WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER IS VERY BAD AND IS NOT OF HIGH QUALITY. IT IS ALSO CONSIDERED A FILLER CHAPTER AND HAS MANY, MANY SCENES THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED SURREAL, RUSHED AND JUST BAD. I DO NOT LIKE WHAT I HAVE DONE, BUT I WILL POST THIS BECAUSE I CANNOT LEAVE YOU WAITING FOR HALF A YEAR.

CONTINUE READING AT THE END AUTHOR'S NOTE:

High School DxD: Spartans X Dragons

Chapter 6: Doppelganger

Leonidas coughed and groaned. His SPI armor was rusting and showed signs of degrading. He stumbled back, clearly in pain. That strike to his abdomen didn't take too kindly to the Spartan-III. There was a clear dent in his armor. He quickly tore off his helmet from his head and puked out some blood mixed in with whatever he ate that day. Leonidas covered his mouth and fell flat on his ass.

"Shit, that was a mean punch." He commented, holding back another volley of vomit. "Jesus Christ, how fucking strong are you?"

"Don't talk," I ran up to the Sergeant and checked his wounds. I quickly got him out of his SPI armor, granted I tore through his armor to get to his wound. I studied it quickly. The bruise mark was phenomenally dark. I could tell that he was bleeding internally as well. I motioned for Picks to run an X-Ray scan of his gut and it turns out I had heavily wounded him in that area. I didn't know the specifics, but Picks said that the wound was heavy and the Spartan-III would not survive without proper medical attention.

"So this is how I die, eh? Friendly fire is a bitch." The Sergeant laughed. He began coughing vigorously.

"Save your breath, we'll get you proper medical attention ASAP. Where's your team?"

"Right behind you asshole."

I turned to see two Spartan-IIIs, each with their own less serious injuries, if you count a semi-broken skull, busted knee cap and beaten up body less serious. I stood up to my full height and picked up the injured squad leader. He didn't seem to mind the manner I held him and waved at his subordinates and told them to stand down.

"Where's HQ?" I asked.

"The way we were coming from. We've got trained medical personnel stationed there." The least injured Spartan-III waved for me to follow him. His less clunky armor gave him better mobility, not that it mattered. The other Spartans limped after us, seeing as they got shot in the leg. Picks carried them on his carapace, much to their horror. They're Headquarters weren't as close as I expected however. I had to descend the mountain and cross the city to an abandoned warehouse. By the time I arrived there, Leonidas was visibly shuttering. Whether that be from the cold or apparent blood loss was something I don't think I'll ever find out.

"Oh shit, Henry!" A girl ran up to the wounded Leonidas and plucked him off my hands. She fell onto the floor and examined his body.

"He needs medical attention." I calmly stated, gaining only a sneer from the female.

"No shit! Just who the fuck are you anyway?" She hissed.

"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117," I replied.

"I don't give a rat's ass about your rank! What the fuck's your name so I can carve it into your grave once I give you a 12.7x9mm problem in your fucking head!" The girl shouted, lifting an M6D Magnum at my head. I took a step back and aimed my rifle back at her.

The Spartan-III that led me here interjected, stepping in between our crosshairs. "Emily calm down!"

"Piss off Jake!" The girl, now known as Emily, hissed. "I'm in the middle of something right now!"

"This is just a big misunderstanding, lower the gun down Emily." He said calmingly. He took a calm step forward; just to be met by two SAP-HE rounds flying pass his head.

"Okay, okay!" He quickly stuttered and lowered his head in surrender.

"Lower the gun, that's an order." I hissed, glaring knives at the Spartan in question.

"Fuck you!"

Seeing as she wasn't going to cooperate with me anytime soon, I moved forward with impossible speed and kicked the Magnum Pistol into the air. Then, I planted a foot onto her chest and applied some pressure. This gave medics the time to take Leonidas or Henry to the infirmary, where he would be treated. The exact same thing this girl wanted to do, but in a more acceptable manner.

"You're lucky this isn't loaded." I retorted, tossing the DMR aside. "Restrain her." I ordered.

"Um, actually that isn't a good idea, and I'm sure as hell not going to touch her." One of the people watching the scene said. The others nodded and murmured in agreement.

"Explain," I demanded.

