Oh yeah, should probably have listed this earlier. This is for you folks reading on FF and AO3.

New Creatures

Shadowkhan
Tier 1
Aspect(s): Numerous
Abilities: Peak human athleticism, agility and ninja training
Personality: Rudimentary/hive mind

New Aspects

Numerous: Creatures created with this Aspect cannot be regenerated and become quite fragile. However, the creator may summon an infinite number of them.

Chapter 2: Conspirators

"...Oh."

Rias sagged, her wings drooping. "And of course that's what I expected from Yatogami-kun."

Roy snorted, watching Rias pout disappointedly. "No but seriously, what else were you expecting me to say?"

She shrugged, sighing as her wings retracted. "You know, a bit of gawping, maybe some exclamation that this can't be real, that you've gone crazy…the usual stuff?"

"And then what, a few days of me avoiding you before realizing that our friendship means a lot more to me than some superficial new fact I learned about you?" he asked dryly, "As for gawping, I just got finished summoning a bunch of shadow ninjas to beat up a bunch of assholes. Also, little secret? I've always wondered if I'm crazy anyway, this barely even registers."

This time it was her turn to say, "Oh…well, I guess it is nice to do without all the angst. What do you mean by crazy, though? You've got to be one of the most well-adjusted people I know, and that's saying a lot I'll have you know!"

"Ever heard of Isekai?" Roy asked, almost immediately regretting it.

The busty redhead gave him a withering look, before reaching down and cupping one of her hefty breasts. "Are these J-cups?" she asked him rhetorically.

Roy couldn't help but sputter. "Are they?! Holy shit! Er, I mean-"

"Yes, Yatogami-kun, I know what Isekai is."

It took him a good moment to stop laughing, though he made sure to try and not stare. "A-anyway…don't spread this around, but for as long as I can remember, I've had memories of a past life bouncing around in my head. Memories that don't really match up with anything I've ever seen."

Her triumphant smirk vanished, brow furrowing as she gazed at him, concerned. "That sounds serious. What kinds of things?"

"Remember that 100 Boyfriends manga?"

"Yes, of course, I just gave it back to you yesterday."

He nodded. "Well, I also distinctly remember reading a version of one hundred girlfriends."

She cringed. "That sounds like a nightmare!"

"Actually, the main guy was incredibly romantic and caring. It was adorable."

Rias raised an eyebrow. "Next you'll tell me there's more Mumen Rider."

"Kamen Rider, and yes. In fact they just started a new era. Here it just ended after Black RX."

Rias sighed and sat down, her breasts giving an extra eye-catching bounce. "So…let's leave that discussion for later, as much as I'd love to hear about it. I want to talk about your Longinus. Annihilation Maker."

"Mm." He leaned back in his seat, rubbing his chin. "Longinus…sounds a tiny bit familiar."

"It's named for the spear that pierced Jesus's side when he was crucified," she explained, "In fact, that same spear went on to become the most powerful of all the Sacred Gears. Thus, the other Longinus of a similar potential are named after it."

"Potential?" he asked, sitting up. Talk of potential when it came to superpowers was always promising. "What kind of potential?"

She shrugged, smiling coyly. "The power to kill a god."

His eyes widened and he whistled. "Whoa now…given that you're a Devil, that's some pretty ballsy talk. Ah, speaking of, what kind of, er, mythology would you say you're from? Actually, for that matter, let's start with which ones are real."

"All of them," said Rias blithely, "Though some have more power than others, these days. The Devils fall under the Abrahamic section. Are you religious, Yatogami-kun?"

"If I were, I probably wouldn't be so civil," he pointed out. "My sister is a Shinto maiden, but it's never really been something I took all that…seriously." Then he frowned. "Maybe I should change that sometime soon, eh?"

"Oh? I'll be sure to give her my thanks. The Shinto faction were very gracious in letting me set up this town as my territory."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Quite a bit to unpack there."

Before they could speak, a knock on the door broke their attention. "Buchou? I got tea and the first aid kit."

With that, Himejima Akeno slipped into the room, carrying a laden tray. Unlike her foreign beauty of a friend, the young woman was every bit a classical Japanese beauty, with long, dark, silky hair, tied up in a ponytail that practically slithered its way down her back to her shapely lower calves. Her skin was smooth, eyes a dark, mesmerizing violet whose gaze was only enhanced by her gentle, heavy-lidded look, and a bust that seemed even larger than Rias's. She gave Roy a practically mathematically perfect polite smile. "Ara, so Yatogami-kun has finally paid us a visit? Oh dear, you look a bit dirtied up. Would you like some help?"

"Ah, thanks, Akeno," sighed the redhead, accepting a cup of green tea, before Akeno bustled around to the other side and sat down neatly beside him.

Roy found himself tensing, suddenly very aware that he was alone in a room with two absolutely gorgeous girls. "Ah, um…" he uttered stiffly, "Y-yeah. Thanks, Himejima."

She giggled, opening up the first aid kit. "Now now, Yatogami-kun, we're the same age, aren't we? If you're so close with Buchou, then you can just call me by my given name."

He didn't trust himself to speak, so he only nodded jerkily. As she walked over to apply the ointment, Rias spoke up. "If you were thinking of keeping this from Akeno here, don't worry. She's a devil too. She's my Queen, if you will."

