Chapter Four: The Spear

"You can have me, Asante-kun. As often as you want. All of me, totally and completely."

Normally, when Asante had trouble sleeping, it was because he hadn't convinced a woman to give up her body for him, so he could enjoy three or four hours of light slumber. Now, however, he hadn't turned to his latest squeeze; his mind was too filled with anticipation for Ritsuko.

He had desired her for ten years, but after he had destroyed the method of wooing her Kitami gave to him, he assumed nothing would come of it. She didn't seem to like him very much, but he had done her several favors, so it seemed only fair she at last returned his gesture.

He wasn't certain why Ritsuko had finally decided to give herself up to him, but based on Gendo's surprise, he doubted the bespectacled man had anything to do with it. She was undoubtedly plotting something, but his lust for her was enough to convince him not to pry.

Ritsuko was not a particularly vain woman, but she did care about appearances. Word would get out in Tokken they were doing such things, particularly when all his activities were carefully monitored. There would be no punishment, aside from the stern looks of the administrators. Asante would probably have to break off his relationship with Eri, but that didn't really bother him. It'd been three weeks of sex, and he had grown tired of her, and was eager for a new toy, especially in the form of a buxom bleached blonde in a white lab coat.

The sound of his phone was unsurprising. No one ever called him but his workplace, so he had no reservations about answering with a gruff: "Yes?"

"Hirazuki, do you know where Dr. Akagi has gone?"

His alibi had been well prepared and well rehearsed. "She's gone to Antarctica on our behalf; she's smoothing things over with the Russians."

"Yes, we've been monitoring her flight," replied a Tokken coordinator on the other end. "Do you know why she purchased two tickets?"

"I was supposed to attend with her," Asante replied, "but I'm currently assigned to Captain Yuge. Besides, I don't do well with our foreign relations."

"Understood," the coordinator stated. "When she returns, if we are unable to contact her, inform Dr. Akagi that the Zarathustra project has been transferred back to her control. Dr. Nagamine has been removed from office and reassigned."

'Removed and reassigned' was just a polite way of saying 'executed for incompetence.' Asante only grunted in reply and hung up the phone, before returning his attention to staring at his ceiling.

Yuge's subordinate Ichikawa would more than likely be out of the hospital by the next morning, so Asante really did want to sleep a little bit, so he didn't collapse from exhaustion at some inconvenient moment. But alas, the seconds ticked away at a maddeningly slow pace, and the night dragged on...

A few hours later, in the Antarctic, Ritsuko and Gendo both stepped forth along the ice sheet, and after a few minutes, Gendo led her to a shallow pool of water in the cracked surface, and showed her the dull, rusted red husk, almost a hundred feet long and ending in two massive prongs, like a pitchfork.

"The Lance?" Ritsuko asked.

"Version 2, yes," Gendo replied. "This is the key to succeeding in your project, Doctor; use God's own blood to recreate your demon man."

Ritsuko lowered herself into the slick chasm, remaining on whatever surface she could. "It seems ironic, don't you think? Using God's blood to create demons?"

"When angels come into contact with Earth, they are corrupted by the sad wiles of humanity," Gendo explained. "In their pity, they try to console the weak and the incomplete, and when they fail, they lose all hope for return to Paradise. They are damned even more so than the denizens of Hell."

"You're in a talkative mood," Ritsuko observed. "You make it sound as though there's more to this than creating new soldiers for the government."

"Oh, but there is," Gendo replied. "You are welcome to all the divine blood you need. I want the lance for mysef."

"You can have it, if you don't mind dragging it back with you," Ritsuko replied, reaching down to take a sample from the red metal.

"Oh, I won't need the entire device; it's far too unwieldy," Gendo told her, dropping down to her side. "I only need enough of it for your friend with the cursed palm to recreate it for me."

"Yes, good luck with that," Ritsuko replied neutrally, fascinated by the end of the spear's prongs, and the dark red hue, discolored upon the metal.

"Would you care to explain where he gained such power?" Gendo asked.

"From a demon," Ritsuko answered, "or so he claimed."

"A demon?" Gendo repeated.

"A demon he knew only as 'dealmaker,'" Ritsuko replied. "He said the demon was sucked out of his body by Reika Kitami before she was killed."

"I see," Gendo answered, betraying no interest as he chipped away at the lance, breaking off a few fragments and pocketing them before removing larger portions from either side of it, to be placed elsewhere. As Ritsuko collected the remaining blood, Gendo ascended back from the chasm, thinking.

The dealmaker is in Reika Kitami's grasp. It may only be a fool's hope, but if I remember correctly, that demon can't possess women. If she succeeded in transferring her soul to another female body, as she intended, then it's possible I could locate him.

He extended a hand to help Ritsuko up from beneath the ice. "Any chance I could look at your ward's file? This is a fascinating story he's concocted."

Ritsuko shrugged. "Considering the help you've been, I don't see why not. But bear in mind," she turned fierce, holding his gaze, "whatever you're planning, you share with me. That was the condition I gave for keeping you alive."

"My only goal is to reconstruct the Lance," Gendo replied, "and then pierce God and the Heavens." He turned his attention to the sky, clouds hanging heavily over the ice continent. "How I'll get there will require you and your ward fulfilling your own desire." He turned back to glance at her. "Are you really intending to give yourself to him?"

"As necessary," Ritsuko replied simply. "It's the only thing he wants from me."

"And what do you want?" Gendo asked.

"Nothing anyone seems able to give," Ritsuko replied flatly, walking out ahead of him, her samples in tow.

Back at the Shinjuku Main Branch, sitting in a holding cell, Mika Itoh awoke, listening to sounds of clanging and hitched breath. Her door was forcibly ripped open as the monstrous Zarathustra stepped in to make good use of her again.

In the back of his simple, feral mind, the monstrosity could recall his purpose... he had a bit of soul to drag out, and a body to forever taint. Mika Itoh's soul had already been weakened; she was already willing to give in, and sacrifice her humanity to gain the relentless, craven pleasure.

Which meant, once Zarathustra had his fun, he'd need to find a new soul to taint.