The sin of a father 1

The Fortuna orphanage located at the central heart of Fortuna Island, right in the continent of Europe. It was a lush small island inhabited by friendly natives who devoted themselves into religion. A decade and two years ago, Fortuna Island was turned upside down by a demonic invasion when multiple hell gates opened simultaneously through four unexpected different locations in the island. When all hope seemed to be lost in the bleakest despair, two dark knights with demonic blood flowing within their veins emerged from different shadows answered the helpless Fortuna citizens' prayers. Each knight carried two different nameless sword than another. They bared their demonic fangs on behalf of the helpless humans. With their combined strength, hordes of unholy armies fell onto each of their blade from their wicked rally and the demonic gates were destroyed once and for all. Once the heroic deed was done, the two dark knights in silver hair parted with each other: One later made his name as the notorious Legendary Devil Hunter Dante returned back to his hometown where demon hunting business was still flourishing with hard paid cash. The younger kind hearted Nero on the other hand, chose to stay to mend Fortuna Island inhabitants' wounds from the demonic invasion. He wedded with his true love Kyrie. The pair of husband and wife later became the main pillar of hope for the traumatic children of Fortuna who lost their parents from the demonic attack. They ensured the little ones' future with shelter, food and education, which the last was also supported by the next .45 Art Warks' bloodline gunsmith known as Nicoletta Goldstein.

Today was another beautiful day in Fortuna Island. White cotton clouds drifting lazily under the crystal clear blue sky and golden sunray. The revitalized greeneries became habitats for small winged creatures to sing their unintelligible, at the same time enjoyable songs. The air in Fortuna Orphanage was filled with warm pleasant scent coming from Kyrie's open air cooking.

"Line up, Kiddos! You gotta eat a lot to be strong like me!"

Nero's energetic voice, brimming with vitality coming from the orphanage's playing field.

"Here you go, eat plenty."

Next to him was Kyrie's gentle motherly voice. Sincerely grateful "Thank you Kyrie/Nero." Kept alternating from clean bathed children they took care of to dirty ragged adults. More people were drawn to the aroma began making a bee line with their own food tray. It was a weekend custom at Fortuna's Orphanage playing field to become an open aired community lunch full of old and young people as each bite of Kyrie's cooking turned their frown upside down.

"One large serving as usual."

A familiar southern accent came from a black man as he came into his turn.

Nero immediately recognized that man's voice.

"You gotta love today's menu, Morrison." Nero poured a large amount of steamy thick soup into Morrison's food tray. "Kyrie got her hands on many chickens today and the housewives did a good job in cooking today's food."

"Well ain't that a good surprise. I have been dying for chicken for these days."

"Then it's your lucky day. Eat up before it's getting cold. Anyone wants seconds or third, help yourself to this bucket!"

Finishing distributing the community meal, Nero and Kyrie joined together with Morrison on a table.

"Alright Morrison, what's on the wind?"

"Mmmm…" Morrison said with his mouth half full. "I got 3 kinds of news. Good, bad and just. Which one is it?"

"Whichever's fine by me."

"Like uncle like nephew, I see."

Nero chuckled. "Hey don't you start with the family kind of thing. This is still new to me."

"Hey that news knocked my socks off too alright? Who knows you are related by blood to Dante."

"Guess fortune's still got more surprises for me behind the curtain. So go ahead Morrison."

"Just news as the appetizer, then."

"Let it out old man!"

"Damn straight we are, kiddo! You better pull your ears hard and turn em into long and pointy cuz I finally caught up with your Old Man himself straight from my hot lead in Japan."

Nero's expression changed.

"Japan? You are kidding me!"

It had been a year since the Twin Sparda siblings found their way together out of hell once they severed Qlipoth roots from the human world. Vergil, accompanied with Dante one day knocked on Nero's door. Hair drooping down, there was no clear distinction between the twin if not from the color of their jacket. Nero could barely sense any vigor coming from the twin. They both completely looked dejected, yet their body seemed to be far from devastated according to Nero's standard. As if they both won a war. Deep inside however, the twin had lost a battle far more important than the war itself was what Nero could describe their long awaited family reunion.

"Son, I will make things up for you. Just so you wait."

That was another Vergil's parting words under his weak embrace.

Morrison procured a smartphone from his pocket. A tool of modern wonder to be held by such a person who was still preferred to converse through letters.

"Nice phone, Morrison. But ain't this thing too scientific for a caveman like you?"

"Oh Puh-lease, kid! Even this caveman can use this gadget if I spent an hour or two watching the video on the internet! Tch! They could have packed the whole instruction into a thick manual rather than gave me a thin strip of paper and labelled it as an instruction manual. Alright, 'nuff with the joke. Here."

