First off, I want to thank Real Dreamer for the new artwork. It's an awesome piece, and the colour contrast is sweet. You even got the clothes right. Great work pal, and thank you so much. I hope that this story is a good reward for you. Let's just say that the fight goes differently, and Bri gets a new power.

Chapter 17: Complications

"The Red Dragon's gauntlet. Asia Argento's Twilight Healing. Kiba Yuuto's Sword Birth. And your shapeshifting Sacred Gear." Xenovia was saying, smirking at Ben. "All of these are truly unique Sacred Gears. They would've done so much better working in the hands of the Church."

"You already had Asia, and look what you did to her." Ben countered, keeping a close eye on her sword. He had a good form in mind, but he didn't know how Excalibur would react to him. He believed that since it was a Holy Sword, it would be just a normal blade against him. That he could handle. "And Yuuto's already suffered enough thanks to you lot. So what makes you think I'll join?"

"I see. I shouldn't expect anything less from a godless heathen. Be fortunate I won't kill you." And she charged at him with her sword, showing a good amount of speed. If he had his old Omnitrix, then he'd be hard-pressed to react fast enough to change.

But the new one worked on thought. And almost no one was faster than thought.

She stumbled as he changed into Goop. Her feet slipped in the green goo of his body while his anti-gravity unit drew him away. Once he got himself collected again, he took on his usual form of a humanoid shape with two green eyes on the head. His projector hovered overhead with the Omnitrix on the top. Xenovia slashed at him again, but he chuckled as the heavy blade just went through him. The two parts merged together, and he started punching her. She tried to block with Excalibur, but his hand oozed around it and continued unhindered. He laughed at her expression as his fist smacked into her. True, Goop didn't have the same strength as other forms, but it made up for that easily. He used one leg to wrap around her knees, forcing her to fall over with a push. But before he could fully immobilize her, she managed to knock his projector away with the flat of the blade. She crawled out of the inert slime as the Projector returned and collected him. As he tried to get back into range, she spun her sword around so that the tip pointed down to the ground. He was blown away as it stabbed the ground, making a huge explosion. When the dust faded, he saw that she was kneeling in a large crater. Holy crap. No wonder it was called Excalibur Destruction. He decided to rush in and wrap around her quickly. Once she was unarmed, it would all be down to Issei.

But that was when the Omnitrix decided to malfunction.

He screamed in pain as green lightning arced from the Omnitrix, forcing him to change back to normal. He quickly moved as best as he could before Xenovia attacked the spot he had been kneeling at, having to roll to keep away. His body started feeling like it was on fire as his legs stopped working properly. He looked down to see they were forming a tail now. A black-and-white striped tail.

"Really?!" He shouted at the Omnitrix as he was forced to dodge again. "You just had to turn me into Ghostfreak right now?" He yelled in pain again as his skin burned some more. As he looked, his hands grew long bone-white claws. His chest started growing more black-and-white tentacles too. "And without the protective skin? Are you trying to kill me?!"

"Well now, looks like someone's Sacred Gear isn't working well." Xenovia said as she rushed Ben again. Now at least he had changed enough he could start flying away. But it hurt so much. With every second more and more of him was becoming an Ectonurite. Without his protective skin he would be burned to ash in a matter of moments. He flew over to the fallen cloak, wrapping himself in it. It was the best he could do, since the Omnitrix was obeying him anymore. And apart from flying he couldn't use any other powers. Xenovia rushed him again and again, catching the cloak a few times. A lucky strike sent Ben flying, knocking the cloak away. He screamed so loudly as his body started burning with light-purplish fire. Xenovia jumped high into the air with her sword pointed down at him, but he had changed enough to finally phase through the ground. He went deeper and to the side as the blade impaled where he had been before. He didn't know what a Holy Sword could do to an Ectonurite, and he didn't want to find out. There was at least one thing he could do in the blaze of the light.

Xenovia was looking around for him as he rushed her from behind, invisible until the sun started burning him. She turned at the last minute, but it was too late. He entered her body.

And they both screamed in pain.

(**/*\**)

Issei groaned as he got back off the ground from where Koneko had smashed him. It wasn't really his fault that he accidently got her and Asia with his Dress Break attack when he had been aiming for Irina. The damn girl was too fast for him. But he couldn't give up. They had to win. Though his odds weren't looking too good. He couldn't see what was happening, but he could hear Bri scream in pain during her fight with Xenovia. Once he took Irina out of the fight, he was going to help her. It sounded like Xenovia was killing her.

