A.N.- Sorry it's been so long since I updated this guys. School work and holidays and all. Plus I'm addicted to another DxD fanfic I'm busy with. (go read it! Rias is nice in it!) Anyway enjoy this fight filled chapter and the surprise twist ending I made up about two minutes ago. :)

The Third King of Kuoh Academy

Chapter 12

After about an hour of running through the streets of the suburban town, I arrived outside a large gothic church on a hill at the edge of town. I looked around, trying to sense if any other devils where around. I could vaguely feel Aria and Ashlen a little ways behind me, along with Brittany, Seraphin, and Violet not far behind them.

"This has got to be the place." I muttered and took another sweep of the area, this time looking for fallen ones. But that's when an unexpected presence broke my concentration.

"Lord Blackflame! Is that you? What are you doing out here?" A male voice called from the tree line beside me. I turned to my left and saw the tall, blonde haired; Knight of Rias and her small Rook emerge from the trees.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked; a bit relieved to have back up. I have nothing against these two, so what's the point in shunning their help?

"Our Master sent us out here to collect Issei and attempt to save the nun girl, Asia." Kiba explained. I nodded and pointed at the church.

"Guessing they're in there then?" I asked and the two nodded. I sighed, "Bet they have a whole army in there just waiting for us." Kiba reached for his sword and smiled at me. Confidence radiated off him.

"Don't worry about it my friend. They won't even be able to stand up against us, let alone a devil lord with a full peerage." He said reassuringly and I smiled. Nice kid, I must reconstruct my opinion of Rias's peerage.

"If you two are done flirting…" I looked towards the church and saw Koneko kick the door open, "we have a job to do." This is the first time I've actually heard her talk, cute voice for such a stone faced girl.

"Right, Lord Blackflame, I hope to see you inside." Kiba called as he ran after the small white haired girl.

"Oh don't worry pretty boy, you will." I smirked as I took a seat on the ground to await my peerage.

The girls arrived a few minutes later. Each one ready to tear down the whole church; all I had to do was say the word.

"All right ladies," I began as I took a pose on a rock in front of them, "The plan is: we go in there, we find the fallen angels, we kill them, and we save the damsels. Everyone got it?" I called and the girls cheered in response.

"Yes Master!" They called and I smiled at them happily.

"Well alright. Go get em girls." I commanded and the girls immediately ran off into the church. Well, except one…

"Are you just going to let them free fight in there?" Brittany asked as the two of us began walking towards the holy structure.

"I suppose so, why? I'm sure they can handle it." I said, trying to reassure her. Why would she be worried, not like anything bad will happen. I've had my peerage take out tons of fallen angel hives before. This should be pretty routine.

"I just worry about it sometimes. What if something does happen? What if they take away part of our…family?" She asked, worry was clear in her voice. A family? She's never called it that before.

"Brittany, I promise there is nothing to worry about." I reassured her as we reached the center of the main room. In front of us was a huge window painting that shone different colors because of the moonlight above us.

The two of us looked around and saw that all the pews had been broken in half and there were clear signs of a struggle. Must have been Kiba and Koneko, guess they actually can take care of themselves. But where did the girls go…?

"Varian, look at this." Brittany said as she walked towards a small hole in the ground in front of the altar. I approached her and saw that the hole was a large staircase that lead down to an underground chamber. I listened closely and I could hear swords clashing and screaming.

"Guess that's where the party is." I said and smiled at my lovely Queen. She just looked away towards the shiny window painting; still clearly worried. What's wrong with her? She has never been like this before.

"Brittany, I can't let you go fighting fallen angels with a face like that! Now tell me what's wrong." I told her and she looked back at me; slightly misty eyed. What?

"It's you Varian! You're what's wrong!" She screamed and started lightly punching at my chest.

"What do you mean Brittany? What did I do wrong?" I asked, super confused. She's never acted like this before. Whatever I did, it was bad.

"You keep getting hurt Varian! Every time you come home you've gotten in a fight and your hurt! And that stupid girl Rias keeps causing all this emotional trauma for you! You don't deserve it. We shouldn't be fighting. What if…you…" Her voice got quieter and she trailed off. So she is worried about me? Typical of her, she's always pretty worried. But something is still off…she normally deals with it better.

"Brittany," I began and held her hands in mine, "I swear I'll keep myself and everyone safe. But I can't do that if I don't fight with them. And I promise, as soon as this is over we can go home and be safe. But for right now, we have to fight okay? Wouldn't want Tera and Ella stuck here would we?" I asked and Brittany smiled a bit. I didn't completely rewrite my wrongs, but she's functional now.

"We can talk more when we get home. I promise. Now let's hurry up and get down there." I told her and she nodded in response.

