Angel Beats: Harmonics girl

Disclaimer: I do not own Angel Beats

Warning: I am still studying so please forgive me if there is too much grammar mistake

Chapter 45

The Black Showdown

"Everyone fasten your pace! The shadows are catching up!"

Dmitri shouted as he released another magazine of bullets into the darkness beyond the cave. It was dark underground, but he could never mistake those yellow eyes that hid in the darkness. Surrounding him was a number of HA members with their eyes trained at the darkness. They were the last line of defence that stood between the shadows and the retreating wounded humans. Should they fall, everyone else would be consumed by the shadows.

Isamu placed his hand on Dmitri's shoulders, signalling him to calm down. If the leader was anxious, so will the other members. Dmitri knew that and started to relax, but never letting his eyes of the shadow army that was slowly building up by itself. Even though they had just defeated the first wave, more and more shadows were spawning.

Dmitri remembered what happened. One of the NPCs that were helping them suddenly started mutating into shadows. Even though Isamu quickly slain the first one, other NPCs started to mutate, making Dmitri and the other humans' situation a lot worse than they could have imagined.

For a second, Dmitri remembered the face of the teacher who helped them. He was the one who organized the wounded to quickly get away and distributed the weapons to him and the others who were fine. He even went ahead to help halt the advance of the shadows to let him and the others escape.

But in the end, the teacher also mutated.

And he was the one that shot him.

He was a nice teacher…

So I have to honour his last wish, that is-

"They are coming again, Dmitri!"

"Open fire!"

Once the next wave of shadows was in their firing range, Dmitri immediately gave the order. The last line of HA pulled their triggers and poured a rain of concentrated fire onto the shadows. Those that was charging through the middle was easily destroyed, the others that crawled on the walls covered more distance but in the end they would be slain by Isamu's katana before they could get close to Dmitri and the others.

For a moment, the other HA members thought they could pull it off. They might be able to keep on standing their ground and continued to defence this line until the enemy ran out of shadows. The more shadows they destroy, the more moral and confidence the HA members gained.

But their hope was crushed when the sound of their fellow comrades started reporting that they were running out of ammunition. One by one, the others were forced to make a run for it while the remaining defenders whose gun still have bullets continued to stand their ground in despair.

The shadows were getting closer and closer as more of the HA members ran out of bullets. In just fifteen minutes, only three HA members were remaining. But soon the other member's gun ran out of bullet too. After saluting Dmitri, the last third member also made a run to catch up with the others.

There was only Dmitri and Isamu left. Dmitri has already lost count of how many waves of shadows continued to attack unstop. He knew that there were at least ten waves before his mind has no attention to remember such small details anymore.

Click!

"Damn it!"

"Just go, Dmitri! I can hold this line by myself!"

"Don't be stupid! As if I will leave my comrades behind!"

Dmitri pulled out his combat knife he had in his NPC blazer and stood in the same front line as Isamu. Isamu knew that he could not convince his stubborn leader to escape so he started cutting the shadows down faster. Dmitri noticed this and smirked. Together as if they were having a fun competition, they raced each other to cut the most shadows down.

But just two people could not hope to stop the entire army of Shadows. Slowly, one of them scratched Isamu's face. One leapt at them from behind and wounded Dmitri's back. There were others which jumped towards Dmitri together. Isamu quickly intervened but he also got himself wounded.

Wounds after wounds kept on appearing on their body. Looking forward into the shadows was another army of shadows waiting to replace their fallen comrades. It would not be long before either of them made a mistake and died.

"Looks like we are finally dying here. Any last words, Mr Samurai?"

Dmitri stabbed a shadow with his knife and asked. Isamu slashed towards another Shadow and answered with a smile.

"How about 'Next time we meet, let's hope the blossoms will sprout.'? It was my supposed favourite quotes anyway, it would be sad if I never got to say my favourite quote at least once in my afterlife."

"Then I am going with 'Don't... Touch... The... Trench coat...'. It's a good line as anything else."

"Seriously, since when did you two become so cheesy?"

