Okay, first time ever making a Devil May Cry and Fairy Tail crossover. Not entirely familiar with Fairy Tail, but based on what I know, I'll try to make it somewhat presentable. Also, props towards Ultimate10 for inspiring me to write a similar story, but still original. After reading Ultimate Fairy by Ultimate10, which is likely the most popular Ben 10 Crossover Fanfic I have ever read, I felt inspired to write my own story with Fairy Tail.

So, cliche inspiration story, I read this guys story and want to follow in his footsteps...yeah.

Anyway, I will be making some minor, minor, minor changes to Nero, who will be the main protagonist and be paired with Erza. But if you have better suggestions, I'm all ears, just not sure if I'll follow through with some of those suggestions. Anyway, here's the small changes to Nero.

Nero will be slightly older, meaning he'll have more experience under his belt, a bit nicer, but will still have the same bad attitude in a fight and will be slightly arrogant. Not completely arrogant, but confident in his abilities that he know's he'll win.

Nero moveset changes:

1) Since it's confirmed that Nero is indeed the son of Vergil, I will allow Nero to use the Summon Swords in a similar fashion to Vergil, meaning Nero won't have to use his Devil Trigger to use them. However, the max I am willing to give him is six and he can only shoot them. None of the Beyblade or raining swords Vergil can use.

2) His Devil Bringer Arm has the minor change that while he can absorb the essence of certain demons he's defeated and in the case of Fairy Tail magic, Nero can manifest small amounts of the abilities of the demons he's defeated. Like say when he defeated Bael, Ice Toad, he absorbed that glowing puppet. In the case of this story, he'll be able to generate bursts of ice, not as powerful as the demon itself since it's only a portion, but you get the idea.

3) And lastly is Nero's Devil Trigger. Now it is said that Nero's Devil Trigger allows him to tap into the full power of the Devil Bringer Arm, so for this story, I wanna take it a step further and give him a second Devil Trigger, not until much, much later like the Tower of Heaven where the Team fights Jellal. If you look up Devil Trigger Nero Perfect, you might find some concept art of his Devil Form. I hope this doesn't make him powerful to the point of him being broken.

In any case, I hope you all enjoy the story as I hope I will do my best to make it somewhat presentable, also I am getting help from Ultimate10 to make sure I don't just copy his work cause that would just be a dick move. Part of the first chapter can be considered mirror to his work, but just that particular moment. From that point on, my own words. So credit goes to Ultimate10 for inspiring me to write my own story. I would like to thank him for giving me the okay to make a story similar to his.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not a thing, I have been seeing a therapist and she's been helping me.

Devil Tail

Chapter 1: Not The Usual Job Part 1

Devil May Cry, Main Branch

When a person becomes a Demon Hunter, they really shouldn't expect it to be calm or really peaceful. Instead, they should expect the following things: danger, adventure, excitement, and loss. Some might find it to intoxicating, others enjoy, but for twenty-year-old, Nero Sparda, he wasn't experiencing any of that. In fact, the last time he had a good fight was about four months ago when a bunch of rogue Assaults went on a rampage in Orlando Florida. As of right now, the most dangerous thing to him was the strawberry sundae his Uncle, Dante Sparda got him hooked on, that would give him a headache known commonly as a brain freeze.

Current events in his new home state were going by relatively well and pretty much across the entire planet, save for Fortuna which still had some issues but had quiet down in the last few months. His uncle, Dante was currently doing a job in California, with the use of several Devil Arms, physical manifestations of Demon souls the veteran Demon Hunter had defeated. Those along with his sword, Rebellion, that he had been gifted by his father, Sparda, Dante was nearly unstoppable.

Powerful weapons, the skill to match, and the fact that he was half demon and the son of the greatest swordsman to ever emerge from the Demon World allowed Dante to handle threats that would require multiple human Demon hunters and sometimes his partner Trish and off time friend Lady. Speaking of the two women, Trish was just finishing up her own job in Ottawa Canada, something about some Frosts attacking Parliament Hill officials. As for Lady, neither Trish, Dante, or Nero have heard much from her since the Fortuna incident.

At first, Nero wasn't exactly enjoying the huge dry spell of jobs, Dante and Trish taking the jobs since he was otherwise engaged with his own affairs. But the grandson of Sparda was mature enough and smart enough to know this was going to change sooner or later, but that didn't mean the peace wasn't appreciated. However, the young demon hunter just really wished for something to do, anything, the fights he got with demons were something he actually enjoyed. While he loved a good fight, he took up his sword, Red Queen for a reason, to protect what is most important and to protect humanity from fates that could be worse than death.

After the Fortuna battle, the Order of the Sword being disbanded, Sanctus, Credo, the Hell Gates, and the Savior, Dante had given his brother's sword, Yamato to Nero as a gift, seeing that the kid had earned it when he tried to return it to him. The powerful sword was the very same blade that Sparda had used to seal away the Demon World from the Human World. It was a beautiful steel masterpiece, the handle had white fabric wrap, a gold guard with engravings of a dragon etched into it. Despite the power the sword possessed, Nero, preferred to use his own sword, the Red Queen. It was an ornate weapon, taking inspiration from the German Großes Messer (which translates to "Big Knife"). It had a larger handle, a motorcycle like a handguard that actually had a throttle to allow Nero to use the Exceed System made into the sword.

The Exceed system was a come practice within the Order of the Sword, most Holy Knights having a small engine made into the blade of the sword, using a flammable liquid to fuel it and allow the user to swing harder and actually cause more damage. But if there was one thing that distinguished Nero from the other Holy Knights, when he was still part of the Order, was his trusty custom revolver, a heavily modified Smith and Wesson Model 500 double-action revolver. It had a six-shot cylinder, with a long dual-barrel that allowed two shots to be fired at the same time, with porting on each barrel to reduce the recoil and muzzle flip, as well as targeting sights. There was an ornate wooden handle, as well as a blue rose design engraved on the right side, with a thorn design embedded as well. Due to using his left hand over his right, the Revolver's breach opened up to the right rather than the left. But it wasn't just the weapons that made this demon hunter unique.

In the year that followed Fortuna, Nero had gained a lot more power when he used Devil Bringer. Nero was one-quarter demon and three-quarters human, and that demonic heritage manifested itself into his right arm. In the place of a regular human arm was, instead, an arm that was entirely disfigured, and was demonic to the point of being nearly draconic. His claws, palm, and forehand had glowing blue skin, with a large blue crack in the middle of his forearm. The rest of his arm was covered in red organic flesh, with a spike protruding from his elbow. Blue strap-like flesh covered the top part of his arm. The Devil Bringer had the unique ability to draw portions of a demons power into itself, giving Nero more power, however, this caused it to glow brighter with each essence the arm took. Due to this, whenever Nero went out, he wore a medical cast to avoid drawing attention.

At the moment, however, the young adult was lounging in the Devil May Cry office, just waiting for something, anything to happen. His feet were kicked up onto Dante's desk as he ate his strawberry sundae.

"Guess sooner or later, the demons would wise up and leave the human world alone," muttered Nero to himself as he poked the ice cream dessert, "but come on... I would seriously take a Dagon right about now. Or a Scarecrow."

