Down an unassuming cobblestone street, there exists a two-story service shop with its name written in bright red neon letters on the front; Devil May Cry. This shop is not like any seen elsewhere in the city. This is a business that deals in the supernatural, the things that go bump in the night. It is the home of a legendary devil hunter and half-demon son of a legendary dark knight Sparda. He is a hunter so feared by demons, so loathed by the lords of Hell, that the very mention of his name will cause lesser beings to tremble in absolute terror. That name is Dante.
Devil May Cry Shop:
The evening sun was setting on the horizon, bathing the streets in a comforting orange light. These rays did not reach the Devil May Cry shop, however, which was a problem because the owner needed to pay the electricity bill. Not that it mattered all that much, the owner wasn't even in the human world at the moment. The person who was there was an old black man with a full beard of silver hair, dressed in a black suit and hat. He stood outside the front door smoking a cigar and checking his watch.
"They're late," he muttered under his breath. As if on cue the sound of a car engine echoed down the alleyway. This sound was followed by the appearance of a blue and white van with Devil May Cry written on the side in blue neon. The van sped up to the shop before stopping on a dime just inches away from the front steps. Stepping out of the passenger seat was a young man in his early twenties wearing a long navy blue coat with a red undershirt. This young man also had short white shaggy hair.
"Is it so difficult for you to not drive like a maniac Nico?" he asked the driver. It was then that the driver's side window rolled down to reveal a tanned young woman wearing a pair of red-framed glasses, her wavy black hair held back by a striped headband.
"Hey, I got us here didn't I?" the woman named Nico said, as she lit a cigarette, "So quit your bitchin'."
"Nero, Nico, glad to see ya," the man in the hat stated.
"Nice to see you too Morrison, so where's my paycheck?" the white-haired man questioned.
"Got it right here," Morrison replied as he produced an envelope from his pocket. Nero took it and opened it. Inside was the paycheck he was seeking. He did not look happy with it though. Morrison turned to go back inside with Nero following close behind.
"Is this some kind of joke Morrison?" Nero accused, "The client said he'd pay me more than this."
"Need I remind you that your deadbeat uncle still owes me money, and since he ain't here, you're gonna have to pick up the slack."
"Oh come on how is that remotely fair?"
"It may not be fair kid, but that's business. Nothin' any of us can do to change it." Nero wanted to push the issue, but he knew it was useless trying to argue with Morrison about anything business-related. The uncle Morrison mentioned was the owner of Devil May Cry, the devil hunter Dante. The two had first met a few years ago during an incident in Nero's hometown of Fortuna City. To make a long story short, Nero was part of an order of devil hunters known as the Order of the Sword, who belonged to a church that worshipped Dante's demon father. The leader of that church kidnapped Nero's girlfriend Kyrie to power a giant statue demon and Nero and Dante put a stop to it. The two didn't meet again until another demon infestation broke out in Red Grave City. It was during this incident that Nero learned that Dante was his uncle and that his father was Dante's twin brother, Virgil. Virgil was also the one behind the outbreak stemming from a giant demon tree called the Qliphoth. Nero eventually confronted his father at the top of the tree and bested him in single combat. After the fight ended, the twins decided to journey into Hell to sever the Qliphoth's roots. That was a year ago now, and the brothers haven't been seen since. Morrison had taken over the shop in Dante's absence, a state of affairs that Nero found less than ideal.
"Do we at least have enough money to pay the electric bill?" Nero asked as he walked inside, "I'm getting tired of playing pool in the dark." He practically collapsed onto a nearby couch.
"You're in luck. The payout from this job should just about cover utilities for this month."
"Oh thank god. By the way, where are Trish and Lady?"
"Just sent them out on another job this afternoon."
"Think you can give us a break man? You've been working us like dogs."
