If your one of many asking about Eggman, or just wondering in general, please read the following message:
Everyone's talking about Eggman's introduction in this story, be it hitting me up with messages or in the review section. Be patient, everyone. He is on his way. This is all just build-up before the ORC learns that not everything about Sonic and the world he comes from is all Sunset Heights, Green Hills and Rainbow Roads. Give it a few more chapters, 3 - 4 maximum, before he gets directly involved. On topic of the story however, the poll is just about ready to be closed in one week from today, so be sure to cast your vote or miss your chance. As for todays chapter, along with the next one since this is a two-parter, its going to serve as development for Sonic's relationships with the ORC going forward. Especially towards Asia and Rias.
Before we officially start, please consider reading a new story titled: Sonic DxD - Extras. This separate doc will be used for a variety of things: bios, sneak peeks, deleted/removed scenes, and more! The first chapter of this side-fic has already been posted on the 6th of December of this year, so why not check that out? Maybe follow/fav it to be notified when new chapters drop on that story? This is all just another way to keep in touch with you guys and keep providing you with, maybe not daily, but more content that I happen to feel like sharing.
With that being said, enjoy this chapter and the new Extras should you read them!
Also, did anyone else see that Netflix tweet before they deleted it? Something about Sonic getting a new animated series. Sounds cool, but that's probably gonna be the only form of Sonic media that is not included in this story, depending on how it plays out. Man of Actions also gonna be involved, so fingers crossed. Let's just hope its not Netflix pulling another Avatar remaster without the creators or a Cuties journey of social pressures...
Chapter 14: Hold on Tight, Asia! (Part 1)
Sonic had returned to the ORC clubhouse again due to the arrangement between him and staff. Which was of course, delivering the contract flyers. He enjoyed it, since it gave him an excuse to run, but there seemed to be less of them lately. Sonic wondered why, but he had no answer. After putting the bag down on the table in-between the sofas, Rias glanced up at him for a second before looking back down at her desk littered with scrolls and books. She had to cut back on giving him as much as she did previously. She was careless the first time around, and the LAST thing she needed was to be called before the Satans again.
"Thanks so much, Sonic. We really appreciate your help!" Akeno answered for Rias.
"Sure... glad the pets good for something" Koneko said from her position on one of the couches. She sounded annoyed... then again, she always talked like that, in a tone that was dry and never had emotion. Sonic found Koneko hard to read. She never smiled, at least from what he's seen, and she didn't speak much. She kinda reminded him of Shadow in a way.
"What a wonderful idea!" Akeno said, clapping her hands together once. "I think he'd make an adorable class pet, don't you think?" She asked, directing that question to Rias.
"Yeah. A regular mascot" Rias halfheartedly agreed, more focused on her own work. She also seemed a wee bit ticked about something, which was obvious to everyone including Sonic... she wasn't still mad over the whole: arguing over Strays' and him not listening to her orders and almost getting eaten alive thing yesterday, was she?
"Sorry to disappoint; but I'm already one!" Sonic kidded, attempting to lighten the mood a bit. Rias didn't even acknowledge it, just continued to ignore him.
"You'll have to excuse her. Rias gets a little cranky," Akeno kindly said, poking fun at her King, who didn't react to that either. Must have been a frequent thing. "Also, I must say; that was impressive the way you got out of Vice. Makes me wonder how much pain she was in..." Akeno then smiled as she continued. Based on what Sonic's learned about her, it made that smile pretty creepy.
"Eh. I've been inside worse," Sonic said in a bragging fashion... then realized how that sounded. "UH! T-That's not..." Sonic tried to defend, but it caused Akeno to cut him off with a laugh that Sonic had never heard before. It sounded very sensational, a bit seductive as well. Or maybe this world was ruining his perception on things.
"Ara Ara..." Akeno said.
"If your both done," Rias said, getting both of their attention. She then stood up by pushing on the desk to push herself up. "We're closing up for the night. You should get home too." She said, still sounding upset.
"Yeah, I guess your right. Kids probably gonna panic and think I got caught by the Pound or something" Sonic said, making a small joke.
"Goodbye! Have a good night!" Said Akeno, giving Sonic a warm smile... yeah, they were freaking him out a bit. He left, dashing out of the clubroom and out the building, then exited through the front of the school and headed down the street in the direction of Issei's house. "Your not seriously still mad at him, are you?" Akeno asked Rias once Sonic was well out of earshot. Though she and her were best friends, even Akeno couldn't tell if the redhead was still upset over the Stray Devil thing. It might have been her not being able to find out how to get Sonic back through magical means, but had a feeling that wasn't the case either.
Rias eyes began to lose their hardness and soften a bit, then sighed. "... He called again... earlier today" she admitted.
Akeno's eyes softened too. She knew who He was. "Oh..."
"Still telling him to suck it?" Asked Koneko, also aware of Him. Geez, how long has this been going on? It's been a thing since she was brought into the Gremory House, but she's heard it had started at least when Rias was in the last year of middle school.
"Of course I am!" Said Rias. "I'd rather have a light spear jabbed in my chest before I even think of marrying him!" She declared. "Tried bribing me with jewelry this time. Shows me some andradite, claiming he'll be able to make my dreams come true and power beyond my imagination and all that nonsense!" She continued, mimicking his voice written in italics, and having a mental image of him appearing on a small magic glyph on her desk earlier today when she was alone in the office. This glyph was more of a holographic image than an actual person. While His face was blacked out, he was presenting a yellow gemstone from inside a necklace.
The ORC let her have her rant. He was quite determined. After all this time, he STILL wasn't giving up. Offering Rias an item was a new one. He'd usually resort to reminding Rias to think of the bigger picture, the future of the Devil race. It was guilt tripping in a way... but also unfortunately true.
XXX
POV - Sonic:
ZOOM!
During the afternoon, as usual, Sonic was running around Kuoh Town while Issei was at school. Its been a couple of days since the fight with the Stray, and it was kinda cool to see how the Devils worked as a team. He was glad they were on his side... even if a certain red-haired one didn't exactly see eye-to-eye with him. Speaking of them, that Stray was pretty strong. He had to really bounce around in her mouth to finally get her to release him, nowhere near as much as that giant snake during the Phantom War.
