#i think the scene where nero gets yamato is hands down the best one in the game. so fucking good and also the foundation for its sequel

[thequibblingking13]

The fact that the opening to Nelo Angelo's theme plays when Nero gets the yamato send a shiver up my spine. Vergil lost the yamato trying to take on Mundus in an attempt to imitate Sparda and then Nero restored it to defeat the Order, who are imitating Sparda for their own demonic purposes. Poetic cinema

#bee speaks #dmc #i think the scene where nero gets yamato is hands down the best one in the game. so fucking good and also the foundation for its sequel

[rodeoxqueen]

Being Best Friends With Vergil

“Dante by default is shaped like a friend. Friendship is a little more complicated with his brother. ” 

How you even managed to garner his attention is astounding. Often people like to compare Vergil to a cat, gradually giving him more and more attention like it’s scraps of food. I digress. He’s a more like a wild horse, unwilling to be contained.

He doesn’t even really care to get to know his estranged son Nero all that well. Someone of blood relation to him. It’s a tough subject of getting to know Vergil beyond formalities, beyond his own walls. 

There has to be a solid reason for Vergil to be intrigued by you. He’s extremely indifferent to a lot of things. There always has to be a motive for him to pay attention to something, someone. 

Maybe you have a book he wants, meeting him in public for the first time at a local bookstore. Make him wait as you finish reading it, offering refreshment as he is forced to sit down until you hand it over. 

Or you’re just a very strong person with clearly more social skills to initiate interaction with him. He won’t answer until he decides you mean no harm but good. 

Strength, vigor, fitness to survive the odds, are all the things Vergil defines himself with. You’ll have to emulate some of that yourself, physically,  mentally, and/or emotionally. He can’t weigh himself down to take care of you all the time, to be that nurturing. 

He likes quiet company with occasional discussion. He won’t go out of his way to entertain a conversation. You have to start a lot of talks or just share the same need for silence. 

Not a fan of alcohol either. The bars are too loud and rowdy. He thinks it’s so stupid humans get themselves inebriated, to lose their sense in a public area. He’d be the designated driver if he knew how to drive. 

Take him to a library, honestly. He’ll read in the quietest area, completely shut out from the world. 

It’s actually really fun to run errands with him, holding a horribly messily jotted-down list his brother threw at the back of his head.

He complains when he’s by his lonesome, and now he’s more willing to share it with you. 

He’s one of the best hecklers you’ve ever met. 

Think of the scene in The Office where Jim keeps trying to make Stanley laugh with the most asinine pranks until it’s the one that makes no sense that makes him cough out a chuckle. That’s your journey of knowing what makes Vergil laugh. It’s not even a laugh-it’s this slight shoulder shake and grin.

One of those moments such as the time you gave his brother a piñata to break. Dante was cocky, asking for a real tool besides a baseball bat, Vergil silently giving him the Yamato. Moments later-

“Fuck! Why is it full of bees?!” 

“That is why we called it a surprise piñata, brother,” Vergil says plainly as you wait for a high five. He gives a small “adequate teamwork” and does not return the gesture. 

He likes to have you around as a buffer of sorts. He’s the friend to sit around a party waiting for you if he knows no one there. 

There’s no beating around the bush with Vergil. Do not be passive-aggressive, he will not waste his time with you. If he’s being shitty, tell him. 

Although the friendship may feel stale at times, with Vergil’s withdrawn nature, it’s a concrete relationship. If there’s any sign of danger, Vergil will step forward and move you behind him. Regardless of how strong you are, you mean something to him. 

#vergil is so much harder to write for #friendship-wise #not enough platonic content for Vergil #vergil and reader #gender neutral reader #platonic headcanons #platonic relationship #platonic reader #vergil sparda #vergil headcanons #devil may cry headcanons #devil may cry imagines

[harveywritings92]

DMC BOYS: They find out you're an assassin [Assassin's creed crossover.]

Dante: It was supposed to be a simple bodyguard job, a bunch of old dudes were having some super villain-ish meeting and one of them hired Dante to guard him, the devil was a little vague on the details all he remembered was the guy saying he'll pay upfront! And like that Dante blocked whatever else was said... 

to sum it up someone wants the old guy dead and Dante just there to make sure he doesn't croak, simple enough he can do that... what he couldn't do was kill the assassin who just killed his client...

She was his girlfriend.

Dante's mind replayed the scene over again: one second the old fat geezer is drinking whiskey and being chatted up by a call-girl, Dante gets distracted by one of the strippers, next thing he knows there's a shriek! the half-devil whipped his head in the direction of the commotion and saw his client looking at another old man in a dark suit in shock, his hand was clamp securely around his neck all in a vain attempt to stop the blood from seeping from his slashed throat he fell forwards and his assailant was revealed standing behind him.

They were a woman in a fav/c hooded jacket with some sort of retractable blade attached to her wrist, he could see tiny smirk grace the woman's lips as she stared across the club room at same old man who Dante assumed was the big boss behind this meeting, and another target on this won's list...

Dante grimaced and took a step forwards only to freeze when the familiar scent of his girlfriend's perfume caught his nose through the blood and booze, then he saw those eyes the half-devil knew them well the second they looked through the crowd at him, he was soon snapped out of his shock by the big boss boss bellowing "Get her! tear that dog apart!?" soon the y/ht woman was surrounded by armed men; Y/n took them down like they were nothing and seemed to be having fun with it before making a quick get away, he last saw her run out through one the exits.

He chased her just in time to see her jump off the roof and land in the back of a dump truck filled with leaves waiting in the street before the truck drove off into the night, needless to say Y/n was in for a major what the hell fest when she got home.

--------------------------

Nero: Anger was the first thing that crossed his mind, then betrayal he thought he knew you and that you could trust him with anything, but him finding out you were a killer? that's been fighting a goddam centuries old war, he didn't know what to think! how he found out in the first place was that you had gotten hurt and he was contacted against your wishes.

He demanded to know what happened? you had lied claiming you fell down some stair. "Stairs don't stab peopl-" Nero too a breath "Y/n you better tell me what's going on, or I'm walking out that door and I'm not coming back." you looked at him stunned hoping this was an empty threat but he was dead serious.

You kept your mouth shut but the second he took a step towards the door you sighed "Wait." Nero turned to look at you gestured for him sit down, and like that it was like dam had opened Nero sat and he listened, you told him of the creed, the artifacts of Eden, Abstergo and your involvement the more upset he looked, he silently left you alone claiming he couldn't be here. he had to think, after few hours he came back and paused when he heard a male voice talking to you...

Nero swallowed his inner demon growled hearing an unknown male in your room. "I don't think it's a good idea to be using the animus in your condition." You snapped at the guy the shut up you're gonna be stuck here for a week might as well do something other than mope about destroying the best relationship you've ever had in a while.  "okay, your good go."

Nero silently walked in without either of you noticing him and saw you hooked up to some oculus looking thing and this surfer looking guy looking over a screen, suddenly he jumped back at the sound of a pot shattering. "What the hell?!" you exclaimed as the guy chuckled. " I think ..uh-oh think Amir's wife Esha just found out he's an assassin she not taking it to well" he laughed nervously keeping a hand on his chest as Nero came up behind him to watch the scene, You grumbled something under your breath as a woman angrily shouting in Hindi filled the hospital room as more pottery in thrown.

 "Esha, please calm down, mera Pyaar!*my love*" a man pleaded as the woman snarled. 

"Don't you Mera Pyaar me! Five years we've been married and you kept this from me, How dare you?!"

"Look I didn't want to keep you - [dodges a vase.] please stop throwing things at me!"

"I should've listened to my brother when he said there was off about you! kameene!*Bastard*" *About to throw another vase*

Amir catches her arms  pushes her toward a wall "I was just trying to protect you dammit!" he snapped Esha tried to say she didn't need to be protected because her father but Amir cuts her off. "Can do nothing, these men and their order have been on earth as long as my creed has, they have more power then your family combined and they to destroy free will as we know it..." the door behind them sudden broke down to reveal a British man and few heavily armed guards.

Esha who was still enraged shoved Amir aside, demanding they leave their house did they know who her father was? he'll hear about this- she was cut off by the men laughing at her before dropping the bomb. "On her who do you think told us where to find your husband?" the Indian woman's fell in shock and started shaking her head in disbelief next thing that happened, a cloth was tied around her mouth as the smoke quickly filled the room the sounds of fighting started Amir quickly started dragging his shell shock wife out of their home … 

The sequence ended as you sighed waiting for the next one to load "that is exactly why I didn't want to tell Nero, one slip up, one loose end and the Templars could find him, Kyrie or the kids and use them to hurt me." The y/ht huffed wincing as she tried to pull herself up, and failed nearly falling off the bed luckily a pair a arms caught her and sat her up right.

"urg... Thanks Wally." Y/n's heart sank into her feet when she heard Wally voice on the other side of her room. "uh.. That not me N/n." the ginger man said sheepishly while adjusting his glasses as the familiar scent of Nero's cologne caught her nose, Y/n cautiously lifted up the Animus visor off her eyes to find Nero staring at her.

the y/nat woman's stomach tightened and her face felt hot as a tense silence filled the air, before Nero spoke up pretty saying that her reasons for hiding this life from him were the exact same reasons he keeps her away from Devil hunting to protect her. 

He sighed knowing there was no way talking her out of the creed like he had planned, but Nero urged her not to get killed and not to hide things from him anymore... Y/n promised then Nero sheepishly asked if she'd put the Animus back on? because he kind of wants to see what will happen to Amir and Esha.

-----------------

Vergil: Like Dante he was hired by a shady old man to protect him, what he didn't expect was to be thrown into a special security called alpha squad filled with a bunch of arrogant humans who pointed a laughed at the white haired weirdo and using a sword in this day and age! Vergil ignored them seeing as this was just a temporary gig, and he'll never see them again. 

Of course nothing would prepare him for what happened next, alarms were blaring and the were bodies littering the hallways, Vergil examined as he went along noting that they alpha squad members and they'd been stabbed or had their throats slashed... 

It was Ironic that they died this way the more he thought about it, he snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his employer yelling at someone to back off.

 Vergil looked around the corner to see his employer and a hooded man with a strange blade on his wrist the two were engaged within a conversation while Vergil silently approached.

"I had dream about you Mr. Vesta."

"aww...how sweet, too bad you're not my type!"

"In my dream you never made it out the Paris Catacombs alive..."

"What can I say? I too stubborn to die!"

Vergil was just about to strike when the three were interrupted by an explosion, "Why Hello, Partner!" Vesta happily greeted the woman cautiously walked into the courtyard, Vergil felt a chill go down his spine as a familiar shouted at the man. "Jason, we have to go!" Vesta shook his head keeping eyes on the old man. "We can't let them find the box." 

The woman took a an aggressive stance not liking that answer "Screw that, I killed half of Alpha squad and destroyed the map, let's get out while we can!" footsteps were heard rushing down the alley, her partner growled in frustration finally complied with her. "See ya in your dreams old man.." Vesta jeered then threw a smoke bomb he and his partner ran from the scene being chased by Vergil.

Who caught up to them fairly quickly he knocked out the man and got a hold of the woman pulling her hood off confirming his suspicions. "Y/n what's meaning of this?" he hissed coming face to face with his gobsmacked girlfriend. "Only to be interrupted by remnants of Alpha squad, who ordered him to hold her down! Without a word Vergil used summoned swords on the men causing them to scatter.

before using the Yamato to open a portal; he threw Vesta over his shoulder and he and Y/n rushed through it landing in Nero's garage, the portal closed as Vergil dropped the passed out man none too gently onto the floor then turned his girlfriend who had a lot of explaining to do.  

#devil may cry #dmc x reader #Vergil sparda #Dante Sparda #Nero Sparda #Nero x reader #dante x reader #vergil x reader #devil may cry fanfiction #Assassin's Creed #crossover fanfiction

[coeursetcolores]

What I Would Add To/ Change About: Devil May Cry 5

Hello again! Today is March 8th! Two years ago, Devil May Cry 5 was released, over ten years after Devil May Cry 4. Such a long gap caused many to believe that Capcom abandoned the franchise, but to our surprise at the 2018 E3 conference, after years of silence and tentative hope brought by a picture of Reuben Langdon and Johnny Yong Bosch in mocap gear, the day we dreamed of happened: DMC was back!

Now here’s the million dollar question: Did Devil May Cry 5 live up to it’s fans’ expectations after all those years?

I’m pleased to say, YES!

To the whole collective fandom, this game was totally Smokin’ Sexy Stylish!

To me individually...

Well...

It wasn’t really what I’d thought it’d be.

This is all just my own personal opinion and if you disagree with me, that’s perfectly okay! If you’d like to talk about a point I made, please let me know, but please try to respect my opinion as I respect yours.

Fair warning, I won’t talk about online stuff. I’m not an online gamer, that’s just not me.

Well, with out further ado, let’s get started!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Like the last time, I’d like to start with the positives before getting to the things I wasn’t 100% on board with.

Combat. It’s DMC, and it’s styling way past any other game that dare challenge it.

The music: Frustration is getting bigger! BANG, BANG, BANG! Pull my Devil Trigger!

NICO. I jut love that crazy chick. And yay! Nero has a friend!

The death screen changes were SO helpful. Giving an option to come back in the middle of a fight saved me so much time! As long as it stuck to in-game currency...

The backgrounds are so detailed, Redgrave City looks amazing! And I was really happy when they brought back that gorgeous gothic architecture for Sparda’s mansion!

Bosses are tough, but not to unfair levels. It really makes you feel awesome when you finally knock that last bit of health out.

I’ll never miss an opportunity to fight Vergil. One for having an opponent that doesn’t tower over you, two for his fights just being great as usual. And after everything he’s done, yeah, it feels good to beat the ever loving crap out of him.

Dante dance. I cannot do it justice.

Lady’s new outfit is so cool!

Patty! Call her back Dante!

MOTORCYCLE! BUZZSAWS!

Dante has officially embraced being a silver fox. I salute him.

LORE!!!!!!

NERO! NERO! NERO! BEST BOY, SPICY SON I LOVE YOU SO MUCH YOU PRECIOUS BLOODTHIRSTY SWEETHEART!

You can see just how much detail went into the game. From the blood tubes staining you to V decomposing, it’s astounding.

Nero got a Devil Trigger! And it’s GORGEOUS! ...I do miss his persona, though...

Seeing all our favorite demon hunters again! I missed these guys!

Okay, but before we get to what I wish they added, I want to say something.

I have a lot of issues with this game, but while I can blame some of that on the writing and design teams, a lot of it is also on me having spent years basically imagining the story that would be perfect for me and probably me only. So a lot of my problems may boil down to the game not matching my imaginary scenario, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt.

