WELL THIS IS AWKWARD: Some of you just got an alert for this story, and you're like, "Wait, what the hell was this one about again?" because I didn't update this in, oh, like three years. I'm going to explain a bit why in the notes at the end of this chapter so I don't ruin the mood, but if you just got an alert, I want to encourage you to reread the first chapter, not just because it's been forever but also because I fully rewrote it and re-uploaded it so it's now longer and includes new plot stuff.
Now onto the good stuff...
Nero's first thoughts upon waking up were, "Ow."
Everything hurt. If he hadn't known better, he would have sworn his entire body was literally made of pain and regret that'd been formed into something vaguely shaped like a human.
(One of the arms of the mold had been a little bit off apparently.)
Even his fingernails seemed to be aching fiercely.
(This was the second time today that he'd woken up face down and bleeding heavily in a strange place after being impaled by an asshole and boy was he not happy about it.)
(At least he'd bled mystery goo all over that Vergil guy's fake ass sword. With any luck, it'd infect him and his smug face too.)
(It was admittedly a small comfort.)
(You know what, that Vergil guy was getting a minivan shoved up his ass too.)
He tried to push himself up off the floor only to curse loudly when his arms straight up refused to support his weight and instead sent him sprawling right back to the floor.
(Well, at least this library looked like it'd been swept recently.)
(Did demons have janitors or does Vergil make his creepy sidekick do all the chores?)
There was only one thing left to do: Nero activated his devil trigger and barely resisted the urge to openly cheer when the ghostly apparition appeared over him to guard his back while his wounds slowly knitted themselves back together. He didn't like using his devil trigger solely to heal but he had no other choice. It was either that or crawl through this god forsaken spire on his hands and knees. The pain radiating throughout his body mercifully lessened to a tolerable level but it was clear that not even his devil trigger would be able to fully heal his wounds.
(Seriously, how the hell was he still alive right now?)
(And considering he'd passed out twice already, he really hoped his devil trigger also healed slight brain damage.)
He could feel the entry wound on his back that the false Yamato had left behind close, but the hole in his abdomen didn't budge an inch.
(Probably because his devil trigger wasn't able to heal nightmares.)
Nero pulled up his shirt again to confirm and yeah, not only had the wound not improved at all, it seemed to be getting worse. It probably wasn't a good sign that not even his devil trigger could fight off whatever it was he'd been injected with.
He'd have to be careful to not overuse his devil trigger. The whole transformation thing was still new to him and it drained him more than he liked to admit. If he relied too heavily on the demonic power, he'd ended up exhausted and in even worse shape than he was now.
His ghostly protector faded away as he finally found the strength to pull himself to his feet. The healing was nowhere near complete but it was enough to keep him upright. Maybe if he was lucky, his wounds would continue to improve with every use of his devil trigger.
Nero had a new goal in mind as he left the library and cautiously checked his surroundings to make sure he wasn't in risk of immediately stumbling into Vergil and his horrorshow of a sidekick again. He'd been impaled twice today and that was frankly two times too many. He wasn't exactly interested in making it three times in one day.
(He also wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to survive a third impalement. He was still kind of surprised he'd survived the second. Vergil had plainly been aiming to kill him.)
He needed to find Dante as fast as he could. The older hunter was probably the only ally he had for miles and as much as he hated to admit it, he'd need Dante's help if he wanted to get out of this place in one piece.
(Plus maybe Dante could explain just why in the hell he had a younger clone of himself running around stabbing people.)
(He'd also like to know just where the fuck he was.)
Of course, he still had to find Dante first and Nero knew from personal experience that the older hunter had a way of constantly being a few steps ahead of him. His only real shot was doubling back to find where the trail of bullet holes had ended. He couldn't afford to just run blindly in any direction anymore.
(And if he'd been paying attention earlier, maybe he could have spared himself from wandering into the library of horrible impalements.)
(There was a told you so for his instructors in there somewhere.)
He didn't have to look very hard, at least. The trail of bullet holes hadn't faded away, instead they just went up.