"Your…" Roy blinked, eyebrows rising. "Huh. Shows what I know, I guess. Well, a lot of fanboys probably imagined you two had that sort of relationship."

"Wha…?" she asked, looking momentarily baffled. As Akeno began giggling into her hand, she blushed as she realized what he was talking about. "No, not that! Like the chess piece! The chess piece!"

He shrugged, smirking back at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about, so lead with that next time." Just then, the dark-haired girl began dabbing ointment on his bruises, making him flinch.

"Uuuugh!" groaned Rias, burying her face in her hand.

"Perhaps start with the Great War, my King," suggested Akeno demurely.

"King, huh?"

"Don't encourage him!" snapped the redhead, giving her a filthy look. "Alright! Fine!" She took another sip of tea to calm herself down. "Pretty much since the beginning of human history, there's been a war between the Abrahamic three factions, ever since Lucifer's Fall. The Angels, the Fallen Angels, and the Devils. It went on for eons, costing millions of lives, human and otherwise."

"As wars do," agreed Roy, grimacing.

"Eventually," she continued, "It got to the point where the original four Maou- that is to say, our leaders -were all killed in battle with…" she cleared her throat and indicated upwards, "With you know who."

Roy nodded politely, assuming that Devils didn't like saying God's name.

"Shortly after that, about a few hundred years ago, the new Maou signed a ceasefire agreement with the other two factions," supplied Akeno, closing the first aid kit, "Of course, people aligned with the old Maou weren't happy about that, so the Devils had to deal with a civil war afterwards."

"Jesus," said the boy sympathetically, making the two girls wince, "Oh, er, sorry."

Rias waved him off. "Suffice it to say, the Devils' population is appallingly low. Well, all of the factions are. It's a little like the first World War and all of those men dying without doing much, save a cease fire.

"Oof. So, population troubles?"

She sighed. "Oh yes. Pureblood Devils breed very poorly with each other these days."

"How poorly?"

"I'm the second child of my household, and my older brother fought in the latter days of the Great War. Oh, and I should mention that I actually am 18, this appearance isn't just for looks."

Roy fought to keep his jaw from dropping. "That's…some serious longevity."

Rias chuckled. "Well, it's not like being a Devil is without its perks. Oh, and before you ask, we can breed with other sapient races as well, though this produces half-Devils, which, well…the nobility isn't exactly satisfied with that."

He nodded, grimacing.

Then she snapped her fingers, and what was unmistakably a red magic circle flared into existence, making him jump, before a small wooden box materialized in her lap. "Thanks to one of the Maou, the current Beelzebub, we came up with another method of restoring our ranks. Tell me, are you a chess player?" She turned the box around and opened it, revealing several bright red chess pieces. However, only the Rooks, a Knight and all eight Pawns were present.

"Can't say I'm all that great at it, but I think you're missing a few," he commented.

"On the contrary, I know exactly where they are," said Rias, nodding towards Akeno, "The Evil Piece system allows Devils like myself to convert members of other races into new Devils. How it's different from Half-Devils, I honestly don't know, but it's good enough for the higher ups I suppose."

"Ahh, I see, so Akeno-san has your Queen piece."

"Exactly! Now, back to the original point of this conversation: your power, Annihilation Maker."

Roy nodded, even as Akeno's mouth fell open in astonishment. "Pretty cool name, and judging by all that stuff you said about the Longinus, it's supposed to be powerful?" With a wave, several Shadowkhan suddenly rose up from behind the couch, standing over him. "An army of ninjas is definitely cool as hell- er, pun not intended. But I'm guessing there's more to it than that?"

"So much more!" she agreed fervently, "Whenever Annihilation Maker surfaces, its wielder quickly becomes the center of total pandemonium. As far as I know, you can create any creature you can imagine."

Even Roy couldn't keep a stoic face at that. Anything I can imagine? he wondered, glancing back at the ninjas, I guess that's why these things are something I recognize, even if it's been ages since I watched that show… "There's gotta be some kinda limit though, right?" he asked, "I mean, what are the odds that this power has never fallen into the hands of someone who wanted to completely fuck up the world. How would he ever be stopped?"

Rias shrugged, pointing out, "The world is full of equally powerful beings, if not more so. In addition, even if the user can create powerful creatures, he would still be an ordinary human."

"Ah, that's definitely true." Even as he agreed, however, something else occurred to the boy. "There's something else. That coin I showed you yesterday? It got used as…fuel or something to make the Shadowkhan. I can kinda feel it in my head, but until I get another one, I don't think I can create any more creatures for now."

"Ara, that's a good deal of trust you're showing," murmured Akeno, "One would normally want to keep details like that under wraps, no?"

Roy sighed. "Maybe. But being suspicious and keeping secrets from everyone I know all the time would just get exhausting. Besides, you're gonna lead into trying to turn me into a Devil with one of those Evil Piece things, aren't you?"

The redhead gave a guilty smile, blushing slightly, while Akeno giggled. "He really has got your number, Buchou!"

"I wanted to lead into it gradually," muttered Rias, playing nervously with the ends of her hair and bunching up in her seat, "I mean, it would obviously be good if you were to join…"

He shrugged. "Well, what are the benefits? Would I get that lifespan that you mentioned?"

