A/N: Why do these chapters keep getting longer… ToT
Though the light no longer reflected off of him, Neuro reflected on himself as he flew through the Valkyrian skies. So, after becoming a suspicious character he was now going to remove that suspicion by sneaking around suspiciously. Sounded like a plan.
The wind patterns made searching annoyingly difficult. It was tough to navigate with air streams buffeting one way and then changing, suddenly, to another direction. Neuro darted from part of one stream to part of another, effectively "hopping" around the area. Surrendering to any part of this storm was comparable to making a literal deal with the Devil. And Neuro had no plans to do that again any time soon.
He pulled himself out of a particularly forceful undercurrent. As Neuro floated to the side, he caught sight of where the blast had been heading. A huge mass of wind writhed violently in the sky—thick with clouds, sparking occasionally, and tucked so tightly together that it looked like a swirling knot.
Neuro wouldn't have paid much attention to it if it weren't for the two Lightning Valkyries.
Their expressions were confused, as far as Neuro could tell, and they hovered with crossed arms, staring at the vortex. That was unusual. Neuro himself might missed the knot in this huge, ever-present storm, but the Valkyries hadn't. And they were experts in this landscape. They would know if something was wrong.
Neuro turned Evil Flyer around and drifted back towards the two demonesses. He hovered to their left, not even bothering to hide. Being invisible had its perks.
"That's not right, is it?" said one of the Valkyries. "I've never seen something like this."
The other shook her head. "Me neither."
"It must be a sign. A sign of our world being disrupted," said the first. Her voice began to flush with fear and excitement. "Those Damned Thunder-born… The Orb must be returned as soon as possible."
Snarling, the two of them took off. Neuro was left to ponder the vortex alone.
Hmm… He had an idea. An insane, suicidal, awful idea. But it was logical. The vortex appeared to center on one point, all of its winds wrapped around a single spot. There should be no reason for a natural windstorm to form a centered-shape instead of a funnel-shape, especially given the volatility of these winds.
And Neuro trusted in logical plans.
Neuro squared his shoulders again, feeling Evil Flyer attune to his will. He flitted around the miniature storm. This would require the most precise timing. Even though it was a vortex in shape, each storm had its calm spot. His gaze searched its surface. There was always an Eye.
There. Neuro surged forward, letting go of all thoughts as if they would be added weight. He zeroed in on the thin patch. Almost there. Then the spot changed, closing and opening again a few feet to the right.
Evil Flyer jerked sideways, carving a perfect right angle in the air. It blasted forward to propel Neuro through. Neuro gritted his teeth. His whole world became a mass of darkness, air, and sound. The wind, invisible and usually so accommodating, lashed him brutally like whips, forming solid arms where before there were mere molecules. The howling was like a chorus of demented screams.
Something solid hit Neuro in the chest. He wrapped him arms around it instinctively and then emerged on the other side.
After a few moments Neuro opened his eyes. The vortex slowly wound itself down behind him. Its winds lessened and disappeared, having blown themselves to smithereens. Only the storm around them remained.
Neuro let out a sigh of relief. If it hadn't been for Evil Flyer, he might never have been able to retrieve this central object. But was it, exactly?
He held up the object. It looked like a strange plate—flat and rectangular, about the width of a book. The plate was colored deep black, with streaks of red and blue mixed in.
Neuro turned the plate over in his hands. He ran one finger along the sides. It had been damaged slightly. Small pieces had flaked off along its edges while plate itself showed some signs of wear and tear.
"Poor thing," Neuro simpered. His voice would have made a puppy cry. "It must have been so hard for you in the middle of that whirlwind."
But the smile on his face did not match with his tone. Triumph glowed in Neuro's eyes. This was a clue. Someone had wanted to get rid of it. And they were not far from the Temple, either. It could be inferred that someone had dropped this plate, wanting to dispose of it as soon as possible, and left it to the winds to tear itself apart.
