Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven…" 

John Milton, Paradise Lost

-

They had grabbed the wrong kid. 

He certainly sounded like Nero, and they were roughly the same age too, but Nero was standing right next to Vergil. If the kid was there, then who had they just accidentally kidnapped? 

Dante ran his hand through half frozen and still wet hair. The obvious demonic blood in this kid aside, he was shivering. Hybrids hardly ever got sick, and he himself could withstand extreme temperatures, so none of the assembled group had any idea what to do. If it hadn't been so sad, the fact that the oldest of them had the least experience in caring for others would have been quite funny. As it was Dante could beg all he wanted he wouldn't get help from either of the two. 

Letting out a sigh he tried to recount what had happened. 

He and Vergil had been sparring and a fluke caused the Yamato and the Dante to open a rift through time and space into some really weird and creepy government lab. Dante had gotten the shivers from just being there and Vergil had gone stock still, ready to cut down anything that dared to rear its ugly head. 

There were humans. Dante swore to never kill one, but his brother had no reservations of that kind, nor did he have the patience to even try and be nice. In his defense, they had shot first and used bullets that actually stung quite a bit. Too bad for them that his brother was capable of moving at the speed of light, and that Dante himself still remembered how to pull off Quicksilver and combo it with Royal Guard. 

They had found a kid put on ice down there that looked just like them. White hair, pale skin, maybe another baby brother? Or cousin? The occasional bolt of stray demonic energy was a dead giveaway that this was another descendant of Sparda. The guy was family, and they did what any good family would do and bust him out. Baby's first jailbreak and he was sleeping right through it like an absolute professional slacker. Dante was almost impressed. 

Sirens had gone off, blood had been spilled. The usual. Some weird guy in a suit had started to yap about how it was God's will this and that, and blah blah blah. He's heard that one often enough and it never worked. Prayers don't work on demons, much less devils like them. They were made of proper magic, thank you very much. Dante had tried to mess with the man but Vergil had grabbed him before he could get the show going properly. The last they saw was a piece of the ceiling heading right for Mr suit's face. 

However, this left them with more questions than answers, especially since the kid on Dante's couch might as well have been a Nero 2.0 if they had heard the mumbled nonsense right. 

"He's waking up!" 

The twins were startled into action as their kidnapee struggled to open his eyes. 

"Vergil? S'that you?" he slurred and tried to reach for the blue coat that had quickly moved out of reach. 

Foggy ice-crusted eyes frantically moved around to find that familiar dot of cyan again. Dante had to adjust his grip on the teen or else risk him falling on his face. Yep. He sure sounded like their kid, but the spitfire was absent. Dante hoped that he would get some spark back once he had finished thawing out. 

"Easy." he said as gently as he could, "You're okay. I've got you. Everything's going to be okay now." 

"Dad…?" 

Dante would never forget the confused and meek voice calling out to him. Nero and Vergil flinched as well. 

"Uh, no." he fumbled for words, "it's a long story, kid. Just wake up and we'll talk about it." 

He sent a panicked glare towards his brother and nephew and for once the baby-Spardas decided to act as a proper unit. Vergil made his way to Dante's bathroom to grab whatever towels he could find. Meanwhile, Nero rushed upstairs to grab something warm to wear for their newest family member. He would eventually return with one of Dante's older coats, a pair of jeans, and a black turtleneck that he hadn't seen in years. 

That left Dante with his prize. He guessed the other to be around eighteen, maybe nineteen. He was a bit more of a noodle than Dante had been at that age, but the resemblance was there. It was like he was looking at one of these funhouse mirrors, and then the mirror looked back at him as blue eyes opened. 

"Hey there sleeping beauty. Good morning." he teased. 

It was his own eyes looking back at him. They only needed to exchange one small moment, a mere glance, for him to know what was going on. Dante times two. Parallel universes. He's been through some before, but had never taken souvenirs back with him. 

"You're… mom told me stories, but I never thought–!"

Dante sighed and hugged the younger boy tight, "I'm not your father. It's a lot more complicated than that, actually. See, we have this time-space cutting magic sword, and we ended up crashing into your world. When we saw you there we thought we'd bust you out and take you home with us."

Did he imagine it or had his double looked disappointed for a moment? 

"I'm this world's Dante. You're my counterpart, yes? My variant?" 

He felt the popsicle nod more than he saw it happen. The poor thing really had seen better days. He knew he did not scar himself, so seeing the faintest traces of scar tissue on his young double's neck rubbed him the wrong way. If that had been Nero then the ones responsible would have regretted ever touching his family. There were worse things he could do than kill them. 

"Kid, say hi to the other kid." Dante helped their new arrival to sit up and meet Nero. 

In turn, the nephew waved at them both with what he hoped was a friendly smile. 

"Yo. Enjoy the peace while it lasts." 

"Wha?" 

Nero leaned down to stage whisper, "You're stuck with us now, and we're a pretty weird bunch." 

With each moment that passed, their stray gained more color to his cheeks. Each bit of ice that fell off – or was rubbed off once Vergil brought those towels – made the teen seem a little bit more alive. Soon enough he was agile and awake enough to put on the clothes that Nero had managed to find. They all pretended not to notice how he huddled himself into the red coat as if it were his lifeline. 

One Dante looked at the other, "You're so… old. Why are you an old man?"

Behind them, Nero was trying and failing to stifle his laughter. He gave their newest addition a quick thumbs up before he made a tactical retreat behind Dante's desk.

"I'm not old! I'm only 38. That's not old at all, you brat."

"Pot, kettle." 

"Yes, thanks for that Verge." 

He got clubbed over the head with a sheathed Yamato for that. The grin on his younger counterpart's face made it worth it. 

"Were you doing anything important there?" Nero asked as they both watched the twins push each other around.

"Nah. Don't really have much to return to either, to be honest. No family, no home, no human rights… " 

"Damn, that's rough buddy." 

A somewhat noncommittal hum was his answer. Nero forced himself to look away when their newest family member pulled his legs up to hug himself. He looked much like the orphans he and Kyrie were fostering, and that bit gave him an idea. 

"Hey, you called Dante – our Dante – 'dad' just now. Think you can do so again in public without making it awkward?" 

"Uh, I guess so? As long as I get to sleep on your couch when he throws me out later." 

"He won't. Would you do that to him?" Nero crossed his arms and looked pleased when the other Dante struggled for words, "thought so." 

"Fine, fine. I'm in, but you've got to tell me what we're up to. I want to know what I did so that I can deny everything later." 

Nero, puffing out his chest in an attempt to show authority, pulled the other Dante to his feet. His legs seemed to be a bit wobbly, and he was still shivering too, but he stood. He would be able to walk. Maybe the warm summer sun outside would do him some good as well. Fortuna was a delight to visit this time of the year. 

"C'mon, let's get your paperwork sorted while they are still distracted. You're staying here, cousin." 

One world's trash was another world's treasure. 

"Hey!" Dante yelled at the two juniors before they could sneak out of the building, "You need my signature for this? I'm sure Vergil will be pissed if I leave him here to clear out the spare room all alone." 

"Careful, brother. A child is a big responsibility." 

"You of all people saying that makes it hilarious." Dante grabbed his coat and wallet, then went after the junior department. 

Oh yes. He'd keep that one. The other world would be fine… probably, and if not then that was their problem, not his. 

Chapter Text

He was watching his brother and… other brother closely whenever he had the chance to. It had been a week now since their unintended mishap, and while he was still irked that it had been his sword that led them into this mess, he could not deny that he liked the results. Dante was busy with his double. A busy Dante meant a distracted Dante. A distracted Dante meant a happy Vergil, who could finally finish his new book in peace. 

It was rare to find their new addition without his older counterpart, but it was not unheard of or unseen. Every now and then his brother needed to get out of the house and run wild. As long as he came back, that was fine. Until then Vergil would try and see if he could get used to being 'uncle Vergil'. 

As it was, the teenager had decided to exile himself into Dante's bedroom after a disastrous meeting with the two harpies that came and went as they pleased. Trish had been an interesting experience to observe. It seemed that he instinctively knew that this was not his mother, and then had readily accepted her for what she was. A universal constant, it seemed. It had been Lady who threw the literal juvenile into what could almost be madness. Her presence alone caused a partial transformation to occur, and it had taken both Dante and himself to pull him out of it. 

He of all people could see the darkness born from nightmares creeping in. He's been there, done that, and lived with all the baggage to tell the story. He knew the haunted look as it was his own. He had yet to fully shake the chains Mundus put on him from his psyche, so it irked him to see another struggle with them. The fact that this other had his brother's face – and by extension his own – made it worse. The other Lady had done something to this Dante that was unforgivable, and it burned to not know what. Vergil wanted to understand, for the forewarned is the forearmed.

"It's fine. Don't worry 'bout it." 

His eyes zeroed in on the young mirage sitting on his brother's bed. Vergil had wondered what their lives would have been like had their positions been switched, but this was the first time he considered alternate paths. He promptly decided he hated the multiverse as it was such an utter headache to deal with. 

"It is not. Do not make my mistakes, child. Talk to Dante and settle this before it festers and rots you from the inside out." 

He flinched, then scrunched up his nose in disgust as the image settled into his head. Good. Vergil hoped that had been enough to at least make him think. Dante – no matter which world he came from – had a head, so he might as well use it from time to time. 

"Can't do. Sorry." 

That required a frustrated sigh. Things would never be that simple. 

"Hey, uh, Vergil? I know you aren't my Vergil, but I'm supposed to be acting as your nephew and was kinda hoping to, maybe, if you're open to this kind of thing…" 

"Speak. My days of biting heads off are well and truly over." 

"Okay then. I was wondering if I could just talk to you. I like Dante, but he's friends with her, and I dunno. I'm glad you two got me out of there and don't want to ruin things." 

That got his mind working at full speed. So, it was the presence of the lady Mary Arkham that was bothering him. It confirmed suspicions that had been brewing in his head for a while. It also raised more red flags than he wanted to count.  

"Very well. I take it this will be a confidential conversation?" 

Dante took his time to start, but once he got going he was unstoppable, "In my world that woman is kind of the reason I got into this whole situation. See, one day I'm just doing whatever, and then suddenly she's breaking into my home with a full squad of mercs on her side, taking mom's pendant from me without any explanation at all! Then I'm taken into custody, cuffed, and for the entire trip I have to hear her go on and on about how much of an evil waste of space I am just because dad wasn't human – what I didn't even know back then! I do my best to help people, save people, be good like mom wanted me to be, only to be told I'll never be good no matter how hard I try. That there's always going to be some stain on my immortal soul or something like that… Damn she's pretty but such a bore! You should have seen that stick up her ass." 

He folded his hands and nodded, "are you finished or do you still wish to rant?" 

"Nah, I'm better now, thanks." 

Vergil looked at the other Dante and shook his head, quoting "All is not lost, the unconquerable will, and study of revenge, immortal hate, and the courage never to submit or yield." 

"Is that supposed to mean something?" the mini Dante asked while he scratched his ear. 

A sour face later, and Vergil was groaning. Nobody in this family of his appreciated the written word. It was such a tragedy that he needed to spell out everything for these gun-toting barbarians. 

Later that night, when the rest of the family was busy watching a movie that Nero had brought with him, Vergil took the Yamato and went on a little reconnaissance mission. 

He needed to know what happened. He needed to set things right, and do what nobody had done for himself. 

If he rewrote their fate, perhaps he could play pretend and fool himself into believing their joy was his own. If there was one thing that Dante had taught him, it was that hope could not be abandoned. 

"Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light." Vergil whispered to himself as he stepped through the portal, and back to that forsaken world. 

It was looking… not as bad as he had anticipated. The scenes of mass murder and chaos were absent. The human half of this universe seemed to be intact and quite well. The demon side however was screaming bloody murder and his senses urged him to return home, defend home, protect your kin. When none of this should have made sense. He had no kin in this world. His ties were to his own, not this broken mirror. 

Vergil moved on. Finding the root of his ire was too easy. She wasn't even trying to hide. While useful, the armor she wore was a bigger target on her back than that silly red coat both Dantes loved so much. From what he had seen so far, Mary could keep up with a confused baby hybrid. Meanwhile, Vergil was playing in an entirely different league. 

He readied Yamato, crouched, coiled tight, and waited for the right moment to strike. He would get his answers one way or another. If he had to draw blood and scare a few years off of her lifespan then so be it. Nobody messed with his family. 

A familiar katana blocked his patch. He could see his own eyes reflected in the demonic metal.

"So I was right. You are alive as well." 

His variant nodded and lowered his sword. Unlike Dante, they knew they could talk this out in a civilized manner. 

The other started, "You freed my little brother." 

"Accidentally, but I see no reason to regret it just yet. They are quite attached to each other now." 

His double almost smiled. Then he huffed out his own frustrations, "that makes things easier. I thank you for removing him from the equation. I… do not wish for Dante to be caught up in this war. I fear it might destroy him." 

"If he is anything like mine, and I fully believe so, then you should not worry too much. Dante is stronger than I gave him credit for. Your own might surprise you, if you give him the chance." 

The other Vergil placed his hand on the blue stone embedded into his cravat. Below it a glimmer of red twinkled at them. Then his variant adjusted the fabric and hid the separated halves from sight again. 

"I have things to finish. Mundus is playing the humans like fiddles, but he has no idea what is happening right below his nose. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." 

"Oh?" the elder regarded his counterpart with a curious nod, "pray tell? I am more than willing to lend you my experience." 

A wave of his hand nipped that idea in the bud, "You know little of my world, and besides you are more useful to me elsewhere. Even meeting you is a risk, although one I gladly accept. It is… refreshing to be talking to, well, family I suppose?" 

He knew the hidden message in those words. Vergil scoffed, but let a rare genuine smile shine through. It eased his counterpart's stiff posture as well. The air became a little lighter around them. 

"Your brother is safe with us, that I swear, but I extend the invitation to you as well. Come with me. Let this world fall to its own hubris." 

For a moment the other Vergil looked like he wanted to accept. He had his hand up to his chest and the other gripping Yamato tightly, but then he shook his head. There was steel in his eyes, and fire in his voice. 

"I have a mission to complete. Mother's death shall not be for nothing, and Mundus will fall. I am a son of Sparda. He should have expected this when he decided to take me under his wing." 

He knew he wouldn't be able to turn his double around. Vergil was the only one in the world who could hope to understand how stubborn  he himself could be at times. This one had a plan, but so did he.

"Very well. Under one condition: if anything happens and you even so much as falter in your steps, you are to reach out to me. You are not alone in this." Not like I forced myself to be. 

The other considered it. It was obvious that he was confident in his abilities, but at least the option was there. He knew himself well enough to know that if push came to shove, he would use all that was available to his advantage. Anything to avenge their family and restore their honor. 

Before he could make his return trip, the other Vergil pulled out a small device. Nero would know what to do with it later, so he accepted it without hesitation. 

"I wish you well on your mission." 

"Thank you. I will follow as soon as I have finished this here. It will end, I promise." 

"I expect nothing less of the son of the traitor." he proudly grinned at his younger counterpart, then went home. 

When he found his family on the sofa they were all fast asleep. Nero had ended up with his head on Dante's shoulder, and the youngest of the pile used both of their thighs as his pillow. An adorable disgrace that he would forgive just this once because he knew peace was a rare treasure in their household. 

