Chapter Text
After working through the sewer and university, Nero finally came to a room that had signal. “Hey Jo, you hear me?”
On the other end came a static-y, “Nero, this is Jo, lima charlie, how me?”
Nero rolled his eyes, regretting getting those manuals for her. “Great, now I could use some help. You need my location?”
“Nero, this is Jo, Nico is following the tracking--”
A scuffle over the radio erupted until it cut.
“Uh hey Nero, disregard any ideas about a tracking device that may or may not be on your arm.”
“Nico I don’t care if you put a tracking device on me. Just take it off once this is all over.”
“Right-O, be there in a jiffy.”
A few minutes later the van crashed through the ceiling of the building and Nero blinked. “I told you not to let Jo drive!” he exclaimed.
“Who you calling Jo?” Nico asked, taking a drag of her cigarette.
“And don’t smoke around her!” Nero grumbled, going inside to get the devil breaker repaired.
“Nero Nero,” Jo started, excitedly, “I shot so many demons. I was like wha-bam, and they were like--” she made her voice flat and robotic as she said, “deleted from existence."
“Wonderful,” Nero said, wondering why there was a pit in his stomach.
“I am making these as fast as I can, and you insist on treating them rough-like,” Nico complained, getting to work on the devil breaker.
Jo must have seen the look on his face, and glanced out the windshield at the door. “There’s something familiar in there,” she said. “You feel it too?”
He did. He didn’t like it.
“I’m going too,” Jo declared.
“We don’t know what's in there,” Nero protested, “It’s too dangerous.”
“Nero,” Jo repeated and grabbed the antimaterial gun and left the van.
Nero had no choice but to follow her. They entered the library, only for a flying demon to speed out of the sky. Nero narrowed his eyes, and was just able to dodge the lasers sent his way, cringing at the screaming. Jo was already trying to find an unnoticed spot to shoot from, and Nero swung his sword.
Familiar or not, and not even in a demonic energy way, Nero faced down the demon.
Its attacks consisted primarily of energy beams and bursts, which seriously hurt.
“Nero!” Jo called out, “Dodge!”
Nero rolled out of the way of the next attack, muttering, “Helpful!” and used his devil breaker to grab onto the small starfish helpers and sling himself up to slash at the devil. It cried out as he hit it, but it was just a glancing blow to one of the wings. It healed from it almost automatically.
Before he could try again, it reared up and spun in the screaming spiral at him. Nero rolled out of the way, charging up shots. He fired on it, Jo did as well, and the combination seemed to stun it. Nero attacked again with his sword, creating some superficial wounds on its tail.
This pattern continued, of dodging, leaping, attacking, until a sword strike actually cut a significant portion of the demon open. But no guts slid out.
“Nero!” Jo exclaimed, and she didn’t need to see more, Nero saw it too. The demon was hollow. Thinking quickly, he sliced it open, revealing a naked woman. Nero caught her before she could hit the ground, cradling her head.
“...Mom?” Nero asked, as it was indeed his mother. She groaned, but didn’t wake up. Jo ran up too, calling to Nico.
“It was Mom?” she asked.
“How the hell did you guess it was Mom?” Nero asked.
“Is she okay?” Jo pressed, kneeling beside him.
“I… I think so. Here, you take her,” he said, and shoved their mom into her arms, taking her rifle. Jo didn’t complain, and brought her to the van.
“It’s your momma?” Nico asked, “for real?” holding the door open for them.
Jo laid her down on the bench, and Nico draped a blanket over her.
“If Lady was in a demon that means Trish and your dad--”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Nero interrupted. “We need to get moving.”
Nico frowned, and Jo started cleaning the gunk off of Mom. Nero sat in the passenger’s seat and tried not to hope.
“You know, for birthing at least one kid, you would not be able to tell,” Nico commented.
“That’s my mom,” Nero snapped.
“And I’m giving her a compliment,” Nico said, “How old is she anyways?”
“Thirty,” Jo said.
“Mom’s not thirty,” Nero said, “You realize that would make it so she adopted me at like, eight. Right?”
“She would have had me at fifteen, which is possible,” Jo said.
“How old is Dad then?”
“I don’t know, like, forty?”
“Dad’s like a year older than her.”
“Man if your mom was this powerful as a demon, imagine how bad your dad and Trish will be,” Nico said.
“Not helping,” Nero burst.
“Because like, have you ever actually beat your dad? Or Trish for that matter?” Nico asked.
“I have,” Jo said.
“That doesn’t count,” Nero said, “Dad would actually kill himself if he hurt you in any way.”
“Easy, we use me as a shield and then free Dad,” Jo said.
Nero’s frown deepened. He wanted to have optimism, but the fact was if Dad was dead, things were bad. If Dad was mind controlled, things were worse. To face Urizen as well as a mind controlled Dad would be suicide.
