Chapter 7: Organized Chaos

I want to say that I woke up feeling strangely well rested, or that I was at least a bit sore from the battle last night. I really want to say that. But then I'd be lying. The little trip to my mindscape was basically a nightmare that I couldn't wake from of my own will, making any form of restful sleep basically impossible. What really woke me up in the first place, however, was the extreme amount of pain in my face and my arms.

I groaned as I rolled over and sat up. Apparently nobody saw it fit to at least wash my face off before dumping me in bed, because there was the crusty feeling of dried blood around my lips and nose. Going off of this, I must have pushed my body to the limit last night...and then some.

[That would be an understatement after your little blood rage.]

Oh please tell me I didn't do a Naruto and lose control of my power in my rage.

[You didn't do a Naruto by losing control in your rage.] I sighed in relief. [You instead summoned the soul of Alucard and abused his power to the point that it was funny to him.] That made me stiffen right back up.

You gotta be kidding me! You mean the only reason I was able to channel him was because I somehow summoned his soul? What would've happened if I didn't summon him?

Phantasos hummed in thought. [Probably the same, only the weapons you summoned would've been useless to you.]

How so? I could lift a 35 pound gun one handed easily. Especially after my training as an exorcist.

[Because the recoil would have broken your arms from the shoulder with how powerful the ammunition was and how often you were firing. It would have been the equivalent to an inexperienced user trying to fire a shotgun with only one hand. Or did you forget that Alucard was the only one to wield the guns in the first place?"

What gauge shotgun we talking? 20 or 12?

[10 gauge. You'd be lucky if you just fell back with a dislocated shoulder if you tried that.]

I sighed as I stood up. Whoever brought me back knew were my room was in the church, narrowing down the list of suspects by quite a bit. Walking out to the hall brought me to the bathroom where I immediately picked up a washcloth and turned on the faucet, waiting for the water to warm before wetting the washcloth and wiping my face with it.

Do we know who brought me back here?

[No. You were unconscious while I was trying to calm Alucard down.]

How the hell did he get here? He only exists as an anime character, both in this universe and my old one.

[According to him, he felt a tug on his soul and came for the sake seeing what was going on. You can guess what happened from there.]

Wait, so lemme see if I got this right. When I lost it, I not only tapped into Alucard's power, but I full on summoned him into my head?!

[Essentially.]

I sighed before going back to my room to change.

Now I see why these limits were placed. I can only imagine what would have happened if I tried to use any techniques from something like Dragonball...I don't need Frieza or Vegeta in my head just because I do something stupid.

A note on the bedside table caught my attention. Impulse guided me to pick it up and read it.

James, when you wake up, call Azazel. He wants to know what happened when you lost yourself. ~Asia

Oh goodie, I thought sarcastically, this will be interesting. Deciding it was best to get it done with, I grabbed my phone and selected the Grigori General's contact, waiting for him to pick up.

"So you're finally awake, are ya?" his voice rang out.

"Yeah," I replied, "I heard you needed an update."

He chuckled. "I guess you can say that. Just give me your summary of events."

"Raynare sent Asia on a mission with Freed. Apparently, he took it too far and slaughtered the occupant of the house they lived in while Asia wasn't looking. By the time I got there, a devil was already engaging Freed in combat and getting royally whooped. Asia then stood in front of the devil, intent on defending him. So right before Freed slashed at her to try and scare her off, I struck myself. I unlocked another aspect of my Sacred Gear, taking on the abilities of a legendary priest with an endless supply of bayonetts."

"We talking the full gun or just the blade?"

"The blade. Blessed silver as a base."

"Fancy."

"Anyways, I held off Freed to give the two of them a chance to escape, but I eventually kicked him out of the house through a wall. However, when he started trying to justify trying to rape Asia, I lost it. I only saw red for about ten minutes. When I finally could see what I was doing, he was on the ground with one of his arms practically falling off and I was holding two guns that may as well have been hand cannons. That was when somebody...interesting showed up."

"Oh? Who was it?"

I debated telling him what I knew, mainly because I didn't know if he knew about my knowledge, and I didn't want to take the chance.

[Tell him.] Phantasos urged. [It's more likely that Vali told him what happened as well.]

I nodded before speaking again. "It was a guy the was flying with white and blue metallic wings. He just happened to be the White Dragon Emperor."

"Are you sure?"

"Dude, he used Divine Dividing on me three times before I passed out. I'm pretty sure it was him."

"It took three hits from that to knock you out? I'm a little impressed."

"I'd blame it more on my Sacred Gear enhancing my body, but even then, it's still impressive."

"So what will you do now?"

I chuckled. "Isn't it obvious? I know for now that I'm not ready for that power yet. All it will take is some training to fix that, as well as finding out the next power I unlock."

"You sure you should rush this? For all you know, your body could still need to recover."

"Normally you'd be right. But I have an idea, and if it proves to be true, then I'll have a base to work from."

Azazel was quiet for a moment. "If you say so. Just try not to overdo it."

As we hung up, I sighed. Leaning back on my bed, I winced when my hand hit the sunlight from the window. Probably a side effect of summoning Alucard. Great...If my hunch is correct, the I have less than twelve hours before the Gremory group comes here to get Asia.

Phantasos decided to chime in. [He has a point, you know. You really should let your body rest.]

You know why I can't do that. Especially now of all times.

