Last of the Line

I do not own Highschool DxD or any of it's characters. I own only Vale.

Author's Note: Alrighty guys, 13 people voted on the poll so far. Kuroka and Vali are tied for first. Followed by Valerie, Tiamat, Arthur, Great Red, Fenrir, and Bikou. Several others behind that. Bottom line is that nearly every one got a vote. Also, to any who search for this story via pairing, Rias and Vale aren't a romantic pairing I just see them becoming very close friends. I originally had an idea for a Vale/Rias pairing, but like I said we'll see what happens. Also, just FYI, I never said that Vale will be successful in restarting his clan. Also, last bit, something occurred to me when I thought about Vale being a one woman guy. This is the Highschool DxD universe, this thing is freaking built for harem fics. So, Vale will be getting a harem. Not sure who will be in it yet, suggestions are welcome. Also, for future reference, whenever I talk about future events in a chapter remember what Yoda said: always in motion, the future is.(AKA: things don't always transpire exactly as described)

Chapter 7-Something Borrowed

Vale scurried around his room desperately trying to make sure that he had everything he needed to ruin Riser's engagement party that night. Rias had left a few hours ago to get ready for the aforementioned party. His preparations were not helped by his two new familiars, the twin Shikigamis, Zenki and Goki, trying to eat anything that would fit in their gargantuan, toothy mouths. His last night in England he had dropped by the Familiar forest with Mil-tan and they had each grabbed their familiar. Mil-tan had chosen an Undine he had named Kasumi. He desperately rifled through the trunk at the end of his bed searching for the book he needed to reference to make sure for the umpteenth time to make sure what he had planned was legal among the 72 Pillars clans.

"Mil-tan, have you seen my Traditions of the 72 Pillars book anywhere?" Vale asked as he tossed the books from his trunk when he couldn't find the one he needed.

"Yeah, I saw Zenki grab it a few minutes ago-nyo." Mil-tan called from his room. Vale stood up and took off at full speed towards the clubroom, this had become Zenki and Goki's favorite hangout in their short tenure with him. He arrived just in time to see Zenki dangling his book over his mouth. Vale extended an arm and shot a javelin made of ice towards the Shikigami. It hurtled towards the 7-foot tall, blue, horned Shikigami, before embedding itself in the wall with a SHUNK! less than three inches from Zenki's throat.

"Human forms. Now." Vale said with barely contained rage. Two seconds later, the ogres were replaced by two tall, attractive boys. Both were dressed in brown leather jackets and black jeans. One had had messy blue hair. The other had long, bright red hair with bangs that covered one eye, in truth Goki only had one eye, Zenki had five, Vale didn't even wanna think about where Zenki was hiding them in his human form.

"Listen, go pass out fliers for the rest of the night. If either of you eat anything of mine or Rias' again, I'll kill you both. When I get back, we will have a serious discussion of your behavior." Vale said angrily, both of the boys nodded before exiting the clubroom. Vale walked over to the book Zenki had dropped on the floor.

"Yada yada yada... Ah! Here it is, 'while this tradition has fallen into disuse since the end of the Great War, it still has valid legal precedence in the Underworld.' let's just hope Sirzechs backs me up on its legality." Vale said as he ripped the page out of the book and pocketed it as he went to get dressed for the party...

An hour later at Phenex Castle...

Vale appeared in front of the Medieval European-style castle. It was adorned with many banners the bore the insignias of both the Houses Phenex and Gremory. He grimaced at the sight of the servants serving horsd'oeuvres to the countless pompous High-class Devils. He quickly surveyed the courtyard but saw hide nor hair of anyone of help to him so he turned towards the opulently decorated front gate and headed inside. The front door led to a beautiful entry hall that had an orange carpet running down the center of the hall with magic torches on either side, bathing the crowded hall in soft, flickering orange light. He only had to search for a few minutes before he ran into Akeno, who was dressed in a black yukata with a yellow obi.

"Hey Akeno, where's Rias?" Vale asked as he walked up next to Akeno. Under normal circumstances he would've commented on the normally beautiful girl who currently looked absolutely breathtaking in her current attire, but these weren't normal circumstances.

