Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Crusade, nor any associated characters or places. (If only, sigh)
Note: This is actually my first-ever written fanfiction, so try not to judge me too harshly if it ends up sucking.
Note 2:This takes place before the first episode, so no Azmaria, or Satella.
And without further ado, let us begin!
"It was the golden twenties, during a time of great develop and change for the world. The new continent , having just survived the great war, enjoyed a period of great economic development, and reveled in the spring of this new age. However, just as a development begins to gather people and things, it also summons forth unseen things and monstrous horrors that writhe in the darkness of time's contingency."
It was at this time that Rosette and Chrono, having been dispatched by the Magdalene Order's New York Branch, are sent on a quest to investigate a mysterious case of a building in the Bronx quarter of the city.
Chrono and Rosette were speeding along a narrow back-alley on a stormy, dark afternoon. Suddenly, their car slows to a screeching halt.
Chrono sighed, "Rosette, PLEASE don't tell me you forgot to reload the gas tank. It just means we have to walk more."
"WHAT!, (her eyes widen) WAAH, WHY ME !?, I thought I filled it up last night, HONEST!!"
"Well it does us no good to complain now does it?" (he sighs again), At least we're not far from the building Sister Kate told us about."
Rosette sighed too, "Yeah, I guess you're right…, well, let's get started."
They get out and start walking along, taking a side route through the overgrown, and wet backyard of a small, and shady looking, old apartment building. Soon enough they reach the end of the alley.
"We finally made it!" Rosette whispered
Yeah, start to keep an eye out for anything suspicious." Chrono said
They look up and see their destination, a tall, ten story business office, in an obvious state of disrepair. Several of the windows were bordered-up and shuttered, the others were either broken or had their frames hanging askew. The whole place was covered in grime and dust.
"Right, Chrono, carry the pack and stay close, we weren't told the size or power of the threat, only that it was dangerous."
"I know, I know! You just keep your eyes open for any signs of it."
"Right"
She readied her Exorcist's Government.45 handgun and loaded the chamber full with Sacred rounds.
Rosette looked around cautiously "Things look okay at street level at least. Come on, let's go."
Chrono nodded, and they quickly made their way over to the door of the place. Rosette pointed her gun at head-level, while Chrono slowly opened the door.
They peer cautiously in, and see a dark reception area. Throughout it they could see old furniture overturned and broken glass littering the floor. The walls are a stark white.
They slowly stepped over the threshold, and Rosette reaches for the flashlight from her pocket. She flicks it on, and tires to scream.
Chrono quickly covered her mouth "Shhh"
The floor was littered with dead corpses of business people, and clients. They were cut open and almost skeletal. No blood was present, and no visible damage was done to the skin, with the exception of the gaping gash in their chest and their split rib cage bones sticking out at odd angles. They had no odor to them at all. Their faces were very thin and their cheekbones were placed uncannily high. The cheeks themselves were sallow, sunken, and stretched to the point of eerie creepiness.
Well it's pretty obvious that whatever did this wasn't human. But whatever did managed to do so without draining them of their astral energy. Chrono said ominously.
Rosette looked shocked "But how? I thought even devils needed to drain astral energy in order to have the energy to use their powers. If they had the chance to, why didn't they?"
"I have no idea, most lower classes of devils are drawn to it, kinda like bees to honey. Those in the legions of greater devils must feed on it from time to time, cause to draw energy from their own kind would be to attack their fellow troops. Too much of that, and they're likely to be killed by their commanders. But for something like this, I'm at a complete loss. Devils do like to kill for the sheer satisfaction of it on a regular basis, but this seems weird, almost like it was done surgically.
"You would think that the lesser devils that would attack these kinds of people would enjoy the bloodlust. But you're right, this is weird. They even removed the smell somehow." Rosette said wonderingly.
She looks at one of the corpses near the front desk, it looked to be a woman with dark brown hair. obviously a receptionist judging from her white dress. Near her feet was a black nametag that had been torn off, which simply said "Caroline".
