PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE. You can skip the review responses, but take a moment to read said message:
Sup! Good morning, everyone. Back on April 7th just as I promised to Sonic DxD, the best Sonic xover fanfic on the entire FanFiction platform. If you disagree, guess what? Your wrong, and your opinion is invalid, cause I make the rules around here. Did everyone enjoy the second Sonic Movie (even though my YouTube Channel got a false strike from them -.-)? Of course you did. Why else would you come back here aside from Sonic being trapped in a world with sexy Devil girls?
Also, fuck the Sonic Movie 2 critics. Here's a basic meme for it:
Sonic Movie 1 Critics: Too much humans, not enough Sonic.
Sonic Movie 2 Critics: Too much Sonic, not enough humans.
Everyone with working brains and are not PAID Critics: Can't have it both ways, make up your mind!
Anyway, its time to check in and see what hijinks Sonic is getting involved in with the Occult Research Club. Of course, I'm gonna respond to some reviews first but before we do, you may wanna take notes about this chapter. As we are closing in on the Riser Rating Game and the treasure hunt everyones been waiting for, you seriously should consider paying attention to every little detail and reference this chapter has too offer. With over 12,600 words… it might be important.
From Ultimate savior infinity (chapter 25):
looks like Baldy McNosehair is here...he BETTER yell "I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!"
Bakuganman: Oh, he'll be yelling alright.
From Guest:
When will you start doing the Ben 10 and High School DXD fic "Shapeshifter of Kuoh"? I really liked that story and would like to read it again.
Bakuganman: In case you haven't seen it yet, there is an intro, and a FAQ section. That story is a massive project, and gotta make a good first impression with it. Updates for that are slow, you'll have to be patient.
From Draw-ze-Drawing:
If that crystal is one of the "Chaos Emeralds", then where would the other ones be at?
Bakuganman: They're out there… somewhere…
From Guest:
Sonic and Rias both hit Issei in the head at the same time that must've hurt.
Bakuganman: Poor guy.
From tyfang360:
the Crictics are the same as the ones in B2W2 "too much water" XP
Bakuganman: Lol! I got a good one too: 'SoNiC wAs NeVeR gOoD'.
From Infinity Prime:
For me it's one of the best Sonic crossovers. I can't wait to see the next chapter. To those who criticize without knowing, ignore them
Bakuganman: I repeat: 'sOnIc WaS nEvEr GoOd'.
Chapter 24: Fun and Games with the Sitri Family
We start this chapter off in a snowy mountainous region, with peaks that almost touched the sky. As we pan around these beautiful mountains, suddenly a Blue Hedgehog dives out from the peak of one them. He has a snowboard with him… actually a rock in the shape of a snowboard that he probably broke off. "WOOO-HO-HO-HO-HOOOOOOO!" He said as he continued downward with no fear.
Once he was about to hit the snow itself, he repositioned his board under his feet so the moment he hit the snow, he had a boost of momentum as he slid down the mountain. He slid back and forth, evading any trees and rocks in his way, as well as using some rocks that were sloped upward as jump ramps. The one he just used, he did a few flips and tricks, and did a Trick Finisher (Sonic Generations) before landing perfectly back on the snow which just gave him more speed.
"Ha! I make this look waaaaaay too easy." Said Sonic, looking like he was having tons of fun. He then went off another sloped rock with the speed he gained, launching pretty far, but it gave him plenty of airtime to grab his board and spin it around rapidly a few times before again, perfectly landing and continuing on. "Attention all units… suspect seen heading south… block all majors roads, capture the…"
BOOM!
Sonic heard that loud boom and looked behind him. He saw his once human, now Devil friend Issei Hyoudou, had just pounded the ramp Sonic had used with his glowing Boosted Gear, also riding a snowboard except this once was an actual board. And red and green colored fittingly enough… since when did he get that strong though?
"Oh great, the Winter Solider." Sonic joked while comedically rolling his eyes and he had his arms folded across his chest. He continued on regardless of this.
Surprisingly, Issei caught up to him, and used his Geared hand to push Sonic. It sent Sonic off in the opposing direction, and he almost went into some trees, but he used his board to turn away just in time. He felt he could relax, but that's when Issei came in again, the same fist now glowing this time, and prepared to try and punch Sonic! All Sonic had to do was Boost to get out of the way.
The trees Issei blew through were not so lucky…
"Ya know, for a guy with a dragon Boosting in his arm: you are REALLY bad at punching." Sonic quipped after stopping his Boost and looked back to say his taunt. Issei eventually caught back up.
"Your no match for me! I've been training for this moment my whole life!" Issei told him with gusto.
"And I had no training at all, yet here I am, ahead of you! That's GOTTA be embarrassing!" Sonic quipped again as he raced on ahead with Issei right behind him. When Sonic went off another rock-ramp, Issei instead punched through it, sending rumble everywhere. It caught Sonic by surprise, and the next thing he saw was Issei heading right for him…
KICK!
Sonic recovered by kicking one foot off Issei's head, the scene pausing and the sound of the kick echoed for dramatic effect. Issei himself then landed in the snow rather roughly due to the force of Sonic's foot, also making a deep snow angel of himself upon crashing. Sonic used the bounce from his last kick to find and grab another piece of rubble he could use as a snowboard, and of course he found one. Wasn't as smooth as the first one, but it'll do…
Sonic then landed back on the snowy slope and with another Boost, he made it down to a banner that read: FINISH. He drifted his makeshift board, making snow wave up, and give a victory pose. "*whistle* That was tight!" He said. Then for some reason, girls surrounded him, showering him with congratulations and affection…
…
…
A TV screen showed a generic game character at the bottom of the slope Sonic was at, also showered with affection by generic NPC girls. The words "Player 1 - Winner" appeared on the TV in gold letters as a panning shot went around the game character… then below it in smaller red letters read "Player 2 - Virgin", as if mocking said player.
"NO-NO! NOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOO! NO, NO, NO, NO!" Issei complained while rocking back and forth and throwing a Gamer Tantrum. Sonic was just laughing as they sat on one of the clubhouse couches that had been catty-cornered for the TV and game system they were playing on. This also meant the above action scene was just an overdramatized fantasy about a video game.
It was honestly surprising to the ORC how good Sonic was at video games… its like he knew…
"Well… at least you tried…" Asia tried to comfort Issei as she was sitting next to him. She was the only one to be nice about it however.
"He really kicked you in the balls this time, honey." Said Akeno, whom was watching from the same couch by leaning on it. Issei continued whining, also ruffling his own hair in anger. From her statement, it sounded like this had gone on for a while.
"You suck." Koneko's voice came from the other couch as she was eating chocolate on a stick again. That seemed to be her favorite.
"That's it! That's it!" Issei really got ticked off. "You've gotta be cheating! You've GOTTA be!" He pointed to Sonic, accusingly.
Sonic cockily smiled at him while holding the game controller with both hands and tipping it over so Issei could see all the buttons. "Its all in the fingers, Dragon-Boy…" He then proved his point by hitting all the buttons so fast that his fingers left afterimages.
"Well some of us can't hit the trick button NINE THOUSAND TIMES!" Issei said calmly at first, then yelled.
TV: *DING, DING, DING!* NEW HIGH SCORE!
The video game had a scoreboard slide in from the left side of its screen, showing Sonic's and Issei's scores with Sonic on top. But if that wasn't bad enough…
TV: WORLD RECORD!
