I ran through the halls of volcano high, passing by all the bodies. The bodies— the people that Fang had killed. The bodies of all the people I had… I had come to care about. My friends. Reed. Stella. They were all dead… and I couldn’t protect them. As usual.

 

“Oh Sparda, is that Naser…?” I muttered, slowing my footsteps. I coughed. The scent of blood and urine was overpowering; if I wasn’t used to being covered in blood, I probably would’ve lost last night’s dinner.

 

I walked up to the body of one of my only real guy friends in this world. His eyes were open, open and bloodshot. I closed them, and sighed. “Rest In Peace, old friend.”

 

I couldn’t cry. Tears could come later. It’s not like.. it’s not like I haven’t seen him dead before.

 

Just… never here.

 

I grunted, and put two fingers to the bridge of my nose. I then looked forward, getting up from my kneeling position as I did. I had to move. I knew where she was. Reaching the staircase, I ran up, and body-slammed into the door. It instantly opened up. Whether or not it was from the door being open or my strength, I don’t know. Just as long as the fucking thing opened up.

 

…because there she is.

 

She’s about to do it.

 

She has it to her head!

 

“Damn it, NO! FAAAAAAAANG!!”

 

A blue, giant, luminescent demonic hand reached out, grasping at the woman in question.

 

But… I wasn’t grasping her. I was grasping something else. Something she was holding in her hand. I grabbed onto it, and I held on, not letting go. Even if the reach of my arm felt weird, I would die before I let go.

 

“Stop it. Stop it right now!” I yelled. I sounded like a bad parent, yelling at their kid to remove their hand from the cookie jar. But the tears sliding down my face meant I felt… well, I felt various different things about the entire situation. Confusion, fear, sadness. Regret.

 

“N-Nero, wh-“

 

“You can’t.” I whimpered, interrupting her. “I can’t let you.”

 

“Why not?” The woman asked, her own tears beginning to spill forward. “You never cared before.”

 

“That’s not true!” I yelled, fighting back against her accusation. To hear something like that really did hurt.

 

“Yes it is. That’s always how it is, Nero.” She was raising her voice. “You get angry at people but you never actually fucking care!” She yelled, trying her hardest to move her arm from my grip. “You think you’re such a fucking hero, but you’ve NEVER DONE ANYTHING THAT ACTUALLY MATTERED!”

 

“…but I TRIED, DIDN’T I?!” I yelled back, fighting her with my arm. Her grip was getting stronger as spittle flew from my lips. “I TRIED MY DAMNDEST TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING ENDED UP ALRIGHT! BUT NO MATTER WHAT I DID, THINGS KEPT FUCKING Up!” My voice cracked, and my breath hitched. “I… ARGH! I don’t know what you want from me, Fang! I-I fucking- I tried to let you figure out your problems on your own. But all that did was make you isolated! I tried to solve all your problems by myself but all that did was put me in an even worse situation!” I rambled. I was beginning to sound crazy. Nobody… nobody ever remembered before. How could I expect her to remember now? “I keep trying and I keep trying, but nothing I’m doing is working. None of it is. None of it ever works. Time and time again, I end up back in a situation like this..”

 

I fell to my knees. My grip weakened. “I just want things to go back to the way they were. I don’t want this.”

 

“…go back to normal?” Fang asked herself. She shook her head. “They never can, Nero.” Fang whispered, before I heard the revolver cock.

 

“NO!” I yelled. I didn’t consider using the devil bringer anymore—it had already failed me. I instead settled on rushing at her. Without Red Queen in my hand, and the word ‘BLAST!’ leaving my lips, the rushing felt off. It was more desperate than usual.

 

But no matter what, I never seemed to make it in time. Not for Kyrie and… not for Lucy.

 

“NOOOOO!!” I yelled, my left arm outstretched.

 

An all-too familiar shot sounded out, and Fang fell to the floor, half of her head missing.

 

“FUCK!” I yelled, sliding to a stop. I was breathing heavily. And I… stared at her in shock for a few moments. “I…” I whispered, falling back to my knees again. It was starting to hurt but I didn’t care. “No matter what I do..”

 

I closed my eyes, and waited for the world to end. It would always end, and then I would be back.

 

It was the regular thing, after all.

 

As everything around me turned white, I closed my eyes. After I gave it a few moments, I opened them back up to reveal that yet again, I was somewhere different.

 

But… let’s go back. And see where this all started. Let me… try to explain what exactly is happening here. At least, as best as I can. I’m not exactly sure myself on a lot of it, but I at least understand how things work.

 

So let’s just start at the beginning.

