*Beep, Beep, Beep*
"Ugghhhh... damn alarm"
Chris De Santis rolls out of bed and begins his day like any other day: Get up early, hit the gym, come home and get ready for work. The most typical of typical workdays. Chris was 34, average stature and build and no family lived near him. Normal as normal could be! After hitting the gym, as he does, he returned home and continued getting ready for work. He got into his uniform, grabbed a cup of coffee, and hit the road.
He heads onto the highway and makes his way to work. As he's driving, his phone begins to ring. He reaches into his pocket, pulls it out and answers it, "Hello?" A very strange noise and voice comes in on the other end. He pulls the phone away suddenly and it flings out of his hand. He went to grab it; however, he jerked the steering wheel. At that speed, his vehicle lost control and it careened off the road. As he gained consciousness, he was in so much pain as he looked down and found an object protruding from his stomach.
"Oh fuck... this way sucks..." He touches around the wound as he tries to move. He lets out a couple coughs as blood spits out of his mouth. A cold blackness takes over.
*Beep, Beep, Beep*
"Ugghhh... shut up alarm!" Chris sits up in bed, stretches, and yawns. As he opens his eyes, he begins to look around. His bedroom is COMPLETELY different, the air was humid with the faint smell of salt in the air. "What in the actual fuck is happening?" He starts looking around, trying to get his bearings. He starts looking at his hands and body. His body was somehow different, he jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. He throws the light on and yells! "What the hell happened to me!" His appearance was that of a much younger version of himself!
"Honey, are you alright up there?" A womans voice calls from downstairs.
Chris pokes his head out of the bathroom and walks to the bedroom door, opening it slowly. He looks out the door, down the hall and sees a set of stairs. He creeps down, gripping onto the handrail as if he would fly away at any moment and sees a man and woman sitting at a table. The woman looks up, "Good morning honey! Are you alright up there? Sounded like something startled you?"
Chris's voice cracks as he stumbles over his words, "Who are you people?" He clears his throat, "I mean, where the hell am I?"
The man looks up at Chris, "Hey sport, you must have had a helluva night! You don't even recognize your own parents!"
"Come again?" Chris said sharply with a look on his face.
"You're such a character! Hurry up honey, you're going to be late for school! Your clothes are in the bathroom down here, so go get ready!"
Chris looks to where the woman was pointing and found a school uniform that was far smaller than his normal clothes! He gets the uniform on, which fit him nicely surprisingly, and starts to head out of the door.
"Have a great day, honey! We love you!"
"Seriously, what the hell is happening to me? I've gotta wake up from this nightmare. Shit, wait... where am I even going?"
Chris looks around and sees a few kids dressed in the same uniform as his. He trails behind them until they arrive at a large building with white block work. A large sign over the main entrance said, 'Kuoh Academy'. "Ok, this is happening again... man, I REALLY don't want to be here."
He enters the gates, and he looks around, "Why are there so many girls here?! Whoever the superintendent, principal, head honcho is here needs to be investigated."
"Who are you?" A voice from behind Chris yells. Chris spins around and sees three guys walking up with each other.
"There's not too many other guys here, so you kinda stick out like a sore thumb."
"What?" Chris looks befuddled at the three kids.
"Yo, this's just great! More competition for all these fine honeys around here. You better not get in my way, sucka!" One of the other guys shakes his fist at Chris.
"Yeah, Issei is finally off the market with Rias and now you show up?! This blows!"
"Matsuda! Motohama! Give the new guy a break, at least introduce yourself before you start going all nuts on him."
"So you're Issei? Matsuda? Motohama?" Chris points at each of the guys.
"I'm Chris De Santis and… when did the world start spinning so fast?" Chris collapses.
Chris begins to wake up in what looks like a hospital ward and sees Issei sitting on a chair next him, "Ughh... damn it, I was really hoping I was gonna wake up from this nightmare situation."
Issei chuckles, "What are you talking about man?"
Chris sits up on the side of the bed toward Issei, "This is going to sound... crazy. My name is Chris De Santis, I'm 34 years old and not from here, wherever here is. I was in a car wreck yesterday and next thing I know, I look half my age with parents and apparently attend an oddly ratioed school."
Issei jumps up and gets right into Chris's face, "Wait, you're 34?!"
"Bro, out of everything I just said... that's your hang up? I don't even look like I'm the right age! I've got no fucking clue as to where I am at or how I got here, and you're stuck on the fact that I'M FUCKING 34?!"
