HA! Didn´t think I would update so soon, didn´t ya! Ah, this takes me back to the old days…back when I was but a wee lad of sixteen years, and I threw out chapter after chapter in a matter of days…wait. That was literally not even three months ago. Holy crap. Well, that doesn´t matter right now. Because I´m smelling something…do you too? *sniff* Ah, yes. It´s a wild horde of reviews! Crikey!
ultima-owner: Thanks for your review! Well, those kinds of smiles are kind of insulting, to be honest. Though it really just was a way to further our dear (rotten), beloved (hated) Knight´s character (essentially being Lady´s man McGee in the animu). So don't get riled up over it. Though, for some reason, that comparison made me laugh.
Red Diz: Welcome to this wonderful shitshow! I hope you enjoy your stay here, and I hope this chapter is to your liking.
CrowSkull: And of course, the longest review is right before you all hoped to get to the good stuff. You dirty minded pervs.
Sorry for misunderstanding you, but it really was weirdly phrased. As for allowing Rider to be ridiculously OP, I am well aware of his true abilities, though I didn´t find the video. I guess I´ll look for it later. Anyway, having the Flame fight him might be a bit difficult, seeing as his battle doesn´t actually take place within the story, so I might not include him. Though you are wrong about only the Flame being a possible enemy for Rider. Read the first chapter again, and you´ll know who I´m talking about. Also, it´s not Bernard. Fuck that guy. In fact, fuck anyone except the Hand and the Chain on Furier. Those are the only two I got S rank for.
Anyway, with my little rant/response session being over, let´s dive right into the plot! No, not that one. The one where we see the actual crossover start taking shape. I got your interest now, don´t I? Let´s a go!
And so, the gang reassembled in the dining room, taking in the smell of the dishes cooked by the two rookies. There were absolutely wonderful dishes lining the table, though it was really just the way they looked; in the end, it was simple bacon, eggs, and baked beans. But of course, as everyone knows, eggs and baked beans are always a wonderful thing to eat in the morning, and bacon just makes everything better. The group thought so as well, and they dug in, everyone savouring the juicy greatness that was the bacon. Though none of them could keep a smile off their face due to this meal, none of their expressions matched the pure bliss that adorned Rider´s face. It looked like he was a guru who attained true enlightenment or was a pervert who actually got laid.
After they had eaten their breakfast, Rias decided to explain the concept of the Rating Game, seeing as three people present were out of the loop. "Alright, everyone gather around. Since Issei, Asia and our dear ´Mister Samurai´ don´t know about the nature of our battle that´s to come, it might be best if I explain it now. It will also include a bit of the story detailed in the book you were interested in, ´Mister Samurai´, so it would kill two birds with one stone." She said, the last sentence being directed at Rider, who felt the slightest of needs to whack her on the head for teasing him with that damn nickname. He suppressed his urges and listened closely instead, glancing at said book, which was still lying on that shelf, the feeling that it contained something important to him emanating from it, so much so that he began to become a bit restless. Why did it feel so important to know what the book contained?
"So, before the birth of the Rating Games, there was a great war, between Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels, which came to be known as the War of three Factions. It lasted seemingly forever, and it only became worse when another group appeared on the battlefield, the dragons, who fought amongst themselves, but their sheer power decimated the other armies as well." Rider got an immense headache upon the mention of these so-called ´dragons´, causing him to rub his forehead a bit, making sure to not show his weakness to the others, lest they interrupt the story, which would keep him from knowing the thing he needed to. "Issei, you should know by now that your Boosted Gear contains the soul of a dragon, correct?"
The boy nodded upon hearing the question, urging her to continue. Rider suddenly felt his headache grow worse upon hearing this fact, and something began to form itself within his mind, though he couldn´t tell exactly what it was. He ignored it, needing to know more about this war that seemed to cause a change in his psyche. He had to figure out why it felt so important to know all this. "Well, that´s because the dragons were eventually bested, and sealed into Sacred Gears, and that victory took a lot out of all armies, devastating the amount of Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils in existence. At this point, they called a truce, and each went back home to lick their wounds. Now, the Devils, who had lost over half of the 72 Pillars, who were basically High-class devils like myself, and a massive amount of their armies that served these Pillars, now had to find another way to battle amongst themselves, which they did mainly for status and the prestige of winning, introduced the Evil Pieces, which turns you Humans into Devils. And so, the Rating Game was born. There are several rules, but the most important part is this: I, the King, like in chess, must not be defeated. If I am defeated, no matter how well the battle is going, we all lose. Conversely, as long as I stand we have a chance to win."
