At the Hub, Vergil stands like a pale statue, his eyes shining blue. He seems to be meditating, in front of a swirling vortex before the massive glass walls overlooking Limbo City. 

 

CRASH. The vortex shatters like glass! A blue spirit, identical to him, that’s been thrown like a doll, flies into Vergil’s body, the force throwing him into his marble desk, breaking it on impact. Knocked out for a few seconds, when he comes to, he hears a mischievous voice.

 

“Welcome back to Limbo Town, your former majesty. You look like someone stuck you in a wood chipper.”

 

Vergil, too injured to stand, forces himself to open his eyes, to the blurry sight of Klarion wearing an uneven lavish crown that’s too big for his head.

 

“Your former majesty? Klarion, is-is that you? Who-who do you think you are, Klarion? Ugh, where are my medics, find them for me.”

 

“Mmmm-no.”

 

“Do as I say, Klarion.”

 

“I don’t take orders from you anymore, Vergil.”

 

“Yes, you do, you’re one of my most loyal servants.”

 

“Servant? Oh no no no, there’s been a misunderstanding. See, I came here for a good time, and while you were gone, welp, I thought it’d be fun to crown myself the new king.”

 

“WHAT?! You can’t do that!”

 

“Oh but I already did! See where your laws were engraved? On that building over there? No, you don’t see it, because we covered them up with a mural of ME! Isn’t it superb?”

 

“How dare you-“

 

“I’ve got a really cool job for you.”

 

“You don’t decide my job in my kingdom!”

 

“Your kingdom? Tell that to my subjects.”

 

“Where-where’s Griffon? Griffon, help me!”

 

Griffon comes flying, but he isn’t the magnificent demon Vergil remembers. Instead, he’s the size of a parrot. He lands on Vergil’s knee.

 

“Griffon, what’s happened to you?”

 

“He made me tiny, boss! Real tiny!”

 

“Mrawooo-sssss,” Teekl snarls and hisses, swatting at the little devil. Griffon flaps onto Vergil’s shoulder.

 

“YIPE! Protect me, Vergil, protect me!”

 

“Klarion, how could you-“

 

“Oh it was really easy. When you couldn’t open a rift with the Yamato, you went into a trance for a few months, trying to telepathically find Dante. So, I just sorta took over while you were standing there, by that vortex you made for that blue doppelgänger-spirit thingy of yours.”

 

“That doesn’t make any sense!”

 

“I thought it was pretty stupid of you too, not gonna lie. Didja ever find Dante?”

 

“No. He’s probably dead.”

 

“Well a least that’s a win for you.”

 

“It’s a total loss! Even if he’s still alive, his blood only heals humans here in Hell or near rifts to Hell.”

 

“Using a forsaken angel’s blood to heal creeps in Hell, I always thought that was a pretty sinister idea you had there, Vergil. Too bad you have such terrible judgment. You don’t know when you’re talking to one of the bad guys, do you.”

 

“Stop this nonsense and I might show you mercy for getting so carried away in my absence!” 

 

He coughs profusely.

 

“You’re in no condition to do carp.”

 

“MeeeYOW-ah!”

 

“Crap, CRAP, you know I meant crap! Look, you were practically begging to be overthrown! But enough of this broken record. You’ll be living in that pretty, pink penthouse you made for Frisky Frances from now on. You get to be Vivacious Vergil! My favorite pole dancer.”

 

“Never!”

 

“Resistance is fungle.”

 

“MraOW!”

 

“Futile! You know you’re better seen than heard, my pretty dumb blond. Look at us, we both have the same taste. Oh, Frances, come hither!”

 

Frisky Frances comes running, a permanent hole between her eyes and a clownish grin on her face.

 

“Whatcha need, boss?”

 

Vergil objects, holding his stomach as he tries to shout.

 

“Frances, I’m your boss, I created you, Frances!” Cough.

 

Klarion rolls his eyes, “Says the guy who shot her in the head then threw a fit when she got too close to the Yamato.”

