Only 2 people to shout-out? Come on, guys! I know we can do better than that. Perhaps this new page will get me some more reviews to respond too. Anyway...

1) Jon: Yes I have, its a fun game. Looking forward to buying the sequel. As hinted once before, since Xenoiva so also Italian, she will also have some *ahem*... words with Anthony. This is actually another Italian stereotype, which I'll go into detail about when we get there.

2) Emblemfan1: Good to know I still got it with humor. I've come a long way, and of course the credit goes to you, for the pointers and such.

This next page will answer the age-old question: how did Anthony remain human? As promised, its all original, so I hope you enjoy it!

Epilogue: Page 2

A day later, Rias was sitting at her desk once again after school. She was finally finished with the backed up paperwork, and now had time to herself... until the next contract, that is. As she was about to get her bearings and leave, she wondered what Anthony was up to back at the house, when a magic circle opened up on the floor... more powerful than Risers. Floating up from it was a young man with light blue eyes and green hair, sporting handsome green robes to match. Rias, realizing who this was, bowed immediately after recovering from her initial shock. "Sir Beelzebub... to what do I owe this pleasure?" She asked.

The man was none other than Ajuka Beelzebub, the last Satan alive and the creator of the Evil Pieces... also the current leader of the entire Underworld. The last time she and him spoke, it was about Anthony's failed reincarnation. What could he want now?

"Miss Gremory... sorry I was late, nor could I attend your engagement party" he said. While his tone was dry, Rias sensed he knew about the outcome of that party. "I'm actually here to speak about him... is he available?" Asked the Underworld King. Rias knew exactly whom he was talking about.

"I'm sorry... no. He''s actually..." Rias tried to explain, but the king held a hand to silence her, then spoke 4 words: "Take me to him."

-TIME BREAK-

Anthony and Asia were cooking dinner. They also invited the rest of the ORC over to surprise Rias once she got home as a celebration. It was Anthony's idea but when asked why, he shrugged and said: "Solo Perché".

In truth, it was actually because Rias has been leaving home early and had no time for herself, so he figured he'd do this to cheer her up; help her relax a little bit. "Asia? Did you open the cans of pomodoro yet?" Asked Anthony.

"I did it for her, she was busy chopping garlic" said Akeno. She was in an apron, that had some pomodoro spots all over it.

"Oh, thank-" Anthony was about to thank her, but he noticed some pomodoro had splattered on the chest area of the apron... and with her large bust, some was right in the middle of her cleavage. Akeno noticed this of course but instead of being embarrassed about it; she took her finger, scooped it up... and sucked in it... REALLY sucked on it, tongue swirling around her finger and all. Anthony didn't know if she was putting on a show for him, or was innocently unaware of the effect the act was having on him. He forced himself to turn around and wash his hands... even though he already did.

Suddenly, the older girl lightly hugged him from behind. Anthony had to hold in the urge to gasp. "Your a real good cook, Anthony. Did I ever tell you that?" She asked.

"Uh... you might have mentioned it" he said, trying to remain calm. He didn't know if Ddraig was listening or not, but was thankful they weren't casting spells this time. The last thing he needed was a mess of his beloved kitchen. Akeno giggled, her breath hitting Anthony's earlobe.

"Seriously... it's delicious" Akeno said, emphasizing on 'delicious' while licking her lips. It might have been the closeness between her and his ear, but that lip smacking seemed VERY loud to Anthony.

Thankfully, she backed off and went to do other things to prepare for Rias' arrival. Anthony heaved a sigh. Looking around for a towel, he saw Kiba helping Asia, and Koneko snacking on stuff. "Where do you put it all?" Joked Anthony from his hand-drying, seeing the short student sneak a shrimp from his shrimp scampi. She didn't flinch at his sudden call.

"It's good" she said.

"Oooooooh... so I AM a good cook?" Anthony joked some more, folding the towel and hanging it in a drawer.

"... your decent" she said while turning her head away, not wanting to give the human the satisfaction.

"piccolo micio testardo" chuckled Anthony, walking past her...

STOMP!