He was about to retire for the night himself when the other Dante cracked an eye open. 

"It's just me." 

He didn't deserve the trust both of them had placed into his hands, but he would do his best to honor the other Vergil's wish. After all of this, uncle Vergil did not sound that bad at all anymore. 

He could not await the day his Dante would have to take care of a pair of twins. If they were anything like them, then he didn't envy his brother at all.  

Chapter Text

Nero was hard at work. He cursed up a storm in his head that only grew more vitriolic with each line of text he was reading. This had to be a joke. All of it had to be. 

It has always been a choice. 

When he lost his arm he had never bothered to think of himself as a victim. He moved on, and made the choice to keep fighting no matter what, just as he had made the choice to reject the darkness in his heart. He was part demon, yes, but that was his blood. Nero – just as his uncles, cousin, and Trish – was more than the sum of his parts. What mattered were actions, not words. Their decisions defined them. 

Nobody is born good or evil. No outside force or circumstances could put someone into either category. Human, demon, devil, or saint: it didn't matter. People decided their own fates. Destiny could suck it up because free will was an amazing thing. 

Both sides of that other world operated in extremes. They were so far gone off the deep end that weren't morally gray anymore. It was just depressing to read the field reports that his father had stealthily put into his coat. Vergil must have snuck off to the other world again, although why the man would do that eluded him. His uncle, he could understand, but Vergil was anything but reckless. 

According to the documents on the USB that Vergil had gotten from somewhere , their government was seriously convinced that they could take on the underworld and win. Meanwhile, the personal notes from a man called "Nelo Angelo" suggested that this was Mundus's plan all along. He played coy and baited the humans into an ambush. 

Nero hadn't been to hell himself yet, but he knew demons and the underworld enough to say that the place was no vacation destination. Its natural energy had the tendency to infect the human world like a disease, so Sparda sealing them apart was a necessity for the survival of both of them. As above, so below. There could be no darkness without the light. Never mind that demonic energy corrupted reality itself to warp and twist it into entropy. Demons are evil by their very nature. They are not misunderstood victims. They are not another breed of humans. The damages done to Fortuna and Red Grave could attest to that. It was why Sparda's choice to rebel had so much damn weight. A good devil had to actively work to earn his humanity. 

Thinking back to all the books the Order had made him read, Nero could only imagine the massive burden Sparda had to shrug off in comparison to the mental hell his own ancestry threw him into. The twins managed this, somehow, in their own ways as they coped as best as they could. Without Kyrie Nero would have been lost. 

Ah, he could feel a headache forming right between his eyes. 

Growing up in a cult had given him enough insight in how easily dogma and fanaticism could be twisted and corrupted. He could see all the signs clear as day before him, but unlike what they had dealt with the vice president seemed to be a caricature. Even Sanctus had more substance to himself, which made it hard to even understand what or why that idiot was doing this to his world. Nero furrowed his brows. He was glad his cousin got out of there before they could use him like a disposable tool. He still had issues with marble statues after the stunt Sanctus had pulled him into.  

Sometimes he still felt his devil bringer itch underneath his skin. Nico had been working on gauntlets for him that would combine the power of the bringer with the utility of the breakers. This power was his, and his alone to use, and Nero chose to do good with it, just as his new cousin chose to use his own powers for good. They were more than living batteries. They weren't faceless and disposable saviors. 

He stood up. This was going nowhere and he had seen enough for the day. It was time to stretch his legs again and see if the rest of the pack was available for the evening. 

Nero stashed his laptop underneath the passenger seat of the van. He didn't want Nico to mess with it lest it grew legs and laser eyes. Anything was possible at this point, and unlike his uncle he actually did his paperwork on time and needed that laptop to work properly. 

Speaking of, there they were. As usual, Dante times two were roughhousing in his office. The older kept baiting the younger into attacks that, with time, gained confidence again. The teenager knew all the moves already, but he hesitated. He was unsure at times, and definitely holding back. Nero knew just the thing to make him believe that he wouldn't be thrown out again. 

"Oi! You two, the Cristalletto's offering special deals again for families. Let's check them out before all the booth seats are taken." 

Dante's eyes lit up. Fredi's was a great diner, and they made amazing sundaes, but that shop – that majestic place of frozen glory was a true and honest ice cream parlor. They weren't cheap but made the best of the best. Nero knew he and his uncle were thinking the same thing. 

"What's the occasion?" Dante asked, dragging his mini-me along. 

"Got a pair of coupons for a two-for-one kind of deal and I thought we'd bully my father into it for a double date."

"Ah, Verge is… busy. I've got no idea what he's up to but it sounded important and even I don't want to mess with the grimdark magic he's buried his nose in. Says he made a promise to himself, and that he's not out for world conquest or power this time." 

Nero nodded. That tracked. 

"He's had me research things about the other world. Maybe he wants to make sure they aren't coming to take him away from us?" 

The he in question dug his nails into Dante's sleeve and forced his shoulders to relax. 

"They will have to go through me to get him. I legally adopted that kid and I'm ready to turn this into a media circus if they dare to touch my son." 

That was the first time both of the juniors had heard Dante say that out loud without being forced to for appearance's sake. The casual tone let a grin spread over Nero's face. They'd be alright. 

"Then we have an empty fourth spot. Anyone you'd want to invite?" he asked the Dantes. 

"What about your Missy?" 

"Busy with the orphanage."

"I see, and Lady is a no-no for now." Dante mumbled to himself. 

The other one looked around before he piped up, "what about Trish? She's nice." 

"She's probably free, yeah. We can drop by her place and see if she wants to come." 

Nero pretended not to see the childish glee in the mini man's eyes, or that the old man was trying his best to wipe a similar smile off of his face. Typical. 

Thankfully Trish was indeed free and happily tagged along to their ice cream evening outing. She quickly threw on a short brown leather jacket and brushed her hair back into a loose braid. Then she put an elbow on Dante's shoulder and ruffled the younger one's Hair. To any outsiders they looked like any other ordinary family. Nero included.

"The strawberry sundaes are already screaming for their lives. I can hear them beg for mercy." she teased. 

"No mercy for the wickedly tasty." Nero laughed, "can't help it that we all like them." 

Dante rubbed his stubble in thought, "Ah your dad doesn't, and I know you like to switch out vanilla with chocolate." 

"So? Spicing things up makes it more fun. You know, maybe I should go for the berries this time just out of spite." 

The two Dantes gasped in perfect sync, "you traitor!" 

The rest of the drive to the ice cream parlor was filled with bickering, snortling, and the occasional threat of mutiny. It had been a wise idea to bring Trish because she was the only thing that kept the boys in check. 

"After I had just managed to squeeze in there, Sanctus was all 'let us pray' and the entire cathedral went silent. You could hear a pin drop. Then, BAM!" Nero threw his fist in the air, "There's this huge crash, glass flying everywhere, and Dante flies down from the roof to shoot the ass point blank between the eyes." 

"What can I say? I either go all in or all out." 

Nero snorted and rolled his eyes, then continued, "I asked him 'you aren't human, are you?' to which he replied really ominously 'we're the same, you and I' and then pointed at the dead modified humans all over the place." 

"Modified humans? You have them in this world too?" the other Dante looked like they had thrown his last slice of pizza into the toilet. 

"There's always going to be a human who's willing to throw away what makes them special." Trish threw in, "just as there will always be devils who reach for the clear blue sky." 

Dante coughed, put a hand on his chest, and sang "let me fill your dark soul with, li-ight!"

The group laughed openly as he coughed half of his soul out afterwards. He didn't seem to mind and only gave a thumbs up before he returned to his sundae. 

"So, my soul isn't stained? There's still a chance for me?" 

Nero wrapped an arm around his cousin and bumped his shoulder in a similar way the knights of the Order used to do. He smiled at the younger teen, nodded once sharply, and then pointed at Dante and Trish. 

"They're doing fine. See? Whatever the suits told you, buddy, was complete bullshit down to the last syllable. You get to decide what to do with your life, and hey, if you go on a crazy power-grabbing spree like my father did we will drag your ass back home and knock some sense into ya."

"We've got your back" Dante added with a wink. 

If the strawberries tasted a bit sweeter after that, then it was fine all the same. Devils they may be, but sometimes it was the small things that made them human. 

Chapter Text

Gunfire echoed through corridors of concrete and demonic flesh. The underworld, the other underworld, may not be as healthy and thriving as his own, but it still fought with a familiar primal urge to consume. Only this time it was acid rain and sulfur instead of the garden variety murder emporium he's used to. 

Dante was furious. He was annoyed that Vergil had kept this from him. He was angry that he had been left behind again. Yet his true fire came out when he found out that the other Vergil was risking his life all alone for some stupid reason or another. There was a chance that one would leave his twin behind, and Dante would not see it happen twice. 

So when the cross-dimensional call had come and he had been just in range to overhear the two Vergils conspire with each other, he had jumped through the portal they used to talk and went after his other kid. Honor be damned he was going to ground that one for a decade at least. But first he had to find him, and since the other world was pretty much one hell of a mess that was harder said than done. 

He cut through devils on his way, and knocked humans out cold whenever one was stupid enough to get in the way. So far he had yet to find one that used these super scary exploding anti-demon bullets that his mini was so afraid of, which was strange considering they were on Mundus's home turf. If they had all that fancy tech, why not just use it? Either they did have it and were over-confident, or they didn't have it and were overconfident. 

A flash of blue caught his eye. Ozone, electricity, and the cool rush of December air that bit his skin like a thousand razor blades. Vergil. 

Using Quicksilver, Dante sped towards the younger hybrid and burned the incoming bullets with a flare from his sword. The DSD was hot enough to burn past Yamato's magic. Nothing was going to hurt this kid. Not on his watch. 

The mini Vergil gave him a look that was equally as offended, as it was surprised, maybe even shocked. The woman they were dealing with just looked pissed. Nothing new there. 

"Lady, could you give us a moment here, please?" 

In response she fired another bullet, this time aimed at Dante's chest, which was dodged easily enough. Shoulder? If she wanted to kill she'd have to go for the heart. Huh.

"I said 'please' so, thank you." 

"You mother fucker how'd you get out!?" 

Oh this was too easy. The temptation was strong. One tiny push and this bundle of rage would come crumbling down as her entire world crashed. He just had to push in the right spot. 

"Don't make me call the walking arsenal." he told her, "You're a joke compared to her." 

He saw her eyes narrow, pupils contract and heat up, as she glared at him. There was panic in the air, and it came rolling off of her in a sickeningly sweet way that would turn on normal demons. She was as pissed at as she was scared of him. Great. That was never a good combination for demon hunters. However, as much fun as it was to play with variants of his dear friends, he had to lecture a kid first. 

Dante channeled every bit of his own parents into his voice, "baby, you can't just run off like that. Your brother is worried. Listen young man, I know you're an absolute unit on your own, but I'm not going to risk losing either of you to teenage nonsense." 

Sparda's resolute adoration met Eva's unwavering love when Dante put a hand on the scruff of Vergil's neck and pulled him behind himself. The teenager could only hiss at the audacity before he was swept off his feet and pulled along like a ragdoll. 

"We're going home. Now." 

"No, you piece of shit, you won't!" 

There it was. He could see the green glowing projectile clearly as it made its way towards him. The fabled and feared anti-demon bullets didn't look like much, and Dante was half tempted to see if they tickled, but he had a kid in tow. He needed to be an adult this time. Although lieutenant Mary's face was almost worth it when he deflected the bullet with one hand. 

" Royal guard. That's what dad called the technique. You know why? Because that's what we dark knights do. It's a thankless job and the pay sucks, but hey, someone's got to save the world when doomsday comes knocking." Dante shrugged and saluted her, "and now that's your job. See ya." 

He somehow had managed to wrestle the Yamato from the mini Vergil's grip and slashed a portal home for them, leaving the lieutenant and that huge mess behind. They would do fine for a month or so... maybe. Then Dante was going to grab his Vergil and bail that world out for good. Nero could babysit his twins. Everything would work out. 

"Honey, we're home!" he yelled as soon as his boots hit worn wooden flooring. 

As if on cue there was a noise coming from the loft above his shop, and two minutes later a red blur jumped over the railing and into his waiting right arm. The one in blue looked unimpressed, but made no attempts to run just yet. 

"Look what I brought home." 

His mini saw the other mini and then both were all over each other. One touched, the other didn't want to be touched, then sparks flew. When they started to push and bite another, Dante intervened. They acted just like a pair of actual devil nestlings. Considering they had never met their father he was impressed how much raw instinct was in them, and by extension in himself and his twin as well. 

Sparda had always just picked them up and bonked their heads together. Those two had never properly tasted paternal love, so Dante took it upon himself to introduce them to his father's parenting techniques. 

"Ow! He started it!" 

"You made the first move!" 

"But you hit me first!" 

"And you bit me!" 

He held one twin each with one hand as they bickered. Dante saw the rest of his family watch from a safe distance, with Nero looking horrified, and Trish trying not to laugh. Vergil had his hands behind his back and shook his head with a tiny, almost miss-able, knowing grin. Their eyes met. They knew what would come next. 

"Boys!" Dante let his devil's voice shine through. 

The sub-vocals did the trick. Just as the original pair had done, those two froze like deer in the headlights of an oncoming semi. Dante was delighted. He pulled both in for a hug. 

"Everybody, meet my twins." he called out, "twins, meet our family." 

While the mini Dante knew about them already, the mini Vergil still needed to be introduced. He made wide eyes at Trish and everybody in the room knew there would be questions later, but so far so good. Lady had intentionally chosen to go on a little trip to give them some space, under the condition that there would be no hard feelings. They would warm up to her too soon enough, but she could see when and why they needed some space.  

Vergil made his way to the two teenagers and pointed at them with his sheathed sword, "they need proper names if you wish to keep them. Having two of us is confusing." 

"Yeah, but what would we name them? And I'm not going to let them pick for themselves. You and I both know that's going to end badly." 

"And seeing as we are them, in a way, we aren't qualified to pick them either." 

Vergil eyed Trish. Dante followed his brother's eyes and knit his brows together. 

"Sure, why not. Trishie, help us out here?" 

The she-devil put her hands on her hips and shook her head with a fond grin. Her heels clicked on the wooden floor as she took her time to walk towards them. This was her first impression and she wanted to make it clear that she was not Eva.  

"Tony." she said and pointed at one twin, "and Vie." she named the other. 

The older pair thought this over and came to the mutual conclusion that this was acceptable. The younger pair just shared a confused look, not really understanding why she chose those names for them. 

Nero dared to get close to the other Vergil, or Vie now, and tried to invade his personal space. The key word was 'try' as even a teenage Vergil was fast. He would have gotten out of the tween's grip too, if his sword hadn't been missing. Dante held it up when frantic fingers reached for nothing but empty air. 

"That's confiscated for the foreseeable future. You are so grounded, mister." 

He tossed the other Yamato to Vergil, who caught it with an elegant flourish before it was absorbed into hammerspace. 

"Nero?" 

"You need help with more paperwork, old man?" 

"You know it. Kids, try not to beat the snot out of each other in public. We need to look like normal people." Dante said with a wince. 

