Harem Hero

The Quick and the Cloned - Part 10

Venelana was actually a joy to speak with, even when she was drilling you for every little nitty-gritty detail on what you've been doing with her daughter for the past few months. You managed to navigate your way out of the jam without airing any of your bedroom escapades with her, though you can only assume that she knows that Rias has done something with you. After all, she did claim that Rias is much like her when she was younger.

That statement comes with an implicit meaning that Venelana is not going to jump right into sleeping with you or declaring you her new husband. She needs time to get a feel for things; she's been a widow for a good few years now and her self-worth has been lowered by the way that devil society works. As you think about it more with both women away, you find yourself coming around to the idea. You just need to get over it and show her a good time. If Rias doesn't have a problem with it, and she considers it normal, then there's nothing you can say that'll convince her otherwise.

With the first of what you fear will be many daughter-parent meetings over, you refocus on refining your skills with the Sledgehammer. You need to be faster, more accurate, and less reliant on the targeting system that Mitsuru built into the suit. Motoko also stressed the importance of decision making. There was nothing worse than firing and hitting a civilian because you didn't consider your angle carefully – everything she taught you was in service of avoiding that outcome from the start.

You'd come to the garage in the morning, run dozens of drills in the kill house until you were happy with your time, and then head into the gym to continue following Chun-Li's training regimen. Every day you went back to your apartment with no energy left – the only thing you could do was flop down onto your bed and pass out.

Faster, stronger, longer.

You repeated those three words in your head again and again. They were what drove you for the four days after you met Venelana. Things were taking so long that you hoped Sundar had thought better of messing with you, that turned out to be untrue. Mitsuru burst into the gym while you worked one of the bags.

"We've got an attack report."

"Seriously? Where?"

"The local stadium. They've attacked one of the games and taken hostages again."

You pull out your phone and check everyone's status. You've got a flush of all four original occult research club members and the Major on hand. Looks like you have everyone you need to catch Sundar out this time. Heading back into the garage, the TV shows a helicopter circling the baseball stadium where the trouble is happening. Sundar is waving to the camera from the middle of the grounds. A row of drones point their weapons at a petrified audience.

Not this again!

You load the gun with the cards of Rias, Akeno, Koneko and Motoko. The three devils will provide you with good fighting power and more crucially, magical defence ability. Motoko is going to need to be here for this urban environment and to direct things using her leadership skills. You send her a quick message so she can get ready.

"AKENO HIMEJIMA! SHATTERING!"

"RIAS GREMORY! SHATTERING!"

"KONEKO TOUJOU! SHATTERING!"

"MOTOKO KUSANAGI! SHATTERING!"

It's a very noisy and visually messy summoning. The three devils (this time wearing casual summer outfits) and the Major (who by contrast is already wearing her body armour and toting a rifle) stand before you in a line. Koneko would be confused about her new environment if she didn't have the personality of a stone-cold killer – this must be a version of her that hasn't opened up to other people just yet. If Issei from their universe isn't their primary love interest, that task might fall onto your shoulders someday.