"Ara ara, what are you doing here Vale-san?" Akeno remarked as she saw one of the rarest sights in the Underworld, Vale Beleth dressed in formal attire.

"Riser invited me to rub his engagement in my face, now I'm gonna make him look like an idiot in front of everyone. Now again, where is Rias?" Vale asked, hardly in a mood to be teased or treated like a child.

"She's up in one of the dressing rooms on the third floor there's a Do Not Disturb sign on the door, you'll be hard pressed to miss it."

"Thank you Akeno-san, hang tight I'll be back soon. Ooh! Koneko-chan, may I borrow your iPod?" Vale called as he spotted Koneko and Kiba entering the entry hall dressed in formal attire and ran to meet them. Koneko in a ruffled white dress, Kiba in a black tuxedo...

Up in Rias' dressing room...

Rias heaved a titanic sigh as she examined herself in the mirror. By all accounts she looked beautiful in the long flowing, white wedding dress with gold accents, but she didn't think she looked beautiful, all she felt like doing was crying. She wanted to cry, but she'd done enough of that over the past few days to last a lifetime, even for a Devil. All she could do now was watch as she was forced to marry Riser Phenex. At least she could take comfort in the fact that Issei was still alive, even if it was only just. But despite that, she felt like her entire world was crumbling around her. She was supposed to be a King, she was supposed to protect her servants from harm yet she'd only been able to sit back and watch as Riser had bludgeoned Issei within an inch of his life. Rias was distracted from her thought by a knock on the dressing room door.

"Who is it?" she asked, hoping it wasn't Riser or one of his servants come to gloat.

"Strippergram." she heard a familiar voice call from behind the door. She giggled as she strode over to the door and opened it to see Vale leaning against the door frame with a crooked grin on his face. He was dressed in a long black tunic with gold trim and black leggings with a stiff shiny, black belt around his waist, the whole outfit was completed with a long black, velvet cape that went almost all the way down to the floor that was embroidered on the back and shoulders with the Beleth clan insignia in gold thread. Rias' first thought was that his outfit looked like something from a medieval European nobleman's wardrobe. She opened her mouth to greet him when he interrupted by asking,

"Why, by all that is sacred, are you wearing a wedding dress?" Vale asked incredulously as he stood up.

"Oh this? Riser thought it was a good idea, and my family agreed, so here I am." she said with a despondent shrug.

"Oh, that'll never do." he replied as he entered the room and locked the door behind him.

"So you said you had a plan to get me out of this. Mind filling me in?" she asked as she saw a magic circle appear in front of him.

"Sorry, but that's not gonna happen. Filling you in makes you co-conspirator. When this go down both your family and Riser's are gonna be pissed, they have to believe this is my plan, not yours. If they think you helped they might pull you out of school to keep us apart and just move the date. I will not let that happen." he said as he knelt down and opened the box that had appeared in the circle and pulled out a dark red and black dress before walking over and handing it to Rias.

"Take this and turn around." he said as she took the dress from his hand. Rias nodded and before she say anything coherent Vale yanked down the zipper on the back of her dress. Rias squeaked in a noneffective protest.

"Oh don't you go getting modest on me now. I've pretty much seen you naked already, letting me see your underwear won't kill either of us. It might raise my blood pressure a tad but not much else." he said as he worked on removing the wedding dress from her. As soon as it was off, she headed towards the mirror to get change when Vale called out,

"Wait, real quick." he said as he got in front of her and gently wrapped on of her hands in both his own.

"Rias Gremory, by the blood of my forefathers, I swear you will never have to marry Riser Phenex." he said as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Rias' face flushed adorably at his words at his words as she replied,

"Vale, I... don't know what to say. It means so much to me that you're doing all of this to help me. I mean, you've already done so much by helping us train for the Rating Game. And now this... Wait a minute... Are you draining my magic?" she asked as she felt her magical power begin to wane. Vale flashed her a guilty grin before saying,

"Yep. And now, for my next trick." he said as he manifested the Power of Destruction in on hand and shot a blast of it towards the wedding dress on the ground, disintegrating it.