Setting his snack down, he switched on the tv, flicking through news channels for anything demon related. After going through the channels twice, he found that nothing was happening in the world, well, nothing that interested him as the only thing happening was a corrupt president getting impeached in some random country for corruption and obstructing justice.

"Just my luck, nothing but some corrupt politicians," drawled Nero as he switched off the tv, "but from what I've heard, the guy might be a demon in disguise."

"But knowing my luck, and the luck of any poor bastard that has come into contact with Dante, that'll all change," mused the silver-haired young adult cynically as he finished off his sundae. He would never admit it, but he actually liked the frozen dessert.

However, as soon as Nero placed the dish down on the desk, the phone began ringing. Looking over at the offending source of the noise, the quarter demon kicked his boot down on the furniture, causing the phone to fly off its holder and sail through the air. Stretch out his left hand, he caught the phone before bringing it to his ear.

"Devil May Cry," Greeted Nero professionally, expecting the person on the other end to be a client.

"Kid, it's Morrison," responded the voice. Nero narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He really didn't appreciate being called a child, but Morrison was an old friend of Dante. Usually coming to the Demon Hunter with job offers. With the potential offer for something to do, the young hunter let it slide.

"This ain't a social call is it?" Asked Nero, getting right down to business.

"You'd be right," snorted Morrison in wry amusement, however, his tone went back to seriousness, "is Dante around? I've got a job."

"The old man's still on one in Cali'," answered the youngest Sparda, "Trish is still busy and I don't have a clue about Lady. I'm not doing anything important right now."

"You sure you're up to it?" Asked the man, his tone had the tiniest bits of concern.

"Been bored out of my mind, figured you had something for me; something ugly that needs to get put down," Replied Nero coolly as he adjusted his position in the office chair.

"Right," conceded Morrison's as he gave in, "I got a lead about an old Order warehouse, one that the Order's former mad scientist, Agnus, used to House old demon artifacts and some Angelo armor. Demons have been flocking around the area and my sources say that it won't be long before one of them ends up drawing blood."

"Guess a stuttering, mad scientist's work is never completely gone, huh?" Joked Nero, knowing that Agnus was a stuttering wreck but a stuttering wreck who was also a genius Alchemist who creates the Ascendant Ceremony, and several artificial demons like the Angelos, Cutlasses, Basilisks, and Gladii. It was also this alchemist that helped create the Savior, and most of the swords Holy Knights used, including Nero's own sword.

"Quite right, kid," agreed Morrison.

"What kind of demons have been skulking around and where do I put them down?" Asked Nero briskly, getting a little more annoyed about the whole 'Kid' thing.

"Some Scarecrows at most," he answered, "The warehouse is in Jersey, about half an hour from where the shop is. I'll pay you there when the job's done."

"And how much will I get?" cut in the young adult, "You know the bossman doesn't do everything out of the kindness of his heart?"

"If you get the job done without breaking anything in the warehouse, you'll get about five grand, an extra grand if you get it done before midnight," challenged the businessman, knowing full well that Nero could get pretty competitive.

"Right," said the demon hunter, "make sure to give Trish and the old man a holler that I'm going on a job."

"Good luck, kid," concluded Morrison.

"And stop calling me-" snapped Nero, however, was cut off when the man on the other end of the call suddenly hung up.

Glaring at the phone for a moment, he hung it up before standing up from the chair. Guess he finally had something to do. Heading towards one of the walls of Devil May Cry, Red Queen was mounted on the wall for quick use. Nero always carried Blue Rose with him, hidden inside his jacket pocket.

Taking the nearly four-foot sword, he sheathed it across his back. He was about to exit the shop but stopped and quickly went back to the desk and searched a few draws. After looking two, Nero opened a third and found what he was looking for: a medical cast, glove, and a roll of medical tape. Having your demonic heritage manifest in you right arm makes it hard going out. Dipping his hand back into the draw, he took out a set of car keys and dumped them into his pocket.

Once he was all set, the Devil Hunter put on his glove, covering Devil Bringer before wrapping the medical tape around it. Once it was fully covered, Nero strapped the sling across his left shoulder and put the final touches to make his arm look like it was in a cast.

With all said and done, Nero made his way, but stopped short and glanced back at a picture that had been placed on the desk. Looking at it for a moment, he sighed before pushing the main doors open and exited Devil May Cry.

In the frame was a photo, taken about two years ago. It was a photograph of the entire group in front of Devil May Cry. Dante, with his hands in his pockets with a calm smile on his face, was in the middle, with Trish on his left, and Lady on his right; both of them were smiling. Next to Lady was Patty Lowell, a young girl about 10 to 13 years old. She had blue eyes and long, wavy, blonde hair that reaches to about the midsection of her back, she was wearing a small dress, colored pink. Patty was a friend of Dante's whom he protected for while, being the daughter of a powerful sorcerer and Alchemist. A bright smile on her face, next to her was her mother, Nina Lowell, she looked to be an older, more mature version of Patty, with emerald eyes rather than blue. Morrison was to their right, his eyes closed and a small smile on his old features. The man wore a white dress shirt underneath a purple vest and black slacks. His hair was light brown and combed backward, with his sideburns beginning to gray. A light brown mustache was right above his lips.

On Trish's left was Nero, with his right arm in a cast and sling. His eyes had an expression of indifference, with a small frown added to it. On his left, however, was a young woman with long orange hair, fair skin, and bronze irises. She wore a white dress, with beige accented wrist cuffs, and gold accents sown around her sleeves, and the edges of her dress. Around the gold accents on the sleeves are the symbols same symbols that are on Nero's shoulder, only in gold. Around her neck was a necklace, depicting four angel wings, with two surrounding a red crystal.

Her hands grasped Nero's left hand, while her head leaned on his shoulder; she was smiling.

Jersey City, New Jersey

Most New Yorkers have a very strong dislike of New Jersey, viewing as more of a suburb than an actual state as most of its accomplishments are a result of events that normally happen in New York. So not being from New York originally, Nero was exempt from that stereotype. But he would admit, he preferred the city that never sleeps over Jersey City. However, the demon hunter wasn't there to compare the two cities, he had a job to do.

Heading towards the historic Warehouse District of lower Jersey City, a white and blue fan with red trimming rolled down the night time streets. On the side of the van was a blue neon sign that said 'Devil May Cry'. For a while, Nero had his own branch of Devil May Cry in Fortuna, however, he decided to join up with Dante and Trish at the main building in New York. He kept the van as a token of his own business if it only was a branch to his uncle's.

The trip up to Jersey City was uneventful, a little traffic but wasn't exactly a hindrance to the young man as he made it to the old district a little before eleven at night. However, every once and a while, Nero felt Devil Bringer pulse ever so slightly, almost warning him that demons are close by. Guess Morisson wasn't kidding when he said that demons had begun to flock here.

However, it wouldn't really matter too soon as his destination came right up in front of him.

"Guess this is the place," commented the silver-haired hunter as he stopped the van just in front of an old warehouse.

The Warehouse was built in the same fashion as many others in the old district of Jersey City. All of them were once used at some point, especially during Progressive Era when the railroad distribution center once dominated the city's Hudson River Shoreline. However, that was many years ago an now, most warehouses were left alone to act as a historic sight. Keyword, 'most'.

