DxD: Ascension - Redux

Chapter 3: A Fateful Demise

"Guys, you aren't gonna believe this!" Issei Hyoudou exclaimed to his friends, Matsuda and Motohama. "I scored a date with a serious hottie from another school!"
"Hell nah, you didn't!" Matsuda yelled. "What crazy chick would go on a date with you?"
"Surely she must be delusional. Or blind," Motohama agreed.
"I'm dead serious, dudes! She's a solid 9/10! And we're going out tonight!" Issei said giddily.
"And you didn't score dates for us with her friends? You bastard!"
"Screw you two, this is my chance to finally get laid! Her name's Yuuma Amano, and she's such a classic shy hottie! Busty as hell, too!"
Zach, eavesdropping on the conversation from his desk, snickered to himself at Issei's antics as he adjusted the white and gray striped hoodie he'd replaced the school's standard dress shirt with. This is the kid the devils and fallen angels are both pining over? Ridiculous, he thought. But I gotta hand it to Raynare- it went exactly as she said it would. He turned his attention back to the teacher as he called for class to begin.

Zach and Raynare's House

That afternoon, Zach lazily sat at his desk, doing the busy work he'd been assigned to "catch him up to the rest of his peers." It was all stuff he already knew, but the teachers at Kuoh were expecting a typical American education, not a sorcerer's rigorous training. As he stared at his trigonometry assignment, he suddenly felt an intense sense of dread. "The hell was that?" he asked himself, taking mental stock of everything going on in his life. The only outlier was Raynare, who was still on her date with Issei. "Better go check on her," Zach decided, closing his notebook and exiting the house. After making sure no one was looking, he spread his wings and took to the skies, following the trail of Raynare's aura.

He soon found her by a fountain in the city park, now clad in what amounted to a leather bikini with matching thigh-high boots, standing over Issei's corpse in a pool of blood, a gaping hole in his chest. A spear of light rested in her grip.
"What the hell, Raynare?! We were supposed to watch him, not kill him!" Zach shouted. He clenched his fists, expecting Raynare to turn her spear on him.
Instead of attacking, Raynare simply smirked. "I had no choice, honestly. His Sacred Gear would've activated soon. Better to take him out now than risk him being claimed by the devils."
"Don't lie to me," Zach growled, his fist erupting into blue flames.
"I'm not!" Raynare countered, the sadistic glimmer still in her eyes. "Lord Azazel would surely agree with my actions, and that's all that matters to me. We'd best get home before the devils figure out we're involved." Raynare flew away, laughing to herself.
"Shit. Better clean this up and get rid of-" Zach's planning was interrupted by a familiar voice behind him as he extinguished his hand.
"There'd better be a very good reason for this," Sona Sitri demanded as she appeared out of a blue magic circle. Rias Gremory appeared out of a crimson one at her side.

BGM: Persona 5- Interrogation Room

"There is. I promise. If you'll just let me explain, I swear this wasn't me." Zach put his hands up in defense.
"Explain to Sona while I take care of him." Rias turned toward Issei's body and began performing some kind of ritual.
"Well?" Sona asked. "Start talking."
"My leader, Raynare, she was supposed to be going on a date with Issei today," Zach began. "Her plan was to get close to him so she could convince him to side with the fallen angels when he awakened his powers. But she killed him for some reason. She said him dying was preferable to you guys 'claiming' him, whatever that means. I just showed up as she was leaving. You have to believe me, please."
Rias finished her ritual and Issei's body disappeared. She returned to Sona's side. "Somehow, I'm not convinced."
"Likewise." Sona got into a battle stance. "One last chance. Why'd you kill Issei Hyoudou?"
"I didn't. But if it's a fight you want, I won't hesitate to defend myself." Zach's fists reignited.

BGM: Persona 5 - Will Power

Rias attacked first, firing a blast of dark red energy at Zach. He deflected with a blast of blue flames, then sidestepped a water attack from Sona.
"I never should've let you walk free," Sona said with a grimace as tendrils of water from the fountain gathered around her arms. She attempted to strike Zach with her new weapons.
Zach was hit by the first attack, but dodged the second. Scarlet lightning gathered around his fingertips as he stuck a hand into the water. The electricity traveled through the water and shocked Sona into immediate unconsciousness.
Rias watched her friend fall to the ground. "No!" she screamed. With renewed force, she fired another blast at Zach.
Zach countered with a flame blast from his right palm. The two attacks clashed between them. "First rule of combat, Rias: never leave your opponent with an open hand." With his left hand, he created a javelin of red lightning and threw it at Rias, hitting her square in the forehead and knocking her down. "Second rule of combat," he said as he walked over to her. "Don't get distracted." With a swift kick, he knocked the young devil unconscious.