Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of the devil may cry characters in this fiction, if I did, Kyrie would have died in the first ten minutes of the game and Dante and Nero would be together...and Vergil would be shirtless in the third game...and Arkham would wear a frilly princess dress for my entertainment.
Rated Mature for Violence, Blood and Gore, Possible Incest, Language, Angst, Hot Man Sex in Later Chapters, and other things that I am still thinking up.
A cookie to those who got the title. ^w^ Enjoy!
Chapter One: Be Careful What You Wish For
"You sure this is the place, old man?" Nero said as Dante pulled his red car up to the small stone building that seemed to appear out of nowhere in the forest. They were lucky enough to find a dirt road to the place but now that they had arrived, it did not look like a normal demonic environment. The air was not thick and it looked completely abandoned, by humans and demons. "It looks normal to me."
"This is it. We're working underground, kid." Dante said, opening the car door and grabbing their equipment from the back seat. "There's suppose to be a demon somewhere in the Labyrinth. It was sealed off for several years but recently a few treasure hunters opened it and turned up dead at the entrance. The way the wounds were described, I didn't think it was a demon but we might as well check it out."
"Doesn't sound like a challenge, old man. Even if it was a demon, I doubt it's strong if it can only take out a few defenseless humans." Nero caught Blue Rose and Red Queen when they were tossed to him. "Remind me why I had to come again?"
"Why? You afraid of the dark?" Dante smirked as the younger man snorted at the comment. The two hunters walked towards the small stone building, noticing traces of blood in the air as they neared the large carved door. "Seems that someone else was a little too curious. Make sure to watch your back, kid."
"It's not like this is my first mission, jackass. And how long are you going to keep calling me a 'kid'?" Nero growled. Dante tapped his chin to mock that he was thinking about it.
"As long as you're younger than me, kid." He said, grinning at the glare in his direction. "Let's get going."
The two stone doors shut loudly behind them, the sound letting the hunters know that they would not be let out so easily. Dante moved to get something to light the dark area but he felt an arm stop his.
"I got this one, old man." Nero said, lifting his devil bringer as the blue glow from it grew in intensity. They stood on top of a set of stairs, the bottom to them hidden from sight by darkness. The elder looked at the walls on the side of the stairs to see claw marks and burned spots that looked very out of place. He was too distracted to notice that the younger man had started down the stairs until the light faded.
"Hey, don't get too far ahead or I can't protect your ass." Dante said, moving to catch up to the ex-order member. He heard Nero chuckle.
"Yeah, right. Who's afraid of the dark now?" The younger hunter smirked and continued down the steps.
"I'm beginning to hate Labyrinths." Nero muttered as he turned down another tunnel with Dante close behind him. It was nearly an hour since they arrived at the entrance and were only getting lost inside the tunnels. "I'm surprised the demon could find the guys that went down here. I can't even tell where we came from."
"You're relying on your eyes too much, kid. You have to open up your other senses." Dante said, grabbing onto Nero's hoodie and pulling him into another tunnel. "Demon is this way." The younger man growled at being manhandled, ignoring the fact that the elder had been correct about him relying on his eyes. Bastard just has to call me on everything, doesn't he? Nero thought angrily. He broke the hold on his hoodie with his devil bringer, pushing Dante's arm away from himself before moving a few meters ahead of the older hunter. "Kid-"
"What?" Nero reeled around, walking backwards as he prepared to punch the older man for another smart ass comment. He felt one of his legs drop an inch and looked back to see a part of the tiling on the floor indented by his weight. Nero had to admit it was odd that the flooring of the tunnels was tiled instead of dirt but he understood why as he heard a loud clang above them. A part of the dark ceiling slammed down quickly between the two hunters, separating Dante and Nero. "Damn!" The younger man yelled.
"You alright, kid?" A muffled yell came from the other side of the thick wall. Nero scowled at being called a 'kid' again and debated on whether to reply.
"Yeah. I guess we'll have to split up, old man." The young hunter looked around the wall and floor, unable to see a way back or another switch. "I don't think there's a way around."
"It's a Labyrinth. There's probably another tunnel that leads out so we'll meet up again somewhere. Just be careful, kid. This place is trapped." Nero rolled his eyes at Dante's voice.
"Really? I didn't notice." He said, making sure to lay the sarcasm on thick. Sometimes, he really hated the elder and wished he would get himself in trouble so Nero would have to bail him out. At least then, he would know I can take care of myself and even save his ass. Damn him… The younger hunter walked away from the wall without a warning to the older man. He felt another tile dip under his weight, this time not accompanied by a clang but a whistling sound. Nero quickly ducked as he realized what had created the sound. He looked up when it stopped to see darts stuck in the wall, filled with an acid substance that melted part of the dirt surface. Why does everything bad happen to me? The hunter sighed before standing up and carefully walking down the tunnel. I wonder why this place is trapped. I guess it was to make sure the demon didn't get out. I doubt those darts would have done anything to it, though.
Nero winced when he heard a high pitched shriek echo around the limited space around the tunnel. He looked into the black shadows in the distance, wondering if the demon was nearby. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary down the tunnel, making the young man suspicious. What was that for? Did Dante find the demon and kill it? Jackass! He planned on killing it before I could!
Nero stopped walking as a shifting of rocks behind him came to his ears. He turned around just in time for something to leap at him from the ceiling. The ex-order member slashed at the small thing with the claws of his devil bringer, slicing it in half. The light tan demon fell to the ground, twitching slightly as it bled. Nero hesitantly bent down to the foot long thing, looking over it but keeping his distance. The sharp teeth still snapped at him when it hissed at him, a small drill in the center of it's mouth told the young slayer what type of demon it was.
"What the hell is a parasite demon doing down here? Don't tell me that this is all that we're here for. Damn things are weak as hell." Nero muttered to himself as he pulled out Blue Rose and poked the wriggling head of the demon with the barrel. He paused as he rested the revolver's barrel on the hissing demon's head. Didn't Dante say something about the wounds on the guys they found here? "Parasites find a host and get inside them. Control them…So the parasite made them kill each other." Nero said, his eyes widening at his relation. "Shit! Dante!"
Dante walked carelessly down the tunnel, following the scent that he had picked up as well as trying to track Nero. He focused on the two scents, trying to make his way towards them as he lazily dodged a few of the rigged traps. The elder hunter turned down another tunnel, heading towards the younger hunter's scent first but he stopped for a moment when he felt something nearby. There was no scent, so it was not the demon they were after. He waited a few moments before continuing on, choosing to find the ex-order member then focus on their mission. Kid's probably still pissed at me. Dante chuckled to himself, remembering Nero's cute angry face. He always loved making the younger man angry and it was always too easy.
A sharp spike of pain hit him as he felt something pierce through his coat and into his shoulder. Damn! Dante quickly grabbed it and tore whatever it was off of him, throwing it to the ground and shooting it full of holes with Ivory. He scolded himself, knowing that he let his guard down too much by thinking of Nero. It was odd how thinking of the younger man did that to him. Dante sighed and looked down at the tiny demon, noticing the teeth and structure of it's body. He swore under his breath as he reached to feel the bite on his shoulder. A sickly liquid met his fingers and he drew them back to see them colored a bright orange.
"Well, fuck…That's defiantly not good." Dante said, nearly stumbling backwards. "I really…shouldn't have brought the kid."