Rias messaged you a few hours later, stating that 'Koneko locked herself into her bedroom and refuses to come out.' She clarified a moment later that she meant it in a good way, and that Koneko had suggested that she was interested in mastering her powers properly. That meant they were soon heading to the underworld to train as a team, as there is a rating game coming up.
You don't know if it's the same training scheme that they undertook in the anime; the 'real' version of DxD is a much more complex place than what can be shown on TV. They don't skip over huge periods of time between important events to make things convenient. Regardless – you hope that Koneko finally learns that her power isn't something to be afraid of. Does Kuroka even know how much of a problem she's caused for her younger sister?
Rias also sent you some images of the rooms in the manor. She used Venelana's pull to have some mock-ups created for you, and they're very professionally done. They are highly detailed, transforming empty white rooms into lavish gothic landscapes. Heavy wooden furniture with plush silk cushions and wooden floorboards are the order of the day. As you flip through each one, you start to understand her affection for this kind of décor. It looks very cosy.
Particular attention has been paid to the master bedroom, which contains a monstrously sized bed. Four wooden pillars support an engraved canopy, which itself allows a selection of semi-transparent white curtains to surround it on all sides. It dominates the view with a commanding presence. Surely Rias has been considering just how many women are supposedly going to occupy it in time. You could easily fit twelve people on there with room to spare. It's a good thing that money is no object for you at the moment.
You are also very happy to see that Venelana has not included any significant changes to the houses' layout or exterior buildings. Eerily high ceiling crisis averted. Mitsuru speaks to you through a pile of discard parts on the garage's workbench, "I'm glad that our alien friends decided to keep away. It's allowed me some much-needed time to test the form change system."
"Now that you've said it, I'm sure they'll attack again in a few minutes…"
"Don't be so superstitious. You're just subscribing to a form of confirmation bias," she laughs, "Most of our conversations are on this very subject. It's merely a matter of chance that significant events occur at the same time."
"You're right. We never talk about anything else anymore."
Mitsuru adjusts her glasses, "Is that a problem?"
"Kinda? I feel like we haven't had the chance to hang out for a while now."
"Hm. 'Hanging out' can wait until the invasion of earth is ended."
"You know that's not true. I still find time to hang with… you know, the girls."
Mitsuru rounds the table and points a wrench at you, "They aren't the ones designing your equipment and monitoring social media for attacks. I'm a very busy woman. Not to mention managing our new media empire…"
You sigh. Mitsuru used to love shooting the shit about what anime she'd watched lately, or to talk your ears off about an amazing new invention she had come up with. It feels like a lifetime ago now. You both grew up, but it never felt like this before. Everything changed when she thrusted this superhero business onto you. Sometimes you miss the old days. Tucked away inside of your bedroom, watching anime above your age grade with the laptop facing the door.
"Don't look so sad," Mitsuru scoffs, "You should be the happiest damn guy on the planet right now. There'll be plenty of time for us to screw around together when these aliens are dealt with. Keep your eyes on the prize."
Things come to a sudden halt as an alarm triggers within the garage, a robotic voice calls out over a newly installed intercom system; "Warning! Alien incursion detected on fifth avenue, Wellton."
"When did you program that?"
"When I almost missed an attack after getting too deep into my work. Get the bike and go, the form change system will automatically transport to you with the armour."
You do as she commands and hurry over to the sheet-covered motorbike. You whip it away and mount up. Before you go, you trigger the armour bracelet and summon it onto your body. You notice that your left gauntlet bulges out slightly more than it used to, and an additional slot has been added. The engine roars and you slide beneath the still opening door.
Mitsuru crackles to life through your radio, "I've already prepared the first card for this system."
Said card appears in your HUD as you power down the road to your target. A red scale is surrounded by orange flames. A subtitle, MANTLE, is plastered across the top. On the bottom is the name of the card, BOOSTING DRAGON.
"Simply insert that into the new opening and the system will handle the rest."
"What? No new catchphrases?"
"I decided to program that into the armour. Letting you do it is a terrible idea."
So why the hell didn't she do that the first time? You grumble to yourself as you skilfully weave between cars and dodge red lights. Your heart is already pumping a flood of adrenaline into your system. You can hear it pounding behind your ears. The danger is clear and present. You can already see signs of the police trying to cordon off the area where the damage is happening. You easily slip through a gap in one of the roadblocks and continue on your way.
When you finally get to the scene, you find one of the local intersections in a terrible way. Several buildings have been severely damaged, with class, concrete and steel littering the tarmac below. Burned out cars and overturned traffic lights block your way. You dismount the bike and leap up onto one of the wrecks. A line swipes across your visor, the supercomputer that Mitsuru installed into the suit tries to lock on to any civilians who might have been left behind in the chaos.
