Previously:
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The exterior of the building only showed two floors covering up what facilities and floors that lied below it.
After Giorno presses the elevator button the doors close with the elevator now starting its descent into the underground of the mansion.
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Chapter 7 - The Foolish Bird: Part 2
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[Location: Human World - Japan, Kuoh Town]
— Joestar Mansion: Training Grounds —
With the elevator finally reaching its destination the group exit the elevator and enter a hallway that lies ahead of them. Although the hallway wasn't long it had two doorways that were parallel to each other on the left and right, with no windows situated beside them not allowing the group to see in.
"So... What is this place?" Rias asks wondering what lies ahead.
"You'll see... Just make sure you drink plenty of water." Giorno answers, a small smirk forming on his face.
The group continue down the hallway until they reach the doors on either side. Giorno enters a passcode onto a keypad located on the left-hand side of the left door unlocking it and gesturing to the others to enter the room.
The group, now inside the room are presented with an endless expanse of inky blackness, an effect made by the sheer size of the room and the lights being off. Upon entering the room Giorno follows the wall to the right, not being able to see he traces his fingers against it, making sure he doesn't lose his way. Rias' peerage being able to see in the dark due to them being Devils starts to get excited seeing what the room contains.
Giorno stops at what seems to be a small metal box with a lever beside it. Grabbing the lever he pulls it down, this action sets off a chain of sequences turning on all the lights in the room. The room is vast and contains multiple contraptions seemingly used for training.
"Welp as you can properly tell this is where you'll be training for your battle... Any questions?" Giorno asks turning back to Rias and her peerage to see their jaws on the floor.
After a moment or two Rias has seemingly pulled herself together and manages to squeak something up. "Well... This is umm... How do you just have this?!"
"Benefits of being a Joestar..." Shizuka answers the question, getting a puzzled expression from Rias.
'I mean I know that Giorno said to not pry into their backgrounds but come on... This is ridiculous even for me. No Gremory training facility even holds a candle to this let alone having it in your house.' she thinks to herself.
"Good grief, come on you don't have the time to just stand here, get a move on!" Giorno shouts snapping the peerage out of thought.
"Ah... Yes sorry sir!" They all respond in unison having not expected Giorno to shout. "Now that's more like it, drop down and give me twenty!" Giorno demanded.
'Ha ha, he seems like he's enjoying himself a little too much.' Shizuka thinks to herself a menacing smile forming on her face. "Too slow! Ten laps around the facility now!" Shizuka shouts at the Devils.
'Oh Shit, what did it just encourage?' Giorno thinks, concern showing on his face. 'Don't worry lad they'll be fine... I think.' Speedwagon says via a mental link as he watches the group of Devils franticly run around the facility.
The facility houses a multitude of machinery for training, mostly for fighting simulation. The simulations cover a variety of subjects from swordsmanship to magic to battle tactics. Throughout the week Rias and her peerage were put through harsh training exercises by Giorno, Shizuka and even Speedwagon. As all things must come to an end so does the training week.
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[One Week Later...]
— Kuoh Academy: Old School Building —
"..."
"..."
"..."
"P... Please never... Never make us do that... again." Pleaded a mentally and physically exhausted Josuka who is laying down face flat on the club room's floor.
"I... Second this..." Agreed Asia who has collapsed onto one of the sofas.
"Wasn't that bad." koneko interjected in a quiet voice as she munched on some candy, and sat on the sofa opposite Asia. Josuka just lifted his head slightly and stared at her with a blank expression in response.
"... Small price to pay for... Potential freedom." Rias said with her head on her desk.
"I don't know... Having to destroy and rebuild a wall with Crazy Diamond for five hours straight every day as part of the training routine... Just why... Why... It was so boring..." Josuka responded, his voice muffled by the floor.
"..."
"So where's Kiba?" Asia asked, ignoring Josuka.
"Hey don't ignore me..." he pleaded, lifting his head from the floor once again.