"Sorry, must dash. Don't tear the dress, it's a rental." he said as he flashed her a smile and headed out the door once more and was about head back down to the party when he literally ran smack dab into one of the bustiest and most sluttily dressed women he'd ever seen. And he'd seen plenty. She had long, wavy purple hair covering one eye that matched her lipstick. She had a navy blue tunic top with gold accents and a pale blue skirt with open sides, and black shoes over matching thigh-high stockings with garter belts. Her top showed a ridiculous amount of cleavage that was held by a gold choker along with a white overcoat with black and gold accents with matching pauldrons.

"What are you doing up here? Guests aren't allowed in this part of the castle." she asked severely as she saw the insignia on his shoulder. Vale was silent as he tried to remember all the info he'd had his contacts dig up on Riser's peerage. Until finally he replied,

"Holy cow! You're Yubelluna! The Bomb Queen! I've seen all the Rating Games you've fought in! You're amazing! If you don't mind me saying, I've always thought you're nickname was in bad taste. You my dear, are an artist. Sorry, I know I'm not allowed back here. I just wanted to meet you." he lied, while normally he could lie all day to someone. But a lie of that caliber made him want to vomit, this woman was a talentless hack. But, if he played his cards right he would be able to hit Riser where it hurt, his pride. Yubelluna shot him a smile before saying,

"Hmph, it's nice to see someone who appreciates talent. Perhaps you'd like to go somewhere we could talk in private." she said as she turned and gestured down the hallway with one hand.

"I'd like that very much." he lied as she turned and lead him down the hallway to her room.

An hour and a half later back in the ballroom...

Vale checked once more to make sure his preparations were complete before unplugging Koneko's iPod from the DJ's laptop and headed back to the dining room, they had just announced that dinner was about to be served. Just as he turned to head back he turned to see Riser glaring at him dressed in yet another douchey outfit.

"Hello, Mr. Phenex, I hope today finds you well." Vale lied. Riser remained silent so Vale continued saying,

"I do hope there are no hard feelings from last time. I rightfully thought you were trying to molest Rias." Vale continued.

"It doesn't matter Riser will get the last laugh anyways. Now, let us adjourn to the dining room. Dinner is about to commence."

"Sure thing. Quick Q though, have Yubelluna's lips always tasted like cherries?" Vale asked with a grin. Riser stopped and shot Vale a look of pure rage as he continue past Riser, deciding to let him stew in his own anger. They arrived at the dining room shortly after where Vale took a seat at the table where the members of the Occult Research Club next to Akeno with Koneko on his other side with Kiba next to her. The table was only a stone's throw from the table where the Phenex and Gremory clans were seated so that Rias could be near her servants.

"Here you go Koneko-chan, thanks for letting me borrow it. By the way, you look very pretty tonight." Vale said as he handed Koneko's iPod back to her.

"Thanks, you too. But why did you need it?" Koneko asked as she stowed it.

"You'll see soon enough." Vale said with a grin. Apparently, everyone else besides Riser and Rias was already seated when someone came on over the intercom and said,

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Mr. Riser Phenex!" a man announced as the door to the dining room opened and the speakers began blasting "Mr. Douchebag" by the artist Your Favorite Martian. As soon as she recognized the song, Koneko burst into a fit of snickering. Vale extended a hand towards her and said,

"That's what he gets for not springing for a band. Now come on, gimme some." he said as Koneko slapped him five as the DJ struggled to turn off the music. Riser continued, red-faced, to the table where the members of his family and Rias' were seated, trying to keep what was left of his dignity as he walked over to the table and took a seat.

"Sorry bout that folks. Now would you please put your hands together for Mr. Riser's blushing bride-to-be, Rias Gremory!" the DJ announced as the door opened once more to reveal Rias dressed in the beautiful crimson with black trim that he had lent her. He saw with immense satisfaction that Riser had turned to galre at him at the site of Rias out of her wedding dress. Vale made a cranking motion with one hand a he extended his middle finger at Riser on the other as Rias sat down next to Riser. Everyone began to dig in afterward. Vale refused to eat though, if things progressed as he planned, it'd be seen as rather rude to eat Riser's food. Half an hour later, Rias strode over to the table and took a seat before asking,

"Vale-kun, if you're planning something else, you better do it quick. From what I've guessed Riser has a plan to marry us before the night is over." Rias said as she took as seat across the table from him.

