The Fix

The armour hangs loose from a pair of metal forks against the back wall of the garage. A deep gash, surrounded by black charring, makes it clear that you had a pretty nasty brush with danger just a few moments earlier. Faust could be serious, it seems. Lala hangs from the front plate like a mischievous animal, poking at the hole with her finger.

"That's a big hole," she concludes.

"I noticed. Faust cut right through the plate using some kind of energy sword."

Mitsuru taps away at her touchscreen tablet, bringing up sheets of numbers and graphs; "Hm. I took readings of it, and our sensors managed to recover some data about the weapon he used. Hot, high energy, and lightweight too. I'm afraid the conclusion is fairly simple. We don't have the technology on earth to construct a usable material that can resist these forces."

"It's lucky that I managed to get out of the way then," you sigh.

"I feared that this would be the case. The fact of the matter is that for all of my immense genius, there are many things that cannot be done alone. Creating a new alloy would required billions of dollars in research and manufactories."

This is coming from the mouth of a girl that made a dimension hopping gun. Does she mean to imply that the cross-dimensional material was all she needed? The rest of the mechanism must be built from components that she can purchase on Earth.

"So, what can we do?"

Mitsuru adjusts her glasses, "Then we must merely change our battlefield strategy. We must do everything we can to tilt the odds in our favour when brute **** will not suffice. I've already started working on something new, a module that allows us to modify the composition and function of the armour. Increasing attack, mobility or defence as and when the situation demands. If combined with a diverse group of harem members - we can handle any threat."

Lala jumps up and down on the balls of her feet, "Oh, oh! Form change!"

"Form change?" you repeat.

"Every good superhero changes form!" Lala explains, "At least they do in Japan…"

"According to my research and discussions with our summonees, our fictional, parallel selves created several 'power ups' that took inspiration from the media they crossed over with. I've already drafted some designs in line with that practice. It will provide a very profitab- I mean, powerful selection of alternate forms for you to use."

Mitsuru's intentions are incredibly transparent.

You give a world-weary sigh, "If that's what you think we need to win."

"Lala, can you patch this up for me?"

Lala salutes to Mitsuru, "Roger boss!" She dives into a nearby box of junk and begins digging through them to find what she needs to fix the huge slash running across the front plate. You hope that Mitsuru isn't working the poor girl too hard in the lab when you're away.

"By the way Mitsuru, have you been taking advice from Venelana?"

She smirks, "Of course – why would I not take advantage of such a brilliant mind for business? She's the one who helped me launder- I mean procure the money we earned from the merchandising line, all without leaving a messy paper trail."

"You've been spending more time with her than I have…"

"She is the leader of a gigantic noble family. She's a busy woman. Though that doesn't stop her from asking about you."

"Really?"

"Yes. I would suggest fulfilling your earlier promise of a fine dining date soon, lest you incur her wrath."

You shudder. Okay, juggling all of these different people is starting to get difficult. It would help if Mitsuru could increase the number of summons available again – but if she could she would. There's no sign of another capacity upgrade on the horizon at the moment. A date with Venelana huh? That means you need to buy yourself a nice suit – a really nice custom-made suit, that actually fits properly. Finding a nice restaurant won't be so hard, there are fifty million of them in town that nobody ever visits.

Chun-Li said five-hundred wives though. Perhaps their fiction is still fiction for a reason.

You take a seat at the workbench and watch the pair work their magic. You were so deep into that discussion that you failed to notice Motoko hovering around the place and taking a closer look at everything. "It's certainly an effective piece of urban camouflage," she concludes, sitting next to you on the other stool, "Though if it comes under attack you may be in trouble."

"Those alien losers can't even tie their own shoes correctly – they aren't going to find my lab," Mitsuru says in defence.

Motoko shrugs it off, "Don't say I didn't warn you when they do."

A question springs to mind; "Do you use powered armour in Section 9?"

She shakes her head, "Some units used to, a long time ago. But the prevalence of cybernetic bodies made most of their functions redundant. They're heavy, power hungry and reduce mobility. You could use one for someone who isn't enhanced, but the maintenance and costs are often seen as prohibitive."

"What I wouldn't give to get my hands on some of that technology," Mitsuru sighs.

"I'm not going to steal anything for you," Motoko says sternly. You have to agree with her. Snatching things from other worlds is going to drum up a whole heap of trouble for you in the future. Mitsuru wouldn't be able to resist reverse engineering them and shooting Earth's technology ahead by two hundred plus years.

Mitsuru pouts, "You're no fun."

Lala finished off fixing the armour, and both her and Motoko went home without further incident. Motoko is a hard woman to converse with – since so much of her time and mind-space is dedicated solely to her job. Speaking with you about your own TV and manga series is probably out of the question.

