Hey there. Sorry this took so long to do. I got caught up in life recently and I got a few new video games too. Been a bit busy on Destiny recently. I hope that this chapter makes up for my absence.

Enjoy.

Chapter 22: Stop. Devil Time

Ben was a little unsurprised to find out that the other Bishop was in the sealed door. If this was a story, then any detail that stuck out so much would obviously get explained and used later on. What did surprise him was that they wanted him to access Clockwork's power before they entered. But what use could Rias have with him? Was this bishop violent, and she needed someone to freeze them? Or was it some kind of spell or effect that aged people? Well whatever the reason, he was going to learn about it pretty quick.

"How long has this seal been around for?" Issei asked Rias, looking at it in confusion. He was probably still wondering how it required Ben.

"Not that long actually." Rias replied. "Only a few years. And our Bishop isn't here against their will. The seal unlocks after midnight, but the occupant refuses to come out. So we allow them to handle contracts with people who are too timid to meet one of us face to face."

"Still, it's strange how you trust this person enough to let them out, but during the day you seal their powers." Xenovia mused. "Perhaps this power is simply too dangerous to be used."

"It is, in a way." Rias replied as she created a red triangular seal, and then dispelled it. The chains and tape vanished, leaving the door completely bare. "You ready Bri?" She asked.

Ben tapped on the Omnitrix, searching and searching until he found Clockwork. As he tapped it, he made sure to limit it to just his arms. It wouldn't make for a good first impression to be an alien. Spotting the golden gauntlets, Rias smiled and opened the door. Ben was expecting a dark, barren room with tattered drapes everywhere, or a messy computer room after Rias told them about how this Bishop made contracts. But instead, he was surprised to see it looked a lot like the lovechild of Gothic and Princess Styles. The floor was a light pink, with girly tables and ornaments everywhere. In the centre of the room was a black coffin covered with a white sheer curtain hanging from the ceiling. As soon as the afternoon light hit the coffin, a loud girly scream filled the air.

"What the hell was that?" Issei asked as he looked around wildly, probably expecting some monster to ambush them. Rias just smiled and walked further in

"Hello there." She said to the coffin. "I'm glad you're still well."

"Wh…What was that strange feeling?" The girly voice asked them, definitely coming from the coffin. "Everything was fine, and then this weird feeling went over my body."

"That was just the seal being lifted." Akeno explained as she lifted off the lid of the coffin. "Now come with us."

"I don't want to. It's scary out there." The girl whined, trying to cover her head with her arms and bury herself in the lining. She looked back at them, crying her eyes out. She was very small (petite, he thought it was) and with short blond hair that curled nicely around his face. She also wore the school uniform, so she must officially be a student here. But what Ben noticed the most was the pointed ears she had. They stuck out to the sides slightly, giving her a very unique appearance. Maybe Rias kept her in here because it'd be hard to hide that she wasn't human. What was she anyway? Something he never met, given how the Omnitrix seemed to scan her DNA.

"Oh, it's a girl." Issei said happily. "And it's another blond beauty like Asia. Does that mean we have a matching pair of blond babes?" Kiba started chuckling behind him, with everyone else smiling as well. "Hey, what's so funny Kiba?"

"This person is a he." Rias answered, not even looking back. Issei started, before turning very slowly towards her.

"I'm sorry President. But could you maybe repeat that?"

"While this person may look like a girl, he is undoubtedly a guy."

"What?!" Issei and Asia gasped, looking like their world was torn asunder in front of them. Well, Issei looked like that. Asia just looked confused.

"Figures. The only thing I haven't run into so far is a guy that looks like a girl." Ben said. When Paradox said that his new home was like an anime, he hadn't really expected it to go this far.

"His name is Gaspar Vladi. He's a first year in the school, and my Bishop. And before I turned him into a reincarnated Devil, he was a half-Human, half-Vampire."

"A vampire? This guy? But he looks nothing like Whampire." Issei said.