Stepping out of the van, Nero had Red Queen strapped to his back and Blue Rose holstered on his left side. He knew the demons were close by, Devil Bringer pulsed as a tiny glow managed to pierce through the wrapping of his medical cast, glove, and sling.

"Better get started and get that bonus," snorted Nero as he headed right towards the warehouse.

That was when the all too familiar of demonic cackling filled his ears, not just six feet behind him.

Acting on instinct, Nero lept forward, narrowly dodging a giant blade that was swung at him. Thanks to his trajectory, Nero smashed through the window into the Warehouse. Shards of glass were of little issue to the demon hunter.

Rolling to his feet, Nero was back up in time to see a Scarecrow squeezing its way through the window in pursuit of him. Scarecrows were basically burlap sacks filled with Trypoxylus, unintelligent beetles that originates from the Demon World. Working together, they can animate the scarecrow-like form they use.

The burlap sack formed a Scarecrow's body, which was haphazardly stitched together with multiple other rags. It stood on two wooden pikes, similar to a pirate's peg leg. One arm was made of wood while the other was a massive executioner's blade. Its face had two hollow eyes and a mouth that was stitched shut.

"Was wondering when one of you dirtbags would show up," mocked Nero as he knew that he was more than likely overqualified to handle a single Scarecrow.

The demon said nothing as it made its way towards him, wobbling with each step, dragging the massive sword with it.

"Gotta admit though," continued Nero as he reached up with his left hand to take the handle of Red Queen, "You surprised me; you guys are never this quiet."

The Scarecrow lunged at Nero, but the hunter saw it coming a mile away. In a flash, Red Queen was out, the blade sliced right down into the chest of the demon, but the punishment had just begun. Raising his sword up, Nero brought it back down in a left diagonal slash then swung horizontally at the Scarecrow's neck then brought it down vertically, ripping the chest completely open.

The demon's body began to swell like air was being pumped into it. It continued to swell, blackish liquid sprayed out through the seams before the demon's body burst like a balloon. A spray of crimson turned into crystals the second it came into contact with the air.

One down, many more to go.

"That's kinda a letdown," scoffed Nero as he sheathed Red Queen back on his back. Turning into the warehouse, he went further in, the darkness surrounding him, but it didn't really bother him as he had much better vision than humans.

The further he went in, the more Devil Bringer pulsed. He was getting closer to more demons. After about a minute of walking, Nero came to a larger area. Looking around, he spotted a light switched situated on the wall. Stepping towards it, he flipped the switch.

Nothing happened in the first few seconds, then, like an old generator that hadn't been started in years rumbled to life. Overhead lights flickered for a second before snapping on, illuminating the room. Blinking his eyes, Nero allowed them to adjust as he scanned the room.

It was the main storage area. Numerous crates were stacked upon each other, as well as some barrels. A smell of dust and mold filled Nero's nose as he scoffed, Agnus had way too much time on his hands.

His moment of levity was cut off when he heard the demonic cackling again. This time, though, it was all around him. On the ground, he noticed multiple burlap sacks that were scattered throughout the area. Then, black beetles skittered out of nearby crevices, around crates, and from a few barrels. More Trypoxylus. Scarecrows came to life, among them were slightly different Scarecrows, ones that had doctor's mask sewn to its face, and the blade that was normally a part of their arm was now replacing its right leg.

"Great," scoffed Nero in annoyance, "the welcome wagon."

The demons said nothing, as they slowly surrounded him.

"Your buddy learned the hard way that jumping me is a bad idea," he cautioned, a smile creeping across his face the entire time, "But since you're all here, why don't I give you all the same lesson."

The Scarecrows inched forward, practically surrounding him. The smile never left his face as he looked at every demon surrounding him.

"Okay then; who wants to start us off?"

A maniacal cackle sounded above him. Nero looked up and saw that a Scarecrow had lept from a catwalk and was falling right towards him.

"Guess I'll start us off," the young devil hunter said before taking a deep breath.

As the Scarecrow was about to maul him from mid-air, Nero swiftly did a back-flip and kicked the demon into the crowd. The act pushed several of them back into the air due to the hard impact of the kick.

One of the demons recovered, only to receive the other end of Nero's left boot. The blow sent it crashing towards another group of demons, which sent more flying into the air. A Leg Scarecrow spun towards the devil hunter with its leg outstretched, but Nero ducked under it and tripped its leg from underneath. He then did a spinning kick that sent it flying into another crowd of demons. A few crashed into the wooden crates, but the material held thankfully. He could really use that bonus.

An Arm Scarecrow lunged for him, but he quickly backed away from the demon. It lunged for him again, but this time he caught the blunt side of the blade with his hand. Using the momentum of the downward swing, Nero lifted the demon into the air and slammed it onto the ground. Before it could react, he planted his foot onto the Scarecrow's head, instantly killing it, and yanked the blade out.

Looking at the curved blade, he lunged his arm backward, before throwing the guillotine at the crowd. The blade spun around the demons, instantly slicing them. Due to the blade's curve, however, the weapon flew around Nero like a boomerang. Scarecrows screeched in pain as the guillotine tore through the burlap sacks, which caused red ooze to shoot out.

The blade then flew back to Nero, who ducked, and looked over his shoulder to see the blade impale itself into a Leg Scarecrow.

Standing up from his crouch, Nero noticed that there were now fewer Scarecrows than when he started. He figured that it was time to use his blade to cut them down to size.

He reached over his left shoulder, and grabbed the handle of Red Queen and brought its tip down to the concrete. With the blade held down, he twisted the handle of his blade, which activated the Exceed System in the sword that shot out flammable propellant from the exhaust.

Nero narrowed his eyes, "Your move."

Three Scarecrows quickly lunged towards him. The former knight then ran forward, while holding his burning sword with his left hand over his right shoulder.

Before any of the demons could strike him, he swiftly cut through them as he charged past. The force of his slash caused him to continue spinning, which allowed him to cut more demons in half. The propellant of his sword covered the blade in flames, which allowed it to cut through the Scarecrows in an arc of searing flames. The demons' remains fell to the ground, scorched by the might of his EX Streak technique.

When he finished, only three more Scarecrows were left: two Arm Scarecrows and one Leg Scarecrow. The two Arm Scarecrows moved towards the devil hunter, with the one on his right bringing its blade down. Nero deflected it with his own blade, and then struck the Scarecrow horizontally on its unguarded right side, before cutting through it again to slice through the unguarded left side of the other Arm Scarecrow.

Nero managed to look up and saw that the last Leg Scarecrow was in the air, and bringing its blade down towards him. The hunter twisted his hand around the Red Queen's handle to grip it in reverse. With a mighty heave, he struck the demon with a vertical swing that launched it into the air; he followed with a leap. In mid-air, he hacked at it from left and right, with each swipe tearing away the burlap sacks that comprised the demon. After he landed four successful strikes, he arched his Großes Messer backward and swung downwards with a loud cry. The force of the blade eviscerated the demon in two while sending the demon hunter down to the ground. He landed on his feet, while the Scarecrow's slimy innards spilled into the ground a few feet away.

Nero stood up, and visibly relaxed as the demon's remains dissolved. He sighed, as he rolled his neck.

However, he visibly frowned when a sound came to his ears: the sound of something skidding along the concrete.

