Disclaimer: I neither own Devil May Cry, nor do I make profit from my fanfiction of it. If I did, I would be rich. Or, at least slightly less poor. The original characters that appear in this story are mine, however, and I would appreciate them not being reused by anyone. (I say as though anyone gives a shit about my OCs XD)

Beta read by my friend CeruleanTwin who has very graciously stuck with me this whole time!


Mission 12: Finale


It started with a spark of blue, and then a blaze. Nero's limp body had only just hit the ground before it began swimming with azure energy, and suddenly rocketed upward from the pavement, heat and energy rolling off in waves. Behind him the silhouette of a massive armored devil materialized, Yamato in hand as the blade slid into Nero's own palm.

Nero fixed glowing red eyes on Dante and grinned, and when he spoke his voice rippled with the blue energy charged around him, "Sorry about the bullshit Dante. Whaddya say we kick this crazy bitch's ass."

Dante took it in stride and laughed, nodding, "I say let's party!"

Red energy blazed around the crimson hunter as he released his own Devil Trigger with a laugh.

"If you're not gonna help, then get outta the way!" Nero shouted at Remiel as both devils blasted by the unmoving angel. It hadn't moved from the spot where it had been impaled with Cassius, and though its face was unreadable, Nero almost thought he could sense the devastated shock that had frozen it.

He turned his attention back to Romilda who was regenerating her wings and transforming into something…else. Her dark hair lost all color, fading to white, and then quite strangely to blue. As her wings grew back they too were white with azure tips. The Tear glimmered tauntingly in her chest, blue veins spidering out from its core across her pale flesh. She grinned at the two devils as they charged her, and took to the sky.

Nero ripped Blue Rose from its holster and fired on her, trying to take out her wings before she got too high. Dante had the same idea and was rapid-firing with Ebony and Ivory—though rather than bullets, they too were now firing energy blasts.

Together the two half-devils, with a little help from Nero's Summoned Swords as well, managed to once more reduce the Fallen Angel's wings to bleeding ruin and she crashed into the ground. Nero and Dante leapt forward to attack while she was down, but it didn't last long as suddenly her tail whipped around and they were forced to leap out of the way or risk getting skewered.

She snarled at them, and fired a beam of energy at them from the Tear in her chest before leaping into the sky again and beginning to rain lightning down.

"I'm thinking we need to take out the Tear," Dante guessed.

Nero hesitated. Without it, they would have no bargaining piece with the angel…if they even still had a chance but…he couldn't stab Vergil in the back like that.

"Don't concern yourself with me," Vergil's voice spoke, from the blue energy coursing around Nero, and suddenly the blue devil walked out into the air, formed entirely of the crackling sapphire force that still surrounded Nero. The spirit of Dante's twin stood in mid-air for a second, eyes meeting with his brother's, before he launched into the sky like a bolt of indigo lightning.

"What is he—" Nero started, but he couldn't finish the sentence before Vergil's spirit collided with their opponent's chest. The blowback from the impact sent Dante and Nero flying, and shook the buildings around them and the earth below them. Nero saw the Tear shatter into a thousand shards as Vergil's ghostly version of Yamato pierced through it and came out Romilda's back.

With a wail of despair, the Fallen Angel fell to earth, but before she had even reached the pavement this time her entire body had disintegrated into black dust.

Vergil's ethereal form looked down at them for a moment, and then it too dissolved. Nero let out a cry of dismay, and a second later the blue energy around him dissipated too until there was nothing left. Yamato slipped from his numb fingers and fell to the ground with a clang.

"I can't believe he…he would…" Nero felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at Dante who had a somewhat bemused expression on his once-more human face.

Out of instinct, Nero turned around to look behind him. The energy ghost was there, looking at the angel. Vergil had the feather from the Tear between two glowing fingers. When the artifact had been shattered, it was now apparent that all of the energy it had contained had absorbed into the feather instead of dissipating. It could really be called a feather any more, to be honest. It was shaped like one but it had entirely crystallized, and it let off the same pulsing energy that the orb had before Nero had combined the two items.