You decided to use one of your blank cards while Mitsuru dipped out to do something. Rias had been very insistent on introducing Xenovia to the harem – and considering the sudden focus on swordplay that has occurred in your fight against the invaders, now seems as good a time as any. You type her name into the computer and watch a reticle move across a map covered in thousands of tiny dots, before it locks onto one of them and turns red.

"Here goes nothing…"

You press the enter key and watch as the text log on the left spits out a spew of numbers and processes, calculating the needed data and inputting it into the body of the blank card. The printer whirs to life and rattles the desk, this process only takes a few seconds. It settles down and releases a gush of steam as it rapidly cools down.

The tray opens and reveals a newly inked card, featuring the serious and dedicated Xenovia Quarta. Now that you look at her with fresh eyes, you realise she kind of reminds you of Ryuko Matoi from Kill la Kill, thanks to their similar brash personalities and single bundle of off-colour hair. Maybe Ryuko would make a good choice in future too – though having a version of her without Senketsu would be problematic. Mitsuru's guiding hand will be needed to find a universe where she does.

You send a courtesy message to Rias explaining that you picked her up.

Rias responds with a heart eye emoji and nothing else. Thanks a lot…

Dropping the card with the rest of your collection, you consider what to do with the rest of your day. Training is an easy way to kill a couple hours, but what then? Maybe Mitsuru will have a dumb errand for you to complete. You grab a towel and some clean clothes from the office locker and head into the gym. You'll have to think about it.

Now is the moment of truth.

The day after making Xenovia's card, you decided to put your plan into action. Venelana has made it clear to Rias that she'd like to have a one-on-one with you. After agreeing to a time (with some mathematical assistance from Mitsuru to make sure the dates line up,) you begin the long and difficult preparation phase. With a bank account swelling with over one hundred thousand dollars, you intend to make this one a night to remember.

You inspected a handful of luxury restaurants around town and eventually came to realise that most of them are very similar to each other. Modern decorations, soft jazz, and tables covered with white cloth. The owners and bookers responded to some of your inquiries about the best place for two people to sit, and eventually found a nice elevated booth that should provide a little privacy for you.

With a reservation secured, which wasn't hard given their struggling business, you then set about improving your appearance. You've never visited a store that specialises in suits and formal clothing before – you got a crash course in just how much a properly crafted suit really cost. A few thousand dollars gone in an instant. But you have to say, you think you'll look pretty good in it. You also get an expensive haircut, though you find that an expensive haircut isn't much better than a cheap one.

You considered hiring a car and valet to take you to the venue – but you realised that without a good place to depart from or return to, it would be a waste of time. All you had to do after was steel your nerves and practice talking into the gym's mirror so that you don't make a total ass of yourself in front of such an intimidating woman.

The suit was delivered to your crappy apartment, and you tried it on exactly once to make sure that everything was in order. The changes in your body measurements since you started working out were shocking to say the least. Then you watched the clock tick over until your pre-arranged time. Rias texted you with encouraging words.

You sneak around the back of the restaurant and take up a position next to an overly large pickup truck in the small parking lot. There's no way anybody can see you behind here. You take a deep breath and summon the sledgehammer, sliding Venelana's card into the magazine and pulling the trigger.

Venelana appears from the other side in a wonderful red and black dress, with matching crimson jewels dangling from a necklace. A side effect of that is that your eye is immediately drawn to her cleavage, which peers dangerously from the straight cut of fabric that tries in vain to cover them. The dress is tightly wrapped around her mature body, making sure that every inch of her amazing figure is on clear display.

Okay, that's enough slobbering over her appearance. You step out from behind the truck and take her fingers into your hand, leaning down and kissing the back of her hand. Venelana smiles pleasantly and greets you in kind, "Hello, suitor mine."

"Good evening Lady Gremory. You look amazing."

"Why thank you, shall we?"

Venelana does not ring you up for summoning her into a dirty car park round the back, mercifully. When you finally get a house with a parking space you'll summon them from inside there instead to save the embarrassment. She loops her arm through yours and follows you to the front door, the greeter recognizes you immediately and motions to escort you to your table.

The brief, thirty second walk from the front of the house to the back is the single most emotionally challenging thing you've ever faced. First – holy crap everyone is looking at you. They're glaring daggers at you for daring to bring such a beautiful woman on a date. Secondly, you feel like you're on top of the world. Hell yes. That's right, you DID bring this beautiful woman on a date, and you're going to pay the bill without shedding tears of financial distress.

The table is contained on an elevated platform at the back corner of the establishment, with artificial hedges and small fences placed between each section to provide every couple with some privacy. The table is smaller than the others – intended to create a more intimate dining experience. It isn't left wanting for elaborate and needless excess despite the size. The edges of the table cloth are nearly folded into a rippling polygonal pattern.

