Nero didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't know enough about 'causality' or whatever the fuck it was called to make an educated guess about what happened to him, but the fact remained that he wasn't when or where he was supposed to be. And then there was the big red flag of Dante. He didn't notice it at first, either due to anger or just not paying attention, but he could definitely feel the demonic presence emanating from her. He'd spent enough time around his uncle to note that it was an extremely similar feeling to him, albeit far weaker than he'd ever seen. But that didn't explain why he was younger or why he was… not a he. Either way, Patty seemed to notice his distress, so at her insistence, he found himself at a small town diner, sitting across from the two girls. He wasn't even hungry, but Patty had bought him a hamburger and fries, while she and 'Dante' had a vegan chocolate and strawberry sundae respectively. Oddly, he noted, the few people that were there didn't even bat an eye at the sword he was carrying.
"I can't believe I got to meet a real life time traveler!" Patty said. "I gotta know: do we colonize Mars? Can animals talk? Am I rich and famous?"
"You can't just ask a time traveler about the future! That's how you mess up the timeline," Dante said.
"Depends on the rules! If it's a 'the future is set in stone' thing, then it doesn't matter. Though I guess it'd be pretty bad if we had attractor fields and whatnot."
"Doubt he even knows us anyway." Unfortunately for Nero, that statement was far truer than he'd like it to be. He was finding it particularly hard to believe that this was Dante. Every few minutes, he caught the girl staring at him, looking like she was trying to recall an old memory. He wasn't sure if he should be bothered or not.
"So where are you from, Nero?" Patty asked. "We gotta at least know a little bit about you."
"Ever hear of a place called 'Fortuna'?"
"No?" Patty looked to her friend, who shook her head.
Nero shrugged. "Figures." Not that he should be surprised. Dante didn't know about Fortuna until the Order specifically sought him out. "Anyway, that's where I'm from. The place is just getting back on its feet after a massive demon outbreak."
"Wow," Patty said.
"Are demon attacks a common thing there?" Dante asked.
"Common enough to have a task force dedicated to dealing with them."
"Damn," Dante said with a slight wince.
"So is that where you used to work? How long have you been hunting demons?" Patty asked.
"Long as I can remember."
"Heh, you looked like you know what you're doing! Gotta say, I've never seen a sword like yours. How'd you get it to set on fire like you did? Is it some awesome future tech!?"
"You can set it on fire?" For the first time, Dante looked at him with intrigue rather than puzzlement.
He nodded. "Lots of trial and error," Nero said. He couldn't help the smile that came with the fond memories of modifying a standard Durandal into the Red Queen.
"How did you find out about the demon here?" Dante asked.
"I didn't. Business partner of mine tipped me off. Supposedly linked to some disappearances in the area."
"Wow," Patty said. "Guess we'll have to watch out in five years. But won't you just come back in time again?"
"Nah," Dante said. "Since that demon traveled through time itself, there's only one of it. Otherwise it would have had like, an army of itself. Doubt you'll have to deal with time shenanigans anymore. I think, anyway."
"That's fucking good to hear," Nero said sarcastically. "Still need to figure out how to get back."
"So… what are you gonna do?" Dante asked.
"...Not sure." Plan A would have been to find Dante and go from there, but clearly that idea wasn't gonna pan out. Plan B was still in development.
"Wait, you don't have anywhere to stay, do you?" Patty asked. "And I doubt you have the money for a hotel."
"Nope. Left my wallet in the car I rode here in." Nero let out a gruff sigh.
"I'd let you stay with me, but our house is going through a lot of renovations." She turned to Dante. "I guess we could ask Mary. She'd understand, right? I mean, you said you only needed a couple of months until your crew gets together, so that could be fine, right? Mary would totally let you do that, I think. Then again, she does have that angry dog..."
"Mary doesn't have the patience for this shit," Dante said.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Patty sighed.
"...if he wants, he can stay at my house." Patty turned to her in surprise. "H-hey, that's only if he wants to! You don't have to look at me like that!" Nero narrowed his eyes at her. He swore he saw her face begin to flush.