Both sets of twins sighed out a long sigh of suffering and anguish. This would be a long day. 

Who could say no to those faces though?

Chapter Text

Summer had come and gone and now it was almost cold enough to snow. Frost was a more and more common sight, and even she had switched her trademark shorts for a proper pair of pants. 

The one who suffered the most from the change of season was the other Dante. Tony, as they had called him. She would need a while to get used to this, and would probably never understand why Dante let the kid have his old pseudonym. Regardless, it was that one who acted weirdly whenever he saw ice creep over windows. 

Oh he was good at hiding it, she'd give him that. If she hadn't been around Dante for almost two decades now she would have missed the small moments too. However, she was a huntress. She was the huntress, and she of all people knew that 'know your enemy' could mean life or death in their business. If you're human, that was. Those devil spawn rarely played by nature's rules, much to her annoyance. 

The baby of the family had gotten better at interacting with her, but he still refused to turn his back her way. It's been months now, and she was ready to confront him about it because this couldn't go on. 

"Listen, I know I remind you of someone you really don't want to think about." she baited him, "but I'm me, not her." 

"I know. Dad said if I call you lieutenant Mary Arkham I'd get shot." 

"She uses that name?!" Lady gasped, "Okay… I almost regret bringing this up." 

There was a moment, a heartbeat in time, that she felt a shiver crawl over her shoulders. She could have sworn that someone was stepping all over her grave. 

Then an explosion outside caught her attention. The windows shattered all around them, and Dante's sofa flew right into his demon-head trophy display, yet not a single shard of glass hit her. Lady was fine. 

"Got your back, if you got mine?" he teased unsteady, weary, but genuine deep down. 

She blinked. Blood was turning the young hybrid's hair pink and that coat of his was Swiss cheese, but he stood steady. He had defended her. It brought back memories of a tower, and falling, and being caught as bullets rained down all around her. Thus, she smiled and nodded before she pulled out some of her toys. 

"Go. Get Dante. I can handle this."

"But–!" 

"On the double!" 

He snorted and she huffed when his face turned into a lopsided grin. She had almost bullied him into getting help when a green glow flashed past her. The bullet hit him in the leg, causing his demonic energy to go haywire and tear itself apart. He yelped in surprise and pain, but kept his cool long enough to deflect a second bullet just like he had been taught. She was glad that Dante was an overprotective softie really deep down… sometimes. 

With the baby hybrid hurt, and 'daddy dearest' being fashionably late, Lady fired her own guns into the cloud of dust that tried to swallow them. Somewhere in there was a threat to her friends, and an enemy to eliminate. Knowing her luck she would sooner rather than later hit at least something. Then she could ask questions. 

Another round of bullets flew, but she was prepared. Why bother doing this the devil way, when she can just pull out brute force and finally put that new micro-gatling gun Nico made for her to good use? The measly few pistol shots that came her way were torn apart by her bullet storm. Dante's office had seen worse, and besides he wasn't going to be that mad. He owed her a lot more than a building after all. 

"Come out and face me, you demonic pile of shit!" 

Lady pulled out her treasured Kalina-Ann and whistled, "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm no demon. I do hunt them for sport though." 

She saw the shadow in the dust hesitate for just a single moment. The seasoned huntress knew that would have been disastrous if she had indeed been a demon, much less a devil. They had their ways of sensing people, and if even she could spot her target then something like a Riot or Judecca would just tear her to pieces. Against a Fury, that woman would stand no chance. Lady shifted to stand as a shield before her more-or-less godson. Dante hadn't made anything official yet but she knew he had considered it. 

"You've got my back, and I've got yours." she told him and winked. 

When she turned she was met with eyes that, for the first time in her life, matched her own. Green and red, life and death. They marked her as something special. It had been her ancestor who helped Sparda create the barrier seal. Her family had always been just human, and yet they rose to stand side by side with legends, maybe even because of it. 

"I've got a cute little variant of my own? Hello, I've heard so much about you." she called out to Mary. 

"What is this? Some sick trick?" 

"Not at all. You just ended up on the wrong side of the mirror today. What brings you here, lieutenant?" 

That snapped her double back into focus. It was as if her title alone held power over her. She was not impressed by that at all. 

"I was ordered to bring him back. He is too dangerous to be let out. You can see that too, can't you?" Mary appealed to Lady, "for fuck's sake! That is a demon, and demons bring nothing but trouble." 

Lady's eyes softened a bit in pity, then hardened as she readied her rocket launcher. 

"Perhaps, but let me ask you: would one of those monsters you talk about mourn? How can anything capable of love be irredeemably bad? Yeah, they cause trouble, but for every time they break something they also try and piece it back together." 

Her double shot another round, but Lady just kicked a piece of debris up to shield her. It might have been a door once, or maybe Dante's desk? 

"I hated them all too, but even my stupid, vengeful, recklessly bitter teenage self wasn't as blind as you are. Mary. Yes, you deserve that name. Dad would have been proud of you." 

"Shut your fucking mouth, you know nothing! You hear me, bitch, nothing at all. Don't pretend you do." 

"I am you. Or at least a version of you who uses her head. Seriously? You joined the military of all things? Freelance is the way if you want to make a difference in this business. You've got to stand on your own first before you can stand for something bigger." 

Lady saw her opening when the other had to reload her pistols. Such a tedious task to do. She always just threw them away when they ran out of bullets, since collecting them later was much easier than reloading all the time. Well, those that didn't get eaten by demons that was. Or stolen by half devils with a death wish… 

Speaking of him, there he was. Correction, there they were. 

And suddenly, Lady was backed by all five of them. 

"The cavalry took its own sweet time today." she taunted, "what kept you?" 

"Some goobers tried to pack and bag us upstairs. We got a bit carried away, and then Verge and Nero had a little slice 'n dice competition with the two Yamato. It was chaos of the finest proportions." 

She threw an empty Glock at his head. It bounced off and landed perfectly in the hood of Nero's coat. 

"So… why is one of my sons bleeding on the floor?" he asked casually. 

Lady nodded her head to her double, "misery loves company. She went in guns blazing, what else?" 

"Hmm, considering how we've met I had been expecting something more…" 

"Careful what you say next, Dante." 

"Competent."

Lady gave him a dry look, but approved, "atta boy. Nice save there." 

"Now back to my question," he searched for a morsel of remorse in Mary's eyes, "why did you shoot my son?" 

She hissed and struggled for words in favor of strategizing her next move. She was surrounded by at least three level 4 demons, and two of an unknown power level. 5, or maybe 6 if she was that unlucky. It was obvious that she had never expected to face demons that strong to team up and corner her like that. Scratch that, Darkcom had never even screened a demon of that power level before. 

Thus she tried to win the only other human over, "they are demons. Can't you see? As soon as you turn your back to them they go out of control and trash entire cities. They kill. How can you play nice with them? Do you know the sheer scale of destruction the red one left behind!?" 

"Yeah, I know what that one is capable of. Sin-Class elite devil, you don't just mess with those, at least in the traditional way." she threw a glance over her shoulder.

Her variant took that as the perfect time to double down, "Then you have to understand why that fucker needs to be taken out! We just can't risk it."

"Mary, we've got a pretty big rule here," Lady held out her own pistol, "if it can cry for a loved one, we don't kill it, and all of these boys behind me have bawled their eyes out at least once. Even the prickly weeb with the slicked back hair." 

Dante lifted a brow, and Nero pointed at Vergil, to which Lady just nodded sharply once to nip the questioning in the bud. That piece of blackmail was her treasure to keep. They would have to rip it from her cold dead hands. 

Then she smirked and looked at her double, "But, you know, the boys aren't my only friends. Trish and I have been thinking of a ladies' night out for a while now." 

"What are you–?" 

"It's not what I thought we'd be doing, but oh well." Trish put a hand on Mary's back and sent a small bolt through her. Anyone who zapped one of Dante's baby devils deserved to be stung. 

As the lieutenant felt her world tilt into static oblivion, she saw Lady pull Dante into a one-armed hug. They stood easily beside each other, old friends, almost siblings, definitely more than just companions. Most importantly, they looked like they could trust each other. 

"Do you want to know the secret of how I keep them 'contained' and the world safe and sound?" she leaned down to whisper into Mary's ear, "love, booze, and pizza." 

With that said, Trish picked the young huntress up and nodded towards Vergil's Yamato. He cut a portal open for her with a lazy swing before he focused on brushing dirt off of Nero. Dante, too, turned to take care of his boys, so Lady took that as her opportunity to have some fun with Trish. With her toys ready and one of her best friends by her side, she hopped through the portal to bring her variant home, and clean up some of her mess while doing so.

"Portal us back in a few hours, will you?" she called over her shoulder, "and don't set the shop on fire!" 

Chapter Text

Now that he had a matching set of teenagers, life went on almost unchanged. Dante still hunted demons, still napped on his favorite chair, and still ate pizza whenever he could get his hands on one. It was a blessing that at least one of his boys shared his love for it, and the other wanted to impress him. 

He had both of them enrolled into the local school to get the proper education that was denied to himself and his brother. Scuola Superiore was their darkest nightmare at that time and he was more than fine with that because it meant they had a relatively normal life. He could give the two something better. Vergil was tutoring them both in literature and dead languages, while Dante taught them math – which has earned him more than one strange look from the others. So what if they calculated the angle and speed a bullet had to be shot at to hit a certain target instead of x and y? It worked. That was all that mattered. 

It was a Sunday. Winter had turned the world into ice and snow, and his twins were dressed in fluffy winter coats that Trish had forced them into. Dante himself was supposed to wear one just like them, but of course some muck had gotten on it the night prior and it was in the wash. He only shrugged at that and grabbed a scarf to mollify the living taser. He was hot as hell and didn't need a winter coat anyway. 

"So, boys. Ready to go?" he asked the pair of mishandled mini devils. 

"Where are we going again?" Tony asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets with a little too much force. 

Vie, just like his variant, bore the burden of the fluffy coat with as much dignity as he could, but even his limit was reached. He sent a nasty glare at his brother to tell him to suck it up. 

Dante just rolled his eyes, "we are going to visit mom's grave. I need to make sure it's still standing after that blizzard yesterday and you two are going to help me." 

"But why? It's too cold out there!" 

"Kid," Dante put his hands on his adopted son's shoulders, "I know you hate the cold after what they did to you, but you can't keep running from it. Remember what I've been teaching you?" 

The teenager nodded and tried his best to find a way to escape the situation. Unfortunately for him, Dante was just as fast, twice as strong, and had twenty years of experience on him. The entire fight and flight scenario lasted about two seconds and ended with Tony being tossed over Dante's shoulder like a wet towel. 

"Vie, you are still grounded after that suicide mission stunt you pulled in your universe, but I also don't want any of us to be subjected to public transport." 

The Yamato appeared in a flurry of red sparks. He gripped it tight for a moment and searched for a little bit of light in his eldest son's dark soul. When Dante found what he was looking for he held it out for the younger to take. 

"I trust you to not run off and get yourself killed this time. You want to go to Japan before you grab lunch in France? Cool with me. But! You come back before nightfall local time. Deal?" 

Vie almost hugged the sword once it left Dante's hands. The boys never told him how they got their swords, but they were just as attached to them as Dante and Vergil were to their own. He knew what it felt like to lose his keepsake and best inanimate friend. He really couldn't blame the mini Vergil from another universe to be clingy. 

However, "I will not disappoint you, father." made him skip a heartbeat. He hadn't expected that at all. 

"Let's go." 

And off they were, to a small graveyard close to Red Grave City. 

Alberton had seen better days. Urizen's demons had caused a lot of damage to the city, and even this place of rest wasn't unharmed. A part of Dante was angry that they would dare to defile it, but what was done was done. There was no point in getting himself worked up over this, especially not when he had two helping sets of hands trailing after him that could help him fix at least some of this mess. Thankfully the city had opted to replace the wrecked crypt below with a more modern and open design. He could easily see his hellions turn a space like that into an impromptu arena.  

The three hiked up towards a small grove of trees that looked just dense enough to be unassuming, but behind it stood a lone grave under an old apple tree. The view was spectacular enough to make both twins' eyes go wide. Dante himself had been there often enough to be used to it by then, but it was nice to know the spot was appreciated. He had chosen the place after all. 

Dante started to clear off the snow and stray branches that had fallen during the storm. From the corner of his eye he noticed that Vie was using the Yamato to cut the surrounding trees into shape. Meanwhile, Tony was practicing his "Escort" style, which was something he had started to develop after he had watched Dante train with his devil sword. Vergil had given him a few tips on how he could form, manage, and maintain summoned swords – or shards in the kid's case – and his were warm enough to melt whatever was in his path. With each icicle and snowdrift that turned to water under his hands, the boy gained confidence. Nothing would ever freeze that inferno again. 

He snorted. At that pace they would be there for hours until Eva's grave was cleared, but at least they were having fun. He heard a crack and saw the kid style switch to "Reactor" to avoid a falling branch, and then yell at his brother who's aloofness seemed to annoy him even more. "Interceptor" turned into "Chaser" as soon as Tony got his hands on Vie, and then the two tumbled down the slope and landed with a crash that shook the entire area and made snow fall onto Dante's head. He ruffled his hair free of the offending cold flakes. Then he stood up to watch the carnage unfold. 

A park bench flew towards his face. Dante just shrugged and bowed down to let it sail over him. 

"You put that back where you found it once you're done playing, right?" 

There was muted hissing, growling, and the sound of claws on cobblestone. He let out an almost impressed whistle. At least he and Vergil knew when and where to squabble. These two had no manners at all sometimes. 

"Twins! Do I need to call your uncle?" Dante taunted the two beasts he had adopted.

Suddenly, when he turned around the bench was in its proper place. It looked like it was seconds from falling apart, but his kids were trying. It was a start. Baby steps, he chuckled to himself and shook his head. 

"I never realized how much trouble we must have been, mom. Sorry, I never got to make it up to you."  he told the headstone in front of him, "How did you do it?" 

The wind picked up and a soft breeze pushed Dante forward. Snowflakes twirled in a flurry that made him close his eyes. When he tilted his head up there was a red rose petal stuck in his hair. Looking around, there were no wild roses anywhere in sight. It had the exact same color as his mother's shawl. 

"I'm glad you approve. Wish you could have met them in person though." 

Dante whistled to let his twins know it was time to go home. He saw them barrel towards him, only to then shift forms and race each other the rest of the way. It openly made him laugh because, yes, he and Vergil also did that and he was glad that some things would never change. 

"Bye, mom. I've got a pair of apex predators to house-train before they ruin the holidays." 

Vergil and Nero found them on the roof later. It was snowing softly, and the twins fought with each other over who got the best spot under Dante's wings, who in turn just huffed in amusement and nostalgia. 

"You want to join us? I've got more than enough wingspan for everybody." he called out. 

Nero was the first to shuffle under the glowing red swirls and dark scales. Vergil considered it. Peer pressure and four matching sets of puppy eyes bullied him into joining as well. 

"Hmm, I'm going to borrow you next time a blizzard hits Fortuna. Damn it, Dante, you're the best heated blanket I've ever seen." 

"And Verge is the coolest AC in the summer. Right, bro?" 

"Don't give the brood ideas." 