"Oh... He didn't make it in the room... He passed out on the grass outside..." Rias responded quietly as she fell asleep on the desk.
" 'sigh' I'm going to see what Akeno is up to..." Koneko says in an emotionless tone as she stood up and left the club room.
With the Rating Game being tomorrow, Josuka and Asia follow in the footsteps of their master... By also passing out.
[Several Hours Later]
— Joestar Mansion: Giorno's Bedroom —
In Giorno's room can be seen, Giorno who is fast asleep in his bed. Everything in Giorno's room is how it should be... Except for the magic circle barring the Gremory Crest starts forming on the floor.
From the magic circle starts to emerge a figure. The figure appears to be in a female in her early twenties with back-length silver hair that features a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends, while the rest is let down which ends in twin braids and red eyes. She wears a maid's traditional maid outfit.
Having fully been transported inside the room the maid begins to speak. "Apologies for the intention~" Suddenly she's cut off.
"AHH THE FUCK?!" A now awake and pissed Giorno shouts.
"Ah umm, apologies~" the maid tries to speak again but is cut off.
"D.S.E, Stand Arrow Category: Echoes Act-3! Freeze!!" Giorno shouts.
In an instant a small white humanoid creature with small emerald oval metal plating around its body appears, making the intruder crash into the floor due to what's been to be added layers of intense gravity being put on her. The floor starts to crack under the pressure and the intruder spits out blood. Seeing this Giorno deactivates this Stand.
"D.S.E Ability: Tarot Card Category - The Star (Star Platinum)" He says as he approaches the woman.
The Stand has purple skin and long black hair. The Stand wears a red scarf and black gloves as well as a white loincloth.
"Who are you?" Giorno demanded.
"I..."
"I am... Grayfia, I'm with the Gremory household..." She utters weakly and is still in shock at the power he showed.
"With the Gemorys huh? How do I know you not lying?" Giorno responds slightly charming down.
The maid then points to the Gremory Crest which is embroiled on her maid uniform collar.
"I apologize for not letting you know of my arrival beforehand... I was sent the mauo Lucifer, who has heard about your generous help by lending Rias and her peerage some of your time and resources to help aid her. He wishes to extend an invitation for both you and your sister to watch the Rating Game between Rias Gremory and Riser Phoenix as a way of thanking you." She announces as she pulls herself together and stands up.
"I see... I accept this invitation~" Giorno says as he deactivates Star Platinum, before getting cut off by the door to his room door being slammed open.
"HE'S MY BROTHER, YOU CANT HAVE HIM!" Shizuka shouts upon entering the room, not aimed at anyone in particular.
As it turns out after Shizuka heard some commotion happening in Giorno's room she quickly ran to see what was happening, in fear that her precious brother may be in danger.
Now in the bedroom looking in to see that Giorno is half undressed, just being in his pyjama bottoms and seeing a maid that has a slightly damaged maid outfit that is now... Scruffy, she gets the wrong idea.
"... Umm Giorno... Please remember to put a sock on the door or something next time... Okay?" Shizuka utters out her face now turning a crimson red.
'So... He likes it ruff... And cosplay...' She thinks now turning around about to leave and try forgetting that this happened.
"Wait... what?" Giorno questions.
"Oh well... You know... Just give me a warning next time... And get soundproofing..." Shizuka sheepishly replies continuing to face away from the two to try to hide her blush.
"Soundproof... why?" Giorno questions still confused at Shizuka's reaction to this situation.
"If I may Mr Joestar I believe your sister here believes that we were about to start or just finished having coitus," Grayfia speaks up.
"... 'sigh' Shizuka this is Grayfia, she's from the Gremory household. She came here to invite us to watch the Rating Game that's happening tomorrow but... We had a little misunderstanding." Giorno announces trying to clear things up.
"Oh... Well, it certainly doesn't look like that, plus it wouldn't be the first time." Shizuka says a smirk appearing on her face.
"Pfft... What do you mean it wouldn't be the first time..." Giorno questions slightly nervous.