Spinning around, Nero spotted three giant rolling blades heading right towards him, coming out from around the corners of a few crates. With not much time to react to the incoming threats, he swatted one of the blades to the right with his own, and then swatted the other to the left. Unfortunately, the last rolling blade was upon him, and he had no time to deflect it. Gritting his teeth, he twisted to the side but timed it wrong. Knowing that he had no other options, he raised his cast in front of him to brace for the pain. He felt the blades rip through his forearm before he landed on the ground. When he felt the ground on his back, the former knight rolled back onto his feet.

As he skidded backward, Nero glanced at his new adversaries as they immediately stopped rolling, and landed on their stomachs. The demons then got to their feet and faced him. Their skin comprised of leather sacks, which were stitched throughout their body, as well as zipped together with zippers. Their faces were made of leather, with two empty eye sockets, and a long trunk that was covered with brown leather, and a gold ring at the end. Their feet were actually two knives that impaled themselves into the ground to support each demon's balance. Both of their arms had three large blades, as well as a large singular one in the back. He stood up, warily keeping his eyes on the new demons: the Mega Scarecrows.

The stinging in his right arm quickly disappeared, and he examined it. To Nero's annoyance, he saw that the sling, the cast beneath it, and the lace that held it together was ripped. Other than the obvious tears, the clue that gave him the conclusion that the cast was now useless was the blue light that was coming from underneath it.

"Okaaay," he mused in annoyance, as he impaled the tip of the Red Queen to the ground. "Looks like we're at a draw. I got your goons, and you landed a hit on me."

The demons approached slowly, only growling in response to his statement. Meanwhile, the demon hunter yanked his right arm to the side, which ripped the lace that held his sling. He then proceeded to pull the sling out of his forearm, before throwing it to the side. As the sling landed softly on the ground, Nero reached for the red finger-less glove on his right hand and took it off with his left.

The young man sighed as he shoved the glove into the left pocket of his pants. "So how's this, then? This time, we do sudden death rules. Winner takes all."

The three Mega Scarecrows screeched at him in response.

Nero then grabbed the hilt of his Durandal with his left hand, while slowly clenching his right fist.

"And all bets are off," he snarled, as a blue light began to shine underneath his cast.

The Mega Scarecrow in the middle did not wait any longer and lunged towards the devil hunter. Reacting to the demon's charge, Nero rushed forward while yanking the Red Queen from the ground. Dragging the sword behind him, the former knight brought his right arm forward. Both demon and warrior were within inches from each other.

And before they could touch each other, Nero's cast burst into a hue of blue light.

When it subsided, the Mega Scarecrow was struggling to escape the grasp of a spectral arm. The entire forearm was a phantasm blue, while most of the hand was covered with red flesh, but the clawed fingers were as blue as the entirety of the arm.

With a snarl, Nero slammed the Mega Scarecrow into the ground with the phantom arm, the Spectral Bringer. Then, with a furious cry, he ran forward and kicked the demon hard in the face. He then leaped into the air, and lunged his Bringer forward, which in turn whipped the Spectral Bringer forward to perform his Snatch technique. The Bringer Snatched the demon and brought it upwards to him. He grabbed it and spun in mid-air. After making one spin, he then tossed the demon downwards towards one of the other demons, where it exploded in slimy green bits.

When he landed, Nero noticed that the blade that was on the previously alive Mega Scarecrow had shot into the air due to the force of its destruction. Thinking quickly, he gripped his sword like a baseball bat and waited for the blade to come closer to the ground. When it was within blade's reach, he struck the blade right in the middle, which sent it flying towards the demons. One of the demons had also charged forward but was right in the middle of the flying blade's path. The large guillotine impaled itself into the chest of the demon, which stopped its charge.

The other demon had run towards the demon hybrid while spinning the blades in its arms. They spun wildly and were seen as a silver circular blur. The Mega Scarecrow then literally threw its arms towards the attacking hunter. Nero prepared himself as the sharp boomerangs came to him. He dove between the two boomerangs and quickly got to his feet. He raised the Red Queen to attack as the blades returned to the Mega Scarecrow's shoulders.

The demon swung at him with its right blade, but he parried it with his own. Nero then ducked underneath the left blade that went over his head. Using demonic energy, the part-demon slid backward with both hands on his Red Queen. Using his Devil Bringer, he channeled blue demonic aura to envelop the entirety of the blade. He charged forward and slashed the Mega Scarecrow with a rising slash, thus finishing his Shuffle technique.

The demon fell backward on its back, with a large gash on its chest, and blue demonic aura burning its burlap skin. However, Nero was not going to give it the chance to recover and leaped upwards. Bringing the tip of his sword downwards, he let out a battle cry, as he impaled his Red Queen into the chest of the Mega Scarecrow. The demon let out a screech of pain, but it was not over yet. Nero then twisted the handle of his blade and revved it. Flaming propellant injected itself into the beast, and the Mega Scarecrow howled as its innards burned to ashes.

Suddenly, the Scarecrow then shot along the field, with Nero riding on top of it. He grinned ferociously as they approached a nearby wall to the street. When they were a few feet away from the wall, he pulled the sword out of the demon's chest and jumped backward. The Mega Scarecrow continued forward until it smashed against the wall. When it made contact, however, it instead exploded in a surge of flames.

Nero did a back-flip, before landing on his feet. He stood up and placed his sword over his shoulder as he examined the fruits of his labor. The flames covered a large hole that led out of the complex, with smoke rising out of the sky There were not enough flames to block his path, so he finally decided to sheath the Red Queen, leave the premises, and head for the next objective.

However, Nero made sure to charge up the energy in his arm. The Devil Bringer began to glow blue. After a few seconds, the glow became purple. A few more seconds after that, it became red.

When it did, the last Mega Scarecrow lunged for him in mid-air. The large blade from the first Mega Scarecrow was still embedded in its chest, but its blind fury caused it to simply ignore the pain. Knowing that the demon was upon him, Nero did a one-hundred-eighty-degree spin and whipped out his Blue Rose. He channeled all the demonic energy in his right arm into the dual-barrel revolver. And finally, he fired it at the demon.

Two bullets enveloped in demonic aura flew into the Mega Scarecrow's chest. As soon as they made contact, the demon's chest burst into pieces. The charred remains of the monster flew backward into the ground, as burnt beetles and green slime covered the floor. The large blade in its back spun in the air, before impaling itself into the floor.

Nero kept his eyes narrowed at the remains of the demons, waiting for anything else to happen. He gripped his gun tightly, before relaxing. The devil hunter then twirled the gun in his hand skillfully, before finally holstering it.

"And that, folks, is how you bring down the house," he said to no one in particular.

Thankfully he didn't actually bring down the House. Actually, very little damage had been done to the crates and numerous other objects that littered the area. In fact, the only thing that was somewhat damaged was a crate that had the blade of a Scarecrow embedded in it.

With all said and done, all Nero needed to do was wait for Morrison to show up. To pass some time by Nero put on his headset and started listening to music. He figured it might be some before Morrison shows so he could wait. And speaking of the man.

"Glad to see you didn't destroy anything," said a familiar voice.

Turning around, Nero spotted the man who hired him to take care of the demons that were previously lurking about.

"I do have self-control," quipped Nero as he stepped towards Morrison and took off the headset, however, was met with a blank look from the old man, "more self-control then before."