She perked up a little at his interest. "O-oh, yes! Of course! Although, you can still be killed, especially by holy power. Not to mention, as a member of my Peerage, you'll be expected to fight in Rating Games on my behalf."

"Rating Games are a way for high class Devils to show off their collected Peerages to each other in combat," Akeno supplied, smiling, "They use a great deal of magic to ensure that it's non-fatal, of course, so it can get rather…intense." Her smile deepened in a way that he suddenly found slightly disconcerting. "Although, Buchou can't actually participate in Rating Games just yet."

"Just for another few months!" protested Rias, "But that's beside the point…Devils are also well-attuned to magic, and can use it far more easily than just about any other race."

That certainly appealed to Roy. "Magic? Well, sign me the fuck up!" he proclaimed. But then he stopped to think. "Actually, hang on. Don't you guys make bargains with people for their souls? I'm not sure I'd wanna take people's souls from them…"

"Oh no, we haven't done that since the new Maou took over," she assured him, "Ultimately, human souls are good for giving a quick boost in power, but it was decided that the smaller boost from completing contracts for regular payments is more sustainable. At most, a contract might ask for the contractor to give up his own life, but that's...well, my Peerage and I don't take those kinds of jobs." She shuddered. "Besides that, the only real downside is that you can't say the name of the Abrahamic God without suffering headaches. That also goes for someone reciting prayers. Stronger Devils can ignore it, but it's quite annoying."

He shrugged. "Well, I'm not Christian or anything, so that doesn't mean much to me." Though I was Jewish in my past life. "So, how do we do this?"

Rias sputtered. "What, right now?!"

Akeno laughed, smiling wryly. "Well, you certainly are eager to embrace the so-called evil side, aren't you?" she asked teasingly.

"You aren't evil," said Roy simply, "You're acting just the same as you always did, before I learned all this."

"What do you…?" the redhead began, turning slightly pink as he stared steadily at her.

"My point is, you weren't hiding some dark side to you when you revealed that you were a Devil. You're still the same dorky otaku that I know. And given what you just said about Devils being good at magic means that you could just mind-control me into being your servant or whatever, like those guys that just jumped me."

Akeno blinked, then frowned. "Wait a moment, what was that last bit?"

"Later, I'm on a roll here."

"Ah, yes, sorry."

"The fact that you are this way naturally tells me that I don't need to worry about my personality changing. After all, humanity isn't just for the human, is it?" He gave her a smile and a shrug. "Or maybe I'm just coming up with a pretty-sounding excuse to live longer and gain magical powers, sue me."

Rias gave a huff of laughter. "Aha…haha…you know, you're a pretty rough guy, but you're actually kind of pure underneath, aren't you?"

He snorted. "I'll take that as a compliment, I suppose."

Sighing, Rias opened up her case and pulled out her two rooks. "Every being has a piece value, for the sake of conversion. Pawns are worth the least, so that's the baseline. Knights and Bishops are each worth three Pawns, Rooks are five and Queens are nine. In addition, each piece gives the recipient different qualities; increased speed, magical power and strength respectively. Queens get all three, and Pawns can temporarily become any of them. If you don't mind, I would like to see if I could use my Rooks on you."

"No, I don't mind becoming super strong," he assured her dryly, "But why?"

"Well, given how powerful Annihilation Maker makes you count as, I might need to use more than one piece, and I can't just mix them. Both Rooks together is the same as ten Pawns and if I have to use them, I'm only losing one extra piece, as opposed to seven."

"Don't worry, Yatogami-kun," said Akeno with a wink, "I won't be too jealous of you being worth one more pawn than me."

"Well, let's do it then," Roy grinned, "No time like the present."

Sighing, Rias stood up and stepped around the table in the middle of the room, Roy standing up with her.. "Alright then." She took out the castle-shaped piece and pressed it gently to his chest and took a deep breath.

"You seem more nervous about this than I am," he commented, smiling.

She blushed, giving him an annoyed look. "I order, in my name: Rias Gremory." The scarlet chess piece began to glow brightly. "You, Yatogami Roy. By my authority as a King of Devils, I bid you to be reborn. I welcome you to your new life as my Rook!"

Roy grunted, squinting through the red light as heat bloomed across his chest. Rias gritted her teeth as the piece began to sink in, but there came a resistance to it. Quickly, she took the second Rook and placed it next to the first. The light intensified, forcing him to close his eyes altogether. However, he felt the ninjas that he'd summoned vault over the couch towards them, and put out a hand to stop them. The heat spread out, washing over his front, soaking into him, penetrating deeper…

But then, the roiling darkness that he had felt before, his Sacred Gear, churned and pulsed.

There was a muffled thump, and Rias staggered back with a gasp, both chess pieces clattering to the floor.

There was a moment of silence.

"...Do you think if I make a speech about how I reject my humanity, that'll help?" asked Roy awkwardly.

Rias gave him a bewildered look, her hair looking somewhat frazzled.

"I somehow doubt it," sighed Akeno, giving the Shadowkhan a wary look. In an instant during the commotion, they had crossed the couch to surround Roy and Rias. "Ara, ara…it seems that you're just too much for Buchou to handle, Yatogami-kun."