A familiar voice echoed behind them as a number of daggers shot passed them and took down the charging shadows. It was only a second later when loud gunshots were fired behind them, pouring pass them and onto the shadows which were taken by surprise.

"Angel!? Why are you all here!?"

Dmitri asked after retreating from the vanguard. If he had a mirror, he would have noticed how much the edge of his lips were curling upwards. But since he does not have one, his friends laughed in their heart of how concerned Dmitri but have been thinking about their safety.

"Ueda Ryuu issued a wide stand down order to the Black Hands after the Shadows appeared. Right now the student council president is leading the main Guild-Black Hand Joint army to distract the Shadow Army away from your position and to the surface. Come on, we will slowly retreat as we hold our line!" Saito said all the while dual wielding his personal choices of pistols. The new squad of HA members slowly retreated as the number of shadows charging started to decrease, showing that most of the shadows must have been distracted by their main army to the surface where they would have better sight advantage.

"But I am quite surprise," Dmitri said as he received a Spectre M4 submachine gun, not his favourite choice but it would do. "The Black Hands would actually just stand down immediately after Ueda Ryuu ordered it. Are you guys sure it is not a trap?"

"It is not a trap. Once Ueda-sama initiated the Black Protocol, we are ordered to stand down and help and cooperate with the student council president and the SSS2 to get every human to safety. No matter the circumstances, Ueda-sama made it very clear that the Black Protocol must be followed."

A monotone voice answered Dmitri's question. To his surprise, he never expected to see Ayasaki Sora, one of the Black Hand's commanders to actually be with him. But that was not the only reason he was surprised.

Sora's eyes looked dead, Dmitri could not see a trace of emotion inside him.

As if he was a puppet…

As if he was being hypnotised.

"That Ueda Ryuu…just what is he planning…"

Dmitri muttered to himself before he fired another rain of bullets towards the advancing shadows. After a few more waves, the yellows eyes in the darkness faded. The HA members and the Black Hands quickly used this chance and started running for the surface.


"-ru!"

"… …"

"Haru!"

"Wha-What happened!?"

Haru's eyes snapped open after being her consciousness was being linked back to her body again. Immediately she remembered how Setsumi suddenly emerged and attacked her. Even though they were friends, in the battlefield they were enemies. Haru thought that they were equally superior but she was proven otherwise when Setsumi bested her in melee fighting. The burning sensation of the sword stabbing through her stomach was still fresh in mind.

And she immediately noticed the voice calling after her was Setsumi's voice.

"You!"

"Calm down, Haru! We are all on the same side now!"

Haru was prepared to lung at Setsumi until Ryuu's voice held her down. Turning her head towards the source, Ryuu was running towards her with a machine gun.

In Haru's memories, she never saw Ryuu taking a weapon to fight before. He was always leaving the work to his minions and preferred to stay back and take command.

But Ryuu was actually holding onto a weapon, not to mention he was slightly wounded. Haru could conclude that their current situation was so desperate that Ryuu was actually willing to take arms and command to the front.

Next, she tried to take in all the information she could gather from her position.

She has her back against the elevator, the only passage way from the Black Hand Base to the surface. Surrounding around the elevator was lines of Black Hands taking cover behind the sandbags. Over the sandbags were-

"The Shadows!? Why are they here!?"

Haru quickly got up and started browsing the area around her to find a gun she could use. However her search was interrupted when Setsumi started pulling her hand.

"There is no more time left, Haru! We have to go now!"

Haru stared at Setsumi in confusion before she realized what she meant.

The Black Hand Base has been invaded by the Shadows. It must be such a strong Shadow Army like the Dark Birthday that forced the Black Hands to evacuate from their own base. She could see the mass of darkness beyond the sandbags. At first she thought that it was too dark for her to see what was beyond it.

But then, she realized that that darkness was the entire army of Shadows itself.

The size of the Shadows that invaded during the Dark Birthday could not be compared to the size of the Shadows surrounding them. They were surrounded from all sides and the entire base was covered by the Shadows. At first glance, she knew that it was a battle that they could not win. No matter how strong the Black Hands were, it simply does not have the power to take on an armada of Shadows.