After a second still frozen, the angel shuddered. The hole in his chest started to close then, and he reached out with the fingers of his skeletal hand to take the crystalline feather Vergil offered. As soon as the bone fingertips touched the object, it burst into a bright white flame, catching the angel in its blaze. All of the chains, and bandages and blood burned away under the flame until the angel stood before them whole and blazing bright. The flame dissipated then, and Remiel turned his blue eyes to take in the three devils that stood before him as a bright corona of light burst into brilliance above his silver hair.

Solemnly the angel finally turned his gaze to Vergil's evanescent form and said, "I cannot give you what you have asked. Even if it were in my power I would not do it. Not for one who holds so little value for life."

His gaze swept once more over Dante and Nero's faces before he added, "However…to repay my debt, I can set you on the path to doing it for yourself."

The angel reached out a long, thin finger and touched the tip to the center of Vergil's forehead. The blue energy fizzled around the touch for a moment before the blue devil vanished totally. On the ground next to Nero's foot, Yamato also shimmered and suddenly vanished as well.

"What did you just do!?" Nero shouted.

"I sent him where he needs to go," Remiel answered blankly, "Just as you need doing."

Nero froze, "Wh-what?"

The angel looked back as Cassius' body on the ground, and a shadow of regret, or maybe even anguish, passed across his face. "Neither of you belong here, now. It goes against the natural order. If I hadn't brought you here in the first place…he would probably still be alive."

"Well you can—I mean, you're an angel. Just…bring him back to life or something," sputtered the Knight.

Remiel turned sad eyes back to Nero and said, "No. While some angels may possess that gift, I do not. I am a warrior, a killer, not a healer. Not a miracle worker. Not in that way, at least. The boy is dead."

Nero felt a twinge of guilt then, as he stared at Cassius' still form. He had never liked the guy, that was true, and even briefly entertained the idea of teaching the bastard a lesson himself. But this was just too much. It was so stupid. And it was his fault wasn't it? Nero didn't even know if Cassius had a family that would miss him.

"So you're taking Nero with you?" Dante spoke up, frowning.

"Yes," answered the angel as he bent to pick up the human's body, "Back to his rightful time."

"Don't worry Dante," Nero grinned weakly, "We'll…see each other again. In a few years."

The man in red grimaced slightly, but shrugged a second later, "Well, I guess…this is goodbye then. For now. Seriously, I wasn't expecting you to go and disappear on me today. The only thing on my agenda was kickin' ass but…fate's a bitch."

Nero snorted, "Yep, sure is."

Dante grabbed the Knight's arm and leaned in, surprising Nero for a second before he realized what was happening. Then, he too leaned in for the kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around Dante.

Finally after they parted Nero mumbled to the angel, "You sure I can't stay?"

Remiel's face was impassive, "If you stayed in this time, it would at worst lead to an unbalancing of the temporal plane, or at best…you die in a horrible way that would not have occurred in your natural timeline."

Nero looked at Cassius' body in the angel's arms and winced, "Yeah, okay, I get your point."

As he stepped forward to join the angel, his appearance abruptly changed, and Nero found himself clad in his original clothing. He frowned down at it, but it looked like new. He looked up at the angel in askance.

"Nothing from this timeline should be going back with us," Remiel answered.

"What about that?" Nero pointed to the sword still on the angel's back.

"That doesn't count."

Dante snorted, and Nero rolled his eyes, "Uh huh…okay then… I guess…let's do it."

His last sight was the devastated look on Dante's face.


It seemed like forever ago since he was last here, but Nero was back in the underground cell. There was shouting, confusion and a light. No, that wasn't a light, it was the angel. Remiel stood next to him, towering nearly seven feet tall now, and so bright that he lit the entire dark cell around them.