"You do realise you're comparing a real vampire for an alien vampire?" Ben asked him, getting closer. Sure, it was weird. After spending so long as a girl, Ben wasn't sure he'd dress like one for any reason. But let's face it, a crossdressing half-Vampire Devil wasn't the weirdest thing he's ever come across.

"Goddammit. Now I'll never realise my dream of having two blond hotties in our club." Issei whined, his dreams shattered. Personally, Ben thought he was being over dramatic.

"You know, it really suits him." Asia said. "He looks really good as a girl."

"I know. That's what makes it so shocking. If no one told me this was a guy I'd never believe it. I'd still be trying to hit on him. You're a guy, start dressing like one."

"But…But…But girl clothes are cuter." Gaspar replied, blushing. Ben was having trouble believing it too.

"Sure, until you have to keep you H cup boobs from bouncing around everywhere. Then they kinda start being a pain." Ben leaned in closer, holding out one armoured hand. "I'm Bri. Nice to meet you. How about we go outside?"

"No! I don't want to go outside." Gaspar started shaking his head rather violently. Issei got closer to try and calm him.

"Come on. Rias wants you to get out of this dingy place." He grabbed Gaspar gently by the wrist, but Gaspar started acting like Issei had burned him. He struggled his way free of Issei's grip, running towards a small table next to the bed. Curiously, Issei and the others didn't react to this. In fact, they weren't moving at all. Ben noticed a strange pressure emanating from his arms, the gears turning and glowing green.

"You…You're moving." Gaspar gasped, staring at him in surprise. As Ben went to move closer, his arms stopped glowing and Issei was looking around wildly. Now Ben understood.

"You can stop time. That's why Rias wanted me here."

"Please don't get mad at me." Gaspar whimpered over and over again. "Please, oh please don't get mad at me."

"How the hell did he do that?" Issei asked. Ben was curious too. It had been so sudden.

"The forbidden Balor View." Akeno explained. "It's his Sacred Gear, better known as the Evil Eye that Stops Time. As long as it's in his area of sight, he can stop time for himself. But it activates whenever he becomes agitated, which as you all saw is easy to do."

"So that's why he's in here." Ben understood." Because he can't control his power."

"Right. Now then, I want you to try something for me Bri. When Gaspar activates his Gear again, I want you to try and stop the effects. He's always been very shy about his powers and having someone that can help him will do him wonders." Ben nodded, readying himself. Akeno pulled a cattle prod from behind her back (where was she hiding that?) and gave Gaspar a jolt. He gave a girly scream and his eyes started glowing. Quick as a flash, Ben surrounded him with a green glow as his time powers slowed him down. It was very tricky work, and he thought he was going to lose it a few times, but the others were still moving normally as he did that. Gaspar's eyes stopped glowing and Ben's power froze him until he relaxed. Man, that was tricky. He really needed to figure out a new technique or something. Mind you, he never got many chances to use Clockwork. It was mainly when Eon attacked, and he wasn't really going to give Ben time to refine attacks. "Good work Bri." Rias nodded happily. "This'll make things easier. Akeno and I have to go and attend a meeting between the top members of Hell. Yuuto, my brother's interested in learning more about your Sacred Gear and its power, so you'll need to come with us." He nodded back at her. "As for the rest of you, see if you can take care of Gaspar. Maybe having friends he can interact with will help him control his Gear." In other words, babysitting. Well, it wasn't the most difficult thing Ben's done. And sometimes people just need a helping hand.

How hard could it be anyway?

(**/*\**)

"HELP!" Gaspar screamed as he ran, crying and puffing with fear.

"So slow. Move faster before my Durandal slays you." Xenovia shouted as she chased him, swinging her Holy Sword at him. Issei and the others could only look on in resignation. He was pretty sure this wasn't what Rias meant by 'taking care of him'. Before her blade got too close to Gaspar, he vanished again. Bri came round the trees holding onto him with one hand on his collar. This would make escape attempt number 4 so far. Bri didn't look too happy as she handed Gaspar to Asia.