"Alrighty, thanks Rias-hime, I'll be right back." Vale said as he moved to stand up. When Rias cut in saying,

"Wait before you go, are you sure your plan is gonna work?" she asked. Vale flashed her a grin before replying,

"Of course not, but it has to." he said with a chuckle as he stood up and headed for the washroom. He was on his way back to the dining hall when he saw a crimson magic circle appear in front of him when he saw Issei materialize inside it.

"You! Mind telling me exactly what the host of one of the Two Heavenly Dragons is doing in a place like this?" he asked the young man in front of him. Issei turned to face him before saying,

"Hey Vale-san, I'm here to stop Buchou's engagement. Now, excuse me I have to go." Issei said as he turned and headed for the dining room. As he took off, Vale noticed something strange about his left hand, he couldn't see what the rest of the arm looked like under Issei's school blazer, but he didn't like the look of it.

"Issei, did your Sacred Gear evolve?" Vale asked as he reached out and grabbed Issei by the shoulder.

"What? No, of course not! Why do you ask?" asked as he turned to face Vale.

"This! This is why I ask!" Vale exclaimed as he grabbed Issei's wrist and held it up. As he did the sleeve fell down exposing more of the red scales that covered Issei's arm. If he had to guess he would've bet they went all the way up to the shoulder.

"You didn't... You dumb bastard! You gave your arm to the dragon in your Sacred Gear! Why would you do something like that?!" Vale asked angrily as he shook Issei's arm by the wrist

"I did it to save Buchou! Now, whether you like it or not, I'm gonna do this." Issei said as he turned around once more, shaking Vale's hand off his shoulder before taking off. Vale watched him walk for a few seconds before running to catch up with him. As soon as he was within reach, he said,

"I'm sorry Issei, but I can't let you do that." Vale said as he reached out and put Issei in an headlock as he applied pressure to Issei's carotid artery while using his Drain Zero ability. As soon as Issei realized what was happening, he reached up and tried to pry Vale's arms off his neck. He pulled with all his might but couldn't break Vale's iron hold on his neck. Vale kept the pressure and Drain Zero on him until he felt Issei slump unconscious in his arms. He released the pressure but kept using Drain Zero until he saw Issei's arm revert to normal. Without wasting time he draped Issei over his shoulder and walked him over to the nearest door, which thankfully turned out to be a coatroom and gently laid Issei on the ground before turning around and jogging back to the dining room. He opened the door to see Riser raising his glass, apparently midway through a toast,

"-is a joyous occasion for bot the houses of Gremory and Phenex. I look forward to spending my life with Rias, loving and respecting her as we-" Riser said, Vale rolled his eyes before putting his palm against his mouth and blowing an enormous raspberry. All noise in the dining room died instantly as all heads in the room turned to face the source of the noise.

"That is such a load of bullcrap! Riser Phenex has never loved or respected a woman in his entire life. Riser Phenex, I am Vale Beleth, heir apparent of the house Beleth, and I say you are an unfit mate for Rias Gremory! I dispute you and your families claim to Rias' hand and family name! I challenge you to single combat; with the prize being the hand of Rias Gremory. Do you accept or will you insult my honor and refuse my challenge?" Vale proclaimed loudly for all to hear from his position atop the staircase. All was silent in the dining room, everyone waited with rapt attention to hear Riser's response . But no response came for him, instead it came from a young girl with blonde twin ponytails with drill-like curls in a ruffled pink dress.

"That's ridiculous, there's no legal basis for your challenge! Only an idiot would believe that you could make a claim like that in this day and age! Besides, Riser has better things to do than indulge and idiot's half-baked challenge like that!" The girl said as she stood from her seat next to Riser.

"Actually while that practice has fallen to disuse, it's still a perfectly legal challenge. What do you say Mr. Phenex? Will you fight Mr. Beleth to prove your worthiness of my beloved sister?" Sirzechs replied from the end of the table. Everyone else was silent until, finally, Riser said,

"Riser accepts your challenge! Prepare yourself for battle!" Riser exclaimed in reply. Vale nodded and undid the clasp on his cape before draping it over the bannister of the stairway.