"She's the only cook here. I touch her, and there goes my dinner, and tomorrow's dinner, and the day after that. There's a universal rule here that says that if we even as much pisses her off, we're probably going to starve to death." He explained. I grumbled and turned back to the girl, who seemed harmless on the ground, still lashing out, but harmless.

"She can't actually starve you." I said critically.

"Actually she can. It's happened five times now. We even have the bones and dog tags to prove it to you." Another commented, pointing at some bones on the other side of the cave.

I stared at him in astonishment. I tried to open my mouth to speak but nothing would come out, until I managed a, "Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me right?"

"And there goes his professional behavior; no we are not kidding you. Carter Welish – A214, James Camper – A057, William Trevor – A273, Carvel Dimes – A315, and Lee Ciao – A101 died from starvation. They all died right after getting in a fight with Emily Darwin – A302. Does that seem like an obvious connection to you?"

I grumbled and released her, not for fear of dying from starvation, but for fear that the others would kill me if I killed or somehow stopped their only cook from cooking. She stood up, patting the dust off her pants, stared me straight in the eye and punched me. The physical attack did nothing but sheer a small amount of skin from her knuckles and cause the others to stare at me in shock. My energy shields flared up instantaneously, enveloping me in a golden light.

"Holy hell, were those bloody Energy Shields I just saw?" One commented.

"I think they were!" Another exclaimed.

"When the hell did the UNSC reverse engineer Elite Energy Shields?"

"Hey, hey! Give the man some space, quit crowding!" My escort pushed the crowding Spartan-IIIs back. I sighed heavily and turned around, seeing as I have no business here.

"Oi, where do you think you're going? We have loads of questions for you!" One of the Spartan-IIIs called out.

I turned around and looked at all of them and shook my head. "Sorry, I don't have time for this."

"Where are you going?"

"I rented a house not far from here. I should be fine for the duration of my stay."

"And why are you here?"

"My main priority was to find you guys. I've got a good partner that was able to brush up some info on you guys and your general location. Since I could find you, others can as well. I'd recommend you lay low for now so you don't attract anymore unwanted attention." I replied and immediately ran off.

I arrived back at the rented house. My body ached, presumably from the usage of the [Boosted Gear]. My left arm throbbed considerably, but I ignored the pain. The more pressing concerns were the Spartan-IIIs I had just met. Kurt trained them so they're well trained, even if they're emotionally unstable. The Spartan-IIIs themselves looked accustomed to the warehouse they were situated in. Judging from all the radio boxes I observed, there should be other Spartan-III "sanctuaries" like these. The thing that surprised me the most however were how coolly they looked at me when I arrived. It was as if they were accustomed to this sort of thing or they really didn't care as much. Their weapons were antiques as well, compared to 2564 weaponry. But, I must agree that those MA37s and MA5Ks are very reliable when the time comes for them to use them.

I slugged off my armor and placed it at a corner. The MJOLNIR Mark XI sat there, staring at me. I stared back, into that golden visor, and then sighed. I kept the gauntlets and forearm guards on, just in case. The Titanium Nanocomposite Bodysuit stayed on. I could never sleep without that extra layer of comfort after sleeping for so long with it on. Actually, taking the MJOLNIR off was the worst bit. I usually slept in armor. Even during my civilian year, I could never get used to the fact that I was sleeping without my armor. It felt like I lost a layer of my skin. Sadly, this was a measure I had to take to avoid breaking my bed in half from the shear weight.

I tossed Picks onto the table and turned off the lights. I slept inside the blanket. That extra layer of cloth gave me a greater sense of comfort. With my back against a wall, and Picks guarding the door, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. As you can see, this ended in failure. I kept on tossing and turning, trying to find the best position to sleep in. It was still 8 PM but it was dark outside and I didn't want to go for any sort of walk.

I turned on the air conditioner, since it was getting too warm under my blanket, but then turned it off since it was getting too cold. My eyes were well conditioned in the dark now and I could make out every single outline in the room. Sighing, I realized I wouldn't be able to go to sleep like this and headed out the door, limping. My body felt strangely sore for some reason, so I decided to take the risk and not to go out in the MJOLNIR armor.