"Clearly," Replied Morrison as he walked around to inspect the area for any damages.

"Any idea on what's gonna happen to this place?" Asked Nero as he folded his arms, "and what was so important here?"

"The plan was to secure the warehouse so that it can be safely destroyed, along with whatever artifacts that could be here. My contact said that some of the artifacts are unstable, which is why I had you refrain from breaking it."

"Also the warehouse is funded by the city and destroying it would be like breaking a landmark," drawled Nero as he figured that there would be a big bill if an old warehouse was demolished with no reason.

"That too," conceded the elderly man as he approached the Scarecrow blade that was still lodged in the side of the crate, "would you mind?"

Shrugging, Nero made his over and grabbed the giant blade by the handle with Devil Bringer. As he did so, a sudden giant of electricity shot through his appendage, prompting him to yank it out as hard as he could with a sudden bark of surprise. As a result of pulling it out so fast, the wooden side was ripped open.

"Nero," said Morrison as he checked on Nero, being caught by surprise when the young hunter let out a cry, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he groaned, dropping the Scarecrow's blade and locked his attention on what was in the crate, "but what the heck is that?"

Following his gaze, Morrison saw what had the hunter's attention. Inside the crate was a large grey disk, about seven feet in diameter, with multiple carvings made into it. The carvings resembled rings and multiple symbols. However, what Nero and Morrison were focusing on was the large crack in the side of the disk, a crack that had light blue sparks of energy coming from it.

"What did you do?" Asked Morrison, looking at Nero.

"If I knew, I would tell you," Snapped the hunter, however, if things looked bad, they were about to get worse as blue energy shot out from random points on the disk.

Acting on instinct Nero threw the older man aside, but couldn't get out of the way of a ray of energy that collided with his chest. Pain swept across his body as energy rippled over him. An agonized cry escaped Nero as he was lifted into the air.

"NERO!" shouted Morrison as he tried to run over to assist, however, a pulse of energy knocked him back.

A light began growing in the center of the disk, growing brighter and brighter, Nero's cry of pain echoing throughout the warehouse. Suddenly, an intense white light engulfed the warehouse, blinding Morrison as he looked away. Fractures erupted across the disk before a roar of thunder rattled the area.

After a moment of shining brightly, the white light disappeared in an instant, prompting Morrison to look at where he had last seen Nero. When he did, he was met with a sight that made his heart nearly stop: Nero was gone and the disk vanished.

"No...," gasped the old man as he looked on in terror, "Kid..."

Elsewhere

Nero groaned as he felt pain lacing across his entire body. His eyebrow's furrowing as he felt the hard ground on his back. Slowly, but surely, the hunter's eyes opened, mentally cursing the pain in his ass. He just had to tempt fate with a wish.

"Damn it...," seethed Nero as he sat up, his left hand going to his head, "Should've figured the demon artifact would go off."

Rubbing his eyes, Nero's eyes finally unblurred, letting him see his surroundings. Upon seeing them, the hunter nearly did a doubletake about where he was. Where he should've been was the inside of a warehouse in Jersey, but instead what he saw was that he was in a lush, green forest.

"What...the...hell...?"

Nero looked around, trying to make out what happened. Or better yet, where he was.

"Where the hell am I?" growled Nero, his short temper getting close to snapping, "As far as I know, Morrison isn't the kind of person to just dump people in the middle of the woods."

Standing up, using his right hand to support himself as he stood, the demon hunter dusted his coat off, checked to see if Blue Rose had fallen out, which it hadn't, and reassessed his situation. For all the good it did him, he was still as dumbfounded as earlier. Granted he had seen some things as a demon hunter so he really shouldn't be so surprised.

But that's when the memories returned. The job given to him by Morrison, about some old demon artifacts. If he remembered correctly, back when he was still in the Order, Nero could just remember what he was taught about some artifacts. How some demon artifacts could allow transport across the world, and in some cases, other worlds entirely.

With the thought of possibly being in the demon world, Nero's eyes widened in realization, "No...no...NO!" roared the hunter as punched the ground with his right hand, making a small crater, "AM I SERIOUSLY IN ANOTHER..."

However, before he could get any angrier, he noticed something not too far from where he was. Lying on the ground was that same disk, the one that had struck him with energy. However, he needed to be sure. Taking out his phone, a gift given to him by Trish and tried to call someone, anyone, he would even take Dante.

Nothing. No reception. It was clear what had happened.

The disk and the phone were all Nero needed to know what had just happened and where he most likely wasn't. He might not know where he was, but he could guess that his suspicions were true. And there was only one thing Nero could blame at the immediate time.

Stalking towards the disc, the hunter had an enraged scowl on his face.

"Are you serious?! Are?! You?! SERIOUS?!" Bellowed Nero in fury.

Without a moment to hesitate, Nero stopped right in front of the disc. He needed to figure out how this thing worked. If it brought him here, it could take him back. He just needed to backtrack his memories and figure out what caused the thing to ring him here.

Thinking back, he remembered that electric feeling he got when he touched the Scarecrow's blade. That feeling. Thinking about it, the process felt more like some energy was taken rather than just electricity.

"If power is what turns you on," began Nero as he channeled some power into Devil Bringer, causing the appendage to glow a brighter blue, and form a small orb in his hand. With no other options available, he knelt down to the disc and placed his hand on the center, "then maybe power is what takes me-" however Nero was cut off when a massive backlash of energy blasted him back. Another flash of light temporarily blinded him, however, unlike last time, the electric sensation was no longer present.

Groaning as he sat up, the hunter mentally kicked himself for thinking it was that easy. However, if he thought his luck was bad, it got a whole lot worse.

Looking towards where the disc had previously been, Nero's eyes widened when he saw that the demon artifact had shattered in thousands of pieces. For a solid minute, Nero's face contorted into an expression of disbelief as he stammered incoherently. That was until all shock was replaced with fury which resulted in "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!"

Nero stood up and began to pace back and forth. Every once and a while, he

looked up through the trees of the forest that he was now stuck in, still trying to process what just happened, or better yet, how was he going to eat home.

"I just had to ask for something to happen," Nero berated himself as he continued to pace, "couldn't just enjoy doing nothing; now I'm stuck here."

After a moment, he stopped to rub his eyes, "Now what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"I can tell yah what you can do," sneered a raspy voice from behind Nero. The hunter first noticed the shadow that appeared above his. Looking back, the hunter saw exactly what was looming over him.

Nero's first thought that what he was looking at was a demon, however, Devil Bringer didn't pulse like it normally would if it was. The creature was a massive beast, having traits similar to that of a gorilla, except it had a lavender chest and face, with a similarly lavender cone sticking out from the top of its head, and noticeably long ears and chin to match. It had green fur all over its body, save for its legs and tail, which were a darker shade of green, and the pink, heart-shaped symbols on its shoulders and arms in a line-like pattern.

"You can get off mah turf before I cave your albino face in," threatened the gorilla.

Now, it didn't take much for Nero to come to the conclusion that a good way to make the best of a bad situation is to deal with it with a clear head. And considering the rate of how things have been going, he needed an outlet for his anger. And seeing how this thing looked like it wanted a fight, he had no problems with it.

"Huh; first impressions, I'm surprised you can talk," commented Nero as he turned to face the beast, "but guess this confirms that I'm not in my universe anymore."