"Really? At your place?" Nero asked. He had to admit, he did have some grim curiosity to see how this Dante lived.
"Are you… okay with that?" Patty asked.
"I think it's for the best since he doesn't have any money. Mother would be very understanding for someone who's a victim of a demon attack. Though she might freak out over me bringing a guy home..."
"Uh, no, it's cool," Nero said. At first he was hopeful that this girl had her own version of Devil May Cry, but mentioning a 'mother'? That was something he wasn't too sure about. "I'll figure something out-"
"Just say yes," Dante huffed. "I'll feel better knowing where you are rather than some random place civilians can get involved." Nero noted the very amused look Patty was giving Dante. Honestly, Nero really wanted to refuse the offer- But if she's anything like the Dante he's familiar with, she probably has some kind of information network he could take advantage of. Plus, getting a good night's sleep might help him think of something.
"Eh, what the hell," he said. "Since you offered so generously, who am I to say no? Not like things could get any worse."
"That's the spirit," she smirked at him.
"That's exactly what someone would say before things got worse," Patty said. "But, glad you got that sorted out. I better get home before my mom yells at me again. See ya tomorrow, Dante!" And with that, she got up and left.
"Well she seems… energetic," Nero said. He turned his attention back to the girl in front of him, but she was staring off into space. "You hear me?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, you get used to it…" she trailed off. She absentmindedly continued to eat another spoonful of ice cream.
"Uh, you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, it's just," she sighed. "It sucks that you're going through this. I don't know what I'd do if I was taken away from my friends and family. I can't imagine how hard this must be…"
This girl looked really sad as she said this, like she was failing to stave off a bad memory. He couldn't help but think of what Kyrie must be going through. He needed to get back to her ASAP. "Uh, hey, don't sweat it," he said quickly. "It's not the worst thing that's happened."
"If you say so." She quietly finished the rest of her sundae while texting someone. "We should probably get going. I've already told my mother, and she said she'd be happy to let you stay a few days."
"That's very kind-" Nero paused. Wasn't Dante's mother killed by demons when he was a kid? The girl didn't seem to notice he hadn't moved as she was already halfway to the door by the time he realized. He quickly followed her out and they were walking in the cool evening.
There was silence between them. Nero didn't really have much of anything to say other than interrogating this girl about the discrepancies between the world he came from and the world he's in now. Plus she was offering to help him out, so antagonizing her would not only be rude, but put him back at square one. Seeing as how she is ostensibly a demon hunter, she and that Patty girl were the only leads he's got. But damn was this silence making him antsy.
"This is a pretty nice place," Nero said, trying to fill the void. Small talk would at least help him not think of all the things wrong with this world. Though information about how different everything is might come in handy, too.
Dante shrugged. "Nice, sure. Kinda boring though."
"Right..."
"We don't live too far away. I can actually walk to most places I need to go." Nero didn't comment on how being part demon trivializes walking the entire city limits.
"Like where?"
"Oh… you know, school, the boutiques, places to run errands."
"...Sure."
Another brief silence before Dante continued. "So you hunt demons, right? Like actual, real ones?"
"Yup."
"And the sword's your weapon of choice?"
"Uh-huh."
"That's sick. You got anything else?
"I got this baby too," he flourished the Blue Rose.
Dante let out a low whistle. "Sword and a gun. You're my kind of guy," she chuckled. "So what's the biggest thing you've killed?"
That was an interesting question. "The biggest? Giant demon statue that wrecked my hometown."
"A statue? Really?"
"I had to kill the guy controlling it too."
"Huh. And how big we talkin'?"
"If I had to guess? Maybe 150 meters."
"What!? I only get small timers around here. It's been a year since I fought something cool! Uh, not that it's cool that your town was destroyed or anything."
"...No, it was pretty cool." It was only a matter of time before that bastard Sanctus carried his plan out. It could have been worse if Dante never showed up and he didn't learn to embrace his innate, demonic power. And he had to admit: beating the Savior with just his fists was the second most powerful he's ever felt, right after he triggered for the first time.
"Man, you wouldn't believe how starved we are for action around here. We've practically killed every demon in the country by now, and none of them are even close to challenging."