The winds did seem to be attracted to the little slab. Neuro jotted down mental notes as he noticed some of the clouds already beginning to pull in towards the plate and him. Particles in the air bent and flew, gathering around the slab and swirling across its surface, creating wind.
Neuro flew to the side. The gathering winds dissipated.
So, as long as one kept moving the object would not be able to gather a vortex. That was fortunate. Neuro could take the evidence with him without much worry.
He clutched the plate in one hand and moved along. There was still more searching to do. If the culprit had been careless enough to leave this plate to the elements, then perhaps they had left other clues as well.
The second natural wonder Neuro came across was a cannon in the sky.
He hovered in place. Looming up and to his left was a dense collection of clouds, packed so solidly together that it resembled pure stone. A circular indent was in the middle. Once every minute, the center flared and released a huge amount of energy. A ray jettisoned out with the speed and force of a bullet, carving a sparking, scarlet path through the sky.
Voltium, Neuro thought, the name coming to his mind. He flew carefully past the cloud-cannon in the time between two bursts. More cloudbases came into view beside him. Then they were in front of him, and then appeared all around. Neuro made his way through the aerial minefield. For a moment, he felt as if he were locked in a dance with dozens of enthusiastic volcanoes.
This must be a farming ground, he reasoned. These clouds were full of the rare electric element, packed so densely together that it seemed the voltium had no other choice but to collect and then burst outward. Neuro wondered if it was all natural, or if the Valkyries worked to stimulate the cloudbases' development. If he had to guess, probably a bit of both.
A nearby blast sent vibrations through the air. The tips of Evil Flyer's wings shook with tremors. Red sparks shot through the sky and then faded, wilting in their demise like coals falling to earth. The air was rife with static, making Neuro's feathers rise.
But there were no suspicious vortexes. Neuro moved on.
The next thing he came across was a group of Thunder Valkyries.
There were three of them, two women and one man. They moved in an organized squadron, swiping through clouds with their spears, but it was obvious from their halfhearted movements that they didn't expect to find anything.
Neuro took cover in plain sight, simply electing not to move. He pulled funny faces and sent rude gestures their way as they passed by. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do in this situation.
Thanks to Evil Canceller he was able to overhear every bit of their grumbled conversation.
"-won't find him here."
"But we must check. It is shameful that Vnip's women managed to let an intruder through…to the Temple of all things!"
"It's obvious where he came from. That Damned HDAC."
All three of them muttered in agreement.
"May his soul rot," one of the women said, a traditional sendoff in Hell. "Poor turfblood didn't even look like he could fly."
"And may he be reborn as a glowworm," said the male Valkyrie. "So that some landbird eats him, and then I can eat the landbird!"
"Must have killed himself," the last Valkyrie said, sniggering. "…when he realized that the others weren't coming back for him. He could either stay up there forever or drop. He made the less painful choice, considering what I would do to him."
On they went, chatting about how exactly they would have regained the honor of their species through violence.
Neuro raised an eyebrow. So, they thought he was dead? He hadn't actually expected his fake-out to work that well. This would be a huge advantage.
That is, if the culprit themself believed it.
He quietly reactivated Evil Flyer and continued on.
Neuro had been wandering for hours, but no further vortexes were to be found. Either this plate was the only one of its kind, or the other evidence had managed to rip itself to pieces. A frustrating prospect.
From his position near the bottom of the cloud cover, Neuro could see land passing by below. The terrain of Thunder Valley was dark. Boulders loomed, and crags and crevices scrunched the earth together like wrinkles on a face. The black and brown surface was marred with fault lines, dips, and craters that gave it the appearance of a clay creation wrought from a vengeful toddler's hands . Deadly rock spires jutted up to the sky, but all fell pathetically short of glory.
As Neuro passed, he saw a few boulders that had split open. Their innards glistened in the dull sunlight. A blue granular mineral spilled out onto the ground like the inside of a geode. Judging by the stark fractures in the rocks' sides, they had been broken up by hammers.
