Ritsuka was walking through the halls of Chaldea next to Mash as they were waiting for their first deployment to begin. The pair had met after the orientation and quickly became friendly. As they talked and walked, they came across an unexpected sight. They stopped in surprise as they saw a boy about their age passed out on the ground with a small girl in gothic lolita clothing sitting next to him. On her shoulder was a small red lizard resembling a dragon. Nearby Fou was also sitting near them looking at them curiously. Once their surprise wore off, they quickly ran up to them. "Is everything alright?!" asked Mash.

"What happened to him?!" asked Ritsuka in a panic.

The small girl turned to look at the pair and they froze as they saw her almost dead-looking eyes. "He is fine. He is simply sleeping," said the mystery girl.

"Sleeping? Kinda like me huh," said Ritsuka jokingly.

The small girl's expression didn't change. "It takes time for a soul to adjust to a new body," she said, as if to finish her earlier sentence.

"A new… body?" mimicked Mash.

The pair were confused about what was going on but decided to shelve it for later. "For now, we should move him to the infirmary. It's better than sleeping on the floor," said Ritsuka. With that the pair picked up the boy and took him to the infirmary, followed by the small girl and dragon.

Inside the infirmary ward, Dr. Romani Archaman was examining the unconscious boy with both Ritsuka and Mash sitting to the side along with the mysterious girl. After checking up on him the Doctor turned to explain his findings. "So first off, he seems to be fine. It's like that girl said, he is just asleep." The pair breathed a sigh of relief that nothing was wrong, but the Doctor wasn't done there. "But on a different note, I can't make heads or tails of these readings," said the Doctor as he scratched his head.

"What do you mean?" asked Mash.

"Despite the normal checkup saying he's asleep, his vitals keep fluctuating. Sometimes it flatlines and other times it's giving off so much info that it almost overloads the machines!" The girls were surprised by this, but it didn't end there. "Not only that but the signals that we can decipher from this show that his od is similar to that of a dragon's! Meaning his magic potential is through the roof! I ran a test on him for Rayshift compatibility just to see what the results would be, and it showed a 100% compatibility rating.

"1-100%?! Was there someone like that here in Chaldea?!" asked Ritsuka.

The Doctor's expression changed when she asked that. "Well, that's where we get to the troubling part. I did a background check and there's no one in Chaldea matching this boy's, or that girl's description."

The pair were surprised by this news. "Then, how did they get into Chaldea?" asked Mash.

"We were sucked in through a portal inside the Dimensional Gap," said the girl.

The three looked at her, surprised she answered them without hesitation. Romani decided to use this opportunity. "Could you tell us what happened?"

The small girl nodded her head and explained the circumstances of how they got there. She was kidnapped by people wanting to use her and the boy came to her rescue. During the fight with the captors, the boy received a curse that destroyed his body and would have killed him. The girl was able to preserve his soul and as they floated in a place called the Dimensional Gap the dragon on her shoulder, whose name was Great Red, found them and helped them. Together the girl and Great Red created a new body for the boy so that his soul could survive. As they were trying to make their way back home a rip in the Dimensional Gap appeared near them and they couldn't escape it in time. After they were sucked in, they were suddenly in the hallway with the boy still unconscious and Great Red being shrunken down against his will. "That's when we were found by those two and brought here to this room," the girl finished.

The three were stunned by the series of events that the girl described, although it lacked details, so they only knew the course of events and not what caused them. Romani leaned back in his seat in thought as he mentally compiled the information. "So, this boy's readings are probably so high due to the new body he was given. Based on what you, I'm sorry, we never asked your name."

"Ophis."

"Nice to meet you Ophis-chan. Now, based on what Ophis-chan told us, it's safe to assume that his body is now a dragon's body?"

"Correct. It was made in the likeness of his original body, but is made up of Great Red's flesh and my power."

"These readings… they're your power?"

"Both mine and Great Red's. Never in my existence did I think I would combine my power with my mortal enemy, but if it's for him then it's fine."

