Nero ☩ 004

[partlyblackened]

Who: partlyblackened and somarium
Where: Noctaerium
Style: Starts in third, but either works
Status: Open like my heart
Notes: Angst all over the place, Nero is dressed like this, Kyrie looks like this and if anyone tries to touch her, he might just flip.

Comments

[partlyblackened]

He simply stayed where he was, breathing harshly, body still brimming with demonic energy. He couldn't bring himself to attack Dante, and he knew very damn well that attacking an innocent was out of the question. He wanted his revenge, sure, but even with his numbed over brain and poor attempts at coherent thought processing he was able to recognize that. That was one moral standard that wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

He gently placed her body on the floor, rearranging her arms over her stomach and running his hand over her face one last time before standing. He stepped back toward the other part demon and simply walked passed him until they were side by side, facing opposite directions.

"Then don't get in my way, Dante," he replied in an almost menacing, dually vocal tone. He narrowed his glowing red eyes slightly to indicate that he was serious before making his way through the exit. He wasn't going to go looking for a human being to slaughter, he was going to look for more of those demonic looking creatures that he had encountered a few rooms back. They were most likely at fault in his eyes, and he was going to kill and kill and kill them until he couldn't possibly kill anymore.

Nowhere, though, had he openly communicated that to his normally red-clad companion. Did he care? No, since he had offered him fair warning anyway. If he wanted to follow, then so be it. If he tried to stop him, then he would have no choice but to fight back. Regardless of whatever path Dante took, Nero only knew one thing. He needed to vent, he needed release and he needed revenge. Above all though, he needed the truth, the truth that he couldn't grasp.

Kyrie just couldn't be dead.

[shootsatclowns]

Even Dante was on edge now, and though he knew Nero wasn't bent on hurting any humans, the comment had come out without much thought. Nero could bash in demon heads until the cows came home for all Dante cared, and from the looks of things, he wasn't going to simply rush off in a rage. Of course, Dante couldn't help but find Nero's Trigger kind of interesting, and nothing was going to stop him from at least following the guy. Besides, Dante needed his own time to vent.

"I have no plans to," he answered. Though he did turn and face the same direction as his companion, giving one last look to the girl as he did so. He even closed his eyes briefly for a moment of respect, because he was such a good guy like that.

"Lead the way."

[partlyblackened]

His shoulders were hunched as he walked through the halls, body rigged and prepared to attack anything were it to leap out at him. He was on edge too, and he was hoping that the incline of power that was practically radiating out of his body would attract the strange creatures and possibly the assailant responsible for Kyrie's death.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to look long before three tall, black creatures made their appearance. They snarled and shifted impatiently where they stood. They looked nothing like the demons from back home, so they must have been indigenous to Somarium. They leapt at him in attack, bent on ripping their new target to shreds.

They barely made it close enough though before Nero swung Rebellion in an upward arc, hitting all three away from him with ease. They skittered away, sliding across the floor a fair distance before stopping. As they recovered, they noticed Dante in the doorway and growled at him, pinning him as a target as well.

[shootsatclowns]

"Oh please," Dante muttered as the monsters turned on him, unsheathing the Yamato as they crept closer. "These things have ADD." He wasn't normally one to fight with a partner, but he'd reconsider just this once. Without his guns, he'd only be able to rely on sword work, but that should be enough to take these little puppies down.

Wielding his brother's sword was a little different from the Rebellion, but that didn't stop him from cutting off one of the creature's arms when it decided to leap at him. The thing fell to the ground with a snarl, as the other two tried to decide who they wanted to tangle with next.

With a swift slice, the one that had lost its arm previously then lost its head. "One down."

[partlyblackened]

"I thought I told you to stay out of this," he quipped as he watched Dante cleave the arm off of the creature as it rushed him. He wasn't one to fight with a partner either, the lone wolf approach was something he followed through with more frequently. He could only sigh with irritation as the first kill went to the other. "Fine, I'll let that one slide."

He focused his attention on the remaining two enemies before him, indecisively looking between the two hunters. He shook his head and sent several spectral blades at the one that dared to take a step toward him with a flick of his wrist. The blades homed in on it and cleaved through it mercilessly. The thing fell to the ground in a useless heap.

"Be gone," he said as it fell, a small smirk on his lips. He pointed the Rebellion at the one left standing, almost inviting it to come and try him.

[shootsatclowns]

"Sorry, man. I'm not a bench warmer," he answered, waving his hand like he really couldn't give a fuck. Honestly though, he was going to let Nero take out most of the creatures they ran across, if only to let the guy blow off a necessary amount of steam. But Nero's next move stopped Dante cold.

