Project DxD. Chapter 1
Authors note: Hello everyone. It is with deepest pride, and sincerest pleasure that I present to you (To my knowledge) the very first High School DxD fanfiction of its kind. This is an idea that crept into my mind when I was thinking of one of my own original stories. And just so you know, Issei and the others will likely be pretty out of character when they first appear, otherwise, to the best of my ability, you should still have the same characters you all know and love, just in a different universe. And with all of that out of the way, please enjoy.
He didn't know who, what, or where he was, all he knew was that green glow and constant bubbling. Consciousness came and went as it pleased, and every time he saw the same three people, two men and one woman. And every time they had a different conversation, but this period of consciousness was slightly different. The one girl of the three, a buxom woman with long, dark brown hair neatly tied into a ponytail, bright brown eyes, stood before him on the outside of the vat that he knew as his entire world, her white lab coat glowing in the emerald light. He was so tired and sleepy, and he didn't know why the woman was standing in front of him nor why her hand was against the cool glass that separated her from him, nor did he understand what she was saying.
"Hey there kiddo," the brunette said to the young man surrounded by the glowing green liquid. "How are you doing today?"
From the inside all he could hear were muffled sounds over the sound of the bubbles and the hum of the machines.
"I bet that you're ready to get out of that cramped tube," the woman said to the young man. "To see, smell, hear, and feel things for the first time ever," with that said, she gave the boy a sad look and rested her forehead against the glass. "I'm so sorry you had to have be born like this," she apologized with a bittersweet smile. "Sorry you couldn't have been born into a normal life. I'm afraid that all that's waiting for you when you get out, is a very difficult one."
"Dr. Hyodo," a new voice said. The brunette now identified as Dr. Hyodo turned to face a man in his late 40s with combed jet black hair, gray eyes and the same standard issue lab coat. "You do realize that what you're doing is the equivalent of speaking to a power drill right?" he questioned his fellow scientist, his eyes never leaving his specially made hologram tablet that looked like a glass rectangle with rounded edges that had a three-dimensional image of the specimen Dr. Hyodo was speaking to, several numbers and charts telling him the statistics of said specimen's vitals.
Dr. Hyodo stepped away from the vat and glared daggers at the middle-aged man. "He's not just some tool to be used!" she said indignantly. "He might not have been born like you or me, but he's still a person just like anyone else."
"Actually, Dr. Hyodo, he is anything but," the middle-aged scientist said finally looking up from his glass tablet. "The truth of the matter is that he is little more than a tool for us to use. He's a living weapon, an engineered organism created for the benefit of humanity. And while technically you and your husband are biologically related to this weapon, you are not his mother." Dr. Hyodo gritted her teeth and clenched her fist at that. "Furthermore -" he continued before he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Prof. Tanaka, take my advice, and end this conversation while you can still be considered a man," said the other male scientist who was in charge of the development of this specimen. He was a fairly tall man with short brown hair, and brown eyes behind a pair of rectangular glasses. The bespectacled man then nodded his head towards his wife, Dr. Hyodo. Only then did Prof. Tanaka notice the murdererous look that the brunette was giving him.
"You know, I think I remember agreeing to help Shiro with the new Sitri boy," Prof. Tanaka rushed, he did not want to suffer the infamous fury of Dr. Kotoko Hyodo, and with that he left. Dr. Hyodo's husband Takeru, decided to give his wife some time alone with the young boy.
He was so tired and consciousness was beginning to leave him, still unable to hear anything with the constant noise of the glass cylinder he called home.
Dr. Hyodo turned around and looked into the barely open and eyes of the being whom she considered her son. "Ignore that old goat. You're not a tool and are not a weapon, you, and all the others are so much more then that," she said with a hopeful smile. "You're going to be something special kiddo, I can't wait to meet you tomorrow."
