Outsider Chronicles: Grim Times for Kuoh
In another world, the boy Rias recruited as a Rook wasn't the Fiery Half-Blood, but a seemingly normal young man with a rather fluffy family secret. Oh, and he also happens to be an Outsider as well. Lets see how the addition of another type of Supernatural creature changes things.
And we're back. I don't really have anything to say here, so lets dive straight in. Enjoy!
Chapter 9
"Your not going to watch the Tennis match?" asked Issei as everyone else filed out to head to the Tennis courts where Rias, Akeno, Sona and Tsubaki were about to duke it out to decide who goes to the Familiar Forest at the weekend.
"Nah, I promised Asia I'd show her around town," I replied.
Issei stumbled, before spinning around and giving me a thumbs up, tears flowing from his eyes.
"Excellent work Aki!" he said, "Two hot girls and…"
Whatever he was going to say was interrupted as I threw a paperweight from the desk at him.
"Asia and I are just friends moron," I growled as I walked past him and out of the room.
I met Asia at the gate and was greeted by a nervous looking Bishop.
"So, where are we going?" she asked as I lead the way to the edge of town where their was a large number of lock ups.
"My dads got a lock up with a load of Grimm stuff inside," I said, "My kind have been allies of the Grimm for a long time and they sometimes entrust their stuff to us if their lines die out for whatever reason. We look after it until we find a new Grimm to take it."
"What sort of stuff?" asked Asia.
"You'll see, we're here."
I stopped in front of one of the lockups and pulled the key out of my pocket. After a moment of wrestling with the rusted lock, I opened it and shoved the door up, revealing a room set up like a study, with bookshelves stuffed with old, leather bound tomes, racks of glass bottles and a large cupboard against one wall.
"Wow," said Asia, "What is all this stuff?"
"This is your legacy," I said, "Hundreds of years worth of information and knowledge gathered by past Grimm, poisons, potions and tonics to give an advantage when fighting Wesen and, of course…"
I opened the cupboard to reveal a huge variety of pointy objects.
"Enough weapons to equip a small army. Ooh, you got a Siegbarste Gewehr."
I pulled a leather briefcase out of the cupboard and opened it, revealing a massive, disambled rifle and a large number of huge bullets.
"Whats that?" asked Asia, looking at the rifle over my shoulder.
"Technically its an elephant gun," I said, "But Grimm use them to hunt Siegbarste. They have incredibly thick skin, so something like this is the only thing that can really get through it. Dip the bullets in Siegbarste Gift and the Ogre will go down in no time."
I glanced at Asia and saw the look of horror on her face.
"Ah, never mind," I said, shutting the case again, "The point is that this place contains all the knowledge and equipment a Grimm will ever need. Here."
I tossed her the keys.
"Its yours."
"A-are you sure?" she asked.
"Its your birthright," I said, "Just make sure the...less friendly Wesen don't find out about it."
Asia nodded and I lead her back outside, locking the place up as we left.
"Oh my god Aki!"
I turned around at the sound of my name and saw a stocky, middle aged man in overalls hurrying towards me from across the path with a worried look on his face.
"Hey Minato," I said, "Whats up?"
"Have you heard the news?" he gasped, "Theres a Grimm in town! My wife, she said she saw her in the park! She did something to my boy…"
"Whoa Minato, calm down," I said, holding up my hands, "Theres nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about?" spluttered Minato, "How can you say that? Theres a Grimm!"
He Woged into an Eisbiber, took one look at Asia and let out a frightened squeak, pointing a shaking finger at her.
"AHH, G-g-g-g-g-grimm!"
He turned to run, but before he could I grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him off the ground with one arm. Minato didn't seem to notice as his legs continued to go like the clappers as he kept his eyes squeezed shut.
"Minato, if you don't calm down I'm going to toss you in the canal!" I snapped.
Minato froze in my grip but kept his eyes shut tight.
"Don't mind Minato, Asia," I said, "Eisbibers aren't exactly known for their courage. Just the opposite actually."
"H-hey, we're not cowards!" protested Minato, still not opening his eyes, "We just have enough common sense to run!"
"Oh really? In that case, why don't you use that common sense and actually take a proper look at the Grimm you're so scared off!"
I turned Minato so he was facing Asia as he let out a whimper, before slowly opening his eyes and looking at Asia, who was looking close to tears at the Eisbiber's reaction to her. As expected, one look at the young Bishops tear filled eyes was enough to melt even the hardest of hearts.