It looked like part of a mining operation—one that had been hastily abandoned. Perhaps news of a feathered intruder had drawn the workers away. Neuro smiled to himself. What were the chances of that?
He swung his head from side to side. I see. The Valkyries were famous for mining elements, Neuro recalled. Two of them in were of particular interest to the market: voltium, a red element synthesized from electricity, and sonarium, a blue element extracted from special stones.
It appears that the two races each mine their respective good, Neuro thought. Thunder demons tend to Thunder Valley, and the Lightning demons concentrate on the sky. Separate even in their work.
Neuro was still musing when the first rock struck him.
Thunk. Something hit Evil Flyer's side. Neuro turned to look. He needed to crane his neck in order to see beyond the shoulder guards, but he was able to manage.
The sight that met him was inexplicable.
Small dots appeared on the horizon. As Neuro squinted, the shapes seemed to increase in size, slowly growing bigger with each passing second. After a few moments, Neuro's stomach sank with recognition. They were rocks.
A group of ten pebbles flew after Neuro like a hail of bullets. Their path was unforgivingly straight, their speed alarming. The smallest ones caught fire due to friction and vaporized themselves into nothingness. But the others were still coming.
Neuro braked hard. He directed Evil Flyer upwards, zooming out of the rocks' path. The stones followed, not mimicking Neuro's actions but merely taking the shortest and most direct path to him. Now they were even closer, while Neuro was still taken by surprise.
Evil Flyer mustered the strength needed to blast Neuro forward again. But the stones had almost caught up. It looked as if the very earth itself was attempting to attack him. Neuro gritted his teeth. Nothing for it. If a chase could not be won, then it was just a waste of energy.
Neuro flipped around, facing towards the pursuers. He raised the plate in his right hand to defend himself. The rocks zoomed in close-
And attached to the plate with a chorus of satisfying thunks.
"…?" Neuro opened his eyes. Not a single rock had hit him. Instead they were all stuck against the black slab, seemingly quite satisfied with their location.
Neuro slowed. He looked down at the slab and turned it around in order to examine it. There was a cluster of about a dozen small rocks, none of them larger than his fingers. They were all charred and smoking and firmly attached to the slab.
"Strange," Neuro said. Then movement caught his eye. He looked up to see another small stone flying out of the distance towards him.
"…" Without making a sound, Neuro held the plate out next to his head. The stone hurtled closer. As the distance between them shrunk, Neuro watched as the rock gently curved through the air. It struck against the slab with a solid whump and moved no more.
Neuro looked at the plate. Sparks of excitement and wonder were beginning to pulse through his brain. "So it wasn't me as an intruder they were after…but this plate?"
Neuro took hold of one of the rocks and pulled. It didn't budge. He groped further, digging his talons into the space between stone and slab. At long last, he managed to pry one off.
He examined the sample. The rock appeared to be a chunk of sonarium, due to its blue coloration. But veins of red voltium were etched into it. It reminded Neuro of how the lightning bolts would sometimes strike the land around here.
The detective looked at the plate again. Could it be?
Neuro flew, swooping upwards in a graceful arc. From his new vantage point he could see the landscape stretching out below him. He held out his hands, thrusting the slab forward.
Neuro channeled demonic energy into his hands. The plate became covered and infused with his aura. It responded immediately. The multicolored streaks in the plate's surface glinted, offset by the black stone. Neuro was in complete control. It felt almost like driving a vehicle—like somehow Neuro knew he was at the helm of a powerful machine.
He didn't have to wait long for results. Out of the craggy land came a blur, which clarified into flecks, which then were revealed to be a crowd of pebbles.
Neuro kept feeding the plate energy as he zipped along the lower limit of the thunderhead. Rocks hit against the slab in a continuous stream. A few thin bolts of lightning, too—mere spider's threads, really—began to reach down from the clouds to strike the slab as well.
When Neuro had had enough, he brought Evil Flyer to a stop. The plate was now covered in a nice collection of charred, crackling stones.
