Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Chrono Crusade or any of the characters.
A/N: This is my first shot at a Chrono Crusade Fan Fic, so please be gentle.
Taken Away
Chapter One: Crash
"Roseeette! You're going to faaaasssttt!!" howled Chrono, clinging to the seat as Rosette swerved the car quickly around a corner.
"Be quiet, Chrono. I'm driving," said Rosette sharply, her eyes focused intently on the road.
"Um…what is this demon going to be like?" Azamaria asked quietly. Chrono turned around to face her, gripping tightly to the back of his seat.
"It shouldn't be terribly difficult to deal with," he said. "It's more powerful than anything from the Legion, but it doesn't sound too strong. It has wings, so it will fly but we've dealt with flying demons befoooorrree!!" Azamaria squeaked as the car spun around another corner into a crowded, debris littered street. People fled past their car, running in the opposite direction. The purple eyed demon turned around slightly and saw why. Tearing through the streets, coming right towards them, was a huge gargoyle like demon. It ran on it's knuckles with bent knees, swiping at cars in it's way. One horn curled up from it's forehead.
"Rosette, stop the car! It's coming right at us!" yelled Chrono
. The demon bellowed and stopped it's pursuit of the fleeing humans. It flexed it's massive, leathery wings and turned it's head to face the car that was now spinning out of control, it's brakes screeching.
"Azamaria, get down!" shouted Chrono. The white haired girl ducked down on the floor behind Chrono's seat and covered the back of her head with her hands. Just then the demon took a swipe at the side of the car, it's huge clawed hand tearing through the side and lifting the car clear off the road. The car hit the side of a building and dropped to the pavement again with a crash, landing miraculously on it's wheels, it's engine smoking.
"Rosette? Chrono? Is everyone okay?" asked Azamaria timidly, getting to her knees, still wedged safely between her own seat and Chrono's. Steam trailed in through a large tear in the side of the car behind Azamaria.
"Ow ow… I'm just bruised. Are you all right, Az?" asked Rosette, putting a hand on the large bruise that was swelling on the side of her face. Azamaria nodded, shaking bits of glass out of her hat. Both girls waited for a moment, then frowned.
"Chrono? Are you okay?" Rosette asked and looked around. Chrono wasn't in his seat. The glass from the window by Chrono's seat was gone; just under where the window should have been there was a large hole in the door where the demon had hit the car, nearly identical to the tear behind Azamaria.
"Oh, God, no…Chrono! Chrono!" yelled Rosette. She kicked the door open and leapt out of the car, ignoring the glass from the broken window that tumbled like rain from her dress. Lying a little ways in the road, amid some shattered glass and scraps of metal was an almost child sized figure in a red coat with long purple hair pulled back in a braid. Rosette pulled out her gun and ran forward, dropping to her knees beside Chrono. Azamaria ran after her, white hair tossed this way and that by the wind from the demon's roars.
"Chrono, wake up. C'mon Chrono, there's a demon to fight! Wake up!" said Rosette, shaking Chrono's shoulder slightly. He opened his red eyes just a crack and looked up at her. He grinned slightly.
"I'm…fine," he said in a pained voice. "Just a bump on the head, that's all. Really." Rosette sighed in relief.
"Rosette! The demon—!" cried Azamaria from behind her. Rosette looked up and saw the drooling demon towering over her, one hand raised. She raised her gun and fired a few rounds of Sacreds at it. The demon roared and stumbled back. Chrono struggled to his feet and stood with one hand clutching his other arm to his side.
"Chrono, you're bleeding!" said Azamaria. Rosette re-loaded her gun and turned to look at him. That was when she noticed the dark stains on his right arm.
"Is your arm the only thing hurt?" she asked. Chrono hesitated a moment, then nodded. Azamaria cocked her head on one side and looked at the stain closely.
"Then why is your side stained with blood too?" she asked. Chrono flinched.
"I-it's just the blood from my arm," he said hesitantly. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine." Rosette growled and fired again.
"The Sacreds—aren't even slowing—it down!" she said. "Chrono, did the Elder give you any more Gospels?" Chrono nodded again and took a small box out an inside pocket. He tossed it to Rosette, then staggered to the side and fell to his knees.
"Chrono, are you sure you're all right?" asked Azamaria. Chrono clutched his side and gasped.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, looking up at the worried girl. He face changed suddenly from pained reassurance to surprise and horror.
"Azamaria, look out!" he said, forcing himself to his feet and shoving Azamaria roughly to one side. Azamaria yelped slightly when she hit the ground, then looked up and saw Chrono struggling in the demon's hand.
"Oh no! Rosette!" she said loudly, scrambling to her feet, not noticing the dirt that smeared her white clothes. She took a packet of Holy Water out of her pocket and got ready to open it when Rosette stopped her.
"Don't, Azamaria! You could burn Chrono!" The younger girl's mouth opened to form a small 'o' of realization, then she put the Holy Water back away.
"R-Rosette! Get behind him and fire at his calves!" grunted Chrono as the demon swung him back and forth, trying to avoid the bullets. Rosette re-loaded her gun with Sacreds again, keeping the box of Gospels close at hand.
"Azamaria! Come with me!" shouted Rosette, keeping her eyes fixed on Chrono. The girl nodded and dashed after Rosette as the blonde made her way behind the demon, whose attention was fixed on Chrono. Rosette aimed and fired a short round of bullets into the softer spot on the back of the demon's knees. The demon roared and dropped down to it's knees, beating it's wings angrily. It threw Chrono away from it, sending him sailing through the air into the side of a building. Chrono tumbled down and landed in a pile of discarded cloth bags, bricks, and wood.
