DEVIL'S RELEASE
Chapter Twenty One
A/N: Okay, first things first.
Characters may seem slightly off, as warned in the last chapter, but I chock that up to character and story progression. I know they might seem a little off/different, but if you've been reading this story then it should make sense/fit together pretty well, and I hope you enjoy it. If they didn't change at all over the course of this fic then this thing would never end, lol. This chapter has not been beta'd and I've barely read it over, so please excuse any mistakes I missed.
Also, once again I'd like to apologize for the extremely long wait. Long story short, a few people have walked out and quit this year, including the manager above me, so I ended up getting an unwanted promotion which has not been so great for my free time, as you can see... but anyways, enough whining and on with the story.
Disclaimer: I own the plot, not the characters, etc. etc.
Nero really didn't understand how he kept ending up in these situations. He reflexively gripped onto Vergil's coat, however, feeling a bit nervous since he'd already been caught in between the twins' fighting once already, with disastrous results. Before he could protest further, Dante had reached 'three' and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun shot startled Nero and he instantly braced for the hit, his eyes scrunched closed tightly, but it never came. Instead the teen felt a strange, weightless sensation and a rush of air around his body. The feeling only last a moment, but when he opened his eyes he was with Vergil in the opposite corner of where they'd initially been.
There was no time to question it as another shot was fired, this one striking the wall right next to Vergil's head as he dodged it. The devil still had a firm grip on Nero, and he wasn't sure whether to be comforted or concerned by that.
"You're rather reckless with your friend's safety," the elder twin called out, only to receive a grunt from Dante.
"You're the one who won't let him go. Stop dragging him into the middle of this and 'fight me like a man', as you put it," Dante shot back.
"When you become a man instead of a worthless piece of trash, then I will," Vergil responded rather coolly, and Nero rolled his eyes.
"Will you two shut the hell up?" the teen hissed at them both. He really needed to de-escalate this situation before someone got seriously hurt, again- especially him. Nero was not about to be beaten around anymore because those two couldn't control themselves for five minutes.
Dante frowned at Nero as they locked eyes and shook his head. "Look, Kid. Let me deal with him. You don't know what he's capable of. Just let me—"
Nero growled and released his hold on Vergil's shirt. "No, YOU don't know!" he snapped. "I'm not some stupid little kid who doesn't know anything. I'm just as involved in this as you are!" the teen protested. "If you'd just put the guns down and listen for five minutes you'd see that."
The younger hunter held his breath after his outburst, watching Dante with a mixture of hope and apprehension as he waited to see how the older man would react. Yamato was still abandoned on the floor, so at least it would buy them a few moments if Vergil tried to get to it to attack, though so far the elder twin wasn't moving or speaking. Nero was a little afraid to chance a glance at the man's face to see how he was reacting to this.
Nero scowled at Dante, and the hunter scowled right back for the longest minute of the teen's life. Eventually Dante seemed to concede that Vergil wasn't outright attacking, and he lowered his guns just slightly. The teen let out the breath he was holding, the exhaustion now hitting him full force as his adrenaline began to wane. These two were going to kill him without even touching him at this rate.
"I think… we need to talk," Nero announced once he felt calm enough to continue. His remark earned snorts from just about everyone in the room, Vergil included. Talking it out probably wasn't going to accomplish much, but it was better than this constant warring with one another that was bound to get someone Nero cared about killed.
"I have nothing to say to that trash," Vergil replied haughtily, which earned another snort from his brother.
"Trash? See this is exactly your problem. You show up and do nothing but attack me," Dante groused back at his twin. "Tell me what exactly I did that you've had it out for me pretty much our whole lives?" he demanded. "Sorry, but I'm not sorry for stopping you when you decided to go on some insane power trip and endanger literally EVERYONE'S lives."
"EVERYTHING!" Vergil snarled, his composure clearly starting to crumble as Nero watched him. "You have ruined my life in every way." It was easy to see with being this close that Vergil was shaking as he snapped at his brother.
"I ruined your life? You ruined your own life! No one told you to jump into Hell," Dante bit back.
Nero lightly gripped onto Vergil's shirt again as he watched. Dante was clenching his guns so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. The air was thickening again between them, and the teen was worried that the peace was about to shatter, but they were actually getting it out, so he didn't interrupt.