"Over here! The elevator is going to move!"

Setsumi dragged Haru with running steps towards the elevator. To Haru's surprise, the people inside the elevator was not her own people but the members of the SSS2, including the traitor Yuuki. Before she had a chance to say anything, Setsumi pulled her along into the elevator.

"Wait! Ueda-san, quickly! The elevator is going!"

Ryuu quickened his pace and reached the elevator. To Haru, it was a relief as there was no way that they could have been able to withstand the might of the entire shadow army. For once, she was glad for Ryuu's selfishness. If he was like any selfless hero, he would have stayed behind like an idiot and she would have lost him forever.

To her, Ryuu was her most precious person in this god forsaken world.

"…Then I will leave the rest to you. Don't you dare to break your promise, Shimamura Setsumi."

"…No! You should come-"

Bang!

Setsumi's words were cut off when Ryuu locked the door of the elevator and shot the control of it. Haru's eyes widened when she realized what happened.

Ryuu just destroyed the commands of the elevator, and he did not even try to get on it.

"Wait! Ueda-san! Somebody stop this elevator! Ueda-san is still down there!"

"… …It is impossible, all of the commands here have been fried. The control Ryuu shot was the only control left."

Haru paled at Setsumi's words. Ryuu watched the rising elevator with a satisfying smile.

"Don't have such a pale face, Haru. The face that you smiled the brightest was the one that one loved the most."

Despite the chaos happening behind Ryuu, he was smiling. Haru clutched onto the railing bars of the door and tried to pry it open. Her attempt was futile.

"Why Ueda-san!? Why did you-"

"Haru, one…No, I love you."

"!"

Haru's eyes widened in surprise out of Ryuu's confession. However she was not in the least happy at all, not when there was no hope of escape for him.

Not when it seemed like he was giving her his farewell.

"I was a lonely individual. Even since I died, I have decided to never trust anyone anymore. However you have become an exception, Haru. You were always by my side and supported me, no matter what happened, you were always there. Even though I swore to never trust anyone anymore…you still gain my trust in the end. Thank you for trusting me, and letting me trust you, Haru."

"What are you talking about!? If you stay there, you will-"

Translucent tears started to fall across Haru's cheek as Ryuu's figure became smaller and smaller. From the edge of her view, she could see the lines of Black Hands slowly falling apart under the might of the countless Shadow Army.

Yet, Ryuu was still smiling for her.

"Move on with a smile. That was my order to you, Haru. I trust you to follow it even if I was not around anymore….Then goodbye, Haru."

"Ryuu!"

Haru screamed out Ryuu's name with her last breath before the elevator started accelerating. Before long, the elevator was out of Ryuu's view forever.


"That confession is really unlike you, Ueda-san. I never thought that you have a soft heart."

"That's because in the end, one is also human." Ryuu answered and faced the speaker. "One is more surprise that you have not move on yet, Akira. You no longer have any regrets that will bind you to this world to anymore, so why are you still here?"

Akira pulled out his blue katana, Muspelheim, out of its sheath and held it in his hand. He gently placed the sheath on the ground, he would not be using the sheath anymore. Ryuu had an amused smile as he looked around and armed himself with a machine gun. There was no need to continue to ask Akira, he has made his answer clear enough to Ryuu.

"Looks like this is our final stand… should we protect you, Ueda-sama?"

A group of Black Hands approached Ryuu. They were Ken's special squad, Phantom. Leading them was Murakami Rikiya. Since they could not locate the position of their leader, Ken and Makoto, they are under Ryuu's command now.

"No, one has a private date with someone later. All of you, are you prepared to leave this world?"

"Ken-sama has already told us about it. We can move on anytime. However we want to take some Shadows down with us! Will you give us the order, Ueda-sama?"

"Well said!" Ryuu said, proud of his minions. "Akira, one appoints you as the leader of the Phantom squad! You all have only one mission, exterminate all the Shadows that stand in the way of the Black Hands!"

"Understood!"