"O-oh hey, no need to cry!" stuttered Minato, "I didn't mean to upset you! Its just that we've all grown up hearing horror stories about your kind!"
"I-its OK," said Asia, "I'm still new to the whole Grimm thing and I'd be scared to."
She smiled and, for a moment, I could have sworn that she was engulfed in Divine light. Apparently Minato thought so to as every drop of fear seemed to melt out of him. I let go of him a moment later once I was sure he wouldn't bolt.
"Do me a favor Minato, go spread the word that Asia is harmless, so long as you don't attack her first," I said.
"W-what happens if someone does attack?" asked Minato nervously.
I grinned as my eyes glowed yellow.
"I'll rip whoevers responsible to pieces."
Minato gulped and nodded, before scurrying off.
"Well, that was interesting," I grumbled, "You OK Asia?"
The former Sister nodded.
"Y-yes, Minato seemed nice," she said.
"Eisbibers usually are," I said as I started leading the way out of the storage area, checking my phone for messages as I did, "I'll introduce you to some more of the local Wesen at a later date. Right now though, Rias wants us back."
It didn't take us long to get back to the Club Room, courtesy of a teleport circle, and when we did it was to find Issei, Koneko and Kiba sat in the club room with two tennis rackets that had seen better days.
"Hey guys, what happened?" I asked.
"Oh man you should have seen it!" crowed Issei, "Their was so much bouncing boobage on display…"
CRASH!
"Can someone who isn't a pervert tell us what happened?" I asked as if I hadn't just whacked Issei over the head with the hard backed spellbook I was tucking back into my pocket as Issei groaned in pain at my feet.
"It was a draw," said Koneko.
"Yeah, they started using magic and well…" Kiba pointed at the two wrecked tennis rackets, "Their currently trying to decide what team game we should play."
At that very moment the doors opened again to emit Rias and Akeno.
"We've chosen Dodgeball as the game to play," said Rias without preamble, "We meet the Sitris tomorrow night in the gym. Lets win this!"
"RIGHT!"
"Thank you for doing all this for us," said Asia.
"Yeah, for real," said Issei.
"Heh, what they said," I said, "You guys are great friends."
The next evening, we were all gathered in the Gym in exercise clothes.
"They have one extra person, so we've asked the extra to referee," said Rias as we warmed up, Akeno and Koneko helping Issei and Asia, the two least sporty of us, to stretch.
"What about Raynare?" I asked.
"Since she's not a part of my Household, she can't get a Familiar," said Rias, "So, she's going to be refereeing too. Make sure everything's even."
"Actually, now that I think about it, I haven't seen her all day," I mused.
I stiffened as I felt a presence appear behind me, before relaxing again as a familiar pair of arms wrapped around my neck.
"Aw, did my cute little Wolverine miss me?" purred Raynare in my ear.
I grinned.
"As it happens, yes I did," I said, turning so I could return the embrace, "Where have you been lately?"
Raynare pouted.
"I've been out of contact for so long the higher ups wanted to know where I've been," she said, "I've been buried up to my neck in reports. But I'm finally done and ready to have some fun."
Unfortunately, the moment was ruined by Isseis perverted giggling that was abruptly cut off by the sound of cracking bones and screams of pain. We turned to face the others to see Koneko with a scowl on her face dusting of her hands as Issei whimpered in pain at her feet.
"...pervert," was her only comment.
Once we were all done stretching and he had recovered, Issei reached into his bag and pulled out a bundle of fabric strips that were revealed to be headbands with Occult Research Club stitched across them.
"Team headbands?" I asked, "Cool."
"Lame more like," muttered Raynare, earning a slight elbow to the ribs.
"We're gonna look totally badass," said Akeno.
"Thanks, I stayed up all night making them," said Issei, "I wanted to do something special for you guys to say thanks. Plus it means I won't throw a ball at one of you guys by mistake."
"These are perfect Issei, thank you," said Rias.
"Your a pervert but your sweet," said Koneko.
"Thanks guys," said Issei,rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Well, lets get started," said Rias as the Sitri team came into the room.
The game went fairly well, with both teams being evenly matched, even if a few people did use magic to give the ball a bit of extra oomph, resulting in the destruction of some of the girls clothing. Fortunately, I was more interested in getting a Familiar than I was in staring, although the fact my girlfriend was standing at the sidelines with a whistle in one hand and a spear of light in the other might have had something to do with it.
