Chapter 3

"Now, flex your arm." Agnus watched the blinking screen that monitored the young man's vital signs as well as various other calculations that were beyond understanding.

Nero gave an impatient sigh and obeyed, making it clear that he was less than enthusiastic about the entire process.

"Now, now- we're almost done." The hunch-upped man gave a leer that was meant to be reassuring. "Just take ball and give it a squeeze."

Nero caught the steel ball that the doctor flung at him, and closed his right hand over it. There was a brittle crack, and fine steel dust trickled from between his fingers.

He smirked.

"E-e-e-excellent! Excellent!" Agnus scribbled madly on his check board, a strange glint in his eyes. "That will be all for today."

Nero shrugged on his shirt, looking over at the diagrams that slowly faded from the screen. "Hey Doc', the last pills were practically useless. Can't you crank up the dosage some more?"

"Your body has an amazing ability to make itself immune to the drugs that we give you. I am tempted to…. But no. We want to…" Agnus' eyes greedily fastened themselves on Nero's right hand until Nero defiantly slipped on his glove. "'…c-c-c-cure you of this after all."

"Isn't that a relief." Nero spoke sardonically, waiting for the momentary nausea, that always accompanied wearing the glove that was programmed to suppress the non-human side of him, to abate. "But the dreams have been increasing lately. If I don't get this under control soon, someone's going to notice."

"We're working on another glove that will allow you to hide the demonic traces more thoroughly." Agnus replied. "Patience boy. Soon I'll have all the data I need and you'll never be bothered by that hand again."

"Uh-huh, sure, whatever." Nero rose and left the sterile room without a backwards glance.

Although he'd never admit it, there was a sense of relief after every visit that he was getting closer and closer to curing his unusual problem.

A part of him balked and loathed at the thought of what all the drugs and suppressing technology were doing to his body, but Nero merely stuffed his right hand in his pocket resignedly.

For as long as he could remember his right hand had always been…different. From the elbow down, it was unusually muscular as well as imbued with a supernatural energy that made it glow ice blue. It was a little larger than his left hand as well as much, much stronger. But it wasn't only his hand that was unusual. Nero didn't know if it was a side effect of having said appendage, but he was faster, stronger and could heal faster than anyone he knew.

That, and he could only have one dream- a reoccurring dream that had long ago burned itself into his memory.

It always started out with him falling.

Nero gazed up at a cavernous sky, up at a figure that was too blurred to make sense of. As he continued to fall, Nero would hear the whistle of wind and the shadows that called his name with an uncanny familiarity, as well as smell the stench of sulfur that made his throat and eyes burn. After what felt like hours, Nero finally reached the ground, landing on his feet with clumsy pain.

Then, the sky would weep.

He watched the rain stain his skin scarlet, and caught occasional glimpses of a face that was both familiar and strange in the puddles. He would limp forward, leaning heavily on a sword that, unlike most of the blades he was used to, was slender and seemed almost too fragile to support him.

Then a blur of red would catch his eye, and in the distance he would see what looked like three flaming orbs that hung in the bloody sky. There was something unspeakably wrong and twisted that hung about it, like a dark aura. It repulsed and entranced, promising nothing but death and sorrow- a greedy thing that sought to destroy.

A hate so acute would overcome his senses, almost choking him with loathing and a deep unexplainable dread. Then, no matter how leaden and pain-wracked his body felt, no matter how much he longed to curl up and hide, Nero would charge. As he ran, Nero knew that he was racing towards destiny, towards death- and he was seized with a fierce and overwhelming triumph. The creature would turn slightly at the sound of his pounding steps and with a fierce yell, Nero would throw himself into the air, body poised to deliver a blow with the last and entirety of his remaining strength.

It was at that point that he would awaken, sweating heavily and gasping for breath.

The dreams had been coming with alarming frequency, leaving him as weary as if he had actually gone and done all that he had dreamed. However, with the help of the pills given by Agnus, this little problem had lessened in occurrence… at least until his body became immune to the latest dosage and he had to go back to the clinic and ask for a new batch.

"Mr. Nero?" A blushing nurse approached after much prodding and giggling from her fellow nurses. "The doctor told me to give this you." She handed him a paper bag that Nero tucked inside his coat.

"Uh… thanks." He cleared his throat awkwardly as she began to bat her eyelashes. "Tell him that the… thingy better be finished by the time I get back."

"'Thingy' Mr. Nero?" The nurse's giggles grated harshly against his ears. "Well, if you ever need anything else, I'd be happy to help. My name is Barbie and I--"

"Yeah, thanks- 'till next time then." Nero ignored her affronted look and quickly left the building.

Once outside, he slipped in his car and leaned back against the seat with a sigh. He had been going to the specialty clinic for fifteen years now, and there had only been the snail's creeping progress on his condition. After being taken in by Credo at the Police Orphanage, Nero had been introduced to the creepy Doctor Agnus, who had quickly taken up his case with obsessive interest.

Tearing open the paper bag, Nero popped two the white pills inside his mouth before funneling the rest into a little black bottle that he tucked inside his pocket.

It wasn't long before the pills took effect and Nero felt his arm relax to the point of being numb. With a shudder of revulsion at the strange after taste, he turned the key and set the car in a thankful roar across the streets, eager to get away from the clinic.

