Disclaimer: Yeah... I don't own DMC or anything related to the franchise... sad isn't it?
Vergil sat in the living room with a book in one hand and a hot mug of green-leaf tea in the other. Taking a long sip from his mug, he leaned back and basked in the glory of a clean and very silent room.
It has been three days since Dante left to do whatever he needed to do with the blond doppelganger, a majestic time spent in solitude and free of the man's bombastic behavior. Also, it has been three days since he had the company of a certain insufferable woman.
Closing his book with enough force to echo the sound in the room, the brooding man glared at the spacious room in front of him.
These last days Vergil has found himself thinking of a lot of things that never bothered his mind before. He mulled over the events of his life, things he could have done differently, what would change if he ever considered another way.
A useless chain of thoughts as he has quickly defined. His past has defined his life, his very being; there is no use in dreaming of what it could've been.
His musings then shifted to his family. How much should he engrain himself into their lives, to include them in his?
Vergil is not a normal father; he can never be one. But neither was his and despite the flaws and faults he could put on the deceased demon, he still idolized the man, would do anything to have shared a life with him.
Isn't this the least he should do to Nero too?
Be not perfect, not even good… He just needs to be something, someone to the boy.
And this line of thought brings Vergil to the dilemma plaguing him the most. If not a power-hungry demon, who should Vergil be?
And not least important, why does that woman keep flashing on his thoughts when he tries to think of his future?
Frustration is the only answer, companion, and constant for him when his contemplations lead this way.
"That woman…" Vergil growled at himself.
Mary has somehow invaded his life. The most aggravating thing about it is that the woman isn't even a constant in his days but still manages to make him ponder about her nonetheless.
Still very clear on his mind is the sight of those duo-colored eyes staring at him with a certain intention behind them.
"Fruitless delusion." He grumbles quietly. The words are aimed at whatever illusion she has of him, but also spread to his own fantasies.
Another growl escaped Vergil, he hates to think even less admit that his body and mind are so pathetically weak to their urges that has resulted in him having fantasies about her.
Finding even his tea to have become quite tasteless, Vergil dropped the mug on the small table to the side. In a habit of his, he stood up and began pacing in front of the couch, holding one hand to his lips as his mind worked overtime to try and explain this foolishness of his.
Luckily for Vergil, a distraction came about to take him away from his thoughts as the main doors got pushed open and a slightly distressed Nero came in.
"Hey, sup old man." Nero waved with a small grin as he walked in. "Woah, this place looks as good as new. Did you really clean the shop?"
Vergil gave his son an odd look. He could extend the courtesy of a greeting to the boy, but since Nero has made himself quite at home, he settled to just giving a little nod. "Is that so difficult to believe?"
Nero laughed a little at his response, puzzling the Dark Slayer. "Well, actually I already knew you did it." When his father gave him a questioning gaze, the boy shrugged. "Lady gave us a call on the day, told us you made her clean the freaking fridge."
'Insufferable woman.' Vergil grumbled to himself, folding his arms onto his chest. "Something I can do for you Nero?" He prompted the question, hurriedly trying to steer the conversation away from a place he doesn't want it to go.
"Oh, yeah. Is Dante here?" Nero asked. "I tried to raise him on the phone but nothing."
Vergil gave the vexing thing resting on the desk a cold look, realizing that the irritating ringing coming all morning was actually his son calling. "Dante has been absent for three days. The woman said he left with the witch on a business trip."
"Tsk, dammit." Nero ruffled the back of his head. "Man, I really needed his help."
That sentence made Vergil perk up. "In which manner do you require him?" Then a small grin appeared on his lips. "Dante can't be of good assistance in almost anything."
Nero eyed his father, silently debating with himself before taking a cautious step forward. "An urgent job came up today, it's from someone that has helped us with the orphanage before… Today is a special day for Kyrie and me… She told me that she doesn't mind, but I know she was looking forward to it…"
"A demon hunter related job I assume," Vergil said simply. "If your problem is just a demon to be killed, I could eliminate the said pest."