He regretted that decision with a whine as the 'piccolo micio' smashed her tiny foot into his. It was her turn to walk away, while he held his foot and hopped on one leg. 'Me and my big, Italian mouth' thought Anthony.

[If only you kept it shut...] Ddraig said. Before Anthony could make a comeback for that, the sound of a magic circle filled the room. Just outside of the small kitchen, 2 Devils appeared. One was the well-known and loved Rias Gremory, the other was a stoic man that looked older than Riser by few years or so. Noticing the guest of honor appeared, though accompanied by an unknown party, Anthony stopped hopping around on his leg and walked like normal... it still hurt though.

"Benvenuto a casa, Rias! Whose your friend?" Asked Anthony, fighting the urge to limp. Before Rias could answer, her 'friend' walked over to Anthony with no hostility in his steps, though his aura told a different story. He was a powerhouse, no demonstration needed. Akeno, Koneko and Kiba knew exactly who this was; but kept their distance due to his mysterious aura. The question was: why was he here, and for what purpose? He approached Anthony with no emotion on his face. "Uh... was it something I said?" Asked Anthony, a little nervous.

The man did not speak, just held his hand out... at Anthony's chest. The American felt a little intimidated. "Uh... heheh, can I offer you an appetizer?" He asked, doing so to cover up his nervousness. Right as he finished saying this, Anthony's chest began to glow a little. "HEY! HEY! WHAT'CHA DOING?!" Flailed Anthony, covering his chest with his arms... he felt like one of the girls he Dress Broke. Something came out of his body, and everyone was surprised at what they saw...

It was his Evil Piece... but something was wrong with it.

When Evil Pieces are inactive, they are white. When they are implanted into a host body, they turn dark red to symbolize its activation. Anthony's however... was light red, and had white spots or small white stripes along it. Anthony didn't know what was going on, but did noticed the man's expression changed slightly.

"Just as I thought..." said the man, removing his hand as Anthony's Evil Piece went back inside him.

"Uh... who are you again?" Anthony was actually gonna make a joke about almost getting 'his piece' stolen, but instead changed to wondering whom this man was. As far as he was concerned, Rias was his master; so only she could mess with his Evil Piece, right? Who was this guy... and where did he come from?

"Anthony... this is Ajuka Beelzebub. The creator of the Evil Pieces, and the leader of the Underworld" introduced Rias, still shocked at the sight of Anthony's Evil Piece. Something was clearly wrong with it.

"Huh? I thought your brother was the leader" said Anthony, gaining a confused look.

"There are four of us. One individual can't have all the power, can he?" Said Ajuka.

"Uh... no... I guess not" said Anthony, processing the information. So instead of one leader, there was four? And he thought human politics were confusing...

"But seriously, what was with taking my piece, man? At least take me out to dinner first" Anthony joked, attempting to make conversation. While Akeno giggled, it didn't have the same effect on the Devil Leader. He just kept the same stoic look, seemingly unimpressed at Anthony's joke.

"Miss Gremory contacted me after she revived you, concerned why you remained human" said Ajuka, staying on the topic.

"Human or not, I'm the only Pawn she'll EVER need" said Anthony, bringing up Rias' own words, and getting a little defensive. Seemed this guy was just like Riser, looking down at him cause he failed to reincarnate properly. Rias couldn't help but blush. He remembered what she said...

"I'm not here to discuss your human status. I'm here because I'm quite interested myself on how you possibly remained one" said Ajuka, keeping his calm tone.

"Well, your the big-shot Doc... use your DeLorean and go study me" Anthony snapped. The others (aside from Asia) were kinda nervous the way Anthony was talking to Ajuka. He was just as powerful as Sirzechs, and was an enemy you didn't want to make.

"There's no need, your Evil Piece told me all I need to know" said Ajuka.

"Then what is it? Am I too strong for your little toy?" Anthony snapped again.

"... On the contrary... your just the opposite" said Ajuka, surprising everyone. That made no sense! Anthony had a strong will, and the LITERAL Dragon of Domination in his body; so how could he possibly be too weak for the Evil Pieces used on him? And that's another thing! It took ALL EIGHT of Rias' Pawns to bring him back, so where did Ajuka get this information from?

