"Oh come now dear, I'm sure you're just being paranoid." Mrs. Hyoudou responded to her husband's comment, the four residents all sitting around the table.

On the TV was a repeat of the news broadcast of Justin Hammer's interview, getting a mix bag of reactions from the four occupants. While Issei and his mother were indifferent on the matter, neither knowing much about the man, his father appeared disturbed and cautious while Sam seemed to be thinking a hundred thoughts a minute.

"It still doesn't feel right, that man always has a motive. If he's setting up a factory in Kuoh, I don't doubt for a second it has something to do with Metal Knight." The man stated, pausing the broadcast with an annoyed sigh. "Just looking at him puts me on edge."

"Is he that bad dad?" Issei asked. "I mean, couldn't he just be putting a factory here because the crime sprees? Sam says a lot of companies are pulling out so wouldn't that make sense for him to make a move?"

"From a business stand point, yes Issei it does. But Justin doesn't think just on business. No, he's up to something and I pray that it isn't something that'll put this town in danger."

"Sam, what do you think on this?" Mrs. Hyoudou asked, noticing how quit Sam was as he stared down to his cereal.

"…Huh? Oh Hammer, yeah he's a real scumbag. Dad doesn't like him, he's really into weapons development all that jazz." The boy recited, his attention drawing off from his bowl for a second before looking back down.

To the parents, they came to the conclusion that Sam was simply bothered by the aspect of Hammer setting up in Kuoh, as HAMMER Industries and Ddeallus Corp. have a standing rivalry in the technological industry. Meanwhile Issei believed he was under the impression that Sam suspected that Hammer setting up shop could draw more criminals in, making Kuoh even more of a battle ground.

But all of them were wrong, as Sam was contemplating the deal he had made with the Devils in the middle of the night. He knew that in terms of funding they'd be vital, but he was well aware of the risks that would come with forming a "partnership" with literal Devils. Ones that he knew were keeping more than their fair share of secrets.

And to be truthful, he didn't even know where to start on his assumptions. With how they talked, it left the impression that everyone in the room were all Devils. However, Denica's energy readings were drastically different from any of them. And based on how their conversation before he was discovered, she seemed to carry a certain level of importance. And then came the final energy reading he picked up from the old school building, and how he never met who it belonged to.

'Who or what were they hiding? And why try to mislead me about Denica if we're already on thin ice in terms of trust?'

A knocking on the door interrupted Sam's thought, the whole family confused as they weren't expecting company today. "I'll get it." Sam sighed as he got up, figuring he could use the distraction until he and the others went out for bowling.

'Horrible distraction.' He would think as he opened the door, flinching in surprise as he saw who was on the other side.

"Samuel! Sammy! The Big S! How've ya been?" Justin spoke with enthusiasm as he moved in right away, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders in a half embrace. "God would you look at how much you've grown, two years and you've gotten so big."

"Justin?" Mr. Hyoudou spoke in shock as he was instantly up to his feet, seeing the businessman setting off his instincts.

"Gorou, as I live and breath, you don't look half as old as I was expecting you would!" Justin laughed as he kept his arm around Sam. "I must say, I'm a little surprised at the choice of residence you have. I would've expected with having good ol' Alex as a friend you'd be living it up in a five story mansion at the minimum."

"It's all we need and it's been good for raising Issei." Gorou responded, his gaze narrowing as he watched Justin walk in with Sam still held close. "What are you doing here?"

"Such hostility, is that how you treat a guest wishing to visit his friendly rival's son?" Justin asked before turning to Mrs. Hyoudou, giving a light bow as he did. "You're looking as radiant as ever, Sachiko."

"Always a pleasure, Justin." She smiled in response, being a respectful hostess for the man.

"And you're…" Justin started to hum as he looked to Issei, thinking hard to remember the boy's name. "…Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn… Isaiah?"

"Issei."

"Right, right, sorry I've had a lot of paper work today and the last time I saw you were about… Gorou when was the last time I met your kid again?"

"Skip the casual chat Justin, what are you here for?" Gorou responded, keeping a measuring gaze on the man as he kept a hold on Sam.

"Always the suspicious one, you could help to loosen up a bit. I just wanted to see good little Samuel since I was in the neighborhood. My new factory is going to be built on the edge of town and since it's my first one in Japan I'd figure a public appearance would do swell to show I'm concerned for this country's affairs."

"Uh huh, and how about the real reason this time?"

"Gorou, I am ashamed to know you think so little of me and am insulted at the… pfft! Okay I'm sorry I couldn't help it!" Justin then began to laugh as he was "caught red handed," stepping away from Sam to look to the boy. "Truthfully, I wanted to talk to Samuel about this Metal Knight caricature that's shown up."

The mention of his alter ego caused both Sam and Issei's mouths to go dry. It was one thing to talk about the hero identity among friends and other students, who was going to be able to put the dots together? But dealing with a multi-billion company business owner, one with a reputation as muddy as Justin Hammer? They'd be lucky if they didn't give it away right away.