"You sure?!" Nero asked with an unsure look. "Shit, I mean, I know you are strong and all, but we try to be a little… careful of our surroundings when working."
The shift in Vergil's expression showed how much insulted he felt about that comment. "And you want to send Dante in your place. Dante?! He isn't mindful of his own home; have you seen him fight?"
Scratching the back of his head, Nero sighed softly. "You right, yeah… my bad."
A long sigh escaped the older man. "Nevertheless, Dante is not here. Do you want me to do this or not?"
Watching his father for a few seconds, Nero shook his head and smiled. "That would be cool. We've been looking forward to today." As Vergil stepped forward and looked at him with a questioning look, Nero reached for his pocket and pulled out a small envelope. "Here. This is the address and the number of the client. Old granny Lisa, she's the one that called us."
Taking the envelope from Nero and then pulling the paper out of it, Vergil read the address and pushed it back in.
"You know the place?" Nero asked. "I could give you a lift if you want to."
"That will be unnecessary. I know the location and I can be there faster by myself." Vergil replied curly, giving a small nod towards Yamato leaning against the wall beside the couch.
"Cool… just remember not to level the whole place and take the money only after the job is done." The boy explained, watching as his father stared at him with a neutral look. "Okay, I should be going. Still have to track down Nico and convince her to stay with the kids." Raising one hand in a farewell wave, Nero turned to leave, stopping as he grabbed the door's handle. "And thank you… dad."
"Nero…" Vergil called out as his son took the first step to leave, making the boy stop and turn to look at him. "Give Kyrie my regards."
At first, Nero watched his father with surprised eyes, but then he waved at him again and smiled. "Will do, pops." He then laughed after hearing the small growl of annoyance coming from Vergil.
Vergil watched with a frown as Nero walked away, waiting until the door closed with a soft click before he allowed himself to breathe out and then smile gently.
Deciding that a plain grey shirt is not appropriate attire for meeting strangers, Vergil made his way back to his burrowed room and changed to more suitable clothing.
After changing to one of his long coats, this one dark grey with silvery lines at the edge of the fabric, a darker-blue shirt, and a long pair of black pants, Vergil went back to the living room to clean up his mug and then took Yamato from its resting place.
"Fortuna…" Closing his eyes Vergil tried to visualize the address Nero gave him. Searching by memory he remembers an avenue little less than three minutes of walking from his destination.
With that in mind, Vergil unsheathed his dark blade and slashed twice in a cross-shaped cut. From the thin lines cutting the air, a blooming portal came to life showering the room with a darkness-coated show of light.
Sheathing the Yamato once more, Vergil stepped into the portal and disappeared as the dimensional hole closed in his wake.
With a silent step, a shallow puddle of muddled water splashed across the cracked ruined street.
There are pieces of wreckage and ruined structures still lingering around the peaceful town-castle of Fortuna, people still struggling to regain their normalcy after the incident that shook their home and their lives.
As he approached the address given to him by Nero, Vergil noticed a few bystanders mingling in front of the building with cracked walls.
It still surprises the hybrid demon/human that the people of Fortuna are so unbothered by events like this. The sane and normal reaction would be to stay the hell away from a place tormented by demons, and here they are, gossiping about the eerie-looking apartments.
"Sir… Sir!" A short gray-haired woman stepped out from within the group, she kept crying out in Vergil's direction as she waved a hand. "Are you a friend of little Nero?"
Vergil stopped his fast-paced steps to look at the older woman. He eyed her aged face giving a very concerned look despite her soft motherly smile. "I… am." Was the response he could give without frustrating himself further.
"Oh, thank goodness. We've started to fear that we would lose our home." She gave a small nod to the bricked apartment building just ahead. "You will get rid of the fiend, won't you?"
"The demon, what is it?" Vergil asked, cutting directly to the point.