Roy snorted, even as he waved the ninjas back.

At this, the redhead gave just enough of her wits to give her friend a deadpan look. "I'd word that differently, but it's true. I'm…I'm sorry, but your power is simply more than my Evil Pieces can convert." She clasped her hands in front of her, fingers turning white, looking down.

"Damn…well, can't say I'm not disappointed," he sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Well…guess I'll just have to figure out how to get stronger with my own power." He paused, thinking about that. "Hm. That might even be kinda fun, now that I think about it."

"Yeah…"

Her tone made him frown and give her another look. Her huddled up form wasn't what he would expect from a devil; rather, she looked like a schoolgirl whose confession had been rejected. "Hey," he told her, suddenly feeling awkward, reaching out to put his hand on top of hers. She looked up at him, and he saw a swirl of emotions in those sea-colored eyes. "Even if I'm not part of your Peerage…is that spot on the club still open?"

She blinked at him, staring uncomprehendingly. Then, a shaky smile crossed her face. "Why? Thinking of joining?" asked Rias, echoing the previous day.

This time, however, Roy's awkwardly terse answer was, "Mm. Yeah. I am."

ASM

It was a simple matter for him to sign the paper that would mark him down as being part of the Occult Research.

"Well, Yatogami-kun, I guess that you can go home for today," Rias told him, sitting behind her desk, "I'll give the Student Council President your registration form tomorrow."

"Aa, thanks, Gremory," said Roy, standing up and stretching, "Nnn…ah, right, I guess I should be calling you Buchou now."

She shrugged, giving him a thin smile. "Call me whatever you want."

He nodded. "Gotcha. Though, if you wanna call me by my given name, that's fine too."

"O-oh...sure thing!"

Then he glanced at the Shadowkhan still lining the back wall, awaiting his command. "Hm…you mind if I try something on the way out?"

At Rias gesturing for him to go ahead, he told his minions, "Alright, guys, I want you to try shadow-traveling with me coming along for the ride."

Instantly the navy-clad figures bowed their heads, most of them sinking away into the floor. Two of them, however, crossed the room to take their place on either side of their master, gently grasping his shoulders. He grimaced, remembering the earlier incident in the woods, but forgot that as a moment later, his feet began to sink into the ground, phasing through his own shadow into what felt like some sort of warm fluid. "Huh. Feels kinda wet. That's neat. I wonder if-"

But then he and his escorts vanished.

"He's just awakened his power and it's already got quite a few uses," Akeno murmured, frowning disconcertedly at the spot where he'd just stood.

"Yeah…"

The dark-haired girl glanced at her King, who sagged in her chair the moment the boy had left. "Buchou…" She reached out to touch her shoulder.

Suddenly, the door slammed open, making both girls yelp in shock. Roy leaned against the door-frame, panting hard and looking slightly disheveled.

"Bad idea!" he gasped, "There's no air down there!" Then, straightening up and shaking his head to clear it, he bowed to the girls and closed the door. "Fuck it, I'll just walk!"

In the silence that followed, Rias began to giggle. "He- he is just starting out, though, isn't he?" she laughed.

Akeno sighed, though she too gave a gentle smile. "I wonder if he knew that might cheer you up."

"Ch-cheer me up? Come on, Akeno, I'm fine!" protested the redhead.

Akeno hummed as she began to rub her king's shoulders. "You know, Roy wasn't that far off."

"About what? The relationship thing? You're incorrigible. You just like watching me squirm, you sadist."

"Ara~ If you wanted me to stop, I would, you know. Besides…" her slender hands suddenly reached around to lightly cup the underside of the redhead's round, firm breasts, "You know that I like being made to squirm too~"

Rias opened her mouth to snark, but squeaked in mortified pleasure when her Queen gave her a quick squeeze. "Nnn! S-stop thaaat~!" she whined halfheartedly, blushing and giving the other girl a pout.

"You really wanted him, didn't you?" asked Akeno gently, giving her a sad smile when she froze, "I've never really seen anyone talk to you like that, or get you to respond so happily."

The redhead bit her lip. "He…everyone around me looks at me as someone who's above them and unapproachable. Besides you, of course, but I know that you don't follow anime like I do."

The Queen's violet eyes crinkled in a smile. "You keep me far too busy to keep up with things like that," she said teasingly.

"I know…but, Yato…Roy-kun, he doesn't know what everyone else sees. It's always the Gremory first, the heiress, the untouchable heiress that of course doesn't want to talk to anyone else, no way. They're always afraid of retribution of some kind. He wasn't, though." Rias cast her eyes down at the club registration on her desk. "Can I…can I tell you a secret, Akeno?"

"Always."

She licked her lips. "When the Reincarnation failed, I…I felt so cheated. No, I felt like he'd been cheated!"

Akeno raised her eyebrows. "He has one of the strongest Longinus Gears in existence," she pointed out.

"I know! I know. But you know…for all that talk about how the Longinus could potentially kill a god, they almost always die before they get the chance. Humans are so fragile and vulnerable…" The sight of the registration form blurred as tears filled her blue-green eyes. In a tiny voice, she whispered, "I almost wish…he didn't have it."