“Chin up,” Nico said, a little softer, “I don’t like seeing you all gloomy. For Jo’s sake at least.”
Nero supposed she was right.
“Nero,” Jo said, “All of Mom’s scars have faded.”
“They have?”
Jo nodded. “I always thought her stretch marks looked cool.”
Nico laughed. “You won’t feel that way when you get them.”
“I can’t scar,” Jo reminded her.
“Rat bastard,” Nico cursed.
“Nico do NOT call my baby sister a rat bastard.”
“I won’t once she stops rubbing it in my face she hit the genetic jackpot.”
“Genetic jackpot?” Jo asked, “I can’t get a tattoo because it would fade too quickly, and I can’t get my ears pierced because it basically never heals! I have to wear clip on earrings like a child! And, I want curly hair!”
“I’ll take you to get a perm once this is all over,” Nico dismissed.
…
Gilgamesh put a road block in things, but with Jo’s help, was surprisingly easy to defeat. V running away was more annoying.
By the time they got back to the van, Nico exclaimed, “your mom’s awake!”
Jo ran past Nero, pushing him out of the way. Nero frowned, but followed her. By the time he got in the van, Jo was already kneeling on the ground hugging Mom’s stomach. Mom pet Jo’s hair, comforting the crying girl with, “Oh… Joann, you shouldn't have come all this way.”
“I had to,” Jo said.
Nero held back, sure he was going to get scolded for not having a better control on his sister. Instead, Mom looked up at him and held out her arm. Nero let her pull him to her, holding back tears himself.
“Have you found Trish or your dad?” she asked.
“Not yet,” Nero said, pulling away. “We were wondering if you knew anything more.”
She furrowed her brows, trying to remember. “Trish… was captured the same as me. Dante…” she shook her head, sadness washing over her.
“Well, can’t drive any further,” Nico said, slamming on the brakes. In front of them was a pile of rubble.
“Nero,” Mom started, holding his devil breaker.
Nico glanced back and smiled, “Ain’t it a piece of beauty Mrs Lady? I made that with some demon parts and other odds and ends. Almost better than his actual--” Nico stopped herself, “That is--it’s quite nice.”
“About the demon that stole your arm,” Mom said, running her hands over the metal devil breaker. Jo watched with wide eyes. “We suspected from the start, but… didn’t want to tell you until we were sure.”
“What is it?” Nero asked.
“Urizen is Vergil,” she said.
Nero froze. “That… That thing is my biological father?”
“He didn’t look like that back in the day,” Mom said, “we don’t completely know how he returned, but you can’t go on. Wait for Dante--”
“What do you mean?” Nero asked, then scoffed, “Who else can stop him? You?”
Mom’s brows furrowed. “Nero. I’m serious. It’s not right--”
“What does right or wrong matter when my uncle is trying to end the world! Beside, you killed your rat bastard of a dad, you know better than anyone--”
“It’s because I’m the sort of monster that killed my father that I don’t want that for you!” Mom burst.
“So what? Dad should kill his brother? Again?” Nero asked, “You told me I was the only thing that got him out of that funk. Are you planning on having another baby? If he’s even alive still!”
“Don’t use that tone with me,” Mom snapped at Nero, but pet Jo’s head again. After a moment, she added reluctantly, “You should go find your father. Together you stand a better chance.”
“I would if I knew where Dad was,” Nero said, “Right now, if we don’t stop Urizen, the whole world is at stake!”
Mom leveled her gaze on him and said, “I suppose you are a man now. I can’t stop you, if that is what you think is right. And no matter what, I love you.”
“I love you too,” Nero grumbled.
With that, V opened the van door, “Finally done?” he asked.
Jo wheeled on him and said, “Were you eavesdropping?”
V smiled and said to Lady, “Glad you’re looking so well.”
“You too…” Mom said, “I guess.”
To Nero he said, “We need to get to the tree, time is running out.”
Nero nodded, and V left. Mom narrowed her eyes at the strange man. “Do you think we can trust him?”
“I don’t know,” Nero admitted, the same time Jo exclaimed, “I don’t trust him. Why does he look so much like Trish? Isn’t that weird?”
Nero blinked. V… did look a fair bit like Trish now that Jo said it. Could he be their relative on Grandma Eva’s side?
“Regardless of if we can trust him, he’s the only one who seems to be able to help,” Nero said, and then dipped his head to kiss his mom on the cheek. “I’ll see you later, Mom.” And then ruffled Jo’s hair. It was with the devil breaker, so some of her hair got caught in it.
“Ow!” she exclaimed.
“You should cut it,” Nero said.
“No!” Jo exclaimed, and carefully untangled her hair from the robotic hand.
“Take care of Mom,” he told her.
“Already on it,” Jo said.
Nero didn’t understand how his sister went from crying to such bravado so quickly, but now was not the time to unravel such a mystery. He left to follow V.