Immediately after finishing their tour and greeting their fellow housemates, Kuroka began heading straight towards the baths while Lillith went to her bedroom to change.

Afterwards, the pair came back for lunch, which was thankfully created to their specific tastes. As this happened, Issei began heading towards the door with A2 following him, having finished practicing with her weapons.

"Alright, what's the plan?" A2 asked as soon as the pair stepped back out into the ruined city.

"Simple, explore the city for any useful resources, killing anything that's a threat, all while continuing on our way to Kuoh." Issei explained as he summoned the Rebellion to his back.

A2 looked at him for a moment before shrugging and pulling out the Type 40 Blade as it began to sparkle with electricity.

The pair began to explore the city, with an air of caution around them as neither could shake the feeling of unease that seemed to follow them.

Eventually, they came across a strange ore and what lay next to it was one of the strange crystal that helped upgrade Issei's powers, they were called Aether crystals as Obie told them and apparently they're the crystallised forms of Aether magic.

He had told them, Issei and Ravel, that because they were reincarnations of Eikons, they have a stronger connection to Aether then others and that allows them to absorb the crystals which would in turn restore more of their original abilities.

As he reached out to absorb the crystal, he was suddenly shoved out of the way by A2 as a Light Spear pierced the ground where he previously stood.

"Where'd that come from?!" He cried out as he began looking around for the owner of said spear.

"Damn... I missed." an all to familiar voice called out much to Issei's growing horror.

"No...." He said with a horrified look slowly dawning on his face. "But your dead! You can't be here!" He exclaimed as he tried to deny her very existence as A2 could only look on in confusion.

"Oh... Poor Issei... Did you really think I would stay dead for long?" Raynare said with a wry smile evident on her face. "Especially after all we've been through?"

Unfortunate for her, Issei's shock and horror quickly turned into hatred as he rose to his feet. "You have some nerve to show your face after everything you've done!" He cried out as he unleashed a powerful blast of fire in the Fallen Angels direction.

Raynare smile quickly disappeared as she dodged the attack before creating another light spear and throwing it at duo.

Acting fast, the pair leapt back as the spear pierced the ground infront of them. A2 prepared to attack but Issei raised his hand to stop her. "No, don't interfere... This is my fight." He said as he raised the Rebellion and ignited a fireball into his hand.

A2 could only nod her head in understanding as she resheathed her sword and backed away. "As you wish."

"Aren't you a bit overconfident!" Exclaimed Raynare as a psychotic smile formed on her face. "Don't think for a second, that your the only who's gotten stronger thanks to Aether!" She cried out as a ball of energy formed in her hand.

"We'll see about that!" Issei exclaimed as he tossed a ball of fire in her direction, quickly dodging the strange ball of energy that she had tossed at him.

With a mighty yell, Raynare dived towards Issei as she created a sword from the light ball.

Their blades clashed together as the pair glared at each other with murderous intent. "I'll kill you Raynare!" Issei roared as he swept his leg underneath the fallen only to growl in annoyance as she jumped into the sky.

"Not today you won't!" Raynare exclaimed in a maniacal tone as their blades clashed against each other again and again. Their swords turning into a blur as they repeatedly struck against each other.

Eventually, Raynare managed to graze his arm much much to his chagrin. With gritted teeth, he lashes out with his free arm releasing a wave of fire in the Fallen's direction.

Much to his surprise, the attack actually struck and stunned her long enough for Issei to lung forward with the Rebellion in an attempt to to run her through.

However, before he could impale her, he was suddenly knocked aside and his sword was sent flying.

Falling onto his back, Issei looked up in horror as someone grabbed his sword and plunged it into his chest before he ultimately blacked out.
...

"Are you alright, Raynare?" Asked the stranger as she extended her hand to the fallen angel.

"I'm fine!" Raynare said as she slapped the hand away. "Any way, why are you here?" She asked accusingly with a glare as she slowly rose to her feet.