If the spectral blades weren't enough, what he said as they pierced their target and scored a kill gave the other devil hunter pause. This was too eerie... first the Yamato, now the really creepy resemblance to his brother's attacks. Who was Nero, really? As much as it niggled at Dante's brain, he brushed it off for now. This wasn't the time for that.

"Last one's yours."

[partlyblackened]

"How generous," he said with a short, bitter laugh. He stepped toward the creature, and to his surprise it took a step back. The smirk on his lips only grew in size as he narrowed his red tinted eyes at it. Another step forward, another step back. Nero had no room for remorse right now, and this thing didn't deserve it anyway.

He paused, tilting Rebellion in his hand before dashing toward the thing. He pulled back and jammed the blade into it, pulled back and jammed again. Again and again and again, copying Dante's stinger move with precise detail. It shrieked as it was shredded and as it fell to the ground, he could only laugh a somewhat eerie laugh.

He threw his head back and closed his eyes as he calmed his breathing, basking in the glory of his final kill. It was beyond satisfying, the fact that he may have exacted revenge. He slashed Rebellion through the air roughly, flicking the blood off of the blade before de-triggering.

[shootsatclowns]

Okay, seriously... that was just creepy. Dante was no stranger to having fun while shooting and riding his enemies like skateboards, but the pure pleasure that Nero seemed to be deriving from slaughtering these creatures was even a bit much for him. It didn't help that the kid was replicating his Stinger move like it was completely his own. Once the creature was dead, Dante might even say he felt a little bad for it.

As Nero de-triggered, Dante couldn't help but breathe a small inward sigh of relief. Maybe he was finished now. Maybe he felt a little better about the girl after this. "Come on... let's go."

He walked past Nero now, further down the hall towards a set of double doors that he pushed open. As soon as he looked inside though, his face paled, and he stepped back. "Let's go another way."

[partlyblackened]

"Fine, we'll have it your way," Nero shrugged a little as Dante walked by him. Was he still pissed? Hell yes. Did he still believe that his girl was dead in the room behind him? Yes, he did. He had to get out of this damned place regardless though, when the exit made itself known he'd go back for the body anyway.

As they walked through the halls, he stopped, hesitantly at first, to open the doors he passed to see if they would yield and exit or at least a clue. So when Dante opened the double doors and then quickly shut it, it didn't occur to him that what may be inside was something akin to what he found with Kyrie.

"Sorry, you're not calling all the shots here," he responded, pushing by him to peak through the slightly opened doors. What he found on the inside was grisly, the body of a dead blonde woman, killed in what looked like a similar way that Kyrie had been. He looked away, eyes trained on the floor and released a breath he didn't remember holding.

Who was that?

[shootsatclowns]

Dante opened his mouth to tell Nero to stop, but the doors opened again, revealing the woman on the floor directly in front of them. Blood pooled out on the ground, her pale skin and golden hair streaked with it. Dante made a sound as he gritted his teeth, looking away. He didn't want to see it, not again, please not again.

Wasn't it enough that he knew she was dead. Did her body have to be dangled in front of him like some twisted gift? 'Here kiddo, here's our slaughtered mommy, ya miss her?'

Dante growled, knowing that they'd have to go this way whether he liked it or not. He motioned for Nero to go through, rubbing his hands over his eyes as he did so.

[partlyblackened]

He placed a hand on Dante's shoulder, much like he had place it on his, and gave it a few pats before making his way through the door. Nero knew all too well the feeling, but what he couldn't understand was why someone Dante had clearly loved was lying here dead as well. It wasn't adding up, and he was starting to question this place even more.

"Don't look... I'll lead the way," he offered as he left the door open wide enough for Dante to enter with ease should he decide to keep his eyes closed. The woman was beautiful, pale features, long blonde locks of hair... but she looked far too old to be to Dante what Kyrie was to him. The idea only saddened him more, the way Dante was acting and the ages matched up with only one word.

Mother.

He shook his head to rid himself of the thought as he continued to lead the way, nodding in respect as he walked fully passed the body. This place was fucking twisted, it disgusted him to the core. It was wrong, to pit people's worst fears and nightmares against them in such a way. He paused to look over his shoulder at Dante, gauging his actions.

