Summary - What if Issei took Asia's death harder than normal? He takes becoming "The Ultimate Pawn" more seriously, earlier. He tones down his perversity, and stops playing the fool and puts his body through the wringer.

[talking], [Sacred Gear Spirits and Dragons], [Thinking]

I do not own Highschool DxD or any of the characters mentioned.

Story Start:

Issei is kneeling next to a blonde foreigner. She looks as if she's sleeping peacefully, but if you looked closer, you would notice that she is not breathing.

Asia... Issei thought. Not again! I've failed you. I promised I would save you, but I still can't do anything right. This is no different from back then! I'm not strong enough to do anything. How could I ever think that I could become the "Ultimate Pawn"?! tears are flowing freely from his eyes while a hand clenches at his heart.

"How touching. The low class devil fell for the Holy Maiden." a voice speaks out from behind him. Isseis eyes widen in anger and he slowly stands up. "What are you going to do now? You've lost. She's dead." the voice mocks him. "You can't stop me now. I'm invincble with my new Twilight Healing."

"Raynare.." Issei sneers out. His body shaking in rage. A red gauntlet appears on his left hand and spreads up to his elbow, the jewel on the back of his hand glowing brightly.

"I don't want some low class trash saying my name." She tells him arrogantly before manifesting a light spear. "Any last words?" Issei turns around and starts stalking towards her slowly swaying from side to side as if in a trance.

"Boost!" An eirie voice calls out and echos around the church making it impossible to pinpoint. Raynare looks around for whoever is speaking.

"Who's there? Come out so I can kill you as well!" She arrogantly yells. "Boost!" the voice calls out again. "Stop hiding!"

"Boost!" Raynare starts looking back and forth nervously not noticing Issei's aura increasing in strength. "Boost!"

"You took her from me. You killed Asia. I can never forgive you. She only wanted a friend. "Boost!" She just wanted to stop being lonely." Issei mutters barely able to be heard. ""Boost!" I'll kill you!" Issei roars out and gives a death glare to Raynare. "Boost! ~ Explosion!" Issei disappears from in from of Raynare making her eyes widen. Before she can move to defend herself, she feels a fist collide with her face. She smashes into the wall and slides down to the floor. As she is attempting to stand back up, she notices a foot coming at her before darkness floods her vision.

~Rias POV~

Dear Maou.. Is that really Issei?! Rias thinks while watching him repeatedly kick and punch and unconcious and bloody Raynare. "Issei! Stop! She can't even defend herself!" She calls out to him. He slowly turns away from Raynare to stare at Rias making her flinch from the lifeless sight of his eyes. "Reset!"

"Asia couldn't defend herself either." He states bluntly. He turns back to keep hitting Raynare.

"Koneko! Stop Issei!" A white blur tackles Issei and pins him to the floor. "Issei, I can save Asia, but you need to stop this!" his eyes snap to Rias' with hope.

"Please, Buchou! Save Asia, I beg of you! I'll do anything!" he pleads desperately. Rias nods and walks over to Raynare and wakes her up.

"Fallen Angel Raynare, this is the end. Do you have any last words?" Rias asks her arrogantly. Raynare stares at Issei in fear and shakes her head shakily. Rias forms a ball of destruction and makes her explode, leaving behind Asia's Twilight Healing. "Let's return this to the rightful owner." she walks towards Asia and slides the rings on her fingers and puts a Bishop piece on her chest.

"Asia Argento! In the name of Rias Gremory, I command you to be reborn! Return as my servant and live your life for me!" She chants. The Bishop fuses into Asia and her eyes slowly open.

"Is this heaven?" she asks softly looking around before spotting Issei. "Issei?! Did you die too?" she shouts out with tears coming to her eyes.

"No, Issei isn't dead, and neither are you. I revived you as a devil in my Peerage." Rias explains. "Let him up, Koneko." Issei runs to Asia and hugs her crying tears of joy.

"I'm so sorry Asia. I failed you, but I promise I will never fail you again!" Issei swears between his sobs. Asia smiles and rubs his back.