(Of course they did. Why would you bother building stairs when you could build a series of giant trampolines instead?)
(Nero hated these things even when he was in perfect shape, but they were even worse when it felt like every jump was going to send your intestines spilling out of the giant hole in your stomach.)
Nero wasn't entirely sure what he'd been expecting to find once he reached the top of the passage way since this tower seemed to specialize in weirdness. He would have been happy to find more bullet holes pointing him in the right direction. He would have even accepted a fight.
What he hadn't been expecting was a creepy purple clown grinning menacingly at him and what appeared to be a giant flying alligator in the sky behind him.
But that's what he found.
"What the fuck?" Nero asked in confusion because honestly, what other response could he have possibly given in this situation?
The creepy clown laughed loudly at him, throwing his head back in an exaggerated fashion so the bells at the end of his jester hat jingled.
The clown stopped laughing when Nero pointed Blue Rose at his creepy clown face.
"What the hell are you supposed to be?" Nero growled, debating on whether he should wait for the answer or just shoot the clown immediately.
(Did demons have a use for clowns? Did they have demonic birthday parties?)
The clown held his hands up in a mockery of pleading for his life. "I'm an observer and you, my boy, are a gatecrasher that carries demonic power. Can you blame me for being curious?"
"Maybe you should have been curious from a distance."
"I am Jester." The clown announced, bowing to Nero and ignoring his distaste. "And you are?"
"Getting more irritated by the second." Nero replied.
"You know, you remind me of someone." Jester said, smiling tightly. "Except he was invited and you were not."
"Who says I'm not supposed to be here?" Nero asked, carefully maneuvering to keep several steps between himself and the demented Jester. "Maybe my invitation got lost in the mail."
(There was no one standing in front of him.)
(GODDAMN IT, NOT AGAIN.)
"I do." The clown laughed as he flickered back into existence so close to Nero that their noses touched. "You could have been a fun distraction for our other guests, but it seems like your injuries are much too severe for you to keep up with them. Maybe you should go home, hmm?"
(Nero really should have noticed how close to the edge he'd been standing.)
(The clown was apparently stronger than he looked.)
Nero frantically reached out with his Devil Bringer as his feet slipped over the ledge, but there was nothing near enough to serve as a hand hold and stop his fall. Jester had vanished the moment he'd finished shoving Nero over the edge, so he couldn't even get the satisfaction of bringing the clown over the edge with him.
(Fucking teleporters.)
It was a long way to the bottom.
...
Miraculously, Nero managed to land on something that wasn't his head or spine.
(Not that landing on his ass had been any more dignified or any less painful.)
He'd crashed through several layers of stone ceilings and the only thing that had prevented him from becoming a bright red smear on the floor was his devil trigger. He'd landed in some dimly lit circular room (which now had a new sky light. You're welcome, demons.) Nero lay on the ground alternating between thinking about how he kept ending up sprawled on dirty floors and wondering if it was possible to jar your spine so badly that it actually came out of the top of your head. (It sort of felt like the answer was yes.)
He would have continued to lay there and at least attempt to recover if not for the sound of someone pointing a gun at him.
(Goddamn it, how did he keep stumbling into situations where people who wanted to kill him got the drop on him?)
(Why was everything trying to kill him today? Had he offended some kind of vengeful deity?)
Nero was on his feet with Blue Rose drawn and pointing at the enemy before he even registered the movement.
(Thank you, demonic senses.)
(Thank you, spine, for still being where you belong.)
(If nothing else, today was quickly becoming solid proof that he was really good at surviving horrible injuries.)
(He would have preferred a different talent.)
The person aiming his guns at Nero's head was still mostly in the shadows, but he was at least human shaped instead of demon shaped. All he could really make out was a vague shape in a red coat. For a brief second, he thought it might be Dante but this guy was both shorter and slimmer than the older hunter.
"Look pal." Nero began, lowering Blue Rose just enough that he wasn't pointing it right at the stranger but he could still pull the trigger in an instant should this guy suddenly rush him. "I don't know who you are but I'm not looking for a fight right now. How about we both go our separate ways and pretend we never saw each other?"