A new screen slid in to show a Global scoreboard this time. And they were pretty high too: 50 thousand, 500 thousand, even a few at the top almost broke a million. Sonic's score however, replaced the original No.1 spot with his High Score…
10. Zillion. Points.
The ORC members (except Rias whom was out of shot) gapped. Even Koneko did, her chocolate falling off the stick after a few seconds of her just holding it up to her mouth in a paused state.
All Sonic did was point to Issei, and cheekily respond: "Ten thousand."
"GRRRRRRRRR!" Issei was clenching his teeth, very close to ripping out his own hair. He instead looked back to Rias, whom was watching from her desk with her hands propping her head. "Riaaaaaaas! Can I promote to a Knight please!" He requested, thinking the speed boost from the Knight form could help. However, he can only use the Promotion Ability in enemy territory, or what the King (Rias in this case) declares as such.
"Can't declare my base of operations enemy territory. Not exactly appropriate." Was Rias' answer, which was either true and/or just a convenient excuse to not declare so. She appeared to be enjoying the torture on Issei's face, as she had not stopped smiling the entire time since the boys had started their little contest, watching her Pawn get creamed by an extraterrestrial mammal.
"DAAAAAA-HA-HAAAAAAAAAAA!" Issei cried before sulking his head down. "This sucks ass…"
Rias gave a single small giggle. This boy could be so ridiculous with his antics at times, that it was honestly kinda cute. "Actually, speaking of promotions; I think its high time you and Asia finally received your own Familiars."
Issei, Asia and Sonic blinked; unfamiliar with the term. "Familiars?" Issei repeated.
It was at this point Rias left behind her desk and raised a hand. One would assume she was gonna use a magic circle at that point, but what ended up happening was a popping sound, and a small bat around the size of a newborn Chao appeared flapping wings that looked too small for its body… ironic as Chao were kinda the same in that regard.
"Wait…" Sonic seemed to remember this term now that this thing popped up. When he showed Rias pictures of his world back in Chapter 11, she once mentioned the word 'Familiars' and he didn't understand the context at the time. "That's a Familiar?" He asked. If this was the case, it's certainly explained Rias' confusion regarding his world.
"One of many types." Rias answered. "Though I believe her and Issei already met." She continued and the moment she said that, another popping sound happened and the bat had transformed into a humanoid form. This kinda stunned Sonic, Issei and Asia, none of them having seen this before. If they didn't see it change just now, they would've just assumed it was cosplay.
"No way!… Your the hot flyer girl who gave me that flyer in the first place!" Issei said, immediately recognizing the girl who gave him that crazy flyer that started everything. Said girl gave a smile, a wave, and a giggle before swapping back to bat form. Sonic mentally noted that, for it explained why Issei was a 'client' at one point. As cliché as it sounded, everything was now finally starting to come full circle. What else will he learn the longer he stayed in this crazy world?
"Of course, I have one too!" Akeno said while pointing to the floor, where a magic square appeared instead of a circle. What appeared was a tiny green thing that had a horn on its head and bat wings on it back. If Sonic didn't know that was a Familiar, he would have assumed it was one of his small animal friends or a Chao that put something on its head… something they loved to do by the way.
Koneko had also summoned her's, which was a small white kitten… Sonic and Issei didn't know why, but something about Koneko having a cat seemed fitting. It was also the first time they saw the girl smile, if only for a brief moment.
"You guys wanna see mine?" Kiba asked, summoning a small bird-like creature on his arm.
"I'm not interested in seeing you flip me a bird, Golden Nuts." Was Issei's answer, waving the Knight off.
"Come on! Why ya gotta hate?" Kiba said in a friendly tone.
Sonic couldn't tell if it was jealousy or not on Issei's part, but to be honest, this all kind of interested him. Like how Chao came in many shapes and sizes, so did these Familiars. Who've thought; this world actually had something in common with his own, and something he actually understood. "So Pieces aren't enough, ya gotta have mini slaves too?" Sonic asked, mainly as a joke.
Rias however, while she knew he was screwing around, took offense to this. "Familiars aren't just mere tools. They are an important part of being a Devil." She proudly stated. "They provide support, can run reconnaissance, always there to back you up…" she continued, then added in a lower tone and gritted teeth: "They also don't talk back."
Sonic shrugged with a smile. "If makes ya feel better, mine are used as Bot batteries." Though ORC heard this, they didn't know how to respond to it. "Do yours race and slap each other off an arena too?" Sonic then asked. Again, they no idea how to answer such a question… And he called their world messed up.
Before Rias could answer the Hedgehogs question, a knock came at the office doors. "It's open." Said Akeno. With permission given, the person who knocked on the door opened it and walked in… scratch that. Persons.
It was shown to be Sona Sitri and Tsubaki Shinra, whom also walked inside the room with 5 other girls and one guy. "Sorry. Are we interrupting something?" Sona said in a friendly tone. Yet something about her radiated discipline.
"The hell is she doing here?" Issei asked aloud. At this point, everyone who was at a seat was now standing up.
"Uh, Issei? Who is that?" Asia asked.
"That's the Head of Student Council, Souna Shitori," Issei explained, unaware that was merely an alias. "The one behind her is Tsubaki Shinra. Looks like they brought the entire Council too." He explained further, but he couldn't explain why. What would the Student Body Rep want with them?
It was at that point though as Souna/Sona had her attention on Rias first, her eyes then shifted to a certain someone in the room… one that stood out from the rest of them. Sonic saw this as he was the target; but that's when he, Issei and Asia realized something VERY important:
He wasn't wearing his disguise. And in front of other humans no less…
He dashed off… or at least tried to as Rias (either by luck or skill) caught his arm as he tried passing her, effectively stopping him even as his feet kept moving. "Down boy." She said as he kept trying to escape.
"So, this is the Youkai?" Asked Souna/Sona, which did get Sonic to stop moving his feet and look at Sona again. Ignoring the fact she got his race wrong, she didn't seem at all surprised. It was kinda of how he first encountered Asia, though she did show some shock to be fair. This new girl didn't appear the slightest bit affected, or even perplexed, by Sonic's appearance in any capacity. It's almost like she expected to see him.
"He prefers the term, Mobian." Rias corrected while letting go of Sonic's arm seemingly knowing he wasn't gonna try and run off, though you could tell she was being funny about her statement. Sonic was gonna ask what Rias was thinking telling the guest about him judging by his facial expression, but when he opened his mouth… "You've already met." She said.
Sonic looked back at Sona again, trying to place where he had seen her, but couldn't at the moment. Sona pushed up her glasses, fixing their position. "You gave Tsubaki quite a scare. Running up the wall like that." Sona said, her tone not fully as serious as her previous one, implying she was using humor in her own way.
It was then Sonic remembered. During the second half of the chase when he first met the ORC, he recalled running in-between Rias and one other girl. This must have been that other girl, but he was mainly focused on getting away and wasn't fully paying attention at the time. "Gotta say, I'm a bit surprised. I honestly thought you were a cat." Tsubaki said, addressing Sonic in a neutral yet friendly.
Issei glared at Sonic with a "what did you do" stare. Sonic seemed to sense this but ignored it.
"Well as you can see; I'm not a cat, a rat, or anything that rhymes with that; I'm a Hedgehog." Sonic said, counting on his fingers while saying 'cat' and 'rat', then gesturing his hands away on saying 'anything that rhymes with that'.