"You didn't fail me Issei, I'm here, so there's nothing to worry about!" she exclaims happily. Rias smiles fondly and leaves them to themselves.

~A Few Days Later~

The Occult Research clubs members besides Issei and Asia are meeting together.

"Is Issei going to be okay?" Akeno asks worriedly. Issei passed out earlier and was brought home to sleep. Asia is currently tending to his wounds.

"He'll be fine by tomorrow. He just overworked himself." Rias answered calmly. "How can we get him to tone it down though?"

"I don't think we can. He's put himself into his training as hard as he can. His workout is extreme." Kiba states. Issei has been running until he collapses every day, rests for a short while, and starts doing push ups, sit ups and pull ups until his arms give out before going back to running until he collapses again. He has been repeating this process over and over for six days straight. His only breaks in this are school, food and sleep. "He's even stopped peeking on the kendo club."

"Sempai is going to hurt himself." Koneko states while eating her sweets.

"Perhaps we should take Issei and Asia to get familiars to take his mind off of training for a while." Rias wonders aloud.

~Issei's Dream~

"I'm getting stronger but it's not enough! How can I protect Asia and the others if a little pain stops me?!" Issei berates himself. "I'm useless the way I am!"

"That you are Partner!" a deep voice booms out from nowhere.

"Who are you?!" Issei shouts out

"I am the spirit trapped in your Sacred Gear, Boosted Gear, Ddraig! The Red Dragon Emperor! The Sekiryuutei!" the voice booms proudly. "We can finally talk, you have grown stronger, but as you said, it is not enough. The White One will soon appear as well, and you are destined to fight each other!" Issei scoffs.

"I don't care about this "White One". I only want to be able to protect my friends." Issei says determined "What is the Boosted Gear though? I thought it was a Twice Critical?" he asks confused. Ddraig bursts out laughing.

"Foolish child! The Boosted Gear is a Longinus! It has the ability to match God if the user is strong enough! I am one of the Two Heavely Dragons!"

"Match a God? Does that mean if I master Boosted Gear that I can protect my friends?!"

"Easily Partner. The Longinus are the thirteen most powerful Sacred Gears in Existence!"

"Will you help me master your Boosted Gear then, Ddraig?"

"I will do what I can. But unless we find a powerful dragon willing to help you train, we may have slow progress. Only a dragon can train another dragon after all!"

"How would I go about finding a dragon?" he asks desperately.

"Hmmm.. I'm unsure what happened to Tanin, Fafnir, Midgardsomr and Yu-Long. Vritra was sealed after a rampage if my memories remain from my last hosts, and Tiamat hides herself out in the Familiar Forest. She hates me though, so she probably wouldn't help. We'll figure that out later though. For now you need to get stronger. Once you unlock Balance Breaker, the sealed state of a sacred gear, I will be able to help you more."

"How do I unlock Balance Breaker?"

"You must get a lot stronger! Once you get strong enough, a turning point in your life will release the seal holding you from Balance Breaker. But first, you must get stronger!"

"Then I will kick up my workout. I'm not pushing myself hard enough. I have to protect everyone!"

~The next day~

The ORC is watching Issei do his workout, which seems he made it even more insane. Right now he is running around the track with a boulder tied to his back.

"Issei! Come over here!" Rias calls out. Issei runs over to her and starts doing squats with the boulder still on his back, making Rias angry.

"What do you need, Buchou?" he asks her.

"Why are you pushing yourself so hard?!" She yells at him. "You're just going to end up hurting yourself!"

"I'm not strong enough! I need to get stronger! Ddraig said I'm nowhere near strong enough to unlock my Balance Breaker yet, so I can't slack off!" Rias' eyes widen.

"Balance Breaker? Who told you about that? And who is Ddraig?" Issei is still doing squats.

"Ddraig is the dragon in my sacred gear. He called himself the Sekiryuutei." Everyone in her peerage eyes widen.

