Resolve

Final Chapter

-X-

Goh looked at the old friend and with a sad face, he moved to Judas. Judas laughed loudly, taking the hint; Goh was going to fight him to the death. Goh and Judas locked arms in a stalemate, looking each other in the eyes. The dual-eyed angel looked at his fallen friend, but he knew words would not be able to bring him back, only actions. He lifted his leg up and took the opportunity to kick Judas in the gut. Judas smiled evilly, not really phased by the kick. He ran up to Goh only to punch him in the face. The angel's face was bloody, a thick streak falling from his forehead.

"I am stronger than you Goh..." said Judas attacking again and again. Goh tried to block the incoming barrage of attacks, but Judas was just to fast for him. The red-headed Judas' fists hit Goh straight on every time. Shin and Rei watched in horror their friend getting beaten up. They looked at each other, communicating without so much as a word. They wanted this to stop; friends did not attack each other as so.

Just as Goh actually made it a few feet away from Judas, to recover his breath, Shiva appears. His happy self was back, able and ready to help Judas whenever he needed to. He ran to Judas, but Judas commanded him in his place. "Nobody is to touch him, understand?" Shiva looked back and forth between the brown-haired angel and his red-haired leader, a look of hurt on his face. He relented, going to where the other angels were gathered. Judas wasted no time going after Goh after the interruption, flying straight at the angel and impaling him into what remained of the castle wall behind him. Over in the distance, from that same side, Gai saw the entire showing of Judas' attack. Gai was about to run to Goh, but knew he would just be in the way. If he truly wanted to make a difference, he would have to talk to the others and increase the size in numbers that he had. He looked behind him, toward the direction where the Goddess and her guard were. The fire and the demons had started to creep past the man-made barrier and at any moment, the excruciating flames of the demons of Hell would engulf each and every one of them. Gai ran past Goh, looking neither of the angels in the eye as he passed the warriors; he went straight to the others.

When Rei saw Gai, he could not help but to feel guilty. Usually they would joke around, and Rei would make Gai angry, but this time, he couldn't force himself to do it. So many people have gotten hurt, all because they did not try to stop Judas and Luca from going after Heaven. Gai stopped in front of both Shin and Rei, looking at them.

"You guys, look at this... we have to stop it, and you know you are the only ones who can do it." He looked back at Goh. "Goh is trying his best to stop you guys, and he didn't want to hurt anyone but you gave him no choice..." Gai sniffled, getting rid of the tears that were on the verge of being released. He spoke again. "Rei, Shin, I know that you guys aren't bad, you too Luca, Shiva, and even Judas... I believe in you guys and I know things will get better..."

Gai stopped his speech after hearing a gut-wrenching sound. His eyes went wide, and he ran to Goh after hearing the bones in his rib breaking. Goh was a mess by the end of the battle, but even as Gai held him, he tried to push the angel away to get to Judas; the fight was not over in Goh's eyes until someone had died or all had turned good. Judas walked over to the Sword of the Ages, and pointed it at Goh.

"It would seem, that I have won this battle..." said Judas.

Rei looked from Luca to Judas, from Gai to Goh, and back to Judas. He shook his head, grabbing Luca's shoulders. "This is wrong..." he said loudly, "this is so wrong. Luca, you need to stop him... we need to stop him."

"I have a duty to Judas, Rei..." spoke Luca simply. Rei shook his head. All this time Rei had known this was wrong, the process of taking Heaven for Hell, and just following their lover's wills, but only when he saw the fighting between his friends did he realize just how much he needed to make his decision known. Luca, didn't even need to read Rei's feelings; they were on his face and his demeanor. Luca held Rei back. "No Rei..."

"I have to Luca; this is my duty to Heaven." Rei ran in front of Goh and Gai and looked at Judas. "I am sorry that I am late you guys, but I really think that Heaven should stay exactly as it was before," he said to Judas smiling sadly. Judas looked at the three angels before him. He knew all of them, and all of their favorite things, what made them happy and sad, what made them stronger, and what made them weaker... He moved closer to Rei, the sword still pointed to Goh.