"I swear, I leave you guys long enough to say goodbye to my folks before they go back home, and I come back to find you trying to kill him. What the hell?" She said testily. Xenovia, for her part, didn't look apologetic.

"A sound mind comes from a sound body." She explained. "That was what we were taught at the Church. In order to better train his mind to control his Gear, we must first train boost his physical capabilities."

"Well how about we do it in a way that won't traumatise him in the process." She turned her arm into Lodestar and pulled Durandal from Xenovia's grip. "You can have this back only if you promise to put it away. I'm sure you can find something other than a 'Devil-slaying sword' to swing around." Xenovia rushed Bri, but she faded away with another form. She looked around wildly, but Issei doubted the Church had techniques for finding ghost-like aliens. She huffed loudly.

"Alright. I promise not to use Durandal to motivate Gaspar." She yelped as the giant sword landed flat-side down on top of her as Bri appeared high above. She changed back with her usual green glow, and walked over to them. Gaspar was looking at her in fear.

"Bug. Big bug." He was whimpering. Oh, give me a break. Was this kid scared of everything? Bri manifested Clockwork's power again just in time, as they both vanished and reappeared coming back round the trees. Koneko stepped forward as she returned, carrying Gaspar under her arm.

"You need something healthy to eat." Koneko said as she pulled something out of her pocket. "Here, have some veggies."

Gaspar looked past Bri's arm to see what was offered, but yelled and struggled to be free. "No! Anything but garlic!"

"Don't be so picky. Garlic is yummy." Koneko tried to shove it in his mouth while Bri tried to hold on, but he kicked her breast by accident and ran for it. Koneko wasn't too far behind him, continuously trying to force-feed him garlic. Bri winced from where she fell, rubbing her boob.

"Hey there Occult Research Members." Saji said cheerfully as he showed up. What was he doing here? "I heard you released another member of your club. Rias must think good things about you guys if she's doing that."

"Honestly, I think she's punishing someone. I just can't tell if it's us or not." Bri said as she stood back up, still holding her boob in her hand. Saji looked away – probably didn't want to antagonise Bri – and stared in slack-jawed amazement at Gaspar.

"Th-That girl. She's… She's beautiful." He whispered, looking like he was in love. He hated to have to do it, but he needed to learn the harsh reality.

"Sorry Saji, but he's a crossdresser." Saji froze as he tried to process that, before collapsing in a heap.

"You can't be serious. I can't accept this cruel reality."

"Preaching to the choir mate. No guy should ever look that cute."

"You know, it's not that weird. I mean, I don't really get why you'd want to wear a skirt when you don't have to, but hey that's my opinion."

"Yeah, but you're a guy too. Normal guys never want to wear skirts." Bri's paling caused Issei to remember that they weren't all alone. He turned back to find Saji staring at Bri in shock, his finger pointing at her and trembling. Oops. "Whoa, whoa. It's not what you think. Bri was originally a guy before he got pulled over from another dimension and turned into a girl. It's not like he crossdressing or anything."

"…Wh…Wh…Why do I keep falling for guys that look like girls?!" Saji wailed dramatically, falling to a heap again and sobbing. Bri glared at Issei before pulling Saji back to his feet.

"Will you quit whining? Practically every guy in school's fallen for me. And why don't you shout a bit louder? I think there might be some people in Hell who didn't hear that."

"Oh, I don't think it matters that much." They all stopped as they heard Azazel's voice. He kept talking as he stepped out of the trees. "I'd still tap that ass. Just because you're a boy on the inside doesn't mean it's not a nice ass."

"Oh go hump a cross Azazel." Bri retorted as she got ready to fight. "I've had so many people fantasize about me it's stopped being annoying anymore."

"Wait, when you called him Azazel, do you mean The Azazel?" Saji asked as he summoned his Gear. "What's the Leader of the Fallen doing here?" Azazel kept smirking as everyone (minus Gaspar) surrounded him.