I put on my civvies and tucked an M6H with two magazines in my pocket. I sighed and looked in the mirror. I was still John, luckily. I grabbed Picks and exited my house and locked the room behind me. Deciding to go for a short jog, I toured the city, noting each store and building they have. Most of them were business ones and the occasional internet café. I did notice a "sleazy" bar though, but decided to stay away from them. The night sky was filled with vivid colors and flashing lights. There was a party going on somewhere. Judging from the music and the tickets in everyone's hands, it must be a concert of some sort.

I shrugged and decided to turn around and head for the mountains. Maybe a short stroll in nature would ease my body. So, I decided to visit the shrine. I, myself, wasn't a very religious person, nor do I believe in any sort of religion. I have seen, from all the anime Linda and Asuka watches, that shrine maidens are generally nice people.

I paced up the stairs. The sound of nature kept me company as I mentally complained on how long these stairs were. They were long. I'm not even trying to be funny; even I'm getting a little bit tired. The shrine looks like it's a bit further up. The way down will be painful though. When I reached the top, I was greeted with relatively nothing. The buildings up there were dark and unlit, there were no shrine maidens to be seen and I don't actually have any money with me right now.

"I suppose... I could just enjoy the view." I sighed and sat on the steps, looking down at the city. I tired to organize my thoughts and identity. The past few days have been very strange to me. Issei was less talkative but I have become more talkative. Issei has lessened his... sexual harassment of females during classes or, more recently, during my stay here, but I have started getting strange ideas in my mind. Issei has stopped trying to communicate with us and has become very tired. The obvious answer is that he's mentally stressed from not having his own body, but the truth is far stranger. Ddraig said that he's experiencing aftereffects from the times I've switched forms. I've noticed that Issei's body has been becoming more and more like mine.

His skin is paling; his muscle density is increasing, his vision is getting better, just to name a few changes. So, I try to stay as long as I can in "John form", to lessen the rate of fusion. The more annoying aspects of this are that everyone notices it. They notice every time his skin gets paler, every time I seemingly lift things without much trouble. Now, after having a memory check and identifying ourselves as two separate entities, some of my older traits have come back, one of the more notable ones them the Spartan's general shyness and loathing of conversations with civvies.

This seems more like a soul related thing more than anything, and I didn't cover "souls" during my training as a Spartan.

I felt something pierce the skin around my neck. I went to squat the mosquito away, pulling it off my neck and crushing it in my hands with lightning reflexes. I sighed and decided that it was time for me to leave. The walk didn't help a lot. I still felt full of energy. Yeah. I felt like... like... like I need to...

He yawned. John didn't know why but he suddenly felt a lot more tired than usual. He looked at his hand and didn't see any mosquito. Instead, he saw a small wood splinter with a trace of blood from his neck. The Spartan's brain couldn't comprehend what just happened. He was too drugged to even think properly. His eyes twitched in a desperate attempt to stay awake. He felt so sleepy that he somehow managed to fall to his side, hitting his head hard against the pavement in the process. The force of the fall, combined with his drugged state, managed to knock him out.

The Promethean in necklace form noticed that his brain activities have changed drastically and he quickly transformed back into his normal state. The former human grabbed the Petty Officer and flash teleported away, leaving only one witness, Zero. The Forerunner sighed as he was left alone once again. He returned to his comfortable nest and snuggled himself.

PKX-7341 returned his partner to his dwelling. The former human ran a blood test and detected nothing too abnormal, just the strange new cell strains that started appearing all over the Spartan's body. The Promethean didn't inform the Spartan of the strain since it might unnecessarily alarm him. His immune system has been ignoring the strain for a very long period of time and might have already integrated it into its system. It, when activated, creates the [Boosted Gear] gauntlet.

The process was too confusing for the Promethean to stomach and he didn't decide to dwell too much on it. Instead, he prioritized his partner's wellbeing. He decided to go into standby mode and wait for the current terrestrial cycle to finish. PKX-7341 morphed into his power saving mode, the necklace form. It wasn't as efficient as his other modes, but it allowed the Spartan to take him along with him with more efficiency than simply following the Spartan. However, unlike the previous weeks, PKX was slightly more adventurous today.

Taking advantage of his relatively lighter restrictions, PKX decided to connect himself with the planet-wide network. It was simple to hacking into a satellite and streaming the internet directly into his systems. He indulged himself in 21st century history and news. He found that it mirrored the home universe in an almost perfect image. Then, he decided to research more Spartan locations and strange sightings in Japan. He easily found more of those "Zero" images, sometimes with other mechanical entities. It didn't intrigue him as much as it did the breast monster/creature sightings in the same area as the Spartan's school was.