Now here are some things that could have possibly made me like the game more.

ADD:

MORE LADY AND TRISH. These women were screwed when it came to the plot and they could have done more, what the heck?! Maybe some scenes where they try to process what happened to them, have them distraught at having been used by Urizen to help him destroy the city and blame themselves. Have Lady blow up at Dante for not warning them about what was really going on, for letting them go in unprepared, let her tell him that the blood of the city is on their hands because he kept his mouth shut. Lady is a huge influence in his life, and I feel like this would really open his eyes to how much he messed up.

As for Trish, she knows better than anyone else that you can really screw up and hurt someone that cares about you. Maybe after everything goes down, she could be the one to encourage everyone that, “Yeah, we messed up big time. But sitting around here hating ourselves isn’t getting anything done. So get up, we’ve got a city to fix.” I feel like this could really show how human she’s gotten from being with Dante and the others. I think it’d make her look more multi-dimensional.

And how come Vergil can get a DLC when he was in the game even less than they were?! The women in these games deserve equal representation, Capcom’s DMC developers!

And as for Vergil, maybe make his deal less ambiguous? I mean, the whole “Is Vergil really redeemed?” debate is really bringing out the worst in people. Like yeah, keep it ambiguous to the characters, it makes sense for Vergil to not show something “weak” like remorse to others, but show it in a way that the player can easily interpret.

Give Vergil some missions to himself where he takes in exactly what he’s done. Have him see Redgrave City, where he was born, devastated, people he may have once known reduced to ashes and know this is all because of him. That just because he wanted to be stronger, he’s destroyed lives, because even if he had no intentions of doing so, the split went against his wishes and left him weak to see a tyrant slaughter countless people without any goal. Have him realize that even if that was unintentional, he still nearly almost ended humanity once before with a sound mind (Temen-ni-gru) so he can’t pretend he’s in the right and that he’s actually probably a disgrace to Sparda’s legacy. Have him run into a sobbing little boy crying that his mother was killed and he lost his brother, maybe in the ruins of the family home. Have Vergil look into a mirror and see Mundus, have him realize that he’s no better than the demon that killed his mother and imprisoned him for years. Have him hallucinate Sparda disowning him for going against everything Sparda believed in. Have him see Eva sadly tell him that she wanted to save him, but seeing what he’s become lament that she lost her life trying to save a monster. And when Dante tells him Nero’s his son, he freezes. He abandoned and maimed his own child, left him for his brother to care for. Dante sees this and doesn’t know what to do? Is Vergil...sorry? Can he take a chance on him this time?

Or leave him an unrepentant jerk that’s just upset he still can’t win and expressly tells Nero he’s only going to cut down the Qliphoth down so he can fight Nero again and because he doesn’t want to give up Yamato.

And for that matter, make V’s goal clearer to the player. Have him expressly state, when he’s by himself with his familiars with no one that he can manipulate around that:

A. He wants to stop Urizen and prevent anymore devastation as atonement for his crimes as Vergil and part of the reason he wants to merge again is that while he does want to fight Dante again, he deserves to die as Vergil or defeat Dante and fix his mistakes by himself, realizing that Dante’s been cleaning up his messes for years. 

B: He wants his power back, his mind got stuck in the human half and he can’t stand how weak it is. Everyone is just a stepping stone for him to be stronger.

Actually have the characters react to the Qliphoth. Seriously, everyone is crazy apathetic to all the death and destruction that they failed to stop. Aren’t they supposed to be the “heroes?” The only character this would make sense for, ironically, the one who actually seems to remember it exists at the end, Nero. Yeah. Remember how he didn’t care about anything but Kyrie in 4? Remember how the developers said he would just walk away after Dante shot the pope if Kyrie wasn’t there? I’m not say he needed to stay apathetic, I’m just saying it doesn’t make sense for him to be the righteous character. 

Have Dante at some point just look out at Redgrave and see that if he had told the others what was going on, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. “...This didn’t have to happen.” Have this weigh on him. He’ll still act goofy, but he realizes that his selfishness can have real consequences. 

Have him realize that he really hurt Nero with what he said and that he used Nero’s trauma and insecurity against him in the heat of the moment and it’s causing a rift between him. When he’s alone, make him privately promise to make it up to him later and actually apologize at some point near the end. Dante should know from his experiences with Vergil that insecurity can lead someone down the wrong path and that if he doesn’t do something he could lose one of the few positive relationships he has.

Have Nico have at least one freak out at everything around her and realize that she might not be as ready for this as she thought. She hasn’t experienced something like this before like the others. Nero comforts her and it makes their friendship grow stronger.

When Nero starts talking about family, he should acknowledge that while he is related to Vergil, they’re not really a family yet until they actually work for it, and that he knows what a real family is like, the ones who adopted him and were there for him (Kyrie’s parents, Credo, Kyrie, Nico, Dante, Lady, Trish, etc.).

Make it clearer that Vergil isn’t forgiven for his crimes, but that they’re willing to give him a chance. His last one.

Alright, now for the overall changes.

CHANGE:

The entire ending. Instead of Dante going down with Vergil, Vergil stops him and tells him that his life is here, with people that haven’t hurt him like he has. Dante tries to protest, says he can’t leave Vergil free to do whatever, but Vergil gives a bittersweet smile and tells him he can’t stop him, but it’s obvious Vergil’s not going to do anything again. When Dante gets desperate and tells Vergil he can’t leave him again, Vergil tells Dante he’ll be back, once he’s cleaned up his own mess for once; he’s the older brother after all. With that, Vergil goes to fix his mistake.

Dante’s left behind by his brother again. Instead of brushing things under the table, Nero is furious with Dante for never telling him the truth about his family. Especially after he was left uncertain about the future and looked to Dante for guidance, Nero feels betrayed. Dante understands and apologizes. Nero’s too upset to accept and tells Dante he needs time to think before he’s ready to talk to him again. Instead of begging Nero to stay and keep a connection he desperately needs, Dante lets him go, realizing that if he wants to fix things, he needs to start learning how to talk about how he actually feels instead of covering things up and unintentionally hurting those he loves.

Vergil destroys the Qliphoth, but doesn’t leave the Underworld. Realizing just how much he’s sinned, starting all the way back to Temen-ni-gru, he resolves to not go back to the human world until he’s made himself one worthy of being a Son of Sparda, finally understanding what that really means. Descending into the Underworld, he won’t leave until he’s eliminated those that would harm the world his brother, father and son protect so hard. This could be the start of his own spin-off series that would focus more on the demon lore in the games and take place entirely in the Underworld with Vergil struggling to be a better person and take responsibility for his own actions. Devil May Cry: Atonement, maybe.

Nero heads back home with Nico but doesn’t read V’s book. Hurt from his betrayal, he puts it in a box and seals it up for Vergil’s maybe return. When Nico starts talking about how Agnus is the reason she’s alive, she also acknowledges that she already has a real father and family that love her and subtly (and stutteringly) implies Nero’s a part of that, cementing that Nero has a family that loves him and is there for him. Nero thanks her  and the two descend into silence for a bit before they start mocking each other and end up laughing before Nico realizes Nero’s crying. When she starts freaking out, he explains that he’s scared he’s still not strong enough to protect them, but before Nico can say anything, the phone rings. Answering it, a voice says, “You don’t have to be.” Looking out front the two see Kyrie and Patty, decked out in hunting gear, a phone in Kyrie’s hand. Smiling at them, she says into it, “We’ll protect each other.” Running out of the van, Nero scoops Kyrie up in a hug. When Patty starts complaining about them ignoring her, Nico pulls her away and tells her not to interrupt. After a bit, the group looks out at the horizon and vow to fight together, not letting themselves fall to the bitterness that led to this mess. Seeing some demons approach and watching his crew get ready, Nero smiles before smirking and gets ready to throw down. “Let’s rock!” Devil May Cry: Forsaken.

Dante looks out over Redgrave from his childhood home, silently miserable. After a while, Lady and Trish come over and try to talk, but he cuts them off with an apology. Fully realizing how his inability to let other people in nearly got them all killed, he encourages them to leave so they don’t end up like that again. Stunned from Dante apologizing, the two are silent. Then Lady angrily asks, “What the hell?! Just how dumb are you?!” She tells him that yeah he really screwed up this time, but they’re not going anywhere! He’s an idiot, but he’s THEIR idiot, and they’re not leaving him alone. They need him and he needs them. Trish tells him that if he has time to mope, he has time to clean up the city. The girls begin to walk back to the city and tell him to hurry up. A genuine smile on his face, Dante looks to his family’s home one more time, sheds some tears and walks away, from his past to his new family. Devil May Cry 6 will pick up on what happens next.

If Resident Evil can have like 50 spin-offs, why can’t DMC?

Alternatively, I’m also open to the suggestion of Vergil being stuck as V for the rest of his life. Karmic punishment at it’s finest.

In all honestly, Vergil was really unnecessary to bring back. Like, just make him DLCs, his whole story is done. It just feels like fanservice and the writers banking on a popular character to bring in sales. I also feel like the game bends itself over backwards to please him (back to life, cheat coded to power, no more nightmares, gets to fight Dante whenever he wants, gets a son who wants his acknowledgement he didn’t have to raise, crimes are basically swept under the rug) while everyone else gets kind of screwed over (Dante has to leave his friends behind, Nero’s abandoned again, Lady and Trish are captured and get no screen time, V’s familiars are gone, millions are dead).

I think Urizen and V should have been their own things: I liked the idea of Urizen being the general of Mundus that attacked Dante’s house (his ACTUAL reason for fighting) and V being Mundus’ son who was abused and bonded with his henchmen who decided to become a devil hunter in vengeance for his mistreatment. I dunno, I feel bad V (who legitimately creeped me out) was just made into a convenient little redemption arc.

Nero’s character arc really should have been something else. I think he should have learned throughout the story to stop caring what others thought about him (a trait that should have been visible in 4 if it was going to be such a big deal in 5) and learn to trust his own strength. He should’ve realized that he doesn’t need to prove anything to Dante, he’s never going to be the same and he should be happy with who he is. Also, wanting Vergil’s acknowledgement doesn’t make sense. He may be his biological father, but literally the only things Nero knows about him is that he ripped his arm off, started the apocalypse, got millions killed, manipulated him and wants to kill the guy who was actually like a dad to him. Biological ties can only count for so much.

Alternatively, his arc could have been about becoming a more compassionate person. Like I said earlier, it’d make sense if he didn’t care about anyone other than Kyrie being in trouble. And remember when he tried to kill an armor he thought had a human in it in 4? Along with the seemingly human Agnus? Have Dante worried Nero might go down the wrong path. Have him tell Nero about Vergil WAY earlier (months after 4) and have Nero worried if he’ll turn out like that. Nero actually had more potential to be dark than Dante, and I feel like that in trying to make him look like a perfect hero in 5, they had to make Dante look worse (keeping secrets, ignoring suffering, etc.).

And instead of “deadweight,” Nero’s berserk button should have been Dante not telling him things. You know, like the Order? The group he worked for that tried to start the apocalypse in secret and nearly got him and his girlfriend killed along with actually killing his older bother? Yeah.

I do not like the hyperrealism. This is purely on me preferring more animesque art styles, but I always felt that not looking like actual humans helped the series’ fantastic elements shine.

Dante’s new outfit is just so...muted. It’s just boring. Dante’s supposed to be flashy, dang it! Give me back the chaps!

Nero’s hair is awful. It just looks terrible on him, I wanted him to have long, pretty hair. They should have just kept his trigger hair all throughout the game.

Also, Dante’s the hunk, give Nero back his soft, pretty boy face!

DON’T GET RID OF DEVIL BRINGER! I hated using the Devil Breakers, who wants breakable weapons in Devil May Cry?! What’s next, reloading ammo?! And if you can come back from being stabbed, shot, electrocuted, impaled, would it kill you to let Nero grow his demon arm back to keep his playstyle easier?! And if you needed a challenge, congratulations! Nero lost his Devil Trigger! WORK WITH THAT! 

Please don’t get rid of Dante. I love Nero, but he can’t do the main protagonist role. This is Dante’s series and he needs to finish it. Sure, give Nero a spin-off or two, but let Dante finish the story; the “Sons of Sparda” storyline was just 3. Not the whole series. Vergil is an important figure in Dante’s story, but he’s not where it ends. Dante. And. Vergil’s. Lives. Do. Not. Revolve. Around. Each. Other. They just liked to fight each other and developed opposing ideals, but their overall goals ultimately didn’t really factor in the other.

The whole Vergil abandonment thing shouldn’t have happened along with his beating Dante obsession, it seriously weakened Vergil’s character. He started out as someone who wanted the power to defend himself and became so deluded that he was ready to disregard any moral limitation to get it and simply fought Dante to amuse himself while never letting it get in the way of his goals. And him blaming Dante and Eva and insisting that Dante had an easier life, while I can understand it, just makes him come across as a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum.

Let V’s familiars kill demons without him. That was just really annoying.

And that’s it. My dreams for Devil May Cry 5 and the reality were two very different things and honestly...I’m afraid I’m growing out of this series. 

I’ll still post some content I want to get out, but I’m not sure I’ll be picking up the next one.

#What I Would Add to/Change About... #Devil May Cry 5 #Criticism #Praise #My Silly Personal Opinion

[shianhygge-imagines]

[DMC Reactions] S/O Sacrifice

AN: Ooooh Angst. So early in the morning :D I’m writing this in an internet cafe.

Also, I’m sorry, but the first thing that came to mind when I read the request was the scene above where Dante’s VA had the voice crack. lmao

Real talk though. Vergil and Dante’s part is longer because I feel like they would be the two that would slip up this badly where their lover would sacrifice themself. V and Nero are too responsible.

|Masterlist Link|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dante

Dante had gotten too cocky while fighting multiple opponents, again.

Not that it should surprise you too much, but he’d allowed too many of the demons to land hits on him, and his clothes were practically littered with holes from the weapons skewering him...

His s/o had been by his side since the beginning, so it was a given that they’d tagged along with Dante to a new gig

Dante didn’t see the scissors waiting to snip his pretty head off, but you did.

In the blink of an eye, you’d parried the blow aimed at you and had sprinted across the room to shove Dante out of the way.

Dante turned as he tumbled towards the ground, and his eyes widened helplessly as you smiled, the scissor edges closing in at the perfect height to your neck.

snip... thud

It was like a car accident happening in slow motion, and Dante wasn’t able to look away... wasn’t able to pull the miracle that he was known for.

The world stopped spinning as Dante stared, face ashen as his lover’s head rolled away, and their body fell on top of his. A bad dream, Dante thought absently as he gripped your still body. It’s just a bad dream.