The stranger fired one shot, but instead of it hitting Nero, it sailed over his shoulder. "I don't think you have a choice in the fight."
Nero turned his head to watch several more demons appear behind him around the body of their fallen comrade. They were small fries and not much of a threat, but at least this guy was shooting at them instead of at Nero. He drew Red Queen and slashed the nearest demon in half. Its body ignited into flames that spread across the pack of demons. At least these guys wouldn't take a lot of effort to wipe out.
"Are you going to help or are you just going to watch?" Nero called over his shoulder.
"Huh, well if you can't handle it on your own." The stranger replied cockily as he fired several more shots at the demons surrounding them. "I guess I can spare a few minutes."
The way this guy fought was incredibly familiar, but Nero couldn't fight with his injuries and spare enough attention to keep an eye on the stranger fighting alongside him. He still hadn't gotten a good luck at the stranger and in between the blasts of fire and wind from his swords, all Nero got was the occasional glimpse of red coat while he fought.
There were four demons in total surrounding Nero and he needed to wrap this fight up quickly. Not only did he want to avoid as much fighting as he could while he was injured, he also didn't want to have to resort to using his devil trigger against these small fries in front of the other man.
(His ego was bruised enough.)
He easily stepped to the side to avoid a swipe from the closest demon, only to have to dodge again to avoid a small tornado of fire and wind that caught the demon and sent it flying into the wall.
(Oh, it's like that is it?)
Nero was ready this time. The stranger moved to attack another demon, but Nero was faster. He caught the fiend with his Devil Bringer and slammed it against the floor. It landed with a sickening but also oddly satisfying crunch.
The stranger laughed loudly as he fought. "Looks like you got a few tricks up your sleeve!"
"You're not so bad yourself!" Nero called back. Why did this guy seem so familiar?
After that, he and the other man fell in sync like they'd been fighting together for years. Nero couldn't complain about having backup and between the two of them, the demons were nothing but an easily dispatched nuisance. The demons were all dead within minutes and while the wound on Nero's stomach burned and pulled tightly while he reshouldered Red Queen, he was at least still standing and hadn't taken any more blows.
He turned to introduce himself to his mysterious ally.
Wait, what?
Nero's brain couldn't seem to make sense of who he was staring at. At first glance, he was sure it was Dante but like before, this guy was way too young. His next guess was Vergil, but this guy was too friendly and way too underdressed to be Mr. Impalement-Before-Introductions.
(Anyone who wore a full coat and a scarf in the middle of the summer wasn't going to start running around shirtless.)
(Goddamn it, did Dante have two asshole sons running around?)
(At least this one hadn't stabbed him.)
(Yet.)
There were a million questions Nero wanted to ask right now, but instead of asking something more prudent or even introducing himself, Nero's brain decided on, "Are you seriously shirtless right now?"
"I'll try to dress up for you next time." The guy quipped. "But you have to admit, I make this look good."
(Nero was either more brain damaged than he originally thought, or this guy was flirting with him.)
"Right." Nero said warily. "Thanks for the help back there."
"You looked like you needed it." The stranger said bluntly. He circled Nero and then stopped to lean over to get a closer look at his Devil Bringer. "That's a crazy arm you got there."
"Damn thing drives me crazy." Nero replied honestly, though he pulled the offending arm slightly behind him and away from the stranger. He still wasn't a fan of being stared at like a circus freak.
"I bet it's great for reading in the dark." The other man joked. "You got a name?"
"It's Nero."
"Nero, huh?" The stranger repeated. "I'm Dante."
"What?" Nero asked in confusion, hoping he'd heard wrong.
"My name is Dante." The other hunter replied slowly, as though he thought Nero was equally as slow.
"I know this is a weird question, but would you happen to be named after your Father?" Nero asked.
Dante snorted. "I'm not named after anyone."
"Are you with Vergil?" Nero asked, becoming increasingly more aware of the fact his voice was sounding farther and farther away.
(Don't you dare pass out again.)