And would've thunk Strays' had access to cybernetic equipment? That was a new one.
He ended up in the residential area of Kuoh, back to around where Issei lived. As he ran, he arrived at a familiar site... the park, the one without a fountain in the middle of it. 'Oh... this is where we met that chick, Asia' Sonic thought to himself. How has she been by the way? Its been a while since they've seen her. Looking into the distance ahead, the church they dropped her off at that was overlooking this section of the town. Sonic thought about it for a second with fingers under his chin, before shrugging it off and dashed in a flash of blue. As he was heading towards his point of interest, blue streaks could be seen as he took both streets, and jumping on and off rooftops as he climbed up the hill to his destination.
POV - Asia:
Meanwhile, Asia was kneeling down inside the church in one of the sitting areas, praying before the altar... at least, she was trying to. Over the past couple of days, she couldn't get 2 certain people out of her head. One being a normal human, and the other an extra-dimensional alien. Every time she would close her eyes, she would see them in her field of vision, and found it hard to focus. It didn't affect her job too badly, she didn't think, she just hoped to God it wasn't noticeable.
As she got out of the bench, speaking of her job, she was assigned to help a man named Freed a couple of days ago. She didn't do much, she was only asked to keep a barrier over the house while an exorcism was going on. She heard screaming coming from the session, but was taught in her original country of residence that screeching was bound to happen on occasion. Freed said she passed with flying colors, and even personally requested her in his next session. Tonight was going to be her second night doing that, and she felt honored. Despite her power, she wasn't treated as some kind of evil witch anymore...
"Asia."
The poor nun flinched at the sound of her name, and turned to her right to see one of the many robed men had approached from somewhere. Since she was so deep into her own thoughts, she didn't even hear him come over to her. How embarrassing! To make matters worse, it was the same man she fibbed to when Sonic and Issei were here! Just her luck! "I, er, yes Father?" She asked politely, trying to hide the fact that she spaced out.
"You've been out of it for quite a few days. Is everything alright?" The man asked, apparently concerned for Asia's well-being.
"Um," Asia said. She didn't expect that response at all. "Yes. Everything fine!"
While the man believed her, he kept asking to make sure. "If something is wrong, don't be afraid to tell me. Some had said Freed can be a bit... extreme."
"NO! No, no, no, no! Not at all. Freed was great" she said, waving both hands... though truthfully, she didn't get to actually talk with Freed much that night. If she was honest, Freed seemed to enjoy his job a little TOO much based on his vocabulary and loud volume... then again, maybe that was also part of the job; making his role that much more believable.
"Well... ok," said the man. "As for tonight, I've heard that there's a plan to draw out a real Devil, so I need you to be care..." he continued about the job with Freed latter tonight, saying this one was more dangerous since an actual Devil might be present, but the volume went out of focus and turned into a mumble in Asia's own hearing. Because on the windows above and behind them, she noticed a shadow dart across the large window, getting her attention. It then reappeared 2 seconds later, coming in reverse, to show that a Hedgehog-like outline started looking in by cupping its hands over its face. It then waved with one of its hands, smiling down once it noticed the blond nun.
Asia beamed and grew a bright smile with sparkling eyes. She couldn't believe it! He had returned!
"... and you might have to... are you listening to me?" Asked the man, noticing Asia wasn't paying attention to him. She didn't answer with words, just stared back at him upon getting caught and giving an 'uh' sound. "And what are you looking at?" Asked the man again, turning his head around quickly to look up at the window, but whatever was there darted away as quickly as it appeared before he could see it.
"Oh, uh... a Hed... BIRD! Y-yeah! A bird! It just distracted me for a second. Their very pretty, ya know?" Asia stuttered, coming up with a cover story quickly. This was insane! She had to lie to one of her superiors again! Then again, even if she did tell the truth, they'd probably assume she was seeing demons and then treat her as poorly as her original country did when they found out about her secret. God will forgive her, right? Speaking of lying for the sake of an alien, did that Issei boy put up with this too?
Then her stomach growled, making her feel a bit embarras... wait! Perfect timing! This was the perfect excuse! "I-I'm sorry. I didn't eat much breakfast this morning. Can I take an early lunch?" Asia asked him, which wasn't a lie. She was running late this morning and had to skip her full morning meal or else she would have been late.
The man stared at her for a few seconds. "... Well, alright" he said, not seeing any issue. Lunch for the entire staff was in a few minutes anyway, and Asia mainly ate alone, away from other people. She wasn't exactly a social butterfly and was incredibly shy.
The nun bowed. "Thank you, sir. God bless you, bye!" She said, running to the same room she took Issei and Sonic to, got her boxed lunch, then headed outside as quickly as possible. The man watched at how fast she moved, but just shrugged it off. Poor girl must be hungry.
Outside, Asia went to the location that was under the same window on the opposite side of the wall, hoping to see him again. She looked around, but didn't see anyone... did she imagine it? She did miss those two boys, so maybe that was a possibility. She WAS pretty hungry after all... maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her? A gloved hand then stretched out from behind her, and tapped Asia's shoulder twice with an index figure. She turned, but no one was there. A few feet away in the growth near the church, the brushes rustled as if something rushed past them, making Asia snap in that direction, but again there was nothing.
"Looking for someone?" Asked a voice, one Asia recognized. She turned around once more, which was at the church wall, but noticed shadows of somethings hanging off from the roof on the ground just barely in her vision from below. That's when she looked up to see sitting there, with his feet swinging and his hands holding the sides of the roof for balance, was in fact the very same Blue Hedgehog that she met along with that Issei boy several days ago. He wasn't wearing his disguise at the moment, probably because he moves around too fast for the naked eye.
Asia beamed upon seeing him, happy he had stopped by, just like they promised! "You came back!" She cheered. Was Issei nearby too? Probably not. Regular kids had normal school to go to, and Sonic wasn't exactly what you'd call normal. This was someone who could dart back and forth from one place to another in the span of seconds. Plus based on what she'd heard about normal schools, students were cooped up in classes all day as opposed to a few hours, and Sonic clearly wasn't the type to sit around for long periods of time.
"Eh, I was in the neighborhood," Sonic shrugged, then jumped down and landed perfectly on his feet. "Figured I could stop by for a minute before Issei needs training after school again."