"I will purify your soul Issei!" Irina yelled as she rushed him with her katana. He quickly dodged to the side before reaching for her clothes. Dammit, he was going to see her naked no matter what! But he overstepped. Irina dodged him again and as he was moving, she swung her sword. Even Issei could see she wasn't going to miss. He was going to die. And there was nothing he could do.

*CLANG!* Everyone looked on in shock as Xenovia dropped in from above, blocking Excalibur Mimic with Excalibur Destruction. Why was she helping?

"Xenovia! What are doing? He is the enemy!" Irina shouted, before looking at her more closely. "And…And what happened to your face?" Xenovia jumped back so that she was standing beside Issei. He turned to see that her eyes were nearly pitch-black, and with cracks around them. The only colour to her eyes was her purple pupils. What did this mean?

"Come on Issei." She hissed at him in a raspy, high-pitched voice. "I don't know how much longer I can do this."

Issei blinked, and looked over to see no sign of Bri. "Is that you in there?" He asked Xenovia.

"Yes. Now stop asking questions and help me win." She yelled before rushing at Irina. She managed to dodge the strike, but it was clear that Bri knew what she was doing. Or at least, Xenovia's body knew what to do. One final strike forced Irina to change Mimic's form. Now it was as big as Destruction. She clearly couldn't lift it, but it was enough to stop Bri. Issei saw his chance. He rushed in as fast as he could, and touched both the girls. Red pentacles appeared on their clothes, and Issei snapped his fingers. Both girls yelled as their clothes were shredded by Dress Break. It was only afterwards that he realised that he used it on Bri, something he promised he wouldn't do. Oops.

"Issei!" She growled at him, wincing as the cracks in Xenovia's kin faded away. A weird purple skinned alien was pushed out of her body, screaming as it started burning. As Issei watched in horror, Bri started changing back to normal. Well, not quite normal. The Omnitrix was still on her chest, veins writhing under her skin. There were large burn marks all over her body that started fading away. One arm changed slowly into Diamondhead, looking as if crystal was growing over her skin. She barely raised it in time to block Xenovia's attack, the crystal ringing from the blow. As Issei rushed over to help, he saw her mouth change form. It now had four flaps, and Bri puked out a large ball of webbing. Xenovia tried to escape, but Bri got her right in the chest. It didn't take long before she was wrapped in webbing. Bri screamed again as eyes started opening all over her body, beams firing everywhere before closing again. Issei watched as one passed him and froze Irina's arm solid. Now that the fight was over, everyone started rushing to Bri.

"Hang in there Bri." Asia said quickly as she knelt beside her. Her Twilight Healing glowed as she used it on Bri. They all watched as the crystal arm fell off to reveal her normal arm, and the veins started shrinking in size. They all sighed in relief as she healed over, only to jump in shock as Bri started screaming again. The veins grew in size again until Asia healed them again. When she stopped, they just grew back.

"Something's wrong." Rias said. "We have to get her back to the club house." Issei and Koneko grabbed Bri, holding her steady as Asia ran alongside them.

Please let her be ok.

(**/*\**)

"It's no good." Asia said as she sat by Bri. "I manage to heal the damage, but as soon as I stop it comes back. I don't know what's happening." Rias looked at Bri's pain before getting closer.

"Bri. I know this is painful. But I need you to do something. If what you said is true, then Grey Matter is the only one that can understand what's happening to you. I need you to use that power. Or else we can't even begin to help you." Bri grimaced in more pain, but her face started changing slightly. It turned grey and with two large bulges for her eyes before fading back to normal. She screamed as her arm burst into fire, before concentrating and putting the flames out. As her arm healed over, she finally spoke.

"The Omnitrix is malfunctioning. The damage keeps coming back because it's over-healing my body. It working all my organs into overdrive. Not to mention that one of my forms is practically a living nuclear reactor." Everyone took a quick step back. "There's also acid in my veins and poisonous gas and who knows what else."

"Are you…dying?" Issei asked. Bri managed to look at him and give him a sad smile.

"Nope. My body's keeping me alive. But I kinda wish that it would hurry up and kill me already. This is so painful." They heard the door open and turned to see Kiba enter. He looked at all of them in confusion.

"There you are." Rias said. "Where the hell were you? We've been worried sick."

"I…I had a run-in with Freed Sellzen." Kiba replied. "And he was carrying a Holy Sword." He finally spotted everyone crowding around Bri. "What happened to Bri? Is she unwell?"

"You could say that." Bri replied weakly. "The Omnitrix malfunctioned. Now it's healing me and killing me at the same time. And the worst bit is that now I'll have to hear Azmuth say 'I told you so' all the time." Everyone stood there in silence as she hissed in pain. "And don't any of you apologise for this. I'm the one that started that fight. This is my fault. And I accept that. I just hope I can last until Azmuth gets here."