"Move out of my way Rei, I will not hold back for you..."

"I know, but I still have to try Judas... look at what Heaven has become..." Judas and the others looked at the scene around them. Demons stomped in front of the flames, an army of them destroying everything in their path. The flames' heat was felt, and Judas looked back at Rei...

"This is exactly what I want! Now move aside..."

"I'm sorry Judas, but I cannot..." Rei moved into a stance, and extended his wings in case he needed to make an emergency dodge. He looked at his friend straight in the eye, waiting for him to make the first move. Judas accepted the challenge once again, throwing himself into Rei. Rei had not truly experienced the force of Judas' strength before, only hearing tales of how powerful he really was; Rei flew all the way back into the wall, a gush of blood released out of his mouth as he hit the castle walls. He fell to the ground, loose bricks and debris following him on his way down. He was already out, maybe as bad as Goh, but he also tried to stand.

Luca watched all of this in horror. He didn't know what to do. Rei was his lover, the one person who surpassed even Judas when it came to how much he loved someone. He had his duties, and his duties were to help Judas no matter what, but after seeing the look on Rei's face, the look of pure determination, Luca was ready to help... but he was too slow. Judas worked fast, and the beating that the angel Rei had received had given Luca his answer. No more would he watch the most important person in his life get hurt because of his duties. He had his own decisions to make. For a man who could read people's real feelings, it sure took him a while to catch on to his own, the ones that were telling him to fight with Rei all this time.

Though before Luca could even move into the battle, Shin had already made up his mind to follow what his heart really wanted. His heart yearned for Judas, but it also wanted more a place for other angels to live happily and peacefully. The vision that Judas and Luca had fought to create was not that world, and because of that, Shin had to stand up to Judas. Shin moved in front of Rei.

"You too Shin?" asked Judas with what may have been a sad tint in his voice. The flames had already taken some of the palace and the wild fire and the demons made their way to the group. Goh, Gai, Rei, and even Heros stood up to ready themselves for the imminent attack. The demons awaited Judas' commands, but the fire was another story. After Shin had tried his best to change Judas' mind, he decided on cruder tactics. He stood in front of his lover just like Rei had before, preparing to attack should need be. Judas' frowned and took up stance as well, throwing the sword aside.

"I guess you leave me no choice then..." Judas jumped up from is original position, not giving Shin the leeway to attack him first. The flames encircled the fighting group, trapping them in a flaming circle of heated air, which made it harder to breathe. Shin jumped back quickly, dodging with impressive agility Judas' attacks. The demons from Hell took the attack as a command to go; they assailed all that was not Judas, Luca, or Shiva.

The blue-haired angel had a hard time keeping up with Judas' fists ever since the flames had started around them. He was breathing hard, having to stop for a few moments in order to catch himself. Shin paused for only a second, and in the shadows cast by the roaring flames, lost track of Judas. He searched desperately for the man, but could not find him. Only when he heard the crackle of a flickering flame did he see Judas jumping from the air and right onto him. Shin gasped, taking a step back, falling onto the broken stones behind him.

"Judas... remember, please, all the times we had here in Heaven. Why would you want to destroy this place? Zeus is no longer in power and Heros will make a good king... we know he will!" Judas looked at Shin spitefully. What did he know? He was looking out for all of Heaven by turning it into Hell... that way only they would rule and they would never have to be under the tyranny of another oppressor again! "Judas... do you really think we could leave our lives in your hands when this is how you choose to rule your kingdom?" Shin said as if reading the very thoughts coursing through his mind. Judas looked around again, finally the scene registering in his mind. His demons were fighting the very people he wanted to originally help; the flames had all but devoured everything... there was desolate land from where all greenery and signs of life had been eaten. The flames had surrounded them all, each and everyone of the warriors protecting themselves from threats coming from either side.

Shin called out to the stunned man. What was he doing? Judas asked himself. The whole point of realizing Lucifer's dream was because Judas knew he would be able to rule. If he ruled, there would be peace... He watched as Shin came for him, with open arms, as if one hug could put away all mayhem and destruction that Judas had caused. Shin was ready and willing to forgive the red-head for his actions, but as soon as he took another step forward, a demon welcomed the opportunity. Judas yelled loudly as the little demon pushed Shin into the sweltering flames. All movement had come to a halt after hearing the scream Shin produced. Judas wasted no time in jumping in after the angel.