Asia blinked. "Training?" She asked, not understanding what Sonic was taking about.
The Hedgehog flinched. He couldn't believe he let that slip! She didn't know about Issei's Sacred Gear yet. "Uh... ya know... training to focus on his studies" Sonic said, thinking quickly. He felt bad lying to Asia, but it wasn't his place to tell someone about someone else's secret unless said person was comfortable with it. For example, Asia was more than willing to share her secret powers with them, and when he first met Rias, she was MORE than eager to show of her own power along with her peerage. Issei however? He just discovered this other side to his world less than a week ago, which came with allot of stress. When Sonic first came across the Chaos Emeralds way back in the day, he had no idea what was going on either, and had to adjust accordingly.
Of course, those trinkets STILL had many unanswered questions behind them, like WHERE exactly they came from and whatnot; but Sonic figured he knew enough to have a basic understanding of them. There were those masked weirdoes that tested him, which he passed... though maybe he shouldn't have wasted that one question... he was a stupid kid back then.
Asia believed him, not detecting any lie, though this was mainly due to her own innocence. "Well, I was just going to lunch," she said, raising her boxed lunch. "Would you... like to join me?" She asked, not able to help the faint flush on her cheeks. It was for a few reasons. The first was how sweet it was for Sonic to take time out of his day to come visit her, also keeping the promise. The second reason was because even though this was an alien mammal, he was still a boy. Asia hasn't eaten alone with a boy before, so she felt a little shy about it.
Sonic saw the flush on her face, having a pretty good idea about what it was for. This was a girl who was probably enclosed in the life of religion for most likely a large majority of life, so she had no idea how to interact with others outside of her world as opposed to Sonic, who found interactions quite easy since he's been around so much of his own world and the millions of different people in it, along with his own carefree personality that made making relationships that much easier. Being sheltered for so long meant she had no clue on how the outside world worked, and Sonic had met quite a few people who acted the same way.
Sonic agreed to stick with Asia for her break, seeing as he didn't have much else to do at the moment.
XXX
POV - Normal:
Some time later...
"And that's why we call our residential doc, Baldy McNosehair" Sonic said, telling Asia yet another one of his stories, including hand motions to give her a visual representation of a large moustache. Asia was sitting on a large cloth she had set up some distance away from the church while Sonic stood up. This was a precaution on her part in case anyone had exited and would see Sonic since he didn't have his disguise. She could picture it already: her fellow colleagues would freak out and take out a cross, trying to expel Sonic and accuse her of being a witch and summoning a demon. But he would just stand there, cocking an eyebrow in confusion. Unaffected.
Pushing aside that thought, she giggled cutely at the story, finding it hilarious. While it was kinda hard to believe about... what did he call them? Wisps?... She didn't see any reason not to trust him. Just like the humanoid Hedgehog she took care of a while back, Sonic was living proof that there were more than one forms of intelligent life out there, so who's to say he was lying? Speaking of that other Hedgehog, she wondered what he was up to, if he was ok. She gave him her name after he asked where he was, but never caught his name before he took off.
"So, you've fought against him for years, and he keeps stealing your Chaos Emeralds?" Asked Asia, making sure she understood everything Sonic had shared with her. He told her about almost every time he and 'McNosehair' had fought, how they worked together on occasion but went back to being enemies almost immediately after, and the pretty much eternal battle between them. Along the way, they both came across the mysterious gems known as Chaos Emeralds; which as their name implied, were emeralds of equally mysterious power that would either help or hinder outcomes depending on how they were used, which also lead to some seriously sticky situations.
At least, that's what she got out of it. Some of the stories were pretty outlandish and genuinely hard for even her to believe had actually happened. If she never met the first Hedgehog, she most likely would have brushed Sonic's tales off as nonsense.
"Yup. Our last battle sent me here to this dimension..." said Sonic, looking up at the sky. Asia joined him, unsure what he was looking at. "But I've been all over this city, and I can't find them anywhere, assuming their even here in the first place." He continued. He's been in this world for an entire week at this point, and it was bothering him he hasn't felt any Chaos energy nearby. It also scared him to a degree. What if he was stuck here? Forever? As long as he could run, that was fine and all, but what about everyone back home?
"So... if you can't find all 7 of your Emeralds...?" Asia was asking, assuming she was on the track to fully understanding where Sonic was coming from. She wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, she'll admit that, but did this mean...
"Then I can't use their space-time warping powers to get back home, which is how I got here in the first place" Sonic said, confirming Asia's suspicions. Sonic was brought here purely by accident by what he dubbed: Chaos Control. An ability that gets more powerful the more Emeralds one has. So if she got this correctly, and all 7 were in his possession at the time, then it only made sense for him to use them all again the same way to send himself back.
This triggered a realization in Asia. If humanoid Hedgehogs were a thing in Sonic's world, then that other Hedgehog must also be looking for those same Emeralds! She never told Sonic about him yet even though he asked her last time. What was she waiting for?! Now was her chance! "Sonic. About that oth..."
*BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!*
A sudden beeping noise stopped Asia. That wasn't the emergency alarm, right?... Nah, that was WAY louder. Her question was answered when Sonic pulled back his glove and revealed to have a watch underneath. "Oh man, it's that time already?!" Sonic asked, quite surprised so much time had passed. Issei was just about to be let out of school right now! He had to get moving in time for more of his training! Issei was the one would suggested (or in Sonic's POV, nagged) him to get an actual watch and not that bronze pocket one. He also had Sonic set up the alarm just in case he was on the other side of the world or something when Issei wanted to start training. To be fair, the system worked out great the past couple of days, and Issei was showing signs of progress, slowly but surely.
Though honestly, it's not exactly something Sonic wanted, but he sucked it up for the kid.
"Its been fun, Asi. Gotta juice!" Said Sonic, using a nickname he came up with for Asia on the fly and was just about to streak off not only back to Issei's house to get his disguise, but also have to be there for Issei when he wanted to go back to the 'dojo'.