"Chrono!" cried Rosette, grabbing Azamaria's hand and pulling her away from the thrashing demon. She ran up the pile and began digging through it, until she found her companion. There was a large cut on the side of his face, just under his eye. There were scrapes and bruises on his hands. Blood still seeped from the wound on his arm. A police officer ran up to the three of them, a gun in his hand.
"Miss, is he all right?" he asked, firing at the demon. His bullets had absolutely no effect at all, but it was a valiant effort.
"Do you have a medical team?" Rosette asked, all business. The man shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but we only have a small, basic medical pack right now," he said. "And no one here is a professional. We won't be able to do much for him."
"That's fine," said Rosette. "Just do your best. He's bleeding pretty badly and he's not conscious. At least try to stop his bleeding, please." Just then Chrono opened his eyes with a groan.
"Chrono, what's hurt? Is anything broken?" asked Rosette, glancing around to see the demon clambering back to it's feet, blood streaming from the back of it's leg.
"My…head hurts," Chrono whispered.
"Don't move," said Rosette softly. "A medical team is on their way."
"That's…good…oh Rosette. That demon…did claw me…on the side…" Chrono's head fell to the side and his eyes closed.
"No! Chrono! Hold on, they're coming. Azamaria! Stay with Chrono! Sing to him, keep him awake. Don't let him fall asleep," said Rosette, getting to her feet and turning to face the demon.
"Y-yes," Azamaria said breathlessly, kneeling down next to the bleeding demon. Thinking fast, the pale girl closed her eyes and hummed a note. Then she started to sing. No one really paid attention to the words, just the beautiful notes that sent a soothing energy over everyone near her. Chrono sighed and the pained look on his face vanished, replaced by peace. Then she stopped and turned to Rosette, tears in her eyes.
"Rosette…I can't heal him. Something's wrong with my powers," she said. Rosette bit her lip and fired at the now furious demon's eyes. The bullet missed but drew the demon's attention away from Chrono and Azamaria.
"Then just—hold his hand—or something and—talk to him about—anything. Ask him—to respond—sometimes so he—won't fall asleep," Rosette grunted as she fired over and over again to keep the demon moving away from her friends. A small group of men with boxes of medical supplies dashed over to Chrono, keeping a wary eye on the blonde girl that was drawing the demon away from them. Rosette could just hear Azamaria's voice as she re-loaded her gun saying:
"It's okay, Chrono. The medical people are here now, they're going to help you. Are you listening?" Rosette didn't hear Chrono's respond as she started firing again. Man, I am going to need ask the Elder for more Sacreds, Rosette thought, now aiming for the demon's head. There were bursts of light as the bullets hit, but they didn't penetrate the demon's skin. I think I'm far enough away now, she thought. She pulled a Gospel out of the box and loaded it into the gun.
"Bring peace to the lost lamb," she began. "I bid thee give rest to the fangs of the wolf—" Suddenly the demon's tail lashed out at her and sent her sailing back, the gun knocked from her hands. She didn't go far; she hit the ground and rolled a few feet. The demon roared and looked around. Seeing Rosette down, it lost interest in her, believing her to be dead already. It turned it's head and saw the group of police surrounding Azamaria and Chrono. It's red eyes flashed and it roared again. It beat it's wings and limped over to them at a frighteningly fast pace. The few police that saw it coming fired at it but regular bullets did nothing to it. It took a swipe at them, sending them flying.
"Azamaria! Chrono!" shouted Rosette, crawling forward on her hands and knees, trying to find her gun. Azamaria threw herself over Chrono's body, screaming in fear but still protecting him. The demon heard her screaming and must have heard God's power in it. It bellowed and swiped it's hand down to grab her, tossing it's head back and forth. The sides of it's claws smacked Azamaria in the chest and stomach, making her roll away her hands over her head. The tips of it's claws hooked in Chrono's dirty red cloak and lifted him up. Just them more cars screeched down the road and skidded to a stop just near Rosette. A girl dressed in a blue and white outfit like Rosette's own with pink-ish hair jumped out, two guns in her hands. She was followed by a girl with short blond hair and another with long brown hair. All of them were dressed the same and all of them had guns.
"W-what are you guys doing here?!" gasped Rosette in surprise, clambering to her feet. The three girls gaped at her.
"What happened to you?" they asked. It was then that Rosette realized that she had a large bruise on her forehead and a scrape on her cheek. Not to mention her outfit was covered in dirt and dust. For an answer, Rosette pointed behind her to the demon.
"That thing is still alive?!" they yelped as more people from the Magdalen Order leapt out of their cars.
"We got news that the demon was on a rampage and you guys were having trouble stopping it," said Remington, smiling. Then the smile vanished when he looked at the demon. "Rosette, is that Chrono?" Rosette turned around and covered her mouth with her hand. She saw Chrno dangling limply from the demon's grasp and held her gun up to fire. Then Remington's hand came down and redirected the barrel of her gun so it pointed at the ground.
"Don't fire that," he said. "You could hit Chrono." There was the sound of rapid gun fire from behind the demon and saw more from the Order behind it.
"Cease fire!" shouted Rosette, waving at the people. "Cease fire!" The demon screamed in pain as the bullets ripped into it's legs and the backs of it's wings. It tightened it's grip around Chrono's body and roared. It began pumping it's wings until it rose off the ground, then it rose faster and faster until it soared away, Chrono's small form hanging limply in it's grasp.
Okay, so I don't know if I got the whole 'Bring peace to the lost lambs' thing right. I can't remember exactly what she said. Please review!