“I’m going to wake up, and Y/N will be sleeping right next to me.”

Dante blinked once... twice... and pinched himself... nothing.

The Death Scissor cackled maniacally, reveling in its kill.

“Not real. It’s not real,” Dante muttered, “Y/N... wake me up.”

You didn’t move... and Dante didn’t wake... his face scrunched up as he stood, sobbing as he pulled Rebellion out, an inconsolable rage consuming him.

Maybe if he killed the Death Scissor, he’d wake up...

Neither of you woke up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vergil

Vergil had been too obsessed with some fascinating/challenging opponent that he forgot to watch your back.

In the brief lapse of his attention, you’d been swarmed by lesser demons

Although you were much stronger than the runts, you started to have trouble from the immense number of them

“Vergil!” You’d called, jumping away from one demon’s attack only to have to evade another. The screeches of dying demons rose above your cry for help and you cursed your luck as you rolled out of the way to jump over the seemingly endless horde of demons.

Ahead, Vergil was taking on a demon that resembled a Chimera, though far too ugly for you to admire. It seemed as if your lover was having a ton of fun, his smirk noticeable from even where you stood.

The Chimera howled in pain as Vergil assaulted its torso with swift cuts from the Yamato, and suddenly the lesser demons turned their attention away from you, scurrying to protect their master, hundreds of them sprinting after Vergil... wanting... needing to tear the older son of Sparda apart.

Even though Vergil hadn’t had your back, you had his.

It didn’t take much for you to beat the horde in the race to Vergil, most of the demons were considerably sluggish compared to your agility.

You were suddenly stood between the horde of demons and Vergil, blade and gun drawn, ready to take on the forces of the underworld to prevent them from interrupting Vergil’s fun.

Slowly but surely, however, you began to wear down, unable to keep up with the seemingly endless number of demons that spawned from nowhere. One misstep was all it took for the demons to overwhelm you, pouncing, and burying you underneath their blows.

“Vergil!” You tried to call for your lover, reaching a hand out to him from within the swarm. Vergil, too consumed with his challenge, didn’t turn around.

All around, you could only see black shadows and glowing red eyes. There was no blue to save you.

Vergil grinned as he cut down the Chimera, flicking the Yamato free of blood before turning to look for your proud and loving eyes.

What Vergil saw instead, was the swarm of demons seemingly piled on top of a limp figure. The grin disappeared from the older son of Sparda as dread and rage overflowed. There was a flash of blue as Vergil entered his Devil Trigger, mowing down the lesser demons as if they were merely ants.

Once the pests were cleared, Vergil was able to reach your body, kneeling in his beautiful demonic form to lift your body, holding it to his as he called to you, hopeful that you would open your eyes and continue to breath.

After a few seconds, it became glaringly obvious to Vergil that you would never smile at him again.

After so many years of hiding his emotions away, Vergil felt his eyes burn, and allowed the tears to fall, his whole body shaking as he sobbed. 

“I’m sorry.” Vergil apologized, clutching your body close and knowing that it was his fault for selfishly leaving your side.

“Don’t leave me alone, Y/N. Please.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nero

Nero had insisted that you stay out of the fight, quite sure that the giant demon before him was too much for you.

I mean, you resented that Nero seemed to think so little of your skills (you could probably take on a greater demon because of your demon lineage), but you weren’t a fool to see that Nero obviously cared.

He’d never want to see you hurt.

But that’s a sentiment you both shared.

And you knew that Nero had a tendency to run his mouth during fights, probably acting a little too much like Dante at times... so you had a right to worry...

Though admittedly, Nero didn’t have a habit of getting stabbed with his own sword like Dante did, he still got too cocky and reckless.

And while Nero fought the giant, you were forced to keep a good distance away... and by a good distance away, that meant you were with Nico in the van... pretty much across the map

The giant demon was similar to the Goliath that Nero killed, but its hide was too thick for his Red Queen to simply slice through and its tail was long with something akin to a stinger... All too quickly, he’d run out of Devil Breakers, and was forced on the defense, no doubt charging his Devil Trigger.

Nico was sleeping, as she usually did when waiting for Nero to finish his fights, but you kept a keen eye on your lover.

A flash of blue was all you needed to alert you that Nero had used his Devil Trigger, but as you watched him fight, you noticed that while Nero gave the demon a beating, he couldn’t get his attacks to pierce through the hide.

“Tch... should’ve brought a Helter Skelter.” You mused, getting up from your seat to get to the workshop in the back of the van.

You took a Helter Skelter and a Ragtime from the hooks, making a mental note to pay Nico back, before grabbing your guns and bursting out of the van.

Activating your own Devil Trigger, you practically flew across the map to stop the Giant from landing a solid hit on Nero.

“Y/N, what the hell? I told you to stay back!”

Holding the Giant’s fist in place with one hand, you threw the two Devil Breakers at Nero, “Here, you dingus! Gotta pierce its hide before you can kill the thing!”

“I don’t need your help! Now get back to the van!”

“Don’t need help, my ass! Weren’t you the one that made a big deal about being called a ‘dead weight’? How could you think I’d be fine just standing around and twiddling my-” 

You didn’t get a chance to finish your question. The giant pulled its fist back and rammed it towards your unsuspecting form, throwing you up into the air as its tail whipped forward, skewering you through the stomach.

“Y/N!”

You grit your teeth, knowing that you might survive if Nero finished the fight fast enough. “Damn it, Nero! Just kill the damn thing!”

Angry with the need to protect you, Nero was able to activate his Devil Trigger once more, fusing the Ragtime with his arm and slowing time. A blink, and suddenly you were no longer skewered, finding yourself in Nero’s arms as he walked away from the giant demon’s lifeless body.

“My hero” you teased, feeling the hole in your stomach already start to close.

“You’re an idiot.”

“But you love me for it!”

Nero placed a kiss to the crown of your head, an affectionate grin on his face. “I do.”

...

...

“But don’t you dare do that again!” :|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

V

Despite V’s hesitance, he’d let you fight by his side, knowing that you had his back (and he yours).

Unlike the other Sparda Boys, V all but abandons full-time demon hunting after he meets you. Yes, you can totally kick ass, but with his growing feelings towards you, V has been made to wonder if there is an end to the conflict that he has been a part of his entire life.

So, V settled down with you, giving up the demon hunting business with you so that you two could have a future that would last. After all, the world had Vergil, Dante, and Nero as full time demon hunters, they didn’t need V.

Still, there are times where it was inevitable that you and V would have to fight demons.

It is one of these times where you and V were forced to fight against the forces of the underworld, that you and V found yourselves outnumbered and swarmed.

You could probably go a lot longer than was needed, but V was tiring rather quickly having to dodge the enemy attacks so much. The enemy forces were nearly gone, but V had started to get clumsy, trying to conserve energy as much as he could.

Even though Shadow, Griffon, and Nightmare did their best to keep their eyes on V, you couldn’t help the way your eyes followed him as you fought. You just wanted to be sure that V was safe.

And then... V dodged left when he should have had Griffon carry him out of the mess surrounding him.

A demon managed to land a blunt attack on V, sending him stumbling forward into another blunt attack, but you were already there to parry the blow, signalling Griffon to carry your lover out of the sticky situation.

So intent on helping V, you didn’t see the blade aimed at you. A cry of pain... from your lips or V’s you didn’t know. And you were thrown into the awaiting blades of other lesser demons.

V could hear your screams from where Griffon had carried him. He was exhausted, but used what remained of his energy to summon Nightmare, his only thought and intent: to save you.

It didn’t take much for the combined efforts of Nightmare, Shadow, and Griffon to decimate the enemies attacking you, clearing a path so that V could reach your battered, but still breathing form.

“Why would you do that?” V demanded, using what little strength he had to prop you up in his arms, noting that your breathing was strained.

“Heh... I thought I could take them on... if it meant saving you.” You responded with a grimace.

“Next time, we fight together.” It was a firm statement, but it meant so much to you.

“Ha... sure...” you agreed without a fight... “Hey, V?”

“Hm?”

“When we go home... I want a bath.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-fi!

#shianhygge #shian imagines #dmc nero #dmc v x reader #nero x reader #dmc nero x reader #v dmc #v dmc5 #v devil may cry #devil may cry #dmc #dmc5 #devil may cry 5 #dante sparda #dante #vergil #vergil sparda #dante x reader #vergil x reader #devil may cry imagines #devil may cry headcanons #requests

[redqvccn]

Vergil (& family)

Did I just make a Tumblr account because I need to dump my thoughts on my most recent hyper fixation, Devil May Cry? You bet.

Anyways, let's get right to the point and talk about none other than, you guessed it, Vergil. More specifically, him and his relation to his family. There is a lot to unpack here so strap in for a long post after the cut!

Eva & Sparda

There really isn't much to say here, those were his parents and it's out of question that they meant a lot to him.

Dante, while also showing respect, holds a sort of resentment towards Sparda (see; "I don't have a father", said by Dante in DMC3), but Vergil shows no such things. Let's be honest, Vergil most probably held more fascination for how powerful he was.

And Eva? Well, apparently she had to have given him the impression she didn't love him as much as she loved Dante (which may or may not be a purely subjective feeling, we don't know), but after all she was still his mother who provided the love and protection a mother should give.

Until the incident happened.

And this is where we get to Vergil's motivations; The pursuit of power Vergil was so lost in stemmed purely from that day and the inability to protect and save his own mother and brother, believing them both dead at only 8. He never wanted to feel weak again, so he started to gain power to be able to protect what's important - or at least himself. Yes, the methods he ended up using in this pursuit are very much not right a lot of the time, but the roots of everything have always been something so...genuine and deeply reasonable.

Dante

There'd be a crazy amount of things to unpack in their bond, especially Dante's side of things, but that would make this post longer than the list of reasons why I wish to perish, so we'll leave that for another time.

First things first, it's quite obvious that, despite all the fighting and their very different morals, they do care about each other a lot. They're brothers, they need each other, they deserve each other after going through hell and back (quite literally) separately all this time.

However, there is one thing that struck me especially lately.

Vergil almost never is the one to initiate a fight when they meet. It's always Dante, who definitely also has his very own (and valid) reasons of pointing his weapon at Vergil first thing, but also not the point, safe for one instance; After the fight with Arkham in 3, it's Vergil to attack Dante first in an attempt of retrieving Dante's amulet again.

Take DMC3; On top of the tower it's Dante who first points his gun at Vergil. In the ritual hall it's also Dante holding his sword against his brother.

DMC5? Dante charges at Vergil the second he has returned. On top of the Qliphoth it is also Dante initiating a fight.

And then there's the encounter with Nelo Angelo - a corrupted Vergil, a seemingly mindless demon. Nelo Angelo is the one to hunt down Dante, wanting to fight him, as ordered by his master Mundus, but as soon as Nelo Angelo catches sight of Dante's amulet, memories kick back in and Vergil, who's still in there, recognizes his enemy.

Then he stops fighting and runs away. It's only because Dante keeps following him that they end up fighting until Nelo Angelo is eventually defeated.

I feel like Vergil doesn't necessarily want to fight Dante. Never has. He never showed half the hostility than the other way around, but it goes easily unnoticed because - of course - he'll defend himself and fight back when attacked.

I don't know, but it is a little detail I think is quite overlooked.

Nero

So this one's gonna be very interesting.

Again, first things first; Vergil most certainly did not know about Nero's conception. He didn't spend enough time in Fortuna to actually develop a sort of bond with a woman. I'm not sure he would have been able to at that time, anyways. And even if he knew, it's not like he had much of a chance being at his kid's side, considering he threw himself into the underworld roughly a year after Fortuna and spent years there under Mundus' hand.

Technically....seeking out his child was the first thing he did after returning but...obviously we ain't counting that as quite the best of bonding moments.

Anyways.

I don't want to go into too much detail about V, but here, too, is something I thought was very interesting about V.

Because he talks about his regrets and fears and feelings and all that he considers a weakness with exactly 2 people.

Trish and Nero.

With Trish it makes quite a lot of sense, after all, she was created to look exactly like Eva. Naturally so, Vergil would find a sort of comfort and trust in her, despite the fact that they never met before.

And with Nero, I think, it is a similar sort of comfort and trust, even though he doesn't know this boy and isn't aware of his actual connection to him. It's something purely subconscious at that time.

Now, let's actually get on to Vergil and Nero.

When Vergil returned and was about to leave again through a portal, he says "Thank you, Nero". One could argue he simply thanked Nero for taking care of the Yamato while he was gone and....letting him "retrieve" it once he was back, but I like to believe something else.

I like to believe Vergil thanked Nero for helping him. For helping V. It's quite obvious V had needed Nero's help to reach what he desired and it is also rather obvious that Vergil shows more of his human side at the end of 5, with the little screentime he has. (Capcom...Vergil dlc when?)

And then there is the scene before Vergil jumps off the Qliphoth. The scene in which Vergil gives Nero his book. And I don't think we have properly grasped the gravity of this action for two reasons:

1. This isn't just any book. This is the collection of poems Vergil has been keeping since he was a young boy. It's his most valued possession - quite frankly, his only possession and keepsake - along with the Yamato and his half of the amulet (of which he does no longer have the latter). This book means a lot to Vergil, and he wouldn't just throw it at anyone just like that. He entrusts this to Nero.

2. It's a sort of promise. Vergil wouldn't go and say "I promise I'll come back for you. I won't leave you behind again", but that is essentially the meaning behind this action. He wants Nero to keep the book and take care of it until he is back, this meaning he wants to come back to Nero.

I definitely do think Vergil would want to get to know his son and try to right his wrong.

And Nero, having heard V ("The truth is, I wanted to be protected...and loved.") and being someone who cares about family, would not oppose.

TL;DR:

Vergil cares about his family more than you'd think at first glance and I really want to see where his character will go from here on.

(Since I'm still relatively new to this franchise, I'm not 100% educated in every detail of each game, so if there's anything I missed or somehow got wrong, feel free to add and/or correct. You immediately deserve my whole soul if you read this whole thing. Took me like an hour and a half to write, jeez.)

#devil may cry #dmc 5 #vergil #dmc vergil #dmc dante #dmc v #dmc nero #dmc trish #vergil sparda #dmc 3 #devil may cry 5 #devil may cry 3 #devil may cry 1 #nelo angelo

[harlot-of-oblivion]

A Rose Among the Briars (Part 1)

After a month of quiet encounters with Vergil at the local book cafe, you finally decide to break the ice.

My attempt at writing a meet-cute, featuring you and Vergil. Some of the dialogue popped into head and I had to write a scene around it. So have some fluff, ya’ll. Hope you enjoy! 