Then, he stumbled on the most intriguing discovery. As he strolled through the internet, he stumbled upon a memory fragment. It was integrated into a "bugged" webpage. The website wasn't very well known, nor is it viewed often; therefore the problem has gone relatively unnoticed. However, he did discover very strange things. There was binary coding everywhere. The Promethean decided to translate it. It said, "Find me in deep space".

The Promethean, puzzled, reviewed several interpretations of what "deep space" could mean. He came to the conclusion that whatever this programmer wanted to convey was located somewhere on the deep web (1). The Promethean took a risk and decided to plunge into it. What he found, was not amusing. Excluding all the child porn, what he was looking for was not easy to find. He had to go through many firewalls and probably had to hack into many other websites before he found what he was looking for.

It was in a large mess, but it was still in one piece. It would take the Promethean a very long time in order to decrypt and repair the package. PKX-7341 was amazed his (John's) luck as well. The Promethean virtually sighed as he transferred the files into his memory drive. When the transfer was completed, he hacked into the website and completely destroyed its binary coding as well as deleting all traces of the package. Then, he scrambled whatever was left of the code and planted an untraceable and undetectable virus that would hack into whosever computer that access that particular website. It would search through the infect computer's files until it found a copy of the package or parts of it, where it would then delete it and wait 24 hours before deleting itself.

Satisfied with his work, the AI started work on repairing the package, knowing full well that it would take him at least a year to complete alone.

John woke up to pounding at his door. When he went to greet whoever was so kindly knocking on his door, he was greeted by Kiba. The Knight was drenched and panting hard. The look in his eyes spoke a million words for him and the Spartan quickly straightened his back and grabbed the Devil's shoulders.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Kiba gasped for air as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. He quickly jerked his head behind him, like he was worried he was being followed and said, "Something attacked us last night. It wasn't... terrestrial, I suppose I could say. Koneko is badly beaten up and Akeno is trying to find the intruder."

Kiba grimaced and clenched his fist. John pulled the Devil inside and slammed the door shut behind him. He pushed him onto a chair and took off all my civvies. He doesn't even remember coming back home last night but this takes priority above that. John enticed the Devil to continue as slid on his Titanium Nanocomposite Bodysuit.

"It looked like Picks; I swear it looked like him. Albeit slightly demonized, it looked like him. It was huge as well." He summarized. John started placing his MJOLNIR armor on. The gauntlets and forearm guard screwed into place. His body armor hooked onto each other and his shin guards attaching in place.

"It had energy weapons; the strange thing was that it used both demonic and holy energy – two energies that shouldn't be together. We tried fighting it, but when it started charging this... laser attack, Koneko took the blunt of the damage. It escaped afterwards."

"It looks like a Promethean?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you that already?"

"Describe it to me, everything."

"It had two large arms and two smaller ones like T-Rex arms. Its legs had two joints. It also had that huge carapace on its back like Picks, but his were absolutely vile. It looked like it was a mass of insect biomass or something. There were tentacles and everything and it was so wet and slimy. It is definitely not a [Stray Devil] that's for sure." Kiba listed off.

"That's it? There weren't any weapons, nothing?"

Kiba shook his head.

"How did it fight? Close combat or did it fire any kind of energy attack?"

"It occasionally used its tentacles to attack and almost always fought in close quarters combat. Wait, what are you doing?"

Kiba stared as John grabbed a M45D Shotgun and several M6D Magnum Pistols from the crate that he brought.

"Continue, did it wear any armor or did it have an insect exoskeleton? Could it fly? I need all the information you have to combat it effectively."

"Oh, right! It did have an exoskeleton that could block my sword attacks, but it didn't have any artificial armor. It also escaped by flying away so yeah, it can definitely fly. It also has very sharp claws and can move very fast. I think it also had a tail and well... had Pick's face. There were teeth and everything. I think the armor on its face is also an exoskeleton, but its eyes and mouth are exposed."

"Alright, do you know how to use a gun?" The Spartan asked, placing a Type-51 Storm Rifle on the table in front of him.

