A/N: Yo, everyone. Here's my new story, for which idea just came to me one day when I was writing my other fanfiction. From where I actually took my OC, just made OP you'll see in right at the start. (To every OC hater, don't worry, he's not playing any big role here, he's just like that NPC in starting town that sends your character on his adventure.) So, I thought "There are tons of stories where Issei starts with some other great powers, gets Boosted Gear earlier, and on and on, some with time travel. But I haven't seen one with him actually taking part in the Great War." And here it is. Now, let's got to the reading.
New version revised and fixed by ekaterina016. If you like Nasuverse stuff, consider checking his profile.
"Boring. Boring. Boring. Bo- wait, that's actually interesting. But still, it's boring just sitting here!"
In a room without walls, surrounded by countless screens, a man clad in black kimono sat with a hood hiding his face.
"All this power I got from you… only to end up locked in here watching this part of the multiverse without any way to use it!" The man raised his head, throwing his hood off. He looked to be in his late twenties with cat-like orange eyes, black hair and white bangs. "Oi, I'm talking here! Maybe answer me for a change…?!"
What do you want? I'm trying to build a narration here.
"And I'm bored to the point of insanity. I'm not doing anything else than watching all parallel universes filled with Isseis, forbidden to do anything and effectively banished in here. On top of that, in this infinite number of worlds, there is only one Septimus. Only one other version of me! The Sole variation from this endless torment is when I can drag Kaleidoscope or some other multiverse travelers here for a drink and talk."
Why did I create you to be like this? Look, I gave you what you wanted: unmatched power and absolute knowledge of the world. But I can't just let you run around with them, doing whatever you want. So, once again: What exactly do you want from me?
"I want to do something in one of the worlds. Not even just by myself; I want to play You a little, stir things up, change a bit of this and that, and watch from here what it will become. But this time, this will be my doing, at least partly."
If that will stop you from breaking the fourth wall here, why not? Just be quick with it.
"Aye aye, sir. And only one other little request."
What?
"Can you add another version of me in the world we're going? You know, three's company and all."
Alright, but I'm not showing him. Now, move, before I change my mind and erase you from existence. And let me make some normal narration again.
"Let's go!" The man shouted excitedly and jumped off his chair like someone freed from the torture device. Summoning a mass of energy to his hand, with a loud crack, he created a ripple in space which he jumped into, not wanting to wait anymore.
Oh, I finally remember why he's like that. I was just too lazy to think about how to create a convincing reason for what I wanted to occur, so I made him do my dirty work...
Happens.
Issei Hyoudou was dying, there was not much else to say. At the end of their first date, his girlfriend, Yūma Amano, or Raynare, as she's just introduced herself, transformed from an attractive schoolgirl into a more mature version of herself in black leather S&M costume. And everything would be great, if not for the fact after that, she grew a pair of black wings, and some glowing spear appeared in her hand, which she summarily threw at him. That ended with him lying in the growing pool of his own blood with minutes, if not seconds remaining of his life. At least, he saw some boobs moments before he'd die.
- Crack…
"Ohh, finally. Polluted air of this world, how I've missed you!" Issei heard some weird noise like something breaking or being torn apart, before immediately followed by a merry male voice. "Now, to do the job here. You, BDSM Vulture; get lost, before I become curious how burnt Fallen Angel smells."
From where Raynare was, the sound of frantically flapping wings came to him, before quickly weakening away. "Now, without her here, state your wish. C'mon; you're dying right now, hurry up! What's the dying man's last desire?" Without any noise, a hooded person appeared above him, his flame-like eyes focused on the boy.
Feeling darkness overcoming his mind, Issei forced himself to formulate one more thought. "What is my desire? If I have to die, I want it to happen in arms of the beautiful girl, looking into her eyes… not those fiery orbs."
Invisible Septimus watched as before him, over the dying teen's body, a crimson teleportation circle appeared, where a girl with just as crimson hair and breasts whose behavior escaped any logical comprehension and laws of physics came out: Rias Gremory. Not noticing the other individual, the Devil looked down on her summoner.