"So that means we have to beat that Riser guy to win the whole thing, right?" Issei said, a slight amount of nervousness in his voice, though whether it came from fear or excitement at the prospect to teach the prick a lesson, Rider did not know. He was still thinking about the headache he had a minute ago, which had subsided the moment the subject had changed to the Rating Game itself, but couldn´t find an answer. He came to the conclusion that the answers he sought could not be found by simply thinking about it. He stared at the book on the shelf. His answers must be hidden within. There is no other way he could figure this one out. He had to read that book. But for now, he pushed those thoughts aside. They could wait. While the feeling was nagging him like crazy, he forcefully pushed down the thoughts, focusing on Rias´ explanation.
"Yes, Issei. You´re correct. The only way to win a Rating Game is to beat the King, meaning we have to beat a High-class devil with a near perfect win record, and those defeats were the battles he lost on purpose. Anyway, the whole thing will play out like this: we each get a small crystal to plug in our ear, allowing us to communicate over long distances. Think of it as an automatic, more practical walkie-talkie. Then, in a sort of pocket dimension, we´ll duke it out with the enemy´s peerage, and I´ll have to be the tactician of our little group. So, in short Issei, think of me as the main character in that game you had lying on your floor. What was is called again…Fire something something the blazing spear? Am I correct?"
Issei´s face turned a dark shade of red, and he started stuttering about, wondering how the hell Rias knew what games he played. "Oh, Issei, did you already forget that wonderful night we spent together? I wasn´t just going to lie around naked in your bed the whole night with nothing to do, you know." Rider´s and Asia´s eyes widened at that statement. Since when in the name of God (ouchie!) did the both of them sleep together in one bed, and naked to boot?!
Asia had tears forming in her eyes. So her crush was already taken. How couldn´t she see that? Of course the two were together. Issei-san was a wonderful person, and he absolutely adored Rias. She should be glad that he found true love. But it still hurt. Her entire life she was abused for caring about others, regardless of who they were, it even got her killed before being revived as a devil, and now even her crush was taken from her? It was too much.
Rider observed the young Bishop he saw as a kind of little sister, and was getting angry. He always felt the desire to keep this untainted, adorable flower from all harm, even if it included harming the people she cared about. And right now, the Pawn and King were hurting her, even if it was not intended, and he would straighten them out. So, in the blink of an eye, he whacked the two over the head with his sheath, making them cry out in surprise before shooting him a glare.
"The hell was that for?!" shouted the boy, rubbing his head, before seeing the poor mood Asia was in, and he quickly ran over to resolve the misunderstanding. "Asia, wait! It´s not what you think!" he said to her, wiping away her tears, though she ignored his comments and instead stuttered out comments of her own. "Don´t worry, Issei-san. I-I understand. President is a wonderful person, and s-so are you, and if you l-l-like each other, then you should be happy and not worry about m-me."
"You don´t understand! We-" Issei was interrupted by Rias, who put his arm between her breasts with a hurt expression. "Issei! I´m hurt! Am I not good enough for you? After all we´ve done and experienced together? I even offered you my most prized possession, Issei." She said, not so subtly implying things that deepened Asia´s descent into despair. Rider glared furiously at Rias, a dark aura oozing from him, and she decided that it might not be worth teasing out her Bishop´s confession if it meant antagonizing this man.
"Look, Asia, it was a joke. When Issei first became a devil, there was an…incident with the Fallen Angels you were working with. So, since he was so gravely wounded, I needed to heal him with my magic. And since I don´t have your Twilight Healing I had to use my raw magic power instead, which I can use most efficiently to heal wounds when I make skin contact with them. So calm down, I didn´t do the deed with your dear Issei-san." This caused Asia to look up in surprise at her master, who was forcing a smile on her face, mainly because Rider was still glaring at her. She had this unshakable, ominous feeling that he would make her suffer for this joke once their training session began again. She was really not looking forward to that.
Asia then turned to Issei, who was quite interested in the chandelier above them, his face still red from hearing that this cute girl held him dear. Her frown turned into a smile, deepening his blush. Geez, why the hell did this girl have to be so goddamn (ouch!) cute! It only served to embarrass him!
Rider smiled once again, making Rias sigh in relief. He was happy that the Bishop was happy once again. She always managed to cheer him up in some way, though her vulnerability to teasing was no joke. He had to physically restrain himself at times to not laugh when her clutziness began to show. Though that was still no excuse for actually doing it.
At this point, they had gotten off track, so they decided to once again train as scheduled. Issei was dragged off again by Koneko, who had a neutral expression which didn´t betray her joy at the prospect of teaching the pervert a lesson. Rider paired up Rias and Akeno for a spar, seeing as they knew most about magic and how to better their use of it, and told Kiba to watch out for Issei, knowing from the day before that the Rook had a tendency to be…rougher than was necessary. He himself finally took it upon himself to train Asia, seeing as she was the most vulnerable of them all, and he needed to ensure her safety. Also, he had noticed her low self-esteem, and that needed fixing. One could always be a humble person, but there is never a reason to think that one is useless, or has no right to exist.