"I don't think you will Ben." Everyone heard the voice of an older man. They looked round until the spotted him by the closed door. He was dressed in what looked like cross-between a scientist's lab coat and a Victorian outfit. He held a cane in one hand, and the other was covered by a metal gauntlet. They got ready to fight, but Bri just smiled and waved.

"Paradox. Boy am I glad to see you."

"Yes, I can imagine." The old man said as he walked closer. He looked at Bri with a sad smile. "I am so sorry this happened to you. The gods of this dimension were against me coming back from the future to make the modifications."

"Jerks." Bri growled before hissing with more pain. Paradox produced a small vial-thing that he attached to the front of the Omnitrix. As the liquid was injected, Bri started sighing in relief as the damage to her body started healing.

"This should keep your body under control until Azmuth gets here. But you can't transform. If you try, then your body will start killing itself again."

"Then what am I going to do? I mean, I'm skilled in hand-to-hand and shooting, but those aren't exactly going to help against a Holy Sword."

"Luckily for you, I have a small gift. It should also make it so that you can't transform accidently while you have it." He pulled a long case from behind his back. Issei couldn't tell where he got it. As it opened, he saw that inside was a long, silvery sword. Bri's eyes lit up as she looked at it. "Unfortunately, there weren't many points in time I could 'borrow' it. So you're going to have a visitor too."

"I think I can handle it." Bri said as she clumsily grabbed the sword. It started glowing, and armour formed over her body. She finally was able to stand on her own, decked out in full knight mail. It was bowed slightly around her breasts, and even with her figure it wasn't all that sexy.

"What is that?" Akeno asked Paradox. He merely smiled at them.

"This is Ascalon." Bri answered. "It was made by Azmuth as a weapon, before he gave it to Saint George to kill Diagon the Conqueror."

"No way. So that was the sword you used against Vilgax when he absorbed Diagon's power?" Issei gasped.

"Yeah. But the armour doesn't really blend in during this day and age. I wonder if there's any way to update the look." No sooner had she said this that the armour glowed brightly. When the light faded, Bri was wearing a much sexier outfit. Her body was covered in tight leather, hidden under form-fitting metal plating. Issei was almost drooling as he watched her turn a bit to look at herself, accentuating her curves. He couldn't see her expression thanks to her face covering helmet, but everyone could hear her sigh. "The only surprise is that I expected something less form-fitting. I guess that'll have to do. It's not I'll stand out too much or anything." She turned back to Paradox. "Now, can you please tell us what's going on? This is the first time I've heard from you since that note you left for me on the first day. I'm starting to worry."

"I'm sorry Ben." Paradox apologised. "But they threatened me to not reveal any spoilers. I may be able to move through time and space, but I'm still as vulnerable as any man. They were worried that if you lot knew the future, something even they don't know too well, you might cause bigger problems for them. But I can tell you that there will be an end to this. You will be able to go back home and be a guy again."

"For how long?" Ben muttered, wrapping his arms around himself. "I mean, ok it's not as bad as I thought it might be. And the upgrades are nice. But I don't want to become 'Bri 10,000' or anything like that."

Paradox placed a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine Ben. Rest assured you will get back before long." Everyone was interrupted by the door opening to show Xenovia and Irina walking in, their modesty covered by their robes. But Issei could still see plenty of skin when they sat down. Xenovia looked pissed. He turned to see how Bri was taking it, only to realise that Paradox had vanished somehow. How did he do that? Oh sure, Bri mentioned he was a time-traveller. But that still doesn't really explain how a guy disappears into thin air like that.

"So you're back again." Rias said to them as she sat down on the other couch. She waved at Bri to sit down next to her, Xenovia eyes narrowing as she saw her new suit of armour. "To what do we owe the pleasure this time round?"

"For starters, you can heal the damage you did to my comrade." Xenovia said curtly, motioning to Irina. Irina looked very pale and shivery, pulling an arm out of her robes. Everyone gasped as they saw it. Her arm, the one Bri had blasted with ice, was almost completely dead. Her arm was covered in green, purple and red blotches, while her hand looked like it was made from wax. Bri had given her frostbite. It looked incredibly painful. Bri started fidgeting as Asia rushed over to use her Twilight Healing on the arm. Luckily, it didn't take long before it was back to normal.

"Sorry Irina." Bri apologised. Irina just gave her a smile as she tried her arm out.

