Chapter Text
Vergil hated to admit it. He really did. His pride told him not to. But, there wasn't any possible way of getting out of the situation he was currently in. Not with the murderous glares that his son and brother were giving him. With a heavy heart, he sighed.
"I suppose this...is my fault."
"No fucking shit, old man." snaked Nero. "You're the only one out of all of us that can create portals...and have Yamato."
Dante shook his head at his brother, arms crossed and a raised brow that made him uncharacteristically serious. "What the hell were you even doing, Vergil? What, were you playing with Yams or something?"
The red-clad devil grunted as a Summoned Sword poked him in the head, courtesy of an irate Vergil. "Firstly, don't call her Yams. Only I am allowed to call her that...and Nero as well. Secondly, the Yamato started to radiate an unknown surge of energy. I had wanted to investigate, but I was overwhelmed by the amount of power it contained. I had no other choice but to consume it. And the best way to do that was to open a portal. Unfortunately, it seems I underestimated the power behind the strike, and, well, here we are now."
" And where exactly is here?" asked Nero
They surveyed the area surrounding them. It looked exactly like Red Grave City. And from the look of things, they were in the outer area of Central Park. They stepped out of the van to get a better view of the place. Vergil hummed in thought, until an idea came to him.
"Think we're back in that universe with those colorful heroes and the others?"
"Nah." shot down Dante. "If it was, I'm pretty sure Akuma would make a beeline here already and try to fight us or something."
"Huh?" asked a confused Nero. "What are you three talking about?"
"Another time. First, we need to know if we're in a different universe or an alternate timeline." suggested Vergil.
Dante faced to the right and his eyes light widened in surprise. "Uh, guys? I think I got answer to that question."
The other two looked at the direction he was looking at. Vergil grunted in acknowledgement.
"There's no doubt about it. We're in a different universe."
There stood a Dante. But was it really? He looked like Dante, but there were many key differences. One such was the length of his hair. It reached up all the way to his back, tied up in a ponytail. He was cleanly shaven, yet looked more older. His outfit looked, not stylish but gallant, almost similar to what Vergil would wear. And most surprisingly, he wore a pair of glasses.
That settled it for everyone. They were definitely in a different universe. Dante would never wear glasses. They nodded at each other and followed after him. The other Dante then stopped walking and turned to their direction, making them hover their hand over their respective weapons. He tilted his head and placed his hands behind his back.
"Well, this is quite the surprise. Never thought I'd see another me and Vergil...I suppose you're the reason for the sudden spike of energy in the park?"
"Depends." responded Dante. "Do devils cry?
For a moment, he didn't respond. But his body movements answered plenty enough. The Other Dante trembled, as if remembering something horrible. A minute later, he composed himself and gave his verbal response.
"Somewhere out there, even a devil may cry, especially if they lose someone they care about."
Dante stared at his counterpart before slowly nodding. He faced his brother and nephew and looked at them all in the eyes. "We can trust him. No doubt about it." He turned back to his alternate self and stretched out his hand in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you Dante, I'm Dante."
Other Dante merely smiled and shook the offered hand. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Dante. Although, for clarification's sake, please call me Durante." He let go and looked at the others. "Now then, shall we shall? Although the park benches would be a better place to talk at. Come."
The Devil May Cry crew followed Durante towards the inner park. Curiosity filling him, Nero decided to ask a question. "So, Durante, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"
"Well, I'll be turning 70 tomorrow."
The answer caused everyone to come to a halt as their minds processed the answer. Dante was the first to recover as he voiced out his response, pure of disbelief. "You're joking... No way. Man, you don't even look a day over 30! You still look smokin'!"
Durante smiled at the compliment. "I appreciate your words, Dante. I suppose it's a benefit of being half-demon."
They soon reached the actual park premise. Much to their shock, at the very center of it stood three statues. It was that of Sparda and his sons in their Devil Triggers, surrounding a large tree which resembled that of the Qlipoth. Durante saw their faces and explained.
"Here, the entire world knows of our existence. Or well, used to. That statue was built in honor of our fight against Mundus and the entire demon world when they managed to enter the human world. That was fifty three years ago."
"That tree, isn't that the Qlipoth?" asked a worried Nero.
Much to their further surprise, Durante nodded. Sensing their apprehension, he was quick to placate them. "Yes, but have no fear. The Qlipoth has been long dormant. It's basically dead."
"Then why not cut it down?" suggested the youngest hybrid. "Why leave it standing?"
The older Dante's lips curled into a deep frown as he stared at the large demonic tree with regret and sorrow. He was broken out of his thoughts as the voice of a woman.
"Papa!"
The others looked at the source of the voice and couldn't help but gape at what they could best describe as a gender flipped Nero, if the presence of Red Queen on her wasn't proof enough. She was running up to them, looking serious.
"Papa, Uncle Virgil's going to do it again."
Durante sighed, running a hair through his head, murmuring something to himself that the devils couldn't even hear. He turned to the others, a look of help on his face. "Will you guys mind coming with? I'm sure that this will also answer some questions you have in your mind."
Considering that they had nothing else better to do, and that they needed a way to get back home, so, with curious-filled minds, they agreed. Durante stretched out his arm and an all too familiar blade to the Sparda family materialized in his hand. The alternate Dante grunted and stabbed Rebellion into his statue. It trembled and moved out of the way, revealing a passage into the tree with a glyph engraved into the ground.