"So, you're the one who summoned me?" She asks, looking carefully. "Ara, ara, there's something interesting in you. As you're already dying, I can pick you up to be my servant."
Patiently waiting, the black man observed as the Devil princess took out and tried different pieces in her hands. Finally, after a few minutes, red light shone from eight Pawns as they sunk into Issei's body.
Septimus swiftly dispersed his invisibility and revealed himself. "I'm sorry, but that won't be possible. This one's going to be my source of amusement, and I can't let you have him, Rias Gremory."
- Crack…
With a wave of his hand, a crackling black rift opened under Issei, swallowing the newly-reincarnated Devil. Seeing this, Princess of Destruction summoned her signature power with intent to question this strange individual and get back her Pawn. However, as she looked into his burning eyes, she froze, seeing in them something similar to what she did her brother on the occasion when he let out a glimpse of his true strength.
Incomprehensible and unthinkable power.
"Before I forget: Thanks for the help, it's way easier to use actual Gremory pieces than to fake them. Here, these ones will replace pieces you've just used." Before the redhead, eight pawns materialized, looking just like her previous set. When he was about to step into where Issei vanished, a particularly playful spark flashed through his eyes. With a toothy grin which made Rias wanting to abandon her pride and run away, he created small card alongside the pieces he gave earlier. "Here, the contact data to one Nekomata highly skilled in magic. You should be able to recruit him with little convincing."
Only after the split in reality closed behind its creator, that Rias remembered her body needed to breathe. Faster than ever before, she summoned a teleportation circle leading to her club, and from there, she contacted her brother. The following days were especially heated for the Underworld and the unfortunate teen who had his home raided by an army of a siscon Maou.
Immediately after coming out of his portal, Septimus picked the unconscious brunet and looked around. They were in an empty warehouse, with weak moonlight shining over naked metal walls.
"Perfect." In a blink of an eye, a simple surgical table appeared before him. After setting Issei on it, Septimus took off his hood with a wide smile and created a glass of liquor for himself. "I forgot how much fun it is to play those mysterious and scary characters… although I most likely screwed up at the end. Welp, not like I care; I have what I wanted, and even made some mess on the side. Now, to our main character."
Leaning over the unconscious figure, the black-haired man rubbed his chin. "I'll have to modify his Evil Pieces a little for him to be able to promote without a King. Besides that… some memory purge and changes in his Sacred Gear are in order. Easy. Then… time travel, drop the poor guy and create a stage for his debut in the new world. Or is it the 'old world'?" He muttered under his breath. Downing the drink in one gulp, he threw the glass away. "Whatever. Time to work."
Somewhere over Europe, the sun was setting down, painting the forest in a variety of shades of orange, emphasizing autumn's picture. At the edge of it, laying on a blanket of fallen leaves, a lone brown-haired teen was sleeping. Some rays found their way under his eyelids, slowly waking him up.
"Ugh…" Issei wheezed as he sat, stretching the stiffness away from his muscles. Looking around, the teen noted there was no other living being around, with an abnormal silence – no sound of animals or even wind moving through the trees. He instinctively knew what it was – the kind of unnatural pause and peace which took place right before a catastrophe.
"Where am I...?"
- BOOM!
The tranquility abruptly came to an end, when from somewhere deep in the forest a large explosion echoed, followed by a strong gust of winds. His train of thoughts interrupted, Issei turned towards the source of the noise. Feeling as if something in his mind pushed him towards there, the teen walked between the trees. With every step he took, the feeling grew stronger, and soon he broke into a full sprint, avoiding low-hanging branches and stuck-out roots. After few minutes, he began hearing clashing sounds, accompanied by shouts. When shortly after that he could hear a loud cry of pain, Issei had actually arrived at the end of his path, able to see flashes of light between the trees.
As he reached large clearing before him, a peculiar scene appeared. Three individuals in brown leather armors were standing in a crater, wide enough to take over half of the glade. The two had black hair, and the third one blue, with wings in varying in intensity of black at their backs. All of them pointed spear-like objects which looked as if they're made of light, and gave Issei a threatening sensation directed at the lone young man with blood-red hair. The one at the front, whom Issei assumed to be their leader, had three pairs of wings and gray spear. The other two standing at his sides had only one pair each, their spears brown and red respectively. As for the redhead, he looked to be Issei's age, wearing expensive-looking battle garments colored in red and gold. Standing there, he was holding his bleeding side, eyeing the trio before him.