"It's ok. That's just what happens when your arm gets encased in ice. But what about you? It looked really painful when your Sacred Gear went out of control like that. Was it because you were working with Devils, and it was trying to tell you to put it to better use with the forces of good?"

"No. It's… it's meant to act like a machine. I was just unlucky enough to have it malfunction like that. But I know a guy that can make it work again. Good thing I've got this sword to help me in the meantime."

"Actually, I also wanted to talk to you about your help." Xenovia interrupted them. She seemed to struggle with herself for a few moments before she could finally speak. "The fact that you… bested us, even with a malfunctioning Gear, tells us that we're… not strong enough for our mission. Even with all our training and two Excaliburs, we still only had a 30% chance of completing our mission." She drew in a big breath. "So… against my better judgement… and going against everything the Church believes in… I would like to ask… For your…assistance." That looked like it cost her something. She probably didn't expect that she'd get beaten by an ally of Devils.

Rias frowned at her. "I understand. However my peerage and I don't jump just because the Church commands it, and neither does Bri. So if you want any of us to cooperate with you, you'll tell us everything you know about the thefts." Xenovia looked even more annoyed, glancing at Kiba.

"I'm not all that comfortable talking about such vital information in such an unsecure location. For instance, are you sure you can trust that one?" She dipped her head in Kiba's direction. "For all we know, he's a plant meant to leak our secrets to the enemy."

"Kiba is a loyal ally and a valued member of my peerage. He would never do anything without my approval."

"Then where was he before our fight? It's awfully convenient that he arrives after a powerful ally is hampered." While everyone knew that Kiba had nothing to do with the Omnitrix's malfunction, she did raise a good point. Where had he been the last couple of days? "Not to mention he's an escaped member of our Holy Sword Experiment."

"So the Church admits it experimented on children and executed them when they didn't work." Bri said, her tone angry.

"While we admit to doing it many of us don't condone the actions done during the experiment, myself included. However, if it had actually been a success, then we could have an army ready to wield Holy Swords. Their sacrifices would've had meaning."

"I've heard that before. 'The ends justify the means'. I don't believe in that."

"We can discuss the ethics behind the experiment after we've dealt with the Holy Swords." Rias interrupted them. She had a point. None of them wanted the swords in the wrong hands, and all this arguing might make them enemies. "Let me make it clear, if you want Bri's help then you're going to have to trust all of us. In fact, as a token of trust Kiba will tell everyone where he had been over the past couple of days. Right?"

"Yes, President." Kiba said. "I was recuperating after an attack from the Stray Exorcist Freed Sellzen." Asia, Bri and Issei gasped as he said that. Freed was back in town? They all just thought he had been smart enough to run away after they nearly pounded him flat. But it looked like he was back. "I saw him kill a priest before using a Holy Sword against me."

Xenovia looked saddened by this news. "Father Guerra. He was our contact while we were here, but he was killed two nights ago. At least now we know who's behind his murder."

"So can you now tell us who you believe stole the Holy Swords?" Rias asked.

"I suppose so. It was a Cadre of Grigori Organisation, Kokabiel." Rias looked shocked as she heard that name.

"What's the Grigori Organisation?" Issei asked Akeno. She was always good at knowing things.

"It's a Fallen Angel Organisation dubbed the 'Watchers of God's Children'." She explained. "And a Cadre is one of the highest positions in it. It could be compared to a King of Devils, one of the lower Ultimate classes of the Devils. Basically, this guy is powerful."

"And to think you two were going to fight him alone. You must know you can't beat him." Rias said to Xenovia.

"We don't have to beat him. If we can't recover the stolen swords, then our orders were to destroy them. But I imagine that with your follower's help we could beat him together."

Rias thought about it for a moment. "Normally, I would agree with you. My Peerage is capable of great things. But Bri's been badly injured by her malfunction. We can't use it in case it causes her more pain. In fact, I insist that she recuperate for at least tonight before we help you. Luckily for you, she recently came into the possession of a powerful sword. It should more than make up for the loss of her Omnitrix."

"Omnitrix? A strange name for a Sacred Gear. But if what you say is true, then we are willing to wait for a day."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Yes. Could one of you repair our clothing? It's only fair, since one of your Devils destroyed them."

And so that was it. The Church was getting help from the Devils.

(**/*\**)

After Xenovia and Irina left, Rias asked Issei to escort Bri home. Asia was to stay and make sure that Kiba was fully healed. They'd need everyone if they were to fight against a Cadre of the Grigori. And it wasn't long before Issei saw that she had a good point about escorting Bri. Even though she tried to hide it, she still wasn't fully healed. She kept stumbling over her own feet and nearly walked into several things. By the time they got halfway home, she was barely standing anymore. He got her arm around his shoulder, and half-carried her the rest of the way.