So I was right. This slab attracts voltium and sonarium to itself, Neuro mused. But only samples that are heavily contaminated with their opposite element—only those that hold fragments of both.
It was the last piece Neuro needed in order to put together a theory. He bent his head, muttering. That was what the Valkyrie leaders had said, wasn't it? 'The Orb of Storm is made of both our races' powers…'
Such a potent mixture would have responded quite strongly to the plate's pull. If the Orb truly did represent both species' elements, then by the use of this plate one could…
As soon as Neuro finished the thought, he felt stupid. He was making a rookie-level mistake—the kind that crime novels made a living from. Just because Neuro had found a way didn't mean that was the only way the criminal had actually used. If someone like Neuro wasn't careful, they could run the risk of getting carried away in their own excitement. A brilliant theory did not make a correct one.
But it fit so well. Neuro frowned. No one could have entered the Temple without stepping onto the alarm-rigged platform. Even if they had found a way to float inside, the guards would have seen them either entering or exiting, according to the Valkyrie leaders. Neuro could guess that the only reason he had been able to approach was that the war-meeting had called their troops, and the precious treasure hidden inside had already been stolen.
The criminal had also wanted to get rid of this plate for some reason. Why do so if they hadn't even used it? Furthermore, the object was obviously foreign to this environment. It must have come from an outside supplier.
Neuro remained in thought for a few minutes, the struggle all in his head. Then he shrugged. The tension melted from his shoulders just as suddenly as it had appeared. No matter what reason or method had been used, one thing was for certain. It was reasonable to assume that the culprit had at least had a Valkyrian accomplice. Otherwise they would never have been able to breach the Temple.
A sudden light entered Neuro's eye. The sun had begun to descend below the rim of the clouds. It hung suspended in the air for a moment, falling much too slowly to be perceived as a moving object, full of golden glory.
A disgruntled grimace was on its big fat face. The demons must have kicked it extra hard this morning while waking it up. So majestic.
"...Hmph," Neuro grunted, the sight reminding him of something. He flexed his fingers, feeling the rough edges of the plate dig into them. "The Orb of Storm carries power for both? Then, I need to find a Valkyrie that stinks of 'both elements'."
The hint of a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "And I know just where they'll be."
Upon reflection, Neuro was lucky.
Every Valkyrie in the skies had gathered for the outbreak of war. They massed behind their respective leader, separating themselves into Lightning and Thunder. None of them noticed the avian watching them, since that avian was invisible.
What better place to search for a criminal than a battlefield? Sure it was mortally dangerous, but that was beside the point. Neuro smiled. Now. To business.
The air was thick with tension. Hostility sparked between the two opposing sides, literally in the case of one of them. Each demoness and demon were equipped with the best armor they had, the best weapons they could hold, and a pure, burning hatred of the kind not seen for over one hundred years.
"This is it, Vnip of Lightning," said Hraoh, dressed in black armor. She snapped her helmet into place. Its spikes glinted in the light of the setting sun. "Soon the time for lies will be over."
"Same to you, Hraoh of Thunder." Vnip had looped two additional belts of daggers around her shoulders. A faint electric charge crackled off of the blade in her hand. "You and all your sisters will pay for your misdeeds."
Neuro flitted from one part of the crowd to the next, keeping to the outskirts. He held the slab in front of him, controlling it with his energy. He swept it back and forth over the demons.
At one point part of the group he passed began to whisper. They shot glances into the sky. Some grabbed onto the arms of their neighbors. They started to mutter: did you hear that? A sort of low buzzing sound… There it is again. Did you hear it? Did you?
Their muttering grew, catching and spreading like a disease, riding on their fear.
"It's the spirit of the Valley!" a male Valkyrie suddenly shouted. "It is angry with us!"
Another cried, "We heard it too, earlier! During the searches earlier."
Hraoh swung her head, watching the panic slowly blooming through their ranks. Her hand tightened around the handle of an enormous warhammer. She turned to Vnip, raising a full-length shield on her other arm as if preparing to strike it.