Chrono looked away "Let's move on, we've spent long enough here. If I remember, the disturbance report said there was a sighting on the 9th floor.
Rosette closed her eyes and looked away also "Right, I'll lead."
They walk down a nearby hallway, littered with more of the odd, creepy corpses. They arrive at an elevator halfway along the hall, and Chrono pressed the up button.
"Get your gun ready Rosette, there's no telling what we might find up there."
The elevator cranked slowly down, then finally hit the ground and the doors slid open. As it opened, the two slowly stepped into the darkened center of it, trying to avoid stepping on the additional corpses in the elevator as they did so. Chrono pushed the button labeled nine, while Rosette looked like she was about to gag. The doors shut, and the elevator began to rise slowly.
"So? Do you have any ideas yet on the devil's identity?" Rosette asked.
"No, none at all, but we could be on to something big here."
"Do you think there could there be a plot involved this time?"
Maybe, but if there is, you can bet it's a staged one directed elsewhere.
But why would they attack a clinic? It just seems pointless. Not to mention it would raise unnecessary suspicion from local authorities, not to mention us.
They both nodded worryingly
"Let's just focus on the mission right now, but make sure to include your suspicions in your de-briefing to Sister Kate." Chrono said.
"Okay"
When the doors began to finally open again, Rosette pointed her gun at the same head-level position as before, but when the doors slid open, all it revealed was another long, white hall, lined with more doors and filled with even more of the freaky corpses. A sign near the door read 9th floor, gift shop and infirmary.
"Kinda odd for a business clinic to have an infirmary don't you think?" Rosette said oddly.
Chrono ignored her and pointed into the darkness"Shh, look there, I think I see something.
Rosette shined her light into the corner he was pointing at. It was revealed just to be a sign near one of the doors. On it was transcribed H and BKB. Beneath them was a note, simply stating, 1919-1928. Then underneath the sign was what looked to be a red smudge.
"It's nothing." Chrono said, sounding relieved.
Rosette sighed a sigh of relief and they began to walk down the hall.
"But it's kinda strange to have birth and death years on a room sign in a clinic, don't you think? And why write initials instead of names?" said Chrono.
"Yeah, this place is starting to seem like it wasn't the greatest place when it was active."
Chrono "Maybe… well anyway, let's keep going, we're getting close to the room of the window it was sighted in."
Rosette: "'K" she said, and nodded.
As they walked Rosette pointed their light at the smudge from earlier. It was revealed to be a small message, written in blood.
It said "Best friends in one life, eternal roommates in another. May their bodies never see the light of P-KY again.
The door next to them was ajar. Rosette dared herself to look in. What she saw, she nearly screamed at, were it not for stopping herself at the last minute.
She saw two copses, they looked to be only teenage boys, these however weren't skeletal and empty, they were freshly cut, and completely oozing in blood from head to toe. The most sickening part of the whole experience was that they were hugging each other, and still smiling, with their eyes open. Blood covered their teeth and was dripping from their eyelids and matted hair.
Rosette: It's like their frozen." She said, looking at Chrono.
They both nodded worryingly, and walked on.
It turned out all the side rooms in the hall were like that, each with a birth and death date, and a mysterious, non-sensical message written in blood and occupied by more blood-drenched corpses. Another disturbing fact was that most of them were teenagers.
Right next to H and BKB, was SD, a girl with brown hair and an adventurous look on her face,
Her message said simply that she reaped what she sowed.
She was caught trying to put together some kind of art-stucco miniature shaped like a bunny. She was smiling also, and the blood dripped down from her lips right on to the bunny's eyes.
And so it went on like this for a while, after SD was JH, a very pretty girl with silky-blonde hair. Her hand holding a pencil and hovering over a piece of paper, both were soaked in blood oozing from her hand, and she had a serious and thoughtful look on her face,
Her message said simply, You should have listened to me after all.
Next came SR, an active looking boy with black hair. He was caught waving at someone outside the window.
(You were fun while you lasted.)
Next came DH, a small boy with glasses and light-colored hair. He was watching a TV show, and holding what seemed to look like a baton.
