Disclaimer: This is a very OC-centric fanfic, so AU elements should be expected. Finally, this is a spiritual reboot of The Worst Invader, but I'll try to tone down the cringe so it's easier to diggest. Enjoy.
Why was he alive? He saved the world and got everything he wanted, right? It could not be that he had any regrets after everything he did. There was literally nothing else he wanted to do in that world and so he allowed the contract to end.
Ah… His side of it, right? He was yet to fulfill his part. He had everything he wanted already granted to him, so it was only right that he now had to fulfill his part.
Still… To come back like this… Would he at least be an unknown? Please.
"..."
The world stopped, frozen in time. A mere skipped heartbeat in the grand scheme of things, but he instinctively knew the change had been made.
That was fine, he would not ask for anything else. He can work with that.
"My Name is Vergil Taurus Uzumaki." The Occult Research Club was gathered in front of the intruder. He looked more like an adult than a teenager, and his muscles mulged in a way that started to cross on the gross side.
He was inconspicuous by contrast, so he simply slipped through the students at Kuoh Academy before Rias' spell put everyone that was normal into an induced sleep.
Smart. He didn't need magic to watch, so he did not need to interfere with the spell and be found out prematurely. So it also worked for him.
The man kept rambling about himself, which made Rias… Which made Gremory increasingly annoyed at him. The reaction should have been of wariness, but then again, normally the world would make its changes before sending people like him like that. At least his time had been like that, but maybe he was the exception rather than the norm.
The situation kept escalating. Should he intervene? He checked on his memories, to see if he was maybe missing something important.
The lab, Azazel, the Sacred Gear… His memories were like last time too. He could not be sure if they were all the same, but at least he knew his background was similar enough he would not be confused by sudden shifts in history. He knew where he came from in this world…
However he was no longer the cornerstone in history. So who was, then?
His power was part of a duality, because the concept was used in the original story and it was too cool to not use it. He designed it that way before being changed to fit into this world, so there was no way this gorilla of a man was his destined opponent. There was something draconic in him, true, but if he had the pair then the fragment of soul inside his artificial Sacred Gear would not give off this kind of bloodlust.
He cringed. Doing a better job of blocking his presence when the little nekomata locked onto his general direction while he appraised his fellow outsider. He should have known better, that sort of blunder was the kind of thing that second-rate bad guys did thinking they were cool because being detected got a reaction from the main characters.
Even if he had a role to fulfill, he did not have to be a bad villain. Right?
Hmmm… To begin with, what was his motivation? What was supposed to drive him? With the separation between what was supposed to be and what actually was, it was kind of difficult to fulfill his role. The first time he was not even aware that he was an outsider, so knowing full well this time around felt alien.
Was this because it was different this time? To begin with, he only suspected being recalled into the story again meant it was his time to enact what the contract expected of him. He had no real proof besides the vestigial memories that corresponded to this version of the world.
Maybe if he concentrated hard enough… Ah! There it was. He recognized immediately the other person, the one that was supposed to complete his pair… To think his concept would be used that way. He honestly felt dumb for not thinking about it himself, it would have made for such an interesting plot twist...
Well, if his mission was to oppose that person no matter what, he did not need a reason.
It was only natural they would bounce off each other, given the circumstances.
"Excuse you, you're in the way." And there he was. Strolling confidently towards the gate of Kuoh Academy, a tall guy with an open blazer and short hair frowned at the mass of muscles staring down the Occult Research Club.
He looked fit, like an athlete or a model maybe. And oozed confidence in a way only outsiders did because of the boosts they were granted as per the contract. He was staring up at his fellow outsider, yet he did not look bothered at all that Uzumaki's hands were bigger and thicker than his face.
"This does not concern you." The huge silver haired guy stalked closer "Begone."
The hulking high school student wannabe activated his power. Twin futuristic wings extended from his bulking back with light blue pillars of light in place of feathers pointing at the other outsider menacingly. The use of Divine Dividing was unexpected but disappointing. If that was the farthest the guy's imagination could go, then he was as good as useless.
