First of all, if there are any errors, I'm very sorry. I looked over this for mistakes but I could have overlooked something and I did this chapter all today! Plus, I GRADUATED! W Anyway, please enjoy this chapter, it's a lot longer than the previous ones.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Devil May Cry characters.

Ch. 3 Friends

Nero found himself tasting concrete and blood when he let his guard was down for a split second. Luckily, all of his teeth were still intact with his gums.

Dante, or whatever this demon who smacked him right in the jaw that sent him rolling, was definitely not going to be easy to take down. It reminded Nero of the time he had to fight the silver haired man a second time and although he proved his skills to be worthy to take the other on, he was still not strong enough to take Dante down. This time, however, he had to or it meant Nero was going to pay a visit to the demons he sent to Hell. Quickly, he slipped the amulet into his shirt, not wanting to lose it during the fight, and fired a few rounds at the red demon who dodged them without effort.

It flew high into the sky, allowing time for Nero to high jump it to catch up and whip out the Red Queen. He did a smooth upper cut strike and hit the demon on its foot but then got a strike himself when he didn't see the demon's tail coming toward him. Before he went back to the ground, the demon's tail did a familiar attack that seemed to stab Nero ten times before he could realize what had happen to him. He uneasily landed on his feet, breathing ragged due to the multiple hits he received. His eyes caught sight of the tail and found it to be in the shape of a sword, sharp and dangerous just as a real one. The red demon landed on a small old fashion chimney with its entire body crouched but dark wings and tail fully expanded for Nero to take in.

"Dante! What the hell happened to you?!" Nero shouted at the top of his lungs to the raging demon that seemed to grin eerily at him in response. He knew it in his being that it was the familiar cocky and carefree man, no doubt about that. But what baffled him, even scared him a bit, was that Dante was in the form of what all Fortuna children were taught to hate and fear. Nero knew he was half demon, thanks to his father, Sparda, but he was also human too. There had to be an explanation because Dante can't just attack Nero without reason, right? "HEY! Answer me!"

The last response he received was an inhumane roar and Dante flew down with incredible agility to strike with his claw. Nero's Devil Bringer shot out and grabbed Dante by the arm and threw him down like a rag doll. It brought him up again and tossed up in the air. Nero flung the Red Queen like a javelin and it pierced straight into Dante's chest, sputtering out blood. He fell like a dead projectile, and fell through the roof into the first apartment. Nero followed him down the new hole and stomped on the sword with both his feet, earning an ear shattering cry.

The people of the apartment seemed not to be at home thank goodness, Nero figured in relief as he called Yamato forth. The old katana blade seemed to get a reaction from Dante as he struggled to stand, ignoring the Red Queen that was still pierced in him. With one hard swift of Yamato, Nero sent Dante flying throw the wall but this time his wings pushed against the wind and he stopped himself from crashing into another building. His claw came in contact with the handle of Red Queen, ringing off a loud clink sound into the air and then the whole sword was ripped out and Dante's chest wound instantly vanished as though it had time to close up when Nero wasn't looking. The sword glowed a hot fiery red as Dante raised it up and swung it like a boomerang back at Nero. He missed the sword by an inch and when it stabbed into the floor where he was standing, it caused the whole floor to crackle with heat and the whole building to shake. The ex-Order took this as a sign of the building about to tumble over and jumped through the wall with the hole Dante created. The building collapsed behind him as he flew at Dante with Yamato aimed straight at the middle of his chest again. This time, Dante flew to the side and his whole hand went through Nero's abdomen.

"GAH!" Nero cried out while blood coughed up from his mouth. He saw himself as a child, alone on a hill and looking up at the sky. Tears welled up in his eyes as he saw himself cry out for his parents that night. Then he saw children…his friends…all fall one by one into their lifeless state with red dark skin and shining blue light taking over them completely with him only left standing with that same skin and light on his right arm. Finally, A man with the same face as Dante stared down at him but the aura he gave off made Nero believe it wasn't the same half demon. It was the man that never left him alone, no matter how many times Nero felt like he was. As his vision was fading, he saw a woman staring at him from another rooftop, her face of melancholy and dark ebony hair flowing in the wind. He focused on her lips that mouthed words he could not hear but could read before he entered complete darkness.

"Live…to…learn…die…to…save…another."

You are not allowed to die!

Blue neon light shot out from Nero and his Devil Trigger was activated. It completely engulfed the young man and took control. Nero grabbed Dante's arm and pulled him out, digging his own claws into the other's skin to draw blood. He flung Dante to the ground and swords appeared around Dante when Nero raised Yamato into the air. The devil flew away and the swords followed in rapid speed after him. He dodged them as they all came together in a collision. Another attack similar like that one was launched again, succeeding with one sword striking into Dante's side. He landed on the side of a gray building and jumped off it at high speed, inflicting damage with a swipe of his tail like sword when he passed by Nero. He did it again but so quick that Dante was a blur. Nero's eyes closed and more blue light radiated from him. His whole body began to accelerate in a circle with Yamato stuck straight out. He whirled like a hurricane and caught Dante's wing, slicing it in half. The red devil made his way over to a ledge and roughly climbed over it. He now crawled on his belly like a tiger waiting for its prey.

Nero continued to whirl dangerously close as Dante's body was crackling with a red light. He opened his mouth wide and a black sphere began to take shape.

"Dante!" Nero's voice called out, laced with another's voice. A voice that shook the very soul in Dante because it belonged to someone he lost so long ago. But it didn't stop the black sphere to completely be formed and be shot at Nero. He didn't move away fast enough and the black sphere took a hold of him, draining him of his Devil Trigger powers.