"See? He agrees, and even likes the idea–ah oof! Ow! What was that for!?" 

Five voices laughed as a wave of hot air sent snow flying all around them. This would become a snowball war soon enough, but for now they just enjoyed the moment of peace while it lasted. 

Chapter Text

"Hey, Verge?"

Only the sound of their footsteps echoed through the darkness. 

"Vergil? Serious question here." 

Fluids of unknown origin dripped from the ceiling of the ruined building they were in. 

"Brother mine, I beseech thee to grant me the knowledge I thirst for."

Finally, a sigh and Vergil hissed out a strained, "what?"  

"What do you think Mundus promised them to play along?" Dante asked. 

"Power?" 

That made Dante rub the bridge of his nose, "Why did I even ask?" 

Vergil tilted his head and put both of his hands on Yamato like it was a gentleman's cane. His face was an impassive mask of condescending boredom, except for his eyes. His eyes actually twinkled when Dante groaned in frustration. 

"Let's grab the Force Edge and put that barrier back into place, then kiss this universe goodbye forever. The locals here freak even me out and you know my usual fanclub." 

"Do you really wish to leave them behind?" 

Dante took a look at the carnage around them. The humans still clinging on to the shambles of their former lives were in so much pain that even if they cut them free, they would be soulless husks of their former selves. The underworld had consumed too much already. 

"Them?" Dante closed his eyes, "There's nothing we could do. Abandon all hope." 

It was rare for Dante to quote something, especially in a tone so eerily similar to the one Vergil always used for his favorite poems. In response the elder twin bowed his head in respect for the living dead and moved on. Dante wished he could do more, but he refused to touch the corpses around him lest he caught what got them as well. Their father's world was the purest definition of survival of the fittest after all. 

It was hard to tell where the two worlds began and ended. Maybe they were one already. Makai, as they called it here, was a broken nightmare, so of course it also turned their Earth into one. With no convenient hybrid protectors or devil knights to protect it the balance between them was nonexistent and two collapsed into one. 

Dante couldn't help himself, "See, Verge, this is why you should never open a gate to dad's home world." 

"The Temen-ni-gru was a mistake, and I never meant to–" 

Dante dared to cut him off, "I quote 'the demon world shall consume the human realm'." 

The two made it to the roof of a brownstone building that let them get a better look at the city around them. Or rather, at what was left of it. There was a big poster nearby that said "I heart NY" but neither twin could figure out where that was considering everywhere they looked was fire, brimstone, and concrete eating fleshy growths. 

Vergil scrunched his nose and looked away, "I never said that. You misremember." 

"Sure. Let's go with that." Dante shrugged, "anyway, we've got a sword to find. Any ideas where this world's Force Edge might be?" 

Before Vergil could answer, the sound of a military jet made both brothers turn around to come face-to-face with a man in a suit who looked like he had seen a ghost. Or two. Then he ordered his pilot to land and his soldiers to stand by. 

"The sons of Sparda. The Lord works in mysterious ways, yet He has never led you astray." 

"You… are who, exactly?" Dante asked, while Vergil tensed. 

"You don't remember? How unfortunate. You were our greatest asset in this war against Makai and its tyrant ruler." 

Dante had a feeling he knew who stood before him. In response to his rising blood pressure, his devil sword opened just a crack to hiss at the man. A warning.

"You are the ones who put my kid on ice." 

He saw the soldiers tense. He could almost taste their fear, their sweat smelling like acidic honey to his devil's nose. The tiny gasps and thumping of their hearts in rising panic made the darkest parts of his soul coil in anticipation. Dante loved to play with his prey. Unfortunately for him, Vergil was not interested in any of this. He never was. 

"We want the Force Edge. Hand it over and nobody will be harmed." 

Everybody knew that was not an idle threat. While Dante was against killing humans and doing unnecessary harm, he also didn't need to save all of them from what was a well deserved wake up call. 

He also didn't want to pay for a new coat, "Alright, everybody calm down. We need the sword to raise the barrier again. This apocalypse ends today." 

He glared at the man in front of him, daring him to disagree or pull some other stunt. If Baines so much as sneezed he knew Vergil would tear him to shreds. With that backing him up, Dante knew he had won before the fight had begun. 

"The sword is kept in a containment unit below the Pentagon. I will not keep you from it." 

"Uh huh." Dante huffed, and Vergil finished their thoughts, "where is the catch?" 

"Cleanse this world. Let the flood wash away all the filth and the Lord's chosen rebuild. Our Ark is safely tucked away and just waiting for you to deliver us to paradise, as He promised us." 

"You know what? I actually liked Fortuna more than this guy. At least they had the balls to commit to the culty stuff." 

Vergil nodded towards his brother, "Was it not a priestess who helped father create the barrier in the first place?" 

Dante grinned, "Yeah. You're thinking what I'm thinking?" 

"Quite so. Although I'm worried that you are using your head so much today. Are you falling ill?" 

"Nag, nag, nag. C'mon let's get this done. Nero is probably going insane already." 

They shifted into their true forms and dove off the roof to join, and then follow, the jet to the place that held their father's sword. Dante couldn't help the smirk when the pilot cursed once they broke the sound barrier. They really had no idea what they had invited into their world, much less what they were dealing with. 

Meanwhile, Nero was using both of his spectral wings to keep the junior twins from mauling each other. Dante wasn't paying him enough for this.

Why? Well, one of them wanted to watch a history documentary and the other some weird movie about sharks in a tornado. One thing led to another, they broke the TV, then they transformed, broke each other's noses, and finally ended up in time out. 

"Just you wait until the old man comes home. You two brats are dead." 

"At least we're not dead weight." Tony taunted. 

Vie had about three seconds to make himself scarce before Nero joined their brawl. 

The Pentagon turned out to be a pile of rubble consisting of a little more steel than concrete. To them that didn't matter. The Darkcom agents led the twins to an elevator and made it to the basement of the secret basement. As it went with such a cliche, it looked like a laboratory straight out of the cartoons Nico was always watching every Saturday morning. Dante seemed mildly uncomfortable. Vergil tried to remember where he had seen something similar before, and why the fragment of a memory made him feel like a scalpel was tearing off his skin. He shook his head. That was over. What mattered was that he reached for his birthright before any of these incompetently evil humans could dirty it with their sins. 

Vergil held the Force Edge with reverence. This one was a little longer than the one from their universe, and came engraved with magic sigils that were designed to amplify and channel power unassisted. Basically, this Sparda had a lot more foresight than their own. Perhaps he was prepared, or he knew something their father had not been aware of. 

The sealing ritual was up to Dante. He hated to admit it, but when it came to banishing and placing barriers his little brother was actually better suited for the job. Not that Vergil would admit that out loud ever. His own trick runes were simpler and used a different kind of magic than the trickster circles Dante, and through his uncle, Nero, used. There was nothing wrong with this, or so he told himself. He didn't feel left out. What a foolish idea.

He wasn't sure why Dante insisted he helped him draw the runic array. His brother's calligraphy was anything but as terrible as he claimed it to be. It was shaper, yes, but nowhere near to the level that would justify Vergil's involvement in the process. A sizable part of his ego was baffled that Dante trusted him with this, considering even a small mistake could lead to this exploding in their faces later. Yet it wasn't unwelcome to be a part of something again. Dare he say it, but it felt nice to work side by side with Dante as a team, not as rivals. 

Whenever he halted, Dante took over. Together they finished matrix after matrix, until Vergil was confident enough to mirror his twin. Once they were done it looked perfect, like it had been printed by a machine. There was no way this could go wrong anymore and his hands had helped bring this into existence. Vergil felt rather proud of himself.

"We'll make a hunter out of you yet, bro. Good job. I knew Nero didn't get his squiggles from you." 

"Pardon?" he asked because he was lost. 

"Your kid can't even carve basic elder runes. There's no way I'm letting him help me with this any time soon again and I just knew he didn't inherit that from you. Give it a month and you'll be doing our house wards!" 

"Are you suggesting I do free labor for you?" he shot back, but without his usual bite. Vergil was much too happy with himself to sour this personal accomplishment. 

Of course Dante knew. He always knew, just as Vergil always knew when his brother was up to no good. He let him have his moment though, and in turn went over to bully the leader of their organization into the middle of their ritual circle. 

"Have some faith, will you?" 

Dante using Ivory, and Vergil using Ebony, shot Baines into the heart. The magic from their combined blood as well as the Force Edge flooded the area with a demonic purple light. Fire and ice crashed into another as smoke filled their lungs.True magic sang as the fabric of this universe was rearranged by two pairs of hands that couldn't be more different. Dante let 'Royal Guard' flood into the side of the barrier that would contain the demon realm. Vergil shaped the human half of it until it was nothing more than mist in a mirror. Unreachable, and untamable. Chaos and Order, blended until there was nothing but a wall of entropy left. 

With Baines being their blood sacrifice in a demonic ritual, the actual sealing went smoothly. The twins doubted he would get through the pearly diamond gates after all those war crimes anyway. A necessary evil in Dante's mind was justice served in bright red to Vergil. They made a silent promise to never speak a word about this ever again. 

Then the floor underneath them collapsed. After the dust had settled around them, the twins saw what might be a reactor room. Coils and tubes sparked with pure demonic energy that they sucked out of a central pod. They shared a look to confirm that what they were seeing was indeed happening. 

"Another cryostasis chamber. How droll. Do they not learn from their mistakes?" 

The two inspected the device. Dante noticed flecks of rust and general wear and tear on it just as Vergil managed to worm his way into the control panel. He did a double take at the displayed runtime of it. A quick shock with his demonic energy overrode all security and turned it off. 

Dante was already thawing whoever was inside out for transport, "Eh, what's one more?" 

Vergil only shook his head and sliced them a portal home open. This had been a long day. All he wanted was some peace and quiet now. Then Nero ran him over, followed by Dante's twin brats.  

Chapter Text

The entire building shook when a roar from the basement woke up its residents at two in the morning, on a school night no less. Glass shattered, ice cracked, and then there was the sound of claws on the floor. Another screech of metal later and the electricity went out. Dante was already mourning his wallet because he knew that would be expensive to get fixed – and Nico was not allowed down there. Not after the incident. 

He pushed his twins into his brother's arms, and then pulled an overeager Nero by his boxer shorts to stand beside Vergil. Ignoring all four matching glares thrown his way, Dante shushed them all uncharacteristically harshly. He was the only one of them who might have a chance to calm their delirious new addition. Absorbing the Sparda had come with some perks at least, and he might as well use them if it meant he could keep his family safe. 

"If this goes wrong you take the kids and you run. You hide, no matter what your pride tells you. Got it?" he told them. 

"Dante–!" 

"No. Nero, if I don't come back, promise me you'll run. Go back to Fortuna, find something there to calm him down, but don't look back." 

Nero wasn't having it, "We're stronger together, as a team, right? Dante, don't give me that dead weight bullshit again!" 

"You're right. You're not. You're just too precious and I can't lose you, kid. I'm sorry." 

"Sorry? You bet your a–!" but Nero couldn't finish his sentence. 

Dante had made eye contact with Vergil and both had been waiting for the right moment to strike. Nero tried to claw his way through the portal, but Vergil pulled him through before he could hold on to anything on Dante's side. After that, he sent both of his adopted boys a look that said more than words could. He knew Tony understood his motives, and he knew Vie understood why this was necessary. They would be safe with Trish and Lady for the night. He would come for them. Dante didn't die that easily, especially not if he had something to return to. 

When something – someone – tore through his downstairs bathroom he summoned the devil sword Dante and crept downstairs to meet his old man. Its orange glow made his already pale eyes glow like hot coals, but the added bit of light helped him see through the dust that clogged up the darkness. 

Only his years of devil hunting and direct combat against Vergil let him dodge the incoming attack. 

"You are good. Or perhaps I am just slow. It has been a while since I felt anything but the cold." 

Dante had borrowed his father's demonic form before, yet this Sparda was different. Subtle things reminded him that while they shared the same blood, this was not quite his father. Vergil's plan seemed like the right thing to do at first, but now that he stood face-to-face with the old devil it felt wrong to deceive him, even if it would be the kinder option. 

"I'm not your enemy." Dante lowered his sword, and Sparda acknowledged this with a tilt of his head. 

"Then what are you? I have but a few friends, and remember them all clearly."

This wasn't his Sparda, but he could be. Technically he wasn't lying, he was just omitting some vitally important things for now. 

"I'm your son." 

Immediately the old devil was invading his personal space. Dante felt his frozen skin and chitin against his own burning face. Sparda was pressing his nose into Dante's hair and inhaled deeply. Then he flinched away, stumbled back a few steps, and wiped at his eyes with newfound vigor. 

"Are you okay? That can't be healthy."

"No. No, I am. I wish to see you, but those eyes of mine refuse to cooperate." 

Dante grabbed one of the blankets on his couch that were left there for emergency sleepovers. It might not be a towel, but considering that his father was a good two heads taller than himself the extra size should be no problem. Putting it into the old bug's claws was the hardest part since he kept scratching at his own face, and would swat away Dante like he was scolding an impatient child. 

"Fabric?" 

"For your face. I'm sure this feels nicer than scratching your eyes out." 

"How human of you." Sparda's reply was a blend of insult and amusement. 

In the dim halo of the street lights outside he could see just how badly the ice had crusted them over. At least Tony had his eyes closed when he was frozen, but bugs didn't get to experience the luxury of eyelids. It would be a miracle that he could see anything at all, if he wasn't already blinded for the foreseeable future. 

"Your mother…?" Sparda asked, and Dante knew he dreaded the answer. 

"Dead. Mundus came and burned everything down." then he remembered that this Sparda had never met them, "my brother and I got out and managed on our own for a while. You're actually in my home right now and kind of wrecked most of my shop…" 

"Oh dear. Well, let me get myself presentable and I will see what can be done about that." 

The ice crystals had come off, but Sparda was still squinting badly. Almost twenty years of being in a cryostasis chamber must have done a lot of internal damage that his body was not yet able to repair. It made some small lump of dread squirm around in Dante's guts. The idea of slowly rotting away in sub zero temperatures while the world just carried on felt wrong to him. 

"Hmm. A lot more human shaped than I had thought you would look like, the red makes sense though." 

This time it was Dante who swatted his father's hand away with a yelp, "hey! Mom always said we have your eyes, so you don't get to complain." 

"It is hard to imagine Nevan speaking about me considering how we parted, and who I left her for." Sparda reached out again, and this time Dante was too confused to stop him.

"Nevan?! No, you've got that all wrong. I'm not Nevan's son." Dante was spiraling into something closer to panic than he liked to admit. 

Meanwhile, Sparda looked horrified, "Then… who? She was the only demoness I ever tolerated in bed, and you are a spicy young devil." 

"Okay, I didn't hear that bit. Nope." 

Dante took Sparda's hands, mindful of the claws, and placed both on his cheeks to let him feel his smile. He felt his father's thumbs ghost over his brows, then rake over his nose. It took a while, but once Sparda had mapped out his son's face he let out a gasp of pure disbelief and awe. 

"Eva?" 

"Yes. You two made a pair of twin hybrids. My brother isn't home right now though. He's taking care of your grandkids. We figured meeting all of us all at once would be overwhelming after your little nap. I volunteered to do the talking." 