Rias couldn't keep quiet, mostly cause she found it disrespectful that Ajuka called her favorite game piece weak. Again... ALL EIGHT PAWNS! How could a weak person need that much power to be brought back to life? "Please forgive me, Great Devil; but that doesn't make sense. Anthony required all 8 of my Pawns. He didn't respond with any other piece" Rias defended.

[As well as having me inside his body. He's also my first host to activate me during his infant years] Ddraig spoke up, getting into the discussion.

This last bit of information was a shock to the Devil King, so much that his stoic face cracked slightly before recovering a second later. "Even so... he has a defect, does he not?" Asked Ajuka.

"Oh, I'LL GIVE YA A DEFECT!" Yelled Anthony, becoming angry. He didn't care how strong this guy was! No one but no one mocks him under his roof, and gets away with it! Anthony threw a punch at him, his Sacred Gear coming out as well. No one was in range to stop him except his target, who put up a barrier.

CRACK!

For a human, Anthony did have some power, the Devil King had to admit... but he was still nowhere near the same level as he was, so Anthony's assault was still blocked. The human did manage to crack his barrier slightly, the Devil King couldn't remember the last time that happened (then again, he wasn't using his full power at the moment). The ORC was too stunned to do anything. What was Ajuka gonna do now? Was Anthony gonna be ok? Why didn't the idiot control his temper? The Devil King just shoved Anthony off, the enraged human trying to regain his balance. Great, now he was being made a fool of in his own house! This walking tube of hair gel was going down... he might not have holy water this time, but he'll sure as hell still try!

"... Miss Gremory, why not declare this enemy territory? Give Mister Anthony here a Queen's edge?" Ajuka said, surprising everyone. They were gonna battle? Now?! HERE?! Rias was about to protest, but...

"DO IT, RI! LET ME SHOW THIS ASSHOLE THE POWER OF THE GREMORY'S!" Anthony roared. Frankly, the poor girl didn't know whether to be thankful for that comment, or afraid of Anthony attacking one of the 4 Great Satans. She pondered on this for a moment and while she normally would have declined, the Devil King DID indeed ask for it... literally. She merely nodded her head, her eyes locked on Anthony's.

Seeing him like this made her heart skip a beat. He was either brave or stupid... but that's one of the reasons she liked him. With the King's approval, the symbol of the Queen surrounded Anthony again. He just chose Queen without thinking...

...

...

...

And just like the 2 times before, it failed. Cursing under his breath, he attempted to try again. Much to his surprise though, the Devil King before him powered down. "That's quite enough, this further proves my point" said Ajuka.

"What point? That your figa?" Asked Anthony, still mad.

[Anthony. He was generous enough to use a mere fraction of his power. He could have killed you with anything more, so I suggest you calm yourself, before you do something stupid again] warned Ddraig. While he had no control over what his host body would do and was obligated to the will of his current master, that didn't mean he couldn't voice his opinion.

"Mister Messuri... did it ever strike you as odd that you can't promote into a Queen?" Asked Ajuka, and this got everyone's attention immediately. Did Ajuka have an answer for that mystery?

"... so what?! I don't need to promote to a Queen anyway! I've got 3 other pieces to chose from!" Anthony countered, though even he knew it wasn't that good of a point. While each piece gave him a boost, they had weaknesses along with them. A Knight was fast, but lacked defense. Bishops had much Demonic Power, but not much strength. And Rooks had amazing attack and defense skills, but low Demonic Power. And of course, a Queen combined all the positive traits of those pieces, and had virtually none of the weaknesses.

"While the latest Rating Game report and your sparing match with Riser shows you can, its been observed that you lack either the skill or the power to promote into a Queen. Even after unlocking a Balance Break, you still are unable to, even with all that power" said Ajuka, still calm. This was starting to agitate Anthony greatly, it came across to him as Ajuka being smug.

"Then PLEASE! Share with us, professor! You said my Evil Piece told you everything? Well, spill it! Did I happen to receive a defective model?" Anthony snapped. Ajuka was silent for a moment before answering.

"... the defective model... is you..."