"No thanks, I'll stick with my swords thank you very much." He laughed awkwardly.

"Roger that," John grabbed himself a bag and started loading all the weapons and ammo that he took out. He brought two M45D Shotguns, four M6D Magnum Pistols, one M365 DMR, and one Type-51 "Storm" Rifle.

Then, John paused, realizing the newest resource he had recently discovered could be exploited in this situation.

"How many were there?"

"Just one,"

"Are you sure?"

"No, I think Akeno said something about hearing insect shutters everywhere in the forest but she didn't see anything." Kiba said, making me sigh.

"Right, we're going to have a few guests on this hunt." John said as he grabbed more weapons.

I told Kiba to take the bag of guns to Rias and make sure that nobody saw the weapons inside the bag. I explained to him how each gun functioned and how to reload and told him not to take it out of safety but just to get used to how each gun felt and how to hold them. The Devil nodded and returned to Rias but I had a different task. I grabbed another bag and filled it to the brim with Covenant and UNSC weapons. I brought at least two Needlers, three Type-51 Carbines, three more Type-51 Storm Rifles, two Type-25 Plasma Pistols and two Type-1 Energy Swords, excluding my own.

I packed up and grabbed Picks, who remained quiet throughout the conversation. I made my way to the Spartan-III's Headquarters, where I was greeted with that bitchy Spartan-III again. When she stopped her verbal onslaught, I explained the situation to the base's highest ranked officer and asked for six Spartan-IIIs. He reluctantly agreed and after explaining the situation, omitting the bit with the Devils, they told me about the hunts they were going on. Apparently I had intervened in one of their hunts yesterday, which would also explain why Zero was there.

"Yeah, we've met that guy. He's a real big dick, but is really good at killing those things." Spartan-A437 said. "By the way, my name's Jake."

"Nice to meet you Jake, are you good with swords?" I asked.

"Decently well, why?"

I tossed him a Type-1 Energy Sword and watched him crumble from a soldier to a child getting a toy he always wanted on his birthday. After I gave everyone a loadout, I led the small fire team into the mountains, where I eventually found Rias's peerage. She waved when she saw me but when she saw the Spartan-IIIs behind me, quickly took a step back, shocked. The Spartan-IIIs on the other hand, almost drew their weapons before I stopped them and told them of their situation.

They weren't too pleased with what I had to say.

"The hell, what are you thinking, giving guns to kids?" Jake shouted.

I sighed and said, "They aren't exactly normal."

"Yeah, well they look pretty normal to me! Screw this, I mean seriously kids?" He tossed his hands into the air in frustration and walked away.

"Ignoring the act of insubordination," I hissed, grabbing his shoulder, "I think shooting fireballs and causing lightning to strike just by pointing at a spot should be a sufficient argument."

He turned his head towards me, staring for a few seconds, before turning to the peerage. The six-foot tall Spartan folded his arms and sighed heavily.

"I don't know what drugs you're on but if you're seriously planning on having them fight with us – it isn't my fault if anyone dies." He said.

"Ara ara, you think we're that incompetent?" Akeno asked, laughing to herself.

"No, I just think my commanding officer is high as fuck right now." He shrugged.

"Was that an insult soldier?" I shouted with intimidating authority behind my voice, causing him to jump.

"Sir no sir!"

"Good, now drop down and give me fifty!"

"Yes sir!" Spartan-A437 dropped faster than a dying Grunt and began giving me push ups.

"Count them out!" I ordered, walking around him.

"One sir!"

"So this is what John is like when he's in the military." Rias laughed nervously.

"How's Koneko?" I asked.

"She's healing faster thanks to Asia's [Twilight Healing], her life isn't in danger but she won't be able to move for a couple of hours." Rias said.

"Okay, I'm stationing two Spartans here. Asia is staying here; make sure to get everyone else ready. I'll go over how to use each gun that I gave Yuuto." I said, walking outside. After a few minutes, everyone besides Asia and Koneko was outside and there weren't many Devils here anyways. The Spartan-IIIs were securing the perimeter, leaving just me, the two Spartans outside the building and the three Devils.

"Right, according to Yuuto's information and what the Spartan-IIIs know, these Promethean bio-copies have a strong outer armor and can fly. Since you three are middle to close range types, I've given you M45D Shotguns, Designated Marksmen Rifles and Pistols. The Storm Rifle is only for me to use since Plasma technology is too dangerous for people without MJOLNIR armors." I said, holding up the Storm Rifle.