"Look here, boys, that's all those filthy High-class Devils are worth! With their big armies and servants, they think they're invincible, but separate one and he's easy prey." The leader of winged men laughed as he swayed his weapon before him, and spat towards the Devil.
"Said the Fallen Angel who needs two of his comrades to fight an already-injured enemy. For sure, such a great feat will make your names known through all Factions as fearful opponents!" The injured Devil taunted his opponents, but it was clear he was at a disadvantage there.
"Shut up, scum! We'll take your head here and present it to our leader, while the rest of you will rot here. I'm curious how your family will react when they'll see your pretty red hair hanging over our armies!" The one on the left shouted with a vicious sneer, as he observed Devil's reaction at his word.
Watching the scene moved something inside Issei. He felt as if he saw something like that before, or more accurately, was on receiving the end of a similar situation. He felt sorry for surrounded teen, but the aura emitted by three men and their weapons told him that if he moved against them, he'd die. Then, the teenager felt time around him stop, with falling leaves stopping midair, and only shadows were moving. As shades danced around the forest in last light of setting sun, Issei felt as if they were reaching for him. When the black tendrils reached him, Issei thought for a moment there was a black and white cat on his shoulder, but when he looked there, he saw nothing.
"You want to go there and help him, don't you? But you can't do nothing; you don't have power," a playful voice spoke in his mind. Issei immediately turned around, but he only caught glimpses of white among the shadows. "Or do you? What if you had power? What if, maybe… I could give you power?" Issei felt whoever the voice belonged was circling him. When he turned back where he was looking before, two orange eyes appeared before him, followed by the rest of a cat's body with numerous tails, sitting on a nearby branch. "What then, boy?"
Dumbstruck, Issei gawked at talking cat before him. Matching his stare, the weird animal tilted its head, clearly waiting for an answer. Thinking for a moment, Issei darted his eyes towards the group in the crater. Looking back at the cat, he answered with conviction. "I want to help this red guy."
Swaying his tails, the cat jumped off the tree and disappeared. Again, in Issei's mind, he sounded his voice, laughing from the shadows around him. "Good enough for now, but what after that? No, on second thought, don't bother to tell me. I'll give you your power. But I have two conditions. One, tell no one about me. Two, from now on, you'll have to be... kind and respectful to every cat you'll come across. How about that?"
Certainly not expecting these kinds of requests, Issei needed a second to collect his thoughts. "...ummm, alright?"
After his response, the cat materialized again on his shoulder and nuzzled against his cheek. "Splendid." It purred. "Now, imagine someone or something whom you see as the most powerful in the world. When you have a clear image in your mind, focus on what you feel and try to channel it through your body."
Issei closed his eyes and thought about what weird cat told him. In his mind, a glowing man with spiky gold hair appeared, but surprisingly, Issei couldn't tell anything else about him, not even his name. However, before he could think more about it, a growing sensation in left arm got his attention. After a few seconds, in flash of green light, a red gauntlet with green jewel and two gold spikes appeared on it.
The cat looked incredibly satisfied with his actions. Purring louder, it moved closer the gauntlet and wrapped its tails around it. "Well done. Behold… the 'Boosted Gear'. It allows you to double your power every ten seconds. But… it looks like it's still incomplete." From between his tails, a white light shone. When he unwrapped them, the gauntlet guarded and covered a bigger part of his arm, grew another few spikes and looked more like a dragon's arm. "There. That color scheme is not exactly my thing, but I'm not the one wearing it. Now, every time it shouts [Boost], that means your power doubles, and with [Explosion] all of that stored power is released for a few minutes. If you want to hide it, just think of it disappearing. There are some other abilities, but I'll let you find them out yourself."
After this, the black and white cat jumped off his arm, leaving Issei to himself as he admired the Sacred Gear. When he turned to thank for whatever talking animal done to him, there was no trace of him, and at the next moment, time resumed its natural flow.