When the two of us reached the bottom of the stairs there was a battlefield before us. A large chamber, that seemed to be lit by the fire underneath it, stretched out before us. At the end of the room, on the other side of the full scale battle in front of me, was a large altar. And, pinned to a metal cross on top of it, was Asia.

"Brittany, you help the others out. I'm going to save the damsel." I told her and she nodded before throwing her hands above her head. Next thing I know a blast of wind shot forward and knocked the closest row of priests back.

"Fantastic job love." I called as I took off running through the fray.

I lit my hands on fire and started punching any of the priests that got too close. I ran through the middle of the room as best as I could, having to stop a few times to avoid getting hit by the attacks of the fighters.

As I passed the first group of fighters, I looked over to see Ashlen and Aria beating the priests to death like they were in a huge bar brawl, while Kiba was jumping from priest to priest leaving bleeding men in his wake. The priests had clearly underestimated the girls, probably assuming they were too attractive and ditsy to really be dangerous, and had proceeded to attack them unarmed. A few of them had decided to attack the boy with the sword, so the number of attackers was pretty spread out. I couldn't even keep up with Kiba's lighting fast movement so I just focused on my Rooks.

As I ran past I saw Ashlen punch a priest in the gut, grab his neck, and launch him into a group of his friends. A few priests ran up behind the blonde beauty, only to receive an explosive punch to each of their faces. Aria smiled as she stood over them, parts of her arms and hair lit up with orange flames.

"That's my girls!" I called as I started running again, having seen enough of the brawl. I looked over my shoulder and saw the purple haired girl jumping up and down waving at me. She stopped mid jump and spin kicked a priest in the face, still smiling at my praise.

I ran to about the middle of the room and had to duck as two priests flew over my head. I looked up from my crouched position and saw Koneko and Violet standing back to back against a horde of priests with light swords.

"Quite an interesting pair." I commented and took a seat on the floor to get a better view of the two devils as they fought of the attackers. A group of about five priests began walking towards Koneko. Her stone face didn't change as she slightly nudged Violet, it was some sort of signal.

Almost instantly, the five priests started clutching at their chests and the place behind Koneko, where Violet was standing, was empty. The black haired knife wielder appeared once again behind the three priests in the center and began to make their backs resemble cut boards.

The one in the center grabbed at his back and fell to his knees. He didn't even get to turn around before he bled out and died. The two others actually got a chance, but not much of one. They turned quickly, their backs already bleeding quite a bit, and started swinging at the tall, skinny girl.

The one on the left made a downward slash, causing Violet to dash to the left and into the other priests side slash. However, the girl flipped over the swipe and landed on the rouge's blind side. She shoved her dagger into his ribs and all of a sudden a burst of water shot out of his opposite side, leaving a gapping whole in him.

As his comrade fell, the other priest dropped his sword and backed away in fear. He didn't get very far before Koneko threw another priest into him. The two tumbled to the ground and the one who was still gasping for breath slammed his head against the hard rock floor and bled to death.

"Graceful and deadly, that's Violet." I muttered and turned to examine the other girls handiwork. Koneko was standing a few feet away from my Knight, surrounded by unconscious or dead priests. Not only had she taken out the two that Violet missed, apparently a few others had decided to attack the small loli girl.

"Nice work Koneko. I can see why Rias held you in such high esteem." I called to her and she turned to me with the same stone face as before.

"Suck it." Was all she said before turning back to the reaming priests that were running at her. I giggled as I stood back up and started running off farther into the fray. Cute girl.

I ran a few more feet, knocking out a few priests as I went, before stopping dead in my tracks as a lightning bolt hit the ground in front of me. I fell on my butt and looked around franticly for my small, tsundere of a Pawn.

"Watch it Sara!" I yelled as the small electric blonde ran into my sight. She looked at me and scoffed before continuing her path towards a huge group of priests. This had to be the largest grouping of them so far…which means.

"You are the ones who attacked my Master and his home! Have at you!" Seraphin's voice called from the center of the mass. I looked forward with a smile and noticed I was right in front of the altar. I jumped up and climbed up a few stairs so that I could watch my Knight make quick work of the attackers. I stopped about a third of the way up the altar and looked into the circle to see my Pawn and Knight standing in the center.

A line of four priests ran towards the girls in the middle and were immediately obliterated by the massive sword Seraphin carried on her back. She swung it in an arc and ended up slashing the priests across their chests and necks. I looked to see two fall to their knees, trying to hold the blood in their chests, while the others fell on their backs, heads lolling to the side; about to fall off.