"You hold the rifles like this, with the butt of the gun against your shoulder, your right hand on the trigger and arm down, your left hand on the pump. This is a pump action shotgun so with every shot you'll have to pull the gauge back. It also has quite the kick so don't underestimate it." John explained. He handed the M45D Shotgun to Rias and Akeno since they had good mid-range magic and the M365 DMR to Kiba since he was a melee type and the DMR should balance out and work well with his attribute.

Next, I brought out the M6D.

"This is the M6D Magnum Pistol. It is known as the smallest rifle in the world since it can break my shields in three shots." I said, shaking the pistol in front of me.

"You grip it with your right hand and place your left hand underneath. There is a button on the side, above your thumb, that will drop the clip and allow you to reload. It's the same with the DMR. Be careful with the Magnum though since it's pretty much the Desert Eagle of the 26th Century. It takes a lot of shots to take down my shielding, but if it only takes three with this gun, then I'd advice caution when using it."

"Also, the M6D is effective at medium to short range; the DMR is effective from long to medium range." I added.

"Why are you giving us weapons?" Rias asked, holding her shotgun awkwardly. I looked at her and walked back a few steps.

"Try hitting me with your magic." I requested, throwing the weapons away to avoid damaging them.

"Are you sure?" Rias asked, looking at Akeno and even the other Spartans for approval.

"Very, I won't die. Maybe," I assured.

Sighing, Rias summoned up a bit of her magic. The mana took the form of a monster and charged at me, causing a small explosion. The blast pushed me back a few feet and drained me of all my shields. I did experience some damage from the attack as I was kneeling on the ground panting heavily. The attack was both physical and explosion based since it felt like I was being rammed by a Warthog and there was a small C6 explosive going off right in front of me.

"John-san, are you okay?" Rias asked.

"Just... let me catch my breath." I gasped.

"Uh... Sir, are you okay?" A Spartan asked. I nodded my head and stood up, my legs a little bit wobbly. After a few seconds, the familiar hum played in my helmet and my shield meter returned.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I lie and took a deep breath, getting rid of that uneasy feeling on my chest.

"So, how strong was that?" I asked, rubbing my shoulder.

"Not too strong but not too weak. Its practical use since strong versions would take too long to charge and I might lose concentration." She answered.

"Right, now did it work on the Promethean wanabe?"

"No, it just smashed its arm against the blast and deflected it."

"Now if we used a shotgun or this insanely powerful pistol, it should be able to get through its armor and cause some serious damage. The Spartan-IIIs have already tested this theory." I said.

"Anyways, I'll let you get used to it first before we go hunting. Make sure not to point it at anyone, especially the Magnum since it uses Semi-Armor Piercing High Explosive rounds."

"There is a point in time when one will ask, why do you need a pistol that strong? It's because fuck you that's why." A Spartan-III commented.

The crunching of leaves and the rustling of bushes; John would have preferred it if there wasn't so much background noise, but he would put up with it. He carefully observed the landscape as he walked through the woods, filtering out all the background noise that accompanied him. The Spartan-IIIs talked about the mythical copy's hive and how they're hundreds of them that they'll have to go though. John didn't bring any explosives with him, so the only way from them to get rid of the hive in the mountains is to blow them all to bits.

They walked on for what seemed like hours, until a noticeable miasma started lurking in the air. John didn't smell the purple gas that crawled in the air, but the Spartan-IIIs and Rias's peerage didn't have the luxury of a gas mask or in John's case – a filtered helmet. They covered their noses and the Spartan-IIIs ignored it. The group ceased all talking and slowly progressed into the forest. As the miasma seemed to become even darker and more noticeable, John heard an unfamiliar noise and raised his left hand, cuffed in a fist.

It sounded like an insect's wings shuttering and some low growling. The sound surrounded them and they were in a disadvantage as the miasma acted almost like a fog in the situation. John activated his on visor flashlight and checked his radar. There was nothing. He decided to move forward until they found what looked like a large egg.

"Stop, move back, defensive positions," John ordered. They found an egg. This may not be a hive, but it should stop them from attacking Ms. Gremory's group for the remainder of their stay.