"So this," he gestured around himself, "is not just a dwelling but a nest. Your nest, yes?" 

Dante winced and looked at his mess, "don't call it that. I don't build nests…" 

Admitting it would be the first step to self improvement. Dante however preferred sweet, blissfully ignorant denial. Sparda frowned, clearly not believing his son at all until a mental light bulb blinked on above his head. 

"You live among humans. I see now, you wish to keep it secret to protect your brood from invaders. Ah, fair enough. I have been sleeping for so long. Too long. There is much for me to learn, and relearn." 

Dante cut in before his father could get lost in his thoughts, "how did you even end up in that pod?" 

"Ironically it was betrayal that got me caught." Sparda huffed, "I… My memory is a little hazy but there was this group of humans who told me my presence was making Eva ill, and that they could create a cure from me if I followed them. A 'thank you for my service to mankind, they called it. Your mother had been sick, but I never thought it could have been you causing this."

"Hey!" Dante defended his existence. 

"Hybrids are rare enough to be a legend, stable ones even more so. We do not mix well with humans." 

Dante finished the thought, "because demonic energy corrupts and destroys."

Sparda, still as good as blind, tried to reach for Dante's chest. He found his chin first and let a claw run down until it was hovering right above his son's beating human heart. 

"Yes and no. Tell me, what is love? Kindness? Compassion?" 

Dante startled and struggled for words. 

"Nevermind, child. What I am trying to say is that my kind may know empathy. We feed off of emotions sometimes, after all. We know camaraderie, because we are a meritocracy. A hive, if you will. But love? Love is foreign in my world. It is a concept none could even begin to understand because it does not exist. We care for our children to see them grow strong, but we do not love them, even if it may appear so to human eyes." 

Dante cut in, "But you loved mom." 

"I learned what love is during my time in this world, yes, but it took me years to begin to grasp it, and decades to feel it myself. I alone started to feel things no other demon could understand." 

To anyone else, the dark knight looked aloof. He stood straight and proud, with his wings folded underneath a velvet black cape, and the blanket thrown over his shoulders like a scarf. To Dante, he was a mess. He knew the faint lines near his eyes, how they deepened with each taken breath. He recognized the way his shoulders tilted downwards. It was a habit he had only recently started to break himself. 

"I had to separate the two worlds and none could follow me." Sparda declared, but it sounded like he was begging for forgiveness, "they didn't understand. I could not risk it! This world is different. It works different, breathes different. It is such a fragile thing... I could not, never in my life, risk it.  

"Mom said you were a hero." Dante told him, and with those few words eons seemed to fall from Sparda's shoulders. 

"Dad, I don't want to ruin your moment, but I really need to know; what did they do to you?" 

Sparda's face soured, he hissed out air from underneath his wings that made them sound like the strings of a violin, "They used me. My very blood was taken to create weapons against my kind. The worst part is that I would have given it freely had they just asked." 

That explained how they made the anti-demon bullets, and why they worked so well on their family in particular. Sparda's blood, harvested over decades and turned into poison that would be used to harm his own children. Dante felt the last bits of guilt in him wither and die. Baines got what he deserved. Darkcom too. It was one thing to be born without the concept of love, but it was another to throw it away to become the monster.  

"We tried to keep the world in one piece while you were gone. C'mon, see that red shape over there? That's my sofa. Get some rest while I call Vergil to come home."

He had to squint and he stumbled over some of Dante's trash, but Sparda made it to the red leather sofa safe and sound. A tilt of his head let Dante know he was settled down, and that he was free to do whatever he thought was best. Sparda wouldn't go anywhere anytime soon. 

"Will I be meeting your brood?" he asked with an hopeful tone that made Dante grin. 

"My twins, yes, and Vergil has his own son that he's going to bring along. You'll have to deal with a full house, pops."

"A quintet. I faced worse odds." 

Dante laughed openly at that. His father joined in after a while, gleefully unaware of the situation he was getting himself into. 

Chapter Text

Nero saw a bundle of pink before anyone else and it made the corners of his lips twist up into a shit eating grin. Beside him, Nico sent him a look and then followed to where he was staring. Then she blinked twice, pouted, and continued with her work on his newest gauntlet. 

They didn't even have a minute before hell broke loose inside the shop. The doors burst open with a bang, then came the yelling. 

"DANTE!" 

He snorted out a laugh and waved at the pink menace, "Hi, Patty. Dante's upstairs." 

"I see! Nero, I really need to borrow Dante for today. It is super important." 

One look at that dress made that much obvious. Never mind that Dante was busy for what was likely the exact same reason that Patty had come to them. Fortuna had its own traditions and festivals. Red Grave was close enough to Capulet to share some, and the Yule ball was one that no teenager wanted to miss. 

"If it's about-" Nero started but was cut off when a red blur jumped from the loft and ran to hide in the downstairs bathroom. 

Patty looked at the door and was already puffing herself up to lecture the wrong Dante for trying to escape her wrath when their old man slowly walked downstairs. Behind him, Vie stood like the proper ice prince he was. Behind both of them, Vergil followed, holding a posh-looking coat that must have cost Dante a month's worth of demon hunting. Nero guessed it was the exact same as the one Vie was wearing, minus the cravat of course. 

"Hello Pattycakes. You haven't seen any wayward mini-me running around here, have you?" Dante leaned beside the bathroom door. 

The thing about Patty was – and Nero had learned that the hard way – her ruffles were pure deception. Blonde, big blue eyes, and everything a sweet angel of a girl could want made her look innocent. Nobody would suspect that the nineteen year old darling princess carried throwing knives disguised as hairpins for self defense. 

"D… Dante? Who is that?" 

"That is Vergil, my twin." he pointed at the dark slayer in slate-blue, then put a hand on the other one's shoulder, "and this is Vie, my son." 

Once that bit of information had been processed the waterworks began. Being hybrids they were more or less empathic in their own ways. Nero knew he thrived off of anger. The more frustrated his enemy was the better for him. His inner devil loved to snack on fury, and he had a suspicion that Dante got a similar high from terrorizing his opponents. His own father was too hard to read. He had been thinking about just asking but never found the right moment to bring it up. Maybe he could ask grandpa once they got a minute to themselves. 

As it was then, they all felt the wave of misery and betrayal flood the room as the teenage girl bawled her eyes out. She stomped over to Dante and kicked his shin before she punched him as hard as she could. 

"All this time you had a son and didn't tell me?! Don't tell me you left him to grow up all alone in some orphanage just like Nero and I had to! You– You jerk!" 

"As amusing as it is to watch you mince my brother, Vie and Tony are a special case. Cease your assault, you only dirty your dress." 

Vergil pulled the girl off of Dante and held her by the ribbon on her back. In return, Patty glared at him with the fury of a burned bundle of cotton candy; all spice, and nothing nice. 

"Why them? Why not–!" she bit down on her bottom lip and looked down. 

Nero didn't know the full story, but he knew enough to be aware of what Dante meant to Patty. He had been her caretaker for a while, and then reunited her with her lost mother. As an ex-orphan himself, Nero knew that anyone was better than nobody. They tended to get attached to the first person who didn't see them as broken merchandise. Dante might pretend to be rough and tough, but really deep down he cared. At once, Nero understood why Patty was so hurt. 

"He would never replace you, you know?" 

"He just did!" she screeched back. 

"Hold up! I would never what now? Can anyone fill me in on what is going on?" 

Vergil and Vie shared a look and then made themselves scarce. They would observe, but from a safe distance. A shared nod had them rush off to Sparda's room in the hopes the old devil would offer them sanctuary. 

With the yelling and crying going on, Tony dared to peek out of the restored bathroom. The new door they had installed didn't creak like the old one did, so nobody noticed him until he was right behind Patty and grabbed her by the waist. 

"You know, she kind of reminds me of mom." 

Of course Dante knew Tony was talking about Eva, but the cover story they told Sparda was that the two were Trish's. It was the easiest way to explain the uncanny resemblance, and the artificial demoness didn't seem to mind. Although she had made it abundantly clear that she was her own person and that they better treat her that way or else. 

Blonde, blue eyed, and deadly. Dante had been raised to believe he could trust those. Nero would laugh, if his uncle's situation wasn't such a mess. He was sure that some higher force out there was laughing at the old man. 

Nero decided to come to his uncle's defense, "You've been coming in here for how long now? Nine years? If he hasn't thrown you out yet he won't ever. Besides, you're still the only girl here, princess." 

"But I wanted to ask if he could take me to the Yule ball and dance with me."

"The traditional father daughter stuff?"

"Yes! He's the only one I want." 

Nero rolled his eyes before he shared a strained grin with his uncle. Dante, in turn, put his hands on his hips and shook his head. 

"Tony, put her down. That's not how you pick up girls, you animal." 

Once pink boots and all of the silk ruffles were touching the floor again, Dante told the girl, "Pattycakes, it's called a father daughter dance, right?" 

She nodded and glared at him with eyes still full of betrayal. The former orphan was sure that blood triumphed over whatever it was that they had built, and that Dante would leave her behind for his real sons now. 

"You do know these two are boys, right?"

Nico elbowed Nero once that bit of information had clicked in her head. Nero himself was caught between laughing at Dante's dilemma of the day, and laughing at Patty's mistake. She went redder by the second until she looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her whole. 

"Let's make a deal." Dante offered and slung an arm around her, "I'll pretty myself up to dance with you, and in return you help me catch that one and force him into the expensive suit I got him. Deal?" 

Nero actually laughed when Tony turned a few shades paler as soon as Patty turned to look at him. She assessed the situation, held out her hand, and said, "deal." 

Then there was pandemonium. Nico waved at him to retreat to the van, which Nero gladly did. They were a weird bunch on a good day, but that mess was above his pay grade. He knew Tony would be all kinds of violated after Patty was done with him – after all, he had been her chaperone last year. 

"If they're singing 'silent night' after this I'm going back to Fortuna." 

Nico snorted at him for that remark, "You're lovin' this. Admit it." 

"So what if I do?" he barked back. 

"There is no shame in admitting you enjoy something, young one." interrupted a voice from behind them. 

It was hard to tell who screamed higher and louder. Nero had his arms wrapped around Nico, ready to hurl her at whatever had snuck into their van that night. Meanwhile Nico was brandishing her favorite screwdriver and knew how to use it. They made it to the back just as a shadow climbed over the driver's seat to loom over them. 

"Hello." 

Being from Fortuna, Nero knew that face. There was no mistaking who had scared them shitless. The only question left in the van was how Sparda had managed to get into it, and why he was camping there. 

"Grandfather." Nero greeted through his teeth. 

After the initial scare, the old bug had settled down on the bench across from them. Nico and Nero each enjoyed a cup of hot cocoa, which Sparda had declined gracefully. He was more interested in his first grandson, a thing he never expected to have. 

"So…" Nico started, and Nero elaborated, "why are you here?" 

"Hm? Vergil and Vie have claimed sovereignty over the attic and it felt wrong to intrude. Their conversation was… rather personal in nature." 

"Oh?" 

Sparda tilted his head in Nico's general direction and nodded, "indeed. While I enjoy grandchildren, your father is not quite as thrilled to claim the title of granduncle any time soon. I can only assume Dante has yet to learn about this." 

Nero almost choked on his hot cocoa. 

Chapter Text

Vergil would never admit that he was living vicariously through his variant. Vie's given name sounded enough like V that – and although those memories were hazy – sometimes he liked to pretend that this was history on repeat with him as an outside observer. In a way his own past was being rewritten, and it soothed old aches he hardly ever acknowledged. 

Dante, surprisingly enough, turned out to be not all that terrible in the role of a father. He himself bloomed as an uncle, and the knowledge he gained from watching Dante's pair of disasters helped him understand Nero better. Enough so that their relationship had improved into something he dared to call warm. 

It was such a day when uncle Vergil was on duty and keeping a keen eye on the younger generation. Sparda was still as good as blind even with the rescued monocle that his brother had somehow miraculously found in his nightstand, so their patriarch was thankfully disqualified from babysitting. The entire quintet still liked his company, but his age and inexperience with modern technology was certainly showing. Case in point: the dark knight of legend was possessing Dante's old television to show Tony memories of his glory days. Vergil could only shake his head. Were they not supposed to be demonic royalty? 

When he looked for Vie he felt a flash of fear because the teenager was not in the dark corner he had left him to read in. Edward Gorey laid abandoned on a neatly folded blanket beside a still steaming cup of Oolong. Knowing himself, that was two red flags too many.

"Anthony, have you seen your brother?" he called out without looking at the problem. If he kept this casual, then they would never need to worry. 

"Uh, no? Some girl in a red dress came by and he got all weird though." 

Throw caution to the wind and casualty to hell, because Vergil was out of his seat and basically flying towards the front door as soon as those words had reached his conscious mind. If this was what he thought it was, then Nero would rip his head off before Dante could stop him. It took Vergil  two hours before he realized that he had left the other twin alone, and considering that Tony was Dante's variant that had been a big mistake, but by then all was already lost and hope had been abandoned. 

Once Vergil was well and truly gone, Tony knocked his foot against the wooden barrel to his right. It shook twice, then Vie climbed out. 

"So, we're gonna do this or what?" He looked at his brother. 

"We have to." Vie replied, looking a little desperate. 

Tony could understand the guy. Ever since they lost their mother and got separated life had been dull and no amount of mercenary work or big cool explosions could fill that void. Enzo had been okay, but there had been an Eva-shaped hole that nothing could stitch close again in both of their hearts. From his early teens to when his world had literally ended, he had thought nothing could ever dull the grief. 

And then came his variant to spirit them away. The parallel to the Rabbit wasn't lost on him, but Tony liked to think they got the better deal. Dante was everything he had wished for when he had been an ankle-biting street urchin. He couldn't fill the hole Eva left behind, but he could hold them together just enough to stop the cracks from spreading. 

His twin ripped him right out of that daydream by asking, "was this really necessary?" 

Tony scratched the tip of his ear and grinned, "yep. Had to get rid of him somehow." 

"I assured him that I am still a v-" Vie got cut off when his brother stuffed his cravat into his mouth.

"Nope. I'm not hearing you say that, bro. Let's go before the older you comes back and turns me into a lampshade for sending him on that wild goose chase." 

Vie glared at his twin and opened the portal, "remember; we are to cut loose ties, not create more problems. Can you do that?" 

"Sure?" at his brother's stern look, he held up his hands, "I can. Listen, I want to stay here as much as you do. If this is what it takes then yeah, I'll be good. No stunts. No solo tours. In and out, totally professional." 

"Father took a risk when he brought us here. This is the least we can do to repay him." under his breath Vie added, "it's hard to believe you two are supposedly the same person." 

"Ouch, who pissed into your morning tea today?" 

Vie hissed right back, "you would be worried too if you used your head for once!" 

"My head works fine, but maybe I would be nicer if you told me what even happened! Details, bro, I need them. You're kinda letting me walk into this blind, you know?" 

The duo stopped once they made it through the portal safe and sound. The roof of what had once been the facility they had kept Tony frozen in could barely hold their weight, but it stood. Somehow. 

"Blind?" Vie blinked, a little irked by the fact that he was confused. 

"Yeah, you haven't told me anything. All I know is you need my help with something here." 