"I had no idea dodgeball could be so terrifying!" said Asia, ducking a ball sent her way at near supersonic speed.
"This isnt dodgeball any more, its like a fight to the death," said Issei.
"Well what do you expect from Devils?" I said before throwing a ball at a nearby Sitri hard enough for it to break the sound barrier and send her flying into and through a wall.
Sonas retaliation was to throw a magically charged ball at me. I ducked, just dodging the ball at the cost of Issei getting the glowing ball to the crotch,
"That looked painful, are you OK Issei?" I asked, leaning over the pawn as he had his nads healed by Asia.
"What do you think?!" demanded Issei, "I just took a magic empowered ball to the balls!"
"Alright, thats enough," said Rias, "We've still got a game to win. For Issei's injured pride!"
"For Issei's junk," said Koneko.
"For Issei's man bits," said Akeno.
"For his one eyed snake," said Kiba.
"Really? I thought we were playing for the right to get a Familiar, not Issei's bits," I said.
The game restarted, only to be stopped again as Koneko through a ball at full strength straight into Sajis nuts.
"Lets end this Sitri," said Rias.
"Oh I'm just getting warmed up," said Sona before a whistle blew.
"Time, the ORC wins!"
"A deals a deal Sona," said Rias, "As we won we get first pick of the Familiars."
"As much as I hate to lose that was a whole lot of fun," said the other Heiress, "Although if this was a Rating Game instead of us just fooling around there's no way you would have won."
"Well I guess we won't know till we try," said Rias, "but we won't have to deal with that for a while."
"Don't be so sure Rias," said Sona, walking off, "You never know what's around the corner."
Later, we were all gathered in the club room drinking a toast to our victory.
"I'd like to thank each and every one of you for doing what was needed to beat those Devils," said Rias, "I hope you're all proud of yourselves."
"Hell all I did was get knocked in the love spuds," said Issei.
"Sure you got nailed in the nads but you also made these headbands," said Kiba, "There pretty rad man."
"Totally," said Akeno.
"Yes, they were great!" said Asia.
"Yeah," I said, grinning widely, "You're a great guy Issei, perv or not."
"I hate to break up the celebration but i think its time we got these three some Families," said Rias.
"Yeah, lets go," said everyone in unison.
"Well, this looks promising," I said, taking in the creepy forest we had just teleported into, "So who exactly is this familiar master?"
"I think I just pissed myself," muttered Issei.
"Yeah, this place is freaky," said Asia.
"Well now, what do we have here?"
We all looked up to see a man standing in the trees. He was dressed in a white vest, blue shorts and a hat on backwards.
"Hey there, I'm the Familiar Master, also known as the Togi," said the man, "Its my job to help you kids find your Familiars. Follow me!"
He hopped out of the tree and lead the way into the forest with the Club on his heels. It didn't take long to reach a large, shimmering pond in the middle of the clearing where the Toji came to a stop.
"Ah, this pool is the home of Water Sprites," said the Toji.
"Ooo, Sprites are hot, right?" asked Issei, a perverted look on his face.
"Look, one is coming out," said the Toji.
Issei immediately snapped his head to the lake, eager to see what the Spirit would look like. the being that emerged from the water had extremely beautiful hair. Unfortunately, she also had the body of an extremely buff man.
"Take a look, thats off the hook," said the Toji.
"But not of the roids!" exclaimed Issei, "What is it a professional body builder?!"
"Undines are Water Sprites with incredible power, a familiar like that would make your enemies cower!"
"Screw that, he looks like he could pick me up and brakle me in half!" yelled Issei.
"Not he, sorry but this hes a she," said the Toji as Issei collapsed to the floor.
"A she? I think i just threw up in my mouth."
"So, not suitable then?" I asked.
"HELL NO!"
"What about you Aki?" asked Akeno.
"Em, no."
We moved on from the lake with Issei looking like he had lost all hope in the world. As we walked through the twisted trees, I looked around, trying to spot any of the creatures that made this place their home. As I did, I spotted something through the trees that looked rather out of place in the middle of a forest. As I did, I caught a glimpse of what looked like a pair of glowing red eyes that vanished when I looked straight at them. I narrowed my eyes and tried to get a closer look, but was stopped by Rias.