A picture of 3 people appeared at Morrison's phone: 2 white haired males. Both showing signs of aging on their face engaged in a handshake. Only that the person on the left obviously seemed as an old man. The other one on the right, rather than Nero could describe as physically 'old', 'dignifiedly matured' would befitted into the person on the right.

Nero instantly recognized the dignified man on the right side.

"V?"

It was no doubt. That particular dark colored drooping hairstyle with that gothic fashion was none other than V, Vergil's alter ego of humanely fragile both emotional and physical. At the same time, cunningly wicked.

"Just V, not Vergil nor Papa?"

Even Nero himself also surprised from Vergil's alter ego name rather than the real one.

"Doesn't matter. What is he up to this time?"

"My hot source saying that it appears our poet has turned into a genius scientist specialized in the twenty first century Walking Weapons of Mass Destruction, globally known as Infinite Stratos. I.S, to be short."

"Jesus Christ, on a scale one to five with one, we are seeing another hellgate on the horizon and five with another Redgrave City, how worst it is?"

"Worst?"

"How can you make that face? After all things happened in Redgrave City because of my Old Man? I shouldn't have listened to Dante and come with my dad instead. Also, did you just say Walking Weapons of Mass Destruction?"

"Well, not really walking though. They are flying. But, before the first thing you dial from your phone is the ticketing agency, then you will realize you don't have any travelling pass so you come back at me to make you one since I am your middleman. Why don't you do yourself a favor and look at the picture again, before jumping into a conclusion?"

Kyrie's soft gentle voice soothed Nero.

"He's right, Dear. It seems to me that father does not up to no good like what you said. Rather, he looks triumphant and victorious in the picture. Oh my, is it Nico I am seeing behind Juuzou Kutsuwagi there?"

Between V and the elder man known as Juuzou Kutsuwagi, there was gunsmith Nicoletta Goldstein. Her sassy wild image Nero knew on her was long gone. In exchange, there stood a neatly dressed grinning female scientist in a lab coat with a tidily tied up ponytail. Eaach of her arms were outstretched widely to her sides and covering both the gentlemen in double V for 'Victory' pose.

"Nico?"

Nero staring at the picture in disbelief of her new look. Nicoletta Goldstein was the only person in this world who made Nero's demon killing prosthetic arm. After returning back from Redgrave City together, she had been completely obsessed in perfecting her so called 'lifework'. Noises made by cutting tools as they buzzed layers of different metals continously echoed day and night. The sounds only stopped whenever Kyrie or Nero brought food into Nicoletta Goldstein's workshop. But the way she spent her days inside her workshop was not like any ordinary humans do. Then, like a third rated scifi horror movie set on a stormy night, where a mad genius gave birth to a monster, Nicoletta Goldstein finally perfected her bionic arm with a triumphant manic laugh that set awoke all the Fortuna Orphanage residents.

Nicoletta Goldstein's current state in the picture jogged the memory of their last moment of from Nero's mind: Their celebration dinner on Nicoletta Goldstein's finishing work. The air in the dining room was pleasantly filled with Kyrie's cooking and her angelic presence graced their small celebration at the cold middle night. At the middle of their celebration, Nico suddenly conveyed her intention of leaving to Japan in pursuit of higher level of she called as 'artistic' achievement.

It was suppose to be a sarcasm between Nero himself and Nico like they usually throw on each other. Only that Nero failed to see the extent of her seriousness that night from her glare instead of her usual retort. She was gone in the next morning. Her workshop was totally scrapped clean. Blueprints, tools, all's gone without leaving a single trace of Nicoletta Goldstein's presence. Not even a single stub of leftover cigarettes inside her workshop.

Nicoletta Goldstein left her final set of brand new prosthetic hands of each type Nero used back in Redgrave City, a farewell letter and her so called 'perfect' lifework as a goodbye gift for the wedded couple. That is, another prosthetic arm in strange looking bony shape. That thing sadly ended up in Nero's armory as a trophy. He couldn't bring a single power out from that bony hand even doubting if this prosthetic arm even useful at daily life.

"Dear? Are you okay?"

Kyrie's gentle voice brought her husband back to the reality.

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah I am fine, sweetheart. Well Morrison, looks like Nico finally got to make to the top of the world eh? She just made me eat my words from the picture. But what's she doing with V…my dad in the picture? Also, who's this Juuzou guy? How did you know him, Dear?"

"Nero, Juuzou Kutsuwagi is the headmaster of Infinite Stratos Academy. It is the one and only prestigious semi-militaristic education institution in the world where students are prepared to pilot robotic exoskeleton suit known as Infinite Stratos."

Morrison whistled in delight of Kyrie's knowledge.

"Your wife got as much brain as her angelic look, Kiddo. While you can get to know Juuzou Kutsuwagi more from your wife, I'm gonna tell you what our friends doing in Japan. But first, let me tell you that long before I became you and your uncle's middleman in demon hunting, I was your kind of Man In Black if you get my gist."