Ever since coming back from hell, Vergil has slowly integrated himself into the human world. His relationship with Dante has gotten better, though they still fight a lot from time to time. He and his son, Nero, have made inroads towards a family bond, but it’s still so new to him being a father that he can’t tell if he’s doing it right…and he hates uncertainty, especially within himself. On days like that, where the human world and his adjustment in it becomes too overwhelming, he escapes to a coffee and antique book shop he happen to find while walking off some steam. It was quiet, had good tea, and not very crowded. The perfect refuge while he internally relaxed and recharged away from the prying eyes his brother, his son, and the rest of the crew.

Vergil sat in his usual secluded corner, sipping his favorite black tea, and reading one of the old books that cover the walls of this shop. The day was overcast, rain was expected to fall at any moment, so the shop was desolate. This suited the older Son of Sparda just fine. He was looking forward to a peaceful afternoon alone…that is until he heard the bell chime as the door to the shop opens and you step through.

“Hello again,” you address the barista, smiling brightly as you exchange pleasantries and order your drink. There goes my seclusion, Vergil thought as he secretly watches you. Both of you frequent this little nook of a shop. He took notice of you immediately because you dared to sit in the same secluded section of the shop as he, either unaware or not caring about his presence. He tolerated you invading his privacy since you never spoke. You just sipped your beverage, read, and occasionally observed him out of the corner of your eye. He found himself also observing you in turn over time, wondering why you insist on being this close to him while everything about him instinctively says stay away. After awhile he got used to your quiet company. He sometimes looks forward to seeing you, taking note what book you were reading that day…though he would never admit that in confidence to himself.  

Vergil went back to his book, but he continues to nonchalantly watch you out of his periphery vision as you wait for your order…and inevitably come over and bother his solitude. He took note that this was the first time he saw you wearing a dress. A blue chiffon summer dress with a resplendent floral pattern to be exact. At least she has elegant taste in fashion, he thought as he let his eyes wonder your form, mentally admiring your attractive form.

He quickly shifts his eyes back to his book as the barista calls your name and you retrieve your prepared beverage, thanking the barista as you made your way back to where he knew you would go…the close corner across from him. Vergil takes a deep meditative breath, falling back on his mental techniques he uses while he wields the Yamato to empty his mind of all distraction. He vowed to try his best to blend in while living here. That included playing nice while out among them. Also, he quite liked this coffee shop, and if he had to get used to the occasional stray customer to enjoy it…so be it. 

You arrive at the corner across from him, grab a book, and sit down. Your eyes spare him a glance as you scan the multitude of books on the shelved walls before leaning back in your seat and start to read. Both of you sat there a while, you sip your beverage serenely and Vergil keeps reading, showing remarkable forbearance as he once again reluctantly shared his space. He felt proud of himself in that moment; he’s come a long way if he can endure this long in a stranger’s company. 

Eventually, you finish your drink, rise up from your seat, and walk a few steps to inspect one of the walls of books. Your back is to him, and Vergil couldn’t help to notice your stature. He surmised that if he stood you would have to crane your neck up to meet his eyes. Your delicate fingers brush against the old books until they come to an empty spot. It seems she’s about to take her leave, he thought. His brows furrow in slight puzzlement. You usually stay a lot longer, but perhaps you have a prior engagement to get to and only had a few minutes a visit. Either way, it wasn’t his business, so he went back to his task and prepared for blessed solitude once more.

“You’re surrounded by briars.” 

Your voice rang out around him. After a month of your continued frivolous company you finally speak to him. He expected you to be a simpering woman, foolishly trying to engage him in some droll conversation about the weather or some other such nonsense. Instead, your blunt and cryptic statement quickly proves him wrong. 

Vergil peeks up from his book at you as his brow scrunches up in befuddlement. “I beg your pardon?” 

You look over your shoulder at him as you replace the book in your hands back to its respective place on the shelf. “Briars…you know what briars are, right? The motif on your coat remind me of briars.” 

“Of course I know what briars are,” he sneers and returns to his book, intending to continue his reading. “And they’re vines,” he adds. He may be annoyed, but he wouldn’t let you regard his attire incorrectly. 

“Ah,” you mutter, raising your eyebrows as you nod head and turn back to the shelf. He thought that was the end of this arbitrary conversation until your voice once again rang through the room. “Well, that doesn’t suit you at all.” 

“What are you prattling on about?” he snaps. Vergil didn’t bother to hide his irritation as his silver eyes glare at you, warning you that his patience was growing thin.  

“Well,” you start as you turn your body to fully face him, seemingly unaware of his agitation or just out right ignoring it. You meet his gaze head on. “Vines extend themselves and…not to be rude, but you don’t seem the type that easily reaches out to people.” 

Such insolence! He glowers at you and was about to put you in your place until he notices your modest posture. Your hands were clasped in front of you, arms relaxed, and legs standing straight close together. You show no sign of hostility nor fear. Your eyes, which are level with his since he was sitting down, never left his confrontational gaze. Vergil’s brow eases a bit. He decides to indulge you a bit since its not very often that people last this long under his intense stare…not because you impressed him or anything. 

“Hmph…have you thought perhaps it’s not people I’m reaching for?” 

You tilt your head a little as your lips curl up thoughtfully. “True.” Vergil grins smugly, thinking this one sided game of verbal sparring is over. “But I like the idea of briars for you,” came your swift reply, nodding your head as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  

“And why, pray tell, is that?” he queries sternly, raising an incredulous eyebrow at you. He was genuinely curious about your answer, and if he was honest with himself, curious about you. But he refuses to show you any sign of that. Instead, he marks his place in his book and closes it, still maintaining the constant eye contact with you. He awaits what silly notions you have of him so he can decisively end it and be done with you.  

“Briars are prickly. Nature’s way of deterring creatures from treading on them. Most stay away from briars, but if one were patient and slowly step through the shrubbery, prying apart thorns with utmost care…then they may come upon the reason for the thorns. For among briars wild roses may grow…beautiful, delicate, and protected from the unwary passerby. And to those who risk pricks and scratches, yet still move forward…finding such a wonder is a reward in and of itself.” 

Your gaze never wavers from his as your pensive words flow out in to a steady stream of thought. As he listens he can feel the usual permanent scowl that accompanies his face slowly dissipate. All of the rigid coldness that always resides within him leaves his body. For the first time in a while…Vergil was stunned.   

You must have mistaken his quiet surprise as confusion because you hurriedly brushed a loose strand of hair behind ear as you clear your throat. “I guess…what I’m trying to say is…no matter how difficult it may be…you’re worth it, Vergil.” 

A genuine smile lights up your face. Time stood still and his surroundings seem to fade out around him as a soft warmth spread throughout his chest. Right then and there, Vergil didn’t see just another faceless human to be ignored. Before him was a confident and eloquent woman, who somehow managed to make a miniscule crack in his taciturn shell. He wanted to be furious that you blind sided him with this stunt, but…to his surprise, he was impressed and…flattered. 

You finally broke eye contact with him as you retreat to collect your things. “Well, I should go now. Sorry for distracting you from your book. I promise not to disturb you again in the future. I just needed to get that off my chest.” You give him one last glance, eyes gleaming with soft worry as you bid him farewell. As you briskly made your way to the exit, a soft rumble of thunder fills the air. 

His piercing eyes follow your retreating form as he was still comprehending what exactly happened. It’s been a long time since someone paid him a genuine compliment. All this time you didn’t mean to intrude on his personal space…you were just assessing him from afar, waiting until he was comfortable enough around you to finally break the ice and start a conversation. Vergil knew he wasn’t an easy man to converse with…he knew his devilish nature makes most humans steer clear of him, but you just weathered his cold bitterness and- 

Wait a moment...How did she know my name? 

Just as that stray mystery presents itself he registers the light pattering of rain outside. He looks back at your corner and spots something you forgot to grab before your rushed departure. He knew that you walked here…he’s eavesdropped on your chats with the barista on occasion and you once told them that you like to take in the fresh air and the sights of the city. But your walk wouldn’t be pleasant nor dry since right there on the table was your simple black umbrella, not with you to ease the onslaught of summer rain. 

Vergil snaps his book shut and quickly stood up. He put the book back in its proper place on a shelf, gathered his belongings along with your forgotten umbrella, and left the shop. As he steps outside, he opens your umbrella and let it shield him from the warm rain. He sometimes caught sight of you through the shop window and knew you always came and went in the same direction. He follows your path, hoping to come upon you and return your umbrella. He shook his head in disbelief. It’s not like him to rush ahead with no plan, besides returning what’s yours because it’s good manners. He wasn’t even sure if he would find you. It would’ve made more sense to just keep the umbrella and wait to return it to you the next time he ran into you at the shop. Or better yet, he could’ve given it to the barista for safekeeping. But he didn’t do either of those things…instead, he was out here, foolishly searching for you.  

 Vergil marches on for another minute and turns a corner. There she is! He spots you standing at the corner of a street. Your blue chiffon dress was swaying delicately in the breeze as the rain started to sprinkle down steadily. He heads straight for you, and as he got closer he notices that your head was leaning up towards the sky, eyes closed as your face glistens in the rain. You were the image of pure tranquility and Vergil slowed his pace until he halts just a few feet away from you. For the first time, he lets himself take in all of you. As his brazen eyes roam your body, truly realizing your beauty, he softly took a deep breath in through his nose. He thanked his demonic side for blessing him with enhanced senses because your scent was utterly intoxicating. He almost lost himself in it before shutting his eyes, chastising himself for losing his composure and reigning it back in. 

He soundlessly steps up beside you and positions the umbrella to cover both you and him. Your brows furrow as the rain ceases to fall on your face. You open your eyes and they spark in recognition as they take in the underside of the umbrella. Your eyes swivel over to see who’s holding it and they widen in shock. Vergil was staring ahead, letting the moment drag on a bit before he spoke. 

“You’re going to need this if you don’t want to get utterly drenched and inevitably sick,” he stated matter-of-factly.

Your mouth parts in awe as you continue to stare up at him. You blink your eyes a few times before you collect yourself and look away as you reply, “I suppose I do.” You don’t reach for the umbrella though. Vergil observes you from the corner of his eye and sees you biting your lower lip in thought. He waits patiently though, taking the opportunity to study you up close and mentally marveling at your lovely profile. 

“But what about you?” you ask. “It’d be a shame if the rain ruins your nice coat and uh…hair.” You look up at him inquisitively. 

Vergil peers down at you. “Why would you care about that?” 

“Because I’m trying to be decent, Vergil. And perhaps you can take it as an apology for me being super blunt earlier.”

“How do you know my name?” His eyes squint in suspicion.

“The barista told me. They always take down a customer’s name for their drink order. It felt rude to refer to you as the “alluring and intimidating blue gentleman” that sits in my corner.”

“Your corner?” Vergil scoffs, leaning his face down a little towards you.  

You, despite his intimidating height, stood your ground. “Yes…my corner. I came in one day and there you were…sitting in my chair. I didn’t feel like making a big deal about it though. Figured I could share the space since you fascinate me and thought perhaps after a while we could have a friendly chat…until I clearly screwed that up. Sometimes I don’t know when to shut up.” You close your eyes and sigh regretfully. 

Vergil lets your words sink in. The whole reason why they’re in this situation…is because he took your spot? And you were actually trying to spark a friendly conversation…with him? She thought he was fascinating? Vergil would’ve laughed at the sheer absurdity of the whole thing if it weren’t for the sincerity of your words. He clenches his jaw for a moment as he collects this thoughts. As much as you bewilder him…he can’t deny there is a certain draw to you. He didn’t have to think long before he came to a decision. He pushes through the sudden feeling of being self-conscious as he taps into his humanity and attempts to open up to you just a bit.  

“I’m not…the best…at connecting with people,” he admits, his words coming out stilted. “Nor do I express my feelings in a typical manner. But if you…still find me worth it…I’m willing to try.”

Your head snaps up and you meet his gaze. You both stood still under the shared umbrella Vergil held as the rain continued to pour down around you. After a moment your eyes soften and you smile that same smile he witnessed in the coffee shop. And once again he felt warmth form in his chest again. He wasn’t used to these feelings you give rise to…but he found in that moment that he doesn’t dislike it. 

“Of course, Vergil…that’s all I ask: a small step among the briars.”

“And perhaps that small step will lead you in the direction of the wild roses you so desire,” he replies softly and for the first time since he met you…he gave you a small smile. Your eyes sparkle in wonder as a slight tinge of pink graced your cheeks. But you didn’t avert your eyes from his meekly…You held your gaze, just like he knew you would. And oh…what a daring sight to behold.  

Vergil offers to escort you home since you insist that he stay under the safety of the umbrella for as long as possible. On the way, he engages in easy conversation with you about common interests. You both like books, tea, and classical music. You don’t know much about poetry, but listen intently when he recites a favorite of his for you. Afterwards, you claim that you have a new found appreciation for it and thank him for sharing. Vergil nods curtly in satisfaction. He found that you knew a lot about the ancient classics and asked for recommendations. You beam and promise to point out your favorite volumes in the coffee shop. 

You eventually arrive at your home. Vergil takes note that its not to far from the office...which means you’re pretty safe from demon attacks if it should happen close by. When you get to the porch he passes your umbrella to your hand, careful that his body doesn’t invade your space, but surreptitiously lets his fingers brush against your hand. Your skin is silky smooth. You thank him and take it back, a slight hitch in your breath the only sign that you felt his touch, but daring not to pull away. Vergil couldn’t stop the pleased grin that crept on his face. He bids you farewell and begins to leave, preparing to brave the foggy rain head on. But you stop him by raising your umbrella high above his head, which requires you to stand on your tippy toes. 

“Please…you need it more than I do at the moment. Just…return it to me the next time we see each other at the shop,” you state, your eyes entreating him to take it and stay dry. 

Vergil regards you for a moment before giving a single nod. “Very well. See you then…soon.” He grabs the umbrella and, as you turn to go, he feels the lightest caress against his gloveless fingers. He watches you go, leaning out the frame of the front door for a second to say goodbye before heading inside.  

As he makes his way back to his domicile, Vergil contemplates the events of the day. Of all the possibilities and outcomes…he honestly didn’t expect it to end with a new found flirtatious friendship. You amaze him and he can’t deny your loveliness. You said that he was worth it. He wishes you luck pulling apart his tangled briars, because despite wanting to know you, he knew it would be difficult to open up. But…he was willing to try, just to see more of your vibrancy. Perhaps, he ponders as he came to the stairs of Devil May Cry, she’s what I’m searching for within myself. 

Perhaps you are a rose among his briars.  

Read on my Ao3

Read Part 2 here.