"Come now. Even if you all attacked at once you wouldn't be able to beat me. I mean, you needed a powerful blade to beat Kokabiel, and he's not as strong as I am. Luckily for you lot, I'm not here to fight. I just wanted to meet the Devil who managed to create a Holy/Demonic weapon."

"Well too bad. Kiba's already gone to see Sirzechs. I bet he'd give you some trouble." Issei grinned at that. The sooner the Fallen Angel left, the better.

"Oh really? That's such a shame. So can I have a talk to the vampire then? Forbidden Balor View is far too dangerous to be taken lightly." He hemmed and hawed as he glanced at Saji, his eyes glinting. "Ah, but one of you has the Black Dragon's Pulse. The absorption line model, correct?" Saji stepped back as he guessed correctly. "Oh don't be so surprised. As others will have told you, I have an interest in Sacred Gears. Call it a hobby. Anyhow, if you want to help train the vampire in using his Gear, I'd recommend draining some energy from him. That would be enough to activate it whenever you want. At the very least, you'd be able to suppress it when it goes out of control." Everyone glanced at Saji's Gear. "You didn't know? It's imbued with the powers of Vritra, the Evil Black Dragon, the Prison Dragon. One of the Five Dragon kings. It is basically capable of connecting to someone and dispersing or distributing the power it absorbs. It's also capable of connecting to others for a short period of time."

"It… It can really do all that?"

"Yep. Mind you, there's a faster way to help him control his power. He just needs to drink the blood of the Red Dragon Emperor. Such power should help him control his own. And isn't it natural for Vampires to drink blood?" He turned away from them. "Whelp. Only thing left to do is to try out all those things I just suggested. I think you'll find it far more effective than chasing after him with Holy Swords and garlic. See ya."

"Hold on." Bri said as he started leaving. "Why are you doing this? What's your angle? Is this to make up for the fact that you ordered your goons to try and kill Issei?" Azazel stopped walking, and turned to face them. He didn't look smug anymore. He actually looked… guilty.

"Understand this. My orders were to simply watch Issei Hyoudo. They were not supposed to engage him, or try and steal Sacred Gears. Those decisions were done without my consent. I am sorry for all the trouble they caused for you lot. And as for helping you lot out, I enjoy studying Sacred Gears. It always interests me to see my theories being put to the test." And he kept walking to the treeline. None of them bothered to stop him.

His death… was not supposed to happen?

(**/*\**)

It was now late at night, and they were in the rebuilt gym. Despite the fact that they still don't fully trust Azazel, Bri argued that maybe he had a point. He knew more about their Sacred Gears than they did, and he didn't attack them or anything. So here they were, ready to play some volleyball. The Occult Research Club was all on one side of the net, dressed in the sports uniform. Bri was waiting to one side, ready with Clockwork's power (And still pulling off the uniform well).

And Gaspar was on the other side, a line from his head to Saji's Absorption Line, and dressed in the girl's gym uniform. Issei was really starting to wonder if he was a girl

"Ready, set, go!" Issei yelled, throwing the volleyball straight at Gaspar. The Vampire screamed in fright before vanishing, now with Bri holding onto him. Issei sighed in exasperation. While he wasn't going as far now, he was supposed to use his Gear to stop just the ball.

"Maybe it's still too much power." Issei wondered aloud. "Saji, drain some more energy from him." The other boy nodded, his line glowing purple as he tried to weaken Gaspar's levels. He was kinda pleased about this, since he got to try a new ability. "Hey, I was just thinking about what Azazel said. About drinking my blood. Why do you think it has to be my blood? Why not someone else's?"

"I'm not drinking any blood!" Gaspar wailed. "I hate the smell of raw things!" he crouched down and started crying again.

"He's pretty much like that when he stops time too." Bri said, moving to stand next to him as everyone got ready. "I'm glad he doesn't have an addiction to blood, but this is starting to get a bit sad."