(How's J doing? Do you remember K?)
After him came H, a girl with blonde hair and a talkative expression on her blood-soaked face. She was sitting on the edge of her bed and waving a peace sign at the nearby corpse of a girl lying in a heap on the ground.
(I'm glad you were always so happy)
After him came CBC, a brown haired girl, wearing a black and green jacket. She was in the middle of reading a book.
(You always did like weird things, this should be your only exception.)
Chrono and Rosette walked quickly past these, feeling like they were about to throw-up.
Finally the hall ended with HKR's room. She was another girl with brown hair, and was dressed in a black and red striped shirt and a black jacket with white trim. She was on the phone, talking happily with someone.
(Why? Why did RR never tell you about me?)
When they finally reached a small staircase leading into another room, they stopped to catch themselves.
"Well, it's pretty obvious now that the original cause of this mess was a devil worshiper, though I have to say, this one is as sick and demented as they come." Chrono said with a gagged look on his face.
Rosette caught her breath. "What kind of person could let themselves go to that extent?"
I'd rather not find out anymore about them than I already do. Let's just hurry up and find him and end this."
Rosette nodded, and then tried to twist the handle of the door in front of them.
"It's locked."
"Then we're close, get ready!"
Rosette readied her gun and kicked the door, it flew open on it's hinges easily.
Inside was a small clinic room filled with floating stones inscribed with demonic markings, floating amongst them were tarot cards and pieces of paper with long bits of writing on them.
The whole room was white, and empty save for a single hospital bed, on which sat the body of a teenager. He had brown hair like several of the others, blue eyes, and white-pinkish skin. He was dressed completely in black aside from a light blue , plain T-shirt, and wore an odd expression of perfect content on his face. He was smiling peacefully.
Rosette was shocked "So the devil worshipper was just a kid!?"
"It's a sad fate to see what the world has become." Chrono sighed
"Judging from the notes back there, this was someone who killed his cousins and friends in order to achieve some kind of payback for them leaving him. The devil-worshipping was just a means to an end" Chrono said, looking at his feet.
"How'd you come to that?"
"Let's just say I've had personal experience ."
"I see," Rosette said, looking at the boy's peaceful smile and shuddering.
"Well in that case, it still doesn't explain the case of the devil sightings here. Unless of course…"
"ROSETTE, LOOK OUT!!"
The boy's body had suddenly began to expand, and bulge. It then started jumping and twitching wildly in mid-air. Just then his back burst, and from it, massive bat-like wings appeared.
Out from his body flew a monstrous form. The devil's body was sheer black, with very long black limbs that ended in massive claws and talons, it was humanoid in figure, and did not posses a tail. It's face was a bleeding mess that was covered in small spikes. It's only distinguishing feature was it's single yellow and black eye, set in the center of it's forehead. It had a single horn sticking directly out from above it's eye. It had no nose, and only a gaping hole in it's face for a mouth. Out of which the blood was oozing.
It landed on the bed, reared it's head back, then moaned and leaped at them!
"Take this!!" Rosette said and pointed her gun into the creature's mouth, just as the devil tried to press it's bleeding face against her.
She fired a Sacred and the creature reared back in agony. It raised it's claws and screamed.
Suddenly, they heard a massive moan issue from the other side of the door behind them.
"OH NO, PLEASE DON'T TELL ME!!" Chrono said with a pained look on his face.
Sure enough, they soon heard a shuffling noise and the sound of dead bodies rising from the floor.
"OH SNAP!" Rosette said frightened.
She turned quickly fired another three rounds into the thing.
It reared back and screamed in agony, but then it just roared again and got back up, and this time it charged.
It quickly leaped at Rosette and jumped on her, knocking her to the floor,
Chrono quickly locked and barred the door, then opened the pack and grabbed a vial of holy water.
He leaped at the creature's back and drenched it's spine in it.
"GAAH!!" Chrono grimaced and bit his teeth together, hard.
The devil roared a blood-curdling scream, and rolled off Rosette, clutching itself and absolutely shaking in agony.