"Thanks Issei." She said, panting from the walk. "Guess I wasn't as fully rested as I thought."

"It's ok." He replied. "You'd do the same for me. But are you sure you're really ok?"

"I think I am. It's hard to tell under all this armour and I want to get home before I remove it. But at least I don't feel like I'm going through Hell anymore."

"I can't imagine how painful it must've been, having your body poison itself just to heal it over all the time. You're pretty tough if you could joke about it."

"Joking's just my way of dealing with things. I was almost panicking inside during the whole thing. Can you imagine having to deal with that kind of pain all the time until Azmuth finally got here?" He couldn't, so they just walked a bit more in silence.

"At least you got a cool sword out of it. I mean, from what you told us that sword is pretty badass."

"It is. But I kinda lied about what it's really capable of. I told you it destroyed a city. But the truth is, it was an entire planet."

"Wait. What? You're seriously telling me that thing can break a planet? What the fuck?"

"I know. And that's not the worst of it. You see, when I had this sword I started letting the power go to my head."

"What do you mean?"

"What's the saying again? 'Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely? Having this much power caused me to start thinking that I was the only one that could administer justice. I had the two most powerful weapons in the Galaxy. I had the power to destroy all evil and bring my law to all worlds. And anyone that fought against me was a threat to my new galaxy."

"Wow. That sounded intense. How did you get out of that?"

"My ex-girlfriend, actual girlfriend at the time, managed to convince me I was wrong. That no one man had the power to decide what was right and wrong. And so I gave up Ascalon. But part of me still wants that power. And that scares me. I had been so busy enforcing the law that I almost went beyond it. So now I act like an easy-going hero to avoid ever going that far again." They walked in silence again, both deep in thought. "Issei. If I ever start going extreme about good and evil, will you knock some sense back into me?"

"Ok. But I'm worried you'll cut me down before I can do that."

"Then you have to be quick."

"Deal."

(**/*\**)

Ben learnt something important when he got back to his room.

Suffering from a painful malfunction and then removing the only thing keeping the pain at bay really hurts.

"I've got you." Issei said as he stopped her from collapsing to the ground. Ascalon fell over with a thump as his grip on it grew weak. All that pain and the energy spent healing it must've taken a greater toll on him than he realised. Was that how George grew to look so old? Did he just keep pushing himself until the day he removed the armour, and all his injuries just piled up on him? It was kind of scary. "We should have a look at you. You might still be suffering from some injuries." Sure, that might've been one of the reasons. But they both knew that a part of Issei just wanted to see him naked. Ben grunted out a yes, flopping around as he stripped off her clothes. Everytime the fabric brushed against his skin, fire started spreading inside his body. But he was too weak to do anything other than groan. With anyone else, he might've been worried about letting them undress him while he was so defenceless. But Issei was a good person. He would never force himself on him. The world started getting fuzzier as time went on, his skin feeling hot wherever the air brushed against it. He could feel Issei gently pull his pyjamas on, hissing as it rubbed. Then he picked Ben up, pulled the covers away and placed him carefully on the bed. He pulled the covers back on, and left to get something. Ben had closed his eyes by now, the pulsing pain now lessened to a mere stinging pain. He felt Issei place a damp, cool cloth on his forehead, before opening his mouth slightly to pour in water. It felt so wonderful. Pure bliss.

He almost didn't realise when he had fallen asleep.

(**/*\**)

It took a few moments for Ben to wake up again. It took him even longer before he remembered what happened yesterday. Azmuth was going to let into him over that. But what are the odds? Two months without a problem and now it fails? What bullshit. He started sitting up in his bed, hissing in pain as his muscles seized up. It took what felt like an age before he could finally get the covers off him. Every step was agony as he started limping towards the bathroom. He felt like he had gone one-on-one with a Highbreed. Everytime that happened he always felt better after a long, warm shower. He managed to get the showerhead going without breaking his body, before starting to undress. But he was distracted by his appearance in the mirror.