"Like I said before, your uncle's debt ain't gonna clear itself. So like it or not you and them crazy bitches are gonna keep killin' demons until it is. Catch my drift kid?" Nero's only response was a loud groan. He slumped back in his seat, too tired to argue. He wondered how he'd be able to afford dinner that night with his measly paycheck, let alone rent for the next month. He thought about trying to erase the debt by shooting Morrison but realized hiding the body from the cops was more trouble than it was worth. Besides, the old man was just the middleman. But maybe if he found the original debt collectors…
"WHAT THE HELL!" Nico suddenly shouted. Nero shot up and scanned the room right above the pool table was what looked like a cross-shaped scar in the world. The scar then expanded into a pitch-black portal with an eerie purple glow. The young devil hunter reached for the sword on his back, readying himself to pounce on whatever crawled out of the portal. He expected some kind of demon to appear, but what actually showed up left him speechless. Two middle-aged men with white hair and pale blue eyes stepped out, both leaning on each other's shoulders. One had messy shoulder-length hair and was dressed in a long red coat. The other had shorter hair that was slicked back out of his face and wore a black coat with a cyan trim. They both looked ragged and beaten, and they clearly hadn't shaved in a while. The man in the red coat was the first to speak.
"Honey I'm home!" He said.
"Dante…" Nero stammered. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, this had to be some kind of trick right? Except, no it wasn't. There was no denying it, Dante and Virgil had somehow returned to the human world.
"Think you can clear a spot on the couch?" Dante requested, "I can barely feel my legs." Nero did as he was told, and his father and uncle fell onto the couch like a ton of bricks.
"How did you two-" Nero started.
"Let me just stop you right there," Interrupted Dante. "I know you must have a million questions, but we are entirely too tired to answer them right now. Just give us like an hour to rest and get something to eat, then I promise I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
"I have no objections to that plan," agreed Virgil. Nero reluctantly backed down. Dante was right, he did have a million questions for both of them, but considering that they've both literally been through hell, he figured the least he could do was let them rest for a bit.
"Oh, I'll order a pizza!" Nico said as she picked up her phone.
"No olives, please!" Dante shouted.
The pizza arrived sometime later, enough time for the two other devil hunters employed at Devil May Cry to return from their mission. One was a blonde, middle-aged woman named Trish dressed in a black leather tube top and matching leather pants. The other was a younger woman named Lady. She had short black hair, a noticeable scar across the bridge of her nose, and heterochromatic eyes. Her attire consisted of a short-sleeved white leather jacket and black leather chaps over bla. The two women were as shocked as everyone else when they saw that Dante and Virgil were back, but they agreed to leave them both alone until after dinner. Once the meal was done, the brothers were looking more lively. Dante took a seat at his desk, put his feet up, and said "Alright, ask away".
"First things first," Nero began, "If you guys are back, does that mean that the Qliphoth roots are taken care of?"
"You'll be happy to know that Hell has been completely weeded," answered Dante. "We won't have to worry about any more demon tree shenanigans for now."
"That's a relief," Nero continued. "Second question, how did you two make it back?"
"You can thank your dear old dad for that one. He sensed that the barrier between our worlds was thinning out and brought us back here with the Yamato." The Yamato was the sword that Virgil carried. A white-hilted katana sharp enough to cut through dimensions.
"Wait the barrier is thinning?" Trish interrupted, "Don't you think that's a bit of a problem?"
Dante shrugged his shoulders, "Probably. But that's a problem for future Dante to worry about."
Trish pinched the bridge of her nose, "Unbelievable. You are such a manchild sometimes."
"Changing the subject," Lady said, "If you're back does that mean that you'll be running the shop again?"
"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me," Dante gestured toward Morrison, "Can I have the deed back old pal of mine?"
"I should've figured this wouldn't last," lamented Morrison after taking a puff of his cigar. He walked over and handed a slip of paper to the senior devil hunter. "Just be sure to keep up on your payments."