"Your sacred gear is the Boosted Gear?!" Rias screams in shock. "No wonder it took all my pawns to revive you! How did I not realize this yet?!" she shakes her head to clear her thoughts "That's irrelevant! You're going to kill yourself with this workout of yours if you keep it up. Take a rest and relax some. We're all worried about you, Issei." everyones heads nod agreeing with her. "We're going to the Familiar Forest in a couple of days to get you and Asia a familiar. Just relax until after we get back, okay?" she begs him. Issei's eyes light up and a wide smile appears on his face.

"Familiar Forest you say? Great! There's someone there that I want to meet!" everyone looks confused and he turns to walk away. "I'll relax until after we get back because you asked, but then I'm going back to training!" he heads home after untying the boulder.

"Who do you think he wants to meet in the Familiar Forest, Rias?" Akeno asks.

"I'm not sure, hopefully he doesn't do something stupid though."

~Next Day - ORC~

The ORC are discussing about heading to the Familiar Forest the next day when the Student Council walks in.

"Hello, Rias and her peerage." the president calls out.

"Hello, Sona. What brings you here? We were just discussing going to the Familiar Forest tomorrow." Rias responds.

"That's unfortunate. I was planning on going tomorrow as well."

"Hmm, the familiar master only allows one peerage per month to go. So how shall we settle this?"

"Wait, Kaichou is a devil as well?" Issei asks. The blonde haired boy on the studen council scoffs.

"Shows what you know. Did you think you were the only devils in this school? I guess Rias doesn't trust you to let you know inside info." he says arrogantly.

"Be quiet, Saji. It's only natural he doesn't know yet, as he is still new to being a devil." Sona explains.

"This is Sona Sitri, the heir of the Sitri clan."

"I'm Saji Genshirou. Kaichou's Pawn." Saji states

"Oh, cool! I'm a pawn too!" Issei says excitedly. "Maybe we can get together and talk about how we can use our pieces to our advantage?"

"Tch, like I'd waste my time with you. I took up four pawns, you probably only took up one." he says mockingly.

"You wanna fight?!" Issei yells out at him.

"Let's do it!" Saji accepts.

"Stand down Saji, You can't beat him." Sona says calmly.

"Are you saying he's stronger than me, Kaichou?" he asks heatedly.

"Yes. Issei Hyoudou took up eight pawn pieces." she explains. "He also apparently does an insane workout while you are lazy."

"Eight?! Isn't that all of them? How is this pervert worth so many pawn pieces?" he asks flabbergasted.

"He is this generations Sekiryuutei. He wields the Longinus Boosted Gear."

"Anyways, can't you wait until next month to get familiars, Sona? I'd like to get Issei and Asia their familiars tomorrow." Rias asks politely.

"Why should I let you? I have older members of my peerage that have yet to get their familiars yet as well." she demands.

"Please, let us go tomorrow Kaichou! There's someone I need to find in the Familiar Forest!" Issei begs her. Sona looks at him confused.

"Who would you need to find in that forest? The forest is mainly full of monsters and beasts, not many that can make conversation."

"I'd like to know as well, Partner. I hope it's not who I think it is." Ddraig speaks up from Issei's left hand. Everyone looks at his hand in surprise.

"Ddraig? You can talk to me outside of my dreams?" Issei asked ignoring the question.

"You've become strong enough to contact me now, so we can converse at any time. Now who do you want to meet in that forest? You better not be talking about her, remember, she hates me. She is more likely to kill you than help you." Ddraig states confusing the others.

"If I don't try though, who knows when I'll have another chance?" Issei retorts.

"Do you have a death wish, Partner?!"

"Who are you talking about?" Rias asks.

"Tiamat." Ddraig answers shocking everyone present.

"You want to find the Chaos Karma Dragon?!" Rias screams out. "Why?!"

"Because Ddraig told me the only way I can get stronger is if I have a powerful dragon train me. Only a dragon can train another dragon. This might be my only chance to meet one for who knows how long."

"Your reason is to search for a Dragon King?" Sona asks incredulously. "Why does Tiamat hate you, Ddraig?"

"Uhm.. I'm not really sure. I forgot the reason."

"So can you allow us to go this month Kaichou? I'll do anything for you if you'll allow us to go tomorrow." Issei gets on his knees and begs. Sona takes off her glasses and rubs the bridge of her nose while sighing.