"You must be kidding me right now Justin." Gorou shook his head as he walked up to the man, stepping between him and Sam. "Sam has been focusing hard on his schoolwork and personal research. He works in his father's old shed here, how could he even know anything about Metal Knight?"

That response allowed the two to breathe easy, however the former had to contain himself more as he was still in sight of Justin, the man being sure that his stare was on the boy.

"All I'm saying is he has a power source at the same place that Sam's little trinket is, I'm not claiming anything too big." He responded. "All I wanted to ask was if Sam suspected if Metal Knight's suit was powered by a reactor similar to his. Scout's honor."

"You weren't a boy scout."

"Damn, saw through that too huh?"

"I don't know." Sam spoke up, getting the two's attention as he stared back at Justin. "I have no idea what power's Metal Knight's suit. I do know there have been several attempts at making an arc reactor similar in scope to mine, but each attempt either fails or blows up. It's possible he created one, but I wouldn't even be able to guess if it's identical to mine or different in some way."

"Oh come now, there must be something you know? The arc reactor is a Ddeallus original, there must be some kind of connection."

"If you're looking for that, you'll have to ask my dad." Sam answered; walking past Justin and grabbing his bag and glasses. "Come on Ise, we're going to be late for bowling."

"Y-Yeah, I almost forgot." Issei stuttered as he grabbed his own bag and got up, following after Sam as he walked out. "That was close…"

"That won't be the last time we'll see him." Sam responded as he put his glasses on, the data feeding in instantly. "We're going to have to work on our acting skills more. Justin won't fall for our normal topic dodges like everyone else."

"You don't think he'd actually know, do you?"

"If he doesn't already, he's going to be persistent in figuring it out." He'd say, before sighing and patting Issei's shoulder. "But let's not focus on that right now, I finally have a day off not induced by an injury and a day to completely smoke all of you in a sport."

"Pft, you wish!" Issei grinned. "You've never gone bowling before, you might be a natural at a lot of stuff, but we have you beat here."

"Wooooohooooooooo!" Haia cheered as she swung high into the air, letting go of her web to fling herself even higher. She was wearing the suit that Sam had made for her, and she saw no better test than to let herself go and swing around town without anyone else to ruin the moment.

As she reached the arc of her jump, she simply closed her eyes in peace and allowed herself to start falling. The suit fit so well, she couldn't even tell that she was wearing anything; the wind tickling her skin. When she was coming close to the ground, her eyes snapped to attention and she fired another line of web, pulling herself forward and back up.

Seeing a decent sized building come up, she directed herself to swing up and land on her feet, running up the building with passion before reaching the top and flipping forward. Landing on the roof, the girl couldn't help but cheer in satisfaction, looking out to Kuoh before sighing in content.

"Even the town looks clearer with these…" She'd say to herself, flicking her right eyepiece, calibrating it for a second before it returned to normal.

As much as he annoyed her, Haia had to admit that Sam knew what he was doing when he made her suit. Aside from how comfortable the suit was, the added belt made it easier to carry more of her web fluids, and the cartridges were smaller than her old ones but seemed to somehow contain more. The visors he put into her mask were also leagues above what she had before. Her original pair would only dampen her eyesight to allow her to see normally; but the new ones completely changed up her vision, giving her perfect vision. She hadn't gotten to test any of the features on her web shooters, but what she had experienced so far was beyond what she was hoping for.

"The privileges of being a genius son of a billionaire." She spoke quietly as she sat down, looking down to Kuoh's streets before she heard a ringing in her mask, groaning as she saw a picture of Sam pop up.

'And the one downside…' She thought, remembering the implanted communicator. Nothing she didn't expect, but it now meant he had a way of calling and tracking her wherever she was.

"Hey there spider girl, how's the new suit working for you?" Sam asked.

"Great, actually. You managed to make a suit that isn't several tons of metal." She responded, getting a chuckle from the boy.

"Before I learned to build machines, I learned how to stitch holes in my clothes. Good to know I have a future in making hero suits though, that'll look good on any resume."

"Very funny, where are you anyways?" She asked back. "Not that I mind the time away from you, but it's a surprise you aren't flying around in your shinny new suit."

"Not really shinny anymore…" He muttered before continuing. "Besides, I promised Ise that I'd treat him and the others to a couple games of bowling and pizza. So I probably won't be out for patrol today."

"What about later? I can't imagine you all hanging out for the entire day."

"I recently got a call from an… acquaintance. I'll be busy tonight as well so I wouldn't figure I'd be free for the entire day. It's been quiet for the past couple days, so I think you'll be fine on your own."

"Just making sure you're not slacking on your responsibilities. We're heroes now, we have a duty to always be ready for when criminals show up."

"Well don't worry, I'm already in the process of designing my third suit, I'm also laying out the ground works for the fourth and even a special remote control system. So even if I'm caught out of the lab, I'll be able to control my suit and bring it to the battle."