Later that night, Dr. Hyodo was still in that lab watching her soon-to-be son sleep peacefully. She enjoyed the peace and quiet of the late night in her comfortable chair with a hot cup of coffee in hand and a dull green blanket over her shoulders, most people would have gone mad with boredom by now, but Kotoko didn't mind, in fact she was quite happy getting to see her boy's peaceful face. At about 2:30 AM, Dr. Hyodo heard the sound of the door (the kind you see in sci-fi movies) open, she turned around and saw two equally well endowed young girls. One of these girls had long, silky, dark red hair and bright green eyes. She wore a black, skintight tank top, a gray miniskirt and black combat boots. The other girl had shiny raven black hair tied into a ponytail by a yellow ribbon, and violet eyes. She also wore the same skintight top but instead of a skirt and boots, she wore very short jean shorts and light brown sandals.
"Dr. Hyodo?" Said the redhaired girl sounding a little surprised.
"Rias, Akeno? What are you doing here so late?" Kotoko asked the two teenagers.
"We heard we were getting a new guy for the team, so we thought we'd drop by to see who we'll be working with," answered the raven haired Akeno with a pleasant smile.
"I would like to know who I'll be risking life and limb with in the foreseeable future," the redhead named Rias said to the doctor. It was true, these two beautiful girls will be risking their lives with this boy before too long. They were engineered organisms just like he was, created using the DNA of others and grown in vats just like this one. "By the way Dr. Hyodo, what are you doing here at this late hour?" Rias questioned.
"Couldn't sleep. I'm too excited for tomorrow," the brunette answered the other girls.
Feeling satisfied with that answer, Rias turned to the boy in question. "So that's him?" Rias asked.
"Yep," Dr. Hyodo answered simply.
"Oh, he's cute," Akeno said licking her lips.
"Akeno, sweetie, you're a nice girl, you're very pretty and while I admit I wouldn't mind having you for a daughter-in-law, you're already walking a fine line with the shorts. So please, until you two are married or at least dating, try to keep your pants on," Dr. Hyodo told Akeno with a slightly exhausted tone.
"That might be a promise I won't be able to keep," Akeno replied keeping her trademarked smile.
Rias, hoping to change the subject decided to speak up when saying, "So is it true that he was made with yours and your husband's DNA Dr. Hyodo?"
"Correct again Rias," the scientist confirmed. "We borrowed a few genes from a red dragon to make him compatible with the Boosted Gear, but mine and Takeru's DNA were used for the basic genetic template. Takeru wanted a girl, but I eventually talked him out of it," she said.
"You're fitting him with the Boosted Gear? I thought it was a prototype and still needed testing," Akeno said taken aback by the choices made for the newbie.
"It is, and does. But you know the director, he prefers field to lab tests. Believe me, if it were up to me he'd be equipped with Twilight Healing. But director Gremory, felt that combat equipment would be better suited for him," Kotoko explained with the faintest traces of anger and annoyance in her voice.
"I wonder why," Akeno whispered to Rias with a knowing smile, to which the redhead chuckled lightly.
"So what are we going to call him?" Rias asked.
Akeno answered before Dr. Hyodo could. "I think Inu would work," the raven haired girl said.
"Inu?" Rias and Mrs. Hyodo said in unison. "Why Inu?" the redhead added.
"Because, that messy brown hair makes him look kind of like a dog," Akeno explained. "Plus it might annoy Koneko a little bit."
"As…um… Nice, a name that is, me and Takeru decided on a name before he finished stage 1 development," Dr. Hyodo explained trying to be nice about rejecting the teenager's suggested name.
"Really? Well what's his name?" Rias asked a bit excitedly.
"Issei. Issei Hyodo," the brunette answered.
"Issei?" Akeno said raising her brow, "That's an interesting name, I kind of like it."
Rias turned to face the teenage boy in the tube now identified as Issei. "Issei Hyodo," she quietly said to herself. "I look forward to working with you," she smiled at her soon-to-be comrade and brother in arms. "Dr. Hyodo," the redhead said curtly.
"Hm?"
"You should probably go home and get some rest, you'll need it for tomorrow," Rias advised. "You'll need to keep your wits about you if you want Issei to come out right."
"True enough," Dr. Hyodo admitted before she tried to take another sip of her coffee but Akeno swiped the cup from her hand.
"This, won't help you get to sleep," Akeno told the doctor.
"Also true," Dr. Hyodo smiled as she stood up and draped her green blanket over her arm.
"Don't worry, we'll keep Issei company," Rias told Mrs. Hyodo with a reassuring smile.