"I'm here because Lord Kokabiel wanted me to check up on you." Mittelt explained with an annoyed look on her face. "Evidently, he was right to think so." Mittelt said as she passed a glance at Issei's prone form.

"He was mine, I was supposed to be the one to kill him." Raynare retorted angrily as she glared at her fellow Fallen for stealing her kill. "Oh, don't worry. You can still kill his partner if you want." Mittelt said unperturbed by her allies anger.

However, unbeknownst to the two Fallen Angels, Issei's hand slowly twitched as his face slowly morphed into a look of anger.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and launched to his feet as his sword was sent flying. With a beastial roar, Issei charged forward to punch Raynare in the face only to find his hand impaled by a ligh sword courtesy of Mittelt.

However, the girls could only watch in stunned shock as he twisted and dragged his hand through the blade leaving small droplets of blood in the process before he grasped the sword and yanked with all his might sending Mittelt flying.

Raynare began to slowly back away in horror as Issei slowly stepped towards her, audibly taking in long deep breaths of air with each step he took.

A fiery red aura surrounded him, glowing bright with his every step. Eventually, Raynare decided that she wanted to live, so acting fast, she quickly grabbed the prone form of Mittelt before taking off into the sky as Issei let out a roar of beastial rage, a flash of bright fiery red energy energy engulfed his form temporarily replacing it with something else, something demonic.

As quickly as the form appeared it just as quickly disappeared as he collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.

"Issei!" A2 cried out as she clambered out of the broken wall, having been thrown in their earlier by Mittelt while Issei was focused on attacking Raynare.

Worried, she began to examine him for any injuries however her fears quickly turned into confusion at finding none, especially since she was pretty sure that she saw him being ran through by his own sword before she blacked out.

She collapsed onto the ground in relief after finding no life threatening wounds on him. However, she did let out a startled yelp when Issei suddenly let out a gasp of pain and shot upright into a seating position.

"What happend?" He breathed out as he looked around for any sign of his psychopathic ex. "And where were you? I could have used your help back there."

"You tell me." A2 replied as she let out a scratchy chuckle. "One moment I was keeping an eye out for threats and the next I'm being slammed into a wall and seeing you get impaled with your own sword before blacking out."

"Hmph... Bloody bitch got the drop on us while I was to focused on Raynare. If it weren't for my magic I'd actually be dead at this point." He growled out as he unsteadily rose to his feet before stumbling only to be caught by A2. "We'll take a break at home before going out again. We're unprepared and that fight a lone was quite draining."

"Understood!" A2 said as she wrapped his arm over her back to help act as support until he was strong enough to walk on his own feet.

The pair limped over to the Summit Seeker, thankfully, they didn't encounter any challenges along the way.

"I will end her, A2. That's a promise." Issei vowed with a dark look on his face as A2 helped him open the back doors to the truck.

When they got into the Gap, Issei was immediately rushed to the medical room by his worried loved ones.

Fortunately, Obie had integrated himself into the house making it easier for him to monitor Issei's health as he healed. Even better was the fact that the house had a state of the art healing machine, designed to help the patient rest and recover.

As Issei lay in the med bay, A2 saw it best to explain what had happened to put Issei in such a condition. Needless to say, the rest of the group were extremely angry over what they learned.

"So... Your telling me.... That BITCH Raynare.... IS STILL ALIVE?!?" Ravel screamed in anger as her eyes twitched in frustration before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Next time you go out there with darling... I'm coming to." Ravel proclaimed in a deadly calm tone.

"So will I! Nya~!" Kuroka chimed in as well with a deadly calm smile on her face.

A2 looked at the girls with a stunned expression on her face before a smile slow appeared on her face. "Well then... I guess Raynare better be ready cause I don't think she'll come out unscathed the next time we meet."
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A bit shorter than my usual chapters but hey Raynare came back and Issei was stabbed with the Rebellion which shouldn't have been unexpected, I mean it's the Rebellion for crying out loud there was always the chance of Issei getting Dante'd by his own sword, especially in a Devil May Cry fanfic.

Next Time - Triggering A Devils Sin's