 

“Awe, my little cupcake finally came back to us! We’re gonna be pole dancers together, Vergil. Lovers in Hell.”

 

“We most certainly are not!”

 

Klarion pouts, “Stop being so ungrateful. If you’re good, the demons might throw monies by the catwalk for you. Now, get up and get dressed in this Chippendales outfit that I stole from the last pole dancer I made into my slave.”

 

“Your slave?!”

 

“What? What did I say?”

 

“I am not your slave. Riddler! Riddler, where are you! Throw Klarion into one of your mazes!”

 

Riddler reveals himself from behind Frisky Frances.

 

“I would, Your Majesty, but-”

 

“Shall we bring him to the penis explosion chamber, my liege!” hollers the Arkham Asylum Doctor, who steps out from behind the Riddler.

 

“Nooooo, don’t explode his penis!” Klarion whines. “He’s my plaything! Bring him to his penthouse, strip away his clothes, and make him wear the costume!”

 

Griffon and Vergil watch in horror as everyone else replies to Klarion in practiced unison.

 

“Yes, Your Majesty, Klarion, King of Limbo Town.”

 

“It’s Limbo City!” Vergil demands. 

 

Klarion corrects him, “It’s Limbo TOWN, Limbo Town, I say! Uuuuggghhhh, this is no fun. Who wants to be set on fire? Anybody? Anyone? What, no takers? Then take Vergil to his penthouse, give him a bandaid, and dress him up for his show in the stripper’s lounge! I need fun, I want fun, I want it now! Now now NOW!”

 

“Yes, Your Majesty, Klarion, King of Limbo Town.”

 

“Jeez, Vergil,” Griffon squawks, “We got ourselves into a real pickle this time, Vergil. Don’t worry, he’ll get board, you’ll get better, this mini-Griffon spell will run it’s course, and then you’ll take back your throne!”

 

Klarion swiftly turns around to face them.

 

“Or Teekl will eat you alive, little birdie!”

 

“Have some class,” Vergil huffs. “A king shows respect to another man’s familiar.”

 

Sigh, “I suppose you’re right. Fine. You can keep your cockapoo.”

 

“Mra-WOW!”

 

“Cockatoo? Okay, ya gotta admit, I was petty close that time. Take him away!"

 

Meanwhile, at Devil May Cry!

 

A portal opens in the bunker. Vergil steps through, holding his bleeding stomach. As the gateway seals shut, he collapses to his knees, coughing and gasping.

 

“Damnit, he got me right in the gut at the last second.”

 

Raven’s voice, “Vergil!”

Nightwing’s voice, “Call Dante!”

 

“Oh this is… truly ironic.”

 

Raven’s voice, “Can you hear me?”

Nightwing’s voice, “Can you see us?!”

 

“My own… stupid… youthful virtues… came back to undo me.”

 

Raven’s voice, “Vergil, look at me!”

Starfire’s voice, with a gasp, “Oh no, what has happened to our mean friend?!”

 

His words shift to thoughts.

 

“What’s going on? Am I about to croak in front of the Titans? Wow, that’s fantastic! Not even sure how I ended up in, where am I, at the shop, on the floor? This is surprisingly painless.”

 

Nightwing, “You need to get ahold of Dante, Raven!”

Raven, “It’s not working! It hasn’t worked in months!”

Nightwing, “It has to work NOW! Keep trying!”

Raven, “Father, please answer!”

 

“Blindness? It’s so dark. This is unfortunate.”

 

Beast Boy, “DUDE! What if we try all our comms at the same time?!”

Cyborg, “I can rig our comms to his pulse with my oximeter!”

Nightwing, “Do it, Cyborg!”

 

“To impale me, at the tail end of my best move, is such a me-thing to do. I should have Sin Devil Triggered. If I was going to die anyway, at least we both would have gone out in style."

 

Nightwing, “We need to stop the bleeding!”

Beast Boy, “Would a tourniquet do anything?!”