"By the loss of the Orb, you would throw our entire land out of balance? You truly are despicable."
"What's really despicable is your dedication to the denial of your crime," Vnip said. Behind them some soldiers began to jostle in their ranks, reaching out to swipe at their opponents.
Neuro was frustrated. He shook the slab. He tried again, pouring a huge amount of his energy into the plate. Nothing.
Not here? None of them? A Valkyrie that held traces of both elements, left over from their time transporting the orb, did they not exist? Neuro's mind raced, scrambling to figure out what he could do-
Something arced through the sky and exploded with a small pop.
Neuro looked up. A small flare had gone off a mere six feet above his head. Soon another one came, bursting just a small ways away. The color of the first one had been red. This one was blue.
Pop, pop, pop. The flares continued, switching between colors of the elements, tracing a faint arc leading away from the battlefield. They stopped just above a large cloud formation.
It was the final straw for the Valkyries. Both sides broke into outright, screaming and shrieking about sacrilege and their world falling apart. Somewhere in the midst of the carnage Hraoth struck her shield with her warhammer, sounding the gong of war. Within seconds, carnage spread.
Neuro hovered in the air. Am I being led? He narrowed his eyes. After a split-second's consideration he rushed forward. He should go for it anyway. Blue, red, thunder, lightning…they were sending him a message, whoever 'they' were. They were someone in the know
With battle raging behind him, Neuro flew off, following the trail of breadcrumbs.
This is where the flares were sent from, Neuro thought. He had not chased after the flares themselves. That would have been stupid. Instead, due to the angles and height, Neuro had calculated where exactly the shooter should be. So where is th-
Something hit him from the side.
Neuro reeled. Evil Flyer's halo apparatus had taken the brunt of the blow, but his world was still shaken. Clouds and sky blurred together.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
Neuro was hit a few more times before he could even register the first blow. His attacker moved with surprising strength and swiftness.
He growled. Evil Flyer shook and twisted, dropping into a barrel roll. Something clanged off his left flank. Air left a pair of lungs with a gasp.
When Neuro righted himself, he found a demoness hovering before him.
She was young, and wore shorts as part of her battle-ready outfit. She had short blonde hair like a pixie. She was a Valkyrie, and part of the Lightning-race judging by her colors. And the girl was smiling. In her right hand was a dagger.
Neuro could tell by her eyes that she didn't quite know where he was. But as he moved, drifting back to a better distance, her gaze darted towards him immediately.
A snarl twisted his beak. "How did you see me?" He had to know how she managed to attack him.
The girl smiled, his words a concession of her triumph. "A-ha-ha!" she laughed. "I don't need to see you. I can hear you, dummy."
She pulled a face. "Stu-pid. That's one thing I got that you don't." Her red eyes glinted. "I know how to be quiet."
The engines at Neuro's back suddenly seemed a whole lot louder. He cursed himself. The sounds—of course. Here was where the one catch in Evil Canceller came into play. It only worked for visuals.
The Valkyrie brought her hands to her ears, cupping them. She moved her head, closing her eyes for a moment as if to concentrate. "And if you go anywh-air else, I'll hear that too."
"…I see," said Neuro.
"Oh, you see that I don't see." She bit out a laugh. "Good. Then get wind of this."
The girl struck a dramatic pose. One of her arms thrust up, the other bent at the elbow. Her wings fluttered in a quick burst, blowing the clouds away from her form. "My name…is…Yapel!" she shouted, emphasizing the syllables so that it sounded like a lightning strike.
"What an electrifying debut! Please, hold your thunderous applause," she said to a dead-silent Neuro. "Eh? Or would that be thunderclaps?"
"Enough of the games," Neuro spoke. "Why did you call me out here?"
"Hm? Oh, the flares." Yapel cocked an arm and held her dagger carelessly from her fingertips. "Don't be such an airhead, mister detective. I thought you might interfere with the war. Couldn't have that."