"What'd you say, yah little punk?" the ape-like being growled, not taking the insult well at all.

Giving the beast a once over, and if he didn't have Devil Bringer, he would immediately assume this thing was a demon. Demons can come in all shapes and sizes, case in point Bael, Berial, and a few others.

"I'm not one to beat up animals, so how about I give you a warning and tell you to back off before you get hurt," suggested the hunter, knowing that the gorilla would more than likely go for the fight rather than the option to leave.

"That right?" Scoffed the gorilla as it leaned down and got right on Nero's face, the overconfidence the gorilla-beast was palpable, "What if I don't leave? What're yah gonna do about?"

"Here's a hint!" Yelled Nero as he pulled Devil Bringer back, clenching the demonic appendage into a fist. The entire arm began glowing.

With enough power channeled into his hand, Nero leaped right towards the gorilla-beasts face and threw a brutal uppercut directly into its chin. The impact knocked the beast clean off its feet and fell back about ten feet while Nero effortlessly landed on his feet. The gorilla's giant, lavender hand went right towards his jaw, grasping it in pain.

"Argh!" Snarled the beast as it locked its vision on Nero, glaring in fury, "You little brat!"

"What? No chitchat or monologue? Just getting right to the point," taunted Nero as he whipped out Blue Rose and took aim at the gorilla.

The gorilla jumped to its feet and charge right towards the demon hunter, fist cocked back to smash the little man. Swinging forward, it sent a powerful punch right towards Nero, but the hunter saw it coming a mile away. At the last second, the white-haired hunter jumped up into the air, narrowly avoiding the fist as it collided with the ground. Landing on the arm of the gorilla, he ran up the limb, right up to the shoulder. When he was about a foot away, he whipped Blue Rose directly at the center of the beast's forehead and fired.

Two powerful magnum rounds erupted from both barrels of Nero's handgun. The bullets collided with the beasts head, however, instead of the usual spray of demonic blood that would follow being shot in the head, both rounds crumpled in on themselves. However, the gorilla reeled back in pain as a massive headache engulfed his forehead.

Ever since Nero joined Dante, he agreed to follow one simple rule the veteran demon hunter had, never kill a human or kill an animal unless absolutely necessary. That being said, the bullets Nero now used were made from a special material Dante and Trish used. To put it simply, if you're a human or animal, it won't kill you, but it'll hurt like a bitch. If you're a demon, well, you're dead.

And the gorilla learned that the hard way as its hand went back to its head, holding its face, "OW!"

Nero had jumped from the arm just as he fired Blue Rose, and seeing that the beast was still alive just solidified his speculation that this thing wasn't a demon.

"Well, that's interesting," commented Nero as he rested Blue Rose on his shoulder, "you're not a demon. Doesn't make you any less dumb than one."

"I'll crush you little runt!" Roared the gorilla as it fumed in rage.

"Actually, you'll be doing something else," retorted Nero as he readied Devil Bringer. Too overcome with rage, the gorilla charged right at Nero, raising its right fist to try and crush him again. It threw the fist with all its might but suddenly was stopped as Nero threw out Devil Bringer. A bright flash erupted and the gorilla's fist collided with a giant spectral hand. The gorilla could only look on in confusion and shock as it remained frozen in its place, "You'll be learning how to fly!"

With a shout of effort, Nero used Devil Buster to completely flip the beast over him holding onto the fist. The gorilla collided with the ground, shaking it. But Nero wasn't finished. Still gripping the limb, the demon hunter proceeded to smash him into the ground again, doing so about three times until he decided to give the beast its flying lesson. Spinning around, dragging the beast across the soil, Nero tossed the gorilla into the air. Whilst it was still in the air, the demon hunter pulled Devil Bringer back as far as he needed to, Devil Buster doing the same as Nero sent a powerful blow right towards the gorilla's midsection.

The spectral hand collided with the beast, sending it spiraling into the air, above the trees into the distance, most likely deeper into the woods.

"Guess he was all bark and no bite," scoffed Nero as he holstered Blue Rose and rolled his wrist around. However, despite reveling in his victory over the gorilla, the weight of the situation came right back to Nero. He was still stuck here, wherever here was.

"Got nothing to call the old man and my one ticket home is in a thousand pieces," said Nero to himself, "Great. What the heck am I supposed to do now?"

Looking at the sky, the demon hunter figured he makes the best of a bad situation.

"Standing around ain't gonna do anything," sighed Nero as he decided to try and find a town or village, or something in this world. So, picking a random direction, Nero began to trek into the forest, hopefully to find someone or something. If he ran into that gorilla again, well, too bad for the monkey.

About fifteen minutes into his walk, Nero had time to reflect on what happened in the last fifteen minutes. His best bet of getting him is now a pile of rocks, then getting attacked by a self-centered purple monkey; it was safe to say the demon hunter was more than a little annoyed about the current situation. However, despite his misgivings, a small part of him, a very small part, was actually curious to see where he ended up. The only other world he ever heard of was the Demon World and from first impressions, he was fairly certain he wasn't there. Wondering how different this world is from his own definitely something Nero was curious about. So putting aside his worries, some that were beyond his control, he pressed on into the forest. Hopefully to find some sort of village.

After a full hour of walking, Nero had come across no signs of life or at least intelligent life. Growling to himself, that he might have picked the wrong direction, which would be completely typical for him, he heard a noise. Stopping for a moment to listen, it vaguely resembled the sound of someone shouting. It didn't have the same tone as the gorilla he fought so on the off chance, he found a city or town at least.

'Finally, people!' Thought Nero in joy, 'People means towns, and towns mean answers...' however, the former knight stopped as he realized something he should've come to do so sooner. Looking down into his Devil Bringer, 'And people also probably getting freaked out by my demon arm.'

Sighing, he knew that the solution was simple. He merely had to wrap his arm around with the black athletic tape in his pocket, and then wear his red glove. He reached into his left pocket and reached for his roll of tape.

The boy frowned when he did not feel his roll of black athletic tape.

Pulling his hand out, Nero saw that he held his red finger-less glove. The boy then patted down his entire body, hoping that he had simply misplaced it. However, he remembered how he was blasted back when the disc shattered, the tape must've been knocked out of his pocket somehow and he didn't notice it.

"So I have a glove, with no tape to go with it... Swell," he muttered.

Sighing, Nero then chose to do the next course of action. He put the red glove over his right hand, and then pulled down the right sleeve of his coat to cover his arm. He also rolled up the cuff at the end to cover his forehand. He looked at his arm with satisfaction. So long as he did not attract too much attention to himself, or display his right hand for all to see, he would be fine.

Making his way towards the source of the shouting. Spending about a good five minutes walking, Nero came across a clearing in the forest. However, he really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was by what he found.

About twenty to thirty men were gathered within the clearing, they all wore roughly the same thing: brown and/or tan garbs, dark brown hoods, and dark leather armor. But what stuck out was the fact that they were all wielding medieval weapons; weapons like swords, spears, maces, axes, etc. None of them really held their weapon with any proper grip, much less stance, and by judging outward appearances, Nero could guess they were like thugs, thieves or bandits. At first, he would've questioned why they were using such old weapons, however, remembering the Order, they used swords, but swords with Exceed Systems built in. In contrast, the Holy Knights heavily outclassed then when it came to handling swords and medieval weapons.