"Yeah I know. Maybe you should try seducing him and getting him to drink your blood."

"Piss off Issei." Bri said jovially. They both knew he wasn't really being serious. "I doubt a human like me would be enough. It might be because you've got dragon blood or something. They seem to be the toughest things in this place."

"Well, we'll save it as a last resort. I'm not really a fan of getting my blood sucked either." Saji's Gear stopped glowing, probably draining as much as he thought was needed. "Alright then. Everyone back into position. Let's try again."

"Eh? But… But I'm not sure I'm ready." Gaspar said, standing back up wobbly.

"Sure you are. You just need some motivation." He threw the ball again, and again Gaspar vanished. And again, Bri was carrying him back, facing forward this time. He guessed she didn't want to be kicked in the tit again. Issei sighed. This was going to take a while.

"Again."

(**/*\**)

Well, that had been a colossal failure. Now Gaspar simply refused to come out of his room at all. Even Rias hadn't been able to coax him out. Ben groaned as he rubbed his aching body. Sheesh, he wasn't strong enough to fight, he couldn't control his power without help, and he was too scared to keep training to control it. He even refuses to drink blood. Ben was nearly ready to start shaking him and shouting in frustration, but he doubted that would make any difference. So he had to settle for grumbling and rubbing his sore body. The kid got him in the boob three times today. He felt himself wishing again his chest was a lot smaller.

"…he was hated." Ben stopped as he heard Rias talk. She must be talking to Issei now. "His whole life he was hated by all for being a Dhamphir. His Vampire family placed a lot in nobility and purity of the bloodline, even more so that Devils. So even though he was a part of the family line, they ridiculed him for being half-human. And he wasn't treated any better by humans either. They feared him for being a monster, a blood sucker. And his Balor View made things worse. Because he couldn't control it, people kept assuming he would do horrible things to them while they were unable to stop him. They thought he crept into their homes and drank their blood while they were unable to fight, or even attack in the light of day."

"So he was in the same situation as Asia then." Issei replied. "Everyone hated him because of his power."

"Yes. We all know that he would never do bad things like that. But they refused to understand."

"I hate my power." He heard Gaspar shouting. "Everyone stops moving. I don't want to see my friends when they stop moving. I hate it. I hate it." Steeling himself, Ben stepped out from behind the corner. From the sounds of it, he was the only one right now who could get to him.

"Gaspar?" He knocked. "It's me, Bri. Can we talk?" Gaspar didn't reply, but the door creaked open slowly. He peeked out from behind it, looking at him with tear-filled eyes. "Hey there. Can we come in?" Gaspar kept staring, but eventually nodded. Ben sighed in relief. He was worried he'd say no. He didn't know how his temper would handle that.

"I'll leave you two to it." Rias said as she opened another portal. Ben felt a bit annoyed she was leaving them again, but he understood. This meeting was important. And they kept her here long enough. As the portal faded, Ben and Issei stepped into the room. Gaspar closed the door behind them and moved to sit inside his box again. While holding onto a stuffed bunny, he looked even more like a little girl.

"Do… Do you really have my power?" He asked quietly, looking only at Ben. Ben smiled back.

"Close. I can turn into several forms, one of which has the power to control time. As long as I have that power, I'll be here for you." Part of him crawled at the soft girly voice coming from his mouth. He still wasn't completely used to that, especially since it sounded like they were something…closer. But if it got Gaspar out of his shell, then he'll keep doing it.

"Do you ever… get scared of your power? Or have people hate you for it?"