Looking at him with a stunned look, the woman shook her head slowly and cried out softly. "I… I don't know, dear."
A slight frown twisted Vergil's expression. "What does it look like? What did it do? Has it killed someone, how was it done?"
"Oh… oh… I didn't see the monster. Only sweet Paul and dear Anna have seen it." She shuffled a little with her long summer dress. "They were attacked last night. Paul got a nasty gash on his right arm and got taken to the hospital. We didn't get news from him or Anna, but we imagine he will make it."
"The wounds?" Vergil asked again, managing to maintain a neutral tone. When the older woman looked at him confused, he couldn't contain the sigh escaping his lips. "The wounds on his arm. They were made by claws? A blade or something magic?"
She shrugged quietly. "Sorry my dear, I don't know."
"Fine." He growled a little. "Talk sense into these fools and make them stay away until it is done." Carefully taking Yamato out from its sheath, he started to stalk forward.
Pushing the two oblivious bystanders that were standing in his way, Vergil entered the building through the unlocked doors.
At first glance, the place looks as dull and rundown as any neglected apartment he has seen. But something within these walls stirs a sense of hostility inside his chest, even Yamato trembles gently against the outlandish aura surrounding him.
Searching through the first two floors, Vergil peeked inside the apartments with open doors, opening a shift in space to get into those that were locked. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he kept his hunt onto the third level.
With the first step out of the stairs, he felt the air change considerably.
Twisted into a crude version of a piece of the underworld, the hallway walls are filled with swollen blisters of blood and foul liquids, twisted limbs crawling at the ceiling trying to snatch at anything getting close to them; the floor is just a cracked version of the normal floor from the two previous levels.
Every door is lying either busted open or broken into bits, allowing him to see that apartments are just as damaged as the hallway.
One sudden breeze of foul air rushed past Vergil, making him stand in guard as the walls began to creak and tremble.
"Son… Son… of… Sparda…" A choir of anguish-filled voices echoed around the hall, its sound making some of the bubbles burst and pour the evil liquid on the floor. "Power… Hunger… Toothless anger… Weakness…. WEAK…"
Vergil's eyebrow twitched with mild annoyance. "Fascinating... A pest that knows how to speak, but chooses to waste this gift with useless gibberish."
"I've seen your face. I know your name." A large and disgusting mass of black blob fell from the ceiling, pooling into a vile mount of meat. "Once destinated to greatness, why do you reek of their weakness?"
Receiving a target for his vexation, Vergil pulled Yamato back and then pushed it forward in an arc, unleashing a powerful space-tearing slash against the demon.
Slashed in two, the blob splashed into the ground, sinking right into it. Its aura and energy, however, still lingers in the air.
Clicking his tongue, Vergil stepped forward to hunt his prey, but as he reached the middle point, he felt a surge of air right behind him. With a twirl that made the end tail of his coat swing in the air, he shifted the weight of his sword around his hand, thrusting Yamato in a lightning-fast movement.
Catching a glance of his target, Vergil forced his arm to stop in the air, making his limb burn from the extraneous act. Staring at the form in front of him with wide eyes, he felt his lips open without his permission to utter one name.
"Mary?" He asked in confusion at the naked woman in front of him.
His voice echoed once again, this time in an ear-hurting scream of pain as a giant tendril impaled him in the chest.
A twisted laugh came from Lady's doppelganger. Swaying her hips as she stepped forward, the naked woman swung her left arm turned tendril like a whip, hurling Vergil onto a wall, busting right into one of the apartments.
"Even the greatest of warriors are unmade by the weakness of men." She gloated with a ghostly voice. "Like the great conqueror, Sparda. His promised heir bent down by the image of a wom-"
In the middle of the demon's mocking speech, Vergil warped in front of it, pulling Yamato in a straight slash forward.
The dark blade sang in a melodic tune as its cold edge cut clean into the woman's neck, shooting the head high into the ceiling just to be grabbed by the raging hands.
