The ancient ruins tumbled into the path as Bill and Kaia followed Yoh and the others. Real bats fluttered about above their heads in the cave, unlike Boris' oversoul bats. Even though they were following the other group, they seemed to be led there by another force. If they lost them, they would end up at the same destination anyways. Up ahead in the darkness, the other group stopped.
"What happened?" Kaia whispered. Bill waited to answer, not knowing either.
"I understand why Boris lost." A familiar voice said. The chief!
Kaia's heart skipped a beat. Boris lost? How? She pulled at her dress in a nervous manner. It couldn't be. He was so strong.
"It seems that you are missing a person, only two of you are here. Are you sure of what you're doing?" A man in a white coat asked the chief.
"I will deal with you myself. Our missing member doesn't have time to spare, he's very busy." The chief said.
"Hang on tight, Kaia." Bill whispered to her.
She grabbed hold of his shoulder pad and signaled to him that she was ready. He began to run at the white coats and summoned his spirit allies. They seemed to multiply behind him in a wave of football players.
"What!? Only football players!" Ryo looked up in surprise.
"Here I come, you will taste it! The Big Touchdown!" Bill shouted, leaping above their heads, Kaia still on his shoulder hanging on for dear life.
"The spirits of the old player, Big Guy Bill. The 21 members of his team, lost in an accident." A man said as he fixed his glasses onto his nose. "No pity." He withdrew a gun from his side. "Nor pardon for those who ally with Hao. Your evil deserves the capital punishment."
All of the whitecoats drew out weapons of various sizes but Bill wasn't afraid. He ran straight at them as they fired. Kaia gasped as spirits began to come from the guns and run at them, to counter attack. Everyone else was surprised as well.
"Arch-angels!!" Bill exclaimed when he saw what the spirits actually were. It was too late now. "Kaia, go!"
Kaia took up her staff from a strap on her back and leaped off his shoulder to somewhere safe. She didn't want to leave him but orders were orders. These enemies seemed too much for the both of them.
"Unbelievable!" The Chinese man shouted.
"How... did they get such spirits!!" The chief almost fell back in fear.
"We are angels. Our powers are concentrated in these divine ammunitions." The white coat leader said. "Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Metatron, Sariel, Remiel. We, the seven angels, are designated by the divine one. Of all eternal angels, we are the closest to God."
"Bill!!" Kaia shouted when she saw the angels standing around him. They were taller than any building she had seen and brighter than the sun. He was laying on the ground, struggling to breathe and badly burnt. She started to run to him but something hit her foot. She stopped and yelped in pain.
"Kaia, sit." The chief commanded her, lowering his right hand. She growled, angry at him for attacking her and the angels for hurting Bill. She reluctantly sat down under the chief's stare. Kaia couldn't stand it, her friend was out there dying and she had to sit and watch. She wasn't going to let it happen again, but she couldn't do anything as the leader raised a gun to Bill. The last stand.
"Don't kill him." Yoh said, combining his oversoul with a sword. "You're right. I don't like you."
Yes! Yoh will help Bill! He was Hao's important part after all.
"For Boris, it's already over. I know it's already too late to do anything. But on the other hand, if you are really going to kill him, I will be there to prevent you from doing it." Yoh spoke as if he had planned this speech for weeks. He held out his sword filled with his oversoul of the samurai ghost, Admidamaru.
Kaia stared at the sword and then back at the angels. There wasn't a chance. They would all be killed in a heartbeat. The odds were great and poor Bill wasn't doing so great. Kaia saw that the chief was no longer watching over her so she crawled quickly to Bill's side, under the X-laws' eyes. She guessed they didn't see her as a threat. A little girl who crawled around and couldn't even stand properly was no threat to the powerful X-laws.
"Easy, Bill. I'm here." Kaia whispered as she slid his helmet off and touched his face. He was terribly hot and was panting like a dog. "Oh, Bill. Please hang in there." She said, brushing his hair back.
"Kaia, don't worry about me. I am Big Guy Bill afterall." He forced a smile in all of his pain.
"You're such a stubborn man." Kaia smirked.
"Kaia!" The chief called to her.
She must have missed minutes of conversation. Kaia saw that the chief and the Chinese man was leaving, they must have had a plan to save Bill. She kissed Bill on the forehead and leaned terribly on her staff as she followed them through the ruins.
"Kill them!" The X-Laws leader shouted. Kaia fell down in a frantic.
"Although I told you not to kill them." Yoh said angrily as he readied for an attack. "If you kill those who disturb you, then you and Hao are alike!"
Everyone froze, letting this phrase soak in. Kaia covered her head with her hands, still awaiting the divine wrath of the angels.
"You dare insult us!" The leader shouted as his angel came hurtling down at Yoh.
"YOH!!" His friends shouted in unison.
The dust cleared and the feathers flitted around the battle scene. Smoke came from the gun barrel that the leader held in his hands.
"You know that you can do nothing against us. And yet you tested your courage while facing me." He said to Yoh as everyone watched in desperation. "A pathetic demonstration of bravery. I'll let you live this time."
Kaia let out a soft chuckle. 'Someone so powerful and merciless gave Yoh a second chance? What a hypocrite!' She thought.
"Patch Village isn't that far away anymore." The leader said as his group began to leave. "If you want to stay alive, you better go back the way you came. Further this way. A good for nothing like you doesn't know his place."
Kaia got up and leaned heavily against her staff. The chief observed a few minutes of Yoh's group before turning in disappointment. "Let's go." He said. Kaia and the Chinese man followed obediantly.
To be continued in Chapter 5!