(Please don't let this be what I think this is.)
"So you've met my dear older brother." Dante said darkly. "What'd ya think?"
"He impaled me." Nero told him. "He's kind of a dick."
"He does that." Dante laughed, though he sounded bitter. "You alright? You look like you're gonna hurl."
"Oh, I'm really just hoping I have brain damage right now." Nero told him as he sank back to the ground. He suddenly really needed to sit down.
(Sitting down was better than fainting, right?)
(He suddenly realized why the name Vergil had sounded familiar. He'd heard it before.)
(It sounded familiar because Dante had once told him he'd had a brother named Vergil who wielded Yamato before him.)
(He'd also mentioned the fact that his brother was dead.)
(Except Vergil wasn't currently dead. Vergil seemed to be alive and well and stabbing people with the same sword Nero was carrying.)
(That fucking demon hadn't just sent him to a different city; it'd sent him back in time.)
(Please let this be severe brain damage and not actually reality.)
Dante snorted and holstered his guns. "Well good luck with that, kid. But I've got places I need to be."
(Of course the asshole still called him kid when they were the same age.)
"You're leaving?" Nero asked in surprise as Dante started to walk away. He winced at how needy that sounded. Of course Dante was going to leave, Nero was a stranger to him and he had no reason to stick around.
"I don't have time to play nursemaid." Dante said, turning slightly to face him. "You're strong, but you're hurt. I can't run the risk of you slowing me down."
"You've seen what I can do." Nero pointed out in protest. "I could help."
"I don't need your help. None of this is any of your business." Dante shot back and Nero got the definite sense he'd just hit a sore spot.
"I need your help." Nero reluctantly admitted.
"What do you want, a date?" Dante asked while smirking. "Because this isn't the most romantic setting."
"No, I don't want a date." Nero snapped, unnerved by how flirtatious this younger version of Dante was. Older Dante had never hit on him. "I want to know what the hell is going on."
"It's the end of the world, kid. What more do you need to know?" Dante asked, gearing up to walk away.
"I know this sounds crazy." Nero began desperately. "But I think I might be from the future."
Dante burst out laughing at him. "That's definitely a new line."
Nero growled in frustration. "I can prove it, asshole."
"Oh yeah?" Dante asked. "How?"
Nero held out his Devil Bringer and summoned Yamato. The sword appeared in his hand in a flash of blue light. Dante sobered instantly at the sight of the blade. "How else would I have this?"
Dante snatched Yamato out of his hand and Nero let him take it without a fight. He watched silently as the other hunter turned the blade over in his hands as he examined it.
"And why the hell do you have my brother's sword in the future?" Dante finally asked when he realized the blade in his hands was genuine and not a clever copy.
"Because you gave it to me." Nero said honestly, summoning the blade back to him. It reappeared in his hand as Dante looked at him in surprise.
"Why would I have Vergil's sword in the first place? He'd die before he'd let me take it."
"I'm pretty sure he did." Nero said bluntly and then wished he could stick his foot in his mouth.
Dante went silent beside him for a long time as he absorbed what Nero had just told him. "You know this is fucking insane, right?"
"Believe me, you're preaching to the goddamn choir!" Nero snapped as he reabsorbed Yamato into his Devil Bringer.
"I don't have time to deal with this shit." Dante growled. "Get yourself out of here and find a safe spot to hide. I'll find you once this is all over."
"I could help you." Nero protested.
"I already told you that I don't need your help!" Dante snapped. "This is something I need to do on my own, so get your ass out of here and wait for me to catch up."
"Fine." Nero angrily agreed. He and Dante were on even ground now, so why did he still feel like a kid that was being scolded? "I'll find a place to hunker down."
"Good." Dante said simply as he stalked away, leaving Nero to stand alone in the rubble of the destroyed room.
Nero waited a whole minute before deciding he was going to follow Dante anyway.
...
Dante was as hard to track now as he had been in Fortuna. Nero knew the other hunter wasn't stupid despite the lazy front he put on, Dante would suspect that Nero was going to attempt to follow him and that meant he'd stopped leaving Nero an obvious trail of bullet holes to follow.