"Giorno, please... In the castle, I was in the room next to you... We both should know that it has thin walls." Shizuka claps back as she leaves the room with her arms crossed beneath her chest.
Giorno now in realisation gets extremely flustered. "Umm anyway... We both accept the invitation... Yay." Giorno sheepishly says to Grayfia not knowing what else to say.
"Thank you, Mr Joestar. I shall come to collect you both at noon tomorrow." Grayfia responds with a smile as she uses another Gremory Crest to teleport away.
"Pervert," Shizuka whispers just loud enough for Giorno to hear as she stares at him by peeping by the doorframe before skedaddling away.
"Wait!" He shouts as he runs to the doorframe.
"How thin are we talking?!" He asks not wanting to know the answer but still asked. Thankfully though he wouldn't get his answer as she chose to ignore him and entered her room that was just down the hallway.
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Ability User: Giorno Joestar
Ability: Dimensional Stand Energy
D.S.E Ability: Tarot Card Category - Echos Act-3
Power: B
Speed: B
Range: C
Durability: B
Precision: C
Growth Potential: A
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[The Next Day - 11:55]
— Joestar Mansion: Living Room —
In the living room, we are met with Shizuka who is sitting down eating cookies like there's no tomorrow. Sitting opposite her is Giorno who has curled up into a ball on the sofa, seemingly very annoyed at something... Or is it someone?
"Is she here yet?"
"No"
"Is she here yet?"
"NO"
"Is she here yet?"
"NO!"
"Is she here yet?"
"I swear to Speedwagon, if you don't shut up Shizuka I'm going to eat all of your cookies!"
"..."
"Is she here yet?"
"SHIZUKA!!"
"Ha ha... Pervert." She replied, a massive grin on her face.
"WRYYYY"
Suddenly a red magic circle bearing the Gremory Crest appears in the centre of the living room with Grayfia starting to emerge from it.
"Greetings, apologize for being late." She spoke with confidence in every word.
"... Grayfia your three minutes early... Hello," Giorno corrected still curled up in a ball.
"Anyway, shall we be off?" Grayfia asked dismissing Giorno's comment.
"Yay! It's finally time, will there be snacks or will I need to bring my own?" Shizuka asked whilst cramming as many cookies in her mouth as possible.
"No need to worry, as a guest you shall be provided with anything that you'll need," Grayfia answers, her smile growing wider.
"Do you provide the will to live?" Giorno asks bluntly gaining a chuckle off of Shizuka.
"Ah sorry to disappoint, but we just ran out of those yesterday..." Grayfia joked not knowing how else to answer that.
"well, that's crap... Let's get going then, don't want to be late now do we?" Giorno says as he got up from the sofa to join Grayfia.
"It's time to see some fried chicken," Shizuka yells excitedly as she stood next to Giorno.
"Good Grief," Giorno mumbled as Grayfia teleported them away.
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[Location: Underworld - Devil Territory, Raiting Game Stadium]
— Raiting Game Stadium: Viewing Room #4 —
Arriving in the room upon first glance the room didn't seem like much. It was small, smaller than you'd think. The walls were a depressing grey with a brown ceiling and red carpeted floor. The room was also filled with about Six chairs all facing one of the walls, this one having a large T.V. on it with the message saying "No Signal".
"Apologies that it's not much, but all the upper viewing booths were full." Grayfia apologized, getting a half smile from the siblings.
"This is viewing room #4, although we usually use Viewing room #3 for important guests like yourselves... We had a few more people coming than expected." Grafia tried explaining.
"Cool, so who is reserved for viewing rooms one and two?" Shizuka asked whilst testing out all the seems to try to find the best view and best comfort.
"Oh, a well umm viewing room #1 is used for government officials like Lord Lucifer who which to watch the match, it's also for our sponsors to use as well. Viewing room #2 is used for the families and friends of the opponents fighting." Grayfia explained.