"And you just agreed to accompany me with no questions asked…?" 

Tony shrugged, "because it was you who asked, that was good enough for me. Besides, I'm asking them now!" 

"Foolishness, Tony, foolishness." – this is what earned you a needle to the neck twice now. Was left unsaid. 

"Blah, blah. So what exactly got the pole in your butt so rattled today?" 

Vie sighed, then pointed to the hole before them, "they experimented on Sparda. It is safe to assume they did the same with you, and I want to eliminate that research. Uncle has shared his findings with me and I hate every word I read." 

"You're thinking they might use that to build a gun that can actually hurt dad." he realized. 

"All of us, not just our father. They wish to use us like mere tools. We don't have to be conscious… or alive for that." 

Vie nodded once, and then vanished into the shadows to leave Tony to stir in his own pit of worries. He's been alone for so long. Too long. Even then, as a child, he had always begged his mother to tell him stories of their father not because he was all that interested in the adventures of the man, but because he wanted to be close to him in some way. He had wanted him there too, with them, just like all the other fathers were. The stories made him feel real, and gave shape to the ambiguous idea of 'dad' in his head. For just a few moments he could imagine him there with them all, watching over him and his brother as they slept. 

Treasured in dreams, abandoned in the waking world. There was a time he had wanted to stay asleep forever. He couldn't, of course, but what else had there been for him? Then they froze him and his wish had become reality, only for the ice to freeze his mind as well. Cryostasis was a dreamless sleep. It was nothingness. Limbo, but cold enough to make every endless second bite little chunks out of him. There he was truly isolated and alone, where even his hopes and dreams were taken from him. 

"Nah. Don't really have much to return to either, to be honest. No family, no home, no human rights… " he had said it so casually back then. 

No love, no warmth, no safety. He didn't dare say out loud. 

When Tony woke up in Dante's arms he had been so sure that the man had been his father not because of the hair or face – he had only been able to see some smudged blobs back then. It had been the way Dante held him and spoke to him that had made him think "that's him! He came when I needed him the most." and in a way he had. All those stories he had been told fitted the old man just fine. Thus, by his absolutely flawless and awesome logic, Dante was dad . Easy. 

He also brought Vie home, the brother he had thought he lost. After that bit there was nothing he wouldn't do for the man. Within reason, of course, but Tony had sworn to himself to keep his family whole this time. They would make it. No. They had already made it, as hard as that was to believe the nightmare was over. It had been smothered by a red leather coat and strangled by hands that smelled of gunpowder. Against all odds they were found by a man that promised safety and gave them a future. 

If there was anything out there – or anyone – who dared to threaten his family, then that meant war. Tony didn't kill humans. However, if there was one thing he learned from his time with Darkcom then it was that there were worse fates than death, and that Vie would help him hide the bodies. Or vice versa. Now that they didn't have to fight over scraps and were loved again they had both mellowed out. His brother wasn't competition anymore, and could maybe almost be his stuck-up partner in crime.  

Tony followed him into the abyss of the detention center he had been in and shivered. Already the phantom feelings of bitter cold started to bite his very soul. He drove them out just like he had been taught. No ice would ever freeze him again. Nobody – nothing – could keep him from his loved ones, not as long as even a single ember of his inner fire burned. Once he caught up with his twin again he got a raised brow and even an approving nod from him. If that wasn't motivational, he didn't know what was. His smile back made Vie turn around to march on. Together this time.  

Gunfire echoed above. Some stragglers must still be around and fighting for a world that didn't exist anymore. Two realms had become one, and there was no savior around who could split them again. Both twins knew the sheer amount of power that would require. Not even Dante and Vergil combined could hope to pull that off. They had to be careful and march on. 

There was not much left of the laboratory. Vials of various fluids and test tubes had been shattered to leave a colorful mess on the floor. If the leftover lumps of flesh had been alive once they surely weren't anymore. Even the supposedly stainless steel surgical tools had been damaged by the near acidic air quality of their own personal hell. Tony was sick of it all. Vie didn't look any better either, even as he squared his jaw and started to slice everything into ribbons. The computers were the easiest to destroy. The cancer grew chitin and left behind such a big mess however. 

One look at what was swimming in those test tubes made it clear what kind of research they had been doing there. Tony tried not to think about the fact that his old pod was connected to some of them. Wires and tubes still tainted red with his blood ran from what had once been his prison to a cluster of little bubbles that each housed an overgrown leech. 

Darkcom had tried to make their own army of hybrids. They had failed miserably, yes, but that they had even tried was something that worried both brothers. Every bit of cancerous growth in this room, every cell stolen and broken apart to be reassembled to become nothing more than a weapon… had once been a part of Tony. This was him on the floor, and on the furniture, and one the walls, and the ceiling too. 

He closed his eyes and unleashed the devil inside. Vie had a moment to jump out of the way before a wave of red energy blasted everything into ashes, except for a small plastic box with a miraculously white blanket inside. It was a feeling that kept him from destroying it. Some loose tendril of a thought deep in his most primal instincts told him that he would probably regret incinerating that thing. Tony didn't know why, but where Vie used his head, he used whatever that was, and usually it worked out fine. 

Opening the box was easy. His claws could cut through it like it was made of butter. The blanket itself was softer than anything he had ever touched. It was also warm and smelled of antiseptic and something else – dandruff maybe? It was a uniquely weird smell that burned itself into his memory against his will and almost made him gag. 

Then the blanket moved. Then Vie moved. Before Tony even realized what had happened he had caught his brother's Yamato with his bare hand and blood dripped onto that pristine white fabric as well as its squirming contents. A hollow growl echoed from his throat. At once his brother stepped back to give him a look of horrified shock. 

Or, maybe not him, but the baby in his arms. A boy with the palest skin, whitest hair, and a patch of maroon and plum colored scales on his right arm. The brothers shared one look and came to a mutual agreement. 

"We can't leave him here." 

"Father will not be pleased. Uncle even less so." 

"You think they will be happy if we let a baby die?" 

Vie remained silent. There was no way he could answer that. 

Tony dreaded asking, "So… who's kid is this?"

"A clone, I would think. They were going for replication, not reproduction. Considering they held you captive and never got a sample from me, it is safe to assume this is yours." 

"I'm too young to be a dad!" Tony held the baby as far away from him as he could without dropping him. 

"So was my variant when cousin Nero was born and they are fine." 

Unlike Nero however, this little half-demon had a much warmer glow to his veins. They dared to say it was a sunshine golden color, a few shades lighter than Tony's and Dante's lava-like ember. He had a feeling that the butterfly effect had given this one a much kinder fate. Tony bounced the baby a few times, then even dared to throw and catch the boy in his blanket. Laughter echoed through the abandoned ruins. The entire scene felt surreal. 

"How old do you think he is?" Tony asked. 

Vie inspected the child without real interest, "If they did not artificially age him, I would guess four months. Five at most. That would align with the time of your imprisonment. Although I admit my knowledge of infants is lacking." his priorities were elsewhere at the moment. 

Tony was about to reply to his brother when he heard a very familiar voice shout insults at whatever was clawing at the walls. He knew that woman. When paternal instincts were handed out he must have slept through it because Tony froze, then frantically tried to figure out where to put his baby. Vie stepped before him to act as a shield as their nemesis stumbled into the room and pointed a single pistol at them. 

She recognized them, and for the first time since they had met she didn't harden her glare or spit more insults. Mary looked tired as she leaned against the wall. Blood ran from the torn hole where her left arm should have been. The brothers knew if they turned away and left now she would die. 

Vie had an idea. A mad spark flared alive in his eyes. Tony shivered. 

Chapter Text

If they didn't help her she would die, but their options were limited. 

Vie prided himself in being the brains to his brothers brawns. Tony acted where he reacted. It was a delicate balance that made them work. So when it was Vie who acted and made the first step, and his twin had to be the one to react, their carefully cradled equilibrium tipped. 

"Wha-ooah! What are you doing!?" his brother yelled. 

"She will bleed out if we do nothing. A graft will let her live, unless you have a better idea?" 

He had none, not that Vie had expected anything from his brother. 

To find out there was a child he had no idea of, and then to suddenly be responsible for said child must be a strange feeling, in Vie's opinion. His variant had extensively lectured him about the topic before. Once they had found out how and when Nero was made, his adoptive uncle had all but terrorized him about safe sex. It was quite ironic that in their world it was his brother who unknowingly – and without consent – had become a teenage father. A small part of him was glad there was no 'mother' involved and that the heartbreak was limited to a test tube or two. 

Vergil had taught them about demons, humans, and devils. Each of them were as different as they were the same, but where demons had no capability to care, the devil just may. Whether or not that was a good thing was up to him, however.

With that in mind Vie went to look for parts. The scientists had grown enough of them to offer him a variety of shapes to choose from, but their quality left a lot to be desired. Most specimens had degraded into little more than blobs, and Vie needed at least an arm to replace the one the lieutenant had lost. Hybrid genetics were just the right blend of stable and opportunistic to make this work. 

Perhaps it was a bit vindictive but he chose to care whether she lived or died. Indifference would be too kind. Nero had shown him her paperwork, her dossier too. She had always been a demon killer for no other reason than that she wanted to exterminate them. It was never personal until she made it so. Now it was personal to him because this was the woman who had torn his brother's life apart, tore him apart, and then threw him into the darkest corner to collect frostbite and cobwebs while her people stole his blood to create weapons. She made her choice, and he cared enough to honor it. 

Vie finally found the spare parts he needed. The new arm was still twitching as he cut it from the brain dead test subject. It bled a little before it started to heal itself, which wouldn't do. He had to attach it quickly, and thankfully it integrated into Mary's human body just fine. When the demonic blood filled her wounds and knit her together, she let out a sigh of relief. By the looks of it the wound must have been quite painful. 

"She's going to be so mad when she wakes up." 

"Hmm. She will live."

"Yeah, but we won't." Tony eyed her pistol. He hated the green glow coming from it. 

"She will be like us. It was your flesh and blood I used, and I doubt she can afford to risk destroying herself now." 

"That… doesn't sound disgusting at all, you know? And right in front of the baby too! Eww." 

Vie shushed his brother. He had done what needed to be done. This world needed a hybrid to save them, and now he had given it one. 

"You know that's the same woman who stabbed me in the back multiple times and blew me up for fun… right?" 

"We are not helping her. We are helping our old world." Vie turned around to face his twin, "is our life an easy one?" 

"It's fine, I guess? I mean it's been a blast since dad picked us up." 

"But before that?" 

He knew the exact moment he had his brother. The click of the pieces falling into place in his mind was almost audible. Vie nodded, and Tony looked away. 

"Now she will stand in our place and properly inherit our nightmare, quite literally." 

Before he could dodge, he felt himself be pulled into a desperate hug by his twin. His little brother rarely acted like it, but then and there Vie was reminded of the long hour that was between them. Rough and tough, sharp and bold – it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. They had cut the last cord and passed the baton on. From this point onwards they were free from this broken world that never wanted them. 

During the hug Tony's baby had been squeezed between them. The tiny thing was squealing and hiccuping in joy as he reached for whatever he could. In this case that was Tony's overgrown mop of hair, and Vie's favorite cravat. How something that soft could pull with such force was beyond him. Tony just laughed at what must have been his face. 

"He's so cuuuute! Yes you are, you're my little murder machine. Totally. You'll be a womanizer one day, I bet!" 

A quick prayer was sent to whichever deity was willing to listen. Vie feared for his brother's spawn. 

"Look how clingy and cuddly he is! Bro, he's like the total opposite of Nero." Tony bounced his baby some more, "I think I'll name you Bianco." 

"You can not be serious." but by that point Vie was already hiding his face in his hands, because he knew once his brother had made up his mind there was little anyone could do. 

"Come on! It's a good name!" he defended this atrocity. 

"It is a joke, quite literally." Vie deadpanned, "and that is a child not a pet."

"So? Look at that bundle of sunshine! It fits! Besides, you'd have named him something stupid like Brutus." 

Vie decided not to grace his idiot of a relative with a response. He didn't deserve one after such disrespect. 

Thankfully their huntress was waking up, so all baby related issues had to be shelved for a blessed moment or two. 

"Why's it got to be you?" she moaned, too dazed to properly think. 

"Better us than the nasty things outside. Or do you want me to set up a date with Mr too-many-teeth?" 

"Shut up…" 

"Nuh uh. It's morning, sunshine. Hell says hello, and you've got to get up and continue the fight." 

She reached for her pistol and noticed with horror that the limb she had moved was not her own. It was spindly, red scaled and purple skinned, with claws and little barbed thorns on the elbow. A demon's hand had taken the place of the one she had lost to Beowulf, and it felt no different than her old one. 

"What the fuck have you done to me?!" she gasped, scared and almost hysterical. 

Vie moved to stand before Tony and his baby. With his twin shielding him, the younger of the two felt his confidence build itself back up too. 

"Listen," Tony raise his voice and filled it with fire, "I'm done with you. I've got better things to do than to let myself be abused by you for fun. This you and me thing isn't working out. I see that now. 'Dante and Lady' won't happen." 

Vie nodded his approval, "You will have to defend humanity in our place. Perhaps you can even find a way to separate the worlds for good this time? Whatever may happen, their fate rests on your shoulders now." 

Mary grit her teeth and used her human hand to pull off the scales on the demonic one. They grew back before she could even bleed. The only thing dripping from her wrist were her own tears of anger, regret, and maybe even guilt. 

"Your fucking asshole of a father closed it already, dumbass. Just like that shithead did two thousand years ago, he left us stuck here to literally rot in hell." 

The twins flinched and looked at each other in shock. Maybe they had underestimated their father and uncle just a little. It was hard for Vie to wrap his head around the fact that Dante and Vergil had the power to split worlds. It also brought him peace. He was safe, and he had the potential to grow just as strong one day. 

"There is always a way forward." Vie said, and Tony finished, "and always a way out." 

With that they left her to her fate, quite alive in body, but not so much in spirit. 

"Bye, Mary!" 

The twins jumped through the portal back home to be greeted by an itty bitty welcome committee that would have become an inter-dimensional search party in a few hours. Dante leaned on his desk and looked lazily at them with a smile that told them just how screwed they were. Vergil gave them a cold glare. It seemed his pride had taken quite a hit from their stunt, and now his ego wanted to get even. Nero was there too and had his wings out, probably to keep the elder pair of twins in check. He was also the first to spot their tiny souvenir.

"Please tell me you just stole some random infant and that's not what I think it is." 

The slicked back hair on Vergil's head puffed up as midnight blue scales crept over his shoulders. The man was seconds from exploding, and his eyes were on Vie. 

Tony saved his brother from that terrible fate, "they cloned me." 

Which effectively shocked Nero into a stupor, made Vergil deflate like a balloon, and Dante grin like a Ken doll on crack. 

Their father kept staring at them, then he sighed, shook his head, and shrugged, "a baby. Cool." 

"We still need a proper name for him." Vie eyed the little clone. 

"Bi-an-co?" Tony sang at him as he held the baby up.

Vergil looked horrified, Dante was trying to hold his laughter in, and Nero seemed to be the only capable adult in the room. 

"Or we go with his color," Dante suggested, "Granato?" 