She smiled at him, her eyes sharp and cold. "Creating chaos is necess-airy!"
"But it looks like you weren't planning to stop it after all. How shocking." Yapel shrugged. "I guess we've both made some miscalculations."
Neuro refused to respond to that.
"Oh c'mon," Yapel said, as if guessing his sullen expression. "Any good command-air knows to keep their soldiers away from an enemy battle."
"An enemy battle?" Neuro said, thoughts beginning to dawn on him. "You weren't in the crowd. Causing chaos was more important to you than participating in a rivalry that has gone on for generations…impressive."
"I would have gotten them both, actually," the girl said with a cheeky grin. "Two bugs with one windshield, yeah? The one with the most kills out of that war would have been me."
Needle-like teeth lined her smile. "I take full responsibility for all of the damages. Ha-ha! Kya-ha-ha! Thank you, thank you, such soaring applause!"
Neuro's left eye twitched. This girl acted like the world was her personal stage. How annoying.
"I tire of this farce," he said. "Yapel of the Lightning Valkyries, I accuse you of the evil intent to steal the Orb of Storm and incite a species-wide war."
He held up the stone slab. His aura ran through it. "This item right here confirms it. I can tell that you have strong traces of both voltium and sonarium on your person. Unless you've had reason to visit the Thunder Valley mines recently, I believe that my theory is confirmed."
"This plate was used to steal the Orb," Neuro said, falling into his usual routine of revelation. "It does not matter much when or where. There is no need to go into the Temple, you see, when one can simply make its treasure come out."
"When I investigated the Orb's pedestal, I saw lines in the dust that headed towards the door. It must have been dragged out. The power in this plate is more than enough to attract the Orb of Storm out from its sanctuary and into your grasp."
Neuro shrugged. "Personally, I suspect that you either took advantage of a less-staffed day on guard duty or a routine flyby. All you would have to do is be last in the group, hang behind for a moment…and be quiet."
"…I can't see whatever it is you're holding up," Yapel said. "But it sounds familiar."
"Ding-ding-ding! Cor-rect!" The girl dropped her dagger, throwing her arms wide in excitement. She flitted upwards a few feet in the air. "You are strikingly close! With all the gear that I got, it was a breeze."
"However!" She held up one finger. "I do not feel guilty over it. That's a problem for you, isn't it?"
Neuro held back a scowl. She was right. He could feel it—he could see the mystery pressing against the cracks, struggling to break free from her soul. He had solved the puzzle. Now he just needed to open the door and let it escape.
"Well, I hate to put on airs. But…"
Yapel's expression changed. Rage and determination twisted her face. "If you want your little snack, you're gonna have to fight it out of me!"
She took something from the pack around her waist. In a matter of seconds Yapel had put it on—a pair of thick, brown gloves over her hands. A gem was implanted into the back of each, colors swirling around inside.
The Valkyrie formed two fists and slammed her hands together. Lightning sparked from the impact.
In no time at all, she was encased by a small force field. The gloves had worked in harmony with her natural energy. Occasionally, sparks zapped from one section of the shield, arcing like a solar flare. The pale red bubble held up against the galeforce winds as strong as a bunker.
Yapel laughed wildly. "You can't beat this, turfblood. I've heard so many have tried to fight you—how will you deal with someone who tries to outlast you, instead?"
"I can be sunk, blasted, crushed, or dunked in acid, and this force field will never break," she continued. "I am invincible!"
Her smile was made from cruel excitement. "So don't be a soar loser."
Neuro sighed. The demoness still couldn't see him, but he did it anyway for effect. "'Indestructible' is a far cry from 'invincible', child."
Neuro raised his arms and surrounded them with a green aura.
The feathers on his arms began to change. They became smooth and flat, melting into one another and taking on the hue of bruised flesh. His skin erupted into coils, bursting out at the wrists and continuing until the entirety of both limbs rippled with disturbed mass.