A second group ran at Sara, who immediately shot a few lightning bolts in response. The one in the center absorbed the light ray into his sword, but the two others weren't so lucky. Both fell dead with huge holes in their chests. The priest approached the girl, twirling his sword as he walked forward.

Sara didn't even take a step back before leaping about ten feet in the air, summoning a yellow magic circle, and sending a torrent of electric rays down onto, not only that priest, but all the others in front of her. Sara had obliterated her attackers before Seraphin had even cut halfway through hers.

"That's my little Pikachu!" I yelled and the yellow haired girl looked up at me before turning around, trying to ignore me. I could tell she was blushing behind that tough girl face. I looked back to make sure Seraphin was doing okay, which of course she was, before continuing my journey up the altar. Now the real fight begins.

I reached the top platform and stopped in horror of what I saw. I saw Issei curled up on the ground, beaten and crushed, clutching a weak and dying Asia in his arms. Across the platform from him was the lead fallen one, Raynare, taunting him.

"We're done with her now, you can have her. Now that I have the Twilight Healing, I'll be unbeatable!" The girl cackled in glee. Twilight Healing, is that a sacred gear? Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good if it's in the possession of a fallen one. Especially not a strong fallen one.

"Why…why did you have to do this to her?" Issei asked, his voice was broken and desperate. What did they do to him while he was here? I took a few steps back and decided to ease drop a bit.

"Why are you even complaining boy? We could have easily killed you at any point, now you're free to go. So go." She told him and he jerked his head around to face her; hate burning in his eyes.

"Why are you doing this to us? Asia was such a kind soul and you had to go and kill her! Why? All she wanted to do was make friends and be happy! You're a monster Raynare!" Issei screamed and the girl cackled in reply.

"Now you're deciding to take control!? Why couldn't you have been like this on our date? I love a man in control ya know." She mocked him and he couldn't take it anymore. He laid the dying blonde on the ground and stood up to face the dark angel before him.

"How could you do that to me? Yuma…I loved you! We were going to go on real dates and I was going to show you to my friends and my parents! You were going to be my girlfriend." He screamed at her. His voice seemed to grow weaker and I saw his heart breaking as he continued. Maybe I pegged this kid wrong...

"Oh Issei I want you to be my boyfriend. You're so sweet and kind and sexy." Raynare responded in a fake girly voice. "Ya right. I can't believe you were so easy to fool! Guess you were too focused on getting some nip, am I right?" She mocked him again and I saw the boy clench his fist in anger. He's just about to snap…I can see it.

"How dare you!" Issei screamed before running at his psychotic ex-girlfriend. He lunged at her and his arm soon became covered by a red gauntlet.

"No way…" I muttered as I watched the boy lung at the girl and miss her. She side stepped and brought up her booted foot and land a hard hitting kick to his face.

Issei tumbled back and fell down, but he was back on his feet in moments. This boy is quite a spectacle. He watched Raynare as she summoned her purple light spear and she began to twirl it around her body.

The boy looked back at the dying nun and cried out before sprinting towards her, wrapping his arms around her, and running right at me. I hopped to another side of the altar and watched the boy jump to the ground below, the girl still in his arms. He ran through the center of the room, not stopping to watch like I did.

He turned at the staircase and looked around the room, maybe searching for his fellow peerage members. As soon as he stopped a group of priests ran at him and I watched him brace himself for the attack. However, Kiba jumped in front of the attackers and parried their strikes before Violet sliced their backs. The two Knights made quick work of the attackers and turned back towards Issei.

Kiba and the young devil were clearly having a disagreement before Violet joined in. All I could see from my perch was a yelling match between two bloody teens with swords and one bloody boy with a dying girl in his arms. Eventually the two boys nodded at each other and the two Knights ran back into the fight. Issei turned back one last time and yelled something, receiving a smile from Kiba as they ran their separate ways.

"What a worthless idiot." Raynare's cold voice said above me as she spread her wings and flew across the room towards the door. I hopped back to the center of the altar and examined the area. They must have used the massive metal cross to extract the nun's sacred gear, at least that's what it looks like. She wouldn't be dying if that wasn't the case, she didn't have a scratch on her. Yep, that's what it was.

That would explain why Issei is so angry. And it appears that Raynare tricked him into dating her and betrayed him. I'm going to have to question that poor sap about this when it's all over. I walked to the edge of the altar and looked at the battle in front of me. My servants had made quick work of the priests and they were finishing up the fight. Brittany appeared to have accumulated a massive amount of dead bodies in front of her. She hates fighting, but she's good at it.

"Well I should probably go watch Issei's fight then." I told myself and leaped about halfway across the room. I sprinted the across the rest of the room and reached the feet of the stairs. I started walking up and was soon greeted by yelling and cursing far above me. I picked up the pace and reached the top of the stairs, making sure to conceal myself from their view.