One of the girls with Sona, Tomoe Meguri who was a slender girl like Sona but with longer red-brownish hair, couldn't help but giggle softly and cutely to herself while using a hand to cover her mouth to try and muffle some of the noise. Some of the other girls of Sona's Council looked at her when she did this, which in turn she sensed and froze herself. She cleared her throat and stood back up straight.
"Don't encourage him. He talks too much." Rias said as she patted and ruffled Sonic's head/quills as if he was a pet, clearing poking fun at him. She stopped after 2 seconds. "Though seeing as you came all the way here, how can I help you, Sona?" she then asked the Council leader.
"Oh, just wanted to congratulate a friend for increasing the number of servants in her Peerage," said Sona.
"Wait, Souna knows about Sonic, AND Peerages? How the hell?" Issei asked. It was bad enough the human student Sona knew about Sonic (not much he could do about that now anyway), but she also knew Rias' Devil business? First of all: how? And second of all: why?
"That's just her alias. Her real name is Sona Sitri of the Sitri Family." Akeno kindly explained. "They're also a big Devil Family, and Sona is next in line for the Head of the House itself."
Asia, Sonic and Issei looked back at Sona. So she was a Devil too? That also meant the Council were most likely Devils themselves. It also explained why Sona was with Rias when Sonic ran amok in the first place. This made the Hedgehog think back to what Ravel said, about how long could he hide from Devils like her… did that mean Sona blabbed?
"So another Devil Family is okay with me running around?" Sonic felt the need to ask.
"I've heard about the incident regarding the Fallen Angels. Rias told me." Sona said. "Besides, it's considered rude to involve ourselves in other Families Affairs." She added with a respectful smile. With that statement, it didn't seem like she nor her Peerage were the types of people to spread sensitive information, which included Sonic, so it appeared she did not spill any beans and they could be trusted. Good to know they had some allies.
It was also kinda funny to Sonic. Rias seemed more casual than Sona, while Sona herself was the more professional one of the two. It reminded him allot of some of his own rivalries with his friends and allies back in his world. Something else this world had in common with his own…
"Funny how you haven't told your boy toy and class pet about us yet, but if you don't trust either of them with basic info…" the only boy on Sona's said spoke up, and in a condescending way about Sonic and Issei. He had short blond hair and grey eyes, but he had the sleeves of his uniform rolled up
"As I said, its bad form for any Family to involve themselves with another. Withholding our existence is Rias' decision, just as she hiding a Hedgehog under her desk is in her own right." Sona said in her normal tone, but there was a hint of reprimanding in it, as if she was indirectly defending the Red Dragon and Blue Blur. She was also indirectly telling the boy he himself was lucky to know what he called "basic info". This of course got the boy to feel like an idiot and shut his mouth. "You'll have to excuse my Pawn, Saji Genshirou. He's new." Sona respectfully apologized for her Pawn's behavior.
"This is Asia Argento, my Bishop; Issei Hyoudou, my Pawn; and Sonic the Hedgehog, his Familiar." Rias introduced Asia and Issei to Sona, also throwing Sonic in there clearly as another jab at him. Apparently sharing the names of new Pieces was a Devil thing. Sonic glanced at her with half-shut eyes, but didn't say anything.
"Oh, your a Pawn too, bro? And we're both surrounded by a bevy of babes. We're totally twin-zees!" Issei said friendly.
Saji however, chuckled in an arrogant way. "Being the same Piece as a member of the Perverted Trio seriously hurts my pride. Someone like you doesn't even deserve to be in the same room with distinguished Devils as the Sitris'." He said, then turns his attention to Sonic. "And honestly, what's with the Blue Ferret? He your new mascot or something?"
Of course, both Issei and Sonic were taken aback, though both got mad at him. Issei was first to speak up about it. "What'd you say?! You take that back!" He shouted at Saji while clenching a fist. Damn, and he voted for this guy too..
"Oh boo-hoo, did I hurt your feelings?" Saji continued, undeterred. "I took up 4 Pawn Pieces, bro; you've got nothing on me." He went on, confidently and obviously unaware of how many Issei had.
"Except the fact he took up eight." Sona said, telling off Saji again while also indirectly defending the opposing Devil Family, also making her own Pawn feel like a complete moron.
"What, seriously? How the hell this wimp take up eight?" Saji asked, shocked at the fact.
"Not only that, the 'Blue Ferret' has enough speed to outrun a Knight at maximum power. Better to know your opponents capabilities before running your mouth." Sona continued as-a-matter-of-factly.
Sonic rubbed a finger on the side of his head with closed eyes. "And no offense, pal; but I've met psychic toddlers that look leagues tougher than you." Said Sonic, thinking back to very young boys he met a few times. He couldn't recall their names at the moment, but both of them usually shouted 'PK' before launching an attack.
"You'll have to forgive him. Young Devils don't always appreciate finer points of civility due to naïveté" Sona continued her apology, indirectly roasting Saji for his stupidity.
Saji, defeated (and due to having been making a fool of himself), then decided to introduce himself properly. "Pleasure to met ya, I guess."
"Oh no, pleasures all mine. It's nice to meet you as well." Asia said, being her usual friendly self, also using both hands to shake one of his. In Saji's eyes, Asia appeared to sparkle.
"So, Asia? Did you used to be an Angel, cause you've graced me with your presence!" Saji said, gently yet eagerly grabbing Asia's hands that were grabbing his, and Asia being the religious girl she was, gave a tiny blush upon his comment, falling for his weak flirt. Sonic also recognized the look in Saji's eyes. It was similar to the look Issei gets when he starts thinking dirty thoughts. Seeing this himself, Issei overdramatically hopped over, grabbing Saji's hand and squeezing it with more force than necessary. The Sitri Pawn showing signs of pain as the Gremory Pawn did so.
"Niiiiice to met you too, Saji; and if you put anymore moves on Asia, I'll slice off your tingling berries and feed them to ya through a tube!" Issei said as he held Saji in place, though the second Pawn returned the favor shortly after, now causing Issei pain.
"Oh? Think you got the blond beauty on lock? Well guess what? Your not the only bull in this rodeo, butt-muncher!" Saji returned, then both Perverted Pawns got into each other faces as they 'shook hands'. While Asia looked innocently confused at what just happened, Sonic on the other hand gave a low groan and pinched in-between his eyes... and then there were two...
"Well, they're getting along nicely..." said Rias, appearing in a panel over half the scene between the Pawns with a embarrassed smile.
"Sure looks that way, doesn't it?" Said Sona, appearing in her own panel next to Rias', matching Rias' humor.
Sonic's panel cut in from the bottom in-between the Devil Kings. "Don't look at me. I'm just his Familiar..." He said with closed eyes and a shrug.
"Oh yeah, speaking of Familiars; how's that working out for ya, buddy?" Saji said to Issei, mockingly. "I got my Familiar on my first day!" He added, rubbing it in.
"Yeah, well me and Asia are getting ours today, Captain Whack-It! So that makes us even!" Issei snapped back.
Sona's eyes showed surprise upon hearing Issei's statement. "Oh? Is that true, Rias?" She asked.
"That's the plan. We were actually thinking of going sometime this week." Rias confirmed.
Sona put a hand under her chin. "Well, that proposes a problem. We were thinking of going around the same time."
Sonic, deciding to let the Pawns have 'fun', he turned his attention to the Devils' problem. "Why not both go?" He started, then reached into hammerspace in a blur and dawned a hat that said 'Worlds Largest Rubber-Band Ball'. "Make it a Road Trip?" He asked, then also brought brought out a paddleball that said and began playing with it perfectly. Sona could only stare... and Rias slowly facepalmed... this Hedgehog was something else.