"Very well. I'll back off for now. But remember, you owe me." She says and leaves the ORC with the student council.

"Issei, I can't allow you to search out a Dragon King!" Rias exclaims.

"Please Buchou? I need the help of a dragon, this may be my only chance!" Issei begs. Rias chews on her thumb nervously while looking at the rest of her peerage.

"Issei.. We'll pay her a visit, but you will be respectful. She is the most powerful Dragon King, do NOT upset her." Issei nods and gets determined. I can't fail them anymore. I must get stronger!

~Familiar Forest - Next Day~

The members of the ORC are fidgeting nervously waiting for the Familiar Master to show up and lead them to Tiamat, while Issei is worrying about whether she will kill him flat out or help him.

"Hello young devils!" A voice calls out from a tree making them all look up. "I am Satooji from Madara Town, a devil-in training aiming to become the familiar master!"

This sounds familiar for some reason... Issei thought.

"Do you guys have any idea what kind of familiar you are looking for, or are you looking for recommendations?" Satooji asks. Rias steps forward and smiles.

"We would like you to lead us to where Tiamat is currently residing. Can you manage that?" she asks him. Satooji breaks out in a nervous sweat.

"The Chaos Karma Dragon, eh? I know where she resides, but are you sure? You still have much to live for after all." He responds.

"We're sure. We've tried talking Issei out of it, but he refuses to listen." Rias sighs.

"Very well, I'll show you where she resides, but you're on your own after that."

The group is currently standing outside of a massive cave deep inside of the forest. An overwhelming presence makes everyone break out in a cold sweat.

"Ddraig!" a voice roars out from inside of the cave "I told you that I never want to see your face again!" A massive blue western dragon walks out of the cave and looks around "Where are you?! Don't bother hiding, I can sense that you are here!"

"Tiamat, Ddraig is still sealed. I'm the current possesor of the Boosted Gear." Issei tells her politely. She looks down at him and narrows her eyes at her and then looks at Asia.

"So you brought a Dragon Tamer with you. Were you hoping that would save your life from me, vessel of Ddraig?" she asks confusing everyone present.

"Dragon Tamer? What do you mean, Tiamat?" Rias asks her.

"Don't play dumb with me girl. I can feel this girls aura, she feels like dragon fruit." she turns back to Issei and narrows her eyes. "Now what do you want, vessel of Ddraig? Answer me before I kill you."

"Tiamat, I've come to request your help. Ddraig told me that only a dragon can train another dragon. Is there anything I could do for you to help me become stronger?" Issei asks her. Tiamat growls at him.

"Ddraig! Did you really bring your host here hoping I would train him to defeat the White One?!" Tiamat roars out. "That fued between you two damned Heavely Dragons needs to end already!" Issei gets annoyed at her.

"I do not care about the White One!" Issei screams surprising Tiamat. "I don't even know who the White One is, and I don't care who it is either way!" Tiamat leans down face to face to Issei.

"Then why is it that you are here, child? What is your purpose of seeking me out?" She asks him "If I'm not satisfied with your reason, I will kill you! Now answer me!"

"Tiamat.." Ddraig tries to talk but gets cut off.

"Shut up, Ddraig! I'm talking to your host, not you!"

"I have sought you out because I need your help. I'm too weak, I can't protect my friends, I even got one killed because of my weakness." Issei drops to his knees and bows to her. "Please, I beg of you Tiamat! Help me become stronger. Torture me, assault me, tear my body apart. I don't care! Just please help me!" Tiamats eyes widen.

Issei.. Why are you killing yourself so much over what happened? Rias thinks sadly.

"Why do you bow to me, boy? A dragons pride is all that we have, yet you throw it away with such ease. Tell me why. Your natural instincts must be screaming at you."

"Because my pride is useless!" he answers surprising Tiamat again. "So far all that pride has gotten me is my friends hurt. If it means being able to help my friends, I'll gladly throw out any pride I have."

"For what reason should I help you, boy? You're the host of Ddraig, surely he warned you that I would kill you for that lone fact, correct?"