"It looks clear. You shouldn't have to worry about rescuing anyone," Mitsuru says.
With a preliminary scan completed, you head further into the carnage and stop in the middle of the road. There's no sign of the foot soldiers. Instead, a wormhole opens in front of you and your imitators steps out, with Vali in tow. The black armour has seen some refinement since your first meeting. Vali is immediately beside himself in rage.
"You may have gotten lucky last time, but I will not fall for the same tricks again!"
"I don't care what you have to say, pretty boy. I want to hear from your lady friend there. Why the hell are you helping these assholes invade our planet?" The lithe figure hidden within the bulging armour shoots up as if she wasn't expecting to be addressed. She points a finger at herself as if to ask if you mean her. "Yes, I meant you."
Her voice is heavily distorted as it passed through the microphone, "Uhm. They told me that I could have some of my husbandos. So I agreed to help them out!"
"And you think that's worth selling out every person on this planet?"
"Y-You're doing the same thing!"
"Not in exchange for humanity's freedom. If you told me that I had to pick between them and the Earth, you know what my answer would be."
"They wouldn't appreciate that," she responds.
"No, they'd understand it. Unlike Vali here – they have morals."
She crosses her arms and looks away, "This is why I prefer villains. Y-You goody-two shoes bums are always talking such a big game! But you'd throw away all of those values at the drop of a hat just to get what you really want! I'm just doing what I want to get what I want; I'm honest, unlike you."
"I don't know why you sound so proud of that…"
Vali snaps his fingers, "Insult my lady at your own peril, worm. I'll soon wipe that smirk off of your face and show you that the power of the white dragon is superior to all." You stare at him in silence. You know what? Vali isn't really that evil when you get down to it. He's the classic rival character. Someone who presents himself as a guy willing to do anything, but always ends up helping Issei in the end anyway.
"You've got a big mouth for a man I've blown away once already."
"You didn't beat me – the red dragon emperor did."
"What's the difference? I could summon him right now and do it all over again."
"Then go ahead! Like I said, I will not be defeated this time."
Neither foe moves to stop you as you slide Issei's card into the Sledgehammer and pull the trigger.
"ISSEI HYOUDOU! SHATTERING!"
"How many times do we have to teach you a lesson, Vali?" he declares the moment he steps through. It seems that he was keeping up with what was happening through your helmet cam. Passions are running high already, these two are itching to start a punch-up. Both dragons summon their armour and square up in the middle between their respective summoners.
"Boost!"
"Divide!"
Wings sprout and the two clash, flying up into the air and out of eyeshot. You stare down your own rival and put your finger on the trigger, "Let's see how good you really are."
She throws up her own black repaint of your weapon and fires it at you. Too slow. You dive behind a destroyed car and take cover from her opening salvo. You swing back outwards and return fire – she scrambles back as the shots lands near her feet, kicking up tarmac and dust as they rip through the road. It's immediately clear that she doesn't have the same training that you do.
"I hope they didn't just throw you out here with no training!"
She doesn't respond to your barb. You catch a glimpse of her dashing through the doorway of a nearby storefront. You slide over the car and run after her. The door flies from its hinges as you crash through. Motoko's intense house-clearing training weighs heavy on your mind. You check the corners and slow things down.
"Mitsuru, get me a read on that armour."
"Already working on it. It's spewing noise and heat signatures all over my sensors – clearly, they didn't spend much time developing it. Whoever said that imitation was a sincere form of flattery was a moron, they've butchered my work."
"Why don't you head on over and give them some pointers?"
"Hilarious. But no."
You hold by one of the store's supporting pillars and wait for her to finish crunching the numbers. The sound of the dragons battling echoes through the broken windows. Mitsuru continues to type furiously, "I'm filtering the noise now. Triggering the overlay." The visor switches shade as an additional visor slots down over the main camera, revealing the glowing outline of a hidden figure through one of the walls.
"Got them."
You step out from your cover and aim carefully. With a well-placed round you blast through the plasterboard wall and shoot her in the back. A loud ping rings out through the shop as it ricochets off of her armour in a shower of sparks. She cries out in pain and staggers back out of the nearest door. You make chase once again.
Just as you break out into the alleyway behind the building, you are forced to dodge backwards as a beam of yellow energy shoots past your head. The interloper is someone you don't initially recognize, with blonde hair, glasses and a well-fitted blue suit; he is quick to correct your ignorance with a boastful introduction.
"Assaulting a lady is poor manners. Arthur Pendragon will correct your insolence."
You scowl beneath your helmet, should have seen that one coming.