Cyborg, “His vitals are dropping!”

 

“I wonder how Dante will break this to Nero, if my son will care. Dante will probably be a little perturbed.”

 

Raven, “Vergil, heal yourself, I know you can!”

Starfire, “She is right, you can do it! Please, you must!”

 

“At least I got to see Heaven for a few minutes. Wait, Heaven is… where I got killed? I went to Heaven, where I fought a younger me, and he killed me… HA! I can’t even be mad! I defeated me! That’s outstanding. I’m so proud. I’d laugh if I wasn’t choking on my own blood. What a spectacular way to die.”

 

He coos and relaxes, all to the Titans’ unified, “NOOOOOO!!!!!”

 

In Bruce’s library, the Legendary Devil Hunter’s communicator lets out an elongated buzz. He pulls it out of his pocket. It shocks the hell out of him!

 

“GRAH!” he yelps, dropping it. “Damnit, that actually kinda hurt. That’s bizarre, it’s never done that before.” He picks it up and flips it open. It’s not a call but rather, a vital signal. A flatline for… Vergil.

 

“What the SHIT?!”

 

“What is it?” Batman asks.

 

“It’s my brother!” 

 

A call comes through, he answers. It’s Nightwing.

 

“Dante!”

 

“Nightwing, what the hell is going on?!”

 

“Come back to the shop NOW! Hurry!”

 

“On my way! Batman, I need a ride, it’s an emergency!”

 

“We’ll take the Batwing.”

 

In Hell.

 

The ghost of Vergil’s Sin Devil Trigger manifests in the nave, in the church. It’s his demon side, blue and dragon-like, it speaks in echoed tones.

 

“Oh. I guess I’m not dead after all. Hmmm, he must have separated me from myself. This is curious. It’s so very icy.” 

 

He wades through the nave, uncertain how he ended up here. Something intrigues him, someone’s shivering. He follows the sound of heavy breathing until he locates a woman huddled in the corner of the bathroom. She’s clothed herself in a man’s hooded jacket. 

 

He recognizes it, it’s the same jacket Dante wore when they first met, the one that had him mistake him for Nero. 

 

Hiding her face, she struggles against the threat of hypothermia.

 

“Woman, what are you doing here? This is no place for a human.”

 

She pokes her head out.

 

“Yikes! Who are you? A demon?”

 

“Harley Quinn?”

 

“Yeah, that’s me.”

 

“Dante was concerned about you. I see now, for a good reason. Who did this to you?”

 

“The Demon King.”

 

“He’s torturing you?”

 

“Not exactly. See, I ran away from Vergil after he killed Dante. I had to, I’m on Limbo City’s most wanted list for choosing the better brother. Vergil was kinda obsessed with me, ya know? Made a demon copy of me when I rejected him.”

 

Groan, “Ugh, I’m really disturbed to hear that."

 

“Now I’m gonna freeze to death! I’m scared!”

 

“You’ll never know how much I mean this. Truly, I am sorry he hurt you. I’m sorry for everything.”

 

“Maybe I deserved it, ya know? For being a bad person? That’s what’s keeping me from losing my shit right now. I’m so scared!”

 

“You don’t deserve it. Don’t be afraid. I can help you.”

 

He manifests a cyan version of the Yamato and opens a rift.

 

“I’m so sad! I should have been a better friend. Killer-Red and Dante are dead and I’m gonna be dead too!”

 

“Shhh, don’t cry. I’ll take the blame for Vergil’s actions. I’m the only one who can.”

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please, I’m not making sense anymore! I’m gonna panic, I’m gonna panic! Don’t leave me all alone! Please don’t go!”

 

“Look at me.”

 

“Kay.”

 

"This rift is for you. Go home to the Human World.”

 

“A rift? For me? To Gotham?”

 

“I can’t promise this gateway will take you to Gotham, but wherever you end up, I wish you well. Be safe.”

 

“Ho my gawd, oh my gawd!”