The coils burst out from Neuro's flesh and melded together in front of him. Bumps and jagged edges, like plants or the legs of an insect, curled around one another and fused, building until it formed the shape of a pole.
The material darkened and solidified. Somewhere inside the mass, a blade had been created. It was shunted to the top and clamped in place by a maroon hilt. In the solid material, a single lime-green eye blinked open. It rolled and stared out at the space around it.
"777 Tools of the Demon World – Evil Javelin," Neuro said. "This is all I need."
He pulled back, hoisting the curved handle above his head, and swung.
Yapel flinched as the blade passed through the force field. But nothing happened. There was no forceful rebound off the sphere, no dull thud. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
"A-ha-ha!" she laughed. "You summoned a useless weapon. How much more of a drain on your powers has that cost you?"
"Considering all of the trouble that it took to track you down, quite a bit," said Neuro. "I hope that your mystery shall at least make up for it in part."
He took the Tool's handle, holding it so he could examine the blade. He looked like a feathered grim reaper inspecting a chart of the day's deceased.
"You see, this is a very unique weapon. It cannot be used in the way everyone expects it to be used." Neuro flipped it around so Yapel could see. "But then again, that is a use in itself I suppose."
Squiggles of writing and pictures of molecules could be seen on the blade's surface. It had taken on a slightly transparent tint after hitting the force field. "This weapon doesn't cut. It analyzes."
"I see that you are allergic to salt," Neuro said. Evil Javelin disappeared back into his arms, twitching and cracking as the flesh reclaimed it. He raised one hand, having already transformed it into a salt shaker. "Let me help you out with that."
The color drained from the Valkyrie's face. "N…Nooooo!"
Neuro lunged. He flung a few fistfuls of salt onto the pale outline of the force field.
The bubble reacted immediately. It puckered and corroded, disintegrating upon impact. The force field curdled into a gritty substance, dropping away due to gravity and leaving the demoness open.
Yapel shrieked as salt met her skin. It dissolved her flesh, eating it away in a matter of seconds. The sheer amount made a quiet hissing noise as she writhed. Her face twisted with salt in her eyes, her mouth tasted acid when it opened to scream, and her hands burned from reaching up to bat the substance away from her hair. The chemical burn steamed as the salt bit away at her like a billion tiny mouths.
She collapsed in the air, shaking. Her wings fluttered frantically.
Neuro flew in and grabbed her. The salt had absolutely no effect on him. He sensed energy poking at the surface, a heavy substance beginning to throw off its bonds. She was done.
Let's eat, Neuro thought. He opened his mouth…
Gulp.
For a moment Neuro savored the taste of energy on his tongue. It wasn't much, but at least it was something. And the satisfaction was worth-
Wait.
Neuro paused. He ran his tongue over his teeth. He concentrated on his stomach. Something didn't feel right. This mystery felt…lackluster. It felt like an appetizer removed from a full-course meal. It felt like something that was not whole, something connected to so much more.
Neuro shook the Valkyrian girl by the shoulders. His eyes burned with a crazed fire. "This isn't it," he hissed. "This isn't it. Tell me where the rest is!"
Yapel's breath came in ragged gasps. She flopped in Neuro hands. Even still, she managed to summon up a small smile. "Message…" she said. "Got…a message."
The thief shuddered, choking on the taste of salt in her throat. "You'd best…batten down the hatches…Enforcement. Something…v-air-y…soon…"
A laugh died in her lungs. "It's going to be a blast."
With the utmost effort, the girl managed to raise her head. "The Orb…is gone. Destroyed…it. You'll never, ha-ha! You'll never…get it back. This land…my home, will fall. The Natural…Order…wins."
She fainted.
Neuro was left with an unconscious Valkyrie, a mountain of questions, and the sounds of a cross-species battle raging in the distance.
The Natural Order. Of course. Neuro wasn't fully surprised to learn of their involvement. But it was still a Damning revelation.