[So how do you plan to fight them? With your white ranger form? I doubt that will have much of an effect.]

No, I have another idea.

Phantasos quickly saw where this was headed. [Do you not remember how long it took you to unlock the Hellsing form?! Even then, you still had problems controlling it before you summoned Alucard!]

Which is why we're using something similar.

[...Explain.]

What do you get when you essentially make Alucard and Anderson do the Fusion Dance?

[I don't know.]

Look next to the Hellsing file. The answer should be there.

Some shuffling sounded through my mind. [What is TB supposed to mean? Tuberculosis?]

I grinned. Not in this case. TB actually stands for the next form of power I need. It has its own seal on the form I'm looking for, and it works as a little extra…'flavor' if you know what I mean.

[What is it?...and what is up with that form?]

It's similar to Hellsing, only instead of being the King of Vampires, this guy is a vampire that feeds on other vampires and works for the Vatican in the aftermath of Armageddon. The series is called Trinity Blood.

[Well then...let's get started.]

Issei was downright pissed...again. Not only did Yuuma, or Raynare as she was called, show up again, but she also kidnapped Asia for some kind of ritual. Even after using his Sacred Gear, he still wasn't strong enough to stop them.

"'Please, Issei, be my boyfriend!' What a joke! You fell for it though. Hook, line, and sinker."

Raynare's bullshit struck him harder than he cared to admit. The fact that she even used his weakness for busty beauties gave him conflicting feelings of anger and respect. Which was why when he got back at her, he wasn't going to let her live.

He came to a decision as he ran down the sidewalk to the school. He had no other choice than to ask Rias for her help. He knew from this encounter that he couldn't do this on his own. He just wasn't strong enough. She also treated her servants like family, so she had to understand this much. And it wasn't like they didn't know where to go either.

Sunset painted the school grounds as he made his way into the old school building. There was no way this could possibly fail.

SLAP!

It totally failed.

"Let me try one more time," Rias scolded. "If I say don't, you don't. You have to forget about Asia and James. You are a member of the Gremory family now."

Issei grit his teeth, before sighing. "Fine," he replied bitterly, "then maybe it's time you release me from your household." He moved his glare to her face once more. "Because I refuse to just let them go."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"Of course not, I'm your precious pawn," he scoffed. "Can't do without your most important piece, can you?"

"That's enough, Issei." The sharpness of that statement made him flinch. She went on to explain how the evil piece system worked, how the pieces retained their abilities in the rules of chess and what attributes they originally grant. He would've tuned her out, but the concept was just interesting enough to keep him attentive.

Issei found himself understanding, and getting excited as she explained. "So I could eventually have the same powers as everyone else?"

"Yes, but only if the master declares it enemy territory, like say, for example, the Fallen Ones' church."

He noticed the wording of that statement, and memories of the previous day surfaced.

"Tell her I said this; 'There's a big party going on tomorrow night, and if you're late, I will be most unpleased."

That's right, he thought. He wanted me to ask her for help. But since she's acting like this, I'll need to use this information to my advantage…

"Now let's talk about your Sacred Gear," Rias' voice caught his attention again.

"Oh yeah, it doubles my power, right? Yuuma said-" he scowled upon mentioning her name. "I mean the Fallen Angel told me."

"Just feel," Rias encouraged, cupping his face with a hand. "Any Sacred Gear works in direct correlation to the current feelings of its owner. If you wanted to put it another way, the stronger those feelings are, the stronger your Sacred Gear will be."

Memories of James losing his temper flashed in the pervert's mind. "That explains a lot."

The busty redhead saw where his mind was going. "Yes, if you try to go too quickly, your body will break from the strain. However, your Sacred Gear shouldn't have that problem yet." She wanted to continue, but Akeno came and whispered something in her ear. She frowned, then nodded seriously. "Something's come up. Akeno and I need to step out for a minute." The two young women moved to the doorway.

"Wait a minute," Issei protested, "I still have some questions."

"Remember," Rias reminded as the teleportation circle lit up, "even promoted, a single devil can't stand up to a Fallen Angel." With that, the two girls disappeared in a flash of red.

Issei, acting on this new information, muttered to himself. "We'll just have to see about that." He smirked as Kiba and Koneko stood up with him. He knew he could count on his new friends when he needed it.

I sighed as I released my hold on the power, the gloves on my hand disappearing. It was almost time. It took most of the day to unlock the form I was looking for, but I felt the presence of another person in my head the moment I did. And long story short, he was easier to talk to about my problems than Alucard was.

Once we had formed an agreement, I worked on meditating to strengthen my control while using my Gear's power. It was going better than I'd hoped.

[Are you sure you're ready for this?]

Nope. But I'm going in anyway.

[I'm surprised they never thought to check on you, especially when you unlocked your newest form.]

As far as they're concerned, the power spikes were from their ritual machine setting up and I'm still unconscious in bed. They wouldn't think a normal human would wake up that quickly from exhaustion, even with a Sacred Gear.

[Still, you haven't completely recovered yet, so try not to overdo it again.]

The sound of the door slamming and wings flapping made me look out my window. Mittelt's gothic lolita dress barely covered her underwear in the wind as she flew to her post, the sunset growing dimmer.

Looks like Mittelt is on her way to her post…

[And her grave, if events play out like you think they will.]