"Ready whenever you are! Sirzechs-dono, if you'd be so kind?" Vale said as he glanced down to Sirzechs.

"Certainly." Sirzechs said with a wave of his hand. Vale soon found himself standing in a stone arena across from Riser. The arena was simple with a Queen Evil Piece at each corner of the the square arena.

"This will be a simple one-on-one fight, the fight will continue until one party submits or cannot continue. Begin!" Sirzech's voice echoed throughout the ring. Before Vale could summon a weapon or cast a spell, Riser rushed forward and slammed a flame covered fist into Vale's jawing, sending Vale tumbling to the ground.

"This fight will easier than Riser thought." Riser said condescendingly as he watched Vale get right back on his feet, wiping a small trail of blood from his mouth.

"Fine, since it seem you don't feel the need to hold back, neither will I. Been a while since I got to go all out. You're lucky, you get to fight a Super Devil." Vale said as he extended his wings, all eight of them.

Riser's eyes widened as he saw the eight wings on Vale's back. Riser extended his eagle wings of flame before rushing towards Vale once more with his fist covered in flame. Vale saw his move coming though and ducked under Riser's punch. Riser was just about to turn around when something smacked him hard in the side, sending his body skipping across the stones of the arena floor tearing holes in his clothes and covering his arm, chest, and back in scrapes. All of which healed instantly thanks to his immortality power. He shakily got back to his feet to see a black dragon tail covered in armor plates extending from the middle of Vale's back.

"Wow, no idea where this came from, but I think I have Mr. Hyoudou to thank for it. I officially owe you one, Issei." Vale said as his body began to crackle with electricity and lightning bolts began to arc from his hands.

"Hmph, it seems that whore has chosen a worthy champion." Riser sneer as he summoned flame to his hands. All expression fell from Vale's face as he began to glare at Riser.

"What did you call her?" he asked coldly as he glared at Riser.

"I called her what she is, a whore." Riser sneered at Vale. Vale couldn't hear anything else after that. For a minute he couldn't see, hear, or feel anything other than pure hate for the man in front of him. He didn't care what happened to him, or anyone else for that matter. All he wanted, was to kill the man in front of him. He felt like he could feel his blood boiling with rage at the man before him.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL RIAS-HIME THAT! I'LL KILL YOU!" Vale roared before he heard a voice issue from the tail on his back

"ABYSSAL DRAGON OVER-BOOSTER!" the black tail called out as segmented black armor plates spread out, covering his limbs and torso in a suit of dragon-themed armor. The suit completed itself as a helmet formed over Vale's head as a foot-long horn black horn with gold stripes running up the sides extended from the helm. Vale took a moment to examine the armor it covered his entire body and if the way he felt was anything to go by, it had increased his power significantly. Three, six-inch claws extended from the front of each boot with a shorter, four-inch one, extending from the back. There were magic jets running along the back of the shoulders. Crimson jewels dotted the elbows, knees, and torso. The armor had gold trim tracing the edge of each plate. If Vale had to describe the armor in one word, it would be badass.

"Now, Mr Phenex. Shall. We. Begin." Vale said as he covered himself in an aura of black lightning...

Author's Note: Alrighty here it is, the first of Vale's signature moves, Armor of the Abyssal Black Dragon Emperor. Vale's new tail is the first of a new variant of sacred gears for Devils, called Abyssal Gear. Still worrying about Vale's peerage. Mil-tan will probably end up being traded to Serafall(his choice). Currently it's:

Xenovia-Knight

Vali-Queen

Arthur-Knight

Kuroka- Pawn x2

Bikou- Rook

Ravel Phenex- Bishop

Le Fay- Bishop

Grim Reaper OC- Pawn x2

Leviathan, King of the Sea- Rook (Mutation Piece, obtained from Serafall)

Mystery Hero Faction Member- Pawn x4

Don't forget to vote on the poll, I do use it when deciding for his peerage. Also, I know it's the weekend and you guys have plans but, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. This is The 19th Angel, signing off...