But in the end, all Nero had to do was head upwards. Anything worth fighting in a giant evil demonic tower was going to be near the top and Dante would definitely be heading towards the strongest things in the tower.
He just had to take care to avoid:
1. Anything else that wanted to violently impale him. (Which seemed to be most things in this goddamn tower.)
2. Smug assholes in blue coats that were supposed to be dead. (He could easily see why Vergil had ended up dead at such a young age. That tends to happen when you piss off everyone you interact with.)
3. Evil clowns. (He still couldn't believe there was an actual evil clown running around.)(This whole situation was so fucked up.)
Besides, Dante would have done the same thing if their positions had been reversed so Nero didn't feel too badly about ignoring the other hunter's wishes. He could follow Dante without getting mixed up in his fight if that what he wanted, but there was no way in hell he was just going to sit on his ass and wait for Dante to find him.
(He also didn't want to slow down and give the reality of his situation the time to really sink in, because he was surely going to have a massive mental breakdown when he finally accepted he was back in time with no idea of how to get back to his own time.)
So Nero climbed.
...
The whole goddamn tower was still eerily silent as Nero made his way through the hallways. This was awful for avoiding the endless abyss of dread that came with realizing you were back in time, but excellent for dodging rocket launcher strikes aimed at your head.
(He wasn't even surprised anymore. Of course someone was trying to kill him with a rocket launcher. Why the hell not?)
(How do you even comfortably carry a fucking rocket launcher with you?)
Nero slid several feet backwards, easily avoiding the blast as he reached behind him to ready Red Queen for a fight in case he needed her. The smoke hadn't cleared yet, but he could sense whoever was gunning for him wasn't a demon and Nero was hesitant to openly attack a human until he knew what was going on.
He had to admit though; he hadn't been expecting a girl to launch herself through the smoke screen with a very large bayonet aimed right at his chest.
(No fucking thank you.)
(Third time was not a charm when it came to being impaled.)
He blocked the blow with his Devil Bringer easily, surprising even himself. He'd fought so many demons recently that he'd forgotten just how much of an advantage he had against humans with his demonic abilities. Even with his injuries, he was able to keep up with her barrage of attacks. She was talented, but it was obvious she didn't have as much experience in close quarters combat as Nero did and she was clearly tired.
(She also looked vaguely familiar too, but it was always so hard to place someone when they were trying to murder you.)
Nero pressed his advantage, taking care to stay close enough that she couldn't fire another rocket at him without also hurting herself. She faltered briefly at having him so close, and he took the opportunity to lock the large ghostly hand of his Devil Bringer around her rocket launcher, bring the fight to a standstill.
"Now," Nero said, only slightly annoyed considering she'd just tried to kill him, "will you at least tell me why you're attacking me?"
(Lady, Nero realized in surprise. He'd only seen her a few times from afar in Fortuna during the Sanctus incident and she'd looked far different but he knew she was part of Dante's crew.)
(Holy fuck, how young is she right now?)
Lady blinked once in confusion as she got a clear look at his face but then her eyes narrowed again as she took in his arm. "So you're a demon too."
"Do you attack everyone just in case they're a demon?" Nero asked in annoyance. He was really getting tired of people constantly attacking him. "I was just minding my own business."
"It's normal to attack monsters, isn't it?" She snapped, trying to pull her weapon out of his grip. She wasn't having much luck with that.
"I'm not letting go until you answer me." Nero told her.
"I thought you were someone else." Lady admitted.
"Dante or Vergil?" Nero sighed. It figures that the Sparda brothers found a way to cause him trouble even when they weren't around.
"I was looking for Vergil." Lady said warily.
"Well, I'm not him." Nero snapped, pointing out the obvious. "If I let go of this, are you going to shoot me with it?"
"Maybe." Lady snapped back at him. Nero grumbled to himself but let go of her weapon. There was a tense standoff before Lady shouldered the rocket launcher.
"I've got a bone to pick with Vergil myself." Nero told her. "Did he attack you too?"