Vergil glared down into the headless body with contempt and fury; his blood-stained lips curled in a snarl. Drove into almost snapping, he doesn't feel this furious about the wound on his chest, but rather for the impertinence of this insect of peering into his thoughts.
A gurgling giggle came from above, making him glance at the ceiling, taking his attention to the head smiling down at him, leaving an opening for the body to get up and impale him again, this time in his lower abdomen.
Raising the other hand, the naked headless body commanded the shifting ceiling to change, engulfing the hands and forming a giant spike made of bones and flesh. This mangled spire of gore came flying down into Vergil, shoving him down into the floor and even further to the base level of the building.
Pressed face-first into the cold floor, Vergil grunted a little as blood ran down from his lips into his chin.
Flickering his hand to the side, he summoned a large phantom blade and slashed the flesh-spear in half, giving him space to pull himself up and out of it.
Looking down at his ruined shirt, he sighed and closed his eyes in increasing frustration.
"We were devoted followers, but of what. A meek human with delusions of power?" Her voice echoed from above with a laugh that could never come from a human being. "Come Vergil, why don't we play together?"
Vergil looked up at the body holding the head in its arms, his eyes that were constantly avoiding her private spots finally ignored their restraints and allowed Vergil to see that the naked woman is lacking any of its particular details.
Her breasts are just pale mounds with nothing on them, her womanhood is just a bump of skin and even her belly button is missing, leaving a clean flat stomach. This piece of information reveals that this creature just used Vergil's memories to construct the body, failing to make any details that he does not know of.
"I see…" Vergil closed his eyes. "So that is why even after cutting your head, your foul tongue continues to lash out. You're not a Succubus, but something else… Something so much more inconvenient."
The woman jumped down, aiming her tendril-like arm at Vergil. But before she could reach her mark, a giant summoned blade impaled her to the wall, making the body drop the head down to the first level.
"Vergil…" She said in a soft, sweet voice full of venom. "Play with me."
Ignoring the disturbing decapitated head resembling a certain insufferable woman, Vergil shifted his gaze across the walls around him. He kept looking and looking while the head kept taunting him with sometimes sweet words and other times disgusting insults.
Only when he felt a slight pulsation coming from a specific spot that Vergil stopped and closed his eyes. Sheathing Yamato, he assumed position by lowering his upper body and spreading his feet apart from each other.
"I admit you this, pest. You've made me far angrier than I should let myself be with the likes of you. A slight shame that I'll carry with me until I forget your meaningless existence." His visage turned into a vicious scowl. Time itself began to warp around the Dark Slayer, forming a pulsating circle that keeps getting bigger and bigger around him. "For this arrogant impertinence… You shall die."
Time itself froze under the pressure of Yamato's power. A singular echo of Vergil's silhouette dashed forward, unleashing an ethereal arc into a specific spot within the building.
One violent cry echoing more than a dozen voices exploded in the air, followed by the disturbing sound of flesh erupting and blood gushing. Took little time for a small river of darkened blood to flow down the stairs and from the hole made on the third to first level.
Releasing one concentrated breath, Vergil sheathed Yamato one last time. He gave one glance at the lifeless head on the floor, its mouth left agape in the wake of terror and pain.
Feeling quite done with this place, Vergil turned around and left without a second glance at the mess he left behind.
"Goodness! Dear, you are hurt. A medic, someone call a medic!" The diminutive old woman named Lisa came rushing to the tall man's aid, fussing over the bloodied state of his now almost bare chest.
Despite his still fuming nerves, Vergil managed to push the old lady away as gently as possible. "There is no need for that." He sighed and raised one hand as the woman was about to protest. "Your demon problem is over. A Soul Eater managed to cross into this realm and made the building its nest."
"A S-Soul…" She stuttered, not even understanding what the younger man was talking about. "Is it… gone now?"