"W-Wait!" Asia quickly called out, stopping Sonic as he winded up his arms to go running. He looked back at Asia, giving a facial expression that silently asked her what's the matter. She then felt extremely bashful, she couldn't help it. This was the first boy she had spent time alone with that wasn't a member of he church or one of her superiors. "Um... w-will I...?" She began to ask slowly, trying to get the words out, which was difficult for her. "... will I... see you again... before you go?" She finally got out after few seconds of struggling; finding the right words to use. Did this sound weird to him? She had no idea! This was one of the first boys outside her circle that she had interacted with. She enjoyed every second of it, and hoped it wouldn't be the last before he had to go home.
Sonic didn't show any reaction to it at first, but then smiled at Asia and walked back up to her. "Don't sweat it. You'll see me around," Sonic said, then did something he hadn't done in a long time. "It's a promise." He said, sticking out a fist, and raising a pinky.
This gesture confused Asia, the nun could only stare a it. Was this some kind of formality from Sonic's world? She didn't want to be rude, so she copied his actions slowly, reaching out towards the Hedgehog's pinky with her own. Sonic then used his pinky to warp around Asia's, catching her a bit off-guard... but then she slowly returned it. This felt really strange to her... but also it filled her body with a warmth she's never felt before. She finally gave a small smile back, and both friends let each others fingers' go. With a grin and thumbs up, Sonic dashed off, making the wind blow with him, which also caused Asia's gown to react accordingly. She had to grab the hood to prevent it from flying off again, and she ran herself toward the hill which overlooked this section of Kuoh. All she was able to catch was a blue streak racing down and through some of the street before it disappeared.
She looked down at her hand, and lifted up the pinky she used before smiling at it and holding it with her other hand. She then headed back to the church herself, needing to return to the rest of her duties. She was thinking maybe she could have told him about the other Hedgehog before he left, but figured she could always tell him the next time they met. It's not like something crazy will happen and prevent that, right?
XXX
POV - Rias:
Later that evening at Kuoh Academy, more specifically the ORC, Rias was behind her desk as usual. She wasn't doing any work or research this time, she was actually waiting for Kiba and Koneko to return from their contracts so they could close up shop for the night. There were only two left. One was a new client, this poor girl in a samurai suit looking for love. That was Kiba's job. The second one was a well-known client that's also in fact, the first Rias one had since she first started school here. Rias won't have minded taking his personally, but sent Koneko instead.
A portal opened on the floor of the room in front of the main offices door, with Kiba rising from within. "How'd it go?" Rias asked him.
"Well." Kiba said, taking a seat on one of the sofas. Rias thought this was excellent! Another successful contract! That Hedgehog had saved them so much time by delivering the physical flyers himself. All the Devils had to do was wait for a summoning and complete the job without having to worry about resending more flyers after one was completed. All they had to do now was await Koneko to return, then they could go.
"Now we just need to wait for Koneko too..." Rias was saying, but then the office doors opened due to someone walking in...
"For me too what?"
Koneko. Carrying a small plate with chocolates on small sticks, had just entered to the room. What was she doing here, she was supposed to be doing a contract! "Koneko? What are you doing here? Did you finish your contract already?" Asked Rias, not willing to think Koneko was slacking off, mainly because that was out of her character.
"You gave me permission to take it easy. I was overbooked, remember?" Said Koneko. Rias felt so stupid at that point. How could she have forgotten? The poor mascot was overwhelmed by requests today so Rias, feeling bad, gave her the rest of the day off. But if she was here... then who was there at the clients location? Confused, Rias closed her eyes and used her own magic to pinpoint the origin of the summoning request...
...
...
...
"... it's gone?" Was all Rias could say. She couldn't find it again, which was very strange. When a contract was sent, it leaves behind an energy signature since the flyers themselves were infused with the Gremory family's own power. It helped with tracking just in case something went wrong or should a Devil forget the location of the requestee. But now, there was nothing, so either Rias was more tired than she thought... or something was blocking the transmission.
"Gone?" Asked Akeno.
"What is?" Asked Kiba.
"The client's location... it's gone!" Rias repeated herself.
XXX
POV - Normal:
A few minutes earlier...
Issei rode down the street on his bike, with Sonic following beside him at a normal speed; though to Sonic, it was more of a jog. They stayed a bit later at the 'dojo' than they intended. Ever since Issei finally managed to get the hang of his Gear, its been much easier to train. They couldn't figure out why the Gear repeated the same phrase over and over again, that being 'BOOST', but did know that the Gear itself increased Issei's physical strength. The kid was able to crack a wall with one punch.
"Ugh! My parents are gonna kill me for staying out so late!" Issei said.
"I told ya I can carry us back" offered Sonic.
"Yeah, AND my bike?" Asked Issei, a bit skeptical. Sure he's seen Sonic to amazing feats such as knock a Fallen Angel with what he dubbed a 'Homing Attack', and even broke out of the jaws of a literal monster; that appeared to be more momentum-based than anything, not strength-based. Carrying a human across the city? Fine. Saving a princess with a fire demon inside of her? Ok. But a human AND a hunk of metal? Probably not.
"Hey! I've done it with my buddy and a comic book artist!... He still should'a made my poster a bit taller..." Sonic argued the point, then put a finger on his chin and looked up as if reminiscing another past memory. As they passed a darkened house and Issei went to rebut Sonic, they both screeched to a halt with widened eyes and a shiver going down they're spines when a man's scream pierced the night air. They both turned slowly to look back, but saw nothing.
Then the door to the darkened house opened slowly on its own.
While both boys were scared at this, Sonic slowly recovered. Was someone in trouble? He dashed over to the houses front door, ended up on the porch in a second. "Sonic! What are you doing?!" Issei whispered in a raised voice. Seeing that Sonic wasn't coming back to him, he rode his bike to go after him. "You don't even have your shit on!" He loud-whispered again, as Sonic didn't wear his disguise today.
Parking his bike in front of the house and leaning it against the wall of the development, Issei ran up to the door just as Sonic pushed the door open. It creaked in a creepy way. The whole inside of the house was dark except for a room further inside. Sonic couldn't help but feel something was wrong... very wrong. Maybe he should take this slow. He walked inside, heading down the hall towards that lit room. "Sonic, get back here!" Issei ordered in a snap-like whisper. But when the Hedgehog didn't comply, he walked in after him, taking his shoes of before entering out of habit. "Breaking and entering. REAL NICE!" He whispered again.