Not for my lack of trying, but that seems to be the most likely scenario. I really did try to become friendly with her, but she just never returned the sentiment. It was easy to see why she fell, and it would be the reason why she never got on my list of people worth saving.

[What about Kalawarner?]

She'll probably be with Mittelt. Another shame, but one that I can't say I feel too bad about. I stood from my bed and stretched, popping as many joints as I could to loosen myself up. I apparently took longer than I thought. The others oughta be here soon.

[It's a shame Asia has to go through this. Are you really willing to reap the consequences should you fail to stop the machine in time?]

I hesitated to answer. I have to. It's the only thing I can do.

Night came rather quickly, and I made my way to my door. When I tried to open it, however, I found the door jammed. Oh we're playing this game are we?

[It seems they don't want you interfering with the ritual.]

Unfortunately, they forgot about one little thing. I hopped onto my bed and pulled out my gun. My room has a window, and I have a gun.

Issei, Kiba, and Koneko crouched in the bushes outside the church when they arrived. Even from their spot they could feel the twisted holy energy permeating the place. Issei shuddered, still not used to sensing energy.

"Oh man, can you feel that?" he asked his two companions.

"No kidding," Kiba replied, "there must be a ton of priests in there."

"Seriously. Really though, I'm you guys are here."

Kiba smiled at the perv. "Hey come on, we're buddies, right?" His gaze sharpened and his voice dropped an octave. "Besides, Fallen Angels aren't exactly my favorite things in the world. Truth is, I hate them."

Issei didn't know how to respond to that. It wasn't until Koneko got up that he began to focus again.

"Hey, don't just walk off like that," he whisper-yelled.

"No need to be sneaky," she countered monotonously, "they know we're here." She was about to raise her leg when the sound of glass breaking got their attention.

Nodding to each other, they snuck around to the side they heard it from when a heavy impact to the ground made them freeze, tense for combat.

"Okay, note to self," a familiar voice grunted, "learn to roll like Link instead of doing the superhero landing." They looked where the sound came from, seeing a familiar exorcist lying on the ground on his butt, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"James?" Issei blurted.

Said teen looked up from his spot on the ground. "Oh, what up, guys? We really need to stop meeting like this, Issei."

"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be inside already."

"I would be...except the Fallen here learned not to trust me. When I went to leave my room, they had jammed the door so it wouldn't budge when I tried to open it. However, they forgot the part where my room had a window and they never took my weapons."

"Do you plan on stopping us?" Kiba asked with a disarming smile.

James snorted as he stood up. "Oh please. If anything, I'm ensuring this op of yours goes without a hitch. Just depends on if you're willing to follow my lead every now and then."

"Just don't get in the way," Koneko stated.

"Funny thing, Miss Loli," he chuckled. "I was gonna say the same thing." He looked to Kiba. "Knowing this place like I do, most of, if not all, the exorcists will be in the basement where the ritual is happening. The only exception would be one, and he's not exactly someone I'd be alone in a dark room with for more than a second. He's most likely gonna be guarding the main entrance."

"So what do we do then?" Issei asked hurriedly.

James just smirked. "Who's the tank of the team here?" Koneko raised her hand. "You'll probably be the best person to go against this guy. Who's the speed demon of the group?"

Kiba raised his hand. "I'm a knight of Rias Gremory. My name is Kiba Yuuto."

James nodded. "It would be a good idea for you to stick with her since you're attributes are basically Yin and Yang." The perv looked confused at the phrasing.

"He means since our pieces are opposites," Kiba translated, "they cover for each other's weaknesses."

James nodded again. "Exactly. Thank you Kiba. Issei, you and I are going underside get Asia. Sound like a plan?"

"Hell yeah," Issei replied.

"How many exorcists are there?" Koneko asked.

"Never seen all of them at once, so I couldn't tell you. Just enough to keep the place running without drawing suspicion. Any other questions?" Nobody spoke up. "Then let's get this mission going."

Everyone made their way to the front of the church where Koneko kicked the door open. The moonlight filtered through the windows as dust settled on the pews and the light barely reached the broken crucifix in the center of the altar. As they all stepped inside, Issei shuddered again.

"This place is creepy," he muttered. Claps sounded through the room as Freed stepped out of the shadows.

"So we meet again!" he crowed. "Glad you could make it. I bet I'm a sight for sore eyes."

"Yeah right," Issei growled.

"Maybe," James yelled back, "if the person hadn't seen any other sign of humanity for years on end...even then, they'd probably run back to solitude after one look at your crazy ass."

Freed seemed to ignore James as he began his monologue. "I pride myself on the fact that I never fight any devil more than once. Yet here you are, just rubbing it in. If there's one thing I won't abide, it's being mocked by maggot devils in the house of God!" He reached into his robes and pulled out his weapons. "So what do you say? Let's finish this!" He gained his insane look in the eyes. "The thought of tearing your flesh from your bodies is making my mouth water," he commented, licking his gun.

"No, a beam katana is different from a lightsaber because unlike the lightsabers, which all have one form of blade and handle, a beam katana can differ in size, shape, color, and weight," James argued.

"It's still a bad knockoff and you know it," Koneko countered. "It was only called that so the creator couldn't get sued for copyright infringement."

"HEY DON'T IGNORE ME!" Freed yelled indignantly. "You know how long it took me to come up with that monologue?"