He simply nodded, getting anxious to leave as more and more people are starting to horde around him. "I destroyed its heart. It will stay dead."
"How did it get here?" He heard a stranger ask from the side.
He growled a little but still had to manners to look at the wide-eyed man. "It came from a dimensional hole and it happened to stumble into this place. Bad luck, nothing you could have done to stop it."
"By any chance, are you Dante?" Another stranger asked, this time a little too excited young woman. "You are, right? The handsome white-haired Demon Hunter." She then produced a high-pitched squeal, making him flinch at the sheer volume of her voice. "Can you sign my shirt? No, no, can you give me your number?"
"Dante?!" Another one from the crowd echoed, getting more and more attention to Vergil.
Clenching the hold on the Yamato, Vergil used every ounce of his being to control himself. "I am not… Dante…" He said with a low hiss. He intended to scare people away from him with his tone and glare. But instead, it just made a few more squeals sound in the air, some of these squeals even coming from male voices.
Having more than enough of these people, Vergil broke away from the crowd and slashed one single time furiously in the air, making another portal.
"Wait a moment, mister, please." He heard Lisa call out to him, wobbling a few hurried steps toward him. "What is your name, sweetie? I think we should at least know the name of our hero."
Vergil scoffed at the notion of being a hero. He looked at the woman for a spare moment before making his decision. "Vergil."
"Vergil… A handsome name to a handsome face." A sweet motherly smile graced Lisa's expression again. She then walked closer and pushed toward Vergil a small paper bag heavy with what Vergil can surmise to be money. "Your reward, like I discussed with little Nero."
Glancing at the bag, Vergil's hand twitched for a moment, then his gaze shifted to the building where he destroyed the demon. Closing his eyes, he just shook his head and turned away. "Keep it."
Sharing no other words with the old woman or the cheering crowd, Vergil stepped inside the portal and left this place with a very bitter taste in his mouth.
Instead of teleporting directly back to Dante's shop, Vergil found himself at the steps end of a slowly withering garden.
Without even noticing, he sought after the comfort of one thing he has known for years as a small little place of his own. And so, he ended up teleporting to the house he has once made his own and then left behind like most of his past.
A home not linked to his father, his mother, or his brother. One haven where Vergil could be just a single soul in solitude surrounded by what is most intimate for him.
Even then, he still finds himself in the backyard of his own house, standing in the middle of an abandoned and overgrown garden with his back turned away from the home he had made to be only his.
Mulling over his thoughts about the afternoon, Vergil found himself growing more and more vexed. For the past days, the lone warrior has convinced himself that Mary has occupied his thoughts out of boredom.
A distraction to keep him from going insane without his drive to conquer everything in sight. He has made quite the argument to himself that despite her clear beauty and sharp wits, his interest in the woman is truly and completely circumstantial.
Why ever should it not be?
She is simply another human, just another one of THEM. So differently than him, so much more fragile than him or his brother, a clear weakness to be explored by any of his should be enemies.
He kept telling himself that again, and again. Each time he took satisfaction in knowing that his rational mind would always prevail over his beating heart.
But then a Soul Eater has used her likeness to scramble with Vergil's thoughts, and it worked quite effortlessly. His fists clench tightly just thinking about it.
He hesitated, even for a moment, he still hesitated. Vergil is not his brother; he is not stupid. With the full knowledge that a demon made a nest there, knowing that Mary had no reason to be there, he still stopped his blade.
"Foolishness… this is utter foolishness."
This woman has hijacked his life and it is driving Vergil completely mad. He has never stood so low as to break for someone else, not even when he made a slight mistake that ended up resulting in Nero.
Hissing he notices that even thinking of Nero as a mistake makes his chest tighten and hurt.
Just how much of him will warp and change because of these people entering his life?
This uncertainty makes him feel vulnerable again.
A feeling that Vergil hates with all his might.