They both went to the only lit room in the house, which was only lit by candles that only gave them faint vision. Sonic was the first to look in, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Hello? Anyone home?" Asked Sonic, looking back an forth in the room after taking a step in. Something still didn't sit right with him about this. It was way past too quiet.
"Yeah, don't mind us. Just two strangers, walking into a... gack!" Said Issei, nervously telling any residents (if any could hear him), about their presence. He didn't finish his sentence however, as he stepped in something that went through his sock. The floor was wet. Whoever lived here must have just mopped.
"Will you calm down?" Asked Sonic. He could understand Issei was on edge, but did he HAVE to make so much noise?
"Easy for you to say, your the one who walked into a..." Issei said, reaching down and lifting his leg up a bit to get rid of the excess liquid in his sock by squeezing it with his hand. The owner(s) must be a clean freak to use that much water to clean the floors.
Only... it wasn't water...
When Issei lifted his hand back up, the "water" was a dark color, and had a shade of red too it. Sonic and Issei noticed this at the exact same time, both just staring at his fingers to process just how much was there. They slowly turned to each other, asking silently if this was what they thought it was, or maybe that was just the color of the soap. They both looked down, seeing what Issei stepped in as it had his footprint in it. They slowly looked in the direction of the trail... to see a mangled body of a man in a pool of his own blood. Some of his body parts were also completely cut off!
With widened eyes, both Sonic and Issei immediately covered their mouths with one hand as if holding back the urge to puke, which wasn't inaccurate. Issei had never seen a dead body before, at least when it wasn't from a movie. You couldn't even compare the two! There was more blood on the floor than humanly possible, bone can also been seen from some of the severed body parts. The muscle was a bit harder to see due to the lighting, but was still noticeable. Sonic had never seen something like this either, not to this extent at least. The closest thing to this was an alien invasion when he and a certain black hedgehog struck an alien hard enough, and also when he fought a literal force of nature and was completely exhausted afterwards.
THIS however?... Easily way past unnecessary.
"Whft dhe fuhk?" Issei said behind his clamped mouth and while Sonic wasn't much of a swearer, he honestly couldn't agree more. Who could've done this? Was the person still here? What about the rest of this poor souls family if he had one?
"Sinners must be punished..." said a voice in the darkness. In a corner of the room, the boys noticed a figure sitting on a sofa which its back facing them. "I tried borrowing words from the bible, maybe show him the light again but..." the figured turned its neck to face them, showing he was a male with short hair, sticking out his tongue in a creepy way. "He was already too-far gone."
The Pervert and the Hedgehog couldn't move, both still caught off guard by this whole ordeal and trying to process what the hell was going on. The man began to stand up, showing more of his appearance. He was a young man, probably in his 20's, had short white hair and red eyes, though they gave off a much different intent than Rias'. He was also dressed in priest robes and wore a cross like Asia's. "You've gone and picked the wrong house, my shitty Devil friends," the man continued. "Freed Sellzen, at your service... a boy-priest whose favorite pastime is giving Devils like yourselves a good old-fashioned exorcise!" Freed said with a gentleman-like bow, then did a little dance upon his next sentence.
"Uh, Devils?" Asked Issei, but then he and Sonic gained an inkling of what was going on here. They just walked in on a priest, a bit of a 'unique' one at that, giving an exorcism. Basically appearing in the wrong place at the wrong time... didn't explain the now non-recognizable body in the corner though... "Uh, wait sir. Y-You got it all wrong," Issei tried to explain, nervously with his hands up.
"Yeah, see... we were out for an evening jog and..." Sonic said, using the same mannerisms as Issei, both of them were still sick to their stomachs. Hopefully though, if they politely and reasonably explained the situation, this holy [and way past crazy] man will let them go without incident.
"You and the Youkai were dispatched to a clients home of residence on behalf of your master to met and form a pact. I know how the system works," said Freed, not willing to listen, his red eyes piercing the boys' souls'. He began to walk a bit closer to them, which Issei backing up a bit, and Sonic slightly recovering from the sight of the dead body and spreading his arms in protection for Issei. This 'Freed' character, despite claiming to be a priest, Sonic sensed he more than likely had malicious objectives in mind. The look in his eyes suggested such.
"Oh, are you his Familiar as well? How adorable. Do you go fetch and roll over too?" Freed taunted, seeing Sonic act much like a bodyguard. Issei was getting more nervous, so much that he shot another glance at the mangled body. Freed noticed this. "Aw, don't feel too bad for him. Summoning the both of you was proof he was in league with the Devils. Therefore; done being human" he said in a vulgar manner, yet proud of what he had done.
Done being human? Sonic narrowed his eyes at Freed. That's the most ridiculous thing Sonic ever heard! What right did Freed have to judge such a thing anyway? He seemed more evil than Eggman in that regard, because at least the Moustache Moron wanted to conquer the world with enough of the population intact so he'd be the ruler of them all. Freed however, he wanted to snuff out anyone he deemed to not be human! What kind of sick person would go that far?!
"So I had to kill him. Chop him up into tiny, little pieces!" Said Freed with a creepy smile on his face. He then reached into his robes with both hands, and pulled out 2 weapons with one in each. The first in his left hand was a gun that was a bit oversized, the second one was what appeared to be a hilt of a sword without the blade itself. A second later, a blade somehow grew out from the hilt... What the...? That sword was made of light! Like a Lightsaber! Was this some Star Wars shit going on here?!
"By the way, PLEASE don't tell me your names. I don't want to remember them. For with this holy sword of light, I'm gonna crave out both your hearts; then with my righteous gun, I'll blast holes right through your wicked faces! It might hurt at first, but later you will feel so good that you'll cry and thank me. Now let's open a new door-ZE!" Freed said, not wanting to talk anymore and just do the job he came to do. With that, dawning a sadistic face, he rushed forward at the duo, which surprising speed for a seemingly normal human. It even caught Sonic off-guard with how quickly this man moved.