(Does he just attack everybody he meets? No wonder he's dead.)
"He killed my Father." Lady shouted at him. "He manipulated him into killing my Mother and transformed him into a demon. He has to pay."
"His creepy sidekick was your Father?" Nero asked in surprise.
(At least there wasn't much of a family resemblance.)
Lady aimed the rocket launcher at his face again.
"Sorry." Nero apologized hastily. The rocket launcher probably wouldn't kill him, but he definitely didn't want to test it.
"He used to be different." Lady said quietly.
"Vergil is too fast for you." Nero said, hoping to change the subject. He'd never been very good at comforting people and a creepy demonic tower didn't seem like the place to start practicing. "He'll kill you."
"It doesn't matter." Lady said with grim determination. "I have to do this even if it kills me. He destroyed my family."
He couldn't claim to know much about family because he'd never had one until Kyrie and Credo had taken him in, but he did know how to recognize when someone couldn't be talked out of what was admittedly a really, really bad idea. "I could help you."
"I'd never accept help from a demon." Lady said in disgust. "I'll let you live for now, but I'm not leaving here until every last demon is dead."
(Charming.)
(How in the hell had Dante convinced her to join him?)
"Can you at least tell me where they're headed?" Nero called at her retreating form.
"And why would I tell you that?" Lady asked.
He shrugged. "Maybe we'll kill each other and make your job easier."
Lady considered his words briefly before she smirked. "They're headed towards the control room in the basement."
(Son of a bitch.)
(Why couldn't they be heading to the control room in the attic?)
...
Finding the control room was a task easier said than done and it raised a lot of questions like:
1. Why did a giant demonic tower even need a control room? Was this place actually a weapon? Did it have a delicate plumbing system? Either way, this was definitely bad news for the surrounding city.
2. How the hell was everyone in his goddamn tower faster than him?
3. Did he miss a convenient kiosk selling maps with highlighted shortcuts? Were there signs he just wasn't noticing?
4. Why was the so called basement control room in what seemed to be the middle of the tower? Shouldn't the library and control room switch places?
5. Why was everybody staring at him?
6. Where the hell did all this blood come from?
Dante, Vergil and Lady had all beaten him to the basement-that-definitely-wasn't-actually-a-basement and they all had their weapons drawn and pointing at the creepy jester from earlier.
(Yeah, he'd definitely missed something.)
(Oh well.)
"Didn't I tell you to leave?" Dante snapped at him without taking his eyes off the clown as Nero drew his own sword and joined what may be the weirdest fight he'd ever seen.
(The clown had pushed him off the tower after all. Why not get a little payback?)
(Reluctant team up between two demon hunters, an impalement happy asshole and an angry human vs. a creepy clown didn't even sound like it'd make a good b horror movie.)
(How had he ended up here?)
"There's no way you thought I was actually going to listen." Nero pointed out. "Besides, I have to pay this guy back for earlier." He pointed his sword at Virgil.
Virgil smirked at him. "An amateur like you could never lay a hand on me."
"You just got beaten by a dude in a clown suit." Dante pointed out.
"Shut up, Dante." Vergil snapped angrily. Oh so he wasn't always so calm and collected.
"I'm sorry I missed that." Nero said honestly because goddamn, he would have paid good money to see Vergil get his ass handed to him by a clown. "I really missed something, didn't I?"
"Dude, you have no idea." Dante said.
"Will you all shut up!" Lady snapped. "Now is really not the time for your idiotic banter."
"Yes, do shut up." The clown that was suddenly Arkham said, agreeing with Lady.
Wait, what?
"Told you." Dante said in response to Nero's obvious confusion.
"All this posturing is useless." Arkham said. "You're all too weak to stop me."
"Wanna bet?" Dante growled as he rushed Arkham. Vergil and Lady instantly joined the attack as well. Nero had no idea what was going on, but he wasn't about to be left behind. He pointed Red Queen at Arkham's chest and joined the fight.
(There was no one standing in front of them.)
(Goddamn did that get old fast.)