The Black Hands saluted their leader for the last time before they charged over the sandbags and towards the mass of Shadows before them. Many would have called it a suicidal charge towards the impossible but in Ryuu's eyes, it was a glorious sight of how his minions were willing to follow his Empire until they moved on from this world.

"That's odd. I never thought that you would have decided to stay back and face me, Ueda Ryuu. In every cycle we met, you would have run away at the first sight of me and the shadow army."

"Hmp, it is different this time. I no longer have any regrets or fear anymore. Today is the day I take you head on, Midori."

In front of Ryuu, a large concentration of shadows gathered together and slowly formed a shape. It started from a leg before it slowly rose into the shape of a human girl. Ryuu glared at the shadow figure until it finally turned into the girl he knew and hated this most, Midori.

"Ueda Ryuu, you sure are a special existence. Unlike Miu, you actually retained all of your memories of all the cycles that happened. I am most impressed with how you are able to keep on trying to defy me after all those failures to save Haru. You surprised me again by daring to stand here to face me. I wondered where the coward Ueda Ryuu who always ran away went…"

"One is honoured to be such a nuisance to you that you actually come to finish me off personally every time. How is one's Black Soldiers this time, does it frustrate you to unable get their souls even though they are in reach?"

Ryuu mocked back towards Midori. With a constant smile that hid her true colours, Midori commented.

"I must praise that ordering them to forcefully move on when they are about to be devoured by the shadows is an impressive way to save them. But I am quite surprised, you only used your hypnotism skills in only such commands. In every other cycle, you would hypnotise them under your absolute command and made you Black Army. I wondered what happened."

"That is because one no longer needs their help to protect Haru anymore. This time, one will take you on himself. Are you prepared?"

"Hmp, in the end you are still all talk. Do you really think you can defeat me without the Angel Player? You have nothing and no one with you. I am even regretting that I should not have brought such a large army that face you."

Midori mocked Ryuu as she curled around her hair with her index finger. By now, all of the Black Hands have moved on. The only one left in the Black Hand's base was their leader, Ueda Ryuu.

He was alone, without any ally and without any hope of survival. He should have been afraid, he should have been angry about the unfairness of the afterlife.

But he was perfectly calm, he realized that in the end, taking things into his own hand was the best course of action. In the end, he was the strongest of them all.

"I have a question I wanted to ask for a long time, Midori. Why do you always come to finish me personally? You could have easily let your shadows handle the job, so why?"

Deep inside, he was smiling, he could not content his excitement anymore. He wanted to crack his laughter. Everything was going according to his plan.

Still having that pure and innocent smile, Midori answered.

"You are always standing in master's way. That's why I hate you!"

Like an order, the entire army of shadows mobilized and started charging towards Ryuu. Even against the rumbling earth, Ryuu faced those shadows head on and smirked.

This is the moment he has been waiting for, the Black showdown.

No, Ueda Ryuu's showdown.

Finally, he cracked his laughter.

"Then! I thank you for hating me! Midori!"

Second before the shadows reached him, he pressed the trigger he hidden within him all these time. By the next second when the shadows reached him, the person Ueda Ryuu has moved on from this world.

Bomb!

"What!"

Midori shouted in surprise when everything started to explode around her. In seconds the entire place was in flames and was falling apart. Even the elevator exploded and fell down onto the army of shadows below, squashing everything in its path out of existence.

"A suicidal attack…it is a very good move, Ueda Ryuu. I guess I will hate you until the end."

Midori muttered to herself as she started to dissolve back into shadows and transferred her consciousness out of underground. However all the other shadows she had prepared suffered the fate of annihilation and were burnt into ashes.

Now that Ueda Ryuu is gone, the Black Hands are no longer a problem anymore.

Finally, the moment my master has been waiting for as finally arrived.

The graduation ceremony awaits.


A/N: And finally, chapter 45 is complete. Though as compared to chapter 4 of Be Human. I do not think that I did a good job in this chapter. I managed to throw in a bit of Ryuu x Haru's arc. But that is not the matter anymore.

Next chapter, finally the moment I have been waiting for, the impossible dream is finally within reach.

The graduation ceremony awaits.

Remember to read and review!