Slowly, the angel placed Cassius' body in Nero's arms and said, "I hope that he will forgive me."

Nero didn't have time to ask what that enigmatic comment meant before the shining being vanished into a pillar of golden light, leaving the cell in darkness.

"What the hell happened!" someone demanded—Regulus, Nero recognized the older Knight's voice in the darkness.

"It vanished!" Leone answered.

"Torches! Get your damn torches on! Is everyone alright?" Regulus shouted again as his torch flicked on, followed by several others.

"I think so," Leone answered, though his injuring from the Cutlass was dripping.

"I am, and Daniele…should be okay too," Davide answered a second later.

Finally, Nero spoke up, stepping into the beam of light from Leone's torch with Cassius in his arms, the teen's head cradled against the half-devil's shoulder, "Cassius is dead."

A silence fell over the group of men for a moment before someone, Nero wasn't sure who, muttered, "Shit."

"I'm sorry," Nero blurted, "It was my fault. I shouldn't have—"

"No, no," Regulus interrupted, pinching the bridge of his nose and frowning even more deeply than usual, "Don't start that. We knew what we were getting into when we came down here…for the most part. We'll need to return now I think and…regroup. Did the boy have any family?"

"No," Leone answered, "He was fostered with Order. He didn't have anyone but us."

"Damn," the older man shook his head, "Alright, let's move out and…get this mess sorted out."


There was a funeral but Nero didn't go. He hadn't liked Cassius enough when he was alive for it to seem right to attend just because he felt guilty about getting the kid killed. Instead, Nero sat on a roof and watched the funeral from a distance.

"So, this is where you got to."

Nero turned around, frowning. "Kyrie?"

She smiled at him and sat carefully on the edge of the roof beside him, "It seems like a lot happened to you yesterday. I…I know I haven't been here for you like I should have. Do you want to talk about it?"

You have no idea, Nero thought, but he shook his head. "No, I don't really feel like now's the time…"

"Do you need anything?" she offered, putting a hand on his shoulder gently.

Nero was about to say no, but he paused after opening his mouth and thought about it. "Well," he finally said, "I guess you could help me make some travel arrangements."

She looked confused for a moment but finally asked, "Where to?"

True to her word, Kyrie had helped Nero plan the entire trip, from the boat ride to the vehicle transport. Nero didn't actually know how to drive a car but it didn't take him too long to figure it out through some trial and error. He and Kyrie 'borrowed' some funds from the Order to obtain a vehicle that he could use for the trip, and before long he was off and on his way.

It had only been a day for Nero since he had seen Dante last, but years had passed since that moment for Dante. He wondered what it had felt like for the other, now much older, man to meet Nero and to go unrecognized. Nero felt almost embarrassed now about the way he had behaved back then.

When he finally made it to the doorstep of the Devil May Cry shop after so many long hours of driving, he hesitated. The shop itself looked exactly the same, if a little more run down than it had been before. The doors looked new at least. Nero wondered what the story behind that was.

Finally, Nero mustered up the balls to push the door open. The little bell above it tinkled, signaling his arrival. A woman greeted him first, Gloria. Or, no, that wasn't her real name.

"Triss, right?" Nero guessed.

She laughed, putting her hands on her hips, "No sweetie, but you're close. It's Trish."

"Ah right, sorry," Nero mumbled before asking, "I came to see Dante."

He tried to peer around the blonde woman to see the rest of the shop, but there was no one else there.

"Sorry, doll, Dante's not in right now. You can wait for him if you want to? I'm sure he'll be glad to see you," Trish smiled at him and offered a seat on the couch.

It was a new couch at least, Nero saw. Well, 'new' being an operative term here because the thing was arguably more dilapidated then the old one. What was it with Dante and his refusal to buy decent furniture?