Her friend said nothing, only squeezing her shoulder.

"If he didn't, then I could have Reincarnated him, and…and I wouldn't end up outliving him too soon."

"Oh, Buchou…"

She sniffed, rubbing at her eyes. "I've n-never had a friend like him before…w-why does it hurt so much, Akeno…?"

The dark-haired beauty leaned down to hug her friend tightly from behind. "It will be alright, Rias. Even if he's not one of us, we can protect him until he's strong enough to not need it."

Unfortunately, amidst all their distress, both girls had completely forgotten Roy's comment about his attackers being mind controlled.

ASM

Raynare watched the passing humans, feeling bored out of her skull. As satisfying as it was to look down on the scuttling monkeys, shrunken by perspective to a more fitting size, the feeling didn't last long. It never did.

At first, she had been on edge when she and her squad had been assigned to this town. After all, sending just four Fallen (plus a few dozen Exiled Exorcists, but to her mind they didn't count) right into the territory of two Devils? Sure, the orders were to perform reconnaissance, but it had been easy to read between the lines: seek out humans who possessed Sacred Gears and either eliminate them, or extract them to give to Lord Azazel.

It was a dirty job to be sure, but if on the off-chance it would help her Lord, then so be it. The emptiness inside her contracted a little as she thought about him congratulating her on a job well done.

As it was, she had discovered not one but two Sacred Gear holders, in the same area no less. A foreigner, at least by Japan's standards, and his lecherous neanderthal of a friend. At first, she'd wondered if the Sacred Gear Sensor had malfunctioned. Given how often the two boys hung around each other, it would have been easy to assume that there was only one signal coming from one of them. However, sure enough, by observing each boy separately, she had been able to confirm that, yes, there were two Sacred Gears in close proximity to each other. And going to the same school as two Devils, no less! Some people really got all the luck. And yet, neither one appeared to have staked their claim on the two boys, so perhaps her own luck wasn't all that bad.

From there, it was a matter of devising a way to snag the two of them. For the pervert, Hyoudou Issei, it would be rather straightforward. She would disguise herself as a human girl, court him, and then easily entice him to join the Grigori. Well, at least if he didn't end up groping her, because then she might just kill him and have done with it.

The other boy, Yatogami Roy, was a much tougher nut to crack. Raynare honestly had no clue how she was supposed to approach someone like him. Aside from the Hyoudou boy, his sister and the red haired Devil tart, he barely ever interacted with anyone. How was she supposed to entice him?

However, the more she watched, the more the reason he rarely interacted became clear. As a Half, he would not be seen highly by most of the population, especially high schoolers.

"...nare!"

Perhaps it might be a good idea to try courting him as well. It might be a little messy to do the same idea for both of the boys. They'd probably-

"RAYNAREEEEEE!"

She looked up, bemused, before yelping.

*BOOF!*

A frilly blonde missile slammed into her. She yelped in astonishment as she was bowled over, her wings snapping out to try and halt her backwards movement, feathers flying as she tumbled.

"Mittelt!" she gasped, eyes bulging as she stared down at the petite, twin-tailed Fallen Angel currently straddling her on the rooftop, "What are you doing here?! I thought I told you to keep an eye on that Yatogami boy! And to not fly around in the open so blatantly!"

The other girl was practically panting with excitement, her wings spread wide and still flapping spasmodically. "Raynare!" she repeated, her blue eyes wide, "About that! Big news! I've got the biggest news ever! I had to tell you ASAP!"

"You can tell me after you get off me," growled the taller Fallen. Mittelt squeaked out an apology and hopped off, letting the slightly disheveled Raynare draw herself up, as well as readjust the leather straps that had slipped slightly from their usual place across her full, creamy breasts. "So?" she prompted with forced patience, "What's so important that you'd stop scouting?"

"Okay, so!" began the smaller Fallen, smoothing down the ruffles of her black gothic lolita dress agitatedly, "I was watching the Yatogami kid, like you told me. Got pretty bored and decided, hey, why not mind control some of the boys that have a grudge against him? There's a lot of 'em in that school!"

Raynare bristled. "Under the noses of those Devils?!"

Scoffing, Mittelt waved her off, "Those dingbats didn't notice a single thing. Anyway, I figured, Sacred Gears awaken when the user is really stressed out, right? So if I had him get in a fight, he might awaken his power, so we could see if he was worth the effort or not!" She preened proudly at her idea.

"...That is a gross oversimplification of how Sacred Gears work and that plan has massive fucking holes in it," deadpanned the taller girl, wearily waving at her.

"So I did that and he did! And he created these summons to take 'em all down!" continued the blonde, ignoring the slight against her intelligence, once more flapping her wings with excitement. "He created them! Some kinda ninja things that I've never seen before!"

Frowning, Raynare went over in her head how many Sacred Gears allowed the user to summon minions. Knowing Lord Azazel's obsession with them, he of course kept a comprehensive list of all Sacred Gears, their powers and subspecies. As far as she knew, none of the Independent Avatar types resulted in created ninjas, not to mention those types usually ever only created one summon… "Mittelt. How many of those things did he summon?"

"Way more than the guys beating him up."