This didn't stop another Sitri member, Reya Kusaka (who also had reddish-brown hair like Tomoe except in braids), from giggling herself at Sonic's antics.
"That would be preferable, but due to popular demand, the Familiar Master has recently only been accepting one Family a month." Tsubaki said. "Now that I think about it; there have also been reports of some visitors sometimes experiencing unexplainable bright lights and equally strange visions." She added.
Sonic stopped his paddle balling upon hearing that, the tiny ball swinging by itself as its balance was disrupted. Strange visions?... Bright lights?... Been there. Done that.
"In that case, why not we have a little contest to sort this out?" Rias suggested.
"Contest?" Sona asked.
"Whomever wins gets admission to the Familiar Forest first. That sounds fair, doesn't it?" Rias said, laying down some ground rules provided Sona agrees.
"Surely your not suggesting a Rating Game, are you?" Sona asked in a serious tone.
*Twitch, twitch.* "… huh?" Immediately as he was putting his stuff back in hammerspace, Sonics ears perked up (one of them twitching to symbolize this) in the moment the words Rating Game left Sona's lips. Not only has he heard the term Familiar a second time, it was now also the second time he's heard the phrase: Rating Game. On top of that, the latter seemed more important as not only due to Sona's reaction, but he heard it from Ravel's conversation over a magic circle just before she left in a literal blaze of glory... what exactly did it mean?
"Oh, no. Of course not." Rias clarified with a chuckle, waving her hand in dismissal. "The Officials' would NEVER let us pull one off over a silly dispute. That's a legal battle even both our Families can't afford."
"Exactly my point." Sona said. "Besides, you shouldn't be drawing more attention to yourself. You've got an alien amongst your ranks, not to mention..." Rias, who was all smiles before, suddenly glared at Sona. Sona paused, then cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses again with one finger, giving Rias a silent apology.
Sonic watched Rias' mannerisms very carefully. The sudden leering, her sudden spout of anger, one of her fists clenching before she calmed down pretty quickly... none of it wasn't surprising, Sonic has seen that side of Rias a few times. What's strange was: the anger, while she was looking at Sona at the time... didn't seem directed at her specifically. It appeared the Princess of Ruin was angry about what Sona was about to say, then Sona smartly dropped the subject before it went too far.
"Once he goes after Rias again, you'll have a chance!" Ravel's words echoed in Sonic's brain as he flashed back to when the Flicky-like Devil girl said that. The Hedgehog couldn't help but wonder about it. Was it somehow connected to the Gremory Kings moment of vexation, or was it just a very random, very bad-timed coincidence?
"Here's an idea!" Rias said, as if her angry reaction didn't just happen. "How's about a game of sports like humans do?"
XXX
The human game they ended up choosing was Tennis. Rias and Akeno VS Sona and Tsubaki, the Kings and Queens of both teams. They looked to be having fun with it. Of course, a crowd began gathering, as these girls were the 4 most popular girls in the entire Academy.
"Oh man, those Tennis balls aren't the only things bouncing today!" Issei said, his face pressed up against the fence. To be fair, he wasn't the only one, as many other boys did the same thing. This included the other 2 members of the Preverted Trio, Motohama and Matsuda, who had both brought binoculars to save to what Sonic heard them call: a Spank-Bank. (Also according to those two, the news of this game spread very quickly.)
That's not even the worst part. As the match went on, Sona scored the first point by using magic to infuse the tennis ball (which Kiba mentioned they all agreed NOT to do), making it too quick for Rias to hit back under normal conditions. Since Devils used magic normally, this was probably just out of habit and not necessarily out of trying to cheat on purpose. "HA-HAAA! SUCK ON THAT, HYOUDOU!" Saji yelled across the field, proudly waving the score flag.
"So they can use magic in front of humans, I have to keep dressing like a Scrounge?" Sonic 'asked', gesturing to the players first, then to himself on the second part of his sentence. This was because he had to wear his disguise since they were out in the open... yet here were 4 Devils out in broad daylight, using magic in front of actual humans.
"I don't think that's the magic their focused on..." Koneko flatly stated about the crowd, since the 4 girls had pretty short skirts and not to mention the bras they were wearing didn't seem to be made for sports, for they flew all over the place with each movement.
"Ok, Sitri... you wanna bend the rules and have a magic show? I'll give you a magic show!" Rias declared.
"Do your worst, Gremory. You don't scare me." Sona said, confidently as they continued the match.
XXX
Sometime later, Koneko was shown back in the clubhouse with Tennis rackets missing their netting. "Tennis is out." She said before dropping them.
"So is Baseball." Issei was holding up a Baseball bat that was half-broken with the top-half hanging off as the camera panned over to him, then the hanging piece fell off a second later after finishing his sentence with a wood-snapping sound.
Sonic held up a blackened Bowling Ball with both hands. "Even Bowling..." He said, then the ball turned to ash and fell to the floor. He was shown to be shocked at that, but only for a second before his new expression said 'I don't care' before he rubbed his hands off to clean his gloves seeing as the object he held no longer existed (most likely due to Rias). "At this rate, their gonna run outta sports." He continued, putting his hands on his hips as he finished dusting off his hands.
POV - Rias, Akeno, Tsubaki and Sona:
Regardless, it was decided they'd instead try a team match instead, the Kings and Queens of each side discussing it outside the office of the ORC. "So we've tried Basketball, Baseball, Bowling, Tennis, Soccer, and even Golf. But still, everything we tried has been a draw." Sona said, with 'draw' in this instance meaning every sport they fucked up. The fact only Tennis, Bowling and Baseball had surviving evidence...
"And we're quickly running out of contests to have." Tsubaki said.
"There must be something we could do, something we haven't tried that all of us can participate in..." said Akeno with fingers under her chin. Rias thought hard about this too. Sure they all agreed to a team matchup, but Sona had 7 servants compared to Rias' 5. Most sports needed 6 to 7 players minimum on a team, and for a team match it needed to be fair. Even if one of Sona's sat out to referee again, that would still be 7 to 6. Ugh, she could bring out him from the seal, but couldn't risk that. If only Sonic was a Devil, didn't manage to dodge her when she made that agreement with him, then maybe...
...
...
...
Wait... that was it!
"I got the perfect idea." Rias said, and Sona saw that smile plastered on her face. She knew that smile all too well, what was Rias up too? "How's about a game of Dodgeball?"
Sona blinked. Out of the remaining sports they still could do, that was the last one she expected to hear come out of Rias' mouth. "Dodgeball?" She repeated.
"Why yes. Think about it: it usually requires a minimum of 7 players anyway; so if one of your servants referees the match like before, that'd make it even." Rias said, though even Akeno looked confused now. The math was still off.
"But you'd still have only 6 players to your team. I'd have an unfair advantage." Sona said not that she didn't think Rias could handle that, for this was the same girl who was able to get a loophole to fight off the Fallen Angels. Sona's concern was mainly out of good sportsmanship.
Rias chuckled again. "Hmhmhm... oh no, we have a seventh player." She insisted. "In fact, he's right inside that door."
"You aren't mentioning Ga..." Sona was gonna say someone else, but then realized EXACTLY whom Rias was talking about... and what door they were outside of. "The Mobian?" She asked, while she figured this was indeed the case, she felt the need to ask anyway. This did get Tsubaki to look with interest, and Akeno to react with a cocked eyebrow; not that the Lightning Queen thought it was a bad idea, but was that possible? Would Sonic even agree to it?