"Is he important to you?" asked Ritsuka.

"He promised to take me home with him. He said I was welcomed there along with the others who he is always with. They were kind to me too. I would like to see them again."

"Sorry but to back up a bit, you and Great Red are enemies?"

"We are opposites. My power represents infinity while his power represents dreams. In essence, I am everything, while he is nothing."

The group didn't quite grasp what she meant but they also understood that she meant that last part literally and not in a demeaning way. "You mean, you have endless power?" asked Romani. Ophis just nodded affirmingly. "What are you exactly?"

"Others refer to me as the Dragon God of Infinity, the Ouroboros Dragon God."

This statement shocked them. "A Dragon God?! And the Ourobors no less! But all the phantasmal beings are supposed to be on the reverse side now."

Ophis tilted her head in confusion. She clearly didn't know what he was talking about. As they were trying to make sense of things there was stirring from the boy's bed. "...Una... Was I sleeping...?" The boy looked around, noticing that he woke up in a hospital bed. I saw a weird dream. A dream where I was encouraging Kiba who was fighting against Siegfried. He seemed like he was in trouble so I think I lent him Ascalon... The others also didn't look happy so I encouraged them as well! He thought to himself. "...Huh. Where is this place...?"

Romani walked next to the bed to greet the boy. "Hello, I'm Dr. Romani Archaman and you are currently in Chaldea's medical ward."

"Chaldea? Never heard of it," said the boy as he checked his body. Wasn't my body being eaten away by Samael's curse? he thought.

[I see you've woken up partner,] said a deep voice.

"Ddraig? What happened?"

[I can explain it to you later but first we should deal with our current situation, right?] said Ddraig mentally.

Issei nodded mentally and refocused on the people in the room. "How did I get here?"

"Well, according to your friend over there, you were in some place called the Dimensional Gap and were sucked in through a portal, somehow ending up in our hallway. You were found by Ritsuka and Mash over there who brought you here to recover."

Issei looked over to the sitting group to the side and saw the two girls that were mentioned as well as- "Ophis! You're here too?"

"You said to go home together, so I will stay with Ddraig, because we are friends," she said matter-of-factly.

Issei was honored but he had to correct something. "I'm not Ddraig, I'm Hyoudou Issei… My friends call me Ise."

"I understand, Ise," she said obediently. Issei couldn't help but feel like he was dealing with a small animal that had become attached to him.

He looked over at the two girls that were sitting next to Ophis and bowed his head. "Thank you for helping me and taking care of Ophis while I was out."

"Oh no, it's fine, don't worry about it. Honestly it wasn't a big deal. It's not like you're the only one to fall asleep on the floor here, hahaha," Ritsuka laughed awkwardly. Issei raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Now that greetings are out of the way, I wanted to give you an update on your current condition." Issei focused back on the Doctor as he read from a digital pad. He gave him the same breakdown as he had told the girls earlier but couldn't help but interrupt when he learned he was in a new body.

"Wait wait, I'm in a new body?!" he said in surprise.

The others seemed surprised that he wasn't even aware himself. Since it seemed like no one knew what to say next an unexpected voice spoke up. [Seems like the explanation won't wait for later,] said Ddraig.

Issei raised his left arm in front of him and looked down at his hand, while the others were confused on where the voice came from. "Wait, you're gonna explain right now?"

[It's fine. It's clear these people are aware of magic and by the way that man is talking, I think it's safe to assume the Ophis explained to them what happened,] said Ddraig.

"She told us the events of how you got here but it wasn't very detailed," said Mash.

"Just that you saved her from being kidnapped and lost your body in the process. Then she and Great Red made a new body for you before you ended up here," finished Ritsuka.

"Great Red? He helped me too?"

[That's right partner. Really, you have an abnormal amount of luck. The Dimensional Gap is supposed to be an endless expanse, and yet you somehow run into Great Red as you're dying. You truly have a strange ability to attract powerful beings to you,] he said somewhat exasperated.