His body was a mess. Any parts of him that weren't covered in the purple blotches of bruises were hidden under red patches from burns. His eyes were acidic green, and his hair was a mess. And he had large, visible veins around the Omnitrix. Ben wasn't as vain as some other people, but he was worried that people would think he was disease-ridden or something. "Of course." He moaned, slapping himself on the forehead. When Paradox disabled the Omnitrix, it must've shut down the regenerating power. This was worrying. Now if he wasn't careful he might get badly injured, and Asia wouldn't always be around to help heal him. He stepped into the shower, wincing as the water stung against his burns. But the stinging soon became weaker, and he could feel his muscles loosening up. He gave a few stretches inside the shower, wincing again and again as he heard his body make popping sounds. That probably wasn't good for him. As he pulled on another muscle, his stomach lurched painfully. He gagged, rushing out of the shower to start puking into the toilet. He puked until everything was gone from his stomach, and kept on puking for a while afterwards. His stomach started feeling like it was getting squeezed in a giant hand until he was collapsing from the pain. Finally, after a while more of this, he stopped throwing up and could start gasping in pain. He closed his eyes as he collapsed on the tiles, panting from exhaustion. He might need a couple more days before he was good enough to fight a Fallen leader. But he already knew that bad guys never followed the same timetable heroes did. As he stood back up shakily, he noticed that the toilet was glowing green. He peeked in to see that his vomit was a bright green colour, and was actually glowing. He felt sick to his stomach. The toxins and the radiation. Had they both still been in his body? But surely he would've died from them. Unless the vial Paradox gave him neutralised them both, and it wasn't until now that his body managed to purge them from his system. As he got moving again, he started feeling a lot better. He stopped the shower and dried himself off, wrapping the towel around himself as he went back to his room. He noticed that Issei had taken his clothes from yesterday, and so he just threw on something quick and easy. Finally, he grabbed hold of Ascalon, and felt energised again. But he couldn't grow dependent on it. He had to try and break his reliance on it.

Still, that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it for the time being.

"Hey Issei." Ben said as he saw him coming down the hall. He looked surprised to see her up and about so soon. "You might want to be careful in your bathroom. I think I might've accidently irradiated it."

"…Wait. You might've what?" He asked, looking really confused.

"Don't worry. I'll clean it up soon. Now where's breakfast? I'm starving." He quickly got out some cereal and some milk and just ate them both on the spot. "So good." He mumbled. "By the way, could you tell your mom I won't be able to go to school today? I'm still not feeling 100% yet."

Issei started laughing. "Bri. School's finished for the day. You slept for nearly the whole time." He what? Damn. He must've been more tired than he realised. "I was coming to see how you were feeling before we meet up with Irina and Xenovia."

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that. I'm worried about Kiba. I mean, I get why we wants to destroy them and all, but they're the Excalibur blades. They're the remnants of the most famous sword ever. What if we need them for something?"

"That 'something' might end up being us. I know you're not too worried about them, but remember that they were made to kill us Devils. And I doubt the Church is going to let us or our 'Devil-loving fan' keep hold of them."

"I know. But what if we do need them? Rias pretty much admitted that some Devils are willing to go out of control. If they're too strong then we'll need a Holy Sword to stop them."

"Look, we're planning way too far ahead right now. Let's just get them back and then we can argue what happens to them."

Ben sighed. He was right. But he still wanted to make sure the swords survived. He understood that not all Devils were evil, but as a hero he couldn't let such a famous sword get destroyed again. For now, he'll just drop the discussion. "So where are we meeting them? At the church we found Raynare at?"

"Nah. They said they wanted to meet up in the shopping district for some reason. Maybe the swords are there."

"Doubt it. So it's going to be you, me, Xenovia and Irina. Anyone else meeting us?"

"Rias and Akeno were busy with official Devil business, and she wanted to keep Kiba and Asia away from them for the time being, so Koneko's the only one joining us. But the Student Council is sending someone to meet us. I think they want to be in the loop now that the Church is working with Devils." Ben nodded before placing his empty bowl into the sink to get washed. He was all ready to meet up and kick some bad guy butt.

Hopefully he wasn't going to have to kick some good guy butt too.

(**/*\**)

It turned out that the Student Council representive was Saji Genshirou, the guy that Koneko nailed in the balls and who had hit on him during the dodgeball game. He still looked nervous about shaking her hand after she crushed it last time. In fact, he looked nervous about the whole thing. "I'm telling you guys, nothing good ever comes from Devils getting mixed up with Holy Swords." He said nervously, biting his fingernails. "And they're probably pissed that a Devil kicked their asses so easily."

"They shouldn't be so upset." Ben replied. "I've had the Omnitrix for years now. I know most of its tricks by now." In fact, he was worried that he was going to be weaker with the powerful world-killing sword. Sure he managed to beat Vilgax with it. But Vilgax was just getting used to his powers too. Not to mention that these guys probably knew way more about sword-fighting than he did. Holding and using Ascalon for only a couple of minutes was a lot more difficult than using for days.

"Yeah, chill out Saji." Issei said as he led the group. "Besides, Xenovia cares more about her mission than some stupid pride. She'll work with us until we get those Excalibur swords back. Then, I don't know, she'll just leave for home or something."