"It only makes sense. If Sonic joins us, you won't have to have 2 of your servants sit this one out. We get the team matchup we want, with exactly the right amount of players to each individual side. That's not a bad thing, is it?" Said Rias, using pure logic and reason (and a hint of manipulation) to get Sona to agree.
Sona could not argue with the points made. This WOULD be a fair matchup between both their Houses, and its not like this was an Official Rating Game, so its not like Sonic could be banned. Even if it wasn't, it would also in fact be a good experience for her own Peerage, going up against someone like Sonic in a contest like this. How could any Devil pass up an opportunity like that?
"It's not a problem at all, Rias. It's just..." Sona did have some doubts, but Rias cut her off.
"Unless of course, for some reason; you don't think your team can handle him?" She challenged, pretty much throwing the gauntlet right in Sona's face. This made Sona stare back at her in silence, no words spoken between either King and letting only their eyes do the talking.
...
...
...
"... We'll meet in the gym tomorrow night after school. No one will be around, so it'll be the perfect time." Sona agreed to Rias' terms, also not willing to let a jab at her own Family go unpunished whether from a friend or not.
"A pleasure doing business with you, Souna." Rias couldn't help but say, using Sona's alias as a taunt.
POV - Normal:
The Sitri Devils then left, with Rias and Akeno going back into the office where everyone else was waiting. The others in the room turned their attention onto the King and Queen once they walked in. "We've all agreed to a game of Dodgeball to settle the matter. Tomorrow night after school, we all meet them in the gym."
This sounded good, but Issei did bring up a good point: "Hold on, doesn't Dodgeball require 7 players? We're still one player short."
Just like with Sona, Rias did not lose her smile. "Sona seemed to think so, but we actually do have a 7th player amongst us. And he's the perfect one for the job."
"Well, who is…?" Issei was asking, but of course he realized it relatively quickly. His eyes widened for a second, he and the ORC members that were not part of the discussion outside looked to the ONLY possible candidate…
Sonic.
The Hedgehog himself looked back at Rias, realizing this too, but it was impossible to tell what else he was thinking about it. If he did join, Issei and the others had to admit, it sounded foolproof. Dodgeball was a game about… well... dodging a ball. From what they have seen, Sonic was more than capable of doing this, not to mention the speed he could build up to throw those same balls back, making them EXTREMELY difficult to dodge in turn.
He was their secret weapon. Their trump card.
"Rias, are you sure that's a good idea?" Kiba asked, not that he couldn't see the logic in Rias' decision, but the fact they sometimes fight or argue over little things…
Rias already had an answer. "While I'm sure Sona's already debating on how to deal with him, victory with him is almost guaranteed. Dodgeball is about dodging a ball, which not only can he easily do, but he can also return fire in the same way. Is that wrong?"
No. It actually wasn't. Even Sonic had to admit, that plan was genius. Not only that, in her own twisted way, this Rias asking him directly for his help. Unlike with Vice when they made a deal to train Issei, not realizing he and Sonic would both end up helping subdue the threat; THIS time, Rias needed his help to win a contest that'll benefit Issei and Asia, and there was no deal attached to it.
The Hedgehog's expression however, still gave no indication of which way he'll swing. Will he agree to assist them, or deny them?
"Sonic? Are you going to help is?" Asia asked him, seeing as her innocence helped sway him last time. "Its ok if you don't, but… we might not get our own Familiars for quite some time." She added. She sounded like she really wanted one.
Sonic didn't budge… at first. He slowly gained a grin. "Did I ever say no?" Sonic asked back. This did catch the Devils off guard a bit. "All it takes is just one little tournament, and you both win a grand prize?" He added, then gave a thumbs-up. "I'm game!" He said, agreeing to participate in the upcoming duel, more than willing to help out. Besides, this was the right thing to do, meaning he would have helped out regardless.
With his agreement to be involved, they had a much better chance at winning, and they all left the club shortly after this. It was sunset now, so they'd all better get a good nights sleep. They had a big day ahead of them tomorrow!
When Sonic, Asia, and Issei did get home; after dark, Sonic noticed the light was still on in Issei's window for some reason. He didn't let that distract him from catching some Z's, he just hoped Issei would get to bed soon himself…
XXX
The next night at dusk after school hours, the ORC was in the gym already. Issei had also brought a shoebox with him for some reason and left it off to the side. Rias and Kiba were tossing the ball back and forth, while Akeno and Koneko were helping Asia and Issei respectively do some presses. As for Sonic, he was doing leg and arm stretches by himself, like his idle animations from his many video games or just when he's about to start running in those games' stages.
Though as Asia moaned out loud the more she reached out her body, the more pervy Issei's face got. Koneko "fixed" this by pressing him down further than necessary, and as Issei cried out loud in pain, even saying: "I summon MY Familiarrrrrrrrrrr!"…
Sonic: (looks over) … Your on your own, pal.
After the pregame exercises were over, Team Gremory all stood in a group. "Let's win this, people! Just grab a ball, aim at any Sitri you see, and lob them right in the face!" Rias said, ecstatically.
"Guess that means your ready to roll?" Came Sona's voice, her and Peerage having arrived.
"Oh, we're ready to throw down, Sona!" Said Rias, and just when she and everyone were about to take positions…
"Wait! Hold on!" Issei said, having gone and gotten that same shoebox. What he pulled out were…
"Headbands?" Rias asked as Issei passed each of his teammates one to wear.
"Nice!" Kiba said, liking this gesture.
"They look lovely. We're gonna look totally badass in these." Said Akeno, giving her opinion on the new accessory.
"Thanks. I was up all night making them." Issei said, which got a reaction from Rias.
"You didn't sleep?" She asked. Sonic also looked at Issei. That explained the lights in his room last night.
"I asked Asia for the sewing supplies… I wanted to make something cool for everyone, and as thanks of all the trouble your going through for us. Figured it was the least I could do for friends like you." Issei said, honestly. Rias just stared down at the custom-made headbands with a warm smile on her. "Wait? Are they kinda lame? Was gonna do T-Shirts instead but… ya know…" he said, implying that would probably be a distraction because of his 'tastes', and forced himself to do something else.
Coming from Issei of all people, that was a mature move.
"No, no, they're perfect, Issei," Rias said. "They're really well-made. You obviously put allot of heart into them." She added while smiling at him.
"It was nothing, really. Its just some cloth…" Issei said while rubbing the back of his head and having a small blush, not expecting to be praised for his work.
Koneko nodded at him, now the second time a smile was on her face. "Your a perv, but a sweet perv."
"Well… I don't know about you guys," said Sonic, whom was in the middle of putting his band on. Once he secured it by tying it behind his head, "But I make these bands look good."
After the rest of the ORC dawned their headbands, the game began after Momo Hanakai, one of Sona's Bishops with long white hair, blew a whistle as she played the Referee. The game itself opened up with Sonic (of course) able to grab a ball first. With a quick throw, he aimed for Saji and (of course) nailed him in the chest. Since he didn't catch this ball, it counted as Gremory Teams first point, as there were no outs in this particular game of Dodgeball. If you hit someone and they don't catch it, score goes to you. The reverse was also true. You catch it, your point.