"Akihiro, don't fall behind!" she called.
I took another look in the direction I thought I saw the eyes, before writing it off as a trick of the light and hurrying after the others.
After a short time, the Toji stopped.
"Oh my, look high."
He pointed up into the trees where a small blue dragon could be seen.
"Aw its so cute!" yelled Asia.
"Cute but dangerous to," said the Toji, "When it gets mad its able to shoot a lightning thats blue."
"Hey, that kind of dragon is pretty rare, right?" asked Kiba.
"I think its the first time I've ever seen one," said Rias.
"Do it now if you want this one claimed, once they grow up they can no longer be tamed," said the Toji.
"Issei since you have the power of the Red Dragon Emperor maybe you should try it," said Akeno.
"Yeah that sounds like a good idea," said Issei, stepping forwards, "Dragon, I choose…"
Before he could finish the thought, a flash of movement caught my eye and I turned just in time to see a shadow with glowing green eyes shoot out of the foliage, straight at Rias.
"Look out!"
Rias turned to face me, only to be hit full in the face by the attacker which immediately started wrapping around her.
"Glubble!" said Rias, although what that was supposed to mean is anyone's guess as the blue slime currently wrapping her up.
"Slime!" shouted Kiba, rather unnecessarily.
He ran forwards to help, only to be wacked to the side by one of the slimes flailing tendrils.
"This...cannot end well," I muttered and was proved completely correct a moment later as Rias suddenly let out a moan.
"Ah, the Blue Slime," said the Toji, apparently ignoring ecchi scene going on behind him, "It goes after moisture wherever it can get it. And I do mean anywhere."
"I-I can't hold it!" gasped Rias, her eyes glazed over, her mouth gaping and her chest heaving.
She let out one last gasping moan and went limp, leaving the slime to crawl of her.
"Huh, that was interesting," I said, wiping the blood from my nose.
"I think I've found my Familiar!" shouted Issei, "I want the Slime!"
"...like hell," said Koneko, "Something that perverted cannot be allowed to live."
She advanced on the Slime, cracking her knuckles. The blobs eyes swiveled around to lock onto the small silverette and gleamed. Koneko hesitated, before it launched itself at her...only to meet my waterproof jacket and be stopped in its place.
"T-thanks Aki," said Koneko, looking a little shaken, "Now we can kill it."
"NO!"
Issei snatched the jacket from my hands and hugged it to his chest.
"I won't let you hurt it!"
I ignored him in favor of checking on Rias who was looking a little frazzled.
"You OK Boss?"
"I think so," she said, "At least it wasn't Green Slime."
She looked over at Issei, who was doing an admirable job of keeping the slime away from Koneko.
"So, you going to let him have it?" I asked.
Rias shrugged.
"I guess so," she said, "Its not dangerous, not really and it could actually be quite useful."
"Thank you Rias!" shouted Issei, falling to his knees.
"...Darn," said Koneko, pouting slightly.
"What about the Dragon?" asked Akeno, turning to look up at where the little lizard was perched.
However, it had left the tree and was now resting happily in Asias arms as the former Sister rubbed its head with a massive smile on her face.
"Well, that deals with that," said the Queen, "Now we just need to find one of Aki. Any ideas Toji?"
The Familiar Master took a thinking pose.
"Hmm, lets see…"
As he thought about where to go next, I felt a shiver go up my spine. I looked around and caught sight of something hidden behind a tree with glowing red eyes.
"Gotcha!"
I leaped towards the hidden creature, bouncing off a branch to reach it. The shadow let out a startled squeak and tried to flee, but was a little to slow as I grabbed it. I landed and straightened, before looking at the little critter in my hands as it struggled in my grip.
"Hey, let go ya big lug!" it said, pounding on my hands with its little fists.
"What the hell?"
The creature was a little imp with white skin covered in a skintight black jumpsuit that looked like it was made of shadows and left her stomach uncovered with cyan cercet like designs on its arms and legs. It had bright orange hair that poked out of its black, stone helmet and blood red eyes.
"Oh, you've caught a Twilight Imp," said the Toji, approaching me from behind, "Their rather rare. Even I rarely see one."
I blinked and looked back at the Imp.
"Huh, interesting," I muttered.
"You gonna let me go any time soon?" asked the Imp, glaring at me.
"Oh, sorry," I said, letting it go.
The imp floated to a few feet away and put its hands on its hips.