"I will certainly try"
"I've got one last question," said Nero. "Virgil… are you-" He turned to where Virgil was supposed to be sitting only to find no one there. He then turned his gaze to the front door and saw it slam shut. "Oh no you fucking don't. You are not walking out on me again!" He burst through the door to the outside and sure enough, there was Virgil, standing in the middle of the road holding an unsheathed Yamato. "DAD!"
Virgil just barely turned his head to face his estranged son, "What do you want?"
"What do you mean 'what do I want'? I want you to explain to me what happened with you and Mom. I want to know why you left. I want to know why you never even bothered to send me a fucking Christmas card!"
Virgil turned his head away, "Ask your mother. I'm not equipped to answer such questions."
"My mother's been dead for years you asshole!"
"My condolences then," Virgil lifted his sword above his head and brought it down in a vertical slash. He followed it up with a horizontal slash, creating a cross-shaped scar that expanded into a portal identical to the one he opened earlier. "For what it's worth I'm sorry. But there's some unfinished business I have to take care of back in the demon world."
"What about the unfinished business standing right behind you?"
"You've survived this long without me, you'll be fine" Virgil took a step into the portal.
"Virgil!" a voice shouted from behind the pair. They both turned to see Dante standing in the doorway. "I hope you realize that if you leave now you can't come back right?" Virgil didn't say anything and just let the portal close behind him. Nero tried to grab his father but was a split second too late and fell to the ground.
For a moment everything was calm and silent, but when that moment past Nero began to scream. He shouted and cursed into the air while pounding the cobblestone street. The one chance he had to reconnect with his father, gone. The only family he had left, gone. The one person who he could ask about his mother, gone. He was beyond angry, beyond hurt. He wanted to cry but no matter how much his eyes burned no tears would come. He could feel his voice getting hoarser and hoarser but he just couldn't stop screaming. The only other thing he could feel was the cobblestones shattering beneath his bloody fists. This scene brought everyone else outside. Lady tried to approach Nero but was stopped by Dante. The group just watched this unfold until the screams transitioned into silent cries. Dante was the first to approach him.
"Nero…" he spoke in a soft tone, softer than Nero even thought he was capable of.
"What do you want Dante?" Nero stood up to face his uncle, who without saying a word pulled him into a hug. He just stood there in stunned silence unable to get any words out.
"Your father's a douchebag. Trust me when I say that nobody knows that better than I do. But he's not the only family you have left. I'm still here, and now that I'm back I'm not going anywhere."
"Dante… I…"
"Now stop acting tough kid. I know that devils never cry, but humans do. And that's just fine in my book." It was then that the tears finally came to Nero. He cried as hard as he could into his uncle's shoulder as he was led back inside.
Kuoh Town- Park
Red, that's all he could see. The red of the setting sun, the red of the fallen leaves, and the red of the blood oozing out of his chest wound. This shade of dark red, it was the same color as her hair. That girl with crimson locks, deep blue eyes, and an ample bosom. He couldn't believe he was going to die without even touching a pair like them. At first, he thought it was stupid to be thinking about girls at a time like this, but he figured if he was gonna die anyway he might as well die with something pleasant on his mind. The thought of the soft warm embrace of a woman was the perfect thing to comfort him as he lay dying on the cold hard ground.
Just as the last ember of life within him was about to go out, something flew out of his pocket. He looked to see the flyer he was given earlier that day floating just above his body. He wanted to reach out and grab it but his arm wouldn't listen. The sky then went completely dark and an eerie red glow filled the area. Rising from the ground was a girl dressed in his school's uniform. Even in his blurred vision, he'd recognize those crimson locks anywhere, it really was her.
"Not today," she said, "I will not let you die."
Author's note:
So… yeah… I know it's been a while. In my defense, there's been some stuff happening in my life for the past few years, but I'm back and I'm gonna try getting back into the swing of things. The rewrites are done and the next chapter is in production. Now let the reviews flow forth.