So, as per usual, the two of them stood in the field behind the manor, and Rider did not draw his blade, but instead urged her to sit down beside him in the corruption, which she obliged to, albeit not without being confused. Rider had no real idea how to approach this dilemma. He didn´t even really know why he picked Asia to train, perhaps he just liked being around her. She was a light in the craziness that was his life.
So, he decided to ask her what she thought they should do, seeing as he couldn´t train a supportive unit very well, as he fought on the front lines, and knew no magic whatsoever. So, obviously, he was open to suggestions. Whatever the girl wanted to learn, he would teach her.
"What I want to l-learn? Um…oh, I know! Akeno-san thought me how to use my magic power today, but I really don´t know what to actually do with it. Could you help me with that, please?" She asked sweetly, and Rider smiled, and patted her head. Because it felt right. He stood up and gestured for her to conjure her power in some form.
She immediately followed his instructions, and conjured a small, green ball in her palm, letting it levitate. Rider observed it closely, and figured it would be best to let her do as she pleased. She waited for instructions, but received none. She was getting nervous. Was he disappointed? Had she been deemed a waste of his good will? No, she reminded herself. This was the same man who saved her that day. He was too kind to think stuff like that. But still, there was that voice in the back of her mind that always reminded her of her being a failure. She never did anything right. The only thing she could ever do was heal wounds, and that got her extorted from the church when she healed someone they deemed an enemy.
And yet, here she stood, the sphere still floating in her hand, and she got more and more nervous as time progressed. Why was he keeping her waiting? She needed instructions. There was that voice again. Her hand began shaking, as did the magic ball. She needed him to acknowledge her, to tell her what he wanted her to do, anything, she just needed instructions! Her vision started to blur.
Rider caught her just before she fell. He realized that he might have just made a bad decision. Asia appeared to be quite timid, but it seemed to be more of an insecurity than anything. She had no confidence in herself, as did Issei at times, though for her, it was rooted not only in her lacking power, but something that happened to her in her past. He decided to let her rest, and would give her a clear goal to aim for. For that, he needed to know more about magic. He would have to ask Rias about it later. Actually, scratch that. He would delay Issei´s session until later and train with the Queen in the afternoon, in which he could ask her, the expert on magic, to explain its nature to him. But for now, he would bring the Bishop to a more comfortable place to nap.
He carried her all the way to the living room, and lowered her gently onto the couch. He then sat down on the couch opposite to her. He would wait for the others to finish, though he had no idea what to do during that period. He lied himself onto the couch, and closed his eyes. He would have himself a short nap. The only thing to do now, really.
And there it was once again. That nagging feeling he felt earlier. He sighed, and looked at the book on the shelf. Honestly, he would prefer to sleep, but this was bugging him to no end. He stood up, and walked over to pick up the book. He sincerely hoped there were pictures. Because there is no way that he would be able to read it.
He sat back down on the couch, and was about to open the book before he found himself hesitating. What could be shown in here that would cause him, an outsider to this world, to feel the need to open it, as if he was missing something, and this would give it back to him? But that was absurd. He had only set foot on this planet a week ago, and he was born as a clone in a tank to serve as a soldier.
But still, he opened it. He turned the pages, until he saw a similar picture to the one on the cover. It was what he presumed to be angels, devils, and fallen angels battling each other. He turned the page again. Next to the text, there was another picture. It showed two big lizard-like creatures, one white, one red, battling each other, which he presumed to be the dragons Rias mentioned. This started another strong headache, even stronger than the one in the morning, and this time, he managed to grasp the form the same feeling from that morning took.
Fury.
With immense struggling, he turned the page, and caught nary a glimpse of the picture, but what he saw was burned into his mind. A group of people were fighting the two monstrous beasts, but on the dragon´s side, stood two men, who simply stared at the battle. The second he saw this image, he blacked out from the immense pain that spiked, causing him to drop the book. From deep within his mind, he heard a voice chuckle joyfully, and utter very familiar words.
"At last. Soon, very soon, the seal will be broken. Just remember, the Jailer is the key. Kill him, and you´ll be free. And so will I."
*Cue the Roundabout*
Cliffhanger, bitches! Muahahahaha! I´m an evil motherfucker! Cutting off right as the plot starts to git gud! MUAHAHA!
So, um, leave a review about my evilness, if you would. It helps. Okay. Thank you. I hope to see you next time, okay? Okay. Bye.