She nodded absently. If there're no Independent Avatar-type Sacred Gears that match that description, well, it could be a subspecies. But something told her otherwise. A Creation-type Gear? Those're only good for making objects, not living creatures. Well, all of them except-

She stopped, eyes going wide and blood draining from her face. "...Mittelt."

"You don't have to keep saying my name, Ray-chan, I'm right here-"

"Did the boy look like he knew what he was doing?"

"Huh? Oh, no, he looked pretty gobsmacked. Heheh, it was kinda cute watching him ask his summons stuff-"

"We're heading back."

The petite blonde blinked. "E-eh? To the church? Why?"

"We have to get Dohnaseek and Kalawarner up to speed, and then prep the Extractor."

"The extrac- wait, what? I thought we were gonna recruit them!"

Raynare spread her black-feathered wings and lifted herself into the air. "This is too important to leave up to chance. We have to get that Gear to Lord Azazel, no matter what!"

"But wait, weren't we gonna use the Extractor on that Twilight Healing girl? If we use it now, we'll have to wait a whole month to use it again without making the Devils suspicious!" protested Mittelt flying up after her.

Raynare took off towards the abandoned church at the edge of town, her subordinate yelping and flapping to keep up. Twilight Healing is certainly powerful, but it can wait. The Devils have a newly awakened user of a Longinus on their hands; we have to grab him NOW, before they snatch him up, or he grows too powerful of a threat!

Lord Azazel will be happy to study Annihilation Maker…so happy.

ASM

Roy sighed as he walked out of school. He'd had a few minor heart attacks when he'd encountered some of the boys from the Judo club that had attacked him, but they'd only given him confused looks. It seemed whatever was affecting them had also wiped their memories of the event. At the very least, he didn't have to worry about them carrying a grudge from earlier.

As he left the school grounds and made his way towards home, he glanced around to see whether anyone was watching. Seeing no one, lifted his hand, wordlessly willing his Shadowkhan to appear. Instantly they formed up, out of the shadows of a tree stretching across the road from the setting sun, kneeling before him.

He smiled. So I don't need to actually command them verbally. Nodding at them, they vanished again. This is so fucking cool. Mentally, he brought up the image of his power- his Sacred Gear. The image of that marked coin shone gently, still marked with Numerous. Whenever he summoned the Shadowkhan, it would pulse lightly, creating ripples in the liquid darkness. And yet, while he knew that the ninjas had been created by this phenomenon, he couldn't help but feel like there was more to it. It's almost like a template, he thought to himself, a core concept that a monster has to adhere to. So these ninjas are just ninjas because I imagined them that way, but the important thing is that they're 'numerous.' So theoretically, couldn't I make any other 'numerous' monster?

Before he could attempt to puzzle this out, however, a female voice suddenly called out to him. "Excuse me!" Roy turned and blinked as a tall, navy-haired woman waved him down. She wore a wide-colored maroon coat and mini-skirt, the former of which only had a couple of buttons, showing off a vast swatch of voluptuous cleavage. He quickly tore his eyes away to gaze up into her eyes, faintly realizing that this woman was quite tall. She gave him a small, patient smile, having clearly noticed his brief staring. "Could you tell me which way to get to the nearest hotel?"

"Hotel…?" he frowned, "Er, I'd say you're in the wrong part of town for the tourist area." He pointed behind him. "You're gonna want…" That was all he got before something hard and heavy struck the back of his neck with a *THWACK!* Seriously, what is today…? he thought dimly, shortly before he hit the ground and passed out.

Kalawarna let out the breath she'd been holding, watching the shadows. Having just seen the boy summon those ninjas, she had almost been afraid that they might come springing out the moment she struck. Fortunately, it seemed that he needed to consciously command them to come to his aid. "Tough luck, kid. Best keep your guard up," she commented aloud, scooping him up in her arms (and pressing his head to her sizable bust) before spreading her wings and taking off.

Let's see Mittelt and Dohnaseek pull off a grab that slick!

ASM

When Roy opened his eyes again, it was to find himself lying on a cold, hard floor. A quick shift told him that his hands and feet had been tied firmly, and his mouth had been gagged. He broke out in a cold sweat, even as his head throbbed.

Distant voices reached his ears, and he squirmed slowly, hoping not to draw any attention as he turned himself to take a sideways look at where he was. From the stone walls, gothic drapery and lack of windows, he wondered if he was in some sort of underground room. It certainly was spacious, from the view he had.

Craning his neck, Roy spotted some sort of silvery contraption mounted on a far wall. More pressing, however, was the crowd of black-hooded figures milling about, muttering to themselves. Have I actually been abducted by a cult? he wondered incredulously. He stifled a groan of pain as the back of his head throbbed.

Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice that he'd woken up.

"So, how's it goin', ladies?" called a harsh, mocking voice. Blearily, Roy turned his gaze about to see a white-haired young man, possibly about his own age, swaggering in from the distant doorway. Or at least he assumed that's what it was; his vision was quite blurry and it hurt to focus.

"It'll be another thirty minutes before the moon's right for the ritual, Sellzen," sighed one of the figures, another male, "You know this already."

"Sure, sure, but the boss bitch wanted me to play messenger and ask. You know how she gets."

"...Please don't talk about Lady Raynare like that."

