Chapter 29: Four of a Kind
"Doctor, Doctor!"
"I'm here you damn brat. No need to shout!"
Sundar pushed his way through the scrapheap jungle that Doctor Gael called an 'office.' In one of the few open spaces he worked dutifully – the Sledgehammer that Sundar had copied was dismantled into hundreds of pieces. The copy gun glowed dimly from the back of the room, the stabilisation device needed to remain powered for the copy to continue existing.
The Sledgehammer was a fiendishly complex piece of machinery. Gael, in his years of experience, he'd never seen anything like it. A hyper-intelligent brain struggled to comprehend. Voldaz were meant to be the rulers of the interdimensional space. Yet here was a random earthling creating a weapon unlike anything they could make themselves.
Sundar paced around the workbench and picked through the dozens and dozens of schematics that Gael had drawn by hand. The Doctor had been working on picking it apart for weeks now, and progress was painfully slow. He had hoped that his next plan would have had a faster return on investment. The entire thing had been kept quiet, at the Doctor's insistence. He was terrified when Sundar returned with the white weapon clutched between his claws. What had frightened him so? Now that it was nothing more than a pile of electronics the mystique was gone.
Gael ignored his irritating gaze and continued to tinker with his current obsession, a sophisticated time-space dilation device that the human scientist had included into the device. He could already feel his own mind being enriched with a bevy of new ideas. If only he could work with the woman in question, instead of being tasked with such inane nonsense as building attack droids.
He grunted, "If you're so bored, why don't you go attack the humans?"
Sundar waved his hands dismissively, "Mary and Faust are already doing it. Not like they'll get anywhere with it. Those two don't have a brain cell to share. That guy who's been fighting us is a real asshole – summons a bunch of people from other dimensions to fight for him."
"If it works, it works," Gael sighed. "There's no need to begrudge a winning strategy."
"There is when it beats me. I would have preferred to destroy him then and there – but we need something to even the playing field a little."
"It shouldn't take too long now. I'll have what you want soon enough."
"I hope so, Doctor."
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Gathered around the TV in the garage are you, Rias, Koneko and Asia. A news report displays your heroism in defeating the Gundroid and saving lives. Followed by a panel where the interviewer is speaking with the city's police chief – Andrew Spalding.
The interviewer goes for the jugular, "There are some that would say that the police aren't taking enough of a proactive approach to this unknown threat. What is the feeling at your department?"
The chief sputters for a moment, "I-I'd just like to say that we shouldn't leap to any judgements about the work that my officers do. We follow a strict process to ensure that we do everything we can to resolve the situation at hand. We know that these attackers are using advanced weapons to take hostages and cause large amounts of damage to public infrastructure…"
"Have you made an assessment on what their goal is?"
"No. But we're working with all the relevant government agencies to track down the people responsible, and to get a stronger lead on where they might strike next."
"And what of the people who did enter the stadium?"
"While public bravery is appreciated, and very noble – it should be said that in delicate hostage situations such as this that it should be left to the police. We have the training and the team to successfully resolve the situation. Vigilantism can result in more harm than good."
"Thank you for your time, Mister Spalding."
"Thank you."
The report ends and moves on to a boring public interest story about a local school. You mute the TV and turn to a starry-eyed Asia, "You were very cool! So this is the power of Rias' husband…"
"Uh, thanks Asia."
The original intent of this get-together was for Rias to introduce you properly to Koneko and Asia. Though things quickly veered off course as the news turned to your previous actions. Koneko has remained almost completely silent since she arrived. Unless you do something perverted, it's unlikely to stir any substantial reaction from her right now.
The ex-nun continues to sing your praises. "I really admire you for protecting all of those people. It would have been simply dreadful had something happened to them."
"Hopefully we can stop anyone from getting hurt. I don't know how long it's going to take to beat these guys for good though."
Rias giggles, "You haven't accumulated enough wives just yet. Try asking again after you have a few hundred more."
Asia blushes, "Oh! Are you sure that's okay Rias? Normally marriage is between two people…"
Rias leans over the back of her chair and pulls Asia's head between her huge boobs, "We're devils Asia, and so are you. We don't need to follow the word of the almighty. What's wrong with sharing your love with other people?"