Even still, that wasn't all he saw through the clearing. In between a gap in the group of hooded men, were three individuals. They were the truly strange thing about this whole scene, without a doubt, even to Nero who has seen plenty. One of them was a young girl, likely two years younger than himself, with shoulder-length, blond hair, tied in a ponytail to the right side of her head with a blue ribbon. She wore a white, sleeveless shirt that came with blue highlights, and a blue cross down the center of it, intersecting right around her chest. The blonde also wore a blue skirt and had a brown belt wrapped around her waist, which had a black whip and key ring connected to it. The key ring had eight keys on it, half being gold and the other half silver.

Another one of them was a young man who looked to be Nero's age with what appeared to be spiky, pink hair. He wore a black colored vest with gold trimming, which was open and without sleeves, revealing his well-muscled arms and chest. He also wore white, knee-length pants that were tightened to his legs by straps of black cloths. He also had a scarf wrapped around his neck that bore something of a scale-like pattern, reminiscent to that of the scales of a lizard.

However, what had Nero's full attention was the fact that the guy's hand, which was clenched into a tight fist was completely on fire. But he didn't seem to notice at all, if anything, he looked perfectly fine. What was even more surprising was that he bore an excited, expression; a wide toothy grin on his face with a look in his eyes that said he was itching for a fight with the thieves around them. But Nero wasn't entirely certain what to make of the final member.

The third member of the odd trio was, well, Nero didn't really know what it was. Other than it appeared to be a humanoid, blue cat, about the same size as a regular household cat. It had a white underbelly and had a pale green backpack around its neck and over its back. What stood out most to Nero, other than the existence of such a feline, was the fact that it had two small angel-like wings coming from the back. It was currently using those wings to fly at around the same height as its two allies and was holding a large fish with the flesh being picked clean, leaving only the skeleton, barring the head.

Finding a vantage point within the branches of the trees, Nero hid in one the trees, sitting down on a branch and leaned back. He needed to figure out who exactly was in the good, meaning he'd have to figure out who to help if he needed to. But still, he would admit that he had no words to describe the very odd sight before him.

The pink haired teen laughed loudly, "Hahahaa! Alright, yah hood-wearin' losers! I hope you guys like barbeque, that's cause I'm gonna cook yah like smoked fish!"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" interjected the blue cat, to Nero's surprise that it could speak perfect English, "Everyone knows that you make smoked fish with smoke, not fire."

"Get off my case, furball!" snapped the pink haired boy as he turned towards the cat with an annoyed expression on his face.

"A flying cat that can talk, huh?" muttered Nero to himself, "Not the strangest thing I've seen."

"Do you really believe that we're gonna lose to a couple of kids and their cat?! You must be dumber than the rumors about you let on, boy," mocked one of the thieves.

Whipping back to look at the man, the kid had an enraged expression and look of fury in his eyes, "WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" demanded the kid.

'Does everyone here have a short fuse?' thought Nero, but those thoughts quickly vanished when he noticed that when the pinked haired kid got angry, the flames around his fist grew brighter and larger.

"You all must be used to robbing from helpless travelers, you jerks.." spoke the blond girl as she pulled a key from her keyring. However, the key was weird in the way that its blade was shaped in a way close to that of an ax, "Otherwise you'd know that threatening wizards is a stupid mistake. We get paid to bring you in whether you surrender or not, so why don't you do us both a favor and give up?!"

'Wait? Wizards?' thought Nero as he leaned forward slightly, now he was really curious, 'Guess it makes sense with the salmon head's fist on fire...'

"Take 'em down!" ordered one of the thugs that stepped out of the crowd and pointed angrily at the trio, in his right hand was his mace as he pointed with his left.

With that one order, the shouting man and three more hooded goons began to charge the pink-haired boy. However, he didn't look at all worried and if anything, he looked even more ready for a fight. Nero was sure of this if the excited expression on the kid's face was any indicator.

"Oh yeah! I'm all fired up now!" exclaimed the wizard, who might also be a pyromaniac.

Without warning, the boy leaped right into the air, so high in fact that Nero had to look up through the branches to see him. It was pretty clear that whoever this was, he was very, very different from any human. Also, while he was in the air, the pink-haired kid's arms were wreathed in fire.

"Fire Dragon...WING ATTACK!" bellowed the kid. Ater shouting that he swung his arms in a circle and after every swing, the intensity of the flames grew, and after a few more swings, he swung them at four approaching thugs. As a result, the ground beneath their feet erupted in a column of fire and sent them all flying, scorch marks decorating their bodies.

Several more men began to charge the pink-haired boy as well, haven't learned or haven't noticed the fate of their now-charred comrades. The boy then took a firm stance on the ground and began to puff out his cheeks far more than any human's should.

"Fire...Dragon...ROOOAAARRRR!" bellowed the kid as he placed his hands over his mouth, in a fashion that a musician would do when playing the trumpet. Without warning, ryhme, or reason, a titanic blast of fire erupted from the kid's mouth, threw his hands, and right at the charging thugs. The result was another dozen criminals sent flying, charred to the same degree as the ones before, only semiconscious this time.

"*Whistle* damn," commented Nero. Even he would admit, that was awesome to watch.

Seeing their own numbers reduced by roughly a third of what they once were, most of the remaining thugs turned their attention to the blond girl, who responded only by thrusting her key forward.

"You're gonna regret running into us! There's a huge bounty on all of your heads, and we're gonna collect! Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

With a puff of smoke and the sound of a loud doorbell, a large, humanoid cow-man jumped out and into the fray. He was extremely buff, and had white skin with black splotches, just like a typical cow. He had black bull horns on his head, a golden nose ring, a golden cowbell hanging around his neck, and wore nothing other than a pair of black briefs and a large holster on his back, which contained a massive battleax.

"MooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Taurus exclaimed, flexing his muscles while doing so.

"Okay, Taurus! Time to kick some bandit butt!" the blonde wizard smiled.

Taurus grinned as his tightened his grip on his battle ax. "You got it, Miss Luuuuuucy!

Taurus then readies his battle ax as several men continue to charge both him and the blond girl, now known as Lucy.

"Okay, fellas! Give the lady's totally rockin' body some ROOOOOOOM!" the minotaur shouted.

Taurus swung his ax horizontally at the ground below the incoming bandits, destroying a portion of the ground beneath them, and sending them all flying into the air and landing back on the ground, unconscious.

Lucy smiled as she held up her hand for a high-five. "Great work, Taurus!"

Taurus high-fived Lucy and grinned as he boasted, "Well, this ain't my first rodeo."

As Lucy and Taurus prepared to face off against more bandits, the pink-haired boy and the blue cat were doing the same. And to Nero's incredible surprise, the flying blue cat had managed to actually render a thug unconscious that was looking to take out his pink-haired friend via sneak attack.

The fire wizard grinned and gave his cat friend a thumbs-up. "Way to go, lil' buddy!"

"Aye, sir!" the blue cat replied, smiling.

Nero couldn't help but be awed by the efficiency of the trio fighting together. Being a demon hunter, he should have lost the ability to be surprised, but he could never have expected to come across a scene like this. A kid with pink hair that can breathe fire, a minotaur summoning blonde, and a talking, flying, blue cat taking on roughly thirty bandits with little to no problem.