This was not his story, after all.
To his credit, Uzumaki took the main character's attack and did not immediately die because of it. The surge of power was clue enough for the giant to activate the Scale Mail armor as the main character activated his own Sacred Gear.
Blue flames encroached Kuoh Academy's air as the main character set his prowess to run wild. The other outsider's dragon armor seemingly melting under the extreme temperature of the main character's attack.
There was no time for introductions. The devils did not even get to have their moment of confusion and bewilderment at the sudden appearance of this cool dude that no doubt came to solve all their issues. They were simply left to fend for themselves against the recoil of the blue flames and get soaked in the light attribute they carried.
"Jeez, talk about extreme." The main character sure was overpowered. He knew this intellectually, but there was just something eye-opening in seeing such display of power in the flesh.
The giant Uzumaki re-entered reality with a clap of thunder, positioned just behind the main character even though there was little left of his stolen Sacred Gear's armor. He made hand signals that looked like he was convulsing, but the main character's own Sacred Gear directed him to the source of its hatred.
"First stage." The Gauntlets shone for a moment and armored boots were summoned on the main character's feet. He jumped and blue flames propelled him close to the other outsider just in time for the bigger man to make a strange posse and teleport away from the incineration stream thrown where he used to be.
Uzumaki re-appeared behind the main character again, and this time he looked positively rattled by the reception he was getting.
"What are you, some sort of ninja?" The main character used his flames to maneuver in the air to intercept the white haired outsider.
He repeatedly shot flames in such a way Uzumaki was forced to keep teleporting away, just barely holding on to re-create his Scale Mail before the flames could reach him. He did not manage to invoke any of his no doubt esoteric attacks, since the main character simply kept melting the armor just enough to force Uzumaki to recall it back.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Who the hell you think you are, asshole?!" Yeah. Did not expect to find such an annoying opponent. Did you? He probably thought he could be a bit clever and fool around with his approach to fighting, but in the end Uzumaki was the one that needed to set up: No raw strength would help if it was not deployed and ready to use.
That's why Sacred Gears were popular, after all.
"I'm Ryuuta Bellemonth!" The main character declared with a wild smile "A pleasure to meet you!"
That's right, Ryuuta Bellemonth. This world's main character, and the sole reason for him to be back there. The one person that tied him to this mess… If he got things correctly, his mission was none other than to defeat this one outsider.
Or rather, be defeated by him. Since Ryuuta was the main character, and he was just an antagonist to make Ryuuta stronger.
He couldn't wait. Not because he particularly looked forward to being defeated, if not killed, but because he honestly wanted to be done with all that and end the contract.
He lived the life he wanted in his own version of the world. He fulfilled his desires and did whatever he wanted. The very characters that were unceremoniously tossed aside when this battle between outsiders started had been his friends, allies and lovers.
Seeing someone else take his place stung, but in the end they were just that: Characters fulfilling a role in his hedonistic fantasies. He owed them nothing, nor did they owe him. If his mission was to endanger them, he would do it and get over with it.
"You there."
"Kone… Toujou." The petite devil entered the classroom filled with unconscious students and pierced his soul with her stare. She was the same as in the beginning, and he almost did not recognize the coldness in her voice and eyes. But she was unmistakably the same as before.
His heart skipped a beat.
"Who are you?" It took him a moment to remember it was his doing that erased her memories of his previous existence. Yet he could not make himself feel glad about it.
"I am a villain." He answered simply, making the girl's blank stare change into a bit of a frown in return.
"Corny." She stated it as nothing more than a fact. He nodded, answering her frankness with his own.
"Yet no less true."
"Are those two fighting your doing?" The ground shook, and he turned for a moment to see Ryuuta protected in light armor made to look very much draconic. But so less bulky than the Scale Mail it almost looked like a superhero suit instead of actual protective gear.
Eh? Balance Breaker from the get go? What is the point in that? Where would the stake be if he had that power already unlocked? That was no fun at all.