"Has anyone ever told you that you are a complete over…" Haia started to trail off as she looked down, seeing what appeared to be a couple men covered head to toe in black move into a store.

"Haia, lose connection? Hey mommy long legs, you still there?"

"I'm going to have to call you back." She said as she cut their connection, standing up and readying her web shooters. "Looks like I get a real chance to test this-" She then paused as she saw another figure move behind the store.

"Another one?" She questioned as her lenses zoomed in on the figure. "What is he doing back there?" She'd say before seeing him lose his shoe, getting a moment of panic from him as he goes down to grab it and put it on while moving. This paired action caused him to hit one of the trashcans in the alley, getting him to fall over, getting another series of panic from him.

"…I think he'll just handle himself." She said before firing a web, swinging over to the building and landing on the side. "Okay Haia, time to work for a living."

Crawling down the wall, she made sure to check through the window just barely, being able to count the six goons in the shop. When one was about to look to her, she quickly hid her face, going through her thoughts to recall that five had handguns and the last with what she thought was some kind of rifle.

'The store's small, so if I can catch them off guard and move quick enough I should be able to disarm all of them instantly.' She then looked to her wrist, swiping across a mechanism to change the web type. 'If I can get their guns jammed right away, I wont have to worry about anyone else getting-'

"Stop right there!" Just as she heard the voice, Haia's senses spiked and she looked back in, her eyes and visors widening as she saw another person enter through the back entrance.

It was clearly who had been in the back before, and taking a better look she could actually tell what he was wearing. Putting it simply, her disgrace of a suit looked a hundred times better than what the person had, which just seemed to be a tattered set of cloth sewn together as a suit. He had on some kind of gas mask, using it likely as a way to conceal himself; barely doing so as the back of his head was visible.

'Oh this isn't good.'

"What is this?" The man with the rifle asked, motioning to the guy while looking to the storeowner. "You got some nutjob employee or something?"

"N-N-No, no! I haven't seen him before!" The woman responded, shaking her head in fear as she was still held at gunpoint.

"If you know what's… ehem!" The suited individual was clearly a boy, not even an adult as clear by the sound of his voice before he coughed, trying to make it deeper. "If you know what's good for you, you'll surrender now."

"Seriously? That's the best you got?"

"Hey I… I mean it." The boy managed to catch himself before he lost his deepened tone, making him appear even more childish. "If you don't put your guns down I'll…"

"You'll what?"

"I'll hurt you, bad." He warned, getting a round of chuckles from the armed men.

"This is just sad, someone just shoot him and get it over with." The head goon said, getting one of the others point their pistol at him.

"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you." The boy said as he crouched down, placing a hand on the ground. The subtle traces of electricity then jumped across his body, transferring to his legs and just as the goon was about to fire, he shocked the entire room as he lunged out at blinding speed.

The man wasn't able to react before the boy hit him shoulder first, using him to stop himself and send him crashing through the window, skipping across the road before slamming into the side of a park car.

Everyone, even the boy seemed surprised at the result as they all stared out the window. Haia herself was even staring in astonishment at both the speed and impact from the blow, the split second reaction having caught her off guard.

"Uuuugggghhh…" The man groaned on the street, attempting to get up before collapsing back onto the ground.

"Oh thank god, he didn't die." The boy sighed, his eyes widening when he felt the barrel of a pistol get held against his head.

"Great, another freak in town!" One of the men shouted, getting caught as Haia jumped onto the ground and fired a single shot web, covering the gun and stopping the bullet from leaving the barrel. "Ah, son of a-!"

"Language!" The boy shouted, kicking out and sending the man crashing into a row of shelves, knocking over the contents as he collapsed to the ground. He then ducked as the rifleman fired a burst at him, missing as he sprinted off to the back of the store and hitting into the wall, hitting it hard enough to bounce off it and fall on his back. "Oh man… that's going to leave a bruise…'

"Ah screw this, a couple hundred bucks isn't worth fighting a bunch of freaks in suits!" The man shouted as he aimed at Haia, the girl lunging through the glass and rolling across the floor over her shoulder to dodge a spay of bullets, firing a set of web shots at the goons and toppoling one by hitting his feet.

As she rolled up to her feet, she kicked out and knocked the goon fully to the ground, using him as a springboard to land on the ceiling and quickly crawl towards the pair of goons with pistols. "You know I always wondered why crooks always went with such generic outfits." She'd say as she jumped down, landing between them.

The first one attempted to swipe her with his pistol, but as she ducked down did nothing more than strike his partner, getting a scream of pain from him before getting shot by several webs and kicked hard by Haia. When he landed on the ground he completely stuck down, unable to fight against the webbing that held him.

"Stick around, this won't be long." Haia joked before turning to the goon that was hit, his nose bloody as he aimed his gun at her. "That doesn't look good, here." Before he could fire, she shot a quick web at his face, completely covering his head and blinding him. She grabbed his arm with the gun and forced him to drop it, kicking the back of his leg to trip him before throwing him over her shoulder onto the ground.