"Chill out man! This school has some hidden shit in it. Check this out!" Issei steps back and wings come blasting out of his back.
Chris shuffles back on the bed, nearly falling off the opposite end, "What in the hell is going on here? I've got to be losing my mind..."
"Nope, I'm a devil and I'm with the Gremory house here. We also have angels and fallen angels in this area as well. Luckily, there hasn't been any issues for quite some time."
"Do me a favor, just kill me... take me out to pasture and just shoot me..."
Issei gives a hefty laugh, "Oh man, you've gotta chill out! You really could be in worst places."
Chris falls back on the bed, "Bro, I doubt that."
"Come on, let me take you to my friends. I think maybe they can help you sort out this whole situation."
Chris follows Issei through the school and he notices that people are looking intently at them as they pass by. Chris keeps his eyes down but feels the stares and hears the hushed whispers of people talking. They leave the main building and head out to another building on the grounds. They go inside and head upstairs to what appears to be a large sitting room.
"Huh, I thought for sure they would be here by now."
A glowing disc appears next to his ear and whatever is happening startles Issei and he runs out of the room followed by Chris close behind.
"Chris, you aren't going to want any part of this! You need to leave!"
"Dude, if these friends have answers for what the hell is going on, then I'm coming with you!"
Issei growls and looks up to the ceiling, "Then stay the hell back and don't freak out!"
Chris is a bit confused about what he might be getting himself into as he follows Issei out of the building and into the town. They rush to an abandoned warehouse building and inside is a large group of people, mostly female, fighting what appears to be a towering, grotesque spider creature of some sort. Chris is taken back immediately at the presence of the monster.
One of the guys in the group turns to see Chris and Issei running up, "Issei, we need your hel... WHY WOULD YOU BRING A HUMAN HERE DUMBASS?!"
"Kiss my ass Saji! He insisted on coming! Chris, find somewhere to hide!"
"Never mind that! Right now, this stray devil is proving to be troublesome!" The red-haired girl begins to float in mid-air. A red aurora surrounds her and suddenly the creature begins to writhe in pain, letting out a terrifying scream. The ground begins to shake, and two more grotesque creatures crash through the walls of the warehouse, these were smaller in size and more resembled a humanoid.
The group spreads out and chaos ensues as the red-haired girl and another girl with short black hair take command of the situation and giving orders to the others. Chris finds some rubble to hide behind and begins to panic. "Holy shit, what the fuck are those things! I Should have listened to Issei before and ran back to the house or at least stayed in that damn room!" Chris cowers behind the rubble, his head tucked up by his knees.
Chris's heart begins to race, he peaks over the rubble and it seems that the group is having some serious issues with the creatures, "I want to help, but I'm not on that level, what can I do?" Chris remembers the phone call he received when he met his demise before. A raspy voice begins chanting over and over in his head; he begins to understand what the voice is saying, "Power comes in response to a need, not a desire. Awaken, Oathbreaker, and realize the power within you. Become the monster amongst dragons."
Chris's heart slows and begins to beat hard. The sound of hard thuds resonate in his head and ears as the voice continues to chant the same saying, drowning out all the fighting around the warehouse. The hair on his body begins to stand on end. He stands up from behind the rubble and begins to walk toward the fighting. A translucent flame begins to surround Chris's body and reacts to the increase in power.
What is happening to me? What is this power? Chris's thoughts begin to race. The sound of the world fades away until only the chanting remains.
"Chris get back..." Issei and the others are taken back by the presence of Chris walking toward them, fists clenched and energy resonating from his body. The creatures seemed less interested in their current foes and more interested in the human walking toward them. One of the creatures tries to smash Chris with its large, gnarled hand. He grabs it with both hands as the creatures fingers struggle to ball up into a fist. In one quick motion, the creature's hand is ripped off of its arm by Chris. He throws it to the ground as the creature screams and grabs its now mangled arm. With a loud, screeching voice, "You son of a bitch, you took my hand off! How!? You're just a human! KILL THIS MAGGOT!" The larger of the three creatures backs up toward the shadows deep in the warehouse as the other two creatures walk up to Chris.