Shin rested his head on Judas' arms as Judas brought him and set him near the other angels. Gai was about to attack Judas, to make him pay for all the hurt all of them had faced, but Goh stopped him.

"Look at his eyes..." Gai looked into the emotion-filled orbs, taking the tears that formed at the edge of them into account. "He is plenty sorry about his actions Gai..."

"But we can't just let him go..."

"We aren't going to Gai. Come on, concentrate, we still have demons to ward off."

Judas dropped Shin gently, before turning his head away. Shin tried to lift his arms to get Judas to face him. "Judas, if this is what it takes for you to realize what you did was bad, then so be it..."

"Shin..." said Judas, "I never wanted you to get so hurt... none of you..."

"Judas..." said Shin. He grew quiet as Judas dislodged the ribbon that served as a belt and revealed all of Shin's bare skin. Even amongst his hot flesh Shin still produced a large blush. "What are you...?"

"I can heal remember..." He placed his lips on every part of Shin's delicate, fragile burned skin. Everywhere where Judas' lips touched the usual white smooth skin replaced the charred burning flesh. Judas ran his magical lips from the foot of the angel all the way to the top of his head.

"Shin, I..."

"You do not have to apologize to me..."

"I will make things right." Judas looked at his lover in the eye and Shin was able to sense something. Judas licked his lips and placed one final kiss on Shin's own lips. Shin gasped loudly as Judas pressed harder into his lips, finally releasing on the verge of breathlessness. Shiva and the others had watched, knowing why he had done what he did. This act had nothing to do with healing, that much was certain, but it was the most Judas could do to show Shin how he had felt.

Judas walked away from the shouting Shin, coming into contact with the demon that had thrown Shin into what could be considered the Flames of Hell. The demon stood fazed as Judas glared at him. The small demon got the message loud and clear and he scurried to make a run for it, but Judas had captured him. Judas held the demon up and spoke to the others surrounding them. "We are done here." Many of the demons had complied and started to leave the site, but a few other rebellious souls wanted to see Lucifer's wish done. They wanted to have Heaven belong to Hell, regardless of what their leader had told them. One of the demons walked up to Judas and attacked him. This action prompted a response from all the other demons. An all out battle had officially begun.

Judas, at first in shock, recovered and started to attack back himself. He threw a clenched fist at a demon coming from in front of him. Taking no time to even catch his breath, Judas attacked all the other demons that had rampaged him. They were numerous, coming from above, flying oblique paths that lead to him, others came from all sides, becoming distractions for those who were powerful enough to attack him head on. Judas had just threw a large demon into one of his comrades, when one of them had their mouth open, ready to spit fire. Judas tried to dodge, but Luca had jumped in front of him first. Luca smiled at his friend.

"I may have decided to stop wanting Heaven," he said, "but I still have your back Judas." Luca turned to the demon full on, impaling the creature with his hands. Black blood fell from his hands onto the grass, darkening what foliage was left.

Judas looked around and knew the only way to end this was to end the flames, or take the demons out of Heaven, but how was he to do that? Judas would usually have a plan for everything, but the thought of having a plan for if he failed never occurred to him; Judas never failed. He looked around, seeing his comrades and demons fight each other, each trying to gain the upperhand. Each of the angels had more struggles as they could not touch the flames; the demons on the otherhand used the flames to their advantage, using the fiery substance to improve their attacks. Judas thought hard... there had to be something he could do... something that could put a stop to all this in the blink of an eye... he gasped loudly at the answer that came to him.

Heros had just defeated another demon that was about to attack from the skies. He punched the beast down into the flames, watching as it burned to a crisp. He looked over to his left, feeling a sudden surge of familiar power next to him. When he saw Judas flying at lightening speeds to him, he turned to run, but thought against it. He was a god now, and it was his duty to protect his Heaven and his people. He went into a defensive stance, waiting for the red-head to attack. Judas was out of breath when he stopped in front of Heros.