A quick flurry of webs would then trap him onto the ground, getting a hidden smirk from Haia as she stood straight up. "Anyone else?" Her skin then crawled as she turned to the last goon, the rifleman, as he freed himself from her initial webbing and aimed his rifle at her.

"Forgot about me, bitch!"

"Ah crap." She groaned before rolling away behind a set of shelves, the bullets just missing her as she took cover.

"Damn it, this can't be happening!" The man grunted as he reloaded his rifle, turning to the woman behind the counter. "You think you're something of a hero freak? Well can you even save a single woman!?"

"No, please!"

"Don't!" Haia shouted as she sprung out from her cover, firing a web as he pulled the trigger. Haia's heart stopped as she could almost follow the bullets as they flew towards the woman.

Time then seemed to slow to a crawl as the bullets were about to reach her. In what could only be summarized as a blink, the boy in the tattered cloth ran out from his cover towards the woman, the bolts of electricity dancing around his entire body as he ran for her.

He then wrapped his arms around her and put himself around her like a shield, his back to the bullets as they reached him. The man and Haia were both then surprised as the bullets just bounced off his back like they were hitting a wall of steel.

Before the man could finish unloading his magazine into him though, Haia's web struck his gun and knocked him aim to the ground, setting her back into hero mode and lunged out to him. He didn't even have a chance to react as she kicked him hard in his side, knocking him into the wall. Before he could even fall she set her webs back to normal and fired several lines of webbing, nearly cocooning him and sticking him to the wall.

"You're lucky I know restraint." She stated as he blacked out, turning to the boy and woman right after. "Ma'am, are you okay?"

"Y-Yes, I'm fine." She said as the boy let her go, taking a few steps back to collect herself. "Thank you for showing up."

"It's what a hero does." She'd say in return before turning to the boy. "What about you? Did you get hurt?"

"No way, you're really Arachnid!" He responded instead, sounding excited and dropping his deep voice. "Man I knew you were good after that monster, but you practically took all those guys out in ten seconds flat! And I thought I could go fast but that was something else! Is that a new suit, it looks awes-"

The boy then saw the visor on her mask narrow, giving him a foreboding suspicion that she was glaring at him. "I-I-I mean I'm fine. Nothing really hurts or anything like that."

"Good, that means you can follow through with what comes next?"

"What?"

"Why are we doing this?" The boy whined as he was sweeping glass away with a broom, Haia moving a set of shelves back into place after they were knocked over.

"Because we caused the damage, and since most of the work is manageable we should be the ones to deal with it." Haia answered.

"But we stopped the criminals…"

"And likely caused more damage than they could've." She stated, motioning to the window with her thumb. "I doubt they would've actually done that much if you hadn't acted as rashly as you did."

"Y-You didn't have to clean up." The storeowner said, watching the two. "My insurance can cover this, and the police already took them away. You don't have to stay."

"We caused this mess, it's only right we clean it up." Haia said, moving over to another shelf to fix it. "We should've exercised more restraint than we did, and it isn't right that we leave you by yourself to clean this."

"Th-thank you."

It the took the two roughly an hour to properly clean up and set everything back the best they could, and once they were done they quickly left the scene. As soon as they felt they were a good enough distance away, they met in a back alley on the outskirts of town.

"That was reckless and unnecessary of you." Haia said as she hung onto the side of a wall, looking down to the boy as he sat on a dumpster. "You could've gotten yourself and the woman hurt."

"I'm sorry, I just… I wanted to help."

"And that's good, but throwing yourself out there and putting others in danger isn't the way to do it."

"I know, it was stupid and I didn't think it through. I just didn't know what to do." He sighed as he took his mask off, barely able to breath with it on. "But after what happened the past couple days I just couldn't help it. Seeing you and Metal Knight going around helping people made me want to… I wanted to do the same. I have my own gifts, so why not?"

"Did… did you just…" Haia seemed completely caught off guard, confusing the boy before he remembered he just took his mask off.

"Oh, ummmm…" The boy was revealed to be Connor, the student looking like a deer caught in headlights as he and Haia stared at each other in silence. "Please don't tell anyone!"

"You seriously took your mask off…" She sighed, rubbing her forehead as she stood on the wall, now pacing on it. "Go figure, first Metal Knight and now Connor's got powers too? What's next, the freaking pervert has some sort of hidden power in him!?"

"Ummm…"

"I mean I had enough to deal with when it was him, now I got another mess that I have to work on and he decides that today was his freaking day off! Yeah, it just had to be today! Go-FREAKING-me!" The girl would rant, barely containing her full anger before stopping, taking a long calming breath as she looked over to Connor.

"No no, I can handle this. Just… relax." She'd say as she sighed, putting a cap on her anger before speaking clearly. "Okay Connor, first things first, I'm going to need to understand what exactly makes you… you?"