Freed swung his sword, but thankfully missed due to Sonic's own speed and also Issei ducking out of the way with a flying leap... the wall wasn't so lucky. Freed then aimed his gun and while cackling "Ka-BLAMMO!", he shot at Sonic with equally astonishing precision. The bullets just about grazed him, but Sonic was just a tad bit faster. Freed fired a second time, still with the same level of accuracy, yet still missed his target and ended up blasting the TV instead. Fighting back, Sonic curled up in a ball and shot at Freed. Be it by luck or skill, Freed managed to block the Spin Dashing Sonic with his sword, the Hedgehogs quills sawing at the blade. Freed began to struggle with the speed and power Sonic dashed at him with, so all Sonic had to do was keep the pressure up, and Freed will eventually get knocked back.
Back to Issei, he began to try and stand back up, which Freed saw out of the corner of his eye. He took this chance to push Sonic off of him with all his might, which was a bit difficult he had to admit; and with his free hand, he shot at Issei this time, a bullet sailing straight through the skin and tissue of his foot, just above his ankle. The human cried out, then grabbed his foot, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes tightly as red-hot pain surged throughout the struck location. Right as this occurred, Sonic was drifting after getting shoved away to circle back and attack Freed again, but stopped himself and undid his curled-up state when he heard Issei's groans.
"Issei!" He called out to him, turning his head in Issei's direction.
With Sonic distracted for the moment, Freed reached into his robes again, pulling out a new piece if equipment. Rather, it was more of a gadget of some kind. It was hexagonal in shape. The crazed holy man threw it at Sonic. As it flew through the air, thin wire-like legs came out of it like a six-legged spider leapping at its prey. It landed on one of Sonic's quills, where it then wrapped its 'legs' around it. Because Sonic's quills are as sensitive as they are pointy, he felt this.
"Hey. What the...?" He asked out loud, reaching up to try and remove whatever just latched onto him...
ZAAAAAAAAAAP!
What felt like jolts of electricity coursed throughout Sonic's body. Now it was his turn to grit his teeth and shut his eyes. He also had to use his hands to hold himself up for his legs began to give out. He still tried to claw off whatever Freed threw at him, or at least use Spin Dash again; but every time he tried either option, the more intense the shocks became. He had to admit, the level of technology in this dimension was incredible, rivaling that of tech from his world by certain people.
"Ooh, how shocking. To be honest, I didn't think that would even work. Mad doc isn't as useless as I thought," commented Freed, seeing the device had affected Sonic and taunted accordingly. He then turned his attention to Issei. "By the way, do you like my specially designed exorcist gun? I call her Futsumata... Hope she tastes good, scumbag!" The priest taunted the Pervert.
'Of course it hurts, asshole! It's a fucking gun!' Issei's first response was to shout out that remark, seeing as bullets hurt regardless of supernatural status or not, but was in too much pain to do so. As he was still grabbing his leg in pain, he noticed Sonic wasn't doing better either. His body looked like it was under stress from electric shocks running down his body from an unknown source. Issei didn't know what to do, but what he did know is that if they didn't come up with something quick, both of them were gonna die here.
In a last ditch effort, fighting though the pain, Sonic stood back up and attempted to Spin Dash again. While he succeeded in charging, the moment he blasted off is when he lost control due to the electric sensation flooding his body, and ended up flying at Freed with ragdoll physics. All the exorcist had to due was step to the side, and stuck out his blade. "Too slow."
Adding insult to injury, Sonic felt his skin burn at the contact with the tip of the sword slicing across his chest. Thankfully, it wasn't a deep cut so no blood was overflowing, but it was still red. Just like with the light spear from Kalawarner, he cried out as the familiar painful feeling was reintroduced to him. He fell to the floor some distance away from Issei, landing on his belly, which made the pain even worse that he held the cut with his hand.
"How disastrous. Getting a guy worked up, but leaving him halfcocked?... That pisses me off the most!" Said Freed, taunted his two victims yet again. He raises his sword again, about to strike one of them down...
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The sudden girl-like shriek force all males in the room to look in the direction of where the sudden noise came from. While Freed looked annoyed that his fun time was interrupted, Sonic and Issei's eyes widened at who it was. It was a nun... with gentle (though now horrified-looking) green eyes... and blond hair...
"Asia? What are doing?" Asked Freed, slightly vexed. That girl had one job. ONE! Why was she barging inside in the middle of his exorcism? Sonic and Issei had no words. What were the odds that out of all the nuns to be stationed with a priest, it would be her? They normally would've been happy to see a familiar face, but that was kinda outweighed by the current circumstances. As for Asia herself, she didn't know why, but had the urge to check on what was going on. Right in front of her was a dead body of a man, cut up into chunks and in a large pool of blood. She couldn't help but let out that shriek and have her mouth hanging open while holding both hands in front of it. Her body and hands were also shaking, unable to process what her eyes were showing her.
"Did you finish making the barrier yet?" Freed asked again, as that was his only concern right now. Special barriers were used during exorcisms to avoid alerting outside forces or a master Devil (in this case, Rias) of the act taking place. As long as it was up and running, Freed had no problem and didn't mind or care if Asia saw this.
"W-What is this... w-why are you doing this...?" Was the only question Asia was able to get out of her system.
"Oh, right! Forgive me, your new at this. So let me explain," said Freed, then gave an explanation as promised. "This is what the job IS. Its not the most pleasant line of work, I'll admit; but we dispose of humans who have gone astray and have been bewitched by the evil Devils."
Asia looked at Freed to ask him something else, but somethings caught her eye. Or rather... some-ones... "Sonic?... Issei?..." She asked, now really confused. This didn't make any sense. Why on would an alien and a human be here unless...? No... that can't be! It wasn't true! There was just no way that was possible!
"Sonic?... Issei?... Hang on? Do you three know each other?" Freed asked. Not that he cared, he was just curious. Furthermore, what kind of name was Sonic? Parents and naming kids these days...
"W-Why are you both here?" Asia asked both Sonic and Issei directly, her voice shaking and her emotions running high. The only reason anyone would be here was because if they were in a religious line of work, or if they were... Asia stopped those thoughts again. It wasn't real! They couldn't be! This had to be some kind of huge misunderstanding!
"Asia! I swear! This is all a big mistake!" Issei said, hoping to God Asia believed him.
"Yeah! We were on our way home, then heard a scream so... here we are" said Sonic, giving more context to what had happened, also praying the young nun trusted them despite how this situation looked. If only he ignored the scream in the first place, then maybe they wouldn't be in this mess. Asia just stared at them, but it was unknown what she was thinking behind those gentle, now-scared eyes of her's that also had tears in them. She didn't want to believe they were Devils, but why else would they be here in the first place?