"Fine. But are you sure they're here?" He started looking around wildly. "I mean, how are we supposed to find them in this crowd? It's not like they're wearing some big white cloaks or something." Despite what he said, they spotted them quickly by their big white cloaks. They were praying at a small wooden shrine with a pot hanging from it, money piled up inside the pot. From the crack in the ground it looked like someone had learnt the hard way not to rob a shrine with two Holy warriors nearby. As they finished their prayer, Xenovia spotted them and glared at Ben, before pointing at a restaurant not too far away from them. She and Irina started heading off, leaving the rest of them to catch up. "You see that? That was not the look of someone putting their pride aside for the mission. What the hell did you do to her?"

"Uh… I possessed her for a bit?" In hindsight that would be something worth getting angry over. Possession was meant to be a Devil power, and he did it with such ease. That had to be a big blow to someone that fought against Devils. What if another found it just as easy the next time? "But we've still got a job to do. Maybe filling their stomachs will make her feel better."

"I hope so." Issei agreed.

(**/*\**)

They all watched in slight horror as Irina and Xenovia devoured enough food to feed seven people. And he thought Upchuck had a big stomach. Even he couldn't put down food like these girls did.

"Thank you so much for treating us like this." Irina said happily as she finished wolfing down food. She seemed like Ben to be the kind of girl who'd be chipper no matter what. Nothing could get her down for long. "My Lord, please give your mercy to these good-hearted demons." She prayed, and the others started clutching their heads in pain. Right, prayers to God hurt Devils. He had actually forgotten that. "Sorry. I forgot about that." Irina apologised.

Xenovia silenced the team by placing her glass on the table. "While I accept the help of Bri Tennyson, God forgive her soul, I am still wary of working with the demons she worships." She glared at Saji. "And I refuse to work with more than one group."

"I'm down with that. If it was up to me I'd be back home where it's safe. But my King wants me to help out and get you guys out of town as soon as possible."

"Oh? Are you and your king hiding something from the Church?"

"No. Were just as fond of having you guys around as you are of us. The sooner you get your Holy Swords, the sooner we can ignore each other again."

"Agreed. Very well then, here's the plan." She brushed aside all the plates to make room for a map, Ben, Koneko and Issei juggling the plates until they could put them somewhere. "While we don't know the true number of agents working for Kokabiel, Your knight's knowledge does help us narrow it down somewhat."

"Right. Freed Sellzen." Issei growled.

"Yes. Those who have been excommunicated by the Church tend to group together. If he's here, then chances are others are too."

"Doubt it." Ben replied. "Last time he was here with a bunch of guys. I kicked their asses so hard the basement started collapsing on us. Any of them that got away probably are staying away."

"We noticed the damage to the sub-levels. That means that we're pretty sure that he'll be working with Valper Galilei."

"Who's that?"

"The priest responsible for the Holy Sword Experiment. We don't truly know what convinced him to organise such an experiment, but when the higher ups found out about it they excommunicated him. If the Excalibur swords are involved then chances are he is too. We'll start looking for them over in the north by the old warehouses. Those are often occupied by monsters and demons that don't want to be found."

Ben let the insult slide. They didn't have to like them; they just had to work with them. "Sounds like a plan. We'll meet up outside the church at 8 o'clock. Sounds good?"

"Agreed." They shook on it before the two groups got up. They walked out of the restaurant only to see Kiba standing in their way. Oh no. Issei said that Rias was going to keep him away. Did he really disobey her like that? Ben always thought the guy was loyal to a fault.

"Kiba? What the hell are you doing here?" Issei asked. "Rias said you had important matters to attend to."

"I do." Kiba replied. "I have to destroy the Excalibur swords. I know that Rias said I wasn't to get involved, but I'm going to anyway."

"Oh?" Xenovia asked. "That would make you a Stray Devil then. A threat to everyone. Is it not in accordance with your own rules to kill any Stray Devils when you see them?" She started pulling her sword out menacingly. Kiba started summoning the portal for his Sacred Gear.

Ben got himself in between them. "Hold on you two. Rias offered her Peerage to help you find the Excalibur swords. Kiba is a part of that peerage, so he hasn't become a Stray. And Ascalon has more than enough power to fight off both of you if you try anything."

"Lies." Xenovia and Irina seemed shocked and angry. "I have seen pictures of the Dragon Slayer, and it does not look anything like that."

"I'm not from this dimension, Xenovia. This is my world's version of Ascalon. And it's still as powerful as I said. Now for the last time, back off." She glared at him for a bit longer, before placing her sword back under her cloak. Ben sighed as he lessened his grip on Ascalon, hidden inside a bag.