My Master List if you want more. ❤

#vergil #vergil sparda #vergil dmc #devil may cry #dmc5 #you #reader #female reader #romance #fluff #meet-cute #writing #fanfiction #a rose among the briars #vergil being awkward #but in a cute and infuriating way #also low key tsundere #but you find it endearing #kisses for the grumpy one #if you like wielding yamato #and getting caught in the rain #vergil x reader #harlot writes

[thetoffeefox]

If the hand is hard, together we’ll mend your heart [ Timid!Reader X Vergil]

 Holy moly am I on a roll right now! So I had no intention of finishing this chapter until tomorrow morning or even Friday but here it is! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. After this one I am not too sure when I will posting a chapter for this series again so we may not see something for a while. I have mainly been working on things I want to do to kick my imagination on and get rid of my writer's block that way I can work on the requests I have in my Inbox. I’m so sorry guys for not getting to them. Here I thought being on vacation for this whole week would even inspire me to do so but alas still nothing. 

The title of the fic is from the song Umbrella By: Rhianna, however when I wrote this fic I was listening to the cover by J2 Ft. Jazelle. I recommend you give a listen to both! 

TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of PTSD (domestic abuse)  and depictions of violence. Remember my lovelies to always practice self care before, during, and after reading this content if it is one of your triggers.

     Tonight was much like the night you experienced a couple of months ago. The thunderstorm that was raging was a pop-up and was not forecasted. You might have enjoyed the sound of the rain pelting against the window and the rumbling of the sky but it was occasionally drowned out by the screams coming from the room next to yours. Every fiber in your being wanted to go in there and try to rouse the man who was a room away from you. To take the pain and terrors, his mind was inflicting upon him, but you had already tried that before and it didn’t yield the greatest of results. In fact, recalling it made a shiver run down your spine as your fingers lightly brushed along your neck. Shaking your head you got out of bed and started to head downstairs wincing at the scream crossed with a growl that rattled your eardrums. Normally this wouldn’t have continued this long but Dante, Trish, and Lady were on a mission and you and Vergil both were staying at the shop for the night after your own mission because it was closer than Fortuna. So you do what you had silently promised, to offer him the only comfort you could. As you began to heat up water on the stove, your mind drifts to the first time you had tried to pull Vergil from his night terrors, and it would be your last.

Eyes snapping open you scan your room and tried to rub the tiredness from your eyes. You weren’t entirely sure why you had woken up. Maybe it was from the thunder that was rumbling the window of your bedroom. Sliding out of bed you looked outside to see the rain coming down by the bucket full. A wince graces your features as you remember that Kyrie had left the clean clothes out during dusk to dry overnight. With this kind of rain, the clothes would most likely still be soaked in the morning. Sighing, you pace in your room for a moment running your hand through your hair as you debated on if you could go straight back to bed or if you needed a midnight snack. You decided you could just crawl right back into bed and before you can slip underneath your covers; you hear something being knocked over in a different room. It halts you and instantly you try to figure out where the noise came from.  Instead of hearing something else hit the floor or shuffling you instead hear something akin to a growl. It came from... Vergil’s room. An overwhelming sense of curiosity rises in you and the next thing you know you're standing in front of his closed bedroom door. The light noises in his room persist and a thought crosses your mind and you try to shake it off as best as you can, but the light cries are unmistakable. He is dreaming, and it isn’t a pleasant dream. Your limbs feel heavy and a little voice in the back of your head tells you it’s a bad idea, but you ignore it knocking lightly on the door hoping that maybe it would pull him from whatever terrible dream he was going through. Nothing. Absolutely nothing happens so with a deep breath you open the door and walk into the room. The scene before you makes you bite your lip, Yamato was in its sheath discarded carelessly on the floor right at the side of his bed. That wasn’t what had your heart rate increasing and the nervous pit in your stomach grow. Vergil was gripping the sheets of his bed tightly to the point you could hear them beginning to rip under the stress of it. If you could see better his knuckles would surely be white. His breathing was quick and labored and his normally slicked back hair was sticking to his face from the thin layer of sweat that had accumulated on him. “Vergil…” You call out to him softly creeping closer to him hoping your voice alone would finally do the trick. It almost seems like it has the opposite effect as his body twists and turn. “Vergil.” This time your voice is firm and louder as you hesitantly reach out for him. Again you call out to him as your hands make contact with his shoulders. What happens next feels like a blur and the next thing you know your back is pressed against the soft sheets of his bed and involuntary yelp almost escapes you, almost. It’s stuck in your throat and you don’t know why. It takes what feels longer than what it actually was to realize it was because of his hands wrapped tightly around your throat. It takes another second for you to realize you can’t breathe. Another second to look up at him as instinctively your hands start to claw as his desperate to pry them off of you while realizing he was still asleep. Your lungs begin to hunt as you feel yourself for some reason try to hold your breath even though another part of you is screaming for oxygen. Feet flailing, body writhing underneath his, your hands go to his face clawing and smacking at him trying desperately to wake him up. Tears prick at your eyes as somehow your foot makes contact with the nightstand next to his bed. The force of it is enough to make it come crashing to the floor. Your vision starts to see spots of black as suddenly Vergil’s weight is removed from you. The first breath you take in burns but when you go the exhale a scream that is a mixture of pain and terror comes from you. During this moment you vaguely hear Nero calling out to you as he grabs onto you trying to get you to focus on him but kick him away before falling to the floor the tears that had built up streaming down as another cry comes from you while your lungs desperately try to get oxygen into you. Your brain is working into overdrive and you don’t know what you want or need, and another moment goes by before you throw yourself into Nero’s arms trembling. “Nero, get her the hell out of here! Now!” You hear Dante state. The adrenaline still running through you forces you to turn to the sound of his voice. Your eyes landing on Dante who has Vergil pinned to a wall who in some ways seems to be just as bad off as you. However, you don’t see it, you don’t see his ghost-white face and look of terror in his eyes as he stares at you. Confusion turned into realization at what had happened. You don’t see the rise and fall of his chest as he takes ragged gasps of air just like you. You don’t realize at that moment just how guilty the oldest son of Sparda feels.

What happened that night had in some ways completely regressed every bit of progress you had made so long ago after escaping your ex-boyfriend and for a solid two weeks, you could not be in the same room as him. His very presence sent you into a state of panic and anxiety. It wasn’t even him you feared, it was the fact that he had suddenly become a trigger for your PTSD. The past melding in with the present and the events of that night was debilitating. Out of nowhere, Vergil had stayed at the shop with Dante refusing to even step a foot in Nero and Kyrie’s home if he thought there was even a chance of him seeing you and you him. That wouldn’t solve the problem though it was a temporary fix as you tried to re-gather and compose yourself. This was something Vergil himself seemed to realize, so it shocked not only you but the rest of the gang when he had openly apologized to you before everyone else. It was only one sentence but none the less he had apologized. Lady and Nico did not want you to accept what they deemed to be a poor excuse of an apology but you accepted it. You knew that Vergil would not be the type to explain himself. What was there to explain? What more could he say to make it better? There were no valid excuses for what he had done. He knew that and you knew that so you accepted it with good graces. Your acceptance of it seemed to throw him for a loop, the look on his face seemed shocked and confused. It was as if he was expecting maybe even wanting you to reject it. That wasn’t you though, because at its core it was an accident and everyone else knew that but some still had trouble accepting it. You’re shaken out of your thoughts from the sound of the tea pot starting to slowly whistle. Shit. You hiss and turn off the stove taking the pot off the stove and setting it onto a counter. It was something you did frequently, so much so Kyrie had shown you ways to lower the temperature of water for tea. The cold to hot ratio was something you learned quickly, and you thanked your stars for it. A few minutes later you heard the distinct creak of the shop's staircase and a moment later your eyes met tired and wary blue ones. A ray of emotions passed over them some you could identify others you could not. There was a tense silence between you two and it made you gulp as your heart began to pound. What the hell was I thinking? Who the hell wants tea after having night terrors? You ask yourself this while looking at the cup of chamomile tea sitting in front of you. Way to go [y/n], fucking idiot. Exhaling you look at him then back at the tea and then the kitchen sink as you chew on your lip. 

“You don’t drink Chamomile.” It was a statement one that makes your gaze snap back to his.

“I...don’t.” Your words are slow and you almost try to present it as a question hoping to throw him off.

“No, you don’t like it.” His voice was soft, but it challenged you to tell him different.

How does he know that? You ask as you try to wrack your brain chewing on the bottom corner of your lip. That’s when you remember you had mentioned that you dislike the taste of the herbal tea sitting in front of you. Kyrie had offered some to you when Vergil first started staying with you guys. The half-demon had been in the room. He remembered that? Your cheeks heat up and you open your mouth after licking your lips. You were caught, now you had to fess up because who else was it for? Ghosts? You almost snort at the idea. “I um...made it..for you.” You whisper looking at your feet, surely your face beat red at this point. You could hear your rapid heartbeat in your ears and the nervousness that was bubbling in you seemed to give you a stomachache. You push the cup of tea slowly towards him your fingers trembling. Lord knows if you had tried to pick up the cup it would have gone tumbling to the floor. It was not surprising or hidden knowledge that when you became nervous, you also became the biggest damn klutz in the world. Cool fingers run along the top of yours before you can pull back and it makes you freeze for but a moment as Vergil pulls the teacup from your hand carefully. You take a curious glance up at him from your lashes and oh are you glad you did, even though the sight before you make your cheeks flush even more. He wore a slight half-smile while his eyes held a small softness to them. The only word that could describe the scene before you was beautiful. Vergil turns and leaves the kitchen before coming to a stop in the doorway, he turns his head the smile still somewhat gracing his features. “Thank you.” 

#devil may cry #devil may cry 5 #post devil may cry 5 #Vergil #timid reader #vergil x reader #our boy was having nightmares #you did your best #it was not good at first #BUT #YOU CONQUERED AND TRIUMPHED #hope you guys can focus on our boy smiling rather than the angst

[keeroo92]

My Brother’s Pain

For @dmcgenweek Day Three - Grief/Sleep

Takes place after the events of DMC5, before the epilogue scenes.

Vergil hated the Underworld.

Why?

Well, for starters, it was always so bloody cold. The chill of it set him on edge the instant he and Dante had crossed over. The familiar icy caress reminded him of his other visits to Hell. He knew from experience if he made it back to the Human Realm, it would take at least a week to feel warm again.

Second on the elder Sparda’s list of reasons to hate Hell was the smell. Every plane had a distinct odor to it, but there was always an undercurrent of wilting roses. Ever since his first “visit” he’d hated the fragrance of roses. By itself, the scent wasn’t worth noticing. But when you mixed in the plane's aroma they had landed on, it was abhorrent.

Wilting roses and wet canine. Only in the Underworld.

Add to the mix of unpleasantness the fact that demons attacked every ten minutes, and Vergil lacked the ability to imagine a worse location to find himself.

And Dante’s here, too. Ugh.

Regardless, he had a job to do, and Vergil would not allow failure to wound his pride. He allowed himself the luxury of wrinkling his nose in distaste as he flicked the Yamato to the side to expel the demon blood coating it, sheathing the blade in a single, fluid motion. Dante didn’t bother. His idiot brother absorbed his own weapon back inside his body without cleaning it.

“C’mon, Verg. Let’s get this done.”

Vergil scoffed, his long legs bringing him to his brother’s side within three strides as the man in red walked toward their goal; the Qlipoth.

“My sentiments exactly, brother.”

Gazing at the tree filled Vergil with shame. He struggled to believe how foolish he’d been to think summoning this monstrosity to the Human Realm would bring him greater power. How naïve to imagine he could somehow become stronger by splitting himself in half. No, his desperation had borne that idea; it didn’t bear further thought.

His new plan was to observe Dante and decide for himself if his methods might cause his own strength to rise if adopted. It was a strategy he’d never considered, but knowing the life his brother led and taking into consideration what his human half had experienced, it was worth exploring. Perhaps the answer was to indulge both sides of himself, as opposed to just the one.

Even if his assessment proved incorrect, it would not be difficult to eliminate the man. Not considering how many demons were nearby waiting to rip him apart. Utilizing them would be child’s play.

The two men reached the Qlipoth within mere hours. There was no change in the lighting to mark the passage of time, leading Vergil to believe this was one of the Realms without sunlight. One where despite this, instead of the land being eternally shadowed, it was eternally bright.

Sleep would be a challenge.

A challenge to face later.

Vergil followed his brother to the bottom of the tree, the pair of them drawing their blades together to destroy the last remnant of his idiocy.

The Qlipoth fell easily to their combined might, a great crash marking its descent as it struck the ground. Once the rumbles subsided, Vergil once again sheathed his blade with care while Dante absorbed his own.

“Well… that’s that,” Dante commented.

“Indeed.”

“Guess we should find somewhere to rest for a bit.”

Vergil hummed his agreement, his cold eyes already scanning the environment for potential sites. Because they were in the Underworld, the Qlipoth hadn’t vanished upon being destroyed. Some of its limbs met nearby in a passable approximation of shelter. It still left one side open to attack, but it was an advantageous find, regardless.

“I’ll take first watch,” Vergil announced as he led his brother to the somewhat sheltered spot. Dante shrugged, peeling off his crimson jacket to curl up underneath it. He used one of the sleeves to cover his eyes and soon enough he filled the air with his restful snores.

Alone at last.

Vergil made a point to sweep his stern gaze across the horizon every few seconds, keeping vigil as was his duty. Yet as his eyes fulfilled his responsibilities, his mind wandered.

He couldn’t help but wonder about Nero. His son. He wasn’t sure how to describe his impression of that fact, his emotions too out of practice to recognize. His very bones informed him Dante had spoken the truth; he knew the boy was his. Yet there was no sense of ownership or urge to claim him.

I suppose I no longer have that right.

He’d made so many mistakes, so many errors in judgement. A twinge of unfamiliar discomfort made him shift uncomfortably as he dwelled on his many failures. He tried to find the language necessary to describe what he felt, but lacked the terminology. This, by itself, was alarming. Vergil prided himself on his vocabulary, always having a word ready for any -

“Mom…”

His eyes shot straight to Dante’s as he mumbled. The sleeve of his coat had fallen away at some point, letting Vergil stare in confusion as his brother writhed in the grip of his nightmares. His twin’s brows met and his teeth showed in a pained grimace.

Dante has nightmares?

“Mom… stay with me…”

Vergil turned away, redirecting his focus through sheer force of will. He envisioned a wall between himself and his brother, one that sound lacked the means to penetrate. He clenched his jaw in frustration as the echoing cries of his brother’s pain intermittently interrupted his musings. His thoughts drifted to their mother, of course. If Dante’s nightmares reflected reality, then it seemed she had left him behind as well.