"Thanks Rias, I'm certain he'll appreciate that," Mrs. Hyodo told the young redhead taking one final look at her boy before he would be released into the world. She also noticed Akeno staring intently at Issei, she then waved her fingers gesturing for Rias come closer. "While you're at it, keep an eye on Akeno for me," she whispered into the teenager's ear.
"Will do," Rias nodded. And with that, Dr. Kotoko Hyodo, had finally left the lab leaving Akeno and Rias with the newbie waiting to leave his pod. They, like the brunette who was like a strict but loving aunt to them, couldn't wait to see this boy when he was released.
Mr. and Mrs. Hyodo, the Boosted Gear engineers, and everyone on Issei's preassigned team, they've all been anxiously waiting for this day and it was finally here. It was the day Issei Hyodo was being released from his pod. Rias, Akeno, and all the other Gremory Squad members were waiting patiently in the barracks for the new squad member.
Consciousness was beginning to leave and come back to Issei in short but rather intense periods of time, some of them only lasting 5 to 10 minutes. There was a tingling sensation in one moment, and then there was a prickling pain in his left hand the next. And now, instead of the usual bubbling sound and green glow, there was this horrible ringing in his ears and a blinding white light that caused him to squint. Issei felt so groggy and his limbs were heavier than led, and to top it off all he could see through the blinding light or two blurred shadows that seemed to be speaking to him but all he heard the distant echoes. Slowly but surely, the two shadows came into focus as he fully opened his eyes and their voices became easier to understand.
"Issei… Issei, sweetie can you hear me?" it was the same brown haired woman that was speaking to him last time, but now there was no wall of glass that separated them and Issei could understand her.
"Iss… Issei… w–what?" he said weekly, at this, Dr. Hyodo gasped and pulled both her hands up to her face and looked like she was on the verge of crying tears of joy.
"Takeru, did you hear him?" The brunette squeaked feeling the happiest she has in a long time.
"I heard him now, Kotoko, give the kid some room, you're suffocating him," Mr. Hyodo told his spouse. "Tanaka, how are his numbers?"
"Heart rate is good, brain activity normal, blood pressure optimal. All vital signs are within desired parameters," Prof. Tanaka relayed this information to the other scientists.
Mr. Hyodo thanked the middle-aged professor and turned towards Issei who was laying on what resembled a surgery table. "Issei, honey, I'm certain you have some questions you'd like to ask but before I can answer them, we need you to do just a few things for us," Dr. Hyodo told the boy sounding very motherly. The female scientist then held up Issei's left arm by the wrist. "Can you open and close your hand just a few times?" She asked.
His fingers were stiff and didn't respond very quickly, but Issei had done as the woman asked of him. "All right, now starting with your thumb can you close your fingers one at a time?" Dr. Hyodo asked. It took a little longer than opening and closing his whole hand but Issei had done what he was asked to do.
"He's a little stiff, but his motor skills seem to have developed nicely. Okay big man, ready to strut your stuff?" Mr. Hyodo said with a bit of gusto in his voice as he placed his hands under Issei's shoulders. "Easy does it now, upsy-daisy," and with that, Takeru helped raise Issei into a sitting position and turning him around so that his legs hung over the edge. "Baby steps now," Mr. Hyodo said as he helped Issei scooch over the edge. Issei's bare feet landed on the clean tile floor with a dull slap, but his legs buckled under his own weight. "Whoa there," Mr. Hyodo said as he and his wife caught the boy before he fell down.
"Come on sweetie, let's get you out of that ugly hospital gown for some real clothes, and take you home," Mrs. Hyodo told the teenager. Kotoko was probably the happiest woman alive, after six years of waiting, monitoring, and delicate calculations, her boy was out of the tube. Even now, she did her best to hold back her tears of joy as she helped her son into the world.
Woo hoo! A full chapter, and a good one (if I do say so myself) written in three days. Man I feel great! But enough about me, thank you guys so much for reading this, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, while I did write this in only three days, I still put a lot of effort into it, so any Favorites, follows, and reviews would be greatly appreciated. While I can't tell you when, I can promise you that there will be more chapters. Until next time folks, see you later.