"Heros, tell me, what happened to your great-great grandfather?"

Heros looked at Judas as if he was crazy. "Why?"

"Just tell me. This could be the key to stopping what I have caused and saving Heaven... at least if my hunch is correct..."

"How can I trust you?!" Heros yelled out loud. "How can you expect me to just trust what you are saying?"

Judas flew a few inches closer to Heros, grabbing him in a hug. "Heros, I do know what I did to you is wrong, and I do not expect your forgiveness... but I will save this Heaven. I did not intend for Shin to get hurt... and seeing that my own followers hurt him so..." Judas tightened his grip on Heros. "I do not have much time Heros. I to will pay for my sins when the time comes, and this is why I need to know what happened to you grandfather!"

Heros clenched his fists and looked at Judas in the eyes. "My great-great grandfather... he died during a battle quite like this one. Contrary to everybody's belief, Lucifer was not the first to want to take over Heaven; there was one other who wanted it before it was even a place called Heaven, before it became a sanctuary for angels... He died and all they found was this sword..." Heros pointed to the Sword of the Ages. "We don't know how he died, but he wasn't there... he disappeared just like that and was declared dead. There was no real history in the archives... but my mother told me at least that much. Why?" Heros said looking back at Judas.

"Because I have just repented for my sins. Thank you Heros... I know you will make a fine God." For some odd reason as Judas flew away from him, Heros could not help but to cry. The tears fell from his face hard and heavy.

"Why? Why?" he asked, "why am I crying?"

Judas flew over to his friends, watching them as the kept the numerous demons at bay. He had already picked up the sword and he wanted to say a final goodbye to them all before he left. Judas landed, and smiled oddly to them all. Every one of them knew something was up, and Luca and Shin, realizing it first ran to him.

"What are you planning?" yelled Shin. Judas looked at him, but spoke to Luca first.

"Luca, I leave things in your hands." Judas turned to Shin now, and like before, he planted a deep and intimate kiss on his lips. "I love you Shin; I am sorry for the time we weren't able to spend together." Judas started to fly when Shin and the others yelled out for Judas. Was this a goodbye? Rei ran to Luca.

"Stop him! What is he doing?" Luca closed his eyes and turned away from his friend. "Luca!"

"Judas! Judas!" yelled Shin loudly.

Judas flew up into the air and he looked down at the picture he saw. He found destruction and sadness, and that was about to change. The Sword of the Ages had a peculiar power, it did, and that was that it was able to extract the evil from the vicinity should it be used in that manner, and restore things to their original state. He smiled at the thought of his fate. He was going to sacrifice himself to save his friends, and he could not want anything more. Luca was with his love, the others were safe, and Shin finally would be at peace knowing he would not be working for Lucifer's dream anymore. Judas smiled and watched as the sword glowed a bright white; it was reacting to the cleansing of evil Judas wanted to perform. Judas' thoughts went to Luca and Shiva knowing they would be safe. Shiva, though really adamant about hating Shin, did have enough good in his heart to survive the attack, and Luca had never been evil to begin with. The man had just been a loyal friend, doing whatever Judas had wished because that was his wish.

A small smile was visible on Judas' face just as he flew down with the sword pointed straight at the ground. This was it, he thought as he headed into the center of the demons and where all the destruction occurred. He closed his eyes as he fell closer and closer to land. The sword hit the dirt underneath him. For a second, nothing happened. All beings had turned their attention to the giant crater in the ground caused by a certain angel who was seen collapsed around the standing sword. Shin was the first one to try to run to Judas, but Goh had held him back.

"Let me go Goh! I need to go to him..."

"You can't..." said Goh, saddened by what he saw.