"No." He managed before he could forget the question had been asked "You look calm."
"There are no evil intentions coming from you." The reincarnated nekomata stated "Although something really foul clings to you. It feels dangerous."
"I won't turn it on you guys, don't worry." He shrugged "Although I'm a villain, I don't particularly want to kill you."
Besides, Ryuuta would probably not take kindly if his capture targets were hurt. He would not forgive someone doing it either.
But then what? What was he supposed to do? He had no reason to intervene since Ryuuta had the other outsider almost subjugated, and he had no plan to oppose him yet. The best he could do was maybe getting in the way of finishing the outsider off, but he did not feel inclined to do so.
After all, the guy was kind of gross. He did not want to cooperate with someone like that.
Speaking of which, the Divine Dividing outsider got smacked back to the ground. The chest armor caved in from the drop kick Ryuuta caught him with where it was not molten. The bigger outsider ceased struggling, although it was doubtful if he had died already.
All those muscles should serve some function, after all. There was no reason to choose to be reborn looking like that if they had no magical property or whatever.
"Question." He turned to the white haired nekomata, whose fist was just a microsecond away from making contact with his face "Do you know what's going on?"
He should have known. If he remembered not being a part of this world, the original dwellers should as well.
"More or less." Alright, he can work with that.
He activated his Sacred Gear, black gauntlets covering his arms with magic scripts running through them. He activated his power, and holographic wings sprung from his back. He leapt out of the building and glided into the combat zone. The Occult Research Club was getting into a loose formation again while Rias checked if her servants were alright.
He chose that moment to drop from the sky. Ryuuta summoned a chained sword to parry the holographic spears raining down on him.
"Hmmm?" Ryuuta looked down, and the outsider that should have been dead was no longer under his foot "Ah! What is this about? A sudden desperate rescue?"
"No, but I need to do something before he dies." He replied flatly, shrugging while placing himself between the Occult Research Club and Ryuuta "Sorry, is that alright with you?"
Ryuuta deactivated his armor, a cheeky smile on his face.
"Sure." Ryuuta went ahead and picked his school bag, placing it on his back in that way cool guys do "I'll go say to my classmates now."
"Sure." He parroted back. Ryuuta confidently walked into Kuoh Academy, his self-satisfaction apparent. He knew Ryuuta recognized him, there was no way he did not. So that worked better for him "See you later."
Ryuuta chuckled and talked to the Occult Research Club, but it was nothing of his business. He waited until Ryuuta was gone and grabbed the defeated outsider so he would not forget to get him to Azazel.
Rias had her Power of Destruction up before he could talk.
He dodged.
There were not many things at this point in time quite as dangerous as that devil power. He did not want to fight, much less the Power of Destruction since he wanted to work on his game plan before actually engaging with these guys.
"Get away, final warning." The red haired beauty warned dangerously. Something inside him broke a little, but he pushed the knot in his throat down by force.
"Sure." He raised his free arm, taking a step back "Although we'll have to meet again soon enough, so you should probably prepare for that… Start training Saji Genshirou and Hyoudou ASAP."
Rias was not an idiot, so she diggested his words before replying "Why them?"
"Because they can deal directly with power." And Ryuuta's and his Sacred Gear were power intensive. With the Divine Dividing returning to Vali, he should have a better chance at fighting Ryuuta… But defeating him was probably not the right outcome.
If he had to fulfill the role of a villain, Ryuuta had to win in the end. Right? Hmmm…
"I see…" Rias frowned, studying him like he was some kind of strange animal she found in her garden. Ouch "You give a really bizarre feeling. What are you?"
Hmmm? Where was the 'friend or foe' question? Was it really alright for her to talk so casually to him then?
"I am…" He checked his non-intuitive memories, making sure to get things right before speaking "I am Itori Kazuma, and I am the being that must oppose Ryuuta Bellemonth no matter what."
That is, after all, the kind of mindset he would have wanted for the villain in his version of the world to have.