Chris looks up at both creatures that were a few feet taller than himself. One smiled and through a punch directly at his new challenger. Chris quickly grabs the creatures arm and swings the monster into its partner, sending both monsters in opposite directions. The first attacker smashed into the wall next to Chris, who follows up with a massive punch directly at the monster's head. Its head explodes all over the wall and the body drops to the ground, still twitching. Chris pulls his arm out of the wall and flicks his arm to get the brain and bodily fluids off it as he turns to the second smaller monster still reeling from the last hit. The monster regains its bearings and sees its partners' body on the ground twitching. It clenches its fists and leaps at Chris. He punches the creature in the stomach and grabs one of its arms. He swings around to the back of the creature and grabs its other arm. The creature struggles in pain as Chris plants a foot on its back and begins to pull the monsters arms further toward him. Two loud pops come from the creature's shoulders and it screams in pain, the arms go limp at its side. It turns toward Chris, panting heavily, fear in its eyes. Chris looks at the monster, furrows his brow and quickly slams the monster's head to the ground and delivers a final blow like the other creature.
Holy shit what is happening right now?! Chris thought to himself.
He walks further into the shadows, feeling the presence of the final creatures lurking about. His aura providing minimal light in the darkness, he hears dripping coming from behind him. The creature lands its long nails on Chris's back, deep lacerations appear. Chris spins around in pain and finds the monster crawling back up a column in the warehouse. Chris jumps up and knocks the creature back to the ground. It struggled to regain its footing as Chris slammed back on to the ground. The creatures legs were damaged in the fall as it tries to slink away from Chris, "What… what the fuck are you?!"
In a large booming voice, "I am the monster among dragons! You will know and fear my power!"
Chris yells as his power increases, the ground shaking around him. The monster attacks Chris as a last-ditch effort to subdue him. Chris jumps and punches through the creature's shoulder. As he pulls his arm out, he delivers an energy blast directly to the creature's face, sending it against the wall. Chris grabs the monster's coarse hair, lifting its face to look at his, "Now you die", Chris delivers a punch that goes through the monster's eye and out the back of its head. The body falls limp to the ground. Chris descends from the air, grabs the creatures arm and drags it from the shadows to lay at the groups feet.
In the same booming voice, "The creatures have been disposed of."
Chris's glow and energy fade away quickly and he collapses to the ground. A pool of blood forms from the wound on Chris's back. The group gets him back to the school and into the room where Issei originally brought him.
Chris begins to wake up slowly. His sight was blurry and his head was pounding like a bass drum.
"Man, what the hell happened? My body feels like I've been through hell and back…" Chris mumbled to himself as he slowly sat up on a couch.
"Take it easy man, you've just been through a lot. Try not to move too much," a blonde-haired kid is kneeled down in front of Chris as he rises and turns to the young man.
"Yo, what was that about! You didn't tell me you're a badass fighter like that!" Issei said excitedly.
"Bro, I can't stress to you how weird this whole situation is. I don't know where I'm at, what day, month, year it is. I don't know how I did that earlier," Chris leans back in the couch. His head hits the top of the couch against a very soft set of what he thought were pillows. He glances up a little bit and saw a very attractive dark-haired woman looking down at him, "Oh my, he's just like Issei!"
Chris shoots his head up quickly, "Oh shit, I'm so sorry. That was an accident! Oh shit, I moved to fast…" Chris winced in pain and felt around his back. Scar tissue had already formed over the wounds from the fight.
"You're fine! I snuck up behind you is all."
"Akeno, don't startle him too much! We've only just met him, we don't want him running for the hills," The commanding red-haired girl said softly.
Chris stands up slowly and backs up away from everyone and bumps into another young woman, "Watch out dickweed before I send you through the wall," a soft, emotionless voice comes from behind Chris.
"Oh my god, I'm making an ass of myself. Let's start this over, I'm Chris De Santis and I don't have a damn clue as to where I'm at and how I got here... help?"
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Rias Gremory and this is the Occult Research Club. Has Issei explained to you what we do here?"
"Other than the fact that dude is a devil... no... not really."
"Well, we are ALL devils here," each person in the room suddenly sprouts demon wings. Chris is stunned and trying to comprehend what is happening in this world that is now his reality.
"Ok, please walk me through this... why are devils, angels, and all that religious crap in this world real? Where I come from, religion was more of a belief. God, Satan, yah know depending on what you believed in."
Rias begins to explain to Chris the recent truce between the families of Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels. She went into detail about whom everyone was and how a fallen angel named Azazel is their mentor and trainer for something that these devils call a rating game. These games are played to settle disputes, make major decisions, and rank up in their world. Rias explains how the devil families, angel factions, and fallen angels work together to keep smaller, splinter factions from getting out of hand. She continued to explain about a squad of evil beings made up of different factions calling themselves the Khaos Brigade, led by Vali whom is the Vanishing White Dragon; Issei being the Red Dragon of Destruction.