"Are you all right Chrono!?"
She saw that the holy water was running down his fingers and steam was rising off of them.
"I'll--I'll be alright." He said shakily through his gritted teeth,
"That should have finished him, though."
Suddenly, the door finally broke down and the corpses started to fall through, moaning in misery.
"NO, PLEASE NOT RIGHT NOW!!" Rosette said, paiined.
On top of that, just then the devil shrieked in agony, and rose on it's claws shakily again.
"WHAT KIND OF CREATURE IS THIS!?" Chrono said shocked at the amazing survivability of the creature.
The monstrous devil roared and yet again began to charge at them, followed immediately by the careening, moaning, bloody, undead corpses.(wow, that's descriptive)
Rosette points her gun at the monster and is about to pull the trigger, when the devil quickly reached it's unnaturally long arm out, and swiped the gun out of her hand, knocking them both into the corner of the room as he did so.
"There's no other option Chrono, I've got to break the seal!!'
"NOOO, YOU MUSTN'T!!, YOU KNOW WHAT I'LL HAPPEN IF YOU DO!!"
"There's no other option!" Rosette said sadly, "It's either do it or I'll die anyway!"
"NOOOOO!!"
Just then, one of the side windows in the room explodes in a jet of flame, incinerating several of the undead near it.
Though it jumps a figure dressed in a black cloak and jacket, he quickly lifts his head back and reveals himself to be a man with light brown hair, Steely-blue eyes, and a calm, and placid face.
The devil roars, and turns to face this unwelcome interruption.
"Who the heck is that!?" said Chrono, surprised.
"WHO CARES?! HE'S SAVING OUR BUTTS FROM BEING EVISCERATED AND EATEN!!"
The man then stuck out his hand quickly, and blue symbols shaped like ritual circles began to glow on it.
"What the!?" said Chrono, shocked
The man quickly muttered something under his breath, and a white light began to shine form his hand, suddenly a massive blast of water shot out of it and quickly covered the entire floor of the room.
Just then, the water quickly formed into a freakish amount of little hands that grabbed at the devil and the corpse's ankles and pulled them down, slamming them into the floor.
The hands quickly dragged them all at once into a pile in the center of the room. Then all the water in the room then quickly coalesced on top of them, washing over their bodies and then freezing into solid ice, covering them completely.
"WOW!!" Rosette said, amazed.
The man then quickly raised his hand and muttered some more words quietly.
Suddenly, the pile of frozen monsters burst into a great torrent of white-orange flames!
The flames then literally pick up and throw the demon out the broken window, meanwhile instantly incinerating all of the corpses to simple charred bones and ashes.
The man quickly pointed his hand at the window, and the flames jumped out it, instantly vanishing in mid-fall.
Suddenly massive amounts of air started to coalesce together around the devil. It's ripped to pieces while free-falling, finally fading away into black dust.
The man lowered his hand and looked away from the window, peering into the corner where Chrono and Rosette were still laying. Chrono was clutching his still-stinging hand, and both were looking at him with awe.
The man stepped closer to them, but suddenly stopped when he saw Chrono up close, he looked at his pointy ears and red eyes. And then he turned to Rosette, and saw the heart-lock on her chest.
Suddenly a look of sheer and pure hatred appeared on his face, and his blue eyes turned a vivid red. He stuck out his hand at them, but then lowered it, quickly turned, walked across the room to the open window, and suddenly vanished just as a light breeze rattled the broken shutters.
Rosette and Chrono both look at each other.
"Just who was that? said Rosette.
"I don't know, but I've got an eerie feeling that we haven't seen the last of him…In any case, Sister Kate is gonna want to hear about all this."
And that's a wrap, How was it? Good, Bad?
I'm sorry if it was a bit too long, or if the format was off a bit. Any constructive criticism is much appreciated!
Also, I might decide on writing another chapter, but only if this one turns out to receive not to much flame. (Hides in flame-proof room)
I AM however willing to give a free cookie to any and all good comments made!