I saw Issei lying on the ground, leaning against a stone step in front of me. Standing over him was Raynare, taunting him once again. And Asia was lying, dead, on a pew to my left. Poor girl, she didn't deserve this at all. I started to tear up more and more the longer I looked at the kind innocent girls lifeless body.

"Dear god…if you can hear me…she didn't deserve this...please…please bring her back." I heard Issei mutter. He was bleeding from two gashes in his legs and tears covered his face. He looked broken, emotionally and physically.

"A devil repenting in a church, are you mad?" Raynare teased and Issei shook his head.

"You're right." He said and coughed up some blood. "I'm an idiot. Why would God listen to me?" (The irony here is amazing) "I'm just a lowly devil. Maybe I should try…praying to a devil lord." Issei muttered again, he was going to be able to stay conscious for much longer.

"Listen, devil lord, if you can hear me…bring this girl back. She didn't deserve to die like this. She just wanted a friend that's all." Issei chocked out and Raynare cackled above him.

"It doesn't matter what she wanted! Don't you see that? All those who are born with sacred gears are destined to have hard lives. People fear them and others want their power. As was the case with this poor sister." Raynare explained, but Issei wasn't listening anymore. This boy has my full attention now. Let's see what he does next.

"Issei…" a voice behind me muttered. Oh no…

I turned and saw Rias and her Queen, Akeno, standing behind me. Rias's hand was lit up by a large ball of her ruin magic and Akeno's eyes were zapping with anger.

"Rias, calm down." I said and she turned to me with angry eyes.

"Trust me; let's just see what he'll do." I explained and turned back to the fight before me. As much as the girl wanted to go save him, she listened to me. Odd…maybe she was telling the truth…No! Don't think about that right now…

"And if you can't bring her back…" Issei's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I looked forward to see him standing up and clutching at his bleeding legs. "…please…give me enough strength…" he started and took a few steps toward the fallen angel.

"How are you even standing!? That much light should kill you!" Raynare yelled and threw her light spear at him one last time.

"Give me the strength…to kick her ASS!" Issei screamed and a green light exploded from him. Yep, that's the boosted gear; confirmed.

The gauntlet on his left hand morphed and took the shape of a large, red scale gauntlet. I covered his hand up to his arm and the small green jewel grew to take up his whole hand. Massive claws extended from the fingers and power oozed out of it every second.

BOOST!

The gauntlet bellowed and Issei ran at the fallen angel one last time. This time she didn't even try to evade, she turned and ran. But Issei was faster. He grabbed her wings and brought her into his fist. He slammed the gauntlet into her chest and sent her flying across the room and out the window.

"Take that you psycho bitch." Issei muttered before his knees started buckling. I ran forward and grabbed his arm, placing it behind my shoulder.

"Nice job dragon! I watched the whole thing and I must say that I am truly impressed." I applauded and the boy was only able to smile and nod.

"Thank you…Varian." He replied before nodding off a bit.

I smiled and laid the boy down on the ground before turning to face the "poltical" issues that Rias would bring up. Well…that's what I prepared for…

"Thank you so much Varian!" The red head screamed before pressing against me, grabbing my chin, and pressing our lips together. As much as I hate to admit it, I enjoyed the kiss quite a bit. Our tongues intertwined and I even ran my hands up her sides and held her close to me. When she finally pulled away, she was blushing and smiling at me and I was actually doing the same.

"Thank you so much for coming and helping my peerage and saving my Issei!" She yelled and pressed her head against my chest. The male hormones had finally stopped clouding my brain and I was able to push her off me.

"Rias, just what are you doing?" I asked and looked at her sternly.

"I think we should be asking you that same question…Master." Brittany's voice cut through. I sighed and slowly turned to see my entire peerage, the newly freed Pawns, Tera and Ella, included, looking at me; anger and jealousy burning in their eyes.

"Oh give me a break!" I screamed and tried to run out of the church. I know they'll eventually find me…I just want a little time to breath that's all. But of course, Seraphin and Violet appeared right in front of me and held their weapons out at me.

"Listen…girls…can't we talk about this calmly and civil-like?" I asked; hopeful.

"NO!" They all screamed back. Aria and Ashlen ran up, grabbed me, and threw me onto a pew. I looked over and saw Rias's peerage having a big celebration over the victory as they all started trying to heal Issei. How is this fair?

"Start talking now!" Aria and Ashlen yelled as they held me down on my back on the pew. Not really gonna complain that they are holding me down while being on top of me...with their ripped, battle worn, clothing. But still...

"This isn't fair at all!"