"Sometimes." Ben admitted. "Some people don't like me because of the power I have. They see me as something no longer human because I change forms. And a few of my forms are dangerous to me. One form kept the mind of the being it was obtained from, and he wants to take my body for himself. I mock him with jokes, but deep down I'm terrified of him. He nearly killed my cousin just to get to me. And my strongest form terrifies me too. While using it, I'm a god. I can do anything I want. But it takes so long for my form to agree to do it, and everytime I use it I'm afraid they won't let me go. And I'll be stuck in it, watching as all my friends and family grow old and die. I have nightmares about that." Ben felt a tear run down his cheek as he remembered the first time he used Alien X. They were about to be washed away by a broken dam, and he didn't have any forms that could stop it. He chose Alien X simply because he never used it before, and he watched as it saved his team from the flood. But then he was forced to watch as they were captured by the Incurseans, as Pluto was destroyed with ease, and as the Emperor threatened to destroy Earth if they didn't get back his daughter. Kevin and Gwen got free, and they literally had to carry him around while he was stuck trying to get Alien X to fight. And once the princess was found, she immediately usurped control from her father and wanted to destroy Earth anyway. He had to convince them to turn him into another alien before he could do anything.

"I get scared of my power too." Issei said. "The first time I even knew about it was when I got killed over it. I had to watch people I've become friends with fight my battles because I was too weak to do anything. Every time I thought I was strong enough, we ended up fighting something stronger. I had to sacrifice my arm to get enough power to save Bri here. And now, every day I feel as though I'm losing more of myself to the Dragon inside me. But Bri and I decided not to let our fear control us, and to keep going."

"But…But what if your power means you'll lose something close to you? How do you keep going when you know that?"

Ben grimaced. "Well… I guess I just convince myself that I'm living in a Saturday morning cartoon. That I live in the kind of place where good always wins, and no one has to die. A bit stupid, but it keeps me going. And when I stopped thinking like that…" He flashed back to when Kevin went evil. When Ben was willing to hurt Gwen, to kill Kevin before anyone else got hurt. "You know, my grandpa was injured while I was fighting some bad guys. They weren't targeting him specifically, but he still got in the crossfire. And I was so scared while he was in the hospital. Even though it wasn't serious, I kept thinking of how things might've gone different if it had. I ran off, a ten-year old kid willing to leave behind everyone I cared about to try and protect them. But Gwen wouldn't let me. She told me that you couldn't go it alone. And she was right. I've lost count of how many times my friends have saved me, both her and back home. If you're worried about losing something precious to you, then you don't try and leave them. You cherish your time with friends, and enjoy their company. Because they'll always be there for you."

"But… but I'm useless. I'll just get you guys hurt trying to save me. I don't deserve friends."

"Nonsense." Issei retorted. "If you think like that, then you do deserve friends. And you just keep training until you get strong enough to help. I know I felt weak, watching Bri be all cool while I was floundering about and having to get rescued. But I just kept training. Now I can fight alongside Bri and the others."

"Yeah. And power over time is pretty cool. Can you imagine how many bad guys you could stop if you could control it?"

"Yeah, and you'd be able to look up girl's skirts all the time." He yelped as Ben punched him in the shoulder. An idea came to him as he did so.

"Hey. If you agree to come out of here, I'll show you how useful your powers could be." Gaspar bit his lip in fear and worry, but he looked straight at Ben and nodded.

He hoped this plan would work.

(**/*\**)

"This will do nicely." Ben said, now fully Clockwork. Issei was with them, dressed in a cape and mask, while Gaspar was wearing a big raincoat. 'This' was what looked like a shootout between officers and gang members. Right now they were evenly matched, but if Ben's plan went well that would change. "Ok, hold on tight." Ben ordered them, holding hands as his time powers activated. The world was bathed in green as everything stopped moving. An officer dodging to the side was suspended in mid-air, while bullets hung like decorations. "Right. Let's get to work." They got closer to the paused fight, Issei and Gaspar looking around in wonder. Ben moved past them, borrowing handcuffs from the officers before throwing them to the others. "The cool thing is that when you stop time, you literally have all the time you need to do whatever you're doing. I remember one time my folks wanted me to clean the house, and I still hadn't gotten around to it when they pulled in. So I used Clockwork to freeze time and clear it all away. By the time they had opened the door, It was like I had done the work hours ago."