He opened his hand and let the girl fall. She plunged into the dark clouds and disappeared. Perhaps her wings would kick in before she hit the ground.
Neuro noticed an object in his left hand. It was a glove, one of those that the thief had used to set up the force field. He had somehow retrieved it during their scuffle. The gem in its back glinted in the low sunlight.
Neuro had an idea.
The battlefield was a cesspool of blood and carnage.
Bursts of thunder clashed with precise strikes of lightning. It was impossible to tell which side was winning, or even which side was which, except for the momentary blur of color from their soldiers' uniforms. Hammers fell. Daggers sliced. Cries of agony, rage, and pain mixed with the sound of weapons against flesh to produce a soundtrack of madness. If this continued not a single person would be spared from ruin.
Suddenly the fighting lessened on one side. Their opponents took the chance to land a few more blows before looking up themselves. Their mouths fell open.
An orb was floating towards them.
Where it had come from, nobody knew. It had simply appeared from out beyond the clouds, carried towards them by an invisible force.
The orb floated softly closer, lurching from time to time as if held out at the end of an arm. Its body was clear. Its insides roiled with energy, storm winds swirling around cloud dust and electrical sparks, whipping them into a frenzy. Lightning gathered at the sphere's center and arced out to all parts, forming a shape like an asterisk.
Slowly Hraoh and Vnip reached up to receive it, their faces slack with awe. All battle had ceased behind them.
"The…the Orb of Storm!"
"It has returned!"
"It moves by its own will!"
"The Orb of Storm has returned to us!"
The Valkyries cheered at the return of their species' power, their sacred treasure, which had made its own way home.
It was a fake.
Neuro reflected upon his actions as he flew over the darkened landscape. All he had required was a gem from one of the thief's gloves, a bit of aura charge, and a mixture of both voltium and sonarium, along with some captured lightning. Simple.
"Well," Neuro said. "It should work as long as they think it does."
He really shouldn't have stopped the Valkyries. They were right—it was their business. And it wasn't like Hell disapproved of genocidal wars. Perhaps it had been Neuro's slight contrarian streak. He wanted to send a message of his own to the Natural Order—that they could not afford to take him lightly.
They should at least have the decency to send a demon with a better mystery next time. Neuro grumbled to himself as he sped towards headquarters.
His phone rang, sending out little energy pulses. Neuro answered, shielding his right ear from the wind with his hands. "Yes?"
"We've got responses on the bomb threat that you called in, sir." The voice was neutral, male, and belonged to one of the leading demons back at headquarters. "All top officials have been alerted, and they've sworn to keep a few eyes out. The HDAC is taking the threat seriously as well. It's a bit hard to make a move on something so vague, sir, but action is swift. They said it's due to your good record."
Good? Neuro thought. My record is phenomenal.
"What actions are they taking?" he asked, not content to leave it at vagaries.
There was a pause at the other end of the line. "As proof of their commitment, the Lady herself has been appointed to investigate."
Neuro nearly fell out of the sky. "Enjel?! I mean…pardon me. The Lady. She's taking the case?"
"Yes. She says that she will look into the threat and try to convince the leaders of all major cities to set up a defense program. You know how those mayors can be, sir. In the meantime, the HDAC will funnel some resources into the case."
Silence fell. Neuro realized that the other demon was waiting for a response.
"Understood. I suppose that's acceptable for now." Neuro hung up.
In just a few minutes he would be back at base. Evil Flyer was capable of going much faster, of course, but for the moment Neuro was content to take his time.
Neuro leaned his head back. The air rushed past his horns. He felt wind brush through the space between them. One last rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, and then faded. He was flying.
For the first time in a long, long while, a soft, genuine smile came to Neuro's face.
Afterword: The brief aside about the demon world Sun is a reference to a panel from the manga. Yes, according the Neuro, in Hell if they want the Sun to travel across the sky then some demons have to bash it awake in the mornings. :)
Neuro how do you make your freaky hands into a saltshaker how does that even WORK? O-o;