"HA-HAAA! STEP IT UP, SAJI!" Said Sonic… whom appeared next to Momo in a referee costume while waving a flag like the one Saji used during the Tennis match. The girl in question was gonna call out that point, but when Sonic beat her too it, she looked down at him in confusion. How'd he change costume so fast?
"Hey! Who made you Referee?" Said Sonic, walking over on the opposite side of Momo, making her look over to the speaker only to see the Hedgehog had again changed back into his normal clothes and headband. Even more confused, she looked back to where Sonic was a moment ago…
And he was back on that side, in Referee costume again. "I did."
"No I didn't!" Said Headband Sonic, then pointed to the field. "Get back out there! Stop screwing around!" Referee Sonic sulked away upon being ordered to leave. "Ugh… I can't with that guy…" Headband Sonic walked away with an eye-roll, leaving Momo unsure how to even respond to what just happened aside from a blink.
Further into the game, Tsubasa Yura (Sona's only Rook) got ahold of a ball, throwing it hard toward Koneko, whom was unprepared for it and the impact of the ball tore some of her shirt, showing a bit of her bra. Good thing Issei didn't go with T-Shirt's after all…
"Aw, right in the tit." Issei said, feeling bad that Koneko got hit.
Tsubaki got a ball, and began to glow with magic. "I call this one, Grief of Memories!" She said, magically infusing the ball with her own power, aiming at Sonic. He was getting ready to dodge it, but it stopped directly in front of him for a split second. Before he could say 'huh', it changed trajectory to a hard right, hitting Kiba instead, who did not catch it and earning the Sitri's a second point.
"Get him now!" Called out a girls voice, making Sonic look in its direction to see Ruruko Nimura (Sona's other Pawn), Reya Kusaka and Tomoe Meguri all throw balls at him infused with magic. This was probably one of the ideas Rias mentioned Sona might come up with… a bait and switch tactic. It almost got him, he wasn't gonna lie.
Sonic evaded with a jump right as all 3 sneak attacks hit the floor. With a grin, he launched a counterattack by curling into a ball himself (not spinning by the way), and knocking them back to their throwers while the balls were still in midair. However he did so so fast, it looked like he did some kind if Shadow Clone Jitsu before hitting back all 3 at once, each hit being successful and earning the Gremorys +3.
Kicking a ball wasn't allowed… No one said anything about curling up into a ball yourself.
Sona got a ball and did what she called a "Sitri Seeker", and aimed it at Sonic as well… the name was actually pretty accurate, for when Sonic jumped over it, it stopped in midair before ricocheting back toward him. Hearing the magic go off and looking back to see the ball returning, Sonic had no choice but to start running with a scared look in his eye. No matter where or how fast he ran however, it continued to follow him like a heat-seeking missile. For the heck of it, he ran towards a wall as the ball trailed behind him, then he ran up the wall…
CRACK!
The ball slammed into the wall, where it lost its glow and fell to the ground. Just like a missile, it stops when it hits something. Sonic kicked off the wall just before impact so he wasn't affected by any shock the impact may have caused. He sighed in relief. That was a close one.
Tsubaki, having gotten another ball, tried her "Grief of Memories" move again, this time on Rias. The Crimson Devil caught the ball as it rammed into her, shredding off bits of her gym uniform, but this didn't affect her much.
"Well, catching Tsubaki's spike head-on… trying to impress me?" Sona taunted Rias.
"Did you forget who I am, Sona?" Rias fired back. "I'm a Gremory. That's just how we roll!" She then threw the ball she caught with all her strength. Then as the ball traveled, her eyes glowed, and the ball she threw entered a glyph she just summoned. When it exited out the other side, it had turned into a deadly crimson fireball!
No one… literally no one… would try to catch that. The poor girl it made contact with didn't stand a chance, and her gym clothes burned off leaving only her undergarments for some reason… she was out in more ways than one. Issei of course, got distracted by this, and Reya attempted to take advantage of this, not even bothering to use magic on Issei since he was a sitting duck. Akeno saved him however, with Issei getting a sneak peak of her bra as she did so...
Sonic couldn't help but mentally gulp at Rias' scary power from her last throw, especially when she gets competitive in a causal game like this.
Ruruko tried to get Rias while she was focused on her own throw, which Sonic happened too see. "Look alive, Princess!" He dashed over just Ruruko tossed her magically-infused ball at Rias, but Sonic caught it with one hand… but when he did, the magic in the throw made his glove tear a bit. He either didn't notice or care, cause he twisted in the air and threw the ball back to its sender. Ruruko attempted to catch this ball, but it came so fast, that it bounced right off her chest and into Tsubasa's back (whom was in the middle of a throw), gaining +2 points.
Rias saw this happen, and was honestly surprised. After Sonic landed and recovered, he noticed the state of his glove, gave a quick high-pitched yelp, and reached both hands behind him. When they returned to the front, he was pulling a new glove down on his hand. He looked relieved after that.
"Why you…!" Tsubasa said, noticing Sonic was the one to strike her. Getting the ball he just used, she tossed it towards him. She didn't use magic on it, but the power in that throw was shown in the wind it generated.
Sonic: (shocked face) DAAAAAH!
BONK!
Sonic didn't even have a second to react, and the ball went straight into him. Not only that, the impact of the ball into him pushed him back from the amount of force in Tsubasa's Rook empowered throw.
"Sonic!" Rias instinctively called out in worry. When the camera cut back to him, he was shown to have been pushed into the wall (though he did not impact with it), but he miraculously managed to hold onto the ball… even as both his gloves tore from the catch, worse compared to the first one. Seeing as he still held it, it counted as a point for them, and she couldn't help but feel relieved he wasn't bashed into the wall.
"Ugh… I'm gonna run outta gloves…" he muttered.
Pretty soon, an eruption of almost EVERYONE using magic (if they could) to enhance their throws began. Some balls went all over the gym, while others disintegrated from the constant barrage or repeated infusions. Some of them even flew out of windows, shattering them, and the balls themselves zoomed into the night and/or sky, never to return. That's not even mentioning to amount of times Momo had to blow her whistle to declare a point…
There was even a blue whirlwind at one point, most likely Sonic.
"I had no idea Dodgeball was so dangerous!" Said Asia, appearing on a spilt-screen with a cutesy scared expression.
"This isn't Dodgeball, more like Death-Ball!" Said Issei, appearing on the over side of the spilt-screen with his own scared expression.
"Don't know about you, but I've touched enough balls for one night!" Sonic said, cutting in below with his own split-screen, looking equally as scared. The amount of times he was so close to getting hit… Sona's team didn't mess around.
Sona herself had enough at this point competitive-wise. Even with her planning last night on how to deal with Rias with a Hedgehog that could cause tornadoes, they were still neck and neck like a close race. Whenever one team would start overtaking, the other one would speed on ahead. With another ball in hand, it was time to deal some damage to the Gremorys'!
"Here comes the pain! Sitri Seeker - Bomb Shot!" Yelled Sona, as she flared her own power with the symbol of Sitri magic behind her. Her target was Issei, as he had yet to be hit, but only because the Sitri's have been focusing on the strongest and fastest players, though those same players would protect Issei (Asia was included in being protected as well). It was strategic thinking at first, but as the saying goes: teams are only as strong as their weakest link.
"Shit!" Issei said, seeing the ball was coming right for him! He tried running, but the ball followed. He tried ducking, but it still followed. He even went off in a random direction and ducked again, the ball passing him… yet somehow ended up behind him again and he ran off again.