"Well… it's just that they might get jealous, and start fighting each other! That doesn't sound like a happy marriage to me."
Rias ponders the quandary before coming up with a typically 'Rias' solution. "Why don't you try it out? I can lend hubby here to you for a while." The words are spoken with full teasing intent. Asia turns an even deeper shade of red as your eyes meet her.
"I-I-I can't do that! He's your fiancé!"
Rias leans down and blows a puff of hot air into her ear, "He's Akeno's, Lala's and Chun-Li's fiancé too. And they're all seem perfectly okay with how things are."
"Pervert," Koneko snipes. You don't know if it's aimed at you for having multiple potential wives or Rias for trying to whore you out to her servants. Having teased Asia enough, Rias wanders back over to where you're sitting and plants her thick thighs on your lap, wrapping her arms around your neck in a half-embrace. Asia looks like she's about to melt, you didn't even know people could get this red in the face.
"Live a little!" Rias concludes. She leans in and kisses you on the cheek.
"I-I'm not sure I could," Asia protests. "I've never even kissed a boy before."
With how thirsty she is in the show, you're not sure that's true. At the least she must have seen something sexual during her life so far. Koneko is giving you a glare that could cut like a knife. She doesn't like it when Rias gets all affectionate with you. Which is perhaps why Rias drags Asia away to meet with Mitsuru about something. A trickle of sweat slips down your neck as the pressure of her yellow orbs begins to bore into your body.
"Is there something wrong, Koneko?"
She looks away to not give you the satisfaction of rumbling her; "I do not understand why the President is in love with you. Is it simply because of her enjoyment of your anime?"
"Have you seen it?" Rias already indicated as much before.
"It is difficult not to when the President drags the television into the meeting room. The rest of the club has a strange fixation on it. Even Issei."
"It's popular, right? I bet a lot of people their age are the same way."
Koneko continues, "Issei admires the series because you, the lead character, have an impractically large harem of women who love you unconditionally. According to him – you are the goal and ideal of every hot-blooded man on the planet, a 'harem king,' which is both crude and reductive."
You snicker at the moniker – something that their Issei has abandoned with the discovery of a girlfriend of his own. You decide to ask Koneko about it, "Rias told me he has a girlfriend. Has he given up on it?"
"Thankfully, yes. He no longer makes passes at me, Rias or Asia. He has 'grown up' thanks to her guiding hand. Yet here you are, doing the exact thing that I believed impossible."
Is it really impossible though? Everyone else seems to have such confidence that they'll keep loving you, even if they're one of hundreds. It's been a running doubt in your mind since this whole thing started. How do you know they're telling the truth? Do they even know how they'll feel about it if it comes to that?
"Well, if they get sick of it – there's nothing I can do to stop them from breaking up with me," you shrug. "We're all making a choice to be a part of this. That's one thing I know now for sure."
"I only helped you because the President asked," the cat girl insists, "Don't think that I'm in love with you just because I assisted you in battle."
She's being extremely tsundere. You shake your head, "I never did. There's a big gap between coming and helping me fight and deciding to go out with me."
That's good enough for Koneko. "Good. I will seek to understand the President better."
"And Akeno?"
"I already know why she's with you. She does as Rias asks."
"Because they trust each other."
Koneko blinks and reconsiders her words, "Apologies. I didn't mean to imply that Akeno is being forced into this."
"No, I get it. Akeno gave me a shot because she likes the President, right?"
Koneko bristles, "I do not understand why the President's mother is involved too."
You chuckle nervously, "Uh, that was Rias' idea. She doesn't like her mother being unwed, apparently."
"But as a male you will not complain. Bedding a mother and daughter is the type of lecherous fantasy that I should expect from you."
Talking with Koneko is tricky, but it's also pretty great. Getting to interact with characters you love (platonically for now) is an amazing experience. You're going to need to earn her trust somehow. The conversation is ended suddenly with the return of Rias and Asia.
"My, you didn't claw his eyes out Koneko-chan!" Rias giggles.
"Would you like me to?" she scowls. Rias is going to get you into trouble with comments like that…
Weekly Power Status
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