Their four weapons clashed against each other as Arkham reappeared beside them and wasted no time in sweeping them all off their feet.
(It would have been comical if it hadn't preceded an ass kicking.)
(Okay, it was a little comical to see both Vergil and Dante caught so off guard.)
(It was far less comical to be tossed through the air like a rag doll as the ground they'd been standing on began to shake violently and rise through the air.)
All four of them were thrown over the edge of the rising platform as Arkham laughed at them. Nero tried to keep track of the others as they fell, but he was a little bit too preoccupied by not being crushed by falling rocks to really pay too much attention to where everyone else landed.
(Just how many times was he going to have to crash through stone ceilings?)
He landed in a dark hallway that appeared to be several stories belong where he'd originally started and he seemed to be alone.
(Dante was going to have to explain so many things to him when they all got out of here.)
(Where the hell was he now?)
(And where was everyone else?)
(Well at least he hadn't ended up alone with Vergil.)
Nero sighed out loud in the dark as he resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to climb this tower yet again. He'd been separated from the others, but Arkham was clearly headed to the top and that meant the others would be heading upwards with the goal of beheading a clown in mind.
And Nero had every intention of joining them.
The tower seemed to be rotating and shifting around him, but he had no interest in even trying to navigate the changing hallways. He had his Devil Bringer and that meant all he had to do was climb.
...
You could see for miles from the top of the tower.
(It would have been a great view if not for the sinister red light, unholy toiling bells overhead and the burning, gore splattered city down below.)
He found Lady waiting silently at the top of the tower, her mismatched eyes focused intently on the red portal rising from the middle of the platform.
"Are you going?" She asked him as he walked up beside him.
"It's not exactly my fight." Nero pointed out. "And I wasn't really invited either."
"It is your fight now." Lady pointed out. "You're tangled up in it too now."
"I'm not at my best." Nero admitted.
"Neither are they." Lady said seriously.
(Oh.)
"You're worried they won't be able to stop your father." Nero said in realization. "You want me to help them."
"I would never ask a demon for help." Lady repeated but the words sounded empty and hollow in her mouth.
Nero frowned silently as he weighed his options. This truly wasn't his fight; if he really was in the past, this situation had clearly been cleared up without his help the first time around. He had no reason to involve himself in this mess when he was injured.
But on the other hand, both Vergil and Arkham had attacked him and he'd never really been that good at the whole turn the other cheek thing.
(Plus he couldn't exactly ignore Lady's request.)
"I'm going." Nero announced, making up his mind. "Wish me luck."
Lady didn't respond but he hadn't expected her to.
(This was a bad idea.)
...
Nero had a lot of questions like:
1. Why did the power of Sparda turn Arkham into a giant purple blob?
2. Why were there dolphins involved? The Order had forced him to sit through endless sermons about Sparda and not once had anyone ever mentioned his ability to summon aquatic friends.
3. How had he ended up in a dirty river in the demon world, watching the sons of Sparda try to bleed each other dry?
4. Why the hell didn't Yamato ever listen to him the way the sword seemed to listen to Vergil?
5. Why wouldn't Yamato shut the hell up?
(Wait what?)
After things in Fortuna had calmed down after the Sanctus incident, Nero had hunted down and read every piece of information about devil arms that he could find and while they had all mentioned that the weapons had a mind of their own and were capable of communicating, Yamato had never made any attempt to speak with him.
Until now.
The sword had started whispering to him the in the back of his mind as soon as he stepped foot in that portal and joined the sons of Sparda in their fight. Maybe Nero had no idea how Vergil had died or what happened in those years between then and Yamato finding its way to Nero, but the sword clearly remembered and it didn't seem eager to repeat any of it.
"Save Vergil." The sword whispered for what felt like the hundredth time.
"I'm not going to jump in the middle of a fight to defend someone who tried to kill me." Nero protested.
(He was currently standing in a dirty river in hell, in the past, watching two brothers fight each other to the death after they'd just joined up to defeat an evil clown and now he was talking to himself.)
(If today got any weirder, he just might throw himself into the fight. Death might be a sweet release from this bullshit.)