A rush of understanding and sympathy did its best to overpower him, but he brutally grappled it into submission. Even if Eva left Dante behind, his life was still so different from his own that he didn’t merit kindness.

“Vergil… find Vergil…”

Dante’s muttered words sent Vergil reeling. He must have misheard his brother’s ramblings. For a moment, Vergil maintained his vigil. Yet his curiosity refused to abandon his thoughts and soon enough he edged nearer to his brother. He heard the low moans between the muttered expressions, his own name mixed alongside their mother’s in a cacophony of woe. He stepped closer, now standing mere feet away to listen to every word that escaped Dante’s lips.

“Mom… come back… too late…”

Vergil froze, not daring to draw breath as he listened. He tried to assemble the puzzle pieces into a coherent image, but without more information it was a fool’s errand.

Suddenly Dante’s eyes opened. He instantly spotted Vergil crouched beside him and grimaced, sitting up hurriedly. At first, Vergil considered playing it off somehow, making an excuse. Yet something inside him proclaimed its distaste for the idea. Instead, he sat alongside his brother with a sigh, his form rigid.

The silence stretched on as the two brothers both searched for the right words to bridge the vast gap between them, each for their own reasons. Vergil spoke first.

“I didn’t know you had nightmares about Mother.”

Dante nodded, his white hair hiding most of his expression as it shifted from the motion.

“Of course I do. What a clusterfuck that was.”

Vergil hummed in agreement, unsure how to navigate these treacherous waters. He wanted to know what happened, what Dante had seen. Needed more information regarding the night that left their family shattered. He cleared his throat.

“I miss her, Dante.”

His counterpart looked at him through his hair, probably assessing the truth in his words. Vergil’s chest felt tight as he watched his brother’s expression soften, his pain reflected in his twins gaze as their eyes met for what felt like the first time in understanding. He focused on him, maintaining eye contact despite the overwhelming urge to look away.

Dante broke first, shifting his body to hide his face as he sniffled. Even as Vergil scoffed at the sign of weakness, another part of him wanted nothing more than to lay his arm across his brother’s shoulders and attempt to comfort him. The opposing urges clashed within him in a storm, resulting in him not responding whatsoever.

“I miss her too, Vergil.”

Warmth on his knee made Vergil glance down to spot Dante’s hand resting there. He stared blankly for a long moment, unsure how to proceed. Upon considering it, he could not deny that the contact felt… nice. He wondered when he’d last allowed someone to touch him, but nothing recent came to mind. Dante withdrew his palm, leaving Vergil to puzzle over his mixed reaction. He asked the question he longed to find answers for to give himself another moment to process.

“What happened that night?”

To his surprise, Dante responded.

“She… she hid me in their closet and… went to look for you. I heard her scream but that’s all I know.”

Would she have survived if I’d been there? Was her death my fault?

Vergil bit his lip to stop it from trembling, fighting to conceal his emotions. They swirled within him in a whirlwind. His anger, his regret, his childlike sadness and his grief. He took a halting breath, his shoulders twitching as he withheld a sob.

“It’s okay, Verg. Let go, I’m the only one here and you can kill me later, anyway.”

Vergil glared at his kin intensely enough to melt glass, the mere suggestion of displaying his pain for anyone to see abhorrent. Yet even as he held his angry stare, a tear slipped out and rolled down his cheek. Dante sighed, rolling his eyes at Vergil’s insistence on self-control. He leaned closer and wrapped his arms around his brother, awkwardly pulling the man into a hug. It was clear from the look on his face he expected to Vergil to stab him for it.

Vergil steadfastly remained rigid, his staccato breathing the only outward sign of his grief. Once again, some foreign corner of his being longed to return the embrace. Another portion of his being wished for nothing more than to see Dante with the Yamato embedded in his belly. Yet he did neither.

“I’m not letting go until you either stab me or hug me,” Dante muttered stubbornly.

I’ve stabbed him before and it’s gained me naught. Perhaps it is time for a different approach?

As he said, I can always kill him later.

Vergil raised his arms with reluctance, wrapping them around Dante with a clenched jaw. Somehow, returning the hug made it more difficult to hold in his pain, and all at once it became too much to bear. He shook under the force of his need to control himself, unable to do anything to halt the erosion of his restraint.

Dante patted his back, and the dam disintegrated. Vergil transformed into a pathetic mess of sorrow as his tears dripped down his jaw, his shoulders and chest heaving from the strength of his sobbing. He could feel his heart burning in his rib cage, the low ache he had grown used to evolving into an agony so soul wrenching he couldn’t remain silent.

His own frailty disgusted Vergil as he howled at the still bright sky overhead, expelling as much of his pain as possible with the power of his voice. Dante released him as the sound echoed, cringing from the volume. Even without his brotherly hug, Vergil found control unattainable. He angrily succumbed to the tide of misery within him, riding out the storm until it blew itself out.

At long last, he returned to himself. He felt like a wrung-out towel, devoid of moisture or coherence in the wake of his episode. His limbs were heavy, eyelids swollen and raw from the tears he’d scrubbed away. Only a faded ache remained of his previously tortured heart. He leaned back against the Qlipoth they sheltered beneath, taking deep breaths to calm himself further.

Dante stood, threading his arms through the sleeves of his coat.

“Get some sleep. My turn to keep watch.”

Vergil hastily searched for a response, some arrangement of words to reassert his strength. Yet what escaped his lips did nothing of the sort.

“Thank you, brother.”

For more than taking watch.

#dmc #dmc dante #dmc vergil #dmcgenweek #my writing #brothers #fanfic

[keeroo92]

Savior, Bloodstain, Hellfire, Shadow Ch34 (V x Reader)

True Ending part two: Sacrifice :D

V

A peaceful moment of bliss passes as the quartet regains their bearings after the dramatic scene, each gathering themselves to finish what you all started together. V has to force himself to bring his mind back to the matter at hand, instead of reveling in all the joy he feels at having a future. He’s never allowed himself the luxury of wondering what his life will be like in five years, ten years, anything past Urizen.

Holy shit, we’re alive! It actually worked! Can you believe it, Shakespeare?

I… I don’t have the words.

Allow me, then. FUCK YEAH!

An amused roar, a low rumble of shifting earth. V smirks at his three friends’ jubilance, all four of them giddy with excitement. It feels as if he’d been carrying a massive block of stone on his back and never noticed, the weight of it so normalized that he couldn’t have envisioned his existence without it on his shoulders. Yet now, the weight is lifted, and V feels as if he can fly unaided. His spirit soars, his mind racing at everything he can now plan for, new goals already formulating as the news of his child sinks in.

He cradles you even closer, tightening his arms around you tenderly. A long sigh from Dante reminds him forcefully that his task is not yet complete.

 Urizen is gone, but the Qlipoth remains.

V carefully sits up, keeping you in his arms as he refocuses on what still needs to be done. It irritates him to realize how his body still trembles, his nerves frayed and exhausted to the point of rebellion after all he has endured. He sighs in frustration as both Nero and Dante stand with ease, seemingly unaffected by their chaotic battle.

“So… how do we take this overgrown weed down?” Nero comments with a smirk. His eyes sweep across the area and widen as he spots something near Urizen, his feet carrying him to it in seconds.

The young warrior lets out an excited whoop, stooping over to pick up a long and thin object.

 Is that…?

Nero holds the item up with a wide grin.

“It’s Yamato!” he calls out, confirming V’s suspicions. Dante shakes his head and chuckles as Nero returns.

“Right, then… that’ll come in handy. Give it here, kid,” Dante demands, holding out his hand. Nero looks at him quizzically, not fully grasping his uncle’s intentions yet. The elder Sparda sighs, crossing his arms as he elaborates.

“Look, someone’s gotta go clean up this mess, and I sure as hell ain’t about to let any of you three do it,” the man in red begins. “I need to sever the Qliphoth roots in the Underworld itself. Then, I'll seal the portal with the Yamato.”

Nero instantly starts to protest, V simply sharing a look of bewilderment with you at his brother’s tone.

“Hang on, if you do that, you can't come back!” his argumentative son argues vehemently.  

“Why do you think I'm the one going? I’m the only one with nothing to lose. I’ll get the job done, no matter what it takes,” Dante replies, giving a weighted look at you and V, and suddenly the poet understands.

 He’s sacrificing himself for us.

His heart sinks like a stone in a streambed at the realization, knowing he’s about to lose his brother once again just as the two of them were starting to reconnect.

“You can't just expect me to stay here, while you go—” Nero shoots back, but V interrupts him tersely.

“Think of Kyrie. Could you truly abandon her like that? Dante is right, it has to be him,” the obsidian haired man explains frustratedly. Nero grunts in aggravation as he struggles to find a counter, unable to do so despite his best efforts.

“It's because you're here I can go. I’m trusting you three with things on this side, capisce?”  the man in red declares. Nero grimaces, understanding at last though he still clearly wants to go along. He hands the blade to his uncle sadly, pulling the elder Sparda into a hug for an awkward familial embrace. The two men part after a brief moment and Nero clears his throat to speak once more.

“Thanks, Dante. Thanks for everything. I’ll keep this side safe, I promise,” he solemnly states.

 Why must there always be a cost? Is the Sparda family fated to be separated?

V steps forward as well with his face twisted with bitterness, reaching out to his brother to shake his hand as he speaks, “I’ll shade him from the heat till he can bear, to lean in joy upon our fathers knee, and then I’ll stroke his silver hair, and be like him and he will then love me.”

Dante just stares at him in mystification, their arms still locked together.

“Put simply, thank you, brother. And good luck. Do try to come back to us,” V explains with a sigh. Dante smirks; those words he could understand.

“I will,” Dante promises, releasing V’s arm to face you. Your eyes are wide and teary as you meet the man’s gaze.

“Dante… there has to be another way! What if you can’t make it alone?” you cry. V takes your hand and gives it a comforting squeeze as Dante replies softly.

“There isn’t, kid. Come here for a sec,” he rumbles, gesturing to the side and walking away from the others with you barely a step behind. V swallows heavily as bittersweet gratitude toward his brother fills him, knowing exactly what dangers Dante will face in the underworld from personal experience.

______________________________________________________________

A few moments pass in silence as you accompany Dante toward the peaceful house, his gaze locked on the structure thoughtfully. The idea of him being trapped in the underworld is deeply disturbing, but you can’t fault his logic. He is the strongest, and also the only one of the group without a partner who would be devastated to lose him. It’s tragic, but the thought of Nero or V going with him or in his place is so much worse you can’t even finish the thought.

“Alright… couple things. First, you really gonna have V’s kid, kid?” the man in red begins, a curious smile twisting his mouth.

“I… eventually, maybe. I only said that because I thought it might get through to him,” you respond in embarrassment, turning pink. You had hoped no one else had heard that part, but considering how loud you had shouted, it doesn’t really surprise you that your words are apparently common knowledge.

“I can respect that. I mean, it worked, so good call. I uh… if you ever do end up having kids with him, be extra careful. I can’t say if his demonic heritage would affect anything, but who knows? You two could have your hands full with a little devil running around,” he comments wryly. You can’t help but chuckle, picturing a tiny version of Dante’s devil form flying away to escape time out.

“I have a request, though, if you’ll hear me out,” he continues.

Suspicion blooms like a flower in your mind and you cross your arms, giving him an imperious glare. He’s kept his word and been respectful, but if he thinks he’s never coming back, who knows what he’ll ask you for?

“I’m not agreeing without hearing it first,” you inform him, and now it’s his turn to chuckle.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing like that,” he assures you with a smirk. He turns back to face the house, his eyes lost in memory as he explains himself. “Thing is, back in Red Grave City, this place is practically destroyed. I have the deed for the land in my safe, Trish knows the combination. I want you and V to have it, and my request is that you rebuild it. Make some good memories to clear out the bad. There’s been too much darkness there, but once it was a good home and it could be again.”

You freeze in your tracks, caught utterly off guard by his request.

 I thought he’d want a kiss or something!

Taking a few seconds to think about it, you realize how perfect the idea is. You never intended to go back to your apartment, and as far as you know V doesn’t have a home to return to. It would take some time to rebuild it, but with some hard work it could be a wonderful home.

 And I’d live with V! Just the two of us.

Dante watches you carefully as you ponder, nervousness marking his face as he waits to hear your response. You shoot him a smile as your thoughts reach their conclusion, leaning forward to wrap him in your arms for a hug. He hesitates but hugs you back gently.

“Thank you, Dante. We’ll make it a home again, I promise,” you whisper against his chest. You hear the low rumble of a hum of acknowledgement in his body, a small smile crossing his rugged features. He pulls away to put his hands on your shoulders, staring deeply into your eyes.

“Hey, I should be the one thanking you. You saved my brother, or at least the part that’s not a total douchebag. We would’ve fought, probably until one or both of us was dead, so you kinda saved my life too,” he gratefully explains.

You can’t help but blush, unsure if you can really take the credit for that but touched by his words regardless. He stands upright again, dropping his hands to rest on his hips as he turns back to face the house he lost everything in.

“I guess I have a couple other requests, actually,” he adds, and your eyes drift upward in an exasperated roll. You sigh but gesture for him to speak, preparing another eye roll if he asks for something stupid.

“First I gotta tell you where it is, but I want you to take V to our mom’s grave. It’s not far from the house, shouldn’t be too hard to find,” he begins carefully. “I would’ve liked to take him myself, but…”

You swallow harshly as the tears you’ve only barely managed to withhold after V’s survival threaten to spill forth once more. Your heart aches for Dante, knowing that he faces almost certain death and this may be your last chance to speak to him alone.

“I’d be honored to take him, Dante. And Nero, too, if that’s alright,” you whisper back. Dante nods his agreement, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he wrestles with his own emotions. Your first impression of him couldn’t have been more wrong, in the end. Yes, he puts up an arrogant façade, only showing the confident and reckless portions of himself to most people. But underneath the bravado and flirtations, Dante is a deeply intuitive person. He reminds you a little of Lara in his thoughtfulness. Few people would have asked for the things he was asking, for you to restore his childhood home and help his brother find closure.

 Oh, Dante… I’m sorry. I underestimated you.

“Last thing, and this one is more of a formality. Keep an eye on Nero, yeah? Make sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid. And V, too. He’s gonna need you even more after all this bullshit, you know,” he concludes heavily.

You take a page out of the legendary devil hunters’ playbook and adopt a confident, almost cocky expression as you cross your arms and turn to face him.

“Try and stop me,” you answer, with all the bravado you can muster. Dante bursts out laughing, clapping a hand on your shoulder as he catches his breath.

“Oh, Y/N, you’re gonna make a great Sparda. I wish I could be there to see it,” he chuckles.

“See what?” you ask.