"Ten minutes?" James guessed, raising an eyebrow. He then looked at Kiba. "Remember when I said the dude who ran the Holy Sword Project was one of two people an exorcist is warned against becoming?"

"Yeah," Kiba hesitantly replied.

"This guy is the other one."

"Oh please," Freed chuckled, "I'd think I'm like a goal to be reached."

"Look," James sighed, getting serious, "why not just skip the banter and get to us going past you to get Asia and GTFO."

"Do you honestly think I'm letting you through here?"

James just smirked. "Not all of us. NOW!" The three boys ducked as Koneko tossed one of the pews over their heads and hit the rogue priest. "Alright! Nice shot! Iseei, let's go. You guys got this, Kiba?"

"In the bag," Kiba smiled as he made another sword.

"You're pretty strong for a runt, aren't you?" Freed taunted.

Koneko deadpanned, her eyebrow twitching. "Suck it." She began throwing more pews at the stray exorcist causing him to jump out of the way. Kiba jumped into the air as Freed shot his gun, kicking up a cloud of dust. When Freed finally stopped running, the teen swordsman shot down, ready to impale the priest. Quickly, though, Freed brought his own lightsaber to block, starting a deadly but continuous clash of blades.

While they were occupied, Issei and James made their way to the altar and, after finding the right switch, activated the secret door. Issei looked to the battle in slight awe.

"Wow Kiba's a total badass, isn't he?" he muttered.

"You think this is nuts," James replied, "just wait till you see what I cooked up. Now stop screwing around and let's go." Issei nodded and the two made their way into the basement.

"You have any abilities as one of Rias Gremory's evil pieces?" I asked, knowing the answer already. The stairs were surprisingly long for a trip to the basement, though it gave us some time to plan.

Issei seemed to remember his pieces ability. "That's right, I can promote if I'm in declared enemy territory."

"A pawn, huh? Well, looks like that will be our ace in the hole. Promote once we get down there. I have a feeling there will be a surprise waiting for us."

And I was not disappointed. Asia was on an altar chained to a cross, while Raynare stood next to her. Surrounding them was a group of around 50 stray priests, ready for a fight.

"Asia!" he called before glaring at Raynare. "You let her go right now!"

"Come on in, devils," she greeted casually. "Welcome to the party. Though I'm afraid you're too late." She didn't seem too surprised that I was here.

"You sure about that, Raynare?" I asked.

Asia looked up tiredly from her spot on the cross. "Issei...James...you came."

Issei made to run for her, only for me to pull him back as Raynare launched a spear. I deflected it with a quick draw of my lightsaber.

"This really is a touching reunion," the Fallen Angel taunted. "But the ritual is already over." As if reacting to her words, the cross began glowing green, and Asia started to scream.

"Issei, do it," I yelled, pulling out my gun.

"Promotion! Rook!" The stray priests took that as their chance to attack. Before Raynare could start bragging again, I aimed my gun and fired, destroying the chain holding Asia up.

"What?!"

"Did you honestly think I'd sit back and let you do something like this, Raynare? I told you once before…" I quickly made my way to their position while the cross started to shoot green and black lightning. Asia tried to run, but her exhaustion slowed her down to where Raynare could catch her and strap her back to the cross. As she did this, however, Raynare found her neck at the business end of my sword. "I'm her bodyguard. It's my job to worry about her."

"What," Raynare smirked again, "do you think you scare me? Because Light has no effect on Fallen Angels."

I just chuckled again. "True...but what about blood?"

Her smirk disappeared. "You're bluffing. I heard about your fight with Freed. There's no way you got control of it that quickly."

"You're right. I didn't."

"Then why are you so smug?"

I just chuckled again. "Nanomachine: Crusnik 02. Power output 40% activate."

Freed, Kiba and Koneko paused in their fight, feeling the twisted holy energy of the church get worse.

"You feel that, Koneko?" Kiba asked.

She nodded, readying her gloves for a bigger fight.

Freed just looked at the ground. "It seems the ritual hit a snag...or something worse is here." He grinned. "Not that this wasn't fun, but I'm not sticking around for this bullshit. Sayonara, devil scum!" He threw down a flash grenade and ran for it. By the time the two devils regained their sight, he was gone.

"Over here," Koneko called, smashing the altar to reveal the stairs to the basement.

Kiba nodded, joining her. "I don't know what this is, nor can I say if it's good for us or not."

"Be careful, got it." With that, the two of them made their way down the stairs.

Raynare dropped Asia and kicked away from me to get distance. She flew into the air, seeing my body undergoing the transformation. "What is this?"

My normally curly brown hair straightened and turned stark white, standing on end as my now black fingernails tore through the gloves I wore. Two fangs poked from underneathe my now blackened lips and my eyes glowed red. "Humans eat the bodies of cows and birds," I quoted, my voice gaining a growl. "Vampires drink the blood of humans. So what about a being higher up on the food chain? This is the power of a Crusnik; a vampire that preys on other vampires."

Blood seeped up from the ground, gathering around my right hand and turning into a giant scythe. The stray priests noticed this, looking on in fear.

"Dude, holy shit," Issei gasped. "This is like what happened last night!"

"Not entirely," Kiba disagreed, making the perv jump from his sudden entrance. "This is like something slightly weaker than that...or rather, better controlled. Not just that, but his energy is different from that time."