"So we're in agreement then?" Kiba asked. "I'm joining you guys in this hunt."

Ben sighed as all these problems kept coming. He couldn't say no without marking Kiba as a Stray Devil. And despite his warning he didn't doubt that Xenovia wouldn't go after him as soon as Ben was busy. "Fine. I'll vouch for him. But I want to make it clear to everyone that acquiring the swords intact is our first priority. Destroy them if you have to, but if you can get them out of there then do so." He glared at everyone until they all nodded. Xenovia and Irina turned and left, letting him finally take that breath he had been holding. Once they had left, he turned on Kiba. "What the hell? Are you trying to mess things up?"

"You left me out of this alliance. Even though I have more reason than most to want the swords destroyed."

"There's a reason you were left out. I want to get through this without us fighting each other anymore, and you're not helping. If this keeps up, then we'll be so busy killing each other that Kokabiel can finish his evil plan, whatever that is. You should trust us. We're your friends."

"No, you're not." He replied. That nearly shocked Ben out of his rage. "My friends are all dead. They gave their lives so that I could run away and live. I need to get vengeance for those who can't any more. And I don't want to sacrifice any more friends to get my revenge. That's why I have to do this."

"Kiba, you idiot." Ben sighed. "No one's good enough to go it alone. Even I need allies when things are tough. The whole point of friends is that they're there when you need them. They're there to help you. And we can't help you unless you talk to us."

"Bri's right." Issei said loudly. "You know that we'll give our lives to help you, ("Speak for yourself." Saji said quietly,) and that's why you're skulking behind our backs. But we're going to help you even if we have to drag you after us." Kiba tried to walk away, but he stopped when Koneko grabbed his sleeve.

"We'd miss you if you got yourself killed." She said to him. "And I'd find a way to bring you back just to hurt you for hurting us like that."

Kiba looked at her before smiling. "I guess I was wrong. Even Koneko's telling me off. Alright then, Bri. If I decide to do anything else like that I'll let you know."

Ben smiled back at him. "That's what I wanted to hear. Now, meet us at the church at 8 o'clock tonight. We're going Sword-hunting."

(**/*\**)

It didn't take long before it was time. Asia wished Bri and Issei luck as they left, making them promise to come back safely. They promised, and then Bri used Ascalon to slice through the air and make a portal. Issei could see the church on the other side. Once he stepped through though, he remembered his appointment with his client.

"Hey. This is Hyoudo." He said once the client picked up the phone. He didn't really know his name, as the client never gave it. "I'm sorry, but I'd like to suspend my summonings for tonight. It's an emergency involving a friend of mine."

"Right." The client said in his deep voice. "Can't be helped then. No need to mind it much. Clients come and go, but friends are meant to be forever. I'll just summon you again next time."

"Thanks. Enjoy your fishing."

"I will. See ya." And he hung up.

(**/*\**)

Azazel smiled as he hung up on the kid. He had an inkling about what this 'emergency' was. Despite the Church's best efforts they couldn't keep something as big as stolen swords hidden from everyone. But they had a right to stop Kokabiel themselves. And he was particularly interested in the powers of Issei Hyoudo and Bri Tennyson. They would go far in this world. He started humming as he threw his line into the water, waiting for a catch. Not long after, he heard someone approach him. He looked up to see a boy with silver hair and black clothes standing near him. "Hey." He greeted. "Care to join me for some fishing?"

"Never pegged you as the type to get lonely." The boy replied, still just standing there. "Or fishing for that matter."

"I enjoy the peacefulness of it. Come, join me Vali. Your time will come shortly."

"Yes. I'll enjoy meeting my other. It'll be good to match against Ddraig's chosen."

Issei didn't know it, but his rival, his other, had finally gotten into town.

And there's the thrilling conclusion to our fight. I wanted to have a malfunction so I could introduce a weakness to the Omnitrix, and also include Ascalon since we're seeing Holy Swords. Ben may have the strongest blade around, but he doesn't really know how to completely work it. My imagining is that during 'The Ultimate Enemy, Part 2', he just hoped that it would work and drain Vilgax of his powers. When you're dealing with a sword that blew up a planet when mistreated, you're not really going to experiment with it too much. Not to mention that I doubt Ben has any training in swords. I'm currently not too sure on whether to have Diagon alive in Ascalon and threatening Ben, or have him dead and silent. Let me know what you think through the review system. But his energy is inside Ascalon, giving it a slight demon aura. That could be a good plot line.

So see you guys next time.