- [Boost!]
The cat's voice came from inside the Boosted Gear, announcing the first power up. Looking back at three Fallen Angles, Issei saw them preparing to kill the redheaded Devil. Even with his power doubled, he knew nothing would really change; he needed at least two more boosts, maybe three. But he didn't think those three would just wait nicely for him. Weighing his option, the teenager thought about the only one way he could win there.
- [Boost!]
When the second boost sounded, Issei came out from between the trees and threw a stone at the trio. "Oi, assholes! Three against one is kinda' unfair! Care if I join him?!" He shouted at them with fake confidence, hoping to buy himself enough time.
"Who the fuck are you?" Everyone in the crater turned toward him, with the blue-haired Fallen Angel, looking incredibly bored, finally speaking up. Their leader quickly glanced at the newcomer, then turned to his associates. "Doesn't matter, he's a weakling. Kill him, and we'll take care of this one here."
When the trio turned their attention from him for a moment, the Devil summoned orbs of magic energy in his hands. With pain written over his face, he threw them at the spears flying at him, red power eagerly eating both weapons.
Meanwhile, now standing on the verge of the crater, Issei looked at his opponent. The older man just sneered and raised his spear at him. "I don't know who you are, but war is war. Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels kill each other, and you're just another weak Devil."
As he threw it at him, Issei again got a flashback of the same situation. This time, however, instead of standing there and letting himself be speared, he moved out of its way. Counting in his mind all this time, teen knew he needed two more precious seconds before he could release the power.
Seeing as his first attack missed, Fallen Angel spat with distaste and summoned two more. Trying to avoid them, Issei jumped away, but when he landed, the ground beneath him gave up. Unfortunately, the brunet skidded down the slope, right under the feet of the armored man, looking straight at his red eyes.
"Any last words?" He asked as he pointed another spear at him.
- [Boost!]
When the third boost activated, Issei grinned. "Yeah. [Explosion!]"
With his shout, Boosted Gear shone with bright green light, momentarily blinding the other man and flooding his body with energy. Sensing the new source of power, other combatants stopped their fight for a moment, staring at other Devil. Issei, using the brief blind state of his enemy, kicked him under his left knee. Rolling from under falling Fallen, the teenager shot up on his legs and turned to the redhead. "Don't just stand there!"
Shaking out of his surprise, just like his unexpected ally, young Devil used his enemies' daze and threw a ball of demonic energy at weaker of his enemies, killing him before he could react.
"Arg-!" The victim of Devil's orb tried to scream, but his vocal cords were quickly disintegrated along with the rest of his body.
"Bastard!" The death of one of his underling enraged the six-winged Fallen Angel. Focusing back on the foe before him, the leader clenched his weapon and rushed at the killer.
"Ugh..." A low grunt next to him brought Issei's mind back to his fight. Rubbing his eyes out of his remaining blindness, the Fallen raised up, slightly hobbled on his left leg. "You have balls, kid. That bighead with three pairs of wings ordered us to go against a weakened Devil without giving him a fair chance to defend himself. Stupid coward. Even at war, one should show his opponent respect and face him in an honest fight." Summoning a red spear, the winged fighter hid his wings and raised weapon before him in standard spearman position. "Let's fight fair and square, just between a Devil and a Fallen Angel!"
Issei noticed that for the second time, he was called a 'Devil', but there was no time to think about it now. Raising his fists, he rushed at his opponent. When he came into the spear's range, it came at him with lightning speed. Instinctively blocking it with his red gauntlet, the teenager answered with his right fist flying at man's head. Swiftly sidestepping, the Fallen twirled his spear around and sent another jab, which was again blocked in a clash of red.
Trading blows for about a minute, Issei noticed his enemy was protecting his left side, with his left leg moving stiffer than the right one. Not sure how long this boost from the gauntlet would work, he decided to focus on the man's injured leg. His idea seemingly worked, as the Fallen Angel started to back out and focus more on the defensive. Wanting to end this quickly and go help against the last one, Issei closed up and sent a powerful kick at his left leg.