Raynare simply readied a spear of light. "If you're really a vampire now, that means you hold the same weakness to holy energy!" She launched it, grinning madly when it kicked up another dust cloud. "Fat lot of good that did, don't you-WHAT?!"

The dust slowly cleared, revealing that I held the maroon spear in my hand, centimeters away from my eye where it would have struck. "Normally you'd be right," I grunted, squeezing my hand to dispel the spear. "However, this crusnik wasn't weakened by holy energy; he was strengthened by it. He used his power to help those who couldn't help themselves, going as far as to become a priest for the Vatican's secret organization that kept the supernatural in check, specifically the creatures of the night known as methuselah."

"And just who is this man you keep referring to?" the Fallen Angel scoffed. "Your teacher from training? Your missing father figure?"

I chuckled. "No. Just a man I respect. His name is Father Abel Nightroad. And his power will help me stop you, Raynare." She growled, ready to reach for Asia again, only for my blood scythe to block her arm. I looked toward the group of devils. "Issei, come get Asia. Everyone else is to make sure the two of them make it out of here safely. I'll take care of Raynare."

Asia got up and made her way toward Issei who made his way to the massive altar a lot quicker. Taking this as their cue, Kiba and Koneko began their assault on the rouge priests to keep the way clear for the two. Shots fired but none of them hit their mark as the two of them were either too fast or too agile to hit.

Raynare launched a flurry of punches at me, trying to score a hit to distract me. I simply blocked her strikes with the handle of my scythe before kicking her stomach. As she doubled over, I slashed my claws across her chest, nearly cutting off her top. She flew back getting more distance from me.

"You're lucky that I have a sense of decency," I told her. "Had I continued, everyone here that wasn't a supernatural creature would be passed out with blood gushing from their noses."

Raynare just growled and readied two more light spears. In response, I held my scythe ready to block them. She roared, firing her spears and our fight resumed.

Issei had brought Asia to the sanctuary and the two of them sat down on one of the pews, trying to catch their breath. It was probably the safest they were gonna be in enemy territory, all things considered. Neither of them said anything, trying to sort out their own thoughts. Issei in particular looked like something was bugging him, more than this entire operation.

After seeing three transformations using James' Sacred Gear, he was starting to see a pattern with the powers. He recognized all of them. While he couldn't say he was an avid watcher, he had seen a lot of anime in his life, and he recognized the power his exorcist friend was using now. It was as if he called upon whatever piece of fiction he knew and pulled abilities from it at the drop of a hat.

"I'll have to ask Rias what she knows about it later," he muttered to himself.

"What?" Asia asked, barely heard him.

Or I could ask the one who's been around him longest. "I'm wondering about James' Sacred Gear. I've seen all the powers he's used before, but in different anime. What's up with that?"

Asia tilted her head cutely. "What's an anime?"

Issei laughed awkwardly. Right, heavily sheltered in the church… "It's a show that was made here in Japan that is animated in a certain style, hence the name anime." Asia nodded, understanding most of it. "From what I've seen so far, James must've seen at least some anime to come up with those powers."

"What do you mean?"

"I recognize the powers he used when he fought that Freed dick, as well as that other Fallen Angel who somehow redeemed himself. I mean, that second one wasn't an anime, but it's still a fictional power I've seen. What is it about his Sacred Gear that makes him able to use them?"

Asia thought for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't know. He's barely had the Sacred Gear unlocked for more than a week, and somehow he's done so much with it." She stared at her hands sullenly. "It took me a month before I could control Twilight Healing myself. Even longer before I could heal wounds that were normally fatal. Seeing James like this...makes me a little jealous."

Issei couldn't help but nod in agreement. According to Rias, his own Sacred Gear was dormant. He needed to find his own way to fully awaken it. Unfortunately, he had nowhere to start, and seeing James able to use his Sacred Gear's abilities like nobody's business made him wonder how strong he really was.

He suddenly stood up, readying his Sacred Gear into existence. Asia jumped at the movement.

"What wrong?" she gasped.

"Someone's coming," he replied. The sound of thick heels on stone echoed from outside, confirming his statement. "You should probably hide, Asia." She only nodded, running toward the nearby confessional and getting in on the priest side. "I'm not letting anyone take her away again. I'll protect her with my life!" he declared.

{BOOST!}

The bodies of the stray priests were spread around the basement floor as Raynare and James bounced off the walls and floor, trying to land a decisive hit. The boost his abilities got from this form were almost as amazing as the Hellsing form, only this time, he knew where to stop and draw the line.

"Let me ask you, Raynare," he rasped. "How was stealing Asia's Sacred Gear supposed to help you?"

"We're trying to get back into Heaven," she restated. "We'd need all the help we can get." She slashed at the boy with a light spear, only for him to parry it with his scythe.

"What then? Will you try to take over? Will you try to plead your case? I fail to see how Twilight Healing would help you in that regard."

Raynare hesitated before shaking her head and charging again. "I don't see why I should tell you anything!"

James dodged her strike and punched her in the stomach a few times before kicking her away. "If you're just trying to get back in a good light, this is far from what you should be doing. The only thing you'll succeed in doing is reigniting the war between factions." Raynare paused in her attacks, breathing heavily. "The only thing you are doing right now is pushing your soul further into damnation."

Raynare wanted to lash out at him, scream that he was wrong, that he could never understand, but that little voice in her mind spoke back a single question. Is he wrong?