"'We'?"
"Yeah, me and my sister, and... Oh. I should probably mention I have a sister," she said.
"You don't say," Nero said. Fan-fucking-tastic, he thought. If this is how Dante was, he was very hesitant to see his old man.
"Yeah. We've been in the demon killing business for a while. She's a little rough around the edges, but she's real sweet once you get to know her. Don't be surprised if she's a little standoffish when you meet her."
"She didn't want to get ice cream with you?"
"Nah, she hates ice cream. Even if she did want to come, she's pretty busy. She goes to a performing arts school for the violin, so outside of demon related stuff, she spends pretty much all her free time practicing." Well, that's one way they're different, Nero thought. At least, V never mentioned playing violin. "She practically has some sort of recital or event that she plays at every day. She's so focused on it, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else." Dante scoffed. "I swear, she needs to find more time for herself before I make her."
"That's some real dedication."
"That's one of her best features. Not only is she a great violinist, she's real strong too. She has to be. We're twins, so she's the only person in the world who's as awesome as me. Seriously, you should hear her play sometime. She's amazing."
"Uh...huh." That sort of doting outlook was unexpected, but pretty much everything has been with this girl. He briefly wondered if Dante ever went to school when he was a kid. He never got the full picture of his childhood, save for some stories of fights he had. He hadn't thought much of it before, but Dante was particularly guarded about his past.
"But yeah, it's just been us three since Papa died. He was…" the girl sighed. "He was killed by demons when we were kids. It… it wasn't a very good time for us. It's how we got started in all this. That's why I want to help you. I don't want to see anyone else suffer because of some demonic activity, you know?"
"Thanks for that, by the way."
"You know, Nero, you're really easy to talk to. Even if you got that whole 'I'm gonna kick your ass' vibe." Nero resisted the urge to make a taunting quip. "You kinda threw me off at the beginning but after talking to you… something about you just… I don't know, seems to put my mind at ease. Like you're an old friend, even though we just met today." She let out a light chuckle.
The two walked in silence a bit more, Nero mulling over everything he's been through. There's no way this girl has anything to do with Dante aside from sharing a name, Nero thought. I legit can't see how they could possibly be the same person. Some weird shit is going on and it's freaking me out. But if it does turn out to be true… that's fucked up. What was the point of all this? "Hey, what year are you in?" Nero asked after a bit.
"This is our last year of high school."
"Hmm." Well, at least I don't have to worry about a version of me in this place, Nero thought. Isn't meeting yourself from an alternate universe supposed to make reality collapse? Or like, you die instantly?
Just thinking of the possibility made him shudder.
As they kept walking, Dante led him a ways that was removed from the urbanized area they were in before, leading to a much more open, hilly space.
"Don't worry, we're almost there," she said. But just then, he felt a tingling sensation- the kind that happened whenever a demon got too close to him. He reached for Red Queen, but heard a 'tsk' from Dante.
With a distinct warping sound, several scarecrows appeared and tried to surround them.
Dante scoffed. "Nero," she said. "Stand back and let me take care of this." Nero was about to protest, but stopped when she gave him a cocky grin. "Come on, and after I went on about how I hadn't seen any action in a bit? I know you didn't believe Patty when she said I could fight. So sit back and watch me prove you wrong."
"Well isn't that nice," Nero said, somewhat caustically. Considering everything he's been through today, he really wanted to let loose, just to blow off some steam. But he was curious to see how the girl fought. He returned with a shrug. "Be my guest." In the time it took for him to blink, the girl was now holding a large sword, which Nero immediately recognized as Rebellion.
Considering the sword's nature, it pretty much confirmed who the girl was.