"Okay… what do you mean by that?"

"Your power, what is it you do exactly?" She stated. "Are you a mutant? Did you get implants to boost yourself or what?"

"Oh, a weird bodiless spirit gave me my powers." Connor answered, saying it in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I'm done." Haia said as she began to walk up the wall.

"W-Wait! I'm being serious!" Connor called out, getting Haia to stop just short of the roof. "I don't know what gave me my powers, the spirit didn't remain for long enough to explain anything other than that it will judge me at some point!"

"You realize a spirit sounds completely insane, right?"

"Well, how did you get your powers?"

.

.

.

A subtle silence went over the two, as Haia seemed to compare their different origins in getting their powers. Granted hers has some actual ground, given the fact she was bitten by a spider that was genetically engineered. But to her admission, it doesn't make sense that the genetic alterations improved her rather than completely scramble her own DNA.

"Arachnid?"

"Fine, fine, okay, I'll go with your whole spirit thing." She responded, relenting and walking back down the wall onto the ground. "It's insane, but I guess if you can't explain everything that means you can't possible be making it up from scratch. Are you able to at least explain what your powers are?"

"Oh yeah, that's a lot easier!" Connor responded. "See, at first the spirit didn't tell me at all what I was able to do, so I kinda just thought it was a random dream. But then one day I thought about how cool it would be if it was real, and if I could run super fast or be incredibly strong. And then one day it just sort of… clicked!"

"I don't need the origin process, can you just explain what it is?"

"Oh, right got distracted. Well basically, if I think really hard on a certain aspect of myself, I can improve or alter it." Connor explained. "I like to call it Belief. If I think that I can run fast, I can suddenly do it. Or if I think of being super strong, I can hit hard and take serious hits. There's probably a lot more but I can't even think on what I can do, it's kinda, A LOT of stuff to go over that sometimes I forget and only remember the moment I need it or the idea just comes to mind. It's a really cool and unique power, if it has an issue or two with my thinking, but overall it's almost the perfect power."

"Almost? An all in one power seems like the perfect power to me." Haia admitted, finding the power extremely useful, he'd be a top tier threat if he was a villain and could rise to the ranks of legends if he used it right.

"Yeah, but there are limitations that I've noticed." Connor stated, looking down to his hand. "I can't make changes that aren't possible to the human body. So I can only make simple changes, I can't change myself to be made of metal or energy or anything cool like that. Then there's the mental lag I suffer because of it."

"Mental lag?"

"Yeah, at least that's what I think it is. See when I activate my powers, my mind sort of locks a certain level of focus on it. If I increase my speed too much, I can't react in time for turns or something else like that."

"That would explain you hitting the wall."

"Yeah… so what are we going to do now?"

"Well… for starters I can't exactly just leave you to your own devices." Haia stated, walking next to him and sitting on the dumpster. "I mean I thought I was green, but you make me look like I've been doing this for years. So it's best we put you through a proper rundown of being a hero."

"Yes!"

"Rule one: keep your mask on." Connor nearly snapped his neck when he moved to put his mask back on, getting a humored chuckle from her. "Rule two: only use your powers if you're confident that you can use it without putting others in danger."

"Wait, does that mean we're going to…?"

"The past few days haven't been too bad, if it stays that way we can get a few hours of training in for you today. After that, we can get Metal Knight to add in his own input… and maybe something that actually fits you." Haia added as she stood up, pinching Connor's tattered suit.

"What's wrong with this suit?"

"Aside from the fact it looks like you went to the nearest costume shop for Halloween?"

"It was on sale, it seemed like a good idea."

"My point exactly." Haia sighed.

'I bet Ddeallus never has to deal with something this stupid.'

"So if I'm getting this straight; you're telling me you can transform anyone, and I mean ANYONE, into a Devil with… chess pieces?" Sam asked as he walked alongside Rias and her Peerage, the group walking through the woods to investigate an anomaly reported by the Gremory clan's Archbishop.

"They're more than just chess pieces, they're conduits with Devil magic and DNA flowing through them." Rias corrected. "We refer to them as Evil Pieces, they take different effects based on the ones you use. The Bishop piece in your hand can enhance the magic capability of whomever it is used on."

"So not only do you scramble the DNA of a person, you directly alter their biological limiters to produce an artificial Devil?"

"We refer to them as Reincarnated Devils, it doesn't make them seem like tools as calling them artificial would."

"Same end result." He'd say, tossing the Evil Piece to the redhead, who caught it and placed it into her skirt pocket. "Book keeping aside, what exactly did your Archbishop send us here for? Cause I'm not gonna lie…" He'd say, looking around to the darkened forest, the moon barely breaking through the leaves as it shined. "This feels like a horror movie waiting to happen."

"There's word going around that a Stray Devil has made an appearance near the edge of Kuoh." Akeno explained. "As the residential overseers of the town, it's our responsibility to deal with them."

"So we're here to kill them, that's what you're saying."