"What is wrong with you?" 

Tony pouted, "Florence, then?"

"Where the hell did you get that one from?" Nero shook his head.

"That's where Alighieri was born." 

Vergil and Vie shared a look and then stared at Dante and his mini-me respectively. The two red devils just shrugged in return. 

"I read Mom's copy when we were seven." the older replied, and the younger said, "I saw the movie." 

So they were more than just gun-toting barbarians. How curious. How novel. 

"Spero?" Dante threw in, "means 'to hope' in Latin." 

"That sounds too much like my name. You yell that, and we both come running." 

"Sounds like a win in my book, kid." 

"No!" 

"Okay, okay! You've got any better ideas?" 

Nero seemed to fight with himself for a moment. He held up his hand to silence his uncle before the man could even speak, saying "No, Dante, we aren't naming him after your deodorant either. Let me think!" and then started to pace around the room. Thankfully the others left him be. Vie held a spark of hope that out of all of them, Nero would be the right choice to name their new baby without leaving the child to a fate of ridicule. 

"Credo." he eventually said, "and that's not up for discussion." 

Out of all of them only Dante knew what that name meant to his nephew. He stood up from where he had been sitting on his desk and held his arms out to hold their newest family member. Tony didn't hesitate to hand him over, even if his movements were still awkward and stiff. 

Dante wasn't an old man. He was only 39. He also had just become a grandfather himself and had no idea what to do with that information. He rubbed the baby's nose and watched him scrunch up his little face in annoyance. The boy was too soft, too fragile. Then a squishy fist caught the offending finger and tried to squeeze. 

Dante grinned, "Hello, Credo. Welcome to the family. I promise I won't mix up your bottle with beer… too often." 

Chapter Text

Sparda, still legally blind, had sniffed out the new nestling easily enough. There was a young life in their nest and he was curious why his kin had decided to hide the child from him. They even sent him away from the nest without even introducing him to the little one. Dante must have known about it, but he could not imagine why his son would keep this from him. He had to track his great-grandson down, and ended up in an orphanage in a city called Fortuna. A flash of fear ran through him. They would not. They could not! 

His son had the space and resources to care for the nestling, and while he was young, Anthony was capable of caring for his brood. He would help! Sparda was more than willing to help and raise the little one if his kin could not do it themselves. There was no need for an orphanage at all. 

So he decided to infiltrate the location and liberate his great-grandson. That nestling was coming back home with him no matter what. So help him, if his son did not want his own grandchild, then Sparda would just build his own nest for the little larva. The security of the place was pitiful at best and their ceilings annoyingly low. After he had bumped his horns into the wall for the fourth time and nobody came running he just stopped to sneak around at all. Honestly, it was not worth the energy. Humans should have never started to use carpet in their dens and nests. It muffled his hoofsteps far too much. Any amateur could have robbed them blind and they would be none the wiser. Sparda chuckled to himself at the irony of that complaint. 

Then he found the child in a human made bassinet that felt far too unsafe for a nestling. In two weeks at most he would start to climb out, if it held him that long at all. His species was rather insectoid and tended to burrow… and eat wood – which this bassinet was unfortunately made of. It was also too small. His wings could hardly stretch in there. In short; the care provided was inadequate and he would like to take his great-grandson with him now. 

His usual method of operandi worked like a charm. Stalk. Pounce. Profit. Sparda reached down to pick up the baby and felt the child's squishy human form. The few scales the boy had were still soft, so he could not be older than four months of age. That was when they started to shed for the first time, and the boy was still smelling of his newborn coat. He would have to get the proper necessities for a molting larva soon, or hopefully get one of his sons to fetch them.

With his eyes as good as lost, his other senses had picked up the slack. His ears easily heard human footsteps coming towards this room. Female, young but adult. She smelled of milk, so he weighed his choices. The tiny thing needed to be fed and he was very much male. He could let her feed him one more time before he took his kin back. There was little harm a human could do with a milk bottle, and he would be close by just in case. He put the baby down and retreated into the shadows. For now. 

And then his grandson followed the human girl, wrapped his arms around her, and nuzzled her head. Huh? 

"Thanks, Kyrie. I know this is sudden but you're a lifesaver." 

The human, Kyrie, replied, "It is no problem at all and you know it." 

"Dante's going to baby-proof the shop soon. No idea what he's building in Tony's room but I'm glad they aren't putting Credo into a pizza box and just call it a day. Trish is helping so it's probably not going to suck." 

Sparda tilted his head in pleasant surprise. Mayhaps he had misjudged the situation a little. Considering that the nestling's arrival had been rather sudden, and that his sons both tended to be rather defensive, it would be reasonable for his youngest to ask for a little time to disarm their home's defenses. From what he has seen so far it was likely indeed safer for young Credo to be placed with this human for a little while. As long as his grandson was watching over him, he could live with… oh. The corners of his lips curled upwards. She was not just some random human, if he heard that kiss right. 

A rather sudden and rather loud banging on the wall next to him made his head hurt and ears ring. Sparda grumbled, then climbed down from his perch.

"Kyrie, that's my grandfather… he does that sometimes. Remind me to get a flyscreen." Nero nuzzled the tip of his nose into his girlfriend's hair before he rushed off, "Babysitting a quartet of terrors, you know the drill." 

"Good luck to you, Nero!" she waved even after he had already disappeared around the corner. 

Then Kyrie turned to look at who can only be the Savior. Sparda, the dark knight of legend. Her heart skipped a beat as all her upbringing clashed with the realization that this demon was a part of her family. Or was it the other way around? They both weren't quite sure there. 

"Hello." Sparda made the first step. 

If his figure was a looming shadow, she pretended not to see, instead she did a formal curtsy in greeting. However, Sparda only saw a blurry shape move. To him she was a cloud of cotton, but the aura of calmness she gave off reminded him enough of his beloved Eva to understand that he was welcome in her home. 

"I should apologize for the intrusion. My sons schemed and I assumed the worst." he told her evenly, and gestured to baby Credo. 

Kyrie sighed and shook her head with a soft smile, "of course. I wish they would just talk, sometimes. So much trouble would never become problems if we talked more. Maybe I can help you?" 

"Help…?" he blinked owlishly. 

"Here, take a seat." she guided him to the brown blob that turned out to be a rather comfortable sofa, "let me make us some tea and I will tell you everything I know. Few things get past me, no matter how hard your sons and grandson try." 

Something twisted in his chest. He knew that fire. He knew that warmth very well. 

When his darling grand-daughter in law came back she offered him a cup of steaming hot tea without sugar. It was kept as natural as it could be and he was thankful for it, the blend tasting of strawberries and vanilla. 

"Dante called yesterday to ask if I could watch over the little one so that he could furnish a proper nursery without having to worry about hurting the baby. He said he did not want to risk it, and since I take care of this orphanage here we agreed that this was the safest place. It is no bother at all! Credo…" she paused, her voice thick with something between grief and awe, "he is a sweetheart." 

"I see. While it is embarrassing to admit that I overreacted, it puts me at ease to know my fears were founded in a misunderstanding. With that said, I should probably…?" 

"Please, stay for just a little bit longer. You are always welcome here." Kyrie told him. 

How she could have guessed his inner worries, he did not know. Humans always had this inner ability to uncover those weaknesses. Without a proper reason to stay, Sparda had feared she would throw him out of her home like the intruder he was. She instead offered him free passage whenever he pleased, and access to her young. Either she was careless, which he doubted, or she could read hearts on a whim. 

At ease now he took in the aura of her place. Humans don't build nests, but their homes each held a spark of personality in them that he had learned to interpret. This home – her home – was a safe haven. The natural energies flowing through it were calm, wrapped in the waves of his grandson's lingering demonic presence. He could see himself visiting often. If the smile tugging on his face was any indication of his imminent future, then he was certain it involved this place. For a moment Sparda was lost in thought, asking himself what he did to deserve all of this.  

Kyrie's voice ripped him out of his daydreaming, "May I ask, what do you think of the statues? We had Dante help us when we rebuilt to make them a little more accurate." 

"I am almost completely blind, dear child. If there were any statues, I'm afraid I could not see them. My apologies." 

"Oh." There was disappointment in her voice that Sparda did not like. Whatever those statues were, they were important to this girl. 

"Can you describe them to me?" he asked to lift her spirits. "Meet me halfway, and I will try my best to answer your question." 

"Well… they are of you, sir." 

The teacup almost fell from his claws, "of me!? Why?" 

"Because you are the Savior! Our Savior, who came to defend us in our darkest hour, who turned on his world to protect ours and never asked for anything in return. We are grateful, so we created statues of you as a tribute." 

Sparda needed a moment to digest that he had apparently acquired a cult. Once the shock had settled, he let a warm chuckle escape his chest and bowed his head in return. 

"Dear child, you are welcome, but please treat me like a friend, not an idol." 

Kyrie hesitated, but found her courage to ask, "Savior… Sparda, may I ask you something personal?"

"Certainly." 

"Do you miss your home sometimes? The underworld, I mean." 

At that, what might qualify as his heart squeezed itself shut for a moment. His backup still carried on, but his main core shuddered under the very human question that he simply had no answer to. The only one he really truly missed was Eva, but that was not what had been asked.

"My home is here, is it not? How can I miss it when I am home?" he went with the truth, "admittedly, I am a bit sad none have followed my path so far. I imagine that two thousand years should have been enough for another devil to awaken to emotion as I did." 

As he grumbled, Kyrie hastily threw in, "but I thought you separated the worlds? I don't understand."

"The barrier was never meant to lock them out. You certainly must have noticed the 'natural' portals, yes? Imagine it more as a net, not a wall. I intended for it to let those pass who could prove they would not destroy this world. Devils who reject power would have easily been able to shed enough to safely make that jump. Port cities with their coming and going were especially convenient for me to anchor it to, making it self-sustaining." 

"And Sanctus defiled it!" Kyrie gasped in outrage. 

"And your boyfriend took care of it, Missy. Hi, dad. Nero called to let me know you ended up here." 

Sparda faced the floor when his son invited himself into the room. He didn't dare look at Dante after he thought his youngest was capable of abandoning their newest family member. In turn, that son of his decided to ignore his father's discomfort and scratched the jewel on his forehead until he whistled. Kyrie had to hide her surprised laughter behind her hands.

"Even legendary dark knights are ticklish. Mom found the spot years ago, don't ask." 

Sparda couldn't see it, but he was sure Dante was grinning at his predicament. As if that boy of his was any better. They all knew the little barbs on Dante's head were just as much of a weak spot as his jewel was, and Sparda knew what he would target the next time they found time to spar.   

"Do you want to hold Credo? I need to borrow Kyrie for a moment." 

His son didn't wait for his reply. Before Sparda could make a peep the nestling was put into his hands again and the two were off, leaving the smell of paper and ink behind. It sounded like a rather sloppy grimoire was thrown on a table in the room next door, and then the two were talking about toys and clothes. 

A snort made its way out of him, and it made the baby he held squeal. 

"Did I wake you? Here. One moment, then it is nightfall again." he said as he draped his wings over them both. 

He might not have been there for his sons, but he vowed to do better and give his best now that he could. Be it his twins, his son's twins, or this little one – Sparda made a silent oath to give them the world and more. 

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Chapter Text

This wasn't how Trish had thought her day would be going. It was a wonderfully warm and sunny mid-June Friday, and everywhere around her were happy and proud parents. She still didn't count herself as one of them, but for the sake of Dante's adoptees she had to play along. 

Then again, they were hers on paper too, weren't they? Humans don't snatch people from parallel worlds, so regular adoption was not an option. Instead, they had pretended that their paperwork had just been lost and that they needed a fresh copy. Of course a birth certificate needs both a father and a mother, and Trish had been the least awkward choice – which should say a lot, all things considered. 

His twins. Not hers. These were Eva's sons, all of them, and no matter how similar their faces were she was no Eva. Yet somehow there she was, dressed in something that could even be considered socially acceptable, in this ocean of families on graduation day. It was still surreal to think the two terrors had made it through that year. It was even less believable that both of them got good enough grades to get into university. Vie had decided to humble brag about it. Tony was still considering trade school instead. Getting that one sorted out would be some last minute thing again, as usual. 

Speaking of them, Tony was with his father. The two seemed to be glued together again, and yet Vie chose to stay with her for some odd reason. He was trying his best to become her new shadow. Trish had asked Vergil about it a week ago, but the eldest twin had no idea what this was about either. The variants had been with them for over a year now. Their different experiences made them their own people, not just copies, and it was in moments like these that it showed. 

"Age before beauty, old man." 

Trish heard Dante tease Vergil and managed to turn around just in time to watch the two get into a miniature slapfight, much to the horror of the present teachers and other parents. Flyting had gone out of style centuries ago, not that that would stop the pair of half-devil dimwits from turning it into a battle Royale. Dante especially was talented in the art of ritualistic insults. Trish had a feeling the man's flythings were some kind of pre-battle appetizer. To Nero and Vergil the act of – dare she think it – poetic bitch slapping was an act of battle in itself, because of course it was! What else could she expect from them?! 

She groaned, glad that her hair was long enough to hide behind it. That was her man-child. That's who she decided to go back to after traveling the world. He was her home, and who she settled down with. It wasn't that she would give him up for the world, but that look of carefully fabricated innocence mixed with the promise of imminent chaos would one day be her doom and his own damned downfall.  

Another mother beside her sent her a knowing and sympathetic smile, "don't worry, dear. Mine is just as bad."

Trish was struggling to form a reply, but fortunately for her the other woman was more interested in Vie. 

"Is this your son? I could have sworn I saw you with longer hair earlier! He sure does take after his father, doesn't he?" the woman squinted, "but he's got your eyes." 

"Uh, yes. Yes, he's…" Trish never had trouble playing her part before, so she had no idea where that knot in her stomach came from now, "that's Vie, my oldest. You probably saw Tony earlier." 

"Oh! Twins?" 

Trish nodded.

"Lucky you. I'm dealing with triplets." the other mother lamented her situation only to gape like a fish when all five of the white haired hybrids formed a pile behind her. Speak of the devils. 

Vergil had dragged Dante by his hair, only to be bullied into pretending to be nice by Nero, who in turn was tailed by a snickering Tony. They all fell into formation around Vie and looked at Trish as if she was the solution to every mystery of the universe. 

"Two pairs of twins." Trish corrected her proudly as she joined her pile, "and one extra. Strangely enough that one is the only one who uses his head." 

"Hey!" 

"Kid, she just complimented you." 

Trish bit her lip and shrugged, "well, most of the time." 

Suddenly the other mother went pale as yet another white haired man joined the group from behind. He was even paler than the rest, with hair that curled around his face like the horns of a ram. He wore a rich plum colored dress shirt with matching pants that sported a thorned vine print, which let him fit right in with the rest of the group. Compared to the two in red, he looked almost normal. From all of them he had the brightest smile as he raised a hand to wave into their general direction. 

"Hello." 

And the woman fainted when she saw his shadow, much to the amusement of the entire demonic family. Of course, in return, said demonic family broke out into either juvenile cackling or barely concealed exasperation. 

Trish felt Dante's hand on her shoulder before he spirited their youngest away again. Vie decided to follow Vergil into the shadows. Nero went to look for Kyrie. Which left only the family patriarch: the dark knight himself. 

