Chapter 5: Negotiations

"499….500!" Issei counted as he watched Kiba, Koneko and Akeno complete what appeared to be a grewling set of pushups as Asia laid face down in a puddle of her own sweat. "Alright good workout." Issei clapped his hands together as the three devils slowly pulled themselves back to their feet. "You guys have earned a five minute break, now go get a drink and then will go for another set."

"Ughh…." The three devils groaned in unison as they were too exhausted to argue at this point.

Issei then made his way over to the unmoving Asia and squatted down in an attempt to meet her face to face. "Hey you alright?" He put his hand on the poor girls shoulder and managed to gently roll her over so he could get a look at her face.

"Oh Hi Mr Issei…." The poor girl's face was absolutely pale and her eyes were swirling with exhaustion. "Are you okay? Your face looks very spinny…."

"Okay.." Issei grabbed hold of the girl's arm and gently lifted her back up to her feet. "I think you need to take 30." Issei said with a smile and Asia answered with an understanding nod as she slowly limped over to a shaded area, leaving Issei all by himself to reflect on the workout. "Oh, come on!" He shouted in frustration. "So much for quality over quantity!"

Issei plopped himself down on a stone bench and began to contemplate things. 'It's not like they don't have potential but stamina wise they're really lacking. I knew our lack of numbers would be an issue but at this rate there more likely to just out last us than they are to overrun us.' Issei thoughts were then erupted by a loud BVVVVPT! As his phone began to buz in his pocket. Issei pulled out the device and a text bubble appeared on the touch screen that red "ALERT: Meeting with Riser 5:00 PM." Issei's eye twitched as a disappointed groan formed in the boys throat as his frustrations began to boil over. "UUUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!"

(Later, Phenex Residence)

A bead of sweat formed on Issei's temple as the shadow of the Massive, Palace-like Mansion. They young devil stood at the bottom of a wide stone stairway that led up the massive wooden doors at the front of the imposing structure. Issei was dressed in a black blazer that he wore over a white dress shirt that left the top two buttons undone as well as a pair of matching black slacks. "Well… Let's get this over with…" Issei marched up the stoney steps and stopped himself in front of the door. "Huuuhh…." He let out a deep sigh as he slowly lifted his fist to knock on the door but before his knuckles could make contact with the wood the double doors suddenly swung themselves open. "I'm here…." Issei muttered softly, hoping no one could hear him.

Issei slowly shuffled down the hallways of the Phenex Mansion. 'I've lost track of how many times I've been here.' Issei thought as he slowly strolled through the mansion, not seeming to be in any rush to locate Riser. 'The layout, the tiles and all the carpeting and even the creepy family portraits that seem to follow you throughout the whole building. It's all so familiar that I could navigate in my way through with my eyes closed but that doesn't matter. No matter how much time I spend here I can't shake that unsettling feeling that I don't belong and I never have.'

Issei was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice a buxom woman who appeared to be in her twenties to early thirties, with long blonde hair tied up in a flowing ponytail and wearing a medieval style red and black dress. "Good to see you Issei." She called out as she tapped the mid ranking devil on his shoulder.

"WAH!" Issei let out a short screech as he jumped slightly at the sudden introduction but quickly calmed down as he turned to meet his greeter. "OH, Lady Phenex. You scared me there for a second, it's nice to see you too."

"Lady Phenex?" The blonde woman raised a finger to her lip before a disappointed expression formed on her face. "Is that anyway to address your former Master?"

"Hah, I guess that's right.." Issei forced a laugh as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. 'This is the Honorable Lady Phenex. The mother of my former Master Riser Phenex. When I served under Riser I was there solely for the purpose of fighting and when it came time for Lord Riser to engage in social events he preferred to have his full… harem keep him company and thus there were numerous occasions in which he'd trade me over to his mother to make room so technically she is my former master.'

"Issei, I'm sorry about the way things went with Riser. He definitely could've gone about this more tactfully then he did. I hope you don't hold negative feelings towards me or my house." Lady phenex bowed to the Red Dragon Emperor, unintentionally exposing her cleavage in the process.

"No! It's fine! No need to bow!" Issei turned away from the blonde devil, not knowing exactly where to look. 'What the hell am I supposed to say. It's obvious by my actions that I'm pissed off about the whole Riser thing. I mean it didn't even take me a week to sign up for a fight with him but it's not like I have it out for Lady Phenex or anyone else with that last name. Well… When the truth kinda sucks, just lie.' "This isn't about revenge, not really." Issei answered getting the blonde woman to lift her head. " Not against Riser at least. As a free pawn my value, my life is based on my strength in battle. I'm the strongest pawn there is and if you ask me there's no better way to prove it." Issei answered proudly though it was just a ruse. 'This is totally for revenge, I'm doing this for the chance to kick Riser's teeth in.'