Trish sat in the chair behind Dante's desk with a dainty sigh, putting her feet up and looking over at Nero, "So how have you been doing? Didn't see much of you during or after the business in Fortuna. That Order of the Sword still treating you good?"

Nero shrugged one shoulder. "I guess. They're still trying to fix all the shit that happened. Kinda hard to go on when all your superiors turned out to be demons."

She laughed, nodding, "I guess it would be. Well I hope Dante and I didn't spoil your day too much there."

The Knight snorted. "I don't have anything against you. If I did I wouldn't be here."

Trish nodded, leaning back in her chair. "That seems reasonable. Any reason you decided to come up here to visit us so soon?"

What was Nero supposed to say to that? How could he explain this to Dante's current partner, a woman he'd barely spoken to before?

He shrugged and managed weakly, "I just…wanted to see Dante…"

The woman quirked an eyebrow at him, but didn't tease him like he'd thought she might. Instead she shrugged and said, "Alright. I'll butt out."

Nero felt a little relieved and ran a hand through his hair nervously. This woman made him a little uncomfortable but he couldn't really put his finger on why.

After a few moment of awkward silence he finally asked, "When did you and Dante become partners?"

Trish looked thoughtful for a moment before replying, "Well, we met a few years ago when I sorta hired him for a job. And we just…set up shop together afterward. He changed the name for a few months after we partnered up but…I don't know the original name probably had some special significance for him so the new one didn't stick."

"What—you changed the name? What to?" Nero demanded, surprised.

"Devil Never Cry," she answered, "I thought it was pretty nice but…not my shop really."

Nero winced. The name didn't sound right at all in his opinion, but he'd gotten used to calling the shop Devil May Cry and the changed one sounded a little silly.

The door opened then and in stepped Dante. Finally. He didn't notice Nero at first as he walked in and hung up his sword and guns before giving Trish a brief greeting. The red-clad devil hunter was halfway to the fridge before he stopped, and turned to look at Nero on the couch.

The two men stared at each other for several moments before Nero finally managed a weak, "I lost Yamato."

Dante looked confused for a second, until realization dawned on him and he crossed the office in four quick strides and grabbed Nero, pulling him into a desperate kiss that lasted until Nero had to break away for air.

Trish's face was completely shocked and she stared at the two of them for a moment with her mouth hanging wide open.

"What's the matter, Trish?" Dante teased her, "Never seen two men kiss before?"

She sputtered for a moment before managing, "I—well did something happen in Fortuna that I missed?"

Nero laughed at that and slung an arm over Dante's shoulders, "I don't know if you'd believe it if we told you."

"Well, she might actually," Dante contradicted, "But it's kind of a long story."

"I don't suppose you've heard from Vergil since then?" the Knight asked weakly.

Dante's face fell for a second, and he said, "I…well, sort of. I think it happened before he did…whatever it was that he did with you. I've been trying to figure that out for a while but it's just too…"

"Yeah I know what you mean," Nero muttered, rolling his eyes, "I guess he's…doing alright wherever he is…"

"Ok, I'm…I'm going to go and let you two catch up?" Trish interrupted, looking so terribly confused it was hilarious. The woman left the shop very quickly, leaving Dante and Nero alone together finally.

"You got any plans for the rest of the night?" Dante asked.

Nero punched him in the chest playfully. "You idiot. You know I don't."

Dante leaned down and kissed him again.


The End


I hope everyone can be at least moderately satisfied with this ending! I am pretty satisfied myself but, hey, I wrote it. XD I am planning to add a bonus chapter (or 2?) to sum up any lingering questions you all might have about where Vergil ended up, or about Cassius. I know some of you were dismayed about Cassius' untimely demise and if you want some more about him and/or Remiel just let me know either in a message or a review and I will bow to popular demand. Same goes for Vergil or any other topic.

Anyways, it has been a fabulous journey with you all! This story has gotten me a lot of new followers so I hope that you will also enjoy whatever I choose to write in the future.