"At least I didn't leave my own flesh and blood to rot in Mundus' clutches as a slave, and then kill him," the elder twin responded coldly.
"…Verge," Dante murmured, staring at his twin. "Look. I didn't know. I tried to stop you from going, you know that!" he protested. "You can't really think I'd leave my own brother in that situation if I had known."
Nero winced as he felt the grip on him tighten uncomfortably, and heard a small growl escape from Vergil.
"It doesn't matter," Vergil continued, his expression hard as he glared at the younger twin. "You no longer have a 'brother' to worry about." The elder twin's eyes narrowed dangerously as he continued. "And rest assured, you will pay for this. All of it."
Nero's gaze quickly snapped to Dante, and it was easy for him to see the utter heartbreak on the man's face. Clearly Dante was not expecting that sort of reaction from his brother, despite them attempting to fight to the death several times already since Vergil had returned. Maybe it was different when you realize your entire family isn't actually dead after years and years, only to have said family completely reject you.
The teen really felt sorry for Dante, but before he could speak up and try to intervene Vergil darted out and grabbed Yamato. The devil immediately grasped Nero again and then he felt the same weightless sensation from before as gunshots rang out around them, and the next thing he knew he was in the hall with Vergil. The air swirled around them again and then they were outside on the front steps of the shop. He didn't bother asking Vergil where they were going and instead clutched onto him tightly as they began to move again. It's not like he had the energy to fight back to stay there right now anyways. It was also probably a good idea that the devil not be left alone at the moment, or so he figured.
It wasn't until they were a good distance away from the shop that Vergil stopped teleporting them, for which Nero was thankful. He was starting to feel pretty dizzy from the unnatural movements, and Vergil was looking pretty pale himself, though Nero figured that was probably more from exhaustion than anything. They continued their trek on foot, heading back to the run down hotel Vergil had been holed up in before. Nero didn't question it as he trailed behind the older man and headed up to the half-ruined floor where they'd been previously.
The pair entered one of the intact rooms and Nero immediately made a beeline for the bed, perching on the edge of it with a tired huff. He was still pretty sore from his injuries, but as he inspected under the bandages he didn't notice any blood or open wounds left over, so he carefully peeled them off and tossed them in the direction of the small trashcan in the room.
Vergil had taken up residence by the window, glaring out of it as if it held the answer to all his problems. The teen wanted to know what he was thinking, but it seemed like Vergil needed a few moments to himself.
Nero watched for a while before he finally sighed and reclined back onto the bed fully. "Is there anything that will stop you from doing this…?" he asked quietly after a moment. Nero had serious doubts that there really was, Vergil seemed so set on destroying his brother… but maybe there might be a small chance for him to convince the devil to stop his crusade. Nero wasn't sure what was going to happen between himself and the devil, but if he could at least stop this senseless fighting then he could finally try and figure things out.
The half breed turned to face Nero, and the teen suddenly felt nervous. It had seemed safer when Vergil was seemingly ignoring him. He'd already been on the receiving end of Vergil's wrath a few times now; he didn't want to add another to the list.
"Doubtful," Vergil replied flatly. The man was clearly set on his goals.
Nero sighed quietly and stared up at the ceiling instead, contemplating his options. He could beg Vergil all day long not to do this, but it probably wouldn't stop him. Sure, it'd bought a little time for now, but he was pretty sure that the devil would eventually get past whatever had made him react that way.
As he lay there, Nero let his thoughts wander to his less violent interactions with Vergil. His hope was to think of something to use as leverage, maybe something Vergil had mentioned in their conversations that would give the teen something to work with as he tried to convince the half devil to give up this vendetta. There really wasn't much, though, when he looked back on it. It was easy to see now how much he'd been manipulated by Vergil. The man was clever, that much was for sure. It was actually embarrassing to Nero how easily he'd been played, but it was too late to dwell on that anymore.
Nero was just about to give up and go back to pleading with Vergil when he was suddenly struck with a memory. He'd almost completely forgotten about it, because at the time he had been rather… distracted, but it was perfect, sort of. The teen had his doubts about it actually working, but he was grasping at straws here and this was really all he had. It was a long shot, for sure, but Nero was going to try anyways. The worst that could happen would be that Vergil would laugh at him.