"Any who I must be off, I need to inform Lord Lucifer of our arrival, he'll probably want to speak with you once this event is over. Oh, and don't worry some maids will be in here shortly to prove you with any snacks or beverages you'll need." She continued before leaving.
"I see how it is... So they don't count us as Rias' friends... That's fine I guess." Giorno said in a joking tone.
"Doesn't surprise me... We practically tortured them." Shizuka interjects still testing seats.
"I mean it was in the name of training, and they asked us," Giorno responds putting his hands in the air in a defensive manner.
"Yeah, your right. Training, torture what's the difference?" Shizuka asked sarcastically, receiving a blank expression from Giorno.
Some time passed as they waited for the event to start, being visited by multiple maids that provided them with snacks. After some more time, the T.V. Switched to a screen that showed Grayfia in some sort of commentator room.
"lady and gentlemen, boys and girls, aliens and others good afternoon to you all. This afternoon we have a very special Rating Game planned for you, one that will not just be witnessed by the maou but the whole Underworld. This Rating Game has gained fast traction and hype over the last week since its announcement. Now, I know that everyone's excited so I'll only hold you all a moment before we start the event. We would like to thank our sponsor for this event: 'Asteroth Tech', without them this event wouldn't be the same without their help. Now with that out of the way let's introduce our contestants!" Grayfia announces into a microphone.
"This seems more political than she originally let on." Giorno thinks out loud.
"Ugh, 'nom' no politics please... 'nom' I just cookies," Shizuka responds, her mouth still full.
"Don't speak with your mouth full, it's disgusting."
"Ok 'nom' whatever 'nom'." She agrees with her mouth still full causing Giorno to facepalm.
Their attention is swiftly pulled back to the T.V. As Grayfia being to speak once again. "Now I'll be showing you the battlefield that the contestants will be using for this fight." She cheerfully announces to the audience.
The screen then transitions to show a visual of Kuoh Academy from the human world, puzzling Shizuka and Giorno. "This is Kuoh Academy, well at least a replica. One of the contestants put in a word saying that they recommend this as a battlefield as an advantage for the other consistent, this is due to multiple handicaps that the consistent is having to work with." Grayfia continues, Giorno now giving the screen an unreadable expression.
A large blue hologram of Grayfia abruptly appears in the middle of the battlefield seemingly about to talk. "On the east side of the School, we have our first consistent Rias Gremory with her peerage who are taking base in the Old School Building. On the west side of the School, we have Riser Phoenix and his peerage who has taken base in the Student Council Room."
"With both contestants ready the Raiting Game shall now commence. Begin!" She continues, shouting the last bit as loud horns start to go off, alerting the contestants that the mack had begun.
" 'nom' Finally show time baby!" Shizuka exclaims whilst her mouth is still full.
"It's about goddamn time," Giorno says, as he cocks one leg over the other and interlocks his fingers.
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As soon as the game started Rias instantly put all her peerage into strategic locations. Kiba was set on the outskirts of the building, laying a multitude of high-level traps.
Akeno was stationed on the roof of the building, taking control of the air space that surrounds the base. This can also use this position to advance once the ground is cleared.
Josuka and Koneko were put together, their got is to advance on the ground, scouting ahead and taking anyone out if necessary.
Asia would stay back with Rias and would only leave if anyone needed healing.
"President, we have arrived at the Gym... There are expected to be at least four enemies here. How do you wish us to proceed?" Koneko communicates to Rias via a magic circle placed on her ear.
"Excellent, proceed with caution... Play stealthy, remember Giorno's and Shizuka's teachings." Rias responds nervousness clearly showing in her voice.
"Seems like you should be taking your own advice, calm down," Josuka says with a smirk.
"I... I'm not nervous, just a little stressed that's all." She replies still nervous.
" 'Sigh' Try calming her down Asia," Koneko interjects with an emotionless tone.
"Already on it!" She shouts not knowing how loud to speak into the magic circle.
"Alright then... Shall we?" Joksuka asked as he gestured towards an entrance into the Gym.
"If we must..."