"What do you mean?" she panted/growled.

"Stealing Asia's Sacred Gear breaks two commandments," he explained, "thou shalt not steal, and thou shalt not kill. Those alone are reason enough to put you in the gulag, but using Twilight Healing for yourself to break into Heaven? Not only would that be wrong, it wouldn't even work if you're a frontline fighter."

Raynare straightened up, but kept her guard. "How?"

The exorcist facepalmed. "Have you never played any sort of puzzle or strategy game? RPG's for crying out loud! Twilight Healing is a purely support type artifact. It has no combat ability on its own, no matter who wields it. A Twice Critical is more useful than it is in combat." She didn't know whether to grimace or scowl as he explained further. "Even then, you'd never wield it like Asia can."

"And how would you know?" she spat.

"Because she's spent years perfecting her ability with it. She's had a lot of practice with it. And from my own research into Sacred Gears, they aren't as effective when stolen from someone else. Even if you spent double the time practicing the ability, you'd only be 75% as good at healing...and that's being generous."

She wanted to call him on his bluff. Scream at him for being wrong. Kill him for questioning her motives. But that little voice repeated its question. She fell to her knees, screaming in anger. She punched the ground, making cracks in the already old foundation.

"So what do you suggest?" she eventually bit out. "How do you expect me to get back into Heaven's good graces?"

A small, but genuine, smile danced across his dark lips. "I believe there's a little room upstairs that will be a good place to start. That is, if you truly want this."

Raynare scoffed. "You'd have me go through that just for your dumb protocols?"

James just shook his head. "No. Rather, because that's the foundation this church was built on."

Koneko and Kiba saw this scene but couldn't bring themselves to step in. Instead, they were wondering what just happened. Somehow, James was able to talk down someone who was just hellbent on killing to get their way. They couldn't tell if it was him or the power of his Sacred Gear talking, but whatever it did worked.

James looked at the two devils. "I believe we can call this mission complete. Go ahead and tell the others to clear out, and to take care of Asia for a while longer. Raynare and I have some business to finish up."

Kiba immediately got what he was saying. "Yeah. Issei should be happy to hear that." The two turned, ready to make their way upstairs.

"No…"

James looked back toward Raynare. "What?"

"I can't...not like this…"

"Not like what?"

The Fallen Angel glared, her eyes practically glowing with rage. "I won't let it end like this!" In an instant, she was up in the air again, shooting toward the stairs before anyone could react.

"Raynare, don't!" I yelled, going after her.

"I'm glad you have your guard up, Issei," Rias complimented as she entered the church, "but there's nothing to worry about from out here."

Issei sighed in relief. "Glad it's just you and Akeno, Prez."

"Oh?" Akeno teased as she walked from behind Rias. "Were you expecting someone else?"

He shrugged. "For a second, I thought that the Fallen Angels had backup trying to get in."

"We took care of those a long time ago. Even cleaned up the evidence." The fact that she said this with a smile sent a small shiver down Issei's spine.

A small, red spell circle lit up by the two young ladies' ears. "Rias," Kiba yelled urgently, "The last Fallen is making her way up from the basement now! She's trying a last ditch move for the nun!"

Almost as soon as he said that, a black blur shot up from the ground, stopping about ten feet in the air. Raynare's eyes darted around the room desperately, trying to find her target. Her eyes landed on Issei and she growled almost animalistically.

"Where is she?!" the Fallen Angel roared.

"Away from you, Yuuma!" Issei yelled back.

Her glare widened as she screamed again. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"I'm protecting my friend from something trying to kill her!"

{BOOST!}

"You have no idea what you're doing!" Raynare yelled. "She's the only way we'll get back to heaven!"

"Does it look like I give a damn?! Stealing her Sacred Gear something I won't forgive!"

{BOOST!}

Raynare saw no other option, and screamed, diving toward Rias' pawn. Issei saw the blind rage in her eyes as he pulled his left fist back. Once she got close enough, there was only one warning before impact and a flash of green light.

{BOOST!}

Issei's now gauntlet covered fist slammed into her face, shooting the Fallen Angel into the wall behind the altar. This was the scene I came upon after running up the stairs with Kiba and Koneko on my heels.

"Impossible," Raynare wheezed, pulling herself out of the wall. "That's just a Twice Critical. There's no way you should be this strong."

"Sorry," Rias replied unapologetically, "but I'm afraid that's where you're wrong."

"What?"

"Issei's Sacred Gear is only that form when dormant. Because he awakened it, however...my suspicions were confirmed. He has the Longinus Class Boosted Gear."

"Aka," I finished, "the Sacred Gear of the Red Dragon Emperor."

Raynare's eyes widened. "No way…" She then grinned maniacally, as if she remembered something. "You didn't think I was the only one here, did you? I still have other Fallen Angels that will avenge me!"

"Oh, you mean the other two outside?" Akeno replied with that same smile. "We got rid of them pretty easily."

Raynare lost her desperate grin as the world seemed to crash around her. She really was the last of her squad. She couldn't go back to Azazel because Kokabiel would get to her first, and she couldn't run away for very long for the same reason.

"So are you ready to accept your fate?" Rias asked, igniting her hand with the Power of Destruction.

I immediately stepped in front of her. "Slow your roll there, Miss Gremory. She has some unfinished business with me."

Her sharp gaze shifted to me, frowning. "Why must you insist on getting in my way?"