"Jake, what is this?" John asked, leveling his Storm Rifle.

"This is one of their eggs. We're lucky, if this was a full blown hive there would have been thousands of them. If there's an egg here, it means that they're close to making a hive here. With one egg, they make hundreds of little babies. The babies look like a freaking pile of human shaped tentacles though." He said.

"How do we destroy the egg?"

"To be honest, I don't know. The most effective way is with fire or explosives, but some times we just blow it to smithereens with whatever is left with our ammo."

"What do you mean, 'whatever is left'?" John asked, seeing one red dot on his radar.

"I mean that whenever we find an egg – they usually start attacking. We got contacts!" Jake shouted as he stood up and fired his Type-51 Carbine. The other three Spartans got into a defensive position around the Gremory peerage who was confused as to what to do. John noticed the miasma beginning to lessen considerably. There were hundreds of them surrounding the group. He barely had enough ammo to kill twenty of them, much less a small army's worth.

His Storm Rifle hit the Promethean copy's chest and melted through, causing severe burn wounds and killing it almost instantly. They kept on coming however and it was inevitable that they had to fight them close.

"Out of clips!" A Spartan-III called out as he dropped his Carbine and pulled out a Needler and Plasma Pistol. He aimed his Needler at the charging onslaught of clones and fired. The needles latched on to the clones and exploded. The Gremorys had already run out of ammo taking care of the ones that came too close. Kiba dropped his DMR in favor is his blade, his Magnum was still fully loaded, but he didn't draw it yet. Rias and Akeno were using their respective magics on groups of Promethean clones. They weren't very effective, but it did seem to stall them for a period of time.

"Master Chief, come in Master Chief!" John heard on his radio. It was the Spartan-IIIs back at the spa. Their voices were frantic and agitated and he heard shots being let loose in the background.

"Home team, what's wrong?" John asked as he dropped his Rifle in favor for his sidearm.

"The massive buggers are here! We're trying to hold them off but there's too many of them!"

"Hold the line! We'll be there as soon as we-"

"Holy shit what the fuck is that!"

John heard a thump and a loud primal roar. Then, there was sound of flesh being torn apart. Finally, silence.

"Home team come in, home team, what's your situation?" He got no reply.

"Damn it!"

His Magnum eventually ran out of ammunition and he drew his Energy Sword. The orange glow and sheering heat that emitted from the blade was spectacular as he cut the charging mob to bits, but they were being over run. Eventually, they'll get tired and sloppy and they'll eventually lose to the waves of Promethean clones.

"Fall back, fall back!" John ordered.

"We can't, they've got us surrounded!"

"Then make a fucking hole in their formation!"

A bugger leapt onto the Spartan-II and he noticed the similarities between the cybernetic and organic Prometheans. It raised its right claw and stabbed at John's face. The Spartan jerked his head to the side and dodged it as he struggled to get his arms free.

"Shit," He cursed as the insect grabbed his head to keep him still. Its arm raised, the bugger was about to thrust his arm, when an orange light cut it in two. John saw the figure whirl around, using his right arm to cut into the insect's carapace and slice it in half.

"Zero!" Jake shouted.

"Thank god I wasn't too late." He panted as he pulled a Light Rifle seemingly out of nowhere. There were Promethean arm blade attachments on both his forearms and his forearms were drenched in a brownish liquid.

"Hurry, fall back – I'll take care of the situation here."

"Why are you helping us?" John asked.

"It's because it is partially my fault that a doppelganger managed to copy the appearance of one of my Prometheans. This entire situation is my fault, that's why I'm cleaning up my own ass!" He barked.

The Forerunner primed a grenade and ran up towards the egg, shoving his arm into it. When he retracted it, I saw what looked like tentacles on his arm. The Forerunner showed signs of disgust and smashed his arm into a tree, killing most of the tentacles.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry and get the fuck out of here!"

"Christ," Zero cursed.

He managed to somehow kill every clone that was following us. He looked beat as he sat on the porch of the spa building. The Spartan-IIIs were alright, although a little shaken. Nobody was injured too badly.

"I have only one or two days left until I'm called back." Zero announced.

"Called back? They're Forerunners in this world?" I asked.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Zero laughed.

"I won't go over the specifics but I shouldn't be here and those doppelgangers should have never taken the form of a Promethean. They've gone through at least three generations to look that hideous."