"Aaaaahhhh!!" he screamed, feeling all of his strength slip away and being replaced with blood curling pain. Nero fell to his knees, dropping Yamato with a loud clank. The blue light sizzled and faded away like fireflies running from the sun. The young silver haired man twitched in pain, taking in short quick breaths. His eyes rolled over to see Dante inching closer, snorting at him. The amulet around Nero's neck rolled out of his shirt and glistened in Dante's eyes. The red orbs shot open wide as he looked at the jewel with a childlike curiosity.

"…Mom." He growled audibly. The horns on his head began to shrink. Dante's whole body shook as his hard shell skin faded back to a normal pale tint. The wings folded themselves in and slipped away into his back, causing him to hiss. Silver hair returned back to its rightful place on the Devil Hunter's head as his blood red eyes calmed back to their blue hues. In no time, Dante was himself again, naked and bruised.

"..Kid…what have I done to you?"

The rain that fell that night became the battle's end and Dante's answer.

--

"Where…am I?"

The eyes that captured the sky saw a blend of pink and orange supporting the glowing sun that was fading away in the horizon. The wind was picking up to indicate night's air about to take over and that it was time to go back into places of comfort and warmth. Nero didn't mind the cold, pretty much ignoring it like how he ignores the continuous taunts from the other boys back at the orphanage. He had a sweater on thanks to the caretaker's protests and his headphones that gave him the comfort of blocking out unwanted noise. Life didn't need unnecessary sound. It could just be a silent picture where one could take a moment to stare at and understand what's going on in that picture. One could learn a thing or two.

Nero stared at the little boy in front of him, fully aware that he was dreaming because there was no way he could be staring at his younger self in reality. Instead of going over to talk to his younger self, he decided to take a seat in the grass to watch the sun disappear. He assumed that his younger self would want to be left alone anyway.

"That's how it always was."

Young Nero turned his head to look straight at Nero, causing the ex-Order to gasp quietly. The boy's expression was of annoyance but it didn't look as though he was eyeing Nero. He was looking at something else in the same direction.

"Yeah, they were making fun of me, again. This time it's because of my hair…they think silver hairs are for freaks…yeah yeah, I know you have it. But I don't think you're a freak…no, I'm honestly getting use to it. I don't think being a blonde is really me…I do like silver hair better. It suits me? No way…well, it's better than having to go bald." His expression completely changed the moment a smile graced the young one's features.

"Who…is he talking to?" Nero whispered to himself. He saw no one there and frantically began searching through his own memories to remember someone he was talking to. He definitely remembered the hill he came to visit to watch the sunset and get away from the bullies but there was no trace of himself ever having an imaginary friend, much less talking to himself. Maybe it was all just a dream with weird add-ons. He continued to listen in on the conversation.

"My arm has been hurting a bit…Caretaker said the medicine should be working but I think he's full of crap-okay okay! No cursing! Sorry! Don't give me a lecture, geez. But I guess I'm better than Leroy. He's bedridden now, poor guy. Have you been talking to him too? What..? Only me? Really? Why?"

"Yeah…why?"

"Yeah I know, it's getting cold. I'll get going, don't rush me!" Young Nero helped himself off the ground and his eyes took one last look at the horizon. "…did you ever had parents? You did? What were they like?………I'm sure she loved you too…..how would I know? She kept you, at least. I've never even met my mom." A small tear trickled down the corner of his eye and Nero remembered it. That moment where he wanted his parents so bad that he couldn't hold back anymore. He knew what was going to happen next and turned away, trying to block out the cries of his younger self. How he much preferred a silent picture so it wouldn't hurt as much as when he was hearing the sound.

"…I want to go home."

"I want to get out of here…"

--

The first thing Nero noticed when he woke up was a large pink comforter on his body. His head was on something soft and it smelled like a faded scent of jasmine, relaxing him a bit. A rusty fan was moving slowly above him and he couldn't help but feel sick at staring at it, no matter how damn slow it was going. He craned his neck to see, thankfully, the silver haired man. He wore only a pair of black pajama bottoms but was completely back to normal. Nero didn't fail to notice the twin long scars that were on Dante's back, plus the numerous wounds that were bandaged over. Dante twitched and looked over his shoulder, giving his trademark grin.

"About time you woke up, kid."

"…Don't call me kid." Things seemed pretty normal at this point, Nero figured. He watched as the elder man grabbed a chair and swung it in front of him. Dante placed himself on it and crouched over with his elbows on his knees and chin resting in his hands.

"Want good news or bad news?"

"Give me bad."

"…I broke your sword."

"I know." Nero responded deadpanned. "I saw. Now what's the good news?"

"You don't have to clean it anymore."

Nero gathered all his strength to flip the bird off at Dante who continued to grin.

"What the hell happened there?" There was no need to sugar coat it anymore. Nero wanted answers and the thought of the mysterious woman on the rooftop suddenly popped up in his mind. Who was she anyway?

"…I'm going to die," Dante stated plainly as he absently looked away.

"….you're not lying."

"Glad of you to trust me, kid," Dante said, trying to make things seem less tense. Nero didn't interrupt him, not even to remark on the kid comment again. "I've been…how should I say this? Emo? Is that what you guys say these days when you're talking about someone who's depressed?"

"But you're half demon. I'm sure you can live out me by…oh, I dunno, five centuries more?" Nero put in some effort to cut away the sad news.

"Heh. I thought so too. But it's just my…my human side that's kicking the bucket."

"You'll be full demon, won't you?"

"Pretty much, kid."

"…just like how you were when we were fighting," Nero mumbled. Dante only nodded in return.

"At least you're not alone in this. I'm in the same damn boat, pal."

Dante raised a silver brow at the statement. "What are you-"

"My arm," Nero cut in, "It's been…growing. I haven't been able to stop the process. If it continues on like this, the only conclusion I can come to is-"

"-that you'll be a full demon as well."

"…yeah."

--

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