Chapter 37: Til death do us part

Scarlet snickered as she flew towards Rias and clawed at her with her Nevermore talons, the nails scratched and tore into her school uniform. Rias winched as she grabbed Scarlet by the leg and swung her around before tossing her towards the empty fish tank.

Scarlet stopped herself from getting impaled by the glass, she smirked as she taunted Rias by waving her finger. "Tsk, Tsk. Don't you know that won't work?" She continued to smirk and then started to laugh.

Rias scoffed as she rushed towards Scarlet and gut punched her hard, knocking the wind out of her lungs and causing her to spit up blood. The Grimm girl just chuckled as she held onto Rias' arm, she moved her head back and then bashed her forehead against Rais' forehead. Blood trickled down both of their foreheads, the latter being hurt more by the headbutt. Scarlet let go of Rais' arm as the girl stumbled back, Scarlet snickered as she flew off the ground, her talons grabbing hold of Rias.

"Let's go flying shall we?" Scarlet asked as her talons were gripped onto Rias tightly, she flew through the Aquarium and out of the hole that was made in the roof. Scarlet laughed and laughed as she dug her talon nails into Rais' body. "Don't pass out on me now red, the fun is just starting!"

Rias yelled in pain as the nails dug deeper into her body. Her arms pinned to her side as she couldn't break free, Scarlet flew so high up into the air that both of them were above the clouds. Rias looked down seeing how high they were. The gears in her head turned as the pit of her stomach churned, Scarlet grinned as she slowly but surely loosened her grip on Rais.

Scarlet snickered more as she eventually had let go of Rias, dropping her from how high they both were. "Ta-ta, I can't wait to hear you go splat on the ground below!" 

Rias was shocked, her voice was caught in her throat. She tried to yell but nothing came out, she fell faster and faster back down into the Earth's atmosphere, her body burning up as her clothes began to burn. She closed her eyes, praying that someone would take notice.

Scarlet watched as she licked her lips, she followed pursuit. This was one thing she didn't want to miss. She stayed silent, flying down and around Rais. She then decided to fly down towards the ground so she could get a better view of where Rias would be crashing down. 

Just then Issei came flying in fast as a jet, his body covered in red dragon like armor from his boosted gear. Scarlet noticed as she watched Issei swoop in and grab Rias, the Grimm girl scoffed but grinned. 

~~~

Issei landed on the ground below as he placed Rias down. "Rias, Rias!" He shouted her name waiting to see if she'd open her eyes. 

"You ruined my fun." Scarlet spoke with a cold tone in her voice, she gave him a cold gaze as she slowly walked over. "But who says I can't kill two birds with one stone?"

"You...." Issei glared over at Scarlet. "You're going to pay for this." He stood up as he clinched his fists tightly. "I don't care what you do to me, but leave the others alone."

Scarlet snickered as she raised an eyebrow up. "Oh ho? Is that a bet?" She snickered again and twirled Black Rose around. "If that is what you truly wish for....then allow me to make your death quick and painless."

Issei opened his hand as a small red orb formed before he threw it out and punched it. "Dragon Shot!" A red beam soon formed from the orb and went straight towards Scarlet, engulfing her in a blinding red light. 

Rias slowly opened her eyes as she sat up, she looked around as she saw Issei armored up. She noticed the red light die down from his attack. Issei didn't notice Rias was awake, his focus was still on the area Scarlet was standing at. Once the light dimmed down and vanished, the only thing that was left of Scarlet was a pair of legs.

"I....I did it..." Issei said with a grin. "I did it!"

Rias slowly got up as she smiled a little. "I guess you didn't need to be put into a struggle..." Rias did find it odd, even though she didn't see the whole thing. She found it suspicious on how easy it was for Issei to deal with Scarlet. 

Issei stood proud as he laughed. "She wasn't so fearsome. Oh yeah... I did take Akeno to the hospital, she won't be able to do much for the time being.." He crossed his arms as he looked over at Rias. "I know you'll be able to heal her, but I'm still not sure where Koneko and the others are at."

Rias walked over to Issei and smiled. Her back was facing Scarlet's legs, her guard was down which could also be said for Issei as well. "I'm sure they'll pop up eventually."

Issei nodded, the two were about to embrace in a hug until Issei's eyes widened in horror. Scarlet's body regenerated itself, she smirked as she saw Rias' back turned towards her. She put a finger up to her lips, almost as if she was hushing Issei, Rias was puzzled at why Issei stopped. She was going to turn around, then it happened. Scarlet stabbed her arm through Rias' stomach, her arm drenched in blood as she leaned close towards her ear.

"Til death do us part." Scarlet whispered into Rias' ear mainly referring to Rias and Issei. She grinned widely as she yanked her arm out from her stomach. "You two could've ran away... or better yet... finished me off when you had the chance, but no. You wanted to get your dick wet, thinking you killed me." She snickered as she watched Rias fall over. "And now, death waits for no one.. you know what they say.. You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. And guess which path I picked?" 

Issei clinched his fists again as his eyes glowed green. "You've made a poor choice in doing that..."

Scarlet cocked an eyebrow up hearing a different voice come from Issei. His aura skyrocketed, creating a massive shock-wave, knocking Scarlet back and pushing her away from him. His body began to morph with his armor, changing his appearance to be more dragon-like. Scarlet grinned widely as she watched this happen, she began to laugh.

"Aw, what's wrong? You have to go berserk just to fight me?" Scarlet asked mockingly, clearly forgetting that she had gone berserk more than once. "It won't do yo--" Before she could finish speaking Issei shot flames from his mouth at her, engulfing her completely.

Issei growled as steam came out from his mouth, he glared at the fire burning in front of him. Scarlet laughed as she walked through it, she smirked as she dusted herself off. "My my, you surely know how to make things spicy." She grinned wickedly and dashed towards him.

Issei let out a bellowing roar as he dashed towards her, both butting heads. They locked their hands together in a struggle, Issei was gone but the dragon remained, Scarlet grinned widely as she glared at Issei. 

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Oh wait, you can't talk... how sad." Scarlet spoke with a mocking tone, she kneed Issei in the gut as she yanked him forwards towards herself and then based her head against his. Issei growled and overpowered Scarlet with strength, slamming her down onto the ground before looming over her. He grabbed her by the head and with quick speed and immense strength, he threw her hard and fast through the air. 

Scarlet braced herself for any crash-landing, but she saw something that had her eyes nearly pop out of her head. Issei's chest cavity opened as a hidden launcher appeared, the launcher began to glow a bright red. He growled and roared as the launcher continued to charge up, then in a blinding beam of light. It fired.

The beam shot from the hidden launcher from Issei's chest as it went through the air and towards Scarlet, the Grimm girl didn't have time to react or use her semblance to stop time. Just like before she was engulfed completely, the sky was dyed a red hue from the blast. Issei roared once more taking his victory over the battle.

