Chapter 1
Little Dante

“DANTE!” 

“Stop resisting! Stop. Resisting. Dante!”

“Stop resisting or we’ll open fire!”

“One more move and we’ll kill you!”

“Don’t move, DANTE!”

My name being called by not one, not a few, but by a SWAT Team of humans. They’d surrounded me, or so they thought. 

But I knew they actually hadn’t, because their voices were coming from the streets and I was standing in a rift, between two brick buildings, looking like a goon who’d forgotten where he’d parked his motorcycle. No, they weren’t after me, they were after someone else. 

But hey, you guys called my name so…

My head started spinning. I closed my eyes and had a weird vision, from someone else’s eyes. Someone smaller than me, or at least shorter. It had to be a kid, one with no fear.

“Demon!” I heard him ragingly shout, then BOOM! 

He deliberately pushed a white figure into oncoming traffic. Murdered a guy in broad daylight. I’m sure that’s what I saw, and for whatever reason, I didn’t feel bad about it. 

I opened my eyes and came out from around the corner to about fifty men, all aiming at…

A child. One with black hair and dressed in ratty, bloody clothes.

He glanced at me. When our eyes met, I saw myself in him, and made the decision that I was gonna help him. That’s when I ran up a parked car and leapt over the SWAT, pushing some of them out of the way. 

“Scuse me, coming through-”

Of course they opened fire, on me instead of him. It all happened in the blink of an eye, but I managed to reach him. And when I did, I grabbed him and took off.

“Alley-oop! Gotcha!”

As I was running, as they were chasing, I could feel his little heart racing. He didn’t scream and I could tell, he was trying his best not to cry. He was a tough one.

A rift opened, like the one that had pulled me into this place. This one took us to coastal cliffs. A wormhole, it teleported us miles away, to what I thought was Fortuna, where I’d come from. But no, it was somewhere between this modern city and the one I’d come to visit. 

I set him down. I know when I was a kid, I would have been squirmy over a stranger holding me that long. I felt inclined to kneel to him. There was something special about him and I didn’t wanna look down on him.

“Damn, that was close,” I told him. Demonic power was expelling from him, but there was something else there. Something I’d actually never encountered this close before.

“Dad?” 

Whoa. Okay, didn’t expect that. But I didn’t hate it either. So I asked…

“Is your name Dante? Cause it’s my name. My name is Dante.”

“Your boots are funny. You an outlaw in a western movie or something?”

“You calling me a gay cowboy?”

“Don’t twist my words. I’ll mess you up!”

“Shhh, buddy, I’m here to help. And yes, I’m an outlaw.”

“Are you my dad?” 

It was a fair question. A kid with the same name and I’m already risking my hide for him.

“I dunno. How old are you?”

“I’m twelve.”

“Twelve. Hmm. Listen, I haven’t had too many one night stands, but you could be my son.”

“I hope you are my dad."

“I’m not sure. I just know you gotta be pretty powerful to draw out a SWAT Team like that. Who’d you kill?”

“I killed a doctor because he was a demon. Like an actual demon. He told me he’d take me off the streets, like he did to all the other kids… as long as I let him… look, he was a demon, okay?”

“I believe you, Little Dante.”

“He was a creep, he deserved to die. I know a demon when I see one. He wasn’t my first kill.”

“Stylish! Gimme five!”

“Yeah!”

What a cute kid! Loved that smile he gave me when we high fived.

“Hey, guess what, Little Dante.”

“What?" 

“I’m a Demon Killer too!”

“Nuh-huh.”

“Yeah-huh.”

“You’re a Demon Killer named, Dante? Like me?”

“Yup, just like you. Weird, right? How’d you do it?”

“I told him I wanted to play chase. He said that would turn him on. So I ran next to all the traffic and hid behind a postbox. When he found me, I pushed him in front of a truck!”

“That’s what I thought. Did he explode?”

“Y-yes. I didn’t realize he got blood on me. Um, should I feel bad? Because I don’t.”

“Neither do I. Where’s your mom?”

“Gone. I don’t remember her very well but, I miss her.”

“That’s okay, mom is a touchy topic, Little Dante. I’m sure she loved you. So, now that you’re an outlaw too, what’s the plan?”

“I’ll keep living on the streets. With the rats. They let me pet them sometimes.”

“I’m sure the rats are all decent people, but I don’t want you to live on the streets.”

“Are you here to save me?”

“I think so. I think you should come back to Fortuna with me.” 

As the words left my mouth, I was surprised I was saying them. Was I really about to pick this kid up and take him home with me? I’m not even from Fortuna. What was I gonna do with him once we got there? I had no idea but I meant it, I wanted to take him back with me.

“Okay! What’s in Fortuna?”

“No idea but we’ll figure it out.” 

The kid was growing on me faster than a mushroom on a devil’s rotting corpse. 

“Come on, I’ll take you there and if anybody tries to fuck with you, Little Dante, I’ll get rid of them. I wanna take you away from this shit.”

I stood back up and was about to pick him up. But Fortuna wasn’t having it. Or was it this strange city that wasn’t for it? When I reached for him, my hands went through him. 

“Oh that’s not good.”

I was being pulled back to where I came from. I realized then, that it was Limbo. Limbo didn’t want me to take him away.

He yelled, “Damnit, run!”

Everything got real loud again. Bullets came flying.

They’d figured out where he was, and now they had a Limbo City Police chopper and they were firing from the air!

He dodged them and took off. I ran with him, trying to guide him somewhere safe. He scrambled into a crevice among the boulders but we both knew he couldn’t stay there very long. I could walk through the rocks now and was able to stand next to him. This seemed painfully unfair, should have been him who was untouchable.