 

—-…—-

 

“Uggghh!” I yelled, noticing that the motherfucker was trying to get away. I couldn’t let that happen. No matter what, I had to stop him. Right here, right now. I pressed on, running forward and clashing my sword with one of those suits of armor. “Hyeah! Huh!” I exerted, swinging my sword, Red Queen, to try and get them off of me. I didn’t want to fight them; I just wanted to get past them.

 

But then, two of them slammed their javelins in-between my arms. I slammed said arms to my side, and began to twist. “ERRRRRRRRRRRAAAGH!” I yelled, and threw them to the side. I rushed ahead, stumbling slightly, before another suit knocked my sword from my hand. Forget it!

 

I jumped up, and yelled three words. “LET HER GOOOO!!”

 

Two more suits tried to attack me, but I forced past them. I needed to reach. I… I had to save her.

 

“KYRIEEEEEE!!”

 

I yelled her name in a desperate attempt to get her to wake up. To… get her to notice what I was trying to do. And it worked. She did wake up.

 

But she didn’t grab my hand. All she did was… all she did was whisper my name.

 

“Nero…”

 

I’m only able to grab her necklace before I’m slammed into the ground by another suit. As I lie there, attempting to figure out what just happened, the holy bastard started talking. “You… have indeed inherited Sparda’s power.”

 

I grunted, and then… he flew off. Kyrie in tow.

 

More suits slammed down onto me, and I felt my anger rise. My blood pressure going through the roof. I was fucking PISSED. How dare he? How dare he take her?!

 

“EERAAAAGHHHH!!” I yelled, pushing them all off of me. The world slowed down as every suit around me began to float. Several crashed into the walls, but some of them remained floating.

 

I had to kill them.

 

Doing only what I thought best, I summoned the Yamato. Red Queen was over on the floor somewhere and I didn’t have time to pick her up and dust her off. But… little did I know what summoning Yamato would actually do.

 

High-anger, high stress situation, you’re not thinking straight. You’re slashing wildly and just trying to kill everything in sight. You don’t care about what the sword is or what it stands for—at that moment, it’s a weapon to you. Nothing more, nothing less. And this line of thinking is what screwed me up. See, Yamato is… touchy. It’s a touchy sword. The damn thing has the ability to bend reality and hold realms shut. It’s pretty cool. But… not when you’re as mad as I was.

 

“DIEEEEEE!” I yelled, rushing at the backside of a suit. All I was thinking about was how I wanted to send this motherfucker to hell.

 

This was my biggest error.

 

I slashed horizontally in front of me, and, rather than knock the suit of armor back, all I did was open a wormhole. Before I even knew what happened, I slipped right through the crack, and..

 

…into another reality.

 

It was bright there. Wherever it was. And rather than face plant on hard stone like I expected, I instead landed roughly on some grass. I grunted. It didn’t really hurt, but I was surprised by it. Wait. No. No time to waste thinking about it. Quickly, I got off my ass and turned around to see where exactly I came from.

 

I looked at the tiny slit in reality… curiously. Did I open that? How did I fit through that?

 

Wait, it’s closing! “No!”

 

I stuck my hand out, but nearly instantly I had to pull it away again. My alarm bells had gone off, and I was correct in pulling back. My sword, Red Queen, was shoved through the crack, narrowly missing my face by an inch. Not wasting any time being shocked, I grabbed it and pulled, successfully retrieving my sword. The weight was familiar in my hands, and I was happy to have it back. I nearly lost it. I had to stop reminiscing, though, because I remembered that the damn thing was closing!

 

Yet, as soon as I stuck out my hand, the portal closed.

 

“Wait. Fuck.” I whispered, my arm still outstretched.

 

That… that was it. That was my way out. That was my only way to still save Kyrie.

 

…everything set in.

 

“…Kyrie.” I whispered, and fell to my knees. I… I couldn’t save her. I lost her. I lost her. Not anyone else. I could’ve saved her. I could’ve used my long grasp, but I didn’t. Why didn’t I?

 

I dropped my sword, and looked at the necklace in my other hand. I fell onto my hands. Why didn’t I grab her? Why did I fail? WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T I GRAB HER?!

 

“AGHHH!!” I yelled, slamming my fist into the grass. Nothing happened, so I slammed my fist again. And again. And again… Until the ground beneath me was nothing but dirt. I let out a cry. “Kyrie…”

 

I spent a few moments wallowing in my own misery. I couldn’t save her. His holiness took her away, and now, given I’m Sparda-knows-where; he can do anything to her. And I’m not there to protect her. He can torture her, hurt her, abuse her. And I’m powerless.

 

“You fucking idiot.” I whispered. “You fucking… how..”