In a way, they reminded Nero of when he, Dante, and Trish worked together on jobs. They were fighting but seriously enjoyed themselves as they were doing so as well. It also wouldn't really do if he said that he didn't enjoy the performance. However, he didn't fail to notice one man, wearing clothing identical to the thugs, holding a very large knife. Nero's eyes narrowed as he saw the would-be assassin heading right for the blond chick, Lucy. What made it all the worse was the fact that none of her allies had taken notice of what was happening.

"Turn around...One of you turn around," muttered Nero as his eyes darted from the thug approaching Lucy closer and closer to her, then to her allies, "He's right there! Turn around!"

Nero was never one to ask anyone for anything, so it really pissed him out when the one time he did ask for something, nothing happened. Everyone was busy with their own fights, and it looked like the only way this would work out is if Nero got involved. Being reluctant at first, not really seeing how this involved him, but even he would never turn a blind eye to someone in danger. Sitting on the sidelines was over, and besides, he could use an excuse to hit something.

"Well, time to introduce myself to the locals," remarked Nero. Reaching towards his holster, he withdrew Blue Rose, opened the cylinder to see how many bullets he had. Seeing he had plenty, Nero snapped it shut.

Jumping down from the branch, Nero waited a second behind a tree before leaping out of the bushes and rushed the man from behind. He took aim right at the man's hand, aiming for the dagger and fired. A loud crack echoed throughout the clearing and a second later, the man let out a pained cry as the bullets struck his wrist, prompting everyone to stop fighting and turn to the source of the noise, including the would-be assassin. Exactly what the demon hunter wanted, he wanted their attention on him, not Lucy. Letting a roar of fury Nero leaped right at the man, performing a huge dropkick. Both his boots collided with the man's face with enough force to send him flying into a group of thugs.

The man impacted with the men, knocking several over, as for Nero, he landed right back on his feet and continued his charge. Heading right for the remaining thugs. Once in range, Nero slugged one of the men with Devil Bringer, knocking him unconscious and into more bandits who were also knocked unconscious.

Getting out of their stupor, the bandits tried charging Nero, but the hunter responded by crouching low, bringing Blue Rose back before swinging his arm out and spun the silver firearm around horizontally, all the while firing more rounds. Six thugs fired, six shoots echoed in the forest, and six unconscious men fell to the ground as they were knocked out instantly when the special bullets collided with their foreheads.

All of the bandits were now defeated and unconscious, something Nero was fine with. However, the quartet that was present wasn't exactly as relieved as he was, those being the pink kid, the minotaur, the cat, and Lucy, who all stared wide-eyed at a white-haired man wearing a blue coat, a red hoodie, blue jeans, black pants protectors, two rings on his left hand, and some kind of glove on his right, who just appeared out of nowhere with a silver gun.

"Well, that went pretty well," commented Nero as he spun Blue Rose around on his finger. However, the minor action of spinning the gun was enough to cause the gathered wizards to flinch.

Taurus readied his ax, "Listen here, buddy! If you so much as moooove that gun in-"

"Pretty hostile thanks for someone who just helped you guys," scoffed Nero as he turned to the group, but kept Devil Bringer from view.

"Hey!" cut in the blue cat, "What do you mean, 'helped us'?! We had that completely under control!"

"From where I was, you didn't," countered Nero.

Lucy turned to the blue cat and cried, "Shut up yah stupid cat!" She then turned back to Nero, "Okay, buddy, just who are you?! You better have an answer or I'll have Taurus take you out to pasture!"

Taurus nodded and folded his arms over his chest, "Mooooo..."

"Right," snorted Nero as he really didn't feel threatened, "I was just making a grand entrance when I saw this guy..." to indicate who was talking about, he pointed Blue Rose at the man who tried to stab Lucy in the back, prompting the wizards to follow where he was pointing although, carefully, "was about to stab her in the back. Leading back to my previous statement that you didn't have everything under control when one of you almost bought it."

Lucy jumped slightly as her eyes widened in shock. Still retaining her surprised mien, she thought about it for a moment. If this man was being honest, then it made complete sense that he fired in her direction to knock the knife from the man's hand, then get him as far away from her as possible so he could deal with the others.

"Oh..." Lucy said sheepishly.

Taurus turned to Nero and asked, "...Is that truuuue...?"

"Wouldn't be saying if it wasn't," responded the hunter as he holstered Blue Rose.

Taurus's expression grew slightly downcast upon hearing that, though Nero couldn't really care what the reason was, but it still intrigued him. He'd have thought everyone would be happy he'd saved their friend.

Lucy turned to the cow-man. "It's okay, Taurus. I know you did the best you could. Why don't you go take a load off for a while, okay? Will that make you feel better?" She suggested.

"Well... You know what might make me feel better..." Taurus implied.

"What's that?" Lucy cocked her head, bemused.

Before anyone could say anything, Lucy's eyes widened in revelation and quickly narrowed in what seemed like annoyance.

"NO WAY, YA BIG PERV!" the blonde-haired girl shrieked.

Taurus clasped his hands together. "Oh, come on, Miss Lucy! Not even a smooooooch?"

"How many times do I have to say 'no'?! NOW GO HOME!"

With that, Lucy waved the golden key she had used to summon Taurus, and in another puff of smoke, and a faint flash of white light, the humanoid cow disappeared, wagging his tail with hearts in his eyes all the while.

Nero only grumbled as he folded his arms, perhaps getting too involved may have been a bad idea, and from the complete absurdity of what he had just seen. He didn't even want to think about it, so instead, he shook it off and once again focused on the matter at hand.

The pink-haired young man and blue cat both looked relieved upon hearing that this new man with a silver gun and sword strapped on his back was somewhat friendly if a little blunt and cynical. But not only that, but it had just saved one of their friends from certain death.

"Phew! That's a relief," He grinned widely, "Thanks a million, big guy! Lucy's one of our friends, and you just saved her life! That means you're alright by me!" He turned to the blue cat.,"Ain't that right, Happy?"

Happy raised his paw and smiled. "Aye!" he chimed.

The pink-haired boy pointed to himself. "My name's Natsu! I'm what you'd call a Dragon Slayer! What's your name?"

"Nero," replied the hunter evenly.

"Why do you carry around a sword and a gun?" asked Happy off the bat.

"Because I'm a demon hunter for hire," answered Nero as a somewhat savage grin spread across his face.

Nero could only snort in amusement at the expression he received when he told the two wizards and cat in front of him that he killed demons for money. Since he nor Dante ever met some of their clients and Morrison being a big provider, seeing their expressions was somewhat amusing to him. Though, he would'be figured that they would've heard of hunters, or something like him if they were wizards. But it was clear that wasn't the case.

Taking a moment to look around at their surroundings, noticing they were still in the forest, meaning that a town wasn't anywhere close by, which also meant he was still lost. He then turned back to the trio and walked a few paces to the left of them as he folded his arms and glanced back at the still dumbstruck wizards, a bemused smirk on his face, knowing that they could be friendly enough to help him out. So the moment of truth came when Nero could finally ask someone, anybody he found a question that has been on his mind for the last hour or so.

"So..." asked the hunter as he glanced over his shoulder, "Mind telling me where exactly I am?"

To Be Continued...