Ranma 1/2, High School DxD, Darkstalkers and the rest are owned by their respective owners. I own nothing.

If only I did.

If you must know, the reason I came back to writing this story was because of Metal Gear Solid V, or rather, the song "It Has To Be This Way". Great song, BTW.

Chapter 21

"Behold... You can call me Super Jedah in this form."

"No." Vali said flatly, though he mentally grimaced at the thought of facing someone who was not only strong to begin with, but had both the power of Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing on top of that.

"I'm going to agree with Vali on this one." Issei told Jedah. "I'm not calling you Super anything."

"Way to be a buzzkill." Jedah muttered before shaking his head. "Fine! If you want to be that way..." He grinned under his armor. "Then I'll just have to beat you until you call me Super Jedah!" Jedah yelled as the spear tip started to crackle with power before he thrust it down and a powerful beam lanced out, forcing all three to jump away from the attack as the ground exploded from the attack.

Issei let out a yell as he shifted to his knight form, losing much of his armor and massively increasing his speed, zipping forward at his max speed, Issei struck Jedah across the face, causing him to jerk to the left as he spun around. Issei quickly dashed out of the way as Jedah pointed his Longinus spear at Issei.

"Not a bad punch. That could have hurt if you had some force behind it." Jedah chuckled in amusement.

"Boost." His armor said in a robotic tone.

"Heh heh heh haha hahaha!" Jedah laughed as he grinned behind his armored helmet. "All that speed means nothing to me now!"

"SCREW YOU!" Issei yelled as his back thrusters erupted in speed and he rocketed towards Jedah.

"BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!" D'draig yelled out as Issei's speed and abilities increased, allowing him to move so fast that not only did everything around him seem to be slowing down, but he was leaving after-images in his wake as he moved around.

"HOW'S THIS?!" Issei yelled as his armor shifted to his rook form, increasing in size and bulk as he allowed his speed to carry him into Jedah, who chuckled as he dodged at the last moment and slashed upwards with his Longinus spear, cutting through Issei's armor and exposing his underside. "Damn!"

"Too bad!" Jedah laughed as he swung his free hand to the side, tagging Issei and encasing him in a blood-red orb. Grabbing his spear with both hands and holding it over his head like a baseball bat as the tip glowed with power, Jedah swung down as hard as he could, destroying the orb and sending Issei flying to the ground with his armor falling into pieces. "And now..." Jedah held out a hand as Issei crashed into the ground.

"Divide."

On the ground, Issei gasped as he felt his strength fade and drain away. "This feels familiar."

Jedah chuckled and looked behind him as the air turned a bright green. "Hmm?" A large spiraling pillar of energy rushed his way. "Oh, right, you can fire all sorts of energy, can't you?" Jedah asked rhetorically.

"Divide."

Behind his armored helmet, Jedah grinned and flew backwards as his spear glowed with power. "Okay then! I'll show you what this can do!"

"Boost." The monotone voice spoke up again and Jedah's whole body was glowing, especially the gems on his armor.

"Now!" Jedah yelled as he thrust his spear forward.

"Transfer."

Jedah's entire body seemed to turn blue as a large and powerful energy blast erupted from the tip of the spear, slamming into the large green energy beam, before cutting through it at an angle that caused both beams to dissipate as they became unstable.

"Damn." Ranma muttered as the blaster fins that had surrounded his right arm, making it into a cannon blaster, split apart and flew to his back, reconnecting with the back of his armor. "I was kind of hoping to end this quickly."

From where he was on the ground, Issei stared in shock. "...Did he just casually fire a blast that was on par with what I did in Kyoto?"

"Well, it lacked the dimension shattering power you had." D'draig spoke up. "But beyond that, I told you that Sen was dangerous, did I not? What you're seeing is what Sen was capable of. There's a reason that no one wanted to mess with Sen, the hassle was never worth it."

Not far away and in the air, Vali narrowed his eyes as he looked at Jedah. "Hey, Albion, is it just me, or does it feel like he's not draining us anymore?"