But that was exactly what spearman was waiting for. With the faked stiffness gone, the man spun out of the kick's way. And just like a viper, when a careless prey came too close, the spear rushed at the overextended leg, piercing it and pinning to the ground.
"Argh!" Issei screamed in pain, feeling as if a white-hot rod skewered his leg and molten metal coursed through his veins.
"You fight well, with your whole heart. But you're green and fell for a simple trick with a fake opening," the Fallen Angel soldier praised him and took out his spear, making Issei fall on the ground, clutching the big hole in his leg. At the same time, the sound of the battle behind them grew silent. Turning his head around, the Fallen saw some of his superior's feathers raining around, with the redheaded Devil panting among them. "So, Narael lost. Figures," he stated with a bored sigh.
"And you'll soon join him," the Devil said tiredly, slowly closing in on them with one hand on his wound, and the other holding swirling mass of energy.
Seeing the tables turned, Fallen Angel sighed and brought his spear at Issei's throat. "Most likely. But before that, I'm sure to take this kid with me, and maybe I'll even get lucky and score a hit at you. So how about a deal? You'll let me go and I'll spare this one who risked his life for you."
Staring at each other for a moment, with Issei on the ground shooting his eyes between the two of them, Devil finally dispersed even ball in his hand. "Alright, let him go and leave."
Hearing this, even Fallen nodded and also dismissed of his weapon. Spreading his wings, he flew to the edge of the crater and turned around. "Oi, kid! What's your name?"
Still holding his leg, the teen sat up, as the pain in his leg dulled slightly. "Issei."
"I'm Setanta! Train up, kid, then find me again at the battlefield. I'll be waiting for our rematch!" The Fallen introduced himself and flew away.
"So... Issei, right?" The redheaded Devil walked up to him and held up his hand. "I'm Sirzechs Gremory. Thank you for saving me. Without your help, I'll sure be dead by now."
Grabbing other teen's hand, and standing up with his help, Issei smiled. "It's nothing. I just saw you needed help and distracted them a little. You did most of the job yourself."
"Still, thanks. You said your name is 'Issei'; what clan you're from?"
"Clan?" Issei repeated after him, not understanding what he was talking about.
"Your Devil Clan. I'm asking where are you from. Besides, what are those clothes, and why there's a hole in them?"
Again, this one called him a 'Devil'. But when Issei thought about the second part, he suddenly found himself in a void. Finally having time to think, he realized that outside of his name, he didn't know anything about himself and the situation he was in. And it was actually true about in his clothes, as over his stomach was a big hole. Trying some more to remember something, Issei finally responded. "I don't-"
- [Reset!]
Right then, Boosted Gear spoke again. Suddenly feeling his strength leaving him, it was quickly replaced with a wave of fatigue. He'd have fallen face-first into the dirt, if not for Sirzechs catching him right before he did, carefully helping him sit down.
"I don't know. I've just realized I don't remember anything besides my name. I don't even know where I am, or how I got here. Hell, I didn't even know I was a Devil." When he was safely back on the floor, he answered honestly.
Looking at him thoroughly for some time, Gremory sat beside him, still holding his side. He summoned a red magic circle which flew into the sky and turned back to Issei. "This will inform my family where I am and they'll send someone over here to help us. In the meantime, as you don't know anything, let me explain everything to you. You see, we Devils are at war. A Great War against the God of the Bible with his Angels, and the Grigori, leading the Fallen Angels. Three Factions..."
And that was one teenager explained to another of the world he was now in, as they waited for the help among raising darkness of the night.
Back in the wall-less room, a familiar black and white feline sat. In the next second, a familiar man in black kimono appeared, holding a glass and looking at the screen.
"And so, it begins," he announced, raising his glass in the air.
A/N: And so it ends. The first chapter I mean. What do you think? In my defense of removing Ddraig's voice from BG, he's still alive and his future version stayed in the future, so someone had to fill his place. Besides that, I'm waiting for your opinions and thoughts about the story, what do you want to see in it. As it's DxD, there will be a harem, and I'm open for propositions, but make it logical. So, none of the canon girl, just those who could participate in Great War. I have few candidates, Grayfia and Serafall on top of them.
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