"Because you don't know what happened in the basement," I replied with my own, still red glare. "I had her ready to stand down, and own up for what she's done."

"What difference does it make? She's a Fallen Angel. They're known for feeding on desires similar to devils."

"Because unlike devils, she still has a chance to redeem herself." That made her soften her glare slightly. "Remember what happened with Dohnaseek? The last guy you saw me fight? What was the scene you came upon when you came back?"

Rias closed her eyes in thought. "Black and white...feathers."

"And what did I tell you that meant?"

She lowered her hand. "He was on his way to redemption."

I nodded. "Now do you see why she and I have unfinished business?"

She sighed before turning to her pawn. "What do you think, Issei?"

The perv looked shocked that he was brought into the conversation. "Wait, what?"

"You have the most to gain from this," Rias reminded. "So what do you think should happen to this Fallen Angel?"

His hair shadowed his eyes as he went completely silent. I could tell he wanted Raynare to pay for killing him. He wanted her to suffer like he did. Especially for targeting him and Asia.

"I want her to pay for what she's done," he eventually decided. "Everything, including killing me and trying to steal Asia's Sacred Gear." Rias looked like she was about to gloat when he continued. "But she can't own up for her crimes if she dies here." He glared at the Fallen Angel in question. "I can't forgive you for what you've done. Not now. I probably won't for a long time. But at the very least I can make sure you fix what you started."

I nodded. "Then we both know what needs to be done." I turned to Raynare as my appearance returned mostly normal, the exception being my white hair, which was still very straight, though it now rested on my head naturally. "Are you ready?"

The Fallen Angel nodded in defeat as we made our way to the confessional. As the door closed on Raynare's side, I opened mine, only to find Asia curled up in the booth. I shook my head chuckling. "Only you would think to hide in here." I guided her out to the pews and closed the door, blocking out the world except for Raynare and me. "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen."

Raynare sighed again. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been 300 years since my last confession…"

Asia stared at the confessional with mixed feelings. She wanted to believe that there was good in everyone, but she couldn't bring herself to believe that about this Fallen Angel.

This must be how James felt back when I healed that devil and got excommunicated. It made her conflicted, which wasn't something she liked.

"What're they doing in there?" Issei asked scratching his head.

"The sacrament of reconciliation," Asia replied, folding her hands.

"What's that do?"

"It's confessing your sins before the Lord and asking for forgiveness. This puts the soul back into a state of grace so it can go to Heaven."

"So that's why there were white feathers when the other Fallen died," Kiba realized. "His soul was put into a state of grace again, thus purifying his wings."

"But why give it to the Fallen Angels?" Issei frowned. "If they broke the rules, what's to stop them from doing it again?"

"'Because that's what he church was founded on,' at least, that's what James said in the basement," Kiba replied.

"Wait, what?"

"The church was founded on the basis of forgiveness of sins," Asia explained. "That if you believe Jesus Christ died for our sins, you would always be forgiven." She didn't see the peerage wince at the name. "Put simply, it's like looking at a dish towel. When you first get it from the store, it's completely white; clean; pure. But after a while, it becomes stained from constant use. Confession is like putting that towel into a washing machine to clean it up."

Issei 'Oh'd in understanding as it fell silent again, aside from the small murmurs coming from the confessional.

"But why go to another room?" Koneko asked.

"Because you are only confessing to one person," Asia replied, "not to the world. What is talked about in there stays in there. Every priest has to take a vow of secrecy for whatever happens in there."(1)

"...and to top it off," Raynare finished, sobbing, "I've tried to steal a Sacred Gear from one of the purest souls on the earth because I thought I could use it better."

A hum was heard from the other side of the screen. "Is that everything?"

She gave a shuddered sigh. "Yes, that's all."

"As much as I want to say otherwise, yours is not the first case of killing or stealing I've heard, and it probably won't be the last." It occurred to her now that the voice on the other end was not as blunt as James normally was. "But I can say you are lucky that you were stopped from continuing. If not for that, you would not be sitting here. This doesn't change that you've broken many commandments and Fallen very far from grace."

"That's the least of my worries," she scoffed. "When Kokabiel finds out I failed in obtaining Twilight Healing, I'll be a dead woman walking."

A snap made her look up, making her gasp at what she saw through the screen. In addition to the straight silver hair James sported earlier, she saw a mop of straight brown hair surrounding a man with a short, but full beard and soft, grey eyes sitting across from him. Yet James didn't notice anything. "You still found it in you to come here to confess. When Jesus hung on the cross, he was surrounded by two thieves, one truly repentant, the other mocking him. You remind me more of the repentant thief, in the sense that you know you did wrong, and you know you deserve whatever punishment comes your way." This made Raynare look down again shamefully.

"In that sense," the other man spoke up, "for your penance, say one Rosary a day for the sorrowful mysteries for the next year while serving under Saint Michael for the next fifty. Now make your Act of Contrition."

She muttered the prayer as her mind whirled at what she just heard. Serving under Michael? Why place her that close to the highest commander of the Angels aside from God himself? No, she thought. This is a fresh start for me. I can't afford to screw this up.

"...I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to sin no more, and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen."

"Through the ministry of the church, may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen."

"Amen."

"Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace." She looked up again, but only saw James on the other side of the screen. "Oh, and by the way, give this to Michael when you get there. It will explain the situation to him." He pushed a small note in one of the cracks between the wall and screen. As she went to take it, he held on tight, making her look at him, only to see a pair of sharp, blue-grey eyes staring back. "Your penance will be slow, I can assure you of that. But you will find your connection to God reestablished as time goes on. Just be patient, and no matter what anyone else says, you were forgiven here and now."

She nodded, taking the note fully before getting out of the confessional. "Thank you," she muttered, bringing a genuine smile to the teen's face again before she took off into the night.

Asia saw Raynare close the door to the confessional before clenching her fist and flying away from the church, shedding feathers as she left. But one caught her attention. The single white feather that floated to her hand.

The sound of the other door opening made her look up, seeing her now brown haired bodyguard stumble out of the booth. She ran to him as he leaned on the nearby pew, catching him in a tight hug.

"Glad to see you're alright, Asia," he breathed heavily. "Just have one question for you guys."

"What's that?" Asia asked.

"Anybody know what happened in the last ten minutes? Because I'm drawing a blank."

"Hang on, what do you mean?" Issei asked. "You just went in and-"

"I might have an idea," Rias interjected. "Does your Sacred Gear have a spirit in it?"

Realization set in his eyes as he facepalmed. "I seriously have to learn to control that…"

The devils shared a small chuckle at this. "What will you do now?" Rias asked.

James sighed, "One thing has become abundantly clear since I got here. No matter how much I try, I can't always be here for Asia when she needs it. This was proven especially well tonight when she almost lost her life and Sacred Gear."

"What are you saying, James?" Asia asked.

"I'm saying that I can't be your bodyguard anymore...not while I can barely keep up with someone like the Fallen Angels with only one pair of wings." He directed his gaze to the redhead devil. "Therefore, I'm entrusting her care to you."

Rias rose an eyebrow. "Where did this come from? It seemed like you kept up with them pretty well."

"It's because I have a lot to learn about my own power. Even sealed, It was taking everything I had to not lose my mind and go further than I needed to. Like a feral growling in my head was telling me to utterly break her before killing her. I don't want that happening when I'm trying to protect Asia only to find out I lost myself and killed everyone and everything around me."

"You're referring to your fight with the Stray Exorcist, Freed Sellzen."

"Yeah. I don't want to lose myself because something in my head latched onto my emotions. Until I learn better control, I'm not fit to guard Asia."

She looked over to the girl in question. "Are you okay with this?"

Asia shook her head. "James, you are more than I could ever ask for in a friend and bodyguard. You're always looking out for me when I need you, and have never let me down yet."

"But do you really want to take the risk of me losing myself because I tried to obtain too much power? I need to focus one training the abilities I have right now before trying to go further or obtaining more. I can't do that while guarding you and doing my job as an exorcist at the same time."

"But you can't just leave either!" She had him there.

"I have a solution for the both of you," Rias interjected again. "You could both become members of my peerage. You both could stay here and learn to control your abilities as well."

"I'm gonna have to stop you right there," James held up a hand. "As cool as that would be, it wouldn't be good for me to suddenly turn traitor on the man upstairs."

"Then I-" Asia started before she was interrupted.

"Asia, on the other hand, would benefit greatly from it." She looked at her friend in shock and confusion. "She needs experience in combat that I can't give her. You're the only devil I trust to properly train her and take care of her." He smiled bitterly. "Besides, she'll be around Issei. They get along really well."

"But what about you?" Asia yelled.

"Simple. I'm gonna be calling the Vatican and telling them what happened. As far as they know, Asia Argento died after she was kidnapped by Fallen Angels. There won't be anyone from the church coming after you."

"That doesn't answer my question, James."

"In my case, they're gonna be paying for my schooling here until I graduate high school." His smile grew a little. "At the very least, I'll still be in town."

Asia wanted to protest more, but couldn't find it in her to argue. He seemed to have thought this through. She sighed but relented.

"Alright. I'll become a member of your peerage, Miss Gremory."

"Hello, my name is James. I'm from America and will be starting here as a second year. It's nice to meet everyone."

"My name is Asia Argento. It's nice to meet everyone."

"Does the class have any questions for James and Asia before we begin?" The class freaked over Asia being so dang cute in her introduction. "One at a time!"

"Is everything in America bigger than here?" one girl asked me.

"Yes," I replied. "This especially true in the state of Texas."

"Is Asia's hair really that long?" another girl asked.

"Yes?" Asia answered tilting her head cutely in confusion. "It's rare for me to get it cut any shorter than my shoulders."

"James, do you prefer butts or boobs?" Issei's friend Motohama asked me.

I leveled a small glare. "Actually, I judge a girl based on their personality."

"You may take your seats now," the teacher sighed.

We nodded and took our seats on opposite ends of the room, with me heading toward the back. I passed between the perverted trio and smirked, leaning into Motohama's ear and whispering one thing that made him fall back with a nosebleed.

"Also her dick sucking lips."

...What?

I've been around the internet.

(1): This is, in fact, something the Catholic Church enforces. It's like Vegas; whatever happens there, stays there.

A/N: I got stuck a couple of times on this chapter because there was so much I wanted to do with it. Add to that the stress of my own real life problems, and I'm basically in writing hell. But I managed to pull this chapter through the ringer and here it is.

Be sure to Follow, Favorite, and Review, and I'll see you all next time.