Swoop out by these spiraling thoughts, Vergil stood there standing under the open sky until the sunlight diminished and gave way to the slowly rising moon.
Feeling tired, too tired to even remain furious with himself, Vergil slowly took Yamato into his hand and opened another portal. Seeking to just soak his body under a cold shower and simply drop in his bed, he teleported back to Dante's shop.
"Vergil!" As he stepped into the living room, Vergil heard his brother's voice calling out to him. "Who is alive and kicking always shows up, huh? And I thought you went and got swallowed by a giant demon dog or something."
A depressed sigh escaped the older twin. Surely fate would deem it necessary to bring his annoying brother back at his lowest point in the week.
As for Dante, after getting a quick look at his brother, got up from the couch where he was eating pizza with Trish, and walked over to his twin. "Yo, Verge. You look like hell, what's up with all that blood?"
"Just leave me alone, Dante…" Vergil hissed, pushing his brother away, clearing the path to the stairs.
"Someone's touchy… Man you need to go out and have some fun." Dante continued, crossing his arms as his twin walked away. "Maybe smile a little more, the ladies love that."
After so many days of controlling himself around the big-mouthed fool, Vergil finally snapped. With a flicker of his hand, he sent a lighting-fast summoned blade toward Dante. The glowing blue blade crashed onto the man's chest, shooting him across the room.
"Fucking… hell. What was as that for?" Dante cried out as he took the blade from his chest and crushed it into nothingness. He prepared himself, ready to parry another strike coming his way, but instead found Vergil just climbing the stairs silently. "Did you see that shit?" Dante asked a mildly confused Trish.
The blond who has her mouth occupied chewing pizza just shrugged at him.
As Dante dusted himself because of his sudden fall, the phone at his desk started to ring.
Letting out a growl that strongly resembles that of his twin, he marched toward the thing and pulled the speaker with one angry swing.
"Devil May Cry, Dante speaking."
"Dante! Is the old man there?"
Dante recognized Nero's voice and relayed it to Trish silently. "Yo, Nero. What's up. Yeah, your pops is here, but I don't think he will be up to play ball with you tonight."
"Is he pissed off? Did he tell you what hell happened on the job? The client just called and said he didn't accept the money."
"Again with the money? Man, I need to have a talk with him. No, he didn't say anything, just threw a stupid flying sword at my chest and walked away."
"Sword?! Should I even ask?!"
"He started it, kiddo. I just messed with his feathers a little bit, brothers' stuff, you know. Not my fault the guy is on edge for some reason."
"Okay man, just… tell him that I appreciate the favor. I'll drop by your place tomorrow and talk with him."
"Sure thing, kid. See ya tomorrow then."
"Yeah, till then old man."
Putting the speaker down, Dante walked back to the couch and stole a fresh slice of pizza from Trish's hands, the blond gave a small glare at him.
"What did Nero want?" She asked.
"To talk with his old man. Something about a job Vergil did for him." Dante replied before putting the entire thing in his mouth. "He also said he will drop by tomorrow to speak with Sir frowns-a-lot."
"Are you going to warn Vergil about it?" Trish asked, slightly amused by the look Dante gave her.
"After that rude-ass threw a sword at me? He can warn himself when he sees Nero tomorrow."
A soft chuckle escaped the blond as she shook her head at the younger twin. "You boys will need to grow up someday."
Dante gave her a side look. Reaching with one arm across the crouch, he shuffled closer toward Trish, a smirk on his lips. "I'd say I am quite grown up."
"Are you?" She asked with a mixture of sarcasm and mirth.
"Oh… I am. I've got a few ideas in mind on how to prove it to you." He smiled and Trish smiled right back at him.
Between giggles and laughter, Dante and Trish played around in the living room for a little bit before moving to a better place for such things.
What proceeded to happen between the two of them is something that Vergil should count himself as a very blessed man for being completely drained and passed out in bed to hear even the slight noise coming from the master room at the opposite end of the hall.