"Vergil, do you remember, a while back, um… when you were teaching me to play chess?" the teen started, sitting up as he fidgeted with his pants hem in a display of nervousness so he wouldn't look as conniving as he was being at the moment. "And I kept trying and trying to beat you, but I never could?" he continued with a small, awkward laugh.
The half devil had turned to face Nero, and the teen knew he had him on the hook. Well, at least to listen to his request, anyways. Nero ran a hand through his hair before continuing.
"But yeah, anyways… remember when I finally beat you? I couldn't believe it, you always crushed me but I finally got you." Nero gave a small little grin as he remembered that. He still had his suspicions that Vergil had let him win, but he didn't want the man to know that—it would ruin his chances. "You told me when I won that I could make a request, anything that I wanted, and you would do it."
Vergil's eyes narrowed considerably at him, and Nero struggled not to flinch. The teen could practically feel the annoyance radiating off of the man.
"What does this have to do with anything? You claimed your prize… quite thoroughly, if I recall correctly," the devil snapped at him, clearly uncomfortable with where this was going.
"Aaactually… I didn't," Nero replied, trying not to sound too smug. "I never said, 'Vergil please have sex with me.' I kissed you, and you sort of took it from there. I never asked for anything," he pointed out.
The pair stared at each other for a while until Nero thought he might go crazy from the silence. He knew this was a long shot, and when Vergil responded he was proven right.
"So?" the devil finally replied to him. "Is this supposed to sway me somehow? Don't make me laugh," Vergil spat.
"Hm, well, I can't say I'm surprised," Nero sighed, keeping up his calm appearance. "I mean, after all, you clearly don't have any honor. I can't expect someone like you to keep his word." It was such an obvious bait, but the hunter really didn't know what else to do.
Vergil snorted loudly as he folded his arms over his chest. "You can't honestly expect me to fall for that." The devil shook his head and rolled his eyes at the teen. "This is truly pathetic."
Nero frowned and shook his head in return at the other man. "No, what's pathetic is wanting to fight someone because your life didn't turn out perfect. I'm just saying… no one would look down on you or think less of you for keeping your word. After all, you did make a promise, a contract if you will. It would be shameful to back out on that sort of thing," he pointed out. "It would definitely be easier than trying to kill Dante, or getting yourself killed in the process. All that trouble to get back here only to throw it all away. Seems kinda… sad, when you think about it," the teen shrugged. "But hey, it's not my life."
The elder male rolled his eyes at Nero's remarks and gave an annoyed huff in response. "Do tell me what this grand request of yours is then," he requested, though they both already knew what it was.
Nero gave a small, wry smile as he stood up from the bed to face him. "Stop trying to kill your brother. You don't have to make up and be best friends, but just… let it go. Let the past go and stop dwelling on it like it's going to change things." It was reasonable enough in Nero's opinion. Vergil could up and relocate and never see any of them again, if that's what he wanted, but there was no reason for the bloodshed after all these years. The thought of the devil never coming back caused a painful twinge in Nero's chest, but he had to ignore that for now and deal with the situation at hand.
"You can't be serious. Do you really think it's so easy?" Vergil bit back. "You told me before that you saw what was done to me. How can you stand there and act like I should just walk away from that with no grudges?" he growled. "And to top it all off, as if ruining my life and killing me wasn't enough, he actually has the nerve to harbor that woman after what she did to me!" Vergil continued with a hiss. "I can't just look the other way and make up."
"But you can!" Nero insisted as he moved closer to stand before the devil. "You can be the bigger person here and just move on. Yeah, what Trish did to you was awful but it wasn't entirely her fault you know. She was working for Mundus. I don't know all the details by far, but I know she helped Dante out and he forgave her. Can't you do the same thing?" he pleaded.
"I'm not saying the two of you have to be best friends, but she didn't have a choice in the matter, and you can't hold it against Dante for forgiving her either. Do you really think he'd just up and forgive someone involved in all that stuff without a good reason?" Nero added. "Trish told me a little of it when I was at the shop the last time… I know she regrets what happened. But no one is going to feel sorry for you when all you do is act like a big baby!"
Nero glared at the devil as he waited for a response, daring the man to argue with him. He knew he was right, no matter what Vergil said. He understood how Vergil felt, more so now than ever, but this whole thing was getting ridiculous.
"You say it like it's so easy to just forgive and forget the people who have taken everything from me," Vergil replied after a moment, his scowl directed full force on Nero. "If you had any idea how it felt, you wouldn't be saying that."