"He did warn me, but I don't care. If killing me will make you feel better, then go ahead. At least in death I won't bring harm to my friends." Issei states with no hesitation surprising everyone. Tiamat brings her hand up preparing to attack Issei.

"Wait! Tiamat, why is it that you hate Ddraig so much?" Rias asks her. Tiamat narrows her eyes at Rias.

"This has nothing to do with you girl. But if you must know, Ddraig killed my mate while he was fighting the White One before he got sealed." Tiamat snarls out. "Those two dragons don't care what they destroy or who they hurt, so long as they get to fight each other." Issei closes his eyes and sighs in defeat.

"It seems there will be no way for me to convince you to help me then. If it will satisfy you, feel free to take my life in exchance for your mates." Issei turns to the ORC group and smiles softly at them. "I'm sorry, it looks like I won't be able to protect any of you after all. I've broken my promise to you again, Asia." he turns around not noticing Asia and Rias crying. "Go ahead, Tiamat, but please allow my friends to leave safely afterwards."

He walks to his death and even asks for us to be spared... Sempai... Why do I have to be so afraid of myself?! Koneko cries out in her head clenching her fists.

"Tell me something first, child. What would you do if the White One appeared in front of you right now?" She asks Issei seriously.

"He'd fight!" Ddraig roars out. "It's in our blood to fight each other, nothing can stop that!"

"Shut the hell up Ddraig! You've ruined enough lives with that war between the two of you!" Tiamat roars at him before turning back to Issei. "Answer my question."

"It depends on what he or she did." Issei answered and Tiamat's eyes narrow. "If they threatens my friends, I will fight. If they want to be a friend, I will be their friend. Fighting just to hurt someone else? There's no reason in it. I said it before, the only thing that I want is to protect my friends. Nothing else." Tiamat bursts out laughing.

"Tell me your name, child!" she commands him.

"Issei Hyoudou!"

"Very well, Issei Hyoudou, I shall become your familiar and train you, but if you ever gain Ddraig's battle-mania, I will kill you where you stand!" Tiamat turns to a shell shocked Rias as her body starts shrinking. "Teach him how to form a familiar contract, girl." Tiamats voice becomes more feminine as her body turns into the form of a human. She now stands a few inches taller than Koneko and has deep blue hair and wearing a sky blue kimono. Her body is more developed than Asia's, but not by much. Her skin is smooth and has the impression of scales all over. She looks up in a tree and spots something. "Oh, a young sprite dragon? Usually they avoid my territory. You must have a lot of potential, Dragon Tamer."

Issei is going to have a fairly small harem in this story. It won't be built very fast, not all of the ORC club members will be a part of it, but some of them will.

With Tiamat training Issei long before he was supposed to be trained by Tanin, how much stronger will he become? When it comes to the underworld training with Tanin, he will have both of them training him in certain areas. Tiamat will mainly be training him in stamina and Lightning and Ice dragon magic. Issei won't become unstoppably powerful, but he will be a lot stronger than he is in Canon. Koneko watching Issei putting his life on the line to protect his friends is going to make her hate herself for being weak, which will make her willing to use her Nekomata abilities sooner as well. The others won't be affected as much until after the Rating Game with Raiser Phoenix.

The reason Sona backed off on the familiar forest so easily is so that Issei will owe her a favor. She's very smart, so she should know she may have use for the Sekiryuutei at some point.

Issei will become a Mid-Class Devil shortly after the Rating Game with Raiser Phoenix. I never understood why they waited so long to promote him in Canon. Sure there's politics, but Issei became one of the underworlds most popular characters in almost no time at all. There should have been no good reason not to promote him.

Current Harem: Tiamat, Asia, Koneko.

Rias will NOT be a part of his harem in this story. I like the RiasxIssei pairing, but it will not be a pairing in this story. My choices for his harem are going to be more around those who he inspires to become stronger to get over their fears, rather than those who just want to get stronger for different reasons.

Next chapter will be about Issei's training with Tiamat, and the events leading up to the Rating Game.