"Come on, Asia. Please tell me your not actually buying this act?" Freed said, walking over to Asia. "Think about it. What are the odds of two random boys showing up the moment I slain one of their kin? Just going out for an evening stroll? Do you honestly believe that?" He continued, then got right next to Asia's right side, almost in her face. "Your little friends are Devils, my dear. Besides, you 3 have no business being together anyway. The church and especially those Fallen Angels have expressively forbid any and all forms of contact with them, or have you forgotten already?"
Sonic and Issei heard that. The Fallen Angels? Images of Raynare and each of her subordinates flashed in the boys' vision, though for Issei it was only Kalawarner and Raynare. So this guy was in league with them? And Asia was too? Because it sounded like she had recently joined, which made sense since she herself admitted she transferred from another country. It was unknown to the boys' what was gonna happen next, but Sonic was already making moves to get back up, shocks be damned. Slowly but surely, he began to rise.
"DOWN BOY!"
BANG!
Asia let out a yelp the moment Freed shot his gun at Sonic, and Issei snapped his head to check if his alien bro was ok. The bullet hit the floor in front of Hedgehog, having gone through the floor itself and leaving a small hole, serving as a warning for Sonic to NOT try anything funny. Before Issei could do anything, if he could do anything, the light swords blade then went right under his chin. "I think I'll finish you first. Is that ok with you?... No? Too bad. Hope you've said your prayers!" Freed said, not pulling the sword back once again to try and finish one half of the job, then he'll go for the other one nearby.
It was here Asia had seen enough and making a decision, she ran in-between Freed and Issei & Sonic, holding her arms out in a protective matter. She made her choice, and it was to chose to believe in the 2 boys' who had been the first to show her kindness in a very long time. Even after seeing her power, they treated her as a normal individual. And even on the chance they WERE Devils as the Father before her claimed, it still didn't seem right to just kill them outright. She stood bravely with intense resolve in her eyes, tears in them because she was going against everything she was taught.
"Seriously? For real?" Freed deadpanned. Why did this girl have to make things difficult all of a sudden?
"Father please... I beg you for mercy. Even if they are Devils... please... forgive these men for their sins" Asia said, tears streaming down her face. She was put in such an awkward position right now, but prayed Freed would understand.
"Those things aren't men... their demons. Do not realize what your doing? You've made a pledge to destroy them." Freed said, his patience with Asia wearing thin. And to think he gave her a spotless review the first time.
"It doesn't matter what they are! Issei and Sonic are good people, I've seen it!" Claimed Asia, having flashbacks to when they first met and afterward. Issei and Sonic didn't need to spend time with her, they chose too. Sonic also didn't need to come back for a visit and on behalf of Issei, he wanted too! And if that wasn't all... she still remembered the promise from earlier, how they would spend more time again before Sonic had to return to his own world (assuming that was true at this point). While she didn't know the boys too well yet, she believed in her heart that they were not bad people. They didn't deserve to die like this!
"We're all Gods children, aren't we? So how can you stand there and preach about killing them mercilessly? God wouldn't approve of this, I know it!" Asia continued, pouring out her faiths and beliefs. It touched Sonic and Issei with how far Asia was going for them, even though she had every reason to believe they could be Devils as the crazy Father claimed, she went out of her way to try and reason with him.
SLICE!
In a fit of anger, Freed slashed at Asia, catching the teens by surprise. Thankfully, she was not injured in any way, but her gown was perfectly cut right down the middle. This also included her bra, and she covered herself a second later after falling to her knees and crying out once she realized what had just happened. "Have you completely lost your mind?! Devils are known to be master manipulators, so you let one get inside that stupid, pretty head of yours?!" Freed snapped at the poor nun.
Sonic and Issei couldn't help but find that last comment Freed made ironic, considering whose side he was on...
Freed then forcefully grabbed Asia's chin, forcing her to stand back up. "The Fallen Angel and her sidekicks said I can't hurt you... but they said nothing about punishing you" he said, his eyes now giving off a different, special intent for this stupid girl who had the aduncity to beg for mercy for scum like those two boys. His grin also became predatory. Sonic tried moving again, but the pain from the device in his hair was too much and he stopped. Issei tried getting up himself, but the same result happened due to the still fresh bullet wound in his foot.
Freed had Asia against a wall at that point, looking up and down Asia's body in a hungry manner. This terrified Asia, not having seen this side of a Father before. To make matters worse, Freed was pressing his gun against one of Asia's legs before traveling up it, then stopped above a sensitive area and twisted his gun around it, talking about what he was gonna do to her. It was blatantly obvious what Freed's new objective was, and it made both Sonic and Issei mad.
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest... it would be in the Dark Super Form range.
"Hey! Asshole!" Called Issei's voice, making Freed look half-heartedly in the boys' direction. Both of them were standing now, but it was clear they were both in an extreme amount of pain. They were both holding themselves up with their hands on their knees for extra balance.
"Wait your turn, gentlemen. I saw her first!" Freed said, making a crude joke. Though with that response, Issei's Sacred Gear came out in a flash of green light. Both he and his Hedgehog friend growled in warning, looking quite pissed off. They were not kidding around. Freed's answer to that was to comedically whistle at them. "Weeeeeeeeeell..." Freed said, letting Asia go and she fell to the floor on her stomach, free from whatever Freed was about to do to her. "Someones' are looking turned on! Think you can handle it? Then show me whatcha got!" He taunted then challenged, seeing at the both of them weren't in top fighting shape at the moment.
'I probably have no chance of beating this guy...' thought Issei as he and Sonic stared Freed down. 'If I go through with this... I'm probably gonna die... for real this time...' Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Asia watching this take place. 'But I can't run away either!' Issei told himself. Asia just risked her own safely for the two of them, he couldn't just walk away after that, no matter how scared he was right now. Everything inside him was telling him to run, telling him to save himself or maybe have Sonic do that for him.