[shootsatclowns]

Dante was grateful to be honest, and he gave Nero a small nod of thanks. He wanted to keep his eyes averted, he wanted to keep the memory of his mother alive and happy. Not blood soaked corpse on the ground. He started walking, keeping close to Nero as he did so he could keep the other in his peripheral vision. The sooner they were out of this room and out of this place the better.

"Dante~."

The woman's voice that whispered his name was soft, musical... loving. Dante froze in his tracks, unable to stop himself from looking over to the sound of Eva's voice. She was getting to her feet, blood still dripping from wounds in her torso and neck, but she was smiling, smoothing down the skirt of her dress like she had just woken up from a nap. She smiled, showing her white teeth as she began to shamble slowly towards him.

"Come here, honey... let me see you." She extended her hands, no much closer, and reached to place her fingers tips on his face. Dante's lips quivered, barely opening enough for him to choke out, "M-Mom...?"

[partlyblackened]

His eyes widened as the dead woman on the ground began to twitch and stand, like she had never been previously bleeding on the floor moments before. He backed a few steps away, shocked but nowhere near as close to the degree that Dante must've been currently feeling. If Kyrie had gotten up... he would've lost it right then and there.

"Dante she's..." dead. Yes, dead as can be... and yet walking around and addressing him like she wasn't? That wasn't possible, this couldn't be happening. "She's not human."

What other explanation could he come up with aside from demon? As the woman reached out to place her hand on Dante's stunned face, he growled and removed Ebony with his left hand and after a moment of hesitation, he held it aimed squarely at the blonde woman.

For some reason though, he couldn't bring himself to shoot. His palm began to sweat, his finger quivered just above the trigger. That expression on the man's face... he had never seen that before and he never thought that he ever would. This was too much, killing something in the image of someone you loved was up there with the hardest thing a person could ever do, just under actually killing that person. He could understand Dante's hesitance, his fear.

Hell, it was clearly rubbing off on him too.

[shootsatclowns]

"Nero, don't!" It came out instinctively, even though the rational side of him was screaming that this wasn't real. He couldn't watch her die, not again, not when he was hearing her voice again, when he was seeing her smile at him like she used to when he was a boy. It didn't matter that she was covered in blood... she was here. Nero wasn't pulling the trigger anyway, making Dante feel the smallest sense of relief.

It didn't last long, though. Eva's lips parted as she grinned, revealing sharp canines that were all but human. The fingers on his cheeks suddenly had claws that were pricking into his skin and drawing blood. She giggled... a sharp, inhuman sound that chilled Dante to the bone as she slid her hands down and wrapped her hands around his neck.

"My little boy..." she cooed in mock warmth, "It's time for you to join you mother in hell." Her hands began to squeeze, and even though Dante could normally break free from something like this without batting an eyelash, he stood stock still, his hand loosening his grip on his sword as the monster joked the life out of him.

[partlyblackened]

Nero could only watch in horror as his suspicions were confirmed. It wasn't human, and that was becoming more and more apparent as it took on a twisted smirk and developed clawed fingers. He could only stand there, finger still hesitantly hovering against Ebony's trigger. Dante clearly needed his help with this, since he seemed more than willing to have the life choked out of him. Nero, on the other hand, wasn't about to let that happen.

"Dante, Close your eyes," he commanded as he walked closer to the pair, the ripped skin underneath this doppelganger's talons coming into view. He grimaced lightly as he outstretched his arm and placed the barrel of his gun to the creature's head. "I'm sorry..." he muttered under his breath as he pulled the trigger and let the gun clatter to the floor with the recoil.

The thing didn't even have the chance to shriek as it's life faded out and it's body disintegrated into black dust. He clenched his fists and looked away, feeling horrible about having had to take the initiative in this. He didn't move, remaining in close quarters just as Dante had with him, hoping that his presence would at least comfort in some way.

[shootsatclowns]

Doing as he was told, Dante screwed his eyes shut, which hid the flinch he gave when the gun went off. He felt the hold on his neck disappear, his legs caving out from under him as he fell to the ground coughing. He sucked in a few long breaths, eyes still closed, not wanting to open them yet and see that once again his mother was gone. The black dust in front of him started to drift away.

No. That wasn't his mother. It was a twisted imitation, another bad dream this place was throwing their way in an attempt to fuck with their heads. Dante's hand curled into a fist as he punched the ground, "Fucking damnit!" A moment of weakness, one that could have cost him everything. Thankfully Nero had been there to save his ass... he'd remember that. For now though, he allowed himself a moment and exhaled, his eyes wet with tears.

"Thanks." It was barely a whisper, but he said it none the less.