 

She shakily gets up and enters. Finding herself in exactly the same place. Only, it’s not cold and it’s been completely remodeled into a luxurious lavatory, with a tub big enough for two, a shower big enough for three, and a waterproofed wardrobe.

 

“Oh my GAWD, you saved me, you saved me! Hey, thanks so much for your,” she turns around, he’s not there, “help.”

 

At Devil May Cry!

 

Vergil awakes but doesn’t move. His eyes are open already and he knows he’s in the shop. He can feel Dante’s presence and decides to listen in, on what sounds like a very perturbed brother. 

 

“Vergil, did you really sacrifice yourself to save two versions of me? To save two Dantes?”

 

Vergil doesn’t react. Convincingly, he maintains an empty stare at the ceiling, keeps a dead gaze, catching in his peripheral, his twin pacing by in distress. Even when Dante looks right at his face, skillfully and intentionally, Vergil remains perfectly motionless.

 

“You went from hating me, wanting to kill me for decades… to wanting to be my closest friend, to the brother I always wanted, and now… you’re gone? How am I going to tell Nero? How am I even gonna function?! Vergil, you can’t!”

 

“Heh, he’s gonna cry. Don’t smirk. Oh but I want to so badly. No, go on, Dante, tell me how upset you are. This greatly amuses me.”

 

“Are you smirking?!”

 

“No.”

 

“You’re alive?!”

 

Dante shakes him.

 

“No come on, Brother, I wanna hear the eulogy!”

 

“Goddamn you!”

 

Vergil holds onto his brother’s arms and laughs in his face.

 

“You thought I was gone forever.”

 

“Damnit, Vergil!”

 

“I mean, I thought I was too, so don’t feel bad.”

 

“Damnit, I hate you so much right now!” 

 

Dante pulls his own hair and steps back to catch his breath. Vergil sits up on a cot, feeling like the most important person on the planet. 

 

“I regret not holding the deadpan long enough for the funeral.”

 

Dante scoffs, “So you warded off the other Nephilim then?”

 

“I don’t know what became of the other Nephilim but I did find Harley Quinn. I sent her back to the Human World. You can tell Little Dante she’s not dead… and neither am I! Ha-HAAA!”

 

“Wow, Vergil, you are such a prick.”

 

“Oh, but it’s the greatest thing, my poor, pathetic Brother. You thinking I was gone! I’ll be laughing about this for months. Now, where is your Raven? I heard her voice, and Nightwing too.”

 

“They’re in the other room, because I needed a minute alone with you, you shithead!”

 

Vergil hops off the cot and begins to theatrically exposit his own death.

 

“Yes, you needed to confront this unexpected tragedy. Your brother, taken so suddenly, he died overcompensating for a life of regret. He died all in a great, self-sacrificing effort to protect you and your adopted son. What a martyr! The hero of the century… t’was I, Vergil!”

 

“Yeah, yeah-“

 

“What an untimely loss for Dante, the Legendary Devil Hunter, to have to part with his dearest twin! Slain by his foolish doppelgänger’s phantom-Yamato. Lest he cut short the life of a younger shadow, and thus, destroy himself! Instead, he took the fatal blow while letting the other Vergil live!”

 

“I thought you said you didn’t know what happened to-” 

 

“You couldn’t very well start bawling in front of the Titans, now could you? Especially in front of your daughter! Then she was gonna cry, then the Titans were gonna cry.”

 

“Batman’s in the other room too,” Dante mutters.

 

“Then BATMAN was gonna cry!” He shakes his brother. “But Dante! Dante, Dante, Dante!” 

 

“WHAT?”

 

“Devils never cry.”

 

“Fuck off, man!”

 

“Oh Dante, what a sap!”

 

Dante grabs him by the face, kisses his forehead, then shoves him away.

 

“Glad you’re alright, you stupid asshole.”

 

“Truly though, I need to know, did you make it to Gotham? Is Little Dante safe?”

 

“Yeah. Yeah, he’s safe.”

 

“Perfect.”