Entering the Gym they are greeted to see that four girls from Riser's peerage are waiting for someone to come waltzing in. "Xuelan... Can we go to them this is ridiculous, it's been twenty minutes and no-ones shown up?" A young girl with blue hair and light brown eyes wearing a whitehaori with a redobi, which is worn under a redhappi coat asks the girl now known as Xuelan who looks like a rip-off of Chun Li.
"Oh quiet down Mira, we only move if Lord Riser orders up to," Xuelan replies getting a sigh in return.
"Ile, Nel don't waste your chainsaw fuel, shut them off for now," Xuelan demanded the other two peerage members, the two roll their eyes in response as they reluctantly power down.
"Ha, they need some better teamwork," Josuka whispered to Koneko.
"Indeed, now get into position and don't fuck up." She responded in her usual emotionless tone.
"Yeah yeah, I know." He retorted.
Koneko positioned herself by multiple support beams in a place where she couldn't be spotted. Josuka on the other hand was on the other side of the Gym in a place where he couldn't also be seen.
"Now." He whispered through the communication circle to let Koneko know he was ready.
After receiving the signal Koneko destroyed all the support beams around her alerting the four to her position.
"Ah finally!" Mira shouted as they rushed over towards her whilst Ile and Nel try to power up again falling back a bit.
"Piss off." An emotionless voice rang out from behind the cover as the person through what seemed to be a metal beam at them, knocking Mira and Xuelan back towards the other two enemies.
Before they could ready themselves to go attack the intruder, the four girls hear some breaking sounds making them look up. They look up to see that the Gymnasium roof is collapsing and about to land on them.
"[Two of Riser's Pawns - Retired]"
Grayfia announces the battlefield as well as those watching. This message was broadcasted as the roof collapsed on top of the four peerage members.
"Ah, you bastard that was a cheap trick ass hole!" Xuelan cried out from the dust cloud that had enveloped the interior of the Gym.
"Ow... I think I landed on my Bō Staff." Mira shouted in pain.
"Alright, you little shit where did you do?!" Xuelan demanded as she tried to look around for her opponent.
"Over here ass hole," Koneko answered as she through a clump of debris at Xuelan, knocking her down again.
"Alright I'm done having fun you can do it now." Koneko continued as she started walking away.
"What... You bitch I didn't say I was done with you!" Xuelan exclaimed trying to stand once more, not even realizing what Koneki was talking about.
"Crazy Diamond!" A boy shouted from somewhere in the Gym.
In an instant, the debris from the roof started glowing before levitating back towards its origin, taking the enemies with it.
"Huh? What's this shit?!" Mira exclaimed in confusion.
The roof them fully restored to its original architectural stature taking the girls with it. Intern this launched the two Devils into the sky, high above the roof. Being in shock the two forgot to unleash their wings.
"[One of Riser's Pawns and Rooks - Retired]"
Grayfia announced once again, shocking the audience. Meanwhile in viewing room #4 Giorno and Shizuka are rolling on the ground laughing at how badly trained Riser's peerage is.
"Great work you too, Akeno will join you shortly and the three of you will continue to advance!" Rias communicated, her hopes slightly higher than usual.
To Be Continued...
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A/N:
Hello wonderful people... Ok I'm sorry that it's been like three months or something. This is the part where I'd give you an excuse for why I haven't updated this story... I don't have one, I'll be honest I just lost all motivation for trying to write this chapter. I tried working on other stories to take a mini break from this story which worked for a bit, but I don't know I just had a difficult time with this.
Don't worry though as there will be many more chapters to come... When? I don't know, a week or two. I just didn't want to leave this story gathering dust any longer. So this is it, I'm back.
The next Chapter will probably be the conclusion of the Riser arc, I'll then spend some time doing some much-needed character development as well as introducing a whole new element to the story. This story is about going through a big change, for better or for worse. In the meantime, I recommend that you go read the prologue of the other story I'm working on, "The Innovative Devil" I'll be updating that one regularly too.
I'll see you next time I guess... See you soon!