"Good answer." The elegant woman answered with a shake of her head. "Too bad there are no cameras around. If that were televised I might've even bought it." She smirked as Issei answered her suspicions with a shrug. "Well this is the best you'll get apology wise at least for the moment, you have. Looks like you have company." Ms Phenex said as she pointed over Issei's shoulder.

Issei turned around to see another blonde girl, this time a much younger looking, around Issei's age, with deep blue eyes and two curly golden drills in her hair. "There you are Traitor!" She cried out as charged towards Issei, marching as if she meant to run him over.

"Hopefully we'll meet again Issei." Lady phenex bid farewell with a small wave leaving Issei alone to deal with the angry blonde girl.

The drill haired girl stopped just in front of Issei. Standing close enough in front of him to glare directly into his green eyes. "You got some nerve showing your face here! Issei Hyoudou!"

"Oh, Hi ravel." Issei answered with a nervous smile. 'This is Riser's little sister as well as his current bishop. When I first joined Riser's peerage Ravel was a new bishop and I spent a lot of my time bringing her up to speed as a fighter and served as her combat trainer but even though we used to spend a lot of time together she's always treated me with hostility.'

"Hmph! How dare you address me by name traitor!" Ravel said with a huff as she turned away with her arms crossed.

"So I've heard scumbag, mid-class garbage and jerk face before so where is this whole Traitor thing coming from?" Issei asked in a clueless voice that caused Ravel's eyes to pop open in rage.

The blonde devil quickly turned around and unleashed her thoughts onto the brown haired visitor. "I'm calling you a TRAITOR because you are a TRAITOR! You turned your back on us and joined the enemy, bringing with you all our strategies and personal info. That's what you would call a TRAITOR! You stupid TRAITOR!"

"Stupid traitor huh?" Issei let out a sigh before giving Ravel a look as though she had just been outsmarted. "Hate to burst your bubble but I'm no traitor. My contract with Riser expired, Rias wanted to bolster her fighting chances so she offered me a contract worth a good sum of money. Hate to break it to you but that's how things work." Issei said in scolding tone that made the high ranking devil girl shake with frustration.

"Don't even try to write this off as just business. For some reason you're just out to get my brother!" Ravel's face began to turn red as she continued to unload her opinions. "If you had an ounce of loyalty in your body you would have refused Rias' offer and just walked away."

"So the rich girl wants to talk about the honor in passing up a paycheck." Issei argued back this time he was the one who crossed his arms and turned away from the argument. "Not all of us live in castles. When you've gotta make sure your financial security lasts an eternity then you don't pass up paychecks."

"You left without even saying goodbye! Jerkface!" She shrieked as loud as she could. "When I woke up in the infirmary you had already left and you never answered a single phone call or a text! We fought and trained together for over a year and then you just took your money and ghosted me! Greedy Jerkface!"

"Really? You know with the way you always treated me I figured you didn't need the goodbye and I didn't need the good riddance." Issei answered, keeping his voice low and calm as a means of frustrating the now screaming Ravel. "Besides if you wanted to see me off then you shouldn't have gotten yourself eliminated."

"Grrrr…." Ravel gritted her teeth as she let her emotions boil in her head like a tea kettle. "I can't wait for our game! Then you'll be the one who feels the pain of being eliminated."

Issei- "Oh, So you think you're gonna eliminate me?"

Ravel- "Of course we will. We're going to completely annihilate your whole pathetic team!"

Issei- "Yeah, so who's gonna do it?"

Ravel- "Huh?"

Issei- "Who's gonna fight me? How are you gonna eliminate me? Don't tell me you haven't figured that out yet?"

Ravel- "O-Of course we have!"

Issei- "Oh yeah? So who's gonna do it? Are you? Or Isabela or Xuelan? Yubelluna? I think I can take any of them pretty easy."

Ravel- "No! But Riser!"

Issei- "You're gonna rely on your king to take on your opponents strongest piece? That's a pretty bad strategy. I could end the game in one fight. If I were you then I would try to get two or three of you to gang up on me."

Ravel- "Well then we'll just-"

Issei- "Oh, but that would be a pretty bad idea too. You're whole advantage is based on numbers. If I take out a group of you by myself then there goes the numbers advantage. Hmmm, I don't know what I'd do if I were in your shoes."

Ravel- "Well, We'll just…. I mean we can…. What if we…. Hmmmm…."

Issei smirked as he watched the young devil fumble with coming up with a response. 'Ravel is a smart girl but when she gets mad it's pretty easy to mess with her. It'd almost be cute if she wasn't such a brat.' Issei thought as he lifted a hand up to stop Ravel's ramble and ended their argument. "Alright, this isn't fun anymore so I give up. Where's your big bro, I'm ready to get this stupid meeting over with already so I can get outta here."

"You wanna leave again?..." Ravel muttered under her breath before glaring back at Issei with an angry face. "Fine! Right this way! STUPID TRAITOR!"