"What, you worried about me blabbin' behind her back? Fuck no, I've said that shit to her face too." The man turned towards Roy, who quickly squeezed his eyes shut. "Best get that beauty sleep, sunshine," he said cheerfully, "You'll make a lovely corpse once we yank that Sacred Gear out!"

Great, thought Roy gloomily, Kidnapped by a shady cult and thirty minutes for a ritual? Not good, no matter what it's for. How do I get out of here?

The Shadowkhan could cut me loose and pull me into the shadows.

It takes a few seconds to sink into the shadows and I'm not sure how long I can hold my breath in there. I need to distract them. I need more monsters.

I don't have anymore coins.

I have the Template. I'll make more from that.

They'll be weak.

As long as they keep this lot busy, that's fine. I remembered the Shadowkhan, I can think of other 'numerous' minions.

Breathing deeply through his mouth, he once more brought up the image of the emblazoned coin and the pool of darkness. He bit his cloth gag as he imagined the swirling darkness collapsing towards the glowing silver coin, vanishing as it touched the edges.

The image of the Shadowkhan appeared in his mind's eye, followed by the rapidly forming image of a new, similar figure. There came a peculiar tugging sensation from his gut, like something slowly draining out of him. However, even as the first new image sharpened in his mind, he continued, starting to form another one.

Something to strike with surety. Something to take up their attention and intimidate them.

Yes. These will do.

He cracked open an eye to see what everyone was doing. The cultists were busy drawing lines of chalk on the walls and floors while also assembling the altar.

Suddenly, a pair of red orbs obscured his vision, and a hand firmly grasped his jaw. "Well now, you have any pleasant dreams?" sneered the man from before, Sellzen. Then he frowned. "You did just get up, didn't you?"

Roy grunted, casting his gaze past him to the opposite wall, where the toiling figures' shadows were being cast by flickering candle-light. Shadows…

Strike.

Suddenly, there came screams of shock and agony as transparent black katana blades sprang from the shadows on the walls, impaling the men that had cast them, followed immediately by black-armored figures. Their helmets were very obviously samurai-inspired, but with a beetle-like look to them, especially as the sides swooped down to cover their shoulders and neck. They moved coldly and efficiently, their blades swinging about in quick, brutal arcs.

Roy shuddered, a nauseous feeling churning like a ball in his gut as bodies fell. Ah…I did order them to attack, he thought guiltily, They really do follow through on what I tell them without hesitation…

However, recovering remarkably quickly, the rest of the men quickly withdrew hilts from their robes, and his eyes bulged as blades of light sprang forth to clash with those razor sharp shadow-swords. LIGHTSABERS?! The golden, glowing blades easily sheared through his new Ashigaru Shadowkhan, revealing their armor to be a paper-thin bluff. Each cut instantly reduced an unfortunate warrior to a rapidly-dispersing wisp of shadows.

…I want one too.

The man holding him looked around in astonishment. "Wha-? Oh! Clever dick!" he laughed, reaching into his pocket, "But I can't have you killin' my dudes like that!" He drew out a lightsaber hilt and held it to Roy's elbow, "Juuust gonna take a little off the sides for ya, champ, before the extraction. It'll just be a fleshwound!"

Roy couldn't help but let out a yelp of terror behind his gag, and called for his other new creation.

A massive, meaty hand suddenly grabbed Sellzen by the skull. The man's leering expression sharpened and with astonishing speed he lashed out behind him, igniting his saber. However, even as the blade of light slashed through the massively muscular man-thing that had grabbed him, the new Shadowkhan held on just long enough to hurl the man away bodily, sending him tumbling through the air with a yowl of surprise. As it burst into shadows, however, Roy pushed, and several more came boiling out of the ground to charge into the fray.

Simultaneously, one of the regular ninjas slid out from behind the boy and immediately severed the ropes binding him, untying his gag.

"Get me the fuck outta here!" hissed Roy, keeping an eye on the melee. Apart from the white-haired man, who had landed in a heap near the fight and was now desperately rolling away from the Ashigaru and slashing back at them.

The shinobi grasped his shoulders and they began to sink into the ground, Roy drawing in a deep breath of air before the ground closed over his head.

Darkness swirled around him. A pitch-black abyss that felt like warm water, but warm, and somehow not all that wet. He held his breath, having learned already that this shadow-stuff was not breathable, eyes watering as his head throbbed with pain. The only other thing he could feel was an indistinct sense of motion, and the hands carefully keeping hold of his upper arms.

Finally, his lungs began burning for new oxygen, and he willed the Shadowkhan to let him surface. A moment later, he breached the surface, rising out of the ground with a gasp.

He looked around wildly, trying to figure out where the hell he was, and saw a dilapidated church behind him, highlighted by the setting sun. A church…was I underneath there? Fuck, this shadow travel is slow as shit!

"A-again!" he ordered, crawling to his feet. However, before the shadowkhan could grasp hold of him again, a pair of glowing javelins lanced down from the sky, forcing them to leap away. Roy yelped, ducking down and covering his head as more spears rained down, herding his escorts away from him. He attempted to summon two more at his sides, but they were instantly impaled and popped like dark soap bubbles.