 

A tear rolled down my face. Kyrie…

 

See… she and Credo, they were all I had. I didn’t have friends, I didn’t have a family, I didn’t have people to shoot shit with. It was just her and Credo. And now… she’s gone. What… what do I tell Credo? When I get back to Fortuna, what do I say? ‘I let your sister get kidnapped and probably killed!’ isn’t exactly a great thing to say to a warrior. He’d have my head on a stick in minutes, if not seconds.

 

I continued to wallow in my self-hatred, for at least another few minutes. Nobody was around, I guessed.

 

At least, not until…

 

“H-Hey? Are you alright?” A soft voice asked. Feminine.

 

“Kyrie?!” I yelled, looking up. The sun blinded me as I did. But… that wasn’t the only thing that felt like a flash bang. “Wait..”

 

The woman in question was not Kyrie. She.. looked nothing like Kyrie. She didn’t even look human. Obviously, due to this, my instincts told me ‘demon’. But halfway through reaching for Blue Rose, I… thought about what she said. She… she asked if I was alright. And her face was one of genuine concern.

 

“Sir?” She asked again. “Are you hurt…? All this dirt around you… it’s like you fell out of a plane or something. Did you?” She asked, chuckling softly. She then held out her hand. “But no, really. Do you feel alright? Hit your head?”

 

I slowly stood up, not taking her hand. I put Kyrie’s necklace into my pocket. When I got to my full height I saw that I almost completely towered over her. I was only around 6’2”, so she must’ve been really short. But I wasn’t going to say that. “I’m..” I started. “I’m alright. Thanks.” I said, gruffly. I didn’t really want to talk to anybody at the moment.

 

“Hey, I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.” She mentioned, and her… she changed. Her eyes changed. It looked like she went robotic. “How old are you?”

 

“Seventeen...?” I muttered, raising an eyebrow. Weird question. I wasn’t actually seventeen, but my birthday was in two weeks, so I might as well just say I’m seventeen. Saying you’re sixteen or whatever has a stigma around it, people don’t take you seriously. Dumb bullshit like that. Wait, she’s talking again.

 

“Seventeen? Do you go to Volcano High??” She asked, seemingly excited. Her eyes were back to normal. “Or. Are you thinking about it?” She turned her head and raised an eyebrow.

 

“What the hell is up with these questions? Who even are you?” I asked, getting a little miffed. I wasn’t totally angry yet but I wanted some answers.

 

“My name is Naomi!” She smiled brightly. “Class President at Volcano High, and your new welcoming committee!” That last line was back to robotic. What the hell was she doing? Did she rehearse this..?

 

“Class—what?!” I exclaimed, getting more and more confused. Is she trying to force me to attend whatever a ‘volcano high’ is? I don’t think I like this. It’s probably a virgin sacrifice of some kind.

 

“You do want to go to volcano high, right? There’s no other high school within miles of here, and you definitely don’t look like you belong.”

 

“What the hell is that supposed to—!”

 

My anger is interrupted by someone else shouting. Naomi turns her head to look, and so do I. A black… guy.. (uh, not a human)… is running up to us.

 

“Naomi!” He says, slowing down when he gets over to us. “Why did you just run off like that? You scared me a little bit there, babe.”

 

Oh. Guess they’re dating.

 

“I saw this guy on the ground, and he looked like he was really going through it.” Naomi said softly. Caring. “I figured I could lend him a helping hand! He’s gonna be a new student.” Naomi explained. What the fuck? My anger was being replaced by absolute confusion.

 

“…Naomi, you..” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You don’t just run off and talk to random strangers that look like they’re sad. That’s how you get shanked by a tweaker.” He sighed. This must’ve been a common occurrence.

 

Wait, tweaker? “I don’t look like a tweaker…” I muttered.

 

“I’m- I’m not saying you do, bro. Especially if you’re gonna be attending our high school. Teenage tweakers are hard to come by, haha…”

 

There it is again. I’ve had it. “No, no, okay. What the fuck is with that? Why do you guys want me to go to your school so bad? I haven’t even told you if I actually already attend a school. Maybe I’m on a vacation??” I raised my voice at that last part. “I feel like I’m being pushed around here. I don’t even—I just met you guys! You don’t even know my name!”

 

Naomi and the guy looked at each other. They were having a telepathic conversation, probably. Whatever it was, I wasn’t in on it.

 

“Do you attend high school?” The guy asked, turning back to me.

 

Now it was my turn to get a little sheepish. “…no, I don’t.”

 

“Are you from around here?” Naomi asked. Both of them robotic.

 

“..no, I’m not.”

 

“Oh! Where are you from??” Naomi asked, getting excited again. Her excitement is charming, but… the robotic stuff is weird. Her excitement, though, it reminds me of Kyr—

 

Oh. I made myself sad.