"Cool. I'd love to be able to do that." Issei said as he handcuffed another guy and dragged him over to one of the police vans." Hey Bri, what should we do with the bullets flying around."

"Hmm. I don't know." Ben honestly hadn't used this form that much in a gun fight. Time didn't really allow one to grab plasma. He picked up a bullet from mid-air and pointed it towards the ground, before speeding it up a bit. The bullet immediately headed down to the ground, smashing a hole in the concrete. "They keep their force, so maybe point it away from people."

"This… This is actually really nice." Gaspar said cheerfully as he plucked bullets away from officers. "It's nice having other people to talk to when I do this. Sometimes my power can last for hours before it stops."

"Hey, I recognise this dude.' Issei said as he poked a biggish looking thug. "He used to give me grief when I was younger." He had an evil grin on his face before reaching down and pulling on his boxers. Then he ran around to the other side and gave him a big boot in the balls. "That's for Halloween, prick."

"You do realise he can't hear you, right?" Ben asked as he carried out a boxful of drugs. Man, the police were going to love all this evidence. "Watch yourself when you go back there. Some guys were getting ready to burn some stuff. So I stole their lighter."

"Cool. Quick question, do you know how to disassemble guns? I thought you just pull on the slide or something, but it won't work."

"Maybe if we just take their ammo instead." Gaspar wondered, pushing on a button on the side. It didn't work until he tried pulling on the ammo clip while pushing down. "Got it. Forgot that gravity doesn't work when you stop time."

"Good idea." By now, almost all of the criminals were locked up, except for some rich-looking guy locked in an office. Ben blasted the door with his power, and watched as it turned to dust. "You know Gaspar, time is a lot more dangerous than people think. If you age it long enough, most things fall apart pretty easily." The little guy nodded at that. Ben was pleased he was listening to him. Maybe this was all they needed. For Gaspar to spend some time with others while stopping time. To show him he didn't have to be alone.

"Jackpot!" Issei yelled, noticing the open safe. The guy must've been clearing out when the fight started. "Come to papa." He noticed Ben looking at him. "What? No one's gonna miss it." Ben rolled his eyes, but let him have it. He did have a point. Ben and Gaspar dragged the leader out of his office, saw the series of steps down and decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Instead, Gaspar went to help Issei load up the cash while Ben moved boxes around below. Satisfied with his work, he shouted back to the others.

"Ok. On three. One. Two. Three." They both threw the guy over the ledge. He moved for a moment before coming to a stop mid-jump. Ben checked a few times, but was pretty sure the creep would land on the boxes. And that was everything. They had ended a gunfight in –technically – one second. Not bad. They left the fight with their 'claimed' gains, laughing as they realised how enjoyable it had been. But as they walked around, Ben noticed some rather large flames. Some place must be on fire. And when they got to the source, he saw he was right.

An apartment building was ablaze, the fire starting to spread from the ground up. Most of the people were outside by now, looking at the fire. But Ben could see several people still trapped upstairs.

"We've got to help them." Gaspar said aloud. "But how do we do that? I think we still feel heat if we step into flames."

"I've got it." Ben replied. "Here's another nifty thing you can do with time." He concentrated, the disc on his head spinning counter-clockwise as energy was released from his hands. The flames grew smaller and smaller as windows reformed. People started running backwards into the building, Ben and the others following. He tracked down the flames, watching as they billowed backwards down the halls until they found the source. A tea-towel had been left too close to a toaster, causing the whole thing to burst into flames. Ben reversed the flow until the toast hadn't been pushed down, then he grabbed the towel and put it elsewhere. When he stopped the effects, the building shivered as people started moving forward quickly.

"What's going on?" Issei wondered aloud. Ben wasn't sure, but he thought he had an idea.

"I think this place is going forward in time till we get to the present, only now it's following a timeline where the building didn't catch on fire."