“Hehe, see you and V get married. Hey, thanks for caring about him so much. I’m glad he won’t be alone anymore,” Dante tells you with a sly grin.

 Married!?

 Married…

A wide smile spreads across your lips at the idea as you picture V waiting for you at the end of an aisle, all your friends surrounding you as you officially declare your love for each other. Dante chuckles once again at your radiant expression.

“And with that, kid, you’re ready.”

He snickers once more, almost wheezing in amusement as he starts walking back to the other two men. You follow behind, glancing back at the house once again to solidify its appearance in your memory. The four of you stand together, sharing one last moment before the family is forced apart.

 It isn’t enough…

You step forward, standing in the middle of the men and reaching out to pull them all into a group hug. Nero grumbles along with Dante, but V just laughs as he embraces his family. You’re wrapped in a cocoon of Sparda’s, enveloped in warmth and love.

From V, the man you’ve given your heart and will love for the rest of your life.

To Nero, the brother and best friend you never knew you were missing.

To Dante, the pseudo father figure that had surprising depths hidden behind his mask of joviality.

After a long moment, the men break the embrace, all smiling but also a bit pink. Nero looks up the hole you had all jumped down with a frown.

“How the hell are we gonna get back up?”

______________________________________________________________

V

In the end, Dante has to ferry each of you up one at a time using his devil form. By the time everyone is back in the dark and terrible Qlipoth structure, his brother is panting with exertion. In contrast, V can feel himself recovering slowly, his strength gradually returning to him as his body replenishes itself.

He’s still tired, still needs a little help to keep moving. He takes turns being partially supported by you and Nero a the three of you leave Dante behind to gather his strength before he crosses over. None of the trio gets far before glancing back at the legendary man  one last time, drinking in his face before it’s lost forever.

 Knowing Dante, he’ll be back.

 I suppose… but it could be years.

 Have some faith, Shakespeare. If anyone can get lucky enough to find their way back, it’s him.

V snorts; his brother definitely has most of the luck in the family, never seeming to have faced a hurdle he couldn’t overcome. Jealousy burns in his stomach as he ponders the contrast to his own life, full of failures and disappointment.

 Until now…

 Now I have everything I’ve never knew I wanted.

He smirks, emerald eyes glancing at you and Nero in turn as you hand him over to the young warrior for the next leg of the journey back to Nico’s van. It should be just around the next corner, if V’s memory serves.

 Ah, there it is.

“V!!! You made it!” Nico howls triumphantly as she sprints over, Lady and Trish not far behind her. All three of their grinning faces fall in unison as they realize who’s missing.

“Where’s Dante?” Trish demands, glaring at V accusingly.

 Of course she would blame me.

“He went to take care of the Qlipoth,” Nero answers helpfully, but his words only inflate Trish’s rage.

“You let him go ALONE?!” she shouts, turning her angry gaze on each of the three of you in turn. V sighs, carefully letting go of Nero and taking his weight on his own legs with a slight grunt. His body still aches, nerves complaining from the abuse he’d endured, but cooperating enough for him to limp over to the van and sit on the lowest step.

“He wouldn’t let us go with him, said we have too much to lose…” you inform Trish mournfully. Lady collapses to the ground, tears falling as she hears of her friend’s sacrifice. Nico lays a hand on the distraught woman’s shoulder, patting it reassuringly as she processes her own reaction.

“So does he! He could die!” Trish screams, infuriated. She makes a noise of disgust as she pushes past V, hastily gathering her weapons from inside the van as she prepares to follow Dante into the abyss. Lady lets out a startled yelp as a deep rumble comes from the Qlipoth; Dante must have met resistance. The entire structure shakes, small segments turning grey and falling to crash on the ground around the vehicle. You and Lady quickly join Trish in the van, but V pauses as he sees Nero hesitate.

His hands clench, Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. He closes his eyes and bows his head in a silent farewell, then turns around and starts running.

“I’m going after him! You guys get out of here! And… tell Kyrie I’m sorry!” the young warrior shouts over his shoulder. V stands heavily, reaching out to try and stop him, but Nero is far too fast and vanishes around the corner before he can do anything.

“Nero!” he howls, to no avail. His son is gone, following his brother to their doom.

“V, get inside! We have to go!” you urge him from inside, having witnessed Nero’s departure from the window. You reach out to pull his shoulder, forcing him to join you on the steps as Nico starts the van. He surrenders, still to weak to fight you off as you drag him to the couch.

 First Dante, now Nero… how long will it be until I lose Y/N too?

 Hey, they could still make it back! Don’t count them out yet!

“I still say I could go after him, too!” Trish insists, in a heated argument with Lady. The van speeds away as the two women fight, but V tunes them out. He focuses on you, cradling you in his arms as Nico’s perilous driving takes you all away from the Qlipoth. He rests a hand on your stomach, wondering if he’ll have another son or perhaps a daughter. It comforts him, helps him remember that his family hasn’t all gone to face death.

 Only half of it…

______________________________________________________________

The retreat continues, the massive Qlipoth rumbling threateningly even as Nico carries you all away as quickly as she can. You watch out the window as you at long last reach daylight, leaving the darkness behind. The van races on as the tree shrinks, though it’s hard to tell considering its size.

 I hope Nero can’t find Dante. I hope he gives up and finds us…

As the van crests a hill, you see a bright light appear a few dozen yards higher on the tree, a blue glow flashing for an instant. You lean forward, squinting to try and figure out the source of the beautiful color.

“Nero?!” you gasp out, drawing the attention of the others instantly. Even Nico shifts her eyes to see what you’re staring at; fortunately, you’re on a somewhat clear and straight stretch of road. Lady and Trish gape as the blue light rises, ascending the tree at an incredible speed. A faint echo of Nero’s voice hits you as the blue dot leaves your field of view.

“Holy shit! Is he flying?!” Nico demands. She’s forced to pay attention to the road again as you dash onward, putting yet more distance between your group and the Qlipoth. You rejoin V on the couch, no longer able to see Nero.

 What the hell happened to him? How can he fly?

“He must have unlocked his devil form. I was beginning to wonder if he even had one, but better late than never,” Trish comments dryly, smirking.

Mere seconds later, all eyes are drawn back to the tree once again as the ground beneath the wheels of the van shakes ominously. The Qlipoth is turning grey, its horrible form breaking and massive chunks of stone-like remains crash to the ground below in a symphony of Dante’s success.

Everyone in the van cheers as the demonic growth crumbles away, the red stained clouds clearing and the darkness receding from the city as the last few pieces rain down. Sections of the city shift, the roots they had been elevated on vanishing and forcing them back to their original positions.

 I hope the Sparda manor is alright…

 I hope Dante and Nero are alright.

Your heart aches as you realize that one or both of them must have made it to the underworld and severed the tree from the other side. Nico pulls over, the van screeching to a stop. The five of you dash off the van to stand and watch the skyline, waiting with bated breath for any sign of your friends.

 Please… please, Nero, come back…

  ______________________________________________________________

The group waits for hours, refusing to admit the brutal truth even as the sun sets and the shadows lengthen behind you. The flame of hope stutters in your chest, dimming and finally going dark as Lady speaks the words you’ve all been thinking.

“They’re gone… both of them…” the brunette states morosely. You sniffle, angrily wiping your eyes as you begin to cry, again.

 I swear, I’ve cried enough to fill a bucket today.

You lean your head on V’s shoulder where he sits beside you, his face stricken as he faces the fact that his brother and his son are gone, trapped in the underworld with no hope of escape.

“Goddamnit, Nero! You fucking asshole!” Nico exclaims, sorrow and rage mixing in her voice. Her shoulders sag as she starts to cry, head bowed as choking sobs break from her lips.

Trish barely shows her sorrow, only her trembling lower lip betraying her pain as she continues her vigil. Her eyes have never once left the horizon, her faith in Dante unshakeable.

Lady sits on your other side, her fingers fidgeting nervously with the hem of her jacket. She keeps biting her lip, worrying it with her teeth in an expression of anxiety.

You wipe your eyes once more and stand, stepping into the van and searching for blankets and pillows. Your breath hitches as you spot one of Nero’s mechanical arms awaiting his return on Nico’s workbench, its cold metal never to touch the flesh of the man it was made for.  Your resolve shatters, your bruised and exhausted heart aching in your chest as you bury your face in a pillow from the couch and scream, wailing your pain to the uncaring down feathers stuffing it.

You had been preparing yourself to lose V, unsure if your plan would work.

You had not been preparing to lose anyone else.

 Stupid, so stupid, to think we could all make it through in one piece! There was no way, it’s amazing more of us aren’t dead!

You bite your cracked lips, stifling the sobs as best you can.

 I’m so tired of crying.

Your head pulsates with waves of pain, your mouth so dry you can’t even wet your lips properly. The flesh under your eyes feels raw from all the tears you’ve wiped away, your eyelids swollen and tired.

 Is it wrong for me to be happy that V’s here? To be grateful?

 It feels like a cruel joke.

“Little fox? Are you alright?” V’s lilting tone calls out from the door. He easily spots you with your face stuffed into a pillow, shoulders still shaking. He closes the door behind him and gently takes you in his arms, rubbing your back soothingly and making soft shushing sounds in your ear. Your sobs fade into hiccups, your body relaxing into his warmth as he eases your pain.

He leans back to look into your eyes, a mournful smile on his lips.

“I’m so sorry about Nero. I know how important he is to you,” he whispers. You swallow heavily before responding, picking up the pieces of your broken heart.

“He’s my best friend… and Dante was growing on me. I can’t believe they’re just… gone,” your broken voice states. V grimaces and you’re suddenly acutely aware of what he must be feeling, self-loathing surging within you as you realize how much worse his pain could be.

“Are you okay, V?” you ask him tremulously. He moves to sit on the couch with a sigh, pushing the dark curtain of his hair out of his face. You reach out to him, your hand feeling the tenseness in his neck and shoulders. You start rubbing, massaging his clenched muscles as he responds slowly.

“I… I don’t know. My body grows stronger, yet… I’m worried about them. About Dante and Nero. I wish there had been another option, or that Nero hadn’t run off,” he mumbles. You pinch the corded muscle connecting his shoulder to his neck and he lets out a contented moan as you carefully pull on the tissue.

“I’m worried too. Is there really nothing we can do? No way to reach them?” you ask morosely, but to your shock, V’s eyes widen as he jolts in the classic expression of an idea coming into his mind.

“There might be… there are many routes to the underworld, it’s possible if there’s an open one close by that we could find them,” he tells you thoughtfully. A low glow of hope flares in your heart, the idea of being able to get the two white-haired warriors home too appealing to ignore.

V stands excitedly, taking your hand and pulling you with him as he goes back outside to rejoin the others. The three women stare at him in confusion as they take in his eager expression, all still reeling from the loss.

“Trish, do you know if there are any devil gates nearby? Or a portal, any access point to the underworld?” the poet begins. The blonde woman stares at him blankly for a long moment as her mind catches up. Her eyes widen in realization, her lips stretching into a hesitant smile.

“You think we could get them out.” She states. V nods, and all three women rush at him, each desperate for any scrap of hope.

 Wait… didn’t Dante say something about closing the portal?

“Uh, guys? Can you explain to the newbie how exactly there’s a way to the underworld if Dante closed the portal with the Yamato?” you ask the quartet. Trish shares a look with V, then steps forward to explain.

“The underworld has numerous portals, uncountable ways to reach it. Dante was referring to the largest and most well-known portal, the one that’s been used most recently to bring the Qlipoth here. Even if he does seal that portal, there are many others that may still function. Those closest to the closed portal may weaken or stop working entirely, but some portals farther away could work easily,” she explains kindly.

“So there’s hope?” you ask her meekly.

“Yes, Y/N. We’re gonna bring our boys home.”

#fanfic #v x reader #v x you #dmc5 v #dmc5 #dmc #dmcv #dmc nero #dmc dante #vitale #devil may cry #my writing #SBHS

[keeroo92]

Savior, Bloodstain, Hellfire, Shadow Ch18 (V x Reader)

Chapter 18 - To Be Human

Soundtrack - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmVzeriU5m0

_______________________________________________

June 13th, 1:05 pm

How can I test this?

You ponder silently for a quick moment, V watching the gears turn in your head anxiously. You slam your hands on the desk as you figure out a way to test your theory.

“V… I need you to do something for me and not ask why, okay?” you instruct him. He nods nervously, still baffled by your behavior.

“I need you to think about how emotion is a liability, that it will slow you down to the point that Urizen succeeds,” you explain carefully and cross your fingers as you hold your breath. You can see the moment his thoughts follow what you said, the moment his mind shifts back into that darkness that pulls him away from you. The side of him that is so cold and uncaring.

His face crumples, his cane clattering to the ground as he clutches his head in agony. A low groan of pain slips through his clenched lips as you limp to the other side of the desk and wrap him in your arms, praying he can hear you through his pain. You pause in horror as you see another crack marring his left hand, expanding as you watch.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Listen to me – think about how you feel about me. Remember when we were at that house and we first kissed in bed? You said I tasted like heaven. It was magical. Or when you told me you were mine? Remember that? Or when we first slept together, what it felt like after all that waiting…”

 Come on, please God let this work! I swear I would trade all the lives I’ve saved until this point to save him, please…

You fall silent, eyes glued on the crack on his left hand as he starts to calm. You almost scream in ecstasy as the crack shrinks, just a tiny bit at first but faster and faster as V’s mind once again follows your words, remembering each moment you had mentioned. By the time his eyes rise to look at you again, the crack is a thin scar, barely visible at all.

You tackle him to the ground, laughing hysterically as you confirm your hypothesis. V grunts as he takes your weight but doesn’t complain, too busy holding you tightly through your exuberance. Finally, you calm down and sit up, straddling him with a wide grin.

“V, I think I know how to save you!”

_______________________________________________

V

His eyes widen, his face revealing his joy to you even as he’s still completely lost, not following your thinking at all.

“How, little fox?” he asks you earnestly, desperately trying to contain the growing flame of hope that you had lit in his heart.

“You have to let yourself feel. Embrace your humanity, focus on all the things about being alive that you love,” you try to explain.

 What the hell is she talkin’ about, Shakespeare?

 Not now, Griffon…

V sends an image of the blue bird with his beak tied shut as a threat, and the mouthy demon calms down to listen as Shadow purrs out a laugh.

“I don’t understand,” the lean poet responds. You fall silent for a moment, struggling to find the right words for him. He waits patiently, content to simply watch your face as you think.

“Okay, this is gonna sound really cheesy, but just go with it. First off, how did the Yamato know which pieces of Vergil to put where? How did it know what to discard?” you pause, waiting for him to answer.

“I… have no idea,” he admits slowly, still mystified.