"You fought one Sam, you know what they can do." Rias responded. "Stray Devils cast aside everything for the sake of power. They're shells, with no desire outside of sustaining themselves."

"I don't believe that, but I don't suspect I'll change your mind." Sam spoke, shaking his head as he looked ahead. "So it's just go in, take care of it, come out and we're done?"

"I'd figure it'd be the best time to demonstrate how the Evil Pieces affect my servants, a sign of faith that we're willing to go through with our deal."

"Whatever you say."

"…It's coming." Koneko spoke up, the girl's nose twitching as she picked up a rouge scent. "…Blood, scales, and traces of corruption."

"Quite the nose you got there." Sam commented as his glasses HUD just informed him of an anomaly, the magic of the Stray registering with his updated system. "About a hundred meters, coming from our northwest."

"Stay behind us for this." Yumi said as she stepped in front of Sam, unsheathing her sword as she did. "Without your suit, you're completely outmatched by it."

"Don't need to tell me twice." Sam responded, taking several steps back with his hands up in mock surrender. While it was foolish to come without his suit, Sam knew that if he left with it Issei would check the lab the moment he saw he wasn't home. And if he saw this from the console, there'd be no way he could keep the Hyoudous out of this world. And if he couldn't do that, protecting them might as well be a pipe dream.

He did however keep his HUD up for the purpose of documenting everything he could. Any bit of information he could get from this expedition would be vital for his chances of fighting against Stray Devils and any other potential supernatural thereat that might come in the unforeseeable future.

"Ahhhh, what's this?" Sam then shivered as he heard a twisted yet harmonious voice, the tone laced with deceit that promised a true freak that possessed the voice. "Such a unique set of smells before me. None quite like I've smelled before. I can't put a taste to some of them~. Some sweet, some bitter, so many options from my previous meals~"

'This is a lot different.' Sam said, noting that the Stray sounded more focused on the tastes involved of them then the previous. He knew it had left the intention to eat him in the air, but it was certainly more focused on killing him and Haia rather than eating him. This one sounded hungry, starving if he didn't know any better.

"It's moving around us, I can't tell who it's focusing on but it's watching all of us." Sam stated, his HUD tracking the Stray's signal as it circled around them. He couldn't hear any footsteps, but he swore it was moving swiftly.

"Oh, a human's scent?" Sam's movements paused as the Stray singled him out. "To think one would bring itself out so far from the town. It's been so long since I've had one of you for a meal. And one so fresh, the last one had been far too gristly to enjoy. Perhaps you'll be better!"

His motion sensor went crazy as the Stray Devil moved rapidly, Sam turning in time to see the mutated being approach. But as he saw the creature right in front of him, it's face contorted as a fist struck it, the boy not even registering he was pulled out of Koneko's way.

"It figures a beast would attempt to go after the weak link." Yumi said, having kept Sam on his feet after grabbing him. "Good timing Koneko."

"…Thanks." The white haired girl would say, rolling her wrist as the Devil was sent crashing into one of the surrounding trees.

"N-Nice save." Sam said as Yumi released him, allowing him to stand on his own to regain his footing.

"Bitch, you dare strike against me!? A disgusting thing like you!?" The Stray would hiss as it scrambled upwards, the human able to get a good look at it. The Stray was similarly covered in scales as the last one he fought, however unlike that one this one was much more human in shape from its waist up. The Stray appeared almost that of a lamia in old mythology excluding the twin snakes that acted as its arms.

"That's rather rich coming from a creature who eats humans." Yumi would respond, keeping her hand on her sword as she took a step towards the Stray.

"I don't want to hear that from you, bitch tits!"

"Are they normally like this or is this an anomaly?" Sam asked as he looked back to Rias. He knew a mutated Stray would be violent, but this one's much more vulgar than the one he fought.

"It often depends on the Devil before it mutates." Rias answered. "It's why you cannot give them any ground, the ones that go Stray are the worst of the worst, and Seluna is no acceptation to this." The redhead would then step past Koneko, standing tall before the Stray Devil with determination in her eyes.

"Seluna, you are accused of having betrayed your master and attempted to slay her with two of your fellow Pieces being murdered. What could you say to defend yourself?"

"What is there to defend for? The slut had no right to order me around and the two idiots made their choice to die for her. She couldn't contain my power and was always jealous of me, I deserved my freedom from such a worthless master!"

"Then you will fall for the slaughter of your comrades and the attempted murder of your master. I, Rias Gremory, will see to your punishment and destruction! You're wrath ends here!" Rias announced, pointing to the Stray Devil with added flare as she placed a hand on her hip.

"A Gremory huh? I bet you'll make a delicious treat then!" The Stray hissed as she suddenly lunged forward, her jaw opening wide as her eyes glowed red. "You'll make a good appetizer for the human!"

"Kiba, if you would."

"Of course, Buchou." The blonde would simply say, her thumb pushing her sword out of her sheath for a second before she vanished from Sam's sight.