"I gotcha, pal!" Sonic said, jumping in front of the magically-charged ball, intent on catching it. However, it stopped, which didn't surprise him initially. It's what the ball itself did is what got him. It stayed perfectly still, so when Sonic tried touching it, it backed up. He tried again, but it shot upward diagonally backwards. Now getting aggravated, he and that ball went around in circles on and above the ground, and when Sonic tried to leap at it, it went up and over him, then rocketed back to its original target, almost as if the ball did all that on purpose.
This was getting nowhere, so mentally cursing himself, Issei took a stance and held out his hands, going to try and catch the ball barreling straight for him. Dodging this ball didn't help, so his only other option was to catch it with his bare hands. The ball appeared to be heading for his chest, so he protected that as the ball closed in.
Where it ended up going…
PONG!
The color drained from Issei's face, his 'why me' expression turned to anguish, and he fell to the ground while holding the area of impact with both hands. Everyone just stared, not expecting this to happen and of course, feeling sorry for the poor bastard. Sona felt the worst. She didn't mean 'here comes the pain' literally, nor was she aiming for that!
"My… rake and beans…" Issei managed to croak.
"Um… does that count as a point, or a miss?" Asked Momo asked, feeling bad for the kid like everyone else.
"No… she got'em…" Sonic said with gritted teeth and rubbing a finger on the side of his head, feeling Issei's pain. He couldn't imagine how much worse it must've felt from a magically-infused ball, nor did he want to know…
While Issei continued to clutch the area in question, Asia kneeled down to where he was on the floor, her rings of Twilight Healing coming out. "I can use my Twilight Healing, but you need to tell me where it hurts, Issei." Asia kindly offered.
Hearing that, Issei quickly sat up, though he still looked to be in agonizing pain. "Oh, no thanks, Asia. I'll be fine!" He insisted while looking embarrassed, still holding the affected area.
"But your in pain, maybe if I take a quick look…" said Asia, innocently and worried about Issei's well-being. She started to crawl over to where he was holding himself, and leaned down to remove his hands.
Issei then found the strength to stand, but still held his pained area. "No-No-No! That's not a good idea! Looking through someones Junk Mail is a Federal Offense!" He made an excuse.
"If that'll make you feel better, I can just do it over the pants." Offered Asia. It still felt awkward to Issei, but he just sat there and let Asia do her work. She held her hand over Issei's pants, her light glowing over the affected area. She had to get close to it though, which did give her certain thoughts, but she pushed them aside to focus on making Issei feel better. After a few minutes of doing it, "How does that feel?" Asked Asia, her hand hovering mere inches over Issei's riches.
"Warm and tingly," said the Red Dragon. He still sounded in pain, though not as much as before.
"So its working?" Asked Asia, relived her treatment was working.
"Yeah. Something like that." said Issei. Sonic would normally facepalm at the double meaning, but let it slide due to Issei's injury.
"Are you seriously getting a chub right now?" Asked Koneko, thinking that's what Issei was implying.
"It's a very weird medical condition," said Issei.
He sat out the rest of the game by order of Rias. The game was almost over anyway by that point. At the last second, Sona and Rias used their magic to infuse their balls (apparently not having learned anything from Issei's woe or just out of habit), but they collided with each other and canceled each other out in a magical explosion of blue and red.
Koneko ended up getting the final needed point. Hitting Saji in the same place where Issei got hit, though you couldn't tell if she did it on purpose or not whereas with Sona, it was a freak accident… Saji DID ask her to bring it on and hit him with everything she's got to try and sound cool though…
"Well, deals a deal, Rias. You beat us fair and square." Sona said as her team was packing up and leaving, which included carrying Saji over one of her servants backs… and they didn't have any healing Sacred Gears like Rias did. "And as much as I hate losing, I have to admit, this experience was still allot of fun." She added. "But if this was a Rating Game, you never could have beaten me, even with a space porcupine."
"Heh. Just don't call Knuckles that…" Sonic muttered to himself.
"You really think so?" Asked Rias. "Well I guess we'll have to wait and see when we actually play a game."
"I suppose your right… you never know what could happen." Sona said as she turned to leave with the rest of her Peerage. She did stop after taking a few steps as her back was turned to her opponents'. "… And Sonic, was it?" She suddenly addressed Sonic directly, getting his attention, and turned back to them again. "We too hope you get back safely, wherever you came from." She said in a respectful and friendly manner, speaking on behalf of her Peerage.
Still; this was indeed an experience she'll never soon forget.
"It'll probably be a while till then," Rias answered before Sonic could. "He's still looking for his 'magic gemstones' before he can find his way home." She continued, playfully mentioning Sonic's Chaos Emeralds or whatever they were called. Sonic glared at her, but he could say nothing as he had no evidence which the Ruined Princess wouldn't believe him without.
"Gemstones?" Sona asked, looking interested and slightly shocked at the same time.
"Oh, right. I never told you this," Rias said. "Apparently he brought himself here by infinite power split into 7 Emeralds or something. Claims they come in different colors too." She explained. With his backstory being made fun of again, and possibly another Devil not gonna believe him, Sonic walked away off the screen.
"Infinte… power?…" Sona repeated.
"I know! It's ridiculous!" Rias said while laughing a bit and closing her eyes, not paying attention to Sona's expression. She did not say a single word as Rias laughed Sonic's story off for the 100th time. As Rias laughed, Sona had 2 black and white freeze-framed flashbacks to a blacked out figure grabbing something hung around his chest for some reason in the 1st flash, the 2nd one showed that same figure raising a gemstone up high…
"… ona?… Sona? Are you ok?" Now Rias saw the face Sona was making, which is an expression she rarely uses. Once Sona finally heard Rias' voice call her name, she reacted.
"Oh… forgive me. Just exhausted, I guess… That Hedgehog certainly gave us a run for our money." Sona said, pushing aside her shock for now and also making an excuse, which Rias bought into.
"Did he? He does that affect on people, I suppose." Rias said, completely oblivious to Sona's feelings. Sona gave Rias a bow before leaving, and turned around again to do so. She only took a few steps before she stopped again, only this time didn't turn around.
"And Rias…" she said, getting the Gremory Kings attention. Rias couldn't see this, but Sona's eyes were closed. "… don't ever give into him."
Rias, knowing exactly who she was talking about, narrowed her eyes. Not in an angry way, but a more of a determined or 'I promise' way. "… I never will." She said in a hard tone.
It was here Sona's eyes opened again. 'For your sake; I hope you don't…' she thought before then finally walking out of the gym this time.
XXX
POV - ORC and Sonic:
"KANPAI!"
Back at the ORC club that same night, the Devils and even Sonic celebrated their victory over Sona Sitri with drinks. "I'm very proud of all of you. You all worked so hard, and I couldn't ask for a better team." Rias thanked them.
"Yeah. I mostly just got knocked in the love spuds." Issei said.
"Sure you got nailed in the nads, but you did make these sweet headbands." Kiba said, complementing Issei's headbands he made.
"For real!" Akeno agreed.
"Yeah! I think they really brought our team together!" Asia praised him. Koneko even smiled and nodded at him, now the 3rd time she's shown a happy emotion.
"Thanks, man! I'd could just kiss you if I was into Gay Porn!" Issei thanked Kiba.
"Uh, yeah. Y-Your welcome." Kiba said with an embarrassed smile. Rias also gave a bright smile.