Though he could already imagine Sonic refusing, saying that was way past uncool or something along those lines, and staying to protect Asia as well. He did it for him 3 times already, and upon that third time was when Issei stepped up himself. If he ran away now, he could never live with himself. He'd feel worse than losing your hard-on in the middle of a jacking session. Issei didn't have to glance at Sonic to his right to know the Hedgehog felt the exact same way... neither of them were gonna leave the poor girl in the hands of this asshole.
Summoning whatever strength he had left, he gave a battle cry and went to punch Freed with his Sacred Geared fist. The Priest of course, figured he could just block it with his sword like Sonic from earlier, but what he didn't expect was...
[BOOST!]
"OWIE!" Freed whined. He was unprepared for Issei's boosted strength, nor the speed he came at him, hitting the crazy holy man right in the face. He landed on the floor from the unexpected force behind the blow, but that was the only one Issei had enough strength for and held his knees again. The priest wasn't down either, as he began to stand back up. "Nrrrrgh... that all ya...?" He was asking as he wiped his face with his sleeve, but then it was Sonic's turn. Ignoring the shocking pain, he curled in a ball again, and zeroed in on Freed. Just before making contact with him, the blue hedgehog came out of his balled form, and kicked Freed across the chest. It was shown in slow motion as Sonic knocked Freed into a wall, it making an outline of his body upon impact.
A glyph suddenly flashed in a corner of the room, with a form dashing out of it armed with a sword. It was Kiba, who looked ready to fight if needed, but noticed nothing was happening. He kept his sword drawn though, just in case.
"Oh my, what a mess. Kinda gross if I'm being honest" said Akeno, peaking in through the magical circle to see what was going on along with the mess in the other corner of the room, then walking in casually.
Koneko walked in a second later. "Figures. An Exorcist" she said, seeing said man buried in the wall. That explained why Rias lost the signal earlier, and sent them here the moment it returned. This priest must've have put up a seal or something, which wasn't uncommon.
Akeno walked over to Sonic, seeing his teeth where gritted as he was trying to get something out of his hair while also sparking a bit. She knew it wasn't her lightning. If it was, he'd be dead before his body could register the voltage. She saw a metallic object wrapped around one of his quills, which the sparks were originating from. "Awww, what's this?" Akeno cooed, plucking the item off Sonic's person with 2 fingers after giving it a small shock. Even with that small jolt, not even a fraction of Akeno's power, it let go of its host. "Poor little class pet" she cooed some more, then used more of her lightning ability to overload the little device, which appropriately squirmed for only a second before going *poof* and blew up.
Yes. She found that very satisfying.
"Ugh. Thanks, Lighting" Sonic thanked her. She gave him one of her warm smiles in return... this was so embarrassing, worse than the time he got a microchip stuck in his ear. He and Issei didn't bother asking what their Devil friends were doing here, for it was kinda obvious... THEY were the ones originally summoned, but they happened to beat them too it.
"So... that's how it is, eh?" Asked Freed, getting out of the wall. "WOO-HOOOOO! HELL YEAH! Now this is what I call a gang bang!"
Kiba, sword still drawn, took a battle stance in case Freed tried something. "Sorry to disappoint you, but they're with us."
"Oh, trust me. I'm FAR from disappointed!" Said Freed, then leaned forward a bit while holding his sword next to his face. "So... how's it work? Your the pitcher and the kids the catcher? Or does the blue rat join in as Lucky Pierre on occasion?"
"For a priest, that's quite a mouth you got there" said Kiba, noticing how vulgar the holy man spoke.
"What are you, the impiety police? Don't pretend like your the refined one, Devil. Hunting your kind is my job, so get off your moral high horse and stop preaching!" Freed snapped at him.
"And I thought Nega was bad..." Sonic facepalmed, as one of his enemies would constantly preach and spill unnecessary babble much like his counterpart, only worse.
"Well, aren't you a piece of work?" Akeno directed her comment to Freed.
"And you, my dear, are a hot piece of ass!" Said Freed, blushing, then he hugged himself. "OOOOOOH! I LOOOOVE that intense stare! I think I'm lusty for a busty, Devil bitch! HEHE!"
FLOOSH! BOOM!
Freed then had to dodge a crimson fire attack courtesy of Rias, who appeared from the glyph portal herself. "OOOOOOOOH! Look who finally showed they're tits! Yeah, we messed around a bit. Jealous?" Freed taunted, having no shame despite being outnumbered and outgunned. Rias just ignored his remarks.
"You both alright?" Rias asked Sonic and Issei, turning to each individual she spoke too, then looked at Sonic since he was the one to answer.
"Been better. Took you long enough" said Sonic, giving Rias a small verbal jab. This was her territory after all, as she claimed.
"Forgive me. It was my fault. By the time I realized something was up, there was a barrier already in place up until a moment ago" Rias explained, getting the joke, but still feeling guilty she didn't notice it. The minute the barrier vanished, she sent herself and her team here to find out what the hell was going on. And of course, what were the odds Sonic and Issei got involved?
Actually... scratch that. This was Sonic and Issei.
STOMP!
As Asia was taking in everything, Freed began stomping on her back over and over again. "STUPID BITCH! You had one fucking job... ONE! Make a goddamn barrier, keep it running, and you couldn't even do that right!" He reprimanded her as he hurt her and she whined with each stomp upon her back. Sonic was about to do something, but his quills tingled. This was because, Rias was glowing with her powerful aura. Her hair was also blowing around even though there was no strong wind circulation in here.
"I do not tolerate such vile fiends waltzing around, nor those that walk over the innocent. Insidious creatures like you have no place in my territory, and should just disappear" Rias threatened the priest. While this may be considered a conflict of interest with her using her powers to help protect a nun of all things, this town was still under her family name, so she could easily argue that this priest threatened the peace AND provoked her first. Freed stopped kicking Asia and backed up, looking concerned now. He just pissed off a seriously powerful Devil.
That's when a purple vortex opened above him... the Fallen Angels were coming!
That's it for this chapter. How will the next one go? Will I remain true to the source material and have Asia get left behind? Or can a certain blue rodent turn things around? Remember to vote in the poll, for it'll be closed one week from this post. Can't say if the next chapter will air by then, it does have a few issues I need to sort out offscreen, but check with the Sonic DxD - Extras doc in case I post anything there in the meantime.
I hope you enjoyed this episode, we'll see you next time.