Manners, manners, manners. You quickly hurry to Venelana's side of the table and pull her chair out. She gracefully accepts the invitation. When you finally get around to sitting down yourself, you can already feel a cold sweat breaking out under your expensive suit. Venelana tries to assure you by smiling again, but that reminds you of a wolf stalking its prey more than anything else.

"I'm very happy that you decided to do this for me. I was worried that you were leading this old lady on."

You clench your teeth and stammer out a half-apology, "Oh no, of course not! It's not that I'm avoiding you – we've just been rather busy with people trying to… invade the world and all that."

"Hm. And how has that been going?"

"Just fine. We've fended off all of their attacks so far. Mitsuru got a new idea into her head yesterday, so she'll be out of my hair until it's finished like always." The noise of the patrons means that you can speak about these things without worrying about being overheard.

"Rias is rather taken with you, and she says that destroying your enemies is an effective form of training for her and her peerage."

"Really?"

She supports her head with her left head, leaning into the table and deepening the already profound view of her cleavage; "Oh yes. Rias is very much my daughter, always diving headfirst into what she desires with little concern for convention or precedent. She's already planning for a wedding with you and her peerage involved."

"A-Already?"

"Don't worry. She says that the rest of the girls need to come around to you first, before she decides to do that." Venelana doesn't seem to find the idea so absurd, especially if she's willing to speak so openly about it.

"I bet you had a thing or two to say about those plans."

She laughs, "As the first lady of the house – I was also responsible for keeping my fellow wives and concubines in line under my departed husband. Some of them were rather… rowdy."

"No doubt that was something you were good at."

Venelana shakes her head, "Not at first, actually. It was a role I had to learn. You seldom find yourself in the position to manage a gaggle of wives before you marry. Would you like me to take leadership of your own harem?"

"Right now, I can't summon more than four of you at the same time…"

The smirk she gives you sends a shiver down your spine, "Regardless, there are matters to be discussed even when we aren't together in person. Though the convention on birthing heirs that devil families subscribe to made things easier."

"What's that?"

Venelana takes a sip of her wine before explaining further, "Devils have a very low birth rate and the advent of the evil pieces meant that we no longer had to rely on natural births to increase our numbers. Even before that though, it was expected that the first lady of the house was to be the only one to bear children."

"The only one?"

She sighs, "That was the idea. Some took it a different way, instead insisting that the first lady was to have the first pregnancy, and that the others were permitted afterwards. It was a rather messy and boring procedural affair. The original intent was to prevent complicated and destructive succession crises."

You nod, "Oh, I see. What about now?"

"It's a matter of choice for the remaining families. However – the succession of the Gremory clan has been firmly established. Rias is the heir, as my eldest daughter and the only eligible selection. Upon her marriage, or when I step aside from the position, she will take on the responsibility. Waiting for a devil to die from old age is a frivolous task."

Her husband must have died somehow, it'd be a big mood killer to ask about that though. The title wasn't passed down to Rias like it should have been. Perhaps he asked Venelana to take custody of the family until she was ready. Or maybe Rias had rejected the title as she wasn't confident in taking it on just yet.

Venelana smiles and winks at you, "I assure you, any potential children borne from our romance will not interfere with the good order of our clan."

Gulp.

Wouldn't that mean that any hypothetical child between you and Rias will also take the title of family head someday? You realise now that Venelana is giggling at your shell-shocked expression.

"I haven't really thought about children at all. I guess I'm too focused on fighting off these invaders."

"It's nothing to concern yourself with as of yet," she replies, "You will not sire a child with a devil that easily. And I have to hope that Rias is using contraceptive magic responsibly." You're more worried about your other wives, like Chun-Li and Lala, who don't have that ability. "And an older woman like me… I don't like your chances."

"To be honest, you don't look a day over thirty."

She pouts, "Flattery like that won't work on me. By devil standards I am of an increasingly advanced age."

You sigh and sip your own drink, "I heard that you and Mitsuru have been up to no good again."

"That girl has her head in the right place," Venelana chuckles, "With a small amount of guidance, she started to come up with ideas and strategies that even impressed me."

"That's how Mitsuru has always been. She races ahead of everyone else with just a small amount of information or teaching. Doctorates in every subject I can think of, and some I can't. No doubt she'll be a multi-billionaire thanks to you in time."

Venelana finds Mitsuru interesting for that fact. You've spent more time on this date talking about other people than each other, but just as you try to think of a way to learn more about the drop-dead sexy woman sitting across from you, the food you ordered earlier arrives.

"Thank you dear," Venelana says to the blushing waiter. This woman is deadly and she isn't even trying. Questions about herself can wait until after, you don't want to let the food get cold. In contrast to most stereotypes about this kind of joint, the food is well portioned and looks delicious.

"This looks great."

"Indeed. Let us indulge in the best this city has to offer."