"No, it's not just you. Perhaps this imitation has limitations that even he is not aware of?"

"Then again," Vali said as he readied himself, "have we ever tried to use our power on more than one person at a time?"

"Not you, but some of my past users did have to fight a war after all." Albion commented as Vali suddenly rushed forward at high speeds. As he got close, Jedah jumped away as Vali swooped in, missing by mere inches. Vali turned his head as Jedah thrust the Longinus spear forward, extending it out to cut through the White Dragon Emperor. Vali turned his body as the spear came close and raised his left arm up in defense, hitting the shaft and causing it to miss by centimeters. Vali grabbed the spear and stopped Jedah from recalling it, making the armor-covered Devil to jerk in surprise. Pulling with a yell, Vali dragged Jedah to him before rushing forward and slamming his elbow into Jedah's face-plate, cracking it and sending him flying back.

"Divide!" Albion yelled out as Jedah let loose a gasp.

"Boost." A monotone voice called out from Jedah.

Vali didn't say anything as he zipped forward, dashed upwards before coming down on top of Jedah with a mid-air stomp, sending him flying to the ground where he crashed into the sane with a large explosion of dirt and dust. "Even if you can cancel out my Divide powers, you can't keep up with them, can you?" Vali said before frowning behind his helmet as the dust and dirt cleared away to reveal Jedah's body, but something was wrong. "Where's his left arm?" He could clearly see Jedah's left arm, but the arm was missing from the elbow down. While such a detail normally wasn't something Vali cared about, he didn't recall slicing the arm off.

He stiffened as he felt a tap on his left shoulder, turning, he saw an arm and hand floating there. Before he could react, the hand rushed forward and grabbed his face, squeezing his helmet with enough force that he could hear the armor groaning to keep together.

Suddenly Jedah, in his armor, appeared behind the severed arm while his body glowed green. Vali was flung away and Jedah grabbed his severed arm and slapped it back on his left arm, the two instantly reattaching to each other.

"Divide." The monotone voice said and Vali grimaced as he felt his power drained from him. He was able to slow his free fall through the air and was lowering himself to the ground as he planned his next move.

Jedah chuckled as he started to glow. "Ready for something interesting Vali?" Vali looked up at him as he stopped his descent. "What happens when you combine Divine Dividing and Boosted Gear's powers?"

"Boost."

Vali's eyes widened and he fell to his knees as his armor completely disappeared from around his body. "W...what is this?"

Jedah laughed at Vali. "Your Divine Dividing power cuts the victim's power in half with each use, but with Boosted Gear, I can boost the power and cut out all of your power in one hit." His body started to glow as the power was building up by a lot. "Ah yes, the downside of your Sacred Gear, it can only hold so much before it has to vent or restart." He chuckled and pointed the replica of True Longinus at Vali. "Too bad that Boosted Gear and True Longinus can let me take all this power that I have and return it to sender, huh?"

"Transfer."

Vali stared with wide eyes as a gigantic blue beam of energy was launched at him. 'Dammit, that's got to be the size of a freaking aircraft carrier.' And his power was so drained that he knew that he wouldn't be able to get away before being killed by it. 'At least I went out fighting.' He grinned as the power came crashing down. In a way, it was comforting to lose in battle and not because of treachery.

Before the giant blue beam got to him, a green body got in front of him. "Relax, you aren't dying yet." Ranma said as he held out his right arm, his blaster fins from his back reattaching themselves to his arm. "I've got this." An aura flared up around him as the blast came close. Shockingly, to Vali, the aura seemed to be causing the giant energy beam that was crashing in on them to waver. "Reverse Strike Wave!"

A bright green blast ripped out from the blaster fins, crashing into the giant blast, causing it to stop, before twisting, curving and eventually expanding before seemingly popping like an over-filled water balloon as an uncontrollable torrent of blue, green and yellow energy rushed back at Jedah.

