wanted to see the kid in so much pain ever again.

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Dorri pulled on some medical gloves and picked up a needle. "Nero, you need as much oxygen as you can get so I can't give you the anesthesia orally. Is it okay if I give it to you through your left arm?"

"Yeah, unless you got a needle that's going to pierce demon armor." he replied flexing his right hand.

"No I don't." she smiled lightly. "I got a scalpel that can though."

Nero looked over with a worried expression.

"Sorry. Just joking. I'm just going to reset your ribs and then your out of here. I promise." she said. The half-devil felt a pinch on his arm and a cold feeling running up the limb and spreading through his body making him numb and unable to move, worrying him somewhat being helpless.

"It's all right Nero." she said softly pulling a mask over her face and turning to a table of instruments before picking up a black cloth and placing it over the young hunter's eyes. "You won't feel a thing and it'll be over before you know it." the doctor assured.

Nero closed his eyes and prayed that she was telling the truth.

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Dante waited impatiently in the waiting room, letting out a heavy sigh and hoping that Dorri could patch the kid up as good as new. He tapped his foot a sign of his worry. After forty-five minutes of waiting the female doctor opened the door her facemask down around her neck.

"The operation was a success." she smiled. "But I wouldn't go see him just yet he's spitting mad that the anesthesia hasn't worn off yet so he's pretty numb."

Dante chuckled, relieved. "Sounds like the kid. And when it wears off he'll be pissed because he's sore."

"I should tell you since I'm not sure he'll listen. He should take it easy for a few days. At this stage it would be easy to re-break those bones, which is the last thing he needs."

"I get it." he nodded.

"Good."

"Hey doc, where'd you put my shirt?" Nero asked walking up behind her. Dorri gasped and jumped turning to face him. The older hunter lightly laughed looking over Nero who had some bruises on his left shoulder and stitches up his abdomen.

"You gave me a heart attack." she breathed. "They're over there." she pointed at the neatly folded clothes laying on a chair.

"Thanks." he mumbled. "You got some explaining to do old man."

"Yeah, I know kid. When should the stitches come out?"

"They can come out tomorrow if really necessary." Dorri said.

"Hey, am I allowed to go?"

"Yeah kid. You check out."

"Yes. There was no damage to your lungs so you should be fine, just remember to take it easy for a few days." the doctor said.

Nero nodded as he finished pulling on his denim jacket. "Thanks a lot doc." he nodded heading towards the door as Dante caught up with him. The two strolled down the street in silence for a few minutes.

"So, you going to tell me what's up with the chick?" Nero asked.

"I saved her a few years back from some demons who attacked her and her family. She still keeps some hatred for them, and she feels indebted to me. So she offered free medical service if I should ever need it, and to better help me she started studying demons."

"Like Agnus?" Nero inquired. Dante shook his head.

"Nah, not like that. She wanted to find their weaknesses, and like I said, abilities to better help me if I ever got in a jam. Never really needed her until now, but I keep tabs on her."

"Guess it's a good thing. What would have happened if she hadn't been around?" he asked.

"…I guess you'd be popping Tylenol like crazy and waiting until your ribs healed together again."

Nero winced.

"Yeah, I figured that this was the preferable option. I didn't want you in pain like that."

"Has that ever happened to you?" the young slayer wondered.

"That?" he motioned to his ribcage. "No. Broken and fractured but not like that." he stated.

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Meanwhile…

A shadowed woman stood next to the deceased snake demon.

"My poor pet." she cooed, her hand touching one of the giant fangs from the demon's mouth. "Dead, and you didn't even complete your mission…Oh well. I suppose if you want something done right you have to do it yourself…"

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(1): This is a creature that I made up. I'm pretty sure that it's not in any DMC game just so you're aware.

(2) What Nero has is called Flail Chest. Here's a description: Flail chest is the most common serious injury to the ribs. It occurs when three or more ribs are broken in at least two places, front and back. This will only happen if there has been a great deal of blunt force. The key sign of flail chest is 'paradoxical movement', which means the natural movement of the ribcage during breathing is in reverse; for example, the injured area of ribcage sinks in when the person inhales instead of lifting outwards.

If you want more on that all you have to do is google it. ;)

(3) Dorri is my character. I made her up and she belongs to me. She's a doctor in some of my stories and I needed someone to take care of Nero. I usually don't like to use OCs but did you want Nero to suffer!? O.o

Anyway, I don't think Dorri is actually going to be important to the story, so don't worry.

Okay, I actually do have a plan for this! Hooray! I hope you guys liked it. A lot of it is like it was in Rebellion and Blue Rose, but I made a lot of changes in certain places. I hope you liked it! Leave me a review please! I'll give you cookies! :D Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth August 15, 2009