"Why'd ya grab me like that anyway?" it asked, "I was just watching you."
"Experience has told me that people who hide in the shadows are usually up to no good," I said.
The imp snorted and crossed its arms.
"Paranoid much?"
I just smirked.
"So, you're here looking for a familiar?" asked the Imp after a few seconds.
I raised my eyebrow at her tone. While it sounded disinterested, I caught a subtle hint of longing in her voice.
"Yes," I said, "Why, you interested?"
"Heh, no," said the Imp a little too quickly.
"OK, in that case, I'll be on my way," I said, turning away.
"A-ah, wait!"
I turned back to the Imp who looked like she was struggling to decide something.
"I-I'll do it, I'll be your Familiar," it said, "But I want something in exchange!"
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I said, "We'll be partners and that goes both ways. So what do you need?"
"I-I need to find something in the Human world," she said, "Help me do that and I'll do anything you want."
"Doesn't sound to hard," I said, "I can scry whatever it is you're looking for, so long as you can tell me some concrete details about it. You got a deal Imp."
I held out my hand.
"My names not Imp, its Midna," said the Imp, taking my hand.
"Akihiro Howlett," I said, "Lets go."
And thats the end. Sorry for the long wait but I had writers block. Hopefully the next chapter won't be quite as long incoming. Before I sign off, a few things.
First of all, for those who know Grimm, Minato is the equivalent of Bud and the lockup is the equivalent of Nicks Trailer. It will likely be important later on.
Issei having Suu the Slime as his Family came from NorthSouthGorem story, CoG: Waking Dreamer, which is actually what inspired me to write the original Outsider Chronicles, so go check it out.
Akis Familiar is Midna from Twilight Princess. My original idea was for them to run across a load of LoZ enemys in the woods, but I scrapped that in the end.
Finally, as promised, the Grimm files are below and I'm going to sign off with the usual request to leave me a review!
Grimm Diaries
Siegbarste: (ZEEG-bars-tuh; Ger. Sieg "victory" + Barst (from bersten) "burst, broken") An ogre-like Wesen known for their brute strength and incredible durability, being able to shrug off most injuries with ease. They are renowned for holding grudges until death and killing people in nasty ways. The best way to kill them is with a Siegbarste Gewehr and Siegbarste Gift.
Siegbarste Gewehr: (pronunciation: ZEEG-bars-tuh guh-VAIR; Siegbarste + Germ. Gewehr "rifle") A big and powerful triple-barrel rifle that is used to kill a Siegbarste if the bullets are coated in Siegbarste Gift, as it is primarily designed to help penetrate a Siegbartse's thick hide, poisoning them from within. It uses .600 and .577 caliber nitro express bullets. The rifle is very large, with a detachable barrel (as it otherwise wouldn't fit inside the case in which it is being kept when not in use). Due to its elaborate design, setting it up during the heat of battle is inadvisable, so it is imperative that preparations must be met before bringing it into action. They were originally used by royalty for big game hunting.
Siegbarste Gift: (pronunciation: ZEEG-bars-tuh GIFT; Siegbarste + Germ. Gift"poison") is a poison used for killing Siegbarste. One way to administer the poison is by coating bullets of a Siegbarste Gewehr with it and shooting the Siegbarste. It calcifies the bones of the Siegbarste, shattering the ogre from the inside. It is very difficult to get, as it grows only on the north side of trees just below the timberline in Romania.
Eisbiber: (ICE-bee-bur; Ger. Eis "ice" + Biber "beaver") is a beaver-like Wesen known for cowardice (though they prefer to call it "common sense") and being excellent builders. That said, they will attempt to fight back when cornered, but if faced with an opponent they know they could not beat, they will run. Eisbiber show gratitude and/or guilt by giving gifts. They are usually friendly and non-violent but can be very nosy. They are very communal and often make decisions that have an impact on their community democratically by voting at their Lodge. Although a peaceful, docile, and nonviolent race, their curiosity has been known to get them into trouble. Due to their reputation, Eisbibers greatly fear Grimms and will go out of their way not to aggravate them. This behavior continues even if an Eisbiber has befriended a Grimm, as they'll panic if they think the Grimm is under great stress. Eisbibers have a common saying, "Strong together, safer apart." This phrase is a reminder that even though Eisbibers can fight best together, they are less likely to be sniffed out if they hide in separate places.