A/N: Hello everyone! I know that you're all excited for this next chapter and I'm super excited to give it to you, I'm trying to fight off sleep to get this done but I just wanna type it soooo bad! Actually all my updates I wanna type bad… I should leave cliffhangers more often.

Disclaimer: I own the games, does that count?

Power

Dante knew something was wrong before he even finished his mission, in his rush to return home he didn't even stop to collect his pay or even tell the man that the mission had been a success, all that mattered was that something was happening in his nest and he had to find out what. The half devil's sensitive ears picked up the sound of Nero's screams before he'd even made it down the street, the sound making him force his legs faster, his kin was in danger, and he had to protect his blood. The doors to the shop burst open with such force that the elder would later wonder at how they didn't fly off the hinges.

Nero lay on the ground, his arm practically a beacon, curled around… Dante's eyes widened as he saw Yamato in his son's grip. He could tell that the boy wasn't ready for the power contained in that sword, the demon within the blade wasn't submitting easily and it was hurting him.

"Nero!" The elder shouted, rushing forward and kneeling next to the boy, the preteen didn't seem to hear his father; his screams were agonizing to the older man's ears.

"Nero let go of the sword." He commanded, the partial devil's shrieks quieted and Dante thought he was getting through until his son opened his eyes, tiny hints of crimson in them and said.

"Power. Give me more…power." The words shook the slayer to the bones, it sounded just like Vergil, and it was quite possible that part of his brother's soul had joined with the sword after death, that would explain why the damn thing was being so assertive. Time for plan B, Dante thought to himself, and grabbed ahold of the blade and tried to pull it away from his son. The boy screamed and the entire blade was wrapped in a brilliantly blue light, his right arm pulsing practically white.

"Nero! Drop the damn sword!" Dante shouted, pulling with as much strength as he dared, as much as he wanted to get the sword away from the boy, he didn't want to rip the preteen's arm off. Nero had gotten to his feet and was making this as difficult as possible, squirming and wiggling in his attempts to get away.

"No!" he shouted at one point, at least sounding like himself, giving Dante a hard enough shove to make the half devil take a step back. Nero then slashed out with Yamato and Dante sucked in air as he felt the lower half of his abdomen trying to stitch itself together. He could try triggering and forcing the sword to submit but that was an absolute last resort; instead he dropped to his knees and hugged the boy, who froze in his grasp.

"Please Nero, please just let go of the sword, for your father, please?" he felt the preteen in his arms give a few shaky breaths then a clang as Yamato dropped to the floor. Another shaky inhale and Nero gave a choked sob.

"I'm so sorry daddy…" he cried, clutching tightly at his father's coat, the scents of blood and fear stung his nose, his own fear, and… Dante's blood.

"Did I hurt you?" he tried to push back and look his father in the eyes but the elder was having none of that.

"Just a little cut, nothing to be concerned about." The half devil held his son close, cradling the back of the boy's head to the crook of his neck. "Just don't do that again, okay?" Nero nodded, unable to do much else.

"The important question is are you okay?"

"I'm okay, I just hurt."

"Where?!" Dante pushed the boy back so that he could see his face and look him up and down.

"Everywhere," Nero groaned "mostly my arm though." The half devil chuckled, the kid was fine, just sore from the attack Yamato had put on his body. Speaking of the sword, Dante glanced down at it, it seemed to have fallen into a semi-dormant state, he could still feel pulses of power radiating from the blade but they were weaker, more subdued.

"Dad?" the preteen whispered and the elder looked back to him, the boys gaze was on Yamato. "What happened to me?"

"Yamato is a devil arm." Dante said, not quite sure of where to begin. "It used to belong to my elder twin brother. The blade is extremely powerful and is picky about its master and who it'll submit to. I can get it to submit to me but I can't use it the way he used to, it seems like it was trying to call you out as its new owner."

"Then why did it hurt so bad?"

"Because you don't have enough control over your demonic blood yet, you don't know how to more or less put the demon in the sword in its place."

"Is that why I couldn't stop myself when I saw the sword? Mitch tried to…" the partial devil trailed off as his eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Mitch!" Father and son ran over to the weapon's closet, Mitch was in there, eyes wide, and shaking in the corner, looking terrified.

"Mitch," Dante said softly and the blonde's eyes snapped to him "are you okay?" Nero peeked around his father's waist and his friend cringed.

"He's not going to hurt you." The half devil's words were soft and Mitch slowly rose to his feet, still shaking and his eyes locked with Nero's.

"Nero why don't you go sit on the couch?" Dante suggested and the younger paused but nodded, leaving his father and friend.

"He looked like a monster." Mitch whispered.

A/N: Yes, another cliffie! Kinda… I just gotta say, this chapter was incredible to write as well as really difficult, it was hard to explain the relationship between devil arm and wielder, anywho, I's gots to clean my dorm and shower and all that XD

Till next time,

-Winged Element