Issei then noticed the small dragon on Ophis' shoulder. "Who's the little guy?"

"This is Great Red," said Ophis.

Issei couldn't comprehend what she said for a moment. When his brain finally caught up, he couldn't hide his surprise. "Eeeeeeehhhhhhhhh?! Why did he shrink?! Wasn't he 100 meters long or something?!"

"Rawr!" said Great Red.

[He says he doesn't know either. It was the first time something like this happened to him,] said Ddraig.

"So even the True-Dragon-sama doesn't know."

[In any case, let me get down to business and explain what happened to you. Your body was destroyed with Samael's curse. You were in a state where your soul was taken out of your body and put into the armor. You can say that just your soul was left. But it was a hard decision whether that was actually possible or not.]

Issei showed a shocked expression. "I-it was that bad?"

[Yes partner. After you defeated Shalba Beelzebub, you used up all your strength in the artificial dimension which was crumbling. After that the artificial dimension collapsed completely. Great Red passed by coincidentally. Then Ophis rode on Great Red while taking you with her. By the way, several days have passed since then.]

Several days have passed? But then that means- "The others are probably worried about me. I need to get back to them immediately! By the way, am I able to go home? Wasn't there a summoning by Sensei?"

[There was. But only your evil-pieces inside you returned. It was a rare phenomenon. Evil-pieces are items with lots of mysteries.]

"Just my evil-pieces? It's true I can't feel them anymore! So all I had left was my soul and Sacred Gear?"

[Since you lost your evil-pieces it also means part of your power is missing,] clarified Ddraig.

That's true, Triania and True-Queen were connected to my evil-pieces so I can't use them anymore. What do I do? "Is there anything we can do? I at least want to let them know that I'm safe."

"We might be able to help with that, although we would need some information about who and where to contact." said Romani.

"Thank you, that would be really helpful."

[Can I change back the subject again Partner?]

"Right, sorry Ddraig."

[There is a reason your soul managed to survive Samael's curse.]

"A reason?"

[…..Partner. Your soul was at risk of disappearing because of Samael's poison. It was too late for your body, so we had to discard it. What would be affected after the body was your soul. At that rate, your soul was about to be eliminated by Samael's poison. Even I thought there was no way out. I was even prepared to go to the next host. But your predecessors made a different choice. Their remaining thoughts protected your soul from Samael's curse. While they became your substitute for receiving Samael's curse, I pulled your soul out and attached it to the armor. It was perfect timing. If my judgment was slightly slow, you wouldn't have been here now.]

My senpai's sacrifice themselves for me? thought Issei as he dived into his mental landscape. All the chairs where his senpai's were were empty. "No way… I barely got to talk to them. Just when I thought we could finally get along. Just when they were finally released from the curse of the Sekiryuutei. A parting like this is… too much!"

[…I can understand how you feel. That's why can you please listen to their last words? They left their words behind. –This is their last message to you.]

He wanted to hear it! But he suddenly got a bad premonition. Like a similar situation had happened in the past. A vision appeared of his senpai's faces and they said their final message with refreshing smiles. [[[[Pochi and Pochi, Zoom Zoom, Iyaaaan!]]]]

There was nothing he could say. It's just like how he imagined! He knew it would turn out like this! How much did those guys, the past Sekiryuutei, love that song!? From the side of the vision, Hakuryuukou-senpai shows his smile. [Butts are also wonderful, current-Sekiryuutei.]

"Tell that to Vali!" he shouted in the mindscape. After that the vision disappeared. Issei wanted to yell at his senpais for not leaving nice words for their kouhai. Why did they have to leave in such an embarrassing way? Although he would be lying if he wasn't a little happy… but only a little.

After he returned from his mindscape he saw that the three people he met were staring at him, a bit confused at what happened. "I'm sorry but what just happened? You went quiet and it looked like you lost consciences."

"I just went into my mental landscape. It's kinda like an isolated space created by my Sacred Gear."

"Sacred Gear? What's that? I've never heard of such a thing," asked Mash.