“Go home,” he said defeatedly. “I’m gonna have to kill these people and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“No, this one’s on Ebony and Ivory.” 

I fired my pistols at the chopper and watched it go down. Guess my weapons still had their place here. They still hit. 

This definitely diverted the whole SWAT Team’s attention. I’m not a fan of killing humans but how’d they get through that rift? They had to be demons. Either way, my willingness to fight back gave the boy another chance to run and I had no regrets. 

I followed him again, to another spot on the cliffs, one overlooking the sea. 

“You okay?” I asked him, feeling like absolute crap that Fortuna was becoming more and more visible and he was becoming more and more like a ghost. 

Gasp, “No, are you leaving?”

“Not trying to. Hey Little Dante, I dunno what the hell’s going on, but I’m gonna figure this out, okay?” But he was already gone. I was back in Fortuna and he’d faded away.

That stayed with me up until I met Nero. 

When Nero came along, it wasn’t that I forgot about Little Dante, but Nero and everything that came with him, was a whole different can of worms that required my undivided attention. 

Little Dante never left my mind, he just ended up somewhere in the back. 

It was wrong to abandon him even if it was out of my control. A bunch of apocalyptic stuff’s been holding my attention since we crossed paths so long ago, and I can easily say I’ve been preoccupied, but that’s a bullshit excuse.

Hmm, curious. Let me stop you right there.

Since you adopted a daughter and befriended the Titans, you’ve clearly thought more about your mistakes. I can’t say I blame you. I often contemplate my shortcomings too.

I saw him, in Limbo, during my travels with the Yamato. We spoke about the Nephilim betraying one another. He even had feathered wings. I speculate that he’s your angelic counterpart. 

It was a fluke, our meeting. I’ve never been able to enter Limbo City again since, but it’s not for lack of trying. The demon invasion has spread like a cancer and these days, when one portal opens, another one closes, sometimes forever.

Your Raven’s left to go on a mission with her team, thinking they can make a dent in the situation. You miss her, so he crosses your mind. Is that what it is? Or do you believe the direness of the infestation is pulling you close to him?

I can almost taste your onset of over-sweetened sentimentalism. Before you consider what searching for him might truly entail, let me tell you what happened when he and I met. What it felt like, the impression he left on me.

It was a terrible day. I used the Yamato to enter Limbo. I was certain I’d witnessed your murder. Out of nowhere a mercenary showed up while you and I were sparring in the Underworld. 

Deathstroke. 

He managed to subdue me and undo you with your own sword, which he stole.

I eventually banished him to the Underworld with the Yamato and you obviously survived, but the part in between, the part where I went to Limbo, that’s the part where I found him.

I got knocked out, woke up, opened a rift and left. Found myself in Limbo City. Found a shitty plastic chair in a corner that overlooked the streets. Sat there. Sat there and cried. I’m sure I looked pathetic but I didn’t care. 

You were gone. At least, I thought you were. It was all so wretched. I couldn’t comprehend what I’d just seen. All I knew was that I’d reconciled with my brother and now he’d been taken from me.

Then I heard someone.

“Father?” 

I stood.

“Nero?” He sure looked like him. Wearing all black, hooded, white hair. Except he was carrying Rebellion, which made no sense since this sword doesn’t exist anymore. His version of Rebellion looked different but the power flowing from it felt like… it felt like you.

Everything around him was hazy. His wings were white and much larger than Nero’s Devil Triggered wings.

“Nero, what are you doing here? Wait, you’re not Nero.” 

“My name is Dante. It’s yours too, right?”

“No, I’m not Dante.”

“But you look just like him!” 

The haze cleared and I realized he was a stranger. However, I was incredibly reassured by how much he looked like my son, and the fact that he shared your name. And those wings, I’d never been this close to an angelic being before, not one so comforting.

“I’m sorry to tell you, angel, but Dante’s not here.”

“Where is he?”

“Someone killed him.”

He lifted Rebellion, pointed it at me.

“No. No, I don’t believe you. Tell me your name.”

“My name is Vergil.” 

He immediately lowered his weapon then paused. After a few seconds, he asked…

“Dante died?”

I nodded. Though, suddenly my own sadness was no longer overwhelming. He looked so sullen, as he lowered his head, then asked, yet again…

“You’re Vergil and Dante died?”

“Correct.”

“I understand,” he huffed. There was a redness to him. He had lightning for veins. I watched his wings disappear and his hair go black, then asked him…

“Did you know him?” 

He fumbled over his response, unsure how to explain, his voice sounding like that of a child.

“Um… I don’t… I don’t know.”

“Let us go for a walk in this grimy city and I’ll tell you what I saw.” 

He nodded, lifting his sword over his shoulder, where it disappeared behind his back. 

We walked for some time. He told me about his brother, also named, Vergil. Told me how he and his Vergil were in great conflict. Told me that this city, Limbo City, had been overtaken by Hell. Told me he wasn’t an angel, but in fact, a Nephilim. 

I told him about Nero and how much he reminded me of him. I told him about Deathstroke, whom he instantly hated. I told him I wanted to kill this mercenary. He told me he’d help me, if he could. We talked for a long time, mourned our brothers together. He calmed me, felt my pain with me. 

But he wouldn’t tell me how he knew you. He only said, that when he saw me and thought I was you, it brought him great hope. So to hear me say you were gone, was quite heartbreaking. 

Now I know why. I think he was waiting for you to come back for him, but you never did, and if you were gone, you never would. He was kind to me. Asked nothing of me, yet, he must have desperately needed help the day we met. We must find him, he must learn that you are still alive. He must learn that he doesn’t have to face the darkness alone in Limbo City. He has a place here, with us.