~~~

Scarlet panted, her clothes were torn and steam came off of her body. She scoffed and bit her lip, she was annoyed and pissed off at herself for toying around with Issei. "Tch, dammit. I shouldn't be so careless, I wish I still had Salem's magic. But I don't." Her brow furrowed as she looked towards the area Issei was at with a scowl. "So, he thinks his berserk form is enough to defeat me? Well.... I have bad news for him." She cracked her knuckles and neck as she grinned widely. "He's going to have another thing coming to him."

Issei looked down at Rias' body, he knelt down and touched the side of her face. She was cold, Issei moved his hand away as he stood up and clinched his fist. He needed to find Koneko, but at the same time, he needed to get out of his berserk form first. He calmed down as he took a deep breath in and out, things started to change as he returned to his normal self. "I need to move Rias's body somewhere safe..." He looked around for a moment. "But where?"

Scarlet came flying towards him at high speeds, she kneed him hard in his back. "Going somewhere dragon boy?" She snickered as she grabbed Issei by the back of his head and threw him. Her gaze fell upon Rias as she licked her lips. "Tonight I dine, tomorrow... I dine again." She grabbed Rias but her long red hair and lifted her up. She sniffed her as her tongue slithered out from her mouth and licked Rias' cheek. Before she could do anything, Issei came flying towards her.

"Don't you dare lay another finger on her!" Issei barked loudly as he sliced Scarlet's arm off with his sword, the same arm that was holding Rias up. Scarlet's arm fell onto the ground as Issei smirked. "Not so tough now, you're down one arm."

Scarlet snickered, she tilts her head to the side with a creepy grin on her face. "Oh?" Suddenly she felt pain, her arm didn't grow back. She looked down at her severed arm, it soon evaporated into ash. The Grimm girl growled as she looked back at Issei, her crimson red eyes glowed with anger. "So, I see you can stop my body from regenerating..." She was starting to wonder if it was Issei's sword he used, or if it was the fact that her body was getting weaker by the moment. But she didn't let it show, either way she needed to feed. 

Issei chuckled as he smirked under his helmet. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Like I said, you don't seem so tough now."

Scarlet smirked a little, she was playing her pain off like it was nothing. But it was obvious she couldn't keep a straight face for much longer, She glanced at Rias' body and then at Issei. She didn't say much as she lunged at Issei and pinned him down, even with one arm still in use. She still posed a deadly threat.

Before Scarlet could even attack Issei, blue flames came flying towards her. Scarlet took notice as she moved out of the way, when that had happened she got kneed in the gut as she skidded across the ground. She glanced around to see who did that, her eyes fell upon Koneko who was standing in front of Issei and Rias. Her cat ears folded down on her head as twin cat tails swayed behind her.

"Koneko?!" Issei asked out of surprise and shock. "Where have you been this entire time?" He wanted to be mad at her for not showing up sooner, but he needed to know where she had been the whole time.

Koneko didn't answer, she kept her gaze on Scarlet. Her hands ignited with the blue flames again, it was almost as if she was just a distraction for someone else. Scarlet smirked as she could smell Xenovia behind her, she jumped over her as she glanced down seeing Xenovia before landing behind her. "So, trying to stab me from behind. Tsk, tsk.... what a shame." 

Xenovia jumped forward and turned around as she stepped back towards Koneko, both girls were guarding Issei and Rias. "Sorry for the wait, Gasper and Asia were in a pickle of their own..." Xenovia looked back as she then looked at Koneko. "Help Issei with Rias, there should be enough time left before she's far too gone." She then turned her gaze towards Scarlet as she tightened her grip on Excalibur. "This one's mine...."