I know that isn't the TRUE population of LA, but hell, I wasn't in the mood to research populations and crap. Just roll with it.

Over the pacific ocean, the shadow of a plane is cast on the crisp, blue water. The buzzing of an engine roars dominating the sky like a Bald Eagle, now extinct. It was mid-afternoon as the sun soars overhead, indicating the noon hour passing by. It was a dark blue plane, with a white stripe decoring the side, slightly larger than Leon's last plane (which has crashed due to their last mission on an island), but not as much. Every now and then, the plane will swerve, and backflip, along with the screams and pleading of a certain silver-haired priest.

"Aaaah! Stop it Leon! You're making me dizzy!!"

"Come on! Where's your adventure spirit?" Leon chuckled as he made a hard left, spinning in circles before getting back on track.

"STOPPPP IIIIITTT!!!" The other screamed, holding his head between his knees.

Leon laughed heartily before wiping a tear away. "This ride is too long. We gotta have some fun!"

Abel shot a glare at the other laughing priest. "But that's not the fun I like. There's a risk of someone falling out."

"You mean you falling out. You're not wearing a seatbelt."

Abel looked down, and, to his surprise, wasn't wearing his seatbelt. "Gah! How-how did this happen!" He said putting it back on frantically.

Again, Leon chuckled."I undid it while you were sleeping. You mean to tell me you hadn't noticed it while I was swerving all this time?"

"That's not nice," Abel pouted.

"Meh, that's life Abel. Get used to it." He said focusing on ahead of him.

He sighed. He knew this was all true. "I know..."

Silence engulfed the rest of the trip until a dot is seen just over the horizon. Before Armageddon, you would see different harbor ships, importing and exporting goods for public use. Now it was empty and desolate as the ocean below.

"Hey, finally! I think I see land." Leon said after about an hour of flying.

The other priest squinted as he tried to focus on the dot. "Yeah, I see it too. We're almost there!" He said excitedly.

"Hold on to your shorts, four-eyes. We're not there yet. Unless you want me to dump you out in the ocean-"

"No! P-please! Just continue flying!" Abel said paniky.

As they continued flying closer towards the dot, the ocean became browner, and more sickly. You would easily see the colour transition from space, as it came from deep blue, to sickly vomit-brown towards land. Leon looked at it without emotion, and just sighed. "Damn, and to think this was once a great nation...now obliterated from Armageddon. What a shame..." Leon murmoured. Abel looked out over it, and became saddened. It reminded him of his youth. He just stared at the sickly-brown sludge that was below, and gulped, lost in a trance.

"Hey...hey, four-eyes! Ya awake?" Leon said nudging Abel. Abel grunted and rubbed his arm in annoyance.

"No, I'm not awake." He said sarcastically.

"Heh. Thought so..." Leon chuckled in amusment.

The silver-haired priest sighed, and let the arguement go. He just focused again on the mission. "Leon, what do you suppose will happen?"

"What what will happen?"

"When we go...inside."

Leon shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe meet the local ghosts," He joked. "Whatsa matter? You scared of a few ghosts?"

Abel pouted. "No...it's just after seeing the footage of...you know, it got me a bit...scared of what might happen."

Leon yawned. "Honestly, Abel. Nothing will happen, okay?"

He thought a moment.

"Okay?" Leon repeated.

Abel sighed. "Okay...I just have a bad feeling about this,"

He snorted. "Maybe it's your stomach. I'll feed you once we land,"

After thirty minutes more of flying, Leon landed the plane safely on a abandoned collapsed highway, left for death with threatening gashes and telephone poles scattering the terrain ahead. The place was a disaster. It was barren, dry, abandoned, basically dead. The only recogniseable landmarks were still-standing highways, a few businesses, and a couple of houses that looked haunted in itself. Leon whistled.

"Damn. This place is dead, isn't it?" He mused. He closed the aircraft's door on his side, as he already noted that Abel got out first. He was standing a few yards from the plane, holding something in his hands. It was medium-sized, about the size of his forearm, and black. Some wires poked out through openings and such, creating the word "open".

It was a neon sign that would be found hanging outside a small shop. Abel sighed with a heavy heart, and gently laid down the sign to where he found it before then crossing himself.

"It's just a sign. It was never alive, Abel..." Leon said as Abel stood up, still staring at the sign.

"It's not the sign, it's the symbolic reference to its owners." He said mournfully.

Leon waited a few moments, waiting if he was done. He nudged Abel's arm. "C'mon. We've got some work to do," He then said walking on ahead. Abel trailed closely behind, taking in the carnage before him. As before, nothing was left but a few business buildings and street signs, along with some roads and freeways that managed to survive armageddon many years ago. But one sign caught his interest. Unlike the first one, this one stood erect, and dented.

"Welcome to Los Angeles, the City of Angels: Population: 89,256,200." Abel read out loud as a gust of wind swirled sand behind the sign.