"It's difficult to explain. I'm not a technical kind of person. I'm only good for fighting things, sorry," said Issei apologetically.

"Oh no it's fine. I'm sorry for imposing," said Mash shyly. Issei couldn't help but think she looked cute.

She didn't have a bad figure and her breasts, while not as big as Rias', Akeno's, or Xenovia's, were still above average. His attention then shifted to Ritsuka sitting next to her and she seemed to be an average body type for a girl although he thought she was pretty too. Ritsuka shifted a bit with an embarrassed look on her face. Issei realized he was staring and bowed again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I just thought that you two looked cute," he said honestly.

The girls blushed at his compliment, never having been told so directly before. "T-thanks," they both said shyly.

"Well in any case, there are some things we should go over, Mr. Hyoudou,"

"Just Issei is fine. It's weird to be addressed formally."

"Well then Issei-san, I should properly explain where you are right now. We're a mages organization called Chaldea. Our job is to deal with magical disturbances that would threaten the survival of our world."

"That sounds really cool, but why haven't I heard of you before? We could have used your help when dealing with the Khaos Brigade."

"I'm sorry, but we don't know anything about a Khaos Brigade. I'm assuming they're a group?"

"They're a group of terrorists that caused all kinds of disturbances in the supernatural world!"

Romani made a difficult face. "You don't seem to be lying but I'm sorry, we've never heard of them. If they're as dangerous as you say, the fact that they went unnoticed by us is disturbing to say the least."

Neither group knew where to go from here, so Ddraig decided to take a stab at it. [This may be a guess, but perhaps we were taken into another reality by that portal in the Dimensional Gap.]

"A different reality? So then, this isn't my world?"

[It's just a guess based on this conversation. Our conflict affects the entire supernatural world. Even if they aren't directly involved, magical groups should at least be aware of the conflict. But if this is a separate reality that would change things.]

"I see," said Dr. Romani. "That would also explain your amazing constitution and high magic power. Power like yours hasn't been seen since the Age of Gods."

Issei wasn't sure what he was talking about but got the idea that things were different. He decided to ask something himself. "What year is it?"

"2015," answered Ritsuka.

"2015?! How did I end up 8 years in the future in another world?!"

Issei was shocked that he somehow time traveled on top of everything else. The others were surprised that Issei and his friends were apparently from the past and now were concerned about his situation. "What are you going to do Issei-san? Do you know a way to get back?"

"I don't. I don't know any magic to go through dimensions, plus I lost some of my powers after my original body died…" Once he said that the reality of his situation started to hit him. "I'm stuck…" he said almost hopelessly.

"Don't worry Issei-san, I'm sure we can help you get back! Our organization specializes in temporal anomalies, so we should be able to figure something out and help you get home!" said Mash.

Issei looked at the girl and a bit of hope returned to his eyes. Ophis, who had been quiet for a while, decided to speak. "It shouldn't be a problem as long as we make our way back to the Dimensional Gap. Time and space hold no meaning there, and when navigated properly it is possible to end up in different points in time."

More hope appeared on Issei's face. "Which means that I can make it back to my friends like I never left!" Ophis nodded in confirmation. "Yes! I can't wait to get back and help my friends. Then once we can relax, I can bury myself in Rias and Akeno-san's oppai again."

The three looked at Issei a little weirded out at his statement with Mash being visibly confused. "Uhm, is that something you should be saying out loud?" asked Mash.

Issei looked at them and then rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Oh sorry. It's just that I like oppai a lot and my friends are more than accommodating for my tastes and habits." Issei looked to the side a bit depressed. "Sorry, that was probably gross for you to hear."

"No, it's not that, it's just… surprising that you're so open about it," said Ritsuka.

"It's how I've always been. Some people call me an oppai-baka because of my obsession but I can't help it. I just love oppai."

"It's strange, your words do sound like something a creep would say, but it feels so oddly genuine with you that I can't get mad," said Ritsuka.