(Not to mention that he was just a little annoyed that the sword could apparently speak with him but couldn't be bothered to tell him just what the fuck was going on until now.)
(He didn't even know what he was supposed to save Vergil from.)
"Do not let him fall." The sword answered.
"That is infuriatingly vague." Nero pointed out, watching the fight closely.
(Here comes the final blow.)
Dante and Vergil charged at each other with the clear intention of killing one another. It was obvious to Nero that neither were pulling their punches and there was no mercy in their movement. They swung at the same time and while both remained standing, the bright arc of blood surrounding Vergil was all he needed to know who the victor was.
(Well at least someone had gotten some payback for being impaled.)
He approached the pair of brothers carefully. He couldn't hear what they were saying but from the way Vergil was stumbling, it was only a matter of a time before he collapsed from his wounds. Yamato's urging grew with every step he took though he still didn't understand why; Dante seemed to be reaching for Vergil, not trying to land a killing blow as the pair approached the edge of the river.
(Oh.)
(How over dramatic.)
(Why wouldn't you throw yourself off a cliff instead of admitting defeat?)
(Yamato could have mentioned he meant don't let him literally fall.)
Dante reached out frantically for his brother, but Vergil landed a well-placed slice that blocked Dante's attempts to catch him. He was already out of Dante's reach.
But he was still well within Nero's grasp. The phantom hand of his Devil Bringer wrapped securely around Vergil.
(He'd been too worried about hurting her to try rescuing Kyrie like this but he wasn't entirely over concerned if he crushed a few of Vergil's ribs.)
Vergil was still fighting as Nero hauled him back over the edge and a combination of his injuries and his arms being pinned meant the blue devil was no match for the Devil Bringer's strength.
(That's enough of that.)
Nero tightened his grip and debated on whether or not it'd ruin the moment to slam him against the floor like a giant basketball when Vergil went limp in his grasp and lost consciousness. He awkwardly dropped him in the river at Dante's feet.
Dante was staring at Nero like he'd forgotten the other man was even there and he was clearly getting ready to ask Nero something but there wasn't any time for questions.
(He also wasn't entirely sure how to tell someone you saved their homicidal brother because a sword was threatening you.)
"Either grab him, or leave him behind like he wanted." Nero snapped before Dante could form a sentence. "We have to get the hell out of here before we're trapped."
Dante hesitated, flicking his eyes between his collapsing surroundings and his brother's still form.
(It was going to be awkward if Vergil drowned in this river before Dante decided what to do with him.)
Finally, he threw Vergil's body over his shoulder and gestured towards the portal. "Let's go!"
After that, it was a mad sprint to escape both hell and the rapidly crumbling tower. There was no time to slow down, all they could do was run and jump over the edge of the spire in an attempt to escape without being caught in the blast zone.
It was a long fall to the ground and the impact seemed to travel throughout Nero's body. It was only Dante grabbing the back of his coat that prevented him from crumbling to his knees when they landed. Vergil didn't even stir despite the commotion surrounding them.
"You saved him?" Nero looked up to find Lady waiting for them, her eyes locked on the unconscious body over Dante's shoulder.
"Nah." Dante said. He pointed towards Nero. "He did."
"Why?" Lady asked, which to be fair, was a good question.
"It's uh, a long story." Nero told her awkwardly.
(What had he just done?)
So why did I not update this in ages? Because when I first started plotting it out, I was serving as a caregiver to my terminally ill father. We lost him suddenly and I had an honest to god mental breakdown. Not in the dramatic sense, but in the very literal sense. It took a long, long time for me to consider writing in even my journal, let alone feel up to plotting out and writing fanfic. I'm doing a lot better now and I'm back in the writing game.
YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO WAIT FOREVER FOR FURTHER UPDATES. I have this entire story plotted out and now it's just a matter of writing the chapters. I'm aiming for one new chapter every two weeks at the latest because I feel like an asshole for leaving it unfinished for so long. Thank you all so much for your kudos and bookmarks. You're the best.