 

I shook my head. “I’m from a small island called Fortuna. I was…” I cut myself off. I was going to say ‘I was there just a second ago’ but I don’t want them to actually think I’m a tweaker. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter. I’m here now. And I don’t really have anywhere to go. Where’s the nearest hostel?” I asked. I needed a place to sleep. Hopefully a place with a computer, so I can do some research on wherever I was. I definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

 

“Hostel?! You don’t need one of those, silly!” Naomi laughed. “You can come stay with me.”

 

Me and the guy exchange looks. He’s just as confused as I am.

 

“Er, what?” I ask. The guy asks the same thing.

 

“Yeah! My parents leave for business whenever the school year is going on, so my house is completely open!” She smiles, eyes closed. That’s… sad.

 

“But you—“ I was going to say ‘but you don’t know me’ but I don’t think she would’ve even cared. She interrupted me.

 

“Oh yeah!” Rude. “What’s your name?”

 

“…it’s. Nero.” I nod. I was frowning.

 

“Nero. That’s a pretty name! The Italian word for ‘black’.” She says, going nerd mode for a second.

 

“It’s not pretty!” I exclaim. More out of embarrassment than anger. “It’s… cool.”

 

“It is, actually.” The guy speaks up. He then puts out his hand. “Naser. Nice to meet you, bro.”

 

I smiled, and I put out my own hand.

 

My… right hand.

 

“Woah!” Naser yelled, jumping back. “What the hell is that?!”

 

“Huh?” I asked, and looked at my arm. Oh, shit. “Oh fuck. Uh.”

 

“Dude… are you.. why is it warm?! Why is it glowing?! That can’t be a fake arm…” Naser muttered, still keeping his distance. “That’s too impressive looking to be cosplay!”

 

“It’s, uh…” Think. Think!

 

…I got nothing.

 

“It’s… my Devil Bringer.” I muttered. “I’ve always had it. I was born with it. I’m pretty sure it’s connected to the white hair.” I explained. I kinda embezzled the truth, but that’s just because I didn’t want to explain the entire backstory behind my arm.

 

“Is it.. is it safe?” He asked, curiously.

 

“Uh—er—yes!” I nodded vigorously. “Yes, it’s safe.” I held it out again.

 

Naser slowly approached it. Lord. This is weird.

 

…He then tapped it, pulling back his hand quickly.

 

“Ah!” He yelled. Naomi gasped. “Wait.”

 

Yeah, fuckin’ wait. It didn’t hurt you.

 

“That didn’t hurt…” he whispered. See.

 

He then slowly (and carefully) wrapped his hand around mine. He shook it soon after, and visibly shivered. “That’s weird.” He muttered.

 

“Heh, yeah. Kinda.” I chuckled.

 

We were left standing there for a little bit, nobody saying anything. At least, until Naomi spoke up. Get used to that; it happens a lot.

 

“Yay! Introductions!” Naomi clapped. “Now, let’s go talk to Principal Spears! We’ll see if he can let you into volcano high!” She grabbed both of our hands, and began dragging us away from the dirt pile.

 

I stopped to pick up my sword, put it on my back, and continued letting myself get dragged. Nobody questioned the sword. The arm probably explained it.

 

I shook my head.

 

I need to figure this place out. Naomi and Naser, they look like… dinosaurs. And as far as I’m aware, Earth doesn’t have those anymore. They were wiped out millions of years ago. So what the fuck is this? Dinosaurs walking around… it was so weird. Or, actually, were they lizards?

 

I would have to do some research. Maybe Naomi has a computer. I can’t ask a question like that. That’ll give me away as not being from ‘around here’. AKA, not being from this plane of existence. And I feared what would happen if they found out about that. They would lock me up in a nuthouse, and I would never be able to get back to Fortuna… Well, if… if I wanted to. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself, though. I would have to tell Credo that Kyrie got killed, and that’s… that’s not a conversation I want to have. Who would want to have that conversation?

 

…I might be stuck here for a little bit, either way. I’m not even sure how I opened that wormhole before, or why it sent me here. If this was hell, then it was a really weird way to represent hell.

 

Cute dino girls and dino bros. Doesn’t really sound like hell.

 

…well, at least, that’s what I believed.

 

Being dragged to volcano high, I didn’t realize what I was doing. Letting myself get dragged, I… I was setting myself up.

 

The next few months of my life would be absolute hell. Hell that I had to endure without a choice. Hell that I had to endure; just because I was a descendent of Sparda.

 

Hell that I had to endure… to save her. 

[POST-NOTES]
    Got the idea for this game after playing Snoot Game, loving it, and watching that one dmc5 cutscene where Nero says the title of the story. I was like “oh shid what if this”

    Story is mostly for fun, but if I do decide what I want to do with this story, it’ll be more serious. Actual trauma and shit. You know? Looping is never healthy!

    Thanks for reading. Hope you liked this experimental story.