"Well? What are we awaiting for? Allons-y everyone."
Durante led everyone into a room that contained large chamber doors, locked by a lock in the shape of Sparda's head, two holes besides him in the shape of Rebellion and Yamato. The Sparda Twins looked around, their face scrunched up in discomfort.
"This place... It reeks of demonic energy, straight from the underworld itself." commented Vergil.
"This place was the very center point of our battle with Mundus. It led directly to the Qlipoth's fruit, which he sought to consume once again. He sent many demons to try and overwhelm us, but he failed."
Dante's eyes widened, realizing what Vergil was trying to say. "This place... It reminds me of the Temen-ni-gru! Not entirely, but bits and pieces, but still, I can tell, it's like the tower!"
For some reason, Durante flinched at the mention of the main portal to the demon world. Before anyone could ask, a blue-winged demon burst into the room. Everyone brought forth their weapons, ready to do battle. However, Durante raised his hand, silently telling them to not interfere. He walked up to the demon, whom shifted back into its human form, revealing the other Vergil, wearing clothes more akin to Dante with his hair still slicked back.
"Hello... Big brother."
The Sparda family looked at each other, their faces colored in varying colors of surprise. Big brother?! So, not only were they older, but they had also switched birth times, with Durante obviously going first. Durante looked at his sibling with a wistful expression.
"I know why you're here, Virgil. But I can't let you go through. Stop while you still can, little brother. I've beaten you too many times."
Virgil tilted his head, staring at his older brother with concealed contempt. "Your counting is failing you, brother. We are currently tied. But that doesn't really matter. Give me the Rebellion."
Durante frowned as he summoned his trusty partner. "If you want her, then you'll have to take her. But you already knew that."
"I had a feeling you'd say that." A blue aura surrounded Virgil's arm as the Yamato appeared in his hand. He grunted and slightly drew it, his glare now apparent and heated.
"It doesn't have to be this way, Virgil. Turn back now, you'll be undoing everything-"
"It was your fault to begin with! You're the one who raised the tower and why Mundus even managed to get to the human world in the first place! And I can never forgive you for that!" Virgil roared and Devil Triggered, charging right at his sibling.
Durante grunted as he blocked his brother's attack. "Think through this, little brother! Stop it while you still can!"
"Just shut up and fight me!"
"As you wish..."
The elder of the Sparda Twins dashed back and channeled his Devil Trigger, pushing back his little brother. Durante growled and performed a Stinger attack. Virgil deflected the blade and sent his brother into the air. And, as another proof of just how different he was, Virgil pulled out what looked like Ivory and shot his brother in the head. The First Son grunted fired out multiple Energy Drives .
Virgil weaved around the attacks and swiftly went it for another attack, piercing Durante in the chest. This time, he drew out Ebony and rapidly shot him in the head. Durante clicked his tongue and sent out a surge of energy, pushing him away...with Yamato still embedded in his chest. The older son, once again, surprised everyone as he drew out Sparda's signature guns - Luce and Ombra.
Virgil glared at his brother as he took away. "You never deserved those weapons!"
"I know..." There was something in his voice...a lingering tone that spoke of so much regret.
The twins became silent as they shot at each other, their bullets cancelling out one another. In the sidelines, Nero looked conflicted. He turned to his family.
"Are we really just gonna sit here and watch while they try to kill each other?!"
Vergil hummed, crossing his arms in thoughts. "It isn't our place to do so. We have no right to interfere with their business. Although, it does pique my curiosity as to why my counterpart needs the Rebellion."
"Well, the obvious answer is the door right behind us. Considering the fact that there are slots for them, it may act like a key to access the gate. So the bigger question is, what exactly is inside of that room?"
The original twins looked at each other, practically mentally communicating. With a nod, they dashed off to join in the fray...by fighting their respective counterparts. Dante whooped as he sucker punched Durante, having equipped Balrog. Vergil dashed through Virgil, striking him numerous times in a blink of an eye.
Durante looked at his other self in confusion, questioning as to what his goal was. "What are you doing? Why did you attack me?"
"Because I was starting to get bored. This has got to be one of the most boring parties I've ever been to... No foods. No drinks. And not one single babe." The joking expression on his face was then wiped away. "But in all seriousness, what exactly is going on? Why's your Vergil trying to kill you so badly? What is in that room?"
Durante stared at Dante for straight seconds until he sighed. "I might as well."
He stood up plucked out Yamato from his chest. Everyone watched carefully as he stabbed the two swords into the slots. The eyes on the Sparda lock glowed before it separated, allowing him to push open the gates. Durante looked at the others and motioned for them to enter.
The original Sparda family looked at each other and walked into the room, followed closely by the two counterparts. The chambers absolutely radiated with demonic essence, containing many elements of the rooms within the Temen-ni-gru. Qlipoth roots were scattered across, along with the remains of the poor souls, whose blood were sucked out to feed to the tree.
Vergil and Dante gasped in surprised horror as they stared at the very center of the room. A throne sat at the very location, with someone sitting upon it. Roots ensnared them, giving no chance of escape. But that wasn't the only thing. The Force Edge was also sticking out of their chest. For the first time in forever, the Sparda twins actually did the twin thing of saying the same thing at the same time.
"Mother?!"
And it was indeed Eva, sitting on the constricted throne, with Force Edge stabbed in her. And you want to know what was worse? She was still alive.