Nero chuckled.

"What? Something like someone who's protecting the earth with laser guns and memory erasing pen?"

"Something like that. Only long before we got to know each other and I was still acquainted with young Tony Redgrave…"

The mention of Dante's younger alter ego immediately put off Nero's humor. He sat straight, listening attentively.

"…and a Glock ready on my chest underneath my coat. Hell, I wasn't even black like a walking Morgan Freeman today but I messed up at a point of my life that forced me into skin surgeries to lie down. You see kid, I have been a middleman for the government who are looking for young scoundrels to do dirty work in exchange for a ton of easy dirty cash."

"Have been? You mean until right now?"

"Exactly. Now I want you to hold your tongue. Back then , soldier of fortune occupied your current line of work. Amongst of all mercs, Tony Redgrave worked for me once. Not entirely for me to be exact. We were so icy cold then. He did it for a Good Samaritan purpose. I contracted him to do a little errand far east right where our V and Nico are right now. The guy who made the contract for Tony is one of my friends abroad by the name of Sarashiki. You better get that name right on your head, capische?"

Nero slowly nodded.

"Sarashiki? You don't mean that infamous Sarashiki whose twin daughters also studying at I.S Academy, do you Morrison?" Kyrie worriedly asked.

"I see what's in your mind and I wish I could also say it's a coincidence that their name aligned but I'm sorry Kyrie. Your Sarashiki and mine are both the same person."

"Why did a person like him asked Dante do in the past? As far as I've known, he is a good person from the news."

"Dear, please let Morrison finish."

"It's fine Nero. I was already expected that. Believe me Kyrie, even a good man like Sarashiki isn't the man he appears to be when it comes to my grim world's business. Hell, I bet the first thing your hubbie'd do is to put bullets between his eyes if I put them together. And sometimes, a good man like Sarashiki needs an expendable to do his dirty biddings. Like I said before, a guy who is short sighted, youngly foolish with nimble fingers on the triggers and lil' Tony checked every boxes of Sarashiki's criteria. The job for Tony is to keep an eye for Sarashiki's shipment and making sure everything's in order then get out. Easy cash, simple job, low to none risk at all considering Sarashiki's influence chickened all his enemies then and now."

Morrison sighed.

"But from what I knew, young Tony Redgrave couldn't keep himself away from trouble. He screwed up right after the job. Had his cash still wired though. The arranged transport back however, Sarashiki was totally not in a mood to smuggle a person with so much heat on his trail. How Tony got back to Redgrave City in one piece, God knows. You should ask Dante himself."

"Okay, so what's with this Sarashiki guy you want me to take note of? Wait a minute…If Dante, Tony pissed Sarashiki off and my dad is also share his little brother's face, then that means…"

"No, no, no. I assure you Kid, while young Tony Redgrave pissed a lot of mobs, there is no hatchet between Sarashiki and himself. Only a matter of contract violation. At the end of the day, Sarashiki told me he liked Tony a bit but admitted that the boy needs to be collared, which IS and impossible thing to do."

Nero breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"And today, Sarashiki has become a kind of watcher for the new players in I.S industry. It's kind of weapon racing industry, kiddo. Politics, cloaks and daggers, those kind of stuffs you definitely find distasteful. You see, when a nobody like Vergil without any background but managed to create an I.S-like level of thing, I kid you not. God knows how he did it but V instantly raised alarm for every major players in that field, including the bad guys. V's sudden appearance almost causing hell broke loose especially for Sarashiki. Oh, he totally lost his cool. Imagine the same idiot who's only got knacks for brawn and fast on the triggers suddenly managed to create something that only military Phd-s can engineer twenty years later. You won't believe how awkward that the Tony Redgrave today isn't the same person Sarashiki knew. At the end of the day, I convinced Sarashiki to take him under his wing and all ends well just like in the picture."

Morrison paused to catch a break. The long talk made his mouth dry so Kyrie served him a cool glass of water.

"He's a man of focus, Morrison. My dad can achieve everything once he set his mind into something. I knew it when we crossed our blades, don't ask me how but it's just the way we are. What about Nico, then?"

"As for Nico, she has a better start than your father. At an open scientific fair where everyone can show their product for a shot in I.S Academy's R&D, Juuzou Kutsuwagi immediately had his old eyes on products and headhunted into I.S Academy's R&D, just like what she wants."

"I see." Nero lowered his head. "That's good to know."

The three of them sat in silence. Meanwhile, the sky had turned orange. Birds cawing from the distance signaling the day soon approaching an end. Morrison casted a long look to the orphanage's playing field where those orphans were having their good time.

"Big Bro Nero! Are you going to show us your cool-cool trick again?"