"Actually, I'm probably the only one who does have any idea… because I already did forgive the bastard who took everything from me," Nero replied firmly. "The same asshole who lied to me day in and day out, hurt me continuously, slept with me… repeatedly, and then tossed me aside. Yeah. I forgave him, even though he doesn't deserve it, because I'm pretty sure that deep down, if he was thinking rationally, he wouldn't have acted like such a dick. Maybe if he didn't think the entire world owed him something because he had a rough life then he would actually take responsibility for his actions and man the hell up and get over it. I guess I was wrong though, maybe he doesn't really deserve it and I should let him run off and get himself killed."
The silence that followed after he spoke was enough to make Nero feel nauseous. Vergil hadn't responded, only stared at the teen as if he'd grown a second head. He couldn't believe he had even said that. Had he forgiven Vergil? Nero supposed he had, though when, he honestly wasn't sure. He thought it might have been back at the shop when he'd witnessed firsthand just why Vergil was so messed up over all of this. Or maybe it was when the twins were hashing it out and he could literally feel the heartbreak on both sides there. Vergil may never admit it or show it, but Nero had the feeling that the man really didn't want to do this anymore. Maybe at first he did, but now… there was just something that told him otherwise.
Yes, Nero could admit that he had forgiven Vergil for his actions. That didn't mean that he was running back into the asshole's arms or anything, but he could be the bigger person here and forgive him. If the devil continued to act that way, however… all bets were off. Nero would let Dante hash it out with his brother and this time he wouldn't try to protect Vergil or ask them to understand. The man was on his own now.
Nero didn't know if there would ever be anything built between them again, and he certainly wasn't eager to try, even if his heart clenched at the thought. As it stood, he couldn't trust Vergil. Even if the devil agreed to his crazy request and actually heeded it, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't lash out again or use him like he had in the past. These were all thoughts that the teen decided were best pushed away for right now—he needed to focus on getting Vergil to agree first.
"Well… what's it gonna be?" Nero finally asked when he couldn't take the silence any longer. If Vergil was going to say no then he'd rather just get it over with.
The devil regarded him with an unreadable expression for a few moments before he finally spoke up. "…He'll never agree to this. None of them will. They're not going to let me just go free."
Nero gave a small smile; it seemed like Vergil was finally conceding, though he was clearly making excuses not to. "Don't worry about them. If I can convince you to listen, those guys will be a piece of cake," the teen reassured him. "Just say yes. It's that easy… and then you can start living the life you missed out on," he encouraged. It actually felt pretty good to work things out. Vergil was still in trouble as far as Nero was concerned, and they might not ever actually make up and resolve things, but if he could at least fix things even this much between everyone after all the trouble he helped to cause then he would be able to be happy with that.
Vergil scowled slightly again and turned to look out the window. "…Very well. But if he disagrees then honor or not, I will dispose of him."
Nero did a silent cheer inside his head and tried not to smile too much as he nodded. "Fair enough. We can go talk it out with them tomorrow and see what the deal is. If they don't agree then I won't interfere and you can do as you please."
Vergil didn't respond further so Nero didn't push him, instead settling for the major victory he'd just scored, and he left the man to glare out the window some more and returned to the bed. He was utterly exhausted still, and that had taken the last of his energy, so the teen curled up on his side and closed his eyes. He couldn't stop the smile from creeping back onto his face as he fell asleep though, and he wasn't even worried that Vergil might change his mind and get rid of him while he slept. Something had changed tonight, that much was for sure. Whether it would be for better or worse, he would find out tomorrow. The hunter had a feeling that Dante and crew would not be quite so receptive of this whole idea when it was pitched.
For now, Nero was going to sleep and dream about his future after the showdown tomorrow… whether Vergil was there or not, he'd let his dreams decide.
A/N: Sooo... this chapter kinda came out of nowhere. I had initially planned for this to occur a little later in the story, but my brain had other plans so here it is xD It's okay though, I think there's only one, maybe two more chapters at most for this story and then it's finaaaally over. Dante still hasn't realized quite yet that their relationship is beyond ' friendly' ... but I think he might in the next chapter ;] Sorry if this seemed a little fast paced, I just don't feel like stretching the story out needlessly and making everyone read through a bunch of nonsense or wait for twenty more updates for little things at best. Anyways, thanks for reading!