"Thank you, Ritsuka-san," said Issei with a smile, causing her to blush.

"Well, while this conversation is interesting, we should get back to the situation at hand-" Dr. Romani tried to continue, but then he got a call on his watch. Dr. Romani turned on his communicator and a hologram of a person appeared.

"Doctor Archaman. I see Fujimaru Ritsuka is with you as well. We are about to begin the Rayshifting mission. Could you two come down towards the control center?" said the man in the tophat.

"Ah, Professor Lev. Is it necessary for us to come? All the required personnel should be there, correct?" the Doctor replied.

"Team A is ready to go but Team B and under are showing signs of slight unease due to their unfamiliarity. I'd prefer nothing to go amiss, especially since this will be the first sortie for most of our recruits. It should take you two no less than two minutes to arrive from the Medical Ward, Doctor."

The call ended and there was a sense of unease. Issei noticed that Ritsuka seemed down. "Is something wrong Ritsuka-san?"

Ritsuka looked at Issei and realized she must have been making a sad face. She quickly tried to change it to a happy one to assuage his worries. "No, I'm fine. It's just that even though I'm qualified to be on the mission my abilities as a mage is lacking compared to everyone else's. I'm basically the bottom ranked mage here," she said with self-loathing.

Issei understood where she was coming from, having been called the weakest Sekiryuutei to exist. Issei showed a sympathetic smile. "I understand Ritsuka-san. I'm the newest host of a legendary dragon, but I have been called the weakest host to ever have existed. But despite that I worked hard in order to protect the people I care about. Now I'm at a place where some say I've surpassed my predecessors, but it was a difficult job to get there. I believe you can do the same as me if you train enough!"

Ritsuka was surprised by this but could tell Issei meant what he said. She saw someone who had apparently been where she was right now, and they were encouraging her to keep trying. She felt a warmth in her chest that she's never felt before and she unconsciously brought her hand to her chest. "Thank you, Issei-san. It's encouraging to hear it from someone who was in the same place," she said with a smile.

"It's no problem. Since I don't know how long I'll be here, why don't I help you out to get stronger, although I don't know what I can do to help, but I'll do my best," he said with a smile.

"You're truly inspiring Issei-senpai. Even when things seem difficult you bounce back and are ready to take on the challenge. It's an admirable quality," said Mash, who also looked impressed with him.

As they were talking a rumbling shook the room and the lights flickered off. Issei immediately got out of the med bed and got ready to move. Ophis didn't seem bothered by the situation and stood up and moved next to Issei. Doctor Romani looked like he was suspicious of something. "A power failure, right now? Chaldea shouldn't have any power outages!" He stumbled towards his laptop in the darkness. "Hmmm, even the wireless connection is down. I can't access any of the controls from here."

A klaxon startled everyone as it went off. "Emergency Alert– Fires have broken out in the central power plant and central control room. The central division bulkhead will close in 240 seconds." it announced.

Ritsuka and Mash could feel the sweat start on their foreheads as they tried to figure out what to do. They looked to Issei, who also wanted to do something but unlike them wasn't panicking and was simply ready to move. Seeing his calm but ready expression calmed their nerves too. "We need to get down to the control room, right now!" Ritsuka said. "Issei-"

"Don't tell me to stay behind. I can help too." The group nodded and headed out. Mash split up to try and reach the control room faster while Dr. Romani, Ritsuka, Issei, Ophis, and Great Red tried to find anyone who needed help along the way. There was a lot of destruction, and many places were collapsed. They soon reached the control room and when they walked in there was devastation everywhere.

"No survivors. Only Chaldeas is safe. This was no accident, it was an act of sabotage," said Dr. Romani.

"Generator operation stopped. Power level critical. Switch to the backup generator, error. Please make switch manually. Containment wall will close in 40 seconds. Those who remain in the Central Area, evacuate immediately—" said the artificial voice.