"Yeah! Show us how you fly on that rocket arm again!"

"Or come to play with us!"
"Pleaaaaasee?"

Kyrie stood up and went for the children.

"You stay with Morrison. I'll go play with the kids. Alright children, who wants to play hide and seek?"

Nero waved his hand and asserting Kyrie with those orphans.

"Look at those kids, Morrison. A beautiful sight, don't you agree?"

"You bet, just by looking at their innocent smiles makes me to forgot this cold cruel world we are living at. Truth be told, I once had a smile like them too. Somehow lost it as I climb the ladder of age."

"Maybe I will too."

"Maybe you won't. You are doing the good thing by becoming their pillar of hope and with such an angelic wife like yours, there's no way in hell you will lose your innocence, Kiddo."

"Aww, you are making me blush, Morrison."

"But I am going to doubt that the two of you can last to see the day when those kids are going to leave their nest with the current situation of your orphanage."

Nero drew a long desperate breath of acknowledgement.

"I know what you are talking about and even I hate to admit it myself but I know what Dante's office looks like if I lump my orphanage with his. With our current financial situation, we can still barely make it through this month and the next two months if I manage to pawn all of my weapons and cut down my own food intake."

"Including Nico's arms?"

"Every single one of them." Nero sadly said. "It breaks my heart to see my weapons are getting cold and dusty in the dark. But I know someday I'll be kissing them goodbye. Look at those kids right now! I don't want to risk a day when they accidentally discharge my guns or burn themselves from revving my iron sword or worst, blow themselves up from Nico's arms!"

"You just made the most admirable choice ever known beside marrying Kyrie, Nero. I really admire your mature decision for that, you are a real man now."

"All I ask, for one more gig Morrison. Just one last gig and I can let them all go. Please, let that be the good news."

Morrison remained quiet. He took out a Cuban cigar and lit it up. Then, he took two puffs of the exotic tobacco and held the cigar by his mouth.

"If that's what you want to hear, then I can stuff the wool into your ears to make you feel better. For all's worth, I am sorry Kid. But Redgrave City is your one and only debut as a legitimate Devil Hunter."

"…"

"Nero, are you crying?"

"Crying? No. I am not. I am not…crying. Devils Never Cry."

"Don't you think you are throwing the towel too soon? You saved Fortuna and Redgrave City, been through the worst in those places as far as I've known. Hell, not even Dante gonna be bitchin like you are right now."

"Look! Dante won't bitch cuz he has nobody's future in his hands! I am not like Dante, I got these kids' lives in my hand as well as my wife's!"

Nero clenched both fist, then weakly opened it again.

"Looking back all the way I came from until today, I used to think that with power, I can protect everyone. Then I realized, that these power of mine are only for sheer brutality. Without any more demon hunting jobs, they are completely useless!"

Nero drew a long breath.

"I am looking at a dead end wall, Morrison. Guess it's how my life will be. Thanks for telling me sooner about this news."

"Like I said, Kid. You are abandoning hope too soon. I even haven't told you about the good news yet and look at you! Why such the long face? Chin up!"

"Why does that matter now? I can't see the future anymore."

"That cuz you are looking down at the ground so quit your whining and listen up!"

Morrison told Nero sternly.

"Damn right you are out of business in demon hunting but it's still million years for you to throw the towel! If you think that your strength is only for fighting demons, then you better open your small mind cuz what will come out from my mouth will get you onto your feet in no time! God strikes me dead if I provide you with false hope!"

"Alright, alright! I am all ears!"

"Damn right you better be! Here!"

Morrison shoved a piece of brochure onto Nero's chest. Nero looked at that paper with a quizzical look.

"Rocky Balboa's GYM, what are you trying to tell me here?"

"Flip over the next page."

"Recruiting for fighters, come to the written address for a fighter screening to participate in the first international open gender fighting tournament that will be hold in Tokyo, Japan and win a total of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…Jesus! Those are nine straight zeroes after a number five I am seeing right there!"

"Exactly! The best part, see where the tourney will be placed? Japan."

"I can meet with my father and Nico again."

"Bingo!"

Nero smiled. He clenched the brochure tightly as if it was his only golden ticket of second wind.

"But there's a catch. Since you are not human yourself…"

"Yeah I know what you are saying. I'm gonna purely rely on my muscle alone. With the restriction of my guns, sword, and Devil Breaker, might as well include Devil Trigger into our rules."

"Then we are all set. Now let's get moving! We are gonna pay a visit to Ol' Rocky Balboa. You need someone to endorse you but you are still gotta beat up some punks to the top!"

"Fine by me!"

This is the revised version. I apologize for the poor first upload. Thanks for Kerlongst Evert Orlejov for helping me pointing out the poor upload.

Cheers.