"CRAP!" Jedah yelled as the blast rushed back at him and consumed him in a rushing wave of energy.

"What the hell is that?" Vali asked in shock.

"An attack I learned from Sen," Ranma told him as the blaster fins detached from his arm and reattached to his back. "It only really works against a really strong energy attack, but it turns the power against the user and fires back at them. Issei used a much weaker blast than what Jedah did and it laid him out for awhile from what Lilith told me, so this should kill Jedah."

When the blast subsided, Jedah was nowhere to be seen.

"You weren't kidding." Vali muttered as he stood up. "...Wait, something doesn't feel..."

A red sphere appeared in the middle of the sky before shattering, revealing Jedah, still in his armor, which was smoking from the heat of that last attack. The armored Devil was panting as he tried to regain his bearings. "That... Almost killed me." He turned his head as he felt someone coming from behind him. "ENOUGH!" A large reaper scythe formed in his left hand as he slashed upwards, cutting through Issei's left arm and severing it, causing him to scream and fall to the ground.

"Issei!" Ranma yelled as he flew over to his friend, who was clutching at the stump of his left arm. "Hold on!" He grabbed the severed arm as Issei returned to his unarmored form, screaming in pain. "Here!"

"FUCK THIS FUCKING HURTS!" Issei yelled as Ranma grabbed his arm and put it back on. "What good will that..." He trailed off as Ranma pulled out a vial of fluid, opened it up and poured it on Issei's wound, healing it. "Phoenix Tears?"

"Yeah, you were given one before the tournament started." Ranma said as his helmet opened up, revealing Ranma's smirking face.

Issei nodded and grimaced as he flexed his fingers. "That... That's a Holy weapon." Issei said as he looked up at Jedah, more specifically, his scythe.

"Are you sure?" Ranma asked as he looked back at Jedah, who was just hovering there. "I mean, are you really sure?"

"Ranma, I've taken attacks from Fallen Angels, Sacred Gears and Holy Swords, there are three types of pain that I REALLY never want to experience again and Holy weapons are really high on that list."

"Well, shit, how is he using it then?" Ranma frowned in confusion. "Even if you hold a Holy weapon, it has no power if you don't have some sort of Holy power in you." Ranma tilted his head. "That reminds me, I still have no clue how I was able to use that fused Excalibur."

Jedah looked down at the other three Devils and shook his head. "We could keep this fight going, where I will eventually win, or I could explain some things to you and let you have a chance to recover and fight back."

"And why would you give us a chance to recover?" Vali asked as he stood up while Jedah lowered himself to the ground.

"Well, for one, I don't actually wish to fight." Jedah said with a certain level of smugness in his voice. "And before any of you protest, remember, it was Vali who attacked me first."

Issei held up a finger to say something before thinking about it and lowering his hand. "...You DO have a point."

"Oh come on!" Vali yelled at Issei. "You're taking his side?!"

"No one's taking anyone's side." Jedah interjected himself into the conversation. "But, didn't you want to know just why I wanted to risk everything on this crazy plan to use the Well of Lost Souls?"

"To take over the world?" Ranma asked rhetorically. "I mean, for all I know, you're trying to find some sort of Primordial God that could let you kill off Big Red and Ophis before somehow taking its power for yourself to rule reality."

Jedah chuckled in amusement. "Do you really think I'm so short-sighted? Controlling a dying reality? What good would that do?" He ignored the skeptical looks he got from Vali and Issei. "In fact, I decided that I want to fix the world, but I need help for that."

"Fix the world?" Ranma asked as he dismissed his armor. "What? Are you going to get rid of religious fanatics or something?"

Jedah chuckled in amusement. "Ah, no, that won't be needed. See, without..." He paused for a moment as he thought, "without the Creator," he nodded as he didn't feel any pain in his head from that, "without Him, the world is heading towards a path of destruction."