In moments, as the demons began to taunt and harass the fallen angel, the bright light returned. The light emanated from the sword; the light started pulsing. A couple of the closest demons started to growl in pain, and as the light moved farther and farther from the source, it grew, growing gradually larger the stronger it got. Pretty soon, the light from the sword had a reach all the way across to the ends of Heaven. All angels that had previously been in battles had stopped to see the fantastic light show. The demons were weakened, paralyzed by pain. They fell to the floor, dying and disappearing as the light quickened it tempo. The flames were extinguished in just the same ways. The fiery beast was quickly devoured by the strong lights, and soon after that feat everything was being reconstructed. Buildings and homes were repaired as if by magic. They watched in awe as the grass grew back on the barren land, the large apple trees and pear trees back in the fields surrounded by all other fruits. The vegetables and the brush and forest had all returned... it was as if none of what had occurred occurred at all...

The Goddess looked about her and lowered her head for a second. "Let us go," she said to her guard who was wondering what was going on. The demons had disappeared after a monstrous pain shot through them, and he was perfectly fine despite the injuries he was inflicted during the battle.

"Yes ma'am."

As the lights faltered, and their brightness dimmed, the angels surrounded the crater the sword had formed. Shin looked around, searching frantically for Judas' body. Goh let him. "Where is..."

"He is gone..." said Heros whose eyes were red due to the amount he had been crying.

"Do you know what happened to him?" Heros turned his head, containing his tears albeit terribly. "Shin..." he started, but his mother interrupted him.

"Judas did what he thought would be best for Heaven. The Sword of the Ages is a very particular weapon, and it seems that Judas was able to control its power... restoring Heaven back to its original state and even healing all those that had been injured and those who have died..."

"Control? How is it control if he died? And where is his body?" Everybody watched as Shin threw all formalities out of the door. He was disrespectfully talking back to the Goddess. Why did it matter what he did now? The Goddess looked at him and walked over to the Sword of the Ages. She picked up the sword and Heros watched with amazement. Even he couldn't carry it as easily as his mom did! She handed the weapon to her guard before she looked up at the sky.

"Shin, where do you think pure souls go when they have died?" The Goddess walked away from the group leaving them to their own accords.

It was a few minutes after that Shin had finally accepted what the Goddess had told him. Shin was going to be okay, Heros knew, all of them would be, because they were the Saint's Beasts. He watched as they split up and left Shin to himself (he had asked that he be left alone after they insisted to be beside him). He looked up at the setting sun, nodding his head as he made his was to the palace; things were going to change now that he knew what it took to rule over his angels.

-O-

Gai, when they finally got to Goh's room let out all the pent up emotion he had in his heart. "Goh... I was so..." He couldn't say it. He had been terrified of the fact that Judas and Goh were fighting each other. They were about equal, and he wouldn't have known who would come out the victor. Gai sniffled back his tears as Goh walked up to him and patted his head. Gai looked up at his own lover and frowned.

"Gai, remember what I said." Goh lowered his head and gave Gai a full on kiss. Goh became even bolder and pushed Gai onto the floor, pinning him and taking the passionate kiss to a whole new level for Gai. Gai struggled under Goh which meant he heeded air. "I thank you for coming back alive!" said Goh with a smile. Gai blushed a deep red and chased after Goh in the room. Goh caught him and pinned him down again. "I see you want some more..."

-O-

Rei and Luca had flown into the night sky, staying steady under the bright full moon. Luca had said nothing since they left the palace, and Rei had no idea how to comfort him. He loved Judas, Rei knew, but not the way he knew they loved each other; Rei knew Luca loved him with all of his heart. Rei went to Luca and held his hand.

"Luca, you heard the Goddess. Everything will be alright." Luca pulled Rei in closer to him and spoke deeply, softly.

"That is not why I am silent this night." Luca looked at Rei and with closed eyes pulled the man in for a kiss. Rei, surprised at first happily accepted the gesture of affection. When Luca had released the kiss, Rei smiled at him. He understood exactly what Luca was trying to portray, and since Luca was not a man of many words, his gesture was enough. Rei encircled his arms around the white angel and took the lead in taking another kiss. They flew higher into the sky, the moon witness to their moon night dance.

-X-

A/N: So finally after probably more than a year and a butt load of writer's block I finished this little story here! I apologize to my readers for the final chapter as it seems again, my style has changed. Thanks a bunches for reading and review if you so please. Also comments about if it seemed rushed or the ending... I never really have a solid base for many of my endings...