"Guess that means your proud of me too, eh?" Sonic's voice came from below Rias, making her blink and look down at him. He took a sip of his drink before answering again. "And don't think I didn't hear your concern as I sailed through the air that one time." He wiggled his finger. "Great to know I'm worth worrying over." He added, taking another sip. The others did realize this as well. Rias DID in fact show concern for Sonic, if only for a second.
While Rias was taken aback, she narrowed her eyes afterword. "No. Your right. I was concerned…" she began. "… concerned you'd be unable to participate in the game anymore, if you must know." She then denied any concern for him independently. "Through basic math, we needed one more Player and you were readily available. And with Issei out, you were our next viable option." Rias excused… even though Issei didn't get hit like that until AFTER Sonic did. "So yes, I was concerned for you… not ABOUT you. Next time, please try not to get these things twisted." She adamantly denied.
"Heh... Whatever ya say, Princess." Sonic said, taking the last sip of his drink.
"Now then, its time to get these two a couple of Familiars," Rias then said, referring to Issei and Asia. "Starting tomorrow, first thing in the morning, its off to Familiar Forest."
The gang cheered in agreement, and their celebration continued throughout the rest of the night.
XXX
POV - Sona:
At an undisclosed location at some kind of reception desk protected by a cage like you'd see in stores in cop films, a single man was sitting at this desk while leaning back in the chair snoring. He was also next to a door with a visible magic seal on it for some reason. It must have been a boring day. While this building did have a front door, a visitor came in via a magic circle… a familiar blue one.
The person to rise up from it was Sona Sitri herself in her normal stance. After taking in her surroundings and seeing she arrived where she wanted to be, she walked over to the snoring man. She sighed upon seeing his current state… how did he still have a job?
"Daiki." She said, Daiki being the mans name. There was no response aside from more snoring. "Daiki!" She called out a little louder. Still no response. She didn't normally do this, but she summoned a small glyph on one of her hands, where a small thread-like water stream came out akin to the Water Whip from that American anime about something called Airbenders; and with a small flick of her wrist, the water thread struck the man in the face. It wasn't painful, but it did have the desired affect…
"HA! Ha? Wa, WAAAAAH!"
CRASH!
Daiki crashed to the ground backwards in his chair. Sona put her hands back in their original position as he recovered using the desk as leverage. He also had his Devil wings out, which he most likely did on instinct since he fell. "Ha… between you and Diodora, I'm gonna die of a Heart Attack." Daiki said, holding himself up with two hands on his desk, also recalling his wings.
"Devils can't die from Heart Attacks." Sona simply said.
"Well I'm gonna be the first at this rate! Rather be infected with Sleep Disease!" Daiki snapped back. After both Devils looked at each other in silence for a bit, he spoke again in a nicer, yet still slightly annoyed tone. "Alright. What do you want?"
"Is the footage from Risers last Rating Game still available?" Sona asked, which got Daiki to look at her like she had two heads.
"What are talking about, of course its still available." Daiki said. "YOU were the referee for that game after all."
"That's exactly the point." Sona said, then she began to lose her composure a little bit. Was this REALLY a good idea now that she thought it over, or was this gonna be a waste of time? "I… I think I may have made a miscall during that game." She thought up on the spot.
"And your coming back to me now?" Daiki asked. "Even if you did, he won that game fair and square at the end, wiping out the entire team… son of a bitch got a hell of allot stronger…" he continued.
"I'd still like to check." Sona said.
"Check for WHAT?!" Daiki asked. "He's already gotten his rank increased, so unless he got the win from an outside force, the Higher-ups ain't gonna do shit!" He added. "… oh, and those families we ALL know he threw the matches for; he's been defeating them too, one-by-one." He added in a second later. "If you ask me, he's really taking the Rating Games more seriously."
Sona flinched. He beat those families… all of them?… But the Phenex Family was so close to them, hence the reason he held back those times when going against them. What was going on with Riser lately? It's like he was an even worse person to be around than usual.
"Daiki. If you may, I REALLY need to get back there. It's very important I review that footage." Sona insisited.
Daiki eyed her in silence for a few seconds… "This isn't you doing another favor for Rias again, is it?"
"No." Sona said sternly, though half-lied. Rias didn't ask her for anything this time, but the reason she came here was because of Rias.
"Listen; I can't keep doing this," Daiki said. "I have 3 wives and 4 kids… two from one of them!" He added, since Devils had low birthrates unlike other supernatural kind. They could literally do the deed the entire day, and that may only amount to a 10% successful pregnancy if they were lucky.
"Please." Sona said. "It's very important… It'll only take a minute…" she kept her tone stern, but it sounded like she was practically begging for entry. Daiki stared back at her again, not saying a word or doing anything…
Until he raised a hand, and summoned the same symbol of magic on the door to that hand. This in turn caused the seal on the door to faded away, indicating it was either safe to enter, or the door was unlocked (or both). "Make it quick." He said. Sona gave him a bow before heading to this door, with Daiki sitting back down in his seat.
The scene cuts to Sona in a special room, with cravings of magic circles on the walls for each Devil Family. The one Sona stopped at was the one that designated the Phenex Family. Raising her hand and flaring her magic symbol, the Phenex one on the wall also lit up, almost like she was logging into a computer.
What popped up in the Phenex Families symbol was a battle going in between 2 Devils, however that's not what Sona was looking for. Using her still active symbol again, this appeared to send the command of "Fastforward", which skimmed past a majority of the fight. She stopped it when a blond-haired man in a burgundy blazer was surrounded in all sides by the remaining members of the opposing team. They were throwing taunts at the blonde man but Sona tuned them out, watching carefully what was going on.
That's when she saw it. Just like her flashbacks from earlier, only this time in color, the figure she was watching reached for a necklace around his neck, though more specifically to what the necklace had hanging in front of his chest. With a sinister smile, he grabbed the object…
The footage fizzled, glitched, and paused; as if the file was corrupted. When it started playing normally again, the same man now had every member that previously surrounded him on their stomachs or backs. They disappeared in sparkles, as that was standard practice in Rating Games to teleport Pieces out of the battlefield and are treated accordingly, but the same man was holding a yellow gemstone up high in triumph before putting it away. He was declared the winner at that point.
Even when she saw this the first time around, she had no explanation. What would be the purpose of reaching for a necklace with a crystal in it? This wasn't the first time either, as this happened in other Rating Games according to reports when she wasn't the announcer. The Officials had just assumed this was some type of Sacred Gear, therefore nothing was ever done about this. It wasn't illegal to use Sacred Gears in Rating Games, so what could they charge him with?
However, this had only been happening with him for a few weeks… and strangely, around the same time a certain blue "Youkai" showed up out of nowhere at her school…
Sona honestly didn't know what to think. Even with her intelligent mind, her head was spinning trying to grasp all this. It all seemed like paranoia at first. But looking at it now; after revisiting something she couldn't explain before, along with the information she had just gotten from Rias regarding her new friend… the Sitri couldn't help but wonder:
Was that yellow stone… and the Blue Hedgehog… connected, somehow?…
Pretty big chapter, huh? Sonic helped out in the Dodgeball game, and now Issei and Asia can get their own Familiars. Did you catch all the references? Sure you did. We are so super close to the start of the moment you've all been waiting for, just hang in there a little bit longer. Off topic, I have a poll active on my profile for Date A Live, if anyone wants to answer for shits and giggles.
But because I'm so excited and confident for the future of this story, I'm gonna give you the next chapter name (you can make of it what you will):
Next Time - Chapter 25: Chaos in the Familiar Forest