"Yeah, you told me this before, so what?" Ranma asked Jedah with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. "What are you doing to do? Restart time?" Jedah merely turned to look at him and Ranma's face turned from slight annoyance to terror. "...I was fucking kidding, are you SERIOUS?!"

"How else can I ensure that the world won't be destroyed?" Jedah asked as he sighed softly. "The world needs a firm, guiding hand to ensure that it survives."

"And that's you?" Issei glared at Jedah. "Get bent! As if we'd allow you to restart everything! I'm not going to let you take what I've earned from me like that!"

Jedah's helmet opened up, revealing his face, which had a contemplative look on it. "And what if I could not only guarantee that you'll still have those who are close to you, but also that your future will be secured?"

Issei looked completely lost and confused. "...What are you talking about?" He turned to Ranma, who had a stunned look on his face. "What is he talking about?"

"How did you know?" Ranma asked Jedah. "I knew, but how did you?"

Jedah chuckled in amusement. "I'm a master of souls, boy." He looked at Issei and shook his head. "You seriously don't know?" His spear disappeared and he thrust his hand through a portal that appeared next to him. "Here!" He grinned and pulled his arm back, shocking Issei and Ranma as he held Rias by her arm. "Why don't you ask her?"

"OWW!" Rias yelled as Jedah let go of her and she stumbled forward. "Where... Issei? What are you doing here? Where are we?" She turned around and saw Jedah smirking at her, causing her to step back, her eyes wide. "You..."

"Why don't you tell him, princess?" Jedah smirked as he flew backwards. "It seems that he doesn't know about your secret."

"What secret?!" Issei yelled in frustration. "Jedah and Ranma both seem to know and I have no fucking clue what's going on and I..." He stopped as Rias ran up to him and hugged him. "Rias?"

"I..." She trembled before letting go of the hug and stepping back while squeezing his left hand and pulling it towards her, putting it on her stomach. "You're going to be a father."

Issei's eyes widened to saucers. "I...You...You're..."

Rias nodded, blushing hard. "Yes, I...I'm pregnant."

"B...But how? I had that contraception spell on me." Issei's mind was spinning so fast that he was starting to feel dizzy.

"You used me HOW many times to keep yourself going that night when the rats attacked?" D'draig spoke up from Issei's wrist. "Don't you think that eventually, ESPECIALLY with THAT many boosts, that you'd become so potent that you'd break through even the strongest contraception spells?"

"But, I..." Issei couldn't help but feel faint. "...Wait..." He looked at Ranma, who had a calm expression on his face. "...You knew?"

"Of course I knew." Ranma rolled his eyes. "It wasn't my place to tell you that she was pregnant."

"Ahem!" Jedah interrupted them. "As amusing as this all is, Red Dragon Emperor, no, Issei Hyoudou," he gave the brunette a grin, "I told you, didn't I?" He held up his right hand casually. "If you help me, I'll not only guarantee that you'll have her in the new world, but your child will be born into the new world as well."

"What is he talking about?" Rias asked with a confused look on her face before she yelped as the back of her sweater was grabbed and she was pushed through a portal.

"RIAS!" Issei yelled as the portal closed behind her.

"Don't worry about her," Jedah told him, "I made sure to return her where I found her. She's fine." He reached up and stroked his chin. "So, how about it? A world that isn't dying, one that you won't have to worry about the future of your children, a world where you'll have what you do now, but without the constant worry of dying." He gave Issei a cool look, "in fact, I can ensure that you and Rias will be together in the new world."

"...You could do that?" Issei whispered as he lowered his head, his bangs covering his eyes in shadow. "...Protect Rias and my child?"

"That's right." Jedah grinned at him. "How about it? Work with me and not only will you and yours survive in the new world, but the world itself will not be facing destruction."

Ranma jumped back as he looked at both Issei and Jedah. He wanted to say something, but he knew, in the end, it had to be this way.

Issei would have to make his own decision on this.

End Chapter 21

Well, ain't that a kick in the balls? And you all saw Rias being pregnant coming.