Sparda let a gentle smile bloom on his face, "playing pretend is not as easy as it sounded in your head, or is it?" 

Sha had been caught. There was no denying it, "You know about that?" 

"I know that you love my son dearly. You created children together after all. Yet it is obviously not the love I felt for Eva. I believe the current human term for your relationship is 'platonic' not that humans would understand demonic courtship etiquette." 

"Well… We experimented in the beginning. Dante wanted to let it develop naturally, and I wanted to see where things could go." 

The wriggling brows and sharp as flint shimmer in the old devil's eyes were equal parts Dante's chaos and Vergil's order. 

"At ease," the elder devil spoke gently, "you are family, whether you created your nestlings the old fashioned way or conjured them magically. If you wish to enter a marriage contract then you two have my full blessings." 

"What gave us away?" Trish asked, now more confident than ever before. 

"I saw your horrendous attempt at creating a nest. This is the work of a first-timer. Thus, logic dictates that your twins must have already been grown when they came into your life. The most simple explanation is that you formed a partnership and created them."

And Trish laughed like a mad woman, one freed from a burden she never knew she carried. 

Tony looked up and saw a familiar face among the crowd. It could not be. His heart fluttered in excitement even as his head reminded him that this was a variant of the man, and that his guy had died. That mattered little to his feelings, so he grabbed his dad's sleeve and pulled the old man with him to say hi. 

Dante turned around just in time to see where his mini had decided they were supposed to go, and suddenly both of them wore matching grins on their faces. 

"Enzo!" 

Both the bumbling broker and the two pretty ladies looked at them with curiosity. It took Enzo about four seconds before his face went pale and he tried to ward them off by holding his hands up in the form of a cross. 

"No! Not you! Begone ya pest, I can't take both of you today and– hold up since when do you have a kid?!" 

Enzo's horror made the witches giggle and the devils purr in playful joy. Tony was a little sad to see the variant of his former broker run for the hills as soon as he had recovered from the initial shock of seeing two Dantes. Feeling that warm and firm hand pat him on the back helped with that though. Just knowing he was, and always would still be there was a nice feeling.

"Miss me, darling devil? I see I'm not the only one on my best behavior today." the strange woman with endless black hair greeted his old man.

"It's good to see you too, both of you. How's Mr Redgrave doing?" 

"At home with a broken leg, I'm afraid. You would not believe how that happened." 

"It's Luka. Anything's possible with Luka involved. Oh, hey, look." he pulled Tony to stand in front of him, "I've got my own kids now. The other one is hiding with a book somewhere." 

Trapped in his dad's embrace, there was little he could do. The strange woman reached out to run her thumb over his jaw. Then she reached behind Tony's head to ruffle his hair with a tiny mischievous smirk. He was ready to bolt until she held out a lollipop for him to take. If he went a little red then that was because she was literally putting her boobs into his face for fun. The old man only laughed at him, that traitor. The lollipop was strawberry flavored, so she couldn't be all bad, however. 

"Your papi and I are dear old friends, little variant. I'm Cereza, and this here is my daughter, Viola." she said and pointed towards the blonde punk with purple streaks in her hair. 

One look shared with Viola reassured him that he wasn't the only one feeling embarrassed that day. Deep down he was glad. He never thought he would get the chance to be. Many nights spent alone in a trashed old building were spent wishing for a second chance, but Divine Street was harsh and Brooklyn wasn't a place for miracles to come true. It had taken a trip to hell and back for that to happen. 

Although there was always room for improvement, "hey, dad? Why'd Enzo run screaming when he saw you?" There's a story behind all of that, he just knew it.

"Well… he beat me at strip poker once." Dante replied and Cereza grinned behind her hand, "later we found out that he cheated and decided to team up to teach him a lesson. Ever since, our Enzo's had enough of darling devils and wicked witches for a lifetime." 

"Hold up!" Tony gasped, "witches are real too?!" 

"Kiddo…"

"Can you do magic?" 

Dante drew back, startled for a moment, before he put both hands on his son's shoulders and nodded. Behind him Cereza wrapped her arms around Dante, both the picture of casual superiority. Tony had never before felt their age gap this badly. 

"So can you, little one. Magic is an inherent gift to Infernals. Your bloodline is especially gifted in the immaterial arts." 

That bit gave Dante an idea, "say, Viola, would you like to be the second Umbran witch to make a pact with a half-devil? I heard kids do summer jobs all the time." 

He then proceeded to offer and sell Tony as if the teenager was cheap merchandise. Any and all complaints that both the son and daughter may have had went blissfully and willfully ignored by their respective parent. 

All in all the day went great until a familiar face decided to grab Vergil by the coat and kidnap the firstborn son. 

Chapter Text

Vergil opened his eyes to a dark room with no furniture. He was free to move however, so he doubted that he was a prisoner. Across from his makeshift bedroll he saw a broken crystal beside an odd piece of technology that was quickly deemed too broken to be of use. Its presence alone, however, was too strange to be unimportant. If he concentrated hard enough he could almost feel the same ripple in reality come from those shards that usually echoed Yamato's cuts.  

He just had enough time to stand up and brush the dust off of his coat as the door to his left opened. The soft clicking of combat boots and faint rustle of demonic armor announced the arrival of his kidnapper. 

"Mary." He greeted his nephew's nightmare.

"That's commander Mary-Ann, now, thanks to you." came her surprisingly friendly reply. 

The way this was going made Vergil lift an eyebrow, "Oh?" 

She stood straighter, yet more at ease than she had the previous times they had met. Vergil noticed how she intentionally crossed her mismatched arms. Her pistol was still in easy reach, but she was – perhaps for the first time – not out for demonic blood. He supposed that was because it also ran through her own veins now. After he finished his quick assessment he noted with delight that the woman had ditched that atrocious combat suit for proper demonic armor. It wasn't quite the same grade as the Angelo armors Machiavelli had made for his Mundus, but it came close enough, and that meant few things would be able to harm her. 

"I've had time to think and reevaluate some things. Life is still a fucking nightmare, but I'm doing good. I'm actually doing shit that helps people." she scoffed with a smirk, "the other me was right. Freelance is the way to go if I want to fix my world." 

While that was nice to know, Vergil frowned, "and my presence here is required because…?" 

Mary sobered up and held out her demonic arm. Dante's donated blood gave off a familiar aura smelling just slightly too bitter to belong to his brother. Fueled by her humanity the claws were able to draw arcane rune arrays into the air between them. Vergil was almost impressed that she had learned this so quickly. Nero was still struggling to tell Infernal from Abyssal sometimes.

"I've got a team here that makes my old one look like incompetent fuckers. Some human, some not, most are like me…" she closed her eyes and flexed her claws, "we're fixing this shit hole one ass at a time and we found something big." 

Vergil was handed a plain folder full of what felt like photos and documents. His eyes scanned the printed words even as his heart and mind stopped to comprehend what he was reading. 

"Is she…" 

"Alive. Yes. Yes, she is. We're thawing her out as we speak." 

A tear fell. Vergil hadn't even noticed it until his vision blurred for a moment. 

"Our world went to hell, literally. Looking back, I'm glad you two got out, but that means she's got to go too. That's why you're here now. I'm going to end this shit show and start over, but for that my world needs a clean slate." 

The picture of his mother smiled back at him. This Eva looked as serene as his own had so long ago, especially as she was peacefully asleep. He could almost feel the ghost of her hand brushing through his hair. The memory of her voice echoed in his heart where he doubted anything was left to salvage. 

Vergil fixed a steely glare on Mary, "what do you propose?" 

"Evacuation. You use your fancy fucking portal sword to get her out of here while I cover you both. With all of you and that stupid crystal gone for good we should be untouchable." 

"Which would leave you forever cut off from my world." 

Mary crossed her arms and glared smugly back at him, fearless, "that's the goal, you demon." 

"Scum." 

Before Mary could explode, Vergil raised his hand and narrowed his eyes, "it is demon scum. If you have to swear, do so with grace. It will infuriate your enemies. Unless your enemy is my brother, of course."  

The commander blinked twice in surprise and then shrugged her shoulders. 

"One last encore, it shall be." Yamato echoed her master's excitement. 

This was his last mission and they would be complete. He was going to return with Eva, with their mother, and he was allowed to keep her, all while helping this lost world move on in its own way. By the looks of it, it was doing mighty fine without Sparda's kin in it.  

They had never been welcome there anyway. 

He searched the young commander for any signs of betrayal. His nephew had bad experiences with her, so his inner devil was on high alert around her. However, compared to the near acidic woman who had tried to shoot Dante's twin terrors a few months ago, this lady might actually be growing into the name. She certainly held herself like a proper commander should now. Vergil approved of how dignified she stood compared to the one from his own world, although he still had issues with her choice of vocabulary. 

All too soon Vergil was seated in an armored truck, with the still slowly defrosting cryostasis pod that contained his mother in the back. He was ready to defend her with his life. This time he was there to fight for her. This time he was not going to run. He swore he would avenge her or die trying, but when he looked at the pod a new feeling bloomed in his chest. The will to live and to see what the future would bring drove a wave of peace through him. Failure was not an option.  

Beside him sat two other devils, or at least something very close to that. There was a woman with green hair that was the picture of what humans thought succubi looked like, and beside her was a demon that apparently shared his father's sense of fashion. The little bit of kinship he felt with the other was overpowered by the wave of unease that flooded him near that one. 

Across from him sat Mary-Ann, who was squished between what he could only call a human in a cat costume, and a yeti. He didn't envy her, but he did question which of his choices in life had led him to end up in this situation. 

"Alright, we are going to go ahead and clear the path. No funny business, demon scum."  their commander warned the devil sitting beside Vergil with a stern eye. 

"We shall see." was the cryptic yet composed reply, which the commander waved off with a one-finger salute. 

"Vergil, Felicia will have your back. I expect you to fight as a team and escort our cargo. Sasquatch here will carry the pod, but won't be able to assist you. Understood?" 

His determined "Yes." was followed by a pleasantly chipper "Sure!" 

Mary-Ann nodded, "We've got three S-Class Makaians with us. That should be enough to deter the weaker fuckers from poking their noses where they don't belong. Drop off is ten miles north from here. Any questions?" 

Vergil raised his hand and spoke without waiting for permission, "What do you recommend I should do with the crystal once I have crossed back to my world?" 

It earned him an annoyed glare from the other devil, and an amused giggle from the succubus. He had a feeling that this one might get along a little too nicely with Dante, if given the chance. 

"That crystal was once a powerful Shintai created by Mundus to transport his legions to the human world." the succubus explained, "Sparda must have stolen and hidden it for personal use. Even broken it still holds some power." 

"And we can't risk keeping shit like this just laying around." 

"Understood… commander." 

When Vergil moved to take the box that contained the portal jewel's fragments a feeling like liquid static traveled through his arm. He was half tempted to let go and shake it off, but his arm was frozen in place as the alien sensation crawled through him and sunk its tendrils into his core. He pulled out Yamato to cut the feeling off, to destroy the shards before his body was taken from him again, but the intruder wasn't aiming for him. The energy wanted his sword. 

Like a magnet, the Yamato pulled the shards into itself. With one last shriek it assimilated the crystal and went silent once more. The torrent of pure, raw power inside it made his head spin. Vergil could not wait to see what Dante thought of his new acquisition. 

"Hm… that solves that headache." Mary-Ann huffed, "if you're done with that, we're here. Time to go." 

It never came to a battle. The commander had miscalculated when she counted three S-Class devils. If one were to ask, Vergil easily counted as one SSS-Class devil on his own. Only the sword of his twin could stop him, and since Dante was a whole world away from him, he had free reign to let loose and make a statement. 

And a statement he made. 

When her eyes opened again, she thought she saw double. She was so cold, so bitterly endlessly cold, that she felt so hot that she wanted to rip all of her clothes off. Even as frostbite gnawed on her bones she couldn't help but hiss as the paradoxical fire burned her alive. 

Wings folded over her. She would be able to recognize her husband's embrace blindfolded. The other pair of wings was… odd, but not unwelcome. One pair was warming her, while the other kept her head blissfully cool. Then a ghostly fourth set squeezed her into a big hug. When two more draped themselves over the already bizarre living tent she was buried in, Eva started to complain. 

The culprits – plural! – were anything but ashamed. She counted six, and… was that a baby?! And they all looked just like her husband. She could only stare in disbelief at the impossible sight before her. 

"Hi, mom." the older one in red said and waved as his eyes filled with tears. 

"Mother." she assumed that was her little Vergil… all grown up.

"Grandmother..?" the one with the shiny spectral wings said. 

Eva felt her heart skip a beat. She was a grandmother? Only yesterday had she been caring for two little boys. Now her boys were men and had boys of their own. 

Dante winced as if he could read her thoughts. He reached behind himself and pulled two older teenagers beside himself. The duo looked at Eva with open admiration and so much love that she could have sworn she knew them by heart. 

Eva narrowed her eyes at Dante and found what she had been looking for, "not so easy taking care of twins when you're the one raising them, hm?" 

Her youngest son snorted and hugged his pair, "they are terrors. Wouldn't trade them for the world though." 

"My son has manners." Vergil cut in with a smug smirk, "he is also the eldest grandchild." 

"Yeah but mine has a baby of his own." 

"Dante… that isn't something to brag about." Nero knocked on his uncle's head as Eva started to pale. 

"But Credo is adorable!" 

"Whatever you say, old man." 

Before everything could overwhelm her, Sparda approached her from behind and held her in a steady embrace. Her dark knight wouldn't let her fall. 

"I missed you." he purred into her hair, "I should have never left you." 

"Damn right you shouldn't have. But… why?" she looked up to see him flinch, then look away. 

"I thought my presence caused your sudden sickness. I left to find a cure." 

"I was sick?" she blinked at him owlishly and more than a little bit confused.

"No. Eva, beloved, would you believe me that in all of my years of life I have yet to learn how humans actually make babies?" 

At that, Eva burst out laughing loud and hard enough to silence the rest of her family. Near hysterics, she took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. Then she pulled back and punched her husband hard enough to make them both bleed. 

"He deserved that." She dared her boys to challenge that. 

Nobody did, although Dante and his twins rushed over to see if Sparda was okay. Emotionally of course, Eva knew full well what beast of a roach her darling truly was. That little love tap she gave him would be little more than if she hit Dante with a rolled up newspaper. Again. 

"Tony, Vie." her youngest pointed at the two. 

Their names were all they needed to barrel into her and hold on for dear life. As twins of a twin they looked just like her sons. It was easy to think that those two were her boys, only a dozen years younger. The third one looked at least a bit different, rounder and softer than her children but undeniably their blood. These two? The pair in her arms might as well have been clones – and perhaps she should stop reading those sci-fi novels and sit down. 

It had been Morrison who took the picture that day. Looking at it, Dante needed a bigger sofa. Or two new ones. Their family had bloomed into a small army over the past year, not that anyone was complaining. 

The mind is its own place. It can make a heaven of hell into a hell of heaven. Life is never fair, nor unfair. It is as it is, and becomes what one makes of it. Not too long ago, every member of this family believed to be all alone. They were maybe not the most conventional bunch, but the had each other and that was all that mattered.