That made more silence ring out for a full minute. Was that the truth? Because it sounded like an insult. "Reliable sources of mine reported that you were premature... is that correct?" Asked Ajuka. The ORC didn't know what this had to do with anything, but Ajuka spoke again before anyone else could. (AN: Upcoming explanation is something I made up, as the blueprints of HOW the Evil Pieces were created and HOW they function is never fully specified at the time of writing this.)

"Your silence speaks volumes. The Evil Piece system wasn't initially designed for someone like you. It was first tested on average, fully grown humans," said Ajuka. "They were handpicked to be the best possible test subjects for my latest invention. As such; they had no deformities, no health problems, not a single abnormality. The Evil Piece copies everything down to the bodies genetics, so it isn't detected as a threat in the immune system. However, because your body was born prematurely... your Evil Piece was affected and as a result, became incomplete. This not only makes him the first human Pawn in history..."

"But also why he can't promote into a Queen..." finished Rias, sadly. Because the Pawn inside of him copied everything about his body, it to was affected by his birth defect. Anthony was mentally and physically strong... but not genetically. And in all honestly, Rias didn't know THAT was how the system worked. She took it for granted, because she just thought:

Step 1 - Find a potential servant.

Step 2 - Place desired Piece into body, and...

CLICK! GOTCHA! Servant was caught... apparently it wasn't as easy as that game...

Anthony stood in silence. Even with 8 Pawn pieces, the Red Dragon Emperor's gauntlet and a new arm to go with it... he still lacked the ability to promote into a Queen... because of himself. His own stupid body was the reason he couldn't be the best he could be... and he almost lost Rias for this reason as well. Sure he won her back in a rematch, but that's only because Sirzechs helped arrange it. The ORC would have lost their president... because of him.

[I suppose this explains allot. During the Rating Game and even now, the Pawn Piece within him resonates, but ultimately fails to promote Anthony into a Queen. If this is true, then its too much for the incomplete piece to handle, which is why it shuts down. A Queen is basically 3-in-1, which also explains why the other promotions work fine... they don't take that much power, and is easier on the piece itself] Ddraig deduced, indirectly making Anthony feel worse.

The female members of the ORC (even Koneko, though she didn't understand why) wanted to strangle the reptile if they could. Did he HAVE to be so vocal about his opinions? A small magic circle then appeared over Ajuka's ear. "Great Satan, Ajuka? The meeting starts in 5 minutes, where are you?" Asked a female voice, most likely one of his servants.

"I had a prior commitment. Tell them I'll be there shortly" said Ajuka.

"Yes sir" said the female voice, the magic circle disappearing. The Devil King noticed Anthony's expression... it was pained, and filled with sorrow. The ORC members were also looking at the human with concern, as they clearly recognized the emotion on Anthony's face.

"Well its clear you need time to process this information. I'll be taking my leave" said Ajuka.

"Don't feel too bad, Anthony. I'll be recalling all Evil Pieces soon, so your existence serves some sort of purpose. All Evil Pieces will soon be modified to compensate for any... issues... the host body has. From this day forward, you will be the first... and LAST... failed reincarnation" said Ajuka and without another word, vanished into his own magic circle.

Anthony didn't respond. He just stood with his head down. "Anthony..." said Rias, beginning to approach him with her hand out to console him... but something inside her told her to stop. That, and Anthony's body began to shake... was he crying?

"...Asia?... Get ready for dinner..." Anthony said, his tone not as cheerful as it usually is.

"Um, y-yes; o-of course" said Asia, going ahead and following Anthony's request. She wanted to say something, but knew Anthony wasn't in the mood right now to hear anything more about Ajuka's big reveal. The party turned into a silent get-together. It was tasty, but the flavor of the conversation minutes earlier was still fresh...

Anthony's Italian Dictionary:

1) Solo Perché: means "just because"

2) Pomodoro: means "red/tomato sauce"

3) Testardo: means "stubborn"

4) Piccolo Micio: means "little puss(y)"

5) Benvenuto a Casa: means "welcome home"

6) Figa: while the correct, and commonly known, definition of this word is to call someone a "fanny"; it can also mean "pussy(ing) out"