"That's far enough, boy!" called a female voice in the distance. He turned, stumbling and feeling lightheaded, to gaze up at the sky, where he could see four winged silhouettes hanging in the air, carrying aloft multi-colored spears of light. "Just stop resisting and it will all be over quickly!"

"I'd, nngh, r-rather it not be over at all!" he called back, "Lemme guess, you want my power? You could've just asked!"

"Not likely," came the cold reply from the lead Fallen, "Those Devils got to you first, even if they didn't fully claim you. We can't risk you having mixed loyalties if you were to join us."

He groaned. "With a hard-line stance like that, yeah, no shit, lady!"

She gave a humorless laugh. "If you're going to blame anyone, blame God for giving you such a dangerous power to toy with!"

"Oh, and I'm sure you'll use it so much better!" snapped Roy, "Get down off your high horse and look me in the eye before you spout self-serving bullshit like that!"

"Self-serving…?" She lifted the red spear in her hand, "You don't know what you're talking about!"

Suddenly, there came a whistling sound, and one of the other figures quickly reached out, snagging something out of the air. "...An arrow," they murmured in a male voice. "Someone else is out here.

"...Huh? What's that paper attached to it?"

"Shit! Talisman!"

Roy let out a grunt of pain as suddenly the evening lit up with a blinding light and a blast of sound, shutting his eyes as the Fallen Angels cried out in shock.

"Roy!"

He heard that familiar voice, before a pair of slender, but surprisingly toned arms suddenly lifted him up, and then he was being carried away.

"Damnit, after them!" he heard in the distance, the Fallen woman's voice filled with raw frustration and desperation.

However, there was little he could do now. Now that he was being carried, the adrenaline was draining from his body, leaving him weak and limp. "W-where are we going…?" he asked the woman carrying him.

"The shrine," came the terse answer.

"The shrine…" He blearily opened an eye to see that they were running through trees. "The shrine…that's a little bit south, right?"

"Y-yeah. Just hold on, Roy, I've got you! You're safe now."

He grunted. "No. Not yet. Stop for a second."

"I'm not gonna just let you go-"

"Not that. Just stop for a moment, onee-chan."

The woman stopped. "...Aha. I wondered if you knew it was me…"

Roy sighed. "Nee-san, I'm gonna remember that voice of yours." He snapped his fingers, and four Shadowkhan materialized. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel them, even as Chiaki gasped. "Take a deep breath."

"Eh?"

"Breathe deep and hold it! Quick."

He felt her inhale, and did the same. A moment later, darkness closed over him.

When they finally surfaced, his older sister letting out her breath in shock and amazement, they were just feet from the path up the steps towards the old Shinto shrine. "Th-they won't be able to come here uninvited," she muttered, carrying him up the steps, "Sorry, but you might need to stay the night."

"Uh huh…"

"Ahh…I didn't want you to find out about this world like this…"

Roy grunted, even as his eyelids grew heavy. So, even my big sis knows about the supernatural.

Hah. She came to rescue me. What a cool sister.

ASM

AN: And that's a wrap. I'm seriously motivated for this fic, so let's see how much more I can get done.

UO: Yes…*Glances at his other stuff and how slow it takes*

Anyway, note time! I bet y'all missed these!

1: As much as I like Rias and like the whole Peerage thing, I decided it would be more interesting if Roy were to remain human for the time being.

2: I stan giving Rias actual humanizing depths!

Sol: Me too!

3: A lot of people tend to forget this, but what Rias wants most in the world is not powerful servants, but a friend who sees her as just another girl. An equal, not the heiress to a Devil noble family. And I'm willing to bet anything that none of her Peerage members are as big Otaku as she is, and Sona sure as hell wouldn't be.

4: Speaking of giving characters more fleshing out, how about that Raynare? Unlike Waking Dreamer, I'm keeping her as she was originally, but with a bit more dimension to her.

5: Being such a fangirl of Azazel, she would of course keep up to date on his information about Sacred Gears and their types, thus allowing her to deduce that they're dealing with Annihilation Maker. A newly Awakened Annihilation Maker that is basically at its weakest point, while they've already got a Sacred Gear extractor warmed up.

6: Asia has not yet entered the picture, for those who are curious.

7: As long as we're handing out interesting personalities to characters, the personality of Freed Sellzen will be played by Jackie Avocado.

8: So, using a coin (or more) creates an Aspect Template, which Roy can channel his pool of energy into in order to create different monster variants.

9: In order to not be completely overpowered, Shadowkhan shadow-traveling is rather slow, due to being an ability not directly supported by their Aspect.

10: Surprise! Big sis Chiaki's shrine maiden gig comes with weapons training and enchanted talismans. ...It also comes with a complementary wardrobe, but we'll get to that.

And that about sums it up for a summary! On to new monsters.

Ashigaru Shadowkhan
Tier-1
Aspect: Numerous
Abilities: Peak human swordsmanship, equipped with shadow-phasing blades, enhanced speed.

Sumo Shadowkhan
Tier-1
Aspect: Numerous
Abilities: Peak human strength, increased durability (still low due to Aspect), immense size, intimidation

Thanks to my friends UnitedOsprey1991 and Soleneus for looking over my stuff, no matter how little help they may render sometimes. ;)