"G-GGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Before he could even blink, Sam was caught off guard as one of the Stray's snake arms was cleaved off, a geyser of blood shooting out from the wound. And across from her, slowly turning around with her sword fully out and clean of any blood was Yumi.

'She's even faster than when we…'

"Kiba is my Knight, with the piece infused with her she has a massive increase to her speed. She's excelled at using this to preform a single, clean attack to prevent a retaliation from Stray Devils." Rias explained, seeing Sam's shocked expression. "Most humans would struggle to even see her outline when she lets loose, only trained eyes can follow a Knight's full speed."

"You fucking bitch!" The Stray screamed in rage, turning to Yumi with blood red eyes. "I'll rip you to bloody shreds for cutting my arm off! They won't find anything left of you after I-geh!?" Before the Stray could even move, it was stopped when Koneko grabbed it's tail, keeping it in place without any effort.

"…You're too loud."

"So what, you fucking scrawny brat!? A pest like you doesn't matter to me-grah!" The Stray wasn't able to finish as Koneko lifted her arms up and flung her up, bringing her down for a heavy slam that cracked the ground all around them.

"…Shut up."

"Koneko is my Rook: her strength and defenses are increased dramatically. She may not look it, but she's the physically strongest of my entire Peerage, myself included." Rias detailed, Koneko looking down to the Stray with her neutral fury.

"…Already dead?"

"You wish skank!" The Stray flung its head up and opened it's mouth, a greenish liquid escaping from its fangs.

The Rook would jump back, avoiding the liquid from touching her directly as she landed next to her master and Sam. However, the top of her uniform was slowly corroding away, her stripped bra being revealed as a result.

"Are you okay Koneko?" Rias asked, looking to the girl in concern as she remained crouched down.

"…I'm fine." Koneko answered, looking down to the dissolving acid of the ground. "…Shirt's ruined."

"Um, here." Sam would say awkwardly, handing the middle schooler his jacket. "It isn't the right size, but it's probably better than nothing right?"

"…Thanks." The girl simply said, taking the jacket and putting it on, not bothering to worry about how big it was on her when she zipped it up.

"Are you ignoring me!?" The Stray screeched. "I'm still here, and I won't stop until I've ripped and eaten each and every-!"

"Akeno."

"Ara Ara, my turn to play." A bolt of lightning struck the Stray before it could finish, the impact great enough to send the beast through a tree and nearly shatter the next behind it.

"Will you sluts stop interrupting my every senten-GRAH!" A second lightning bolt interrupted the Stray, courtesy of Akeno as the girl slowly walked towards the beast.

"That's a rather foul mouth you have, and talking about my friends and kouhai in such a fashion no less. I shall give you a proper punishment for speaking in such a way." Akeno would say, a disturbing smile on her face as she looked to the Stray.

"Lightning? She uses lightning… I'm suddenly extremely glad my bluff worked." Sam muttered, getting Rias to turn to him.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, just realizing I dodged the worst cardiac arrest in human history." He'd say, imagining the damage that could've been done to his heart should Akeno have fired a direct shot of her magic at his chest upon their confrontation last night.

"…Found the ultimatum."

"That is too big of a word for a middle schooler."

"G-GGAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Th Stray's screams of pain brought Sam's attention back to the scene, his eyes widening in shock as he saw Akeno deliver bolt after bolt of lightning on the Stray, not even giving it a chance to get up.

"Back to where I was, the final piece of mine is Akeno. She is my Queen, my most trusted servant and most powerful. The Queen Piece takes the powers of the Rook, Knight and Bishop, boosting all of her abilities to the extent she's near my equal." After the twentieth blast of lightning, Rias would look directly back to Sam with a condescending smile. "She also has a bit of a sadist streak to her, enjoying the pain she delivers on others."

"Yeah… I think I noticed." Sam said awkwardly, looking to the side to avoid staring at Rias and Akeno, the latter of the two with bright red cheeks as she breathed with excitement.

"You don't need to worry, she's much more gentle with our allies than our enemies."

"Considering she was aiming a bolt of lightning at me last night, that does not make me feel too much better."

"She knew not to hit you directly in the chest, we wouldn't want your heart exploding." Rias promised, looking back to Akeno, the Queen panting more as she looked down to the damaged Stray Devil. "Okay Akeno, that is enough."

"Aw, over so soon?" Akeno sighed as she placed a hand on her cheek. "I suppose it can't be helped. Thank you for the fun while it lasted."

"Ghhh… Fucking bitch…" The Stray grunted, attempting to push herself up, only to fall back down as dozens of burn scars decorated her scales.

"So then, any last words?" Rias would ask, approaching the Stray and stopping just in front of it.

"Go… fuck yourself… whore daughter of Gremory." The Stray would spit, the acid just missing Rias as she remained unflinching.