"Let that sink in for a moment," Rias said softly to Chris.
Chris takes a deep breath, "Sounds like you've all been through the ringer. Between fighting with that Vali guy and the Khaos brigade and that rating game you've just got done with, I'm understanding the whole family dynamic now. But how and why did I get in this world and what part do I play?"
"That's a very good question. Your power isn't demonic or angelic, it's something... different. Issei, would Ddraig know anything about this?"
"Yo, Ddraig! What are you picking up about this power that Chris has?"
A green orb appears on Isseis' hand and another booming voice begins to speak, "There was once a legend of warriors that were known as dragon slayers. These warriors were few in numbers, but their power could reach levels on par with Great Reds' in sheer strength. This power hasn't been seen for millenia and was thought to be gone forever. The fact that this human possesses such power is extremely concerning."
"Ok, talking globe, just to poke a few holes in your theory there... I'm not a dragon slayer! It's not like I'm trying to destroy you now! I also can't control this power. It just... happens."
"The universe demands balance, many of the dragons have awakened with possessors of sacred gears. That could be the reason for sudden awakening of the paladins' power."
"Chris, understand that if you try to harm ANYONE in my house, I will not hesitate to destroy you!" Rias begins to glow red and fire seems to glow in her eyes. Akeno steps behind Rias and shoots a look to Chris, "You'll have me to contend with as well."
"Yah know, I think I'm good," Chris said nervously, "Look I don't want to hurt anyone, if this is now my reality then I'm gonna need some help understanding what exactly is going on."
"A paladin! What a remarkable story, kid." A tall dark-haired man appears behind everyone. "Sounds like we need to add another member to the Gremory clan!"
"Who are you exactly? And when the hell did you get here!?" Chris looked around, puzzled.
"This is our mentor and trainer, Azazel." Rias said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you Chris! Hope you don't mind me gently coaxing you into the group. I've already discussed it with your parents and they've agreed to your 'long-term, out-of-country, exploration trip'." Azazel gave Chris a snarky thumbs up.
"I never agreed to that Azazel. That is our home! Why do you mettle in our affairs like this?" Rias stated sharply.
"Rias, think about this. If what Ddraig says is true, Chris's power is nearly limitless! This could be very helpful in future rating games or if the Khaos Brigade ramps up again."
Rias sighs loudly, "I suppose... you're right."
"Nice! It'll be awesome to have another guy in the house. Kiba and I stay in one of the wings of our house, there's plenty of rooms that you can take!" Issei exclaims.
"If there are no other objections, we should get back home. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have once we're home, Chris."
Chris sighs and nods. The group gathers in the large open space near the front of the room, Rias in the center of everyone. "Get in here man!" Kiba motions to Chris to join the group. A large red circle appears on the ground and above the group. Suddenly, the upper circle closes in on everyone and, in a blink, everyone is now in Issei's house. This house is more like a damn castle, Chris thought to himself. Issei and Kiba show Chris to the few rooms where the guys are sleeping.
Chris finds himself a room, "Make yourself comfortable. It's great living here, hopefully you'll come to realize that in time. Take as much time as you need to adjust and we'll see you when you're ready," Kiba smiled and gave a wave, shutting the door behind him. Chris looks around and opens the closet double doors and finds his measly amount of clothes in the closet. He smirks, shuts the door, walks over to the massive bed and sits down. He throws himself back on the bed as his mind wanders.
"Why the long face buddy?" Azazel appears at the head of the bed.
Chris leaps off the bed with a yell, "Shit man, you've gotta stop just appearing randomly!"
"I understand that this a lot to take in. But allow me to answer any questions you might have, but before you ask, I plan on meeting with the other devil families and see about this power of yours. There very well could be some information in the archives that would better explain why and how this power came to be."
Chris spent the better part of the night asking Azazel questions about this new world. Many of the things that Chris enjoyed in his world are still present in this one, with some minor differences, of course. Azazel explained the family dynamic with this new group of people as well. How these girls swoon over Issei and what made him so special to the Gremory household. Azazel also explained more of everyone's role in the family, how the devils treat each member as a chess piece, and which members were what pieces and the powers that were granted to them because of that.
It was nearly dawn once Chris was done asking questions and talking with Azazel. The fallen angel excused himself and Chris was left with the new knowledge of this world. He laid in bed looking up at the ridiculously tall ceilings and found himself crying ever so slightly, missing his old life and job. He took a deep breath, "Well... now what?" He closed his eyes and he fell asleep.