Her grin deepened as she turned to the demons. "Try not to fall for me." With a single trick, she was in front of the largest collection of scarecrows. With a single slash, she bisected the lot of them. A scarecrow from some distance away lunged at her. A single slash of the sword parried it, and with a quick stab, it was done. Then two tried to pincer her. With the grace of a dancer, she deftly twirled between the two attacks and delivered a mighty roundhouse kick to both. Then she pulled out Ebony and Ivory, peppering them with bullets. The final, larger scarecrow approached. As it swung its bladed leg, Dante backflipped and threw her sword, executing a Round Trip. As the scarecrow blocked the gravity defying blade, Dante leapt up and finished it off with a devestating axe kick, exploding it into dust at the contact; her sword then returned to her hand before she put it back from wherever she got it from.
"Huh," Nero said. He fired Blue Rose behind him, shooting the last scarecrow that tried to flee. Dante however, was frowning.
"That was alright," she muttered to herself, rubbing her neck. "But I should have done more stuff in the air, that would have been way more stylish…"
"I thought you did pretty good," Nero said. Not the level of skill he was accustomed to seeing, but she definitely knew how to use that sword, if nothing else.
She scoffed. "I can do way better. But as you can see, I know what I'm doing." She continued to lead him until they got to a large, yet rather old looking house that stood alone in a wide field.
"This is where you live, huh?"
"Yup," She nodded.
Nero recalled a conversation he and Morrison had after they returned from the Qliphoth incident. Apparently some of the action took place near the ruins of Dante's old home. Morrison got his hands on some pictures of it when it was still standing, and this place was pretty much an exact replica of what he remembered. Though there were a few things he wasn't sure were depicted, like the garden he could see off to the side. As he approached the front door, he could faintly hear the sound of a violin from one of the upper rooms. It sounded like some sort of classical piece that wouldn't have been out of place in Fortuna.
"I take it that's your sister?" Nero said.
"Yeah," She took out a key from somewhere and unlocked the door. "She's supposed to be playing that song for one of her recitals in a few days. Don't know the name of it off the top of my head." She opened the door and gestured for him to follow her inside. It was a pretty nice house, he had to admit. In the foyer he entered, he could see a grand staircase opposite from him that led to a carpeted landing and had two rooms on both sides; to the right was a sitting room with a fireplace. He could see a small table and several chairs lined about, along with a bookshelf. To the right there was an opening that led to a kitchen. There was a hint of cinnamon in the air.
"Nice place," Nero commented. It was certainly nicer than any of the places he's lived in, if not bigger.
"Welcome home, Dante." Nero blinked in surprise at the voice. Standing in the entry to the sitting room was a woman who was a dead ringer for Trish: the height, build, and even the sound of her voice was exactly the same, though her cadence suggested a personality much more genteel.
"Hello, Mother," the girl greeted back. "This is the guy I was talking about," she said. The woman regarded him with a sad smile.
"I see. Welcome to our humble home, Mr. Nero. My name is Eva. Please, make yourself comfortable. Can I offer you a beverage?"
"Uh, sure?" The woman nodded and headed into the kitchen.
"I've got stuff to do, so I'll... see you around, I guess," Dante said. She then went up the stairs into one of the rooms on the right.
"Today's just getting weirder and weirder," he muttered as he followed after Eva. She told him to take a seat at the table and poured him a cup of tea.
"I heard about your predicament," she said, sitting across from him. "I am so sorry you have to deal with this."
"Hey, it's no sweat. Just… real inconvenient."
"Am I correct in saying that you hunt demons professionally?"
"Sure, you could say that."
"It's such a dangerous occupation," Eva said sadly. "Is it something passed down to you from a family member?"
"Kinda?"
Eve looked at him in despondence. "Wouldn't you be much happier in a safer job?"
"I'm not in it for the money," Nero quickly retorted. "It's something I do to keep the people I care about safe." He'd have to die before he just let someone else end up like Credo. He hoped with his power he could achieve that.
"My, how admirable," Eva said. "I suppose in that case I cannot dissuade you. It's so very sad how quickly a demon can bring one to ruin. I understand this must be difficult for you." She looked down in despondence. "My husband… he perished to demons some time ago. I know what it's like when everything you know is taken away from you. That's why I… I wish to be able to help you, even if it's just a small bit."
"Well thanks."
A brief silence passed. "Dante told me… that you are from the future?"