"But how? How does it know what would've happened? Did we change things elsewhere? And what about the Grandfather paradox?"

"Chill Issei. You'll only hurt yourself if you keep thinking about it. Just go with it for now. In the meantime, do you guys have anything you want to do before we re-join time? That isn't grope girls or look up their skirts?" Ben immediately shot down Issei's obvious ideas. He slumped, dejected.

"I'd like to look at girl's panties." Gaspar said. Ben and Issei looked at him in surprise. "What? I'm a boy. I like girls. I like panties. And I definitely like seeing girls wearing panties."

"Uh… Actually, I think we've spent enough time out of time. We should probably get back to the others."

"Right. And Bri? Issei? Thank you for joining me. Maybe… maybe my powers aren't so scary after all." Ben grabbed Issei and Gaspar by the shoulders, using his powers to restart time. They were suddenly hit with the sounds of the world as everything stopped glowing. Gaspar skipped ahead of them as they walked back to the Club, passing a series of police cars and vans from the fight.

"Hey Issei? I think we might've created a monster."

(**/*\**)

"So what do you suppose Rias and Akeno wanted us to come to this place for anyway?" Issei asked him the next day as they walked up to a shrine.

"Probably someone that wants to meet The Red Dragon Emperor and the Shapeshifter." Ben replied. He was getting a little uncomfortable with all the attention. Sure, he was famous back home. Sure, his history was a chapter and a half of required reading in Plumber Academy. But he wasn't too sure about getting attention from nation leaders. He got a slight feeling that as an unclaimed human, they're all trying to think of ways to get him for themselves. "At least you're moving up in the world. That's progress, right?"

"Yeah, it is. At this rate, maybe one of them will help me get my harem."

"You're a one-track mind sometimes, you know that?" by now they had nearly reached the top of the stairs. Akeno was waiting for them, dressed in her long priestess robe. At least they really were in the right place.

"Welcome you two. Sorry that Rias couldn't be here, but she needs to just finish a meeting with Sirzechs."

"It's cool." Issei said. "I'm just worried about the shrine. I thought that Demons couldn't enter shrines?"

"Normally they can't. But this shrine is under a special contract, so all manner of beings can enter here. Rias got it for me as a home."

"You live by yourself?" Ben was a bit surprised. Sure, she was originally a Fallen Angel. But surely she had to have parents.

"Indeed. But it's alright. I'm perfectly happy there. However, I could always enjoy some company." She was now getting a bit too close to Issei, before pulling away and giggling. "But we that'll have to wait for another day. There's someone here to see you both." Called it. Another important person that wanted to gawk at them. Well, as long as it didn't take too long, he was fine. In fact, if this person was also going to be at the peace treaty, he might be able to have a say himself with so many people interested in him. Ben strolled past the gate without a care, while Issei had to get enough courage to run through it. As Akeno said, he wasn't hurt by it. Ben looked around for any sign of this new stranger.

"So this is them?" A new, younger-sounding voice said. Ben and Issei immediately looked upwards as a bright light started blazing. Shielding his eyes, Ben saw that this newcomer was dressed in long, fluttering robes and had several golden wings. He was like a photo-negative of Kokabiel.

"An… Angel?" Ben gasped. The stranger looked down at them, his face easier to see, and smiled.

"Welcome. It is a pleasure to meet you both, Issei Hyoudo and Bri Tennyson. I have heard much about you both."

"I am Michael. Leader of the Angels."

There we go. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter too. Had some good comments from a few people who did an archive binge on this story, so I guess I'm still going strong.

A note for everyone after I finish this story. I've got so many that I still have to do, and many I really want to do, that I'll probably work myself sick if I try. So after this story's done, I'm going to work until I've only got three stories going at once. While this will slow things down (and put several good ideas on hold) I'll probably function a lot better that way. But that probably won't start for a while. But in the meantime, I'm afraid I won't be starting any new stories just yet.

Thank you for understanding.