It wasn't that he hated his inhuman part, or even disliked it. Sure it made his dating prospects look grim, and he had to be extra careful not to hold things too tightly- but it was pretty useful in his line of work.

So why did he continue to go to the clinic?

Well, for one, Credo promised to knock him out and drag him to the clinic himself if Nero ever refused to go. That and the fact that the Agnus told him that unless they stopped it, the demonic energy would soon spread through out his entire body and Nero would loose control over himself.

Nero knew first-hand what kind of carnage demons could cause if was set free in the human world. The thought that he might become one of those creatures and hurt someone he knew made him grit his teeth in self-revulsion.

Agnus had added that his human memories would hold long enough for him to start hunting down the people he cared about most. Love and friendship would mean nothing to his animal-like mind and the memories would become corrupted to become nothing more that a hit list.

The cynical part of Nero's mind laughed at the doctor's melodramatic scenarios and suspected that Agnus had made this all up to keep him tied there. It urged him to shove the pills down the Agnus' throat and see how he liked it. Yet the part that had learned to love screamed at him to go and chop off his arm. Nero decided for a compromise and went to the clinic once every other month.

Only because he couldn't let Agnus' predictions come true. Only because he would have to move towns and he had grown quite found of this one. Only because some of the guys at the precinct hadn't paid him back for the burgers yet. Only because it would be such a hassle to get blood stains off the carpet. Only because…

He had to protect her from himself.

Kyrie ran her fingers into the gouged wood of the doorframe, where the demon's scythe had embedded itself.

So it hadn't been a dream after all…

"But that was a once in a life time occurrence! They say that lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice and I'm sure the same thing applies to demons. I mean… Just give it a whack here then there and it should run away!" Kyrie demonstrated to an invisible audience, swinging the broom wildly. "…and a jab in the shin for good measure!"

There was a breathy gust that sounded vaguely like a laugh and she wheeled around, nerves taut. "W…whose there?!"

There was no answer but the rustle of the curtains as it swayed in the breeze.

Kyrie scolded herself for being so jumpy and marched over to shut the window. The air smelled of thunder without rain and she was filled with an unexplainable unease.

Then came the strangely familiar sound of a sword being loosened from its sheath. "Back away from the window."

Kyrie obeyed quickly, giving Vergil an indignant look. "You laughed at me just now, didn't you?"

"Haven't you gotten your magic under control yet?" He gave no sign of hearing apart from the barest twitch at the corner of his lips. "It's stronger today."

"I don't have magic." Kyrie called after his retreating figure. "Are you going out now?"

"There was a spike in energy just now. A lot of demons have just been summoned somewhere near." An edge of eagerness touched Vergil's voice. "I'm going to go welcome them."

"Please be careful."

Vergil's silver head turned sharply at her words, but finding no signs of mockery or deception on her face, gave a hesitant nod before slipping out of the room.

Kyrie continued sweeping up the months worth of crumbs and dust on the floor, surprised at how well she was taking the entire situation. There was no question that this was no normal household and she had a niggling suspicion that she was in a Demon Hunter's home… a suspicion that was further strengthened by the number of swords and various other arsenals that had appeared around the house from yesterday. The owner obviously believed (no way could Trish be the true occupant even if this was what she had initially said. The house was too cluttered and moldy for even the messiest female) that Kyrie could now be trusted with seeing the pointy, potentially lethal objects.

The day passed quickly and Kyrie soon found herself waiting for Credo to pick her up.

"He's late…" She glanced at her watch with a worried frown. She tried dialing home first, but when no one picked up, her fingers automatically tapped in the Police Station's number.

"Hello?" A harassed male voice answered on the fourth ring.

"Good evening officer. Is Credo there?"

"Commander Credo?" The voice turned to abrupt attention. "No he's not back yet. Who is this?"

"This is his sister, Kyrie. Do you suppose you could tell me where he is?"

"Well Kyrie," The man's tone turned softer. "That's a bit confidential but- h-h-HEY!"

There was a scuffle on the other line and Nero's voice suddenly piped up from the other line. "Kyrie? Is this you?"

"Hello Nero. Please apologize to that man later."

"What! It's not my fault he can't stand a simple elbow in the ribs. Anyway- we're in a bit of trouble right now. I was just about to go back to the action so I'm afraid I can't pick you up either." Nero's tone turned grim. "I need you to stay there for a while. Under no circumstances are you to leave the house without either of Credo or I- promise me Kyrie."

"Nero--" Concern crept into her voice.

"Stay. Please."

The connection cut, leaving Kyrie nothing but the harsh dial tone.

AN: Sorry it took so long but here's the third chapter at long last (confetti is thrown around happily)

I know, I know, this was another long rather boring chapter of nothing but explanations- but bear with me for a little longer and I'll soon have the action going! As I mentioned before, this is isn't very canon, but everything will be explained in due time… : D (Nyehehehe!)

I love you reviewers- you're the light and inspiration to this thirsty writer's soul ;P Specially dedicated toHao is Hot (As promised!!), Mrs A Cullen (YES- VERGIL IS SMEXY!! XD), Kit (You too? -sighs- men…), the Great Hippo Thief (I like your username ), Gotta Dance 88 (Thank you! Hope to see you again soon!), Belladonna Isabella (Gotcha- no Lucia then! ) and Yuu-ko (WELCOME BACK!) for inspiring me to finish up this chapter!

Coming up: Dante makes his entrance! (Whooot!)