"You seem to know quite a bit about these organisms, care to enlighten us?" Rias asked.

"The sad thing is, is that I don't. I barely know anything about this place and I only kill to cover up my ass." He turned to the Gremorys.

"You're an exception."

"Just who are you?" I asked in vain. He probably won't tell me, but there's no harm in trying.

"That's classified. However, sticking on the classified note – why did you tell the Gremorys who you were? Did you think they were going to help you or were you just high back then?" Zero hissed.

"I..."

"Hey, don't bully John!" Rias defended me.

"That's right, you're devils aren't you? I have a very interesting method of spying; it consists of my practically nonexistent Ninjitsu skills and watching people while they sleep." He said sarcastically.

"That reminds me, don't you have a... Rating Game to deal with? I saw that pretentious bastard that you call a fiancée and got the chance to kick his ass." He scoffed.

"What's a Rating Game?" I asked, completely lost and confused.

"A Rating Game is sort of like chess since they use chess pieces but you can move where ever the hell you want and there may be an instance when a pawn can take out a king, queen and all of his pieces if he or she is good enough. Just think of it as capture the flag, just that you're going to kill a VIP instead."

"Right and why are you here?" I asked. Zero shrugged and stood up.

"No particular reason. I just noticed the miasma and figured I found an egg. So I told my forces to secure a perimeter around the forest and I managed to save your guys' ass."

"That's it? You just... noticed the black fog? I smell bull shit." Jake scoffed.

"You're right, I was on a hunt and I noticed the fog, happy now?"

"No,"

"Well you aren't getting shit from me and if you haven't noticed – I saved your ass. Now either you take it or leave it." He hissed.

"Zero, in all seriousness, how did they get a Promethean form?" I asked, curious. He shifted himself towards me and sighed.

"They copy an object's appearance by observing it. Every time they attempt to copy something, it ends up a corrupted and twisted version. That's how they got that organic Promethean look. That's from me studying them though. I'm sure Miss Gremory here can tell us what the hell that is. It is a demonic creature, is it not?" He said, shifting the blame to Rias.

She said nothing; I saw the fatigue in her expression and decided not to push further. Zero sighed heavily and stayed silent, so did everyone else. We sat in silence for another hour before the Forerunner left the scene, leaving me to my Spartans who eventually left as well. The sun started to set. I got up and packed all the equipment I brought with me. They weren't damaged, just out of supplies.

The day was over. I don't have a reason to be in this particular area anymore. I guess tomorrow I head back home.

Author's Note:

The Deep Web is actually a thing. You can access it via the Tor browser and I refuse to talk about it any further. The only information you will get about the Deep Web (from me), is that it is basically a black market of illegal items, assassin hiring or hit men and lots of child porn.

In all honesty, I kind of did hate this chapter as well. It seemed to just... drag on, longer than I'd appreciate. I have no explanation for why this took so long other than, "Visual Novels". Before you start complaining about how shitty this chapter was in comparison to all the others, I would just like to say this:

I KNOW THIS CHAPTER WAS SHITTY AND I WOULD BE HAPPY TO REWRITE IT, BUT I'VE ALREADY PUT THIS OFF FOR FAR TOO LONG AND I WOULD LIKE TO POST THIS BEFORE I DISAPPOINT ANOTHER PERSON.

I cut the chapter at 7k. I would like to plan out an INTERESTING 7th chapter since... well 7 is Bungie's favorite number...

No promises.

Well this is better than the first version which just made everyone OOC, John started freaking out, Rias turned into an asshole...

Yeah, this is better than the original version.

I am not proud of this version either. It isn't nearly as polished as the last one nor as my remakes for IDGPE. I still consider the remakes on IDGPE to be my best works since I had a better plan than I do now. Hell, this is what I call "writing blind". I have a very vague plot in mind but I just can't express it correctly. I wish this could have been better, I really do. For now, just put up with my bad writing.

If you haven't checked already, I have a schedule planned out on my profile page as well as a new poll. The schedule can change at whim but I'm currently in the process of planning and writing a remake of Infinite Spartan, something I hope can give me some hope that the next chapter can be better. Speaking of the next chapter, if you have any questions on progress, please PM me.

Thanks,
Sonicfanx1