"You don't beat around the bush, huh?" Nero was pretty sure that ending up in the past was only part of it. There's plenty of things in this new world that wouldn't add up just by being five years in the past. But he didn't really have an alternative conjecture. "...I guess that's the case, yeah." Eva simply nodded
"A preposterous claim, one might say. However, given the nature of the creatures you deal with, I completely believe you." Nero snorted in response. "I know someone that may be able to provide some assistance. I don't mean to be presumptuous but I told them you could meet with them tomorrow, if that's okay. I understand if you would need some time to process and get your bearings."
"No, that's great. Thanks Tr- uh, Eva." It was so easy to forget this woman wasn't Trish. At least when she wasn't talking. She was way more polite than Trish could ever be. "That's real kind of you," Nero said, taking a sip of tea. "I can see where your kid gets it from."
Eva let out a light laugh. "I try my hardest. I must say, I am quite surprised Dante took it upon herself to look after you like this."
"Really?"
"Yes. Though she hides it well, she has quite the shy temperament. She was probably more comfortable around you because of your experience killing demons."
"I don't really see what that has to do with anything."
"I'm not sure how it is when you're from, but most people deny the existence of demons. She has been fighting them, along with her sister, ever since my husband passed. It's been quite the struggle for her to make and keep friends when she disappears for days on end. She wasn't always like this but... I fear it has deeply affected her," Eva sighed. "But that's just a mother worrying about her child. Come, I'll show you to the guest quarters. It was a short trip up the stairs and through a door on the left. It was pretty nicely furnished, with a bed, desk, small nightstand with several books on it, and a connected bathroom.
"Thanks a lot," Nero said as he entered.
"Sleep well, Mr. Nero," she said before she left. Nero sat on the bed.
"Damn. This is not what I was expecting to happen today," he muttered. "Getting transported to another world isn't nearly as fun as they make it out to be," he said. "Why the hell am I even going along with this? Argh, just gotta do what I can, I guess." He set Red Queen down and opened up the window. The night air was relatively warm for the time of year and was greeted with a pleasant breeze. He could see just how big the property was from there. "How long am I gonna be here?" He said. This different timeline shit was really confusing. "There's gotta be some way outta this." Nero never was much of an ideas guy; his methods were typically straightforward and brutal. Even when he worked for the Order he was mostly only told to go someplace and kill something. The thinking part of things he usually left to Credo and Kyrie. "I hope she'll be okay without me for a bit…" Being away from her and stuck here was grating on his nerves. Before he could start getting angry at the whole situation, he laid down and went to sleep.
"Gone?" Lady asked. "What do you mean he's gone?"
"Just what I said!" Nico yelled. "I was sittin' in the van like normal when this bright light showed up and I saw him and some demon fall into a portal or something!"
"First Dante, and now Nero," Lady said with a sigh.
"What a pain those boys can be," Trish added. "I'm sure they'll all be back in no time."
"Doesn't help us at the moment though," Lady said. "Unfortunately I haven't heard of any portal things like that."
"Can't say it's something I've come across either."
"It's okay," Nico said. "I got an idea. It came to me on the way back here. I just need some time to test it out."
"How long will that take?" Lady asked. Nico shrugged.
"Then I guess you better get on it," Trish said. "In the meantime," she tossed Nico a phone. "You've got to break the news to Kyrie."
"Why do I gotta do it? I mean, we don't really have to tell her her man's gone away to parts unknown, right?" The two other women simply gave half shrugs. "...She's gonna be so mad…"
"You practically live with her. I don't think you can avoid it," Lady said. "I'll check with Morrison, see if he's got anything," she turned to leave. "You're a smart gal, I'm sure you'll figure it out in no time."
"Yeah yeah."
"And I'll see what I can dig up about this," Trish said as she headed to the door. She turned to Nico with a grin. "Try not to fall into any portals in the meantime."
"Yuck it up while you can. I'll find Nero for sure. Hell, I'll grab Dante while I'm at it!" So Nico set out to work.
Devil May Cry is a great franchise and I like it. I wish they made a Lady/Trish dlc for 5, or put them in special edition like they did for 4. Maybe they'll be playable again some day.