“Vergil had to tell it! It was based off what he felt were his weaknesses and strengths! So obviously, emotion or perspective matters, right?”

“I suppose,” V replies and waits for you to continue.

“Second, you barely limp now. Ever since you said you loved me, you’ve barely had to use your cane. So experiencing a powerful emotion might be making you stronger, maybe even healing you. I mean, whenever you let your feelings take over, you’re ridiculously powerful,” you continue on, and thinking back V realizes you’re right.

He had never felt stronger than when he thought you were going to die, or when he had first admitted to himself that he loved you, or when you had claimed him as yours.

“Third, where does that energy come from? It doesn’t just appear, it has to come from somewhere. Also, you get weaker when you close off your emotions, as if energy is then leaving you. Just now, when you thought that bit about emotion is weakness, the skin on your hand cracked. Then when you thought about love, it healed. So, there’s an active connection between you and some kind of energy source,” you ramble on, barely even able to get the words out fast enough in your excitement. You reach down and grasp his biceps, leaning over him and staring into his eyes in excitement.

“What if that energy source is Urizen himself? What if the Yamato didn’t fully separate you from him, but linked you? Linked two separate portions of Vergil’s soul? What if you could siphon his life force? If a soul is quantifiable, it isn’t infinite, that means there’s only so much of Vergil’s soul for you to share with Urizen. If you could gain more of that soul back, maybe it would sort of, I don’t know, make you your own entity in the eyes of the universe and therefore unable to be combined back into Vergil?”

You fall silent, waiting for him to react to your theory.

 It… makes a certain kind of sense. But that’s quite a few what ifs…

He voices the thought to you and your brow furrows in thought. You bite your lip and lean back, crossing your arms and tapping your fingers as your mind continues to spin.

“Tell me everything you remember about the first time you guys faced Urizen. How it felt, what you did, everything,” you finally reply. He sighs heavily, sitting up at last and pulling his legs out from under you to cross them under his own thighs.

“Thou wilt go mad with horror if thou dost examine thus, every moment of my secret hours,” he recites carefully, the passage flowing through his mind like water in a streambed.

“V, just tell me. This is too important,” you respond and he nods as he casts his mind back to the hours before he had met you.

He swallows heavily and wets his lips before speaking. He remembers it well, the night Dante fell. It was the first time he’d come face to face with his demonic half since his rebirth and the experience had left a lasting memory.

Dante had seemed to be invincible that day, going toe to toe with Urizen for almost an hour before he and Nero had caught up. Catching glimpses through the internal structure of the tree, V had been able to see Dante in action for a few moments. He remembered fighting him as Vergil, remembered the way Dante seamlessly changed tactics. Annoying, really.

Against Urizen, he had needed to use every tool at his disposal. Every dirty trick, every clever gimmick. He had danced out of the path of missiles, glided through rays of energy, taken every shot he could even as he was avoiding being hit. It was a beautiful thing, to see Dante at his best. Enough to give V hope that perhaps this would all work out.

But it was not so. By the time he finally caught up to Nero (how he’d hated being left behind!), they had already been defeated.

_______________________________________________

His eyes dart around the scene, taking everything in as quickly as he can. Dante, on the ground. Trish and Lady, unconscious. Nero, struggling to stand up and blood seeping down from his torn scalp. And Urizen, his other half, seated on a throne of horrors. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest, telling him to run, to flee in order to survive, but why bother? If the legendary Dante failed, who could hope to best Urizen?

 All is lost, then.

“This is it, this is the end! It’s all over!” Griffon shouts, echoing his own thoughts.

A fireball begins to gather in Urizen’s extended right hand, one that will wipe the lot of them out of existence. V can suddenly barely stand, can hardly breathe as the fireball grows. Seeing his other half… its so much worse than he imagined.

 I have to merge with that? I have to allow that monstrosity to join with me or die? Is this truly my only choice?

The thought fills him with such dread that he cannot move. He looks at Nero, who still has yet to fully stand. He won’t be of any assistance. V’s emerald eyes and open mouth show his true fear, yet even as he struggles to step forward and face his fate, Dante miraculously rises.

A single shot echoes in the cavernous room as Dante fires into Urizen’s hand, quenching the still-growing fireball. A small rush of energy flows through him as the sound fades.

“Round two,” Dante says with a rueful grin and transforms in a wave of crimson energy. His devil form emerges, one of fire and ash. He draws his sword and leaps back into the fray, landing a crushing blow against Urizen’s shield. The force of the two titans clashing shakes the Qlipoth and the ceiling cracks, giant chunks raining down.

“V! Get Nero out of here! This is a bad move!” shouts Dante, his voice distorted in his demonic form. V can see it’s costing him everything he has to keep Urizen occupied.

“I can still fight!” Nero exclaims tiredly as he finally manages to rise. Only a Sparda would be so stubborn.

“Nero, go! You’re just dead weight!” Dante shouts back, barely able to glance over his shoulder long enough to get the words out.

“Back off!” Nero yells, desperate to prove himself. A chunk of rubble lands right in front of where Nero was about to step as V pulls him back just in time.

“Come on,” he says as he helps the young devil hunter to his feet, trying to get him to leave as Dante ordered. Even now, doing what Dante tells him leaves him feeling strange, an almost instinctual urge to fight and oppose Dante’s will nearly taking hold. Not this time.

“Let go!” Nero begs, still struggling against V’s weak grasp. If the young man had two arms, V would have had no hope to restrain him.

“We must leave here. He is far stronger than we could have imagined!” V shouts, struggling to be heard above the cacophony of falling debris. He wrestles Nero back farther, grappling him out of Urizen’s chamber as more and more rubble falls, blocking the entrance.

“That bastard called me dead weight! I didn’t come all this way for nothing!” Nero cries out as he reaches toward the battle yet again.

V finally loses his patience and yanks the other man against a wall, pinning him against it with his silver cane. He wants to punch him, utterly frustrated by their failure, but stifles the urge.

“Stop hitting yourself and think of ways to get stronger and actually help. If Dante loses...you are all that can defeat Urizen,” he says, trying to get the young warrior to see sense. How can he hope to defeat that evil with only one arm?

“Is that what you call him?” Nero responds, finally calming down enough to be reasonable. The entrance is now completely blocked, but both men look towards it anyway. Hoping, praying that Dante would somehow emerge victorious.

He doesn’t.

“Yes, Urizen, the demon king… That’s the name of the demon that took your arm,” V gasps out, winded by dragging Nero out and by the dust clouding the air.

The two men wait as long as they can, but eventually they share a glance and know that their time has run out. They run as quickly as they can manage back the way they came, getting as close to the outside of the tree as they can. Nero pulls out his sword to cut a way out, but it only creates sparks as the blade skitters across the surface of the tree.

“Allow me,” V says, his hand shakily rising to snap and summon Nightmare. Perhaps blunt force would be more effective than a piercing weapon. Nightmare bubbles up from the ground nearby, its huge hands clumsily pushing it to its feet. V climbs up the creatures back, using his cane to gain purchase. He guides Nightmare to the wall, commanding it to smash it down and jump, praying that it works and doesn’t get him killed.

He’s lucky.

Nightmare lands on the crowded street, almost instantly bubbling back into V’s snow-white hair. He is dismayed but not surprised by the number of people who have gathered to observe the tree. People always flock to catastrophe. Fools.

Nero manages to land in a crouch, having jumped with V through the hole made by Nightmare. The fact that he doesn’t break both his legs attests to his demonic heritage.

A dark-skinned man approaches the two men, a worried look on his grizzled face. Morrison.

“What happened to Dante? Where’s Dante?” he asks, seemingly unable to comprehend Dante’s failure. Understandable. My brother is known for finding miracles.

“He’s buying time, but… it doesn’t look good,” V tells him. A rumble makes all three men look back to see spiky black and red tentacles erupt out of the ground and skewer the foolish people gathered. Gasps and cries of pain ring out, but V’s expression doesn’t change.

“This can’t be happening… Dante lost?” Morrison exclaims, still reeling.

Nero steps forward, presumably to attempt to save some poor fools from being impaled, but V holds his cane out and blocks his path.

“Forget it, there’s nothing we can do. We must go…” he says, and Nero makes a sound of disgust before finally walking away.

_______________________________________________

“It wasn’t much later that we found you, Y/N. Enough time for me to realize how little a chance we stood, and to feel powerless to do anything to curb my other half’s growing power. I couldn’t help the people at the base of the tree, I know that. But seeing you out there, trying to help, you I could save. I don’t know how I knew, but I did.”

He swallows again, the guilt of his failures overwhelming him for a brief instant as you absorb his story, picking it apart and analyzing it.

“So, you felt weaker as the fireball appeared? And stronger the moment is was put out?” you ask. He nods, the memory still fresh in his mind from the retelling. Your lips stretch into a wide smile, eyes glittering with joy.

“That sounds like concrete evidence to me!” you exclaim happily, but V still has his doubts. Even so, he keeps them to himself for now, not wanting to spoil this moment for you. Instead, he reaches out and pulls you against his chest for a hug, the simple contact a soothing warmth on his worried soul.

 I should hug her more often.

After a long moment in his arms, you pull away, offering him a hand up once you’re standing again. He smiles gratefully at you but doesn’t accept it.

 I must test this for myself.

He thinks of the moment he held you in his arms for the first time, that hug that had meant so damn much to him. A surge of energy shoots through him, a small flicker of warmth growing in his chest as he stands.

 Perhaps she’s right…?

 It’s better than what you had ten minutes ago…

 True, at least this theory doesn’t end in my demise.

A low roar and the sounds of a rockslide join in, voicing their approval at Griffon’s image of him with grey hair, wrinkled and ancient as he still holds your equally old form in his arms. V can’t help the gentle smile from twisting his lips, the image one he had never had the courage to imagine yet it shows him his heart’s deepest desire. He memorizes the image, storing it in his mind forever. The small flame of hope in his chest burns on.

_______________________________________________

June 13th, 2:12 pm

You descend the stairwell slowly, careful to settle your weight on your uninjured hip before moving your crutches on each step. V is in front of you, frequently glancing back to check on your progress. As he takes the final step onto the ground floor, he turns to face you and you smile, his care always a reassurance.

“Nero? You still here?” you call out, to no response. V strides to the desk, cane twirling absentmindedly as he spots a piece of paper.

“Back in an hour, hope you two enjoy yourselves,” he murmurs with a smirk, holding the note up for you to see the winking smiley face at the bottom. You blush as you remember how loud you and V had been upstairs, but it had been so worth it!

You grunt softly as you sit on one of the couches nearby, resting your tired arms from the strain of walking on crutches everywhere. Suddenly, you can understand why so many patients stopping using their crutches a few weeks earlier than the doctor told them; it was a total pain.

V crosses his arms and leans against the massive desk that is clearly the centerpiece of Dante’s space. His brows are furrowed, biting his lip deep in thought.

 He looks so sexy when he does that…

“Do you think it’s only the emotion of love that can be effective against Urizen?” he asks you quietly, and now it’s your turn to ponder. Love is definitely one of the most intense feelings one can experience, but if the whole theory hinged on V embracing his humanity…

 What does it mean to be human?

 I am so not qualified to answer that question.

“I… I can’t even begin to guess. I suppose it depends on what it means to be human,” you venture and he nods thoughtfully.

“Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and revulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence,” he recites with a smirk.

“So… what reviles you? What do you hate?” you probe the poet.

He uncrosses his arms, crossing over to sit beside you as he thinks deeply. A long moment passes before his lips part once more.

“Dante,” he growls harshly and you recoil slightly from his tone, unused to hearing such hatred in his sweet voice.

 He truly hates his brother.

“Okay, well… how do you feel when you think of him?” you ask him.

“I feel… a powerful rage, a thirst… it’s a different sort of strength from when I dwell on you, but a form of vigor nonetheless,” he answers after a moment.

“I guess anger and hatred are pretty human…” you whisper softly. He shakes his head, glancing at you through his obsidian hair with a smirk.

“I’d much rather keep my thoughts on you, little fox,” he supplies, taking your hand and giving it a squeeze to emphasize his words. You smile back at him and lean on his tattooed shoulder, closing your eyes to wait for Nero’s return.

_______________________________________________

A parade of faces confronts you, accusing glares filling their numerous eyes. They flash by your vision in a slow march of blame, each mouth voicing the same few words that fall on your ears and thrust blades into your heart.

“Why didn’t you save me?”

The familiar sensation of your guilt rises inside you, a torrent of self-loathing that you can never seem to repress or defeat, not fully. The faces grow angrier as you stand before them in silence, spittle flecking from their lips as they shout the words at you.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU SAVE ME?”

Your shoulders shake with heaving sobs, tears painting your cheeks in an expression of your pain.

“I tried! I tried so hard, but I wasn’t good enough!” you scream at the faces through your choked breathing.

One face stops, the parade coming to a halt as the dead eyes of your best friend stare at you dully, glazed and expressionless as her lips move to form the most painful words of all.

“No, you didn’t. You didn’t even try. You may as well have strangled me yourself,” she says mercilessly, twisting the blades embedded in your chest by the other faces.

 “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I was scared, and stupid, and too weak to tell Evan the truth! I’m so sorry!”

“Sorry doesn’t fix it. Nothing will ever balance your debt, nothing.”

You wail at the truth in her words, molten lead pooling in your lungs and dripping down your face, your tears leaving a trail of scorched flesh behind as they drip off your chin.

_______________________________________________

You wake with a pained scream, your senses snapping back to you in a rush of stimuli. You hear a door open and footsteps approach as you pant, the echoes of your nightmare raging in your mind as V comes around the corner, his face stricken.

You force your hands to unclench as he reaches you, his arms instantly wrapping around you, enveloping you in his scent. He doesn’t say a word as you slowly calm in his embrace, just patiently holding you until your breathing returns to normal.

“What was it this time?” he asks you eventually.

You take a deep breath, the images still dancing across your mind.

“It was my friend, and everyone else who I couldn’t save. She said… she said I would never be able to repay the debt, never be able to make up for letting her die, letting Evan kill her for my mistake,” you tell him mournfully.

“His name was Evan? You didn’t mention that when you told me. Or what your supposed mistake was,” he murmurs cautiously and you sigh.

“It was so stupid… but I should’ve known better. Evan was my stepfather. He was… he had issues with heroin. My mom didn’t know, but I had caught him shooting up once. He told me he would kill me if I ever told her,” you begin, doing your best to numb your heart to the painful memories. V strokes your back softly, offering comfort as you remember the worst day of your life.

#dmc5 v #dmc5 #dmc #fanfic #v x reader #v x you #hurt #angst #reader insert #op #SBHS #my writing