"...I'm heading down to the underground power station. We can't let Chaldeas light go out. Hurry up and go back the way we came. You both can still make it." Both Issei and Ritsuka looked like they wanted to object but Romani cut them off. "Listen, don't stop anywhere on the way! Go outside, and wait for help!" he ordered.

"System switching to the final phase of Rayshift. Coordinates, AD 2004, January, 30th, Fuyuki, Japan. Laplace's shifting projection established. Singularity's additional factor slot secured. Unsummon Program set. Please start final adjustments," a different AI voice spoke.

Ritsuka, Issei, and Ophis were making their way out when Ritsuka stopped. Issei and Ophis stopped to look at her and Issie could tell by the look in her eyes that they were thinking the same thing. "We should look for survivors till the last minute…" said Ritsuka, with Issei smiling and nodding in confirmation.

The pair were searching around until they came across a terrible sight. "...Oh," was all Mash could say when she saw them. Her lower half was crushed under rubble, and there was a lot of blood coming out from underneath.

"Hang in there, we'll get you out now!" said Issei and he and Ritsuka went to each side of the ruble to try and lift it off her.

"...It's all…right. You can't…save…me. Don't mind me, please… Run," she said in an all too calm tone. Neither of them were budging.

Issei tried to put more strength into lifting the boulder but was stopped by Ddraig. [Partner, I know you don't want to hear this, but she's right. It's too late for her.]

"Bullshit! We can still save her! There has to be something—"

[Partner! We don't have any Phenex Tears, nor can we get in contact with the nun. It's too late.]

Issei punched the rock which put a crack in it. "Damnit! Have I failed again already!"

Just before Issei could loath anymore, Chaldeas activated again. As it did another announcement played. "Warning all observation staff. Chaldeas' state has changed. Now rewriting Sheba's near-future prediction data. Unable to detect the existence of mankind 100 years in the near-future on Earth. Unable to confirm human survivors. Unable to guarantee mankind's future," said the announcement.

"Chaldeas…has turned bright red… No, never mind, that—" said Mash weakly.

"Central Area, sealed. 180 seconds till internal containment procedure."

"...they shut off, the area. …Now, we can't, get out."

"...We'll figure it out," said Ritsuka.

"I can bust us out of here. It won't be a problem," said Issei.

"Coffin Vitals: Masters Baseline not reached. Rayshift requirement not met. Searching for qualifying Masters… Found. Candidate No. 48, Ritsuka Fujimaru, Unknown Individual, reset as Masters. Unsummon Program, start. Spiritron Conversion, start," said the announcement, but Issei and Ritsuka were too preoccupied with trying to get out with Mash to pay attention.

"...Um…Sen…pais? Would you mind… Holding my hand?" asked Mash as she looked like she was slowly losing life. Issei and Ritsuka made sad expressions but did as asked. Each taking a hand in theirs. Ophis, who had been watching quietly, seemed to not understand the situation and grabbed Issei's other hand. Issei glanced at her for a moment but quickly returned his attention to Mash.

"Rayshift starting in 3, 2, 1. All procedures clear. First Order, commencing operation." With that announcement, the group was sent to its first Singularity.

So, this idea came from a comment discussion I had last year, but I couldn't find the person who I talked to about it with so sorry I forgot you. This story will be a branch from the Root, so it is more directly connected with the main Fate of the Red Dragon timeline. Basically, this scenario is similar to that story except Issei gets brought to Chaldea later and Ritsuka (F) is there instead of being replaced. I'm sure most of you figured out that this takes place in Volume 12 of DxD, right after Issei gets his new body, so I wanted to do a different take on my story. Also I will admit that I did want to do this because part of me forgot Ritsuka could be a girl when writing my orginal story, because when I play a game where I'm me, I play as the guy, so my brain forgets there's a girl option sometimes. Anyways this story and that story will crossover at some point down the line but that will have to wait till later. For now this story, unlike FotRD, will be following the FGO plot in the beginning this time and eventually go back to the DxD plot, so let's see how Issei handles Humanity's Incineration. Looking forward to comments as always. : )