(Later, Courtyard)

Issei stood alone in an empty garden, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground before he pulled back his sleeve to reveal a very expensive looking watch. 'Really? They've already made me wait a full ten minutes here alone. Seriously, screw high class devils.'

"Issei Hyoudou, it's good to see you." Almost on cue, Riser appeared in the garden. An almost trademark crooked grin plastered on the fire devil's face. "I really appreciate you agreeing to meet me here today."

"Cut the crap Riser." Issei bluntly called out as he began to impatiently tap away on his watch. "Let's get this over with already, I still gotta take the damn train back to earth."

"Earth? So Rias is even doing her training in the human world? I suppose stubbornness is to be expected at this point." Riser said with a dismissive shake of his head. "Honestly what am I going to do with her? So you've been her pawn for what, a few days now? What's your impression so far."

"My impression? I barely know her." Issei answered with a confused raise of his eyebrow. "All I know for sure is that she really doesn't like the idea of this whole wedding thing so you must've done something to piss her off. Is this why you called me out here?"

"Now now, she's just being a bit rebellious. Her parents set up this marriage and she's at that age where she can't seem to understand how this world works." Riser dismissed Issei's statement with a small wave of his hand. "Now as for why I requested this audience. I'm just concerned as to why you'd act so out of character and choose to fight in this pointless game.."

"Out of character? What do you mean." Issei pressed. "What do you mean, why am I fighting? I'm being paid."

"Let's be honest Issei you're not the selfless type. You signed on with my house because you knew it'd be good for your statistics which would translate into a higher paying contract, You refuse to sign long term because you're afraid of getting stuck on a losing team that will hurt your market value." Issei's eyes narrowed as Riser continued. "You take advantage of only the best possible fits so that you can profit on them later and that insight is something I've always admired. And that's why it makes no sense for you to join Rias' cause, win or lose this game it doesn't matter the match doesn't count. If anything this decision has only served to damage your reputation, I'm sure you've heard the big wigs dragging your name through the mud on TV. So what's the deal, you don't come across to me as the petty type."

"Hmmmm…" Issei grumbled, crossing his arms in defiance. "You seem to have things figured out. I'd like to hear why you think I signed with Rias for this game, maybe I'm just dying to punch you in the jaw."

"I don't think so. Even if you did want whatever revenge you think you might be owed you're smart enough to go about it a better way. For a second I was afraid you'd become smitten with my Rias but I should know better than that." Riser smirked before finishing his thought. "You're in love with a corpse after all."

Issei's eyes went wide and almost instinctively he gripped Riser by the shirt and shot him a vicious glare, catching Riser off guard. "Let me tell you something Riser, you don't know shit about me. I signed with your house because SHE used to speak so highly of your mother and your house. I don't sign long term with anyone because regardless of how good a fit might be and how much money I could make as a staple piece for a high ranking house, I can't bring myself to serve anyone for that long because I know that no matter who they are they'll never compare to HER! And I'm helping Rias because that's what SHE would do!" Issei declared as he threw the blonde devil down to the ground. "I don't know much about Rias but I know what it means to be in Love and I know it's worth fighting for that chance."

"So you won't back down. I hoped I could bribe you to throw the match but looks like you're convicted to fight for a ghost." Riser growled not bothering to get back up off the ground. "You leave me no choice. This wedding is important for the underworld and even if it weren't, Rias Gremory is mine and I won't let anyone change that fact. As you know in a Rating game there are such things as illegal moves, such as your Balance Breaker. In the professional circuit there's traditionally an unwritten rule that these illegal moves are permitted to be used because defeating your opponent when they're unable to use their full power would usually result in an asterisk being placed on that win. In this game I don't care about an asterisk, all I care about is winning and taking Rias as my bride. So I will exercise my right as a king and eliminate these forbidden moves meaning you won't be able to use your Balance Breaker."

"No balance breaker?" Issei muttered before glaring back at his foe. "Fine by me. I wanna feel your jaw breaking on my own fist anyway." Issei lifted his bare skin fist and a thin red aura began to glow around it. Riser then took a half step back before Issei dropped his arm back to his side. "You're right about one thing, I am convicted and I hope you're ready for it because if you want me to be honest, you really piss me off."

(Later, Back at Rias' vacation castle)

"Ughhh…" Issei groaned as he pushed open the door to the room where he was staying and plopped himself down on the bed. "Damn I hate those stupid train rides, I'm exhausted and its already so late. I gotta get up early for training in the morning." Issei quickly shut his eyes tight as he tried to drift off to sleep but his mind continued to run. 'Can't use my balance breaker? So what! It's not like I'm gonna let that asshole beat me. I can take him as is, no problem…. Damn it! What the hell am I gonna do.'

[That does sound like quite the predicament doesn't it.] A deep, powerful voice echoed in Issei's head causing the boy's eyes to shoot open wide as he laid alone in the dark room. [Are you ready to admit you need my help?... Partner….]

(End)