"Very well then, turn to ash!" Rias would hold her hand out, a bright red glyph forming. Sam's energy readings than skyrocketed as her energy exploded out in the form of black and red magic. The magic didn't even pause as it enveloped the Stray; the resulting explosion completely eviscerated the beast.

The small burst of magic went away shortly after the explosion, dust settling as the red haired Devil stared down where the Stray once was. Her expression was of accomplishment, seeing the destruction of the Stray Devil as a successful operation.

"So Samuel, what do you think of our capabilities?" Rias would ask, turning back to the human.

"Aside from you're unnecessary amount of force and killing a defenseless opponent? I'm certainly glad I'm not on the other hand of that volatile energy you have." Sam answered, letting his distain for the death of the Stray Devil.

"I realize you still dislike our methods, but you must understand that creatures like Seluna would not hesitate to kill any one of us. Even those who don't do anything." Rias then quickly raised her hand and fired a single blast of her magic, Sam flinching in shock at attack. The magic just missed him, exploding behind him and getting him to turn and see the snake limb that was cut off get eviscerated.

"A Stray isn't dead until every source of conscious is killed. When a limb separates, it develops a conscious. So remember dismemberment isn't a recommended way to cripple them."

"…Noted." Sam said, looking at the ashes that were once the limb. "Well this was… well I'd say enlightening but, well you're Devils. So let's go with informative."

"Do you have any more questions for us for the night?"

"Nothing that can't wait." He shrugged, taking his glasses off and putting them in his pocket. "I've taken up enough of your girls' time, I should be getting back to the Hyoudou's before Ise wises up and sees I'm not home."

"Of course." Rias would nod before looking to Yumi. "Kiba, would you escort him back? No other Strays have been reported but it's better safe than sorry."

"Of course Buchou."

'Great, guess I'm skipping the lab then.' Sam thought to himself.

"List algorithm completed sir." AVAN would say, a tier list appearing on Sam's phone as he laid down in bed.

"Good, now then let's get to work on this." Sam would tap on the screen, pulling up pictures of all of the labeled students in Kuoh that he could confirm were a part of the supernatural. "Let's see… AVAN, put the group in the list based on the power recorded from them to start."

"Of course sir." The pictures would then be uploaded into the tier list and be put in their proper placements. As it came from power, the list appeared vastly different than expected. At the bottom in tier-E was Koneko, with virtually no magic or energy that was coming off of her. The list then went with Sona's Knight, and Pawn in tier-D, followed by her Rook and Yumi in tier-C. Tsubasa and Sona were then fitted into tier-B, with Akeno and Rias being placed into tier-A.

And at the top, ranked at tier-S was Denica. That one alone was unsurprising to the boy, as her energy was vastly different from all the others'.

"AVAN, alter the ranking for me." Sam would start, taking a second to consider the placements. "Move Koneko up to tier-C with Yumi, keep a light pin in them until a better understanding on them can be found. Then push Sona up to A with Akeno and have Rias go up to S alongside Denica."

"Already done sir." The AI responded, the pictures being altered to the positions requested.

"I have no idea what Sona or her Peerage can do, but if they're anything like Rias' they could pose a problem as well." Sam would say to himself, rubbing his chin as he placed his phone on his nightstand. "Not to mention whatever Denica is. The amount of energy she produced dwarfed Rias, and she didn't even do anything."

Sam's thoughts then went to Rias, recalling the feel and appearance of her magic. Destruction was the only descriptor that came to mind, and given how it eliminated the Stray without any effort made the inventor feel that it was a fitting description. He didn't know how strong the Stray Devil was, but if it was anything like the one he fought, it just proved how outclassed he was currently.

'This shit's going to be a problem.'

"Sir, may I ask a question?" AVAN asked, getting him to roll and look to the AI's projection on his phone. "Why are you having us catalog their strength and energy levels? Wouldn't this best be saved for planning for enemies?"

"A simple rule AVAN, in unfamiliar territory everyone is an enemy. I don't know Rias' full intentions so I have to be prepared for the off chance she makes a move against Kuoh." He'd then look up to the ceiling, a distant gaze in his eyes as he did. "Not that I'd be able to do much at the moment. Just about any of them would likely wipe me off the face of the planet by a wave of their hand."

"Do you think that is wise? Mistrust can break an alliance."

"A little mistrust is healthy, especially when dealing with Devils." Sam shrugged.

"If you say so. Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight AVAN."

(A/N): So... this took a long time to come out. Not going to lie, I've kind of started feeling a Marvel Fatigue after Endgame came out. I watched Spider-Man FFH and after that the inspiration kind of just dropped. I'm gonna be trying to keep this story going though, since I do actually like where I have this story planned on going.

I also feel the length I've had on this introduction arc has made it a little difficult to go through, but I'll be keeping a focus on it. But I will keep it focused, as there's some early seeds to put in for the future of the story. I don't plan on dropping Sam's story and I'll do my best to avoid letting it sit with so little updates.

I hope this chapter was good and that you all have a nice day. Peace!