Until The End, Part 10
Meanwhile, at Floor 1, Rita tosses her sash at the Lahmu in front of her and wraps it around its left front arm.
"ADEAL!" Rita shouted as a helix of bright purple energy flows through her sash. The Lahmu squeals as it gets electrocuted by her attack. Rita later turns to her right and tosses the Lahmu over the railing, sending it falling to the bottom of Cambion Mons. After rolling back her sash in her hand, Rita turns to the doorway to the control room and runs towards the shield generator.
However, the same Lahmu flies back up in the air after spreading out its wings, and it swoops down onto Rita. The Lahmu collides against the right side of Rita's body, causing her to cry in pain as the impact sends her sliding across the metal platforms and barely stopping at the edge. She turns back to the Lahmu as it lands back down on the floor.
"ERUPTION!" Rita shouted as she thrusts her hand at it. Huge amounts of flames burst up from the floor beneath the Lahmu's claws. However, to her surprise, the Lahmu casually crawls out from the fire with a huge grin as her attack did little damage to it.
"No way." Rita uttered, staring blankly at the Lahmu.
As the Lahmu continues crawling towards Rita, Momo suddenly runs over to it from its left and swings her metal staff down onto the top of its mouth.
The Lahmu stops and swings its left front claw horizontally at Momo as it turns to her. Momo performs a backflip to dodge the attack. When she lands back down on the floor, the other Lahmu she was fighting before crawls up to her from behind. Momo whirls about and blocks two diagonal strikes from the Lahmu before she swings her staff horizontally at it. The Lahmu deflects the attack by swinging its right front claw. It lifts both front claws up and swings them down onto Momo for an overhead strike. Momo holds up her staff to block them and they both stay in a stalemate.
Shouto thrusts his left hand and shoots a stream of fire at the Lahmu in front of him. The Lahmu crosses its front claws to block the attack, and surprisingly, does not get burnt by Shouto's magic.
"That's impossible." Shouto murmured as he stops firing and lowers his left arm. As soon as it places its front claws down, the Lahmu charges towards him. Shouto quickly jumps to his right to dodge the oncoming Lahmu. He whirls about and stomps his right foot on the floor to form a ridge of ice towards the Lahmu from behind. The Lahmu jumps into the air and performs a backflip to dodge Shouto's attack, much to his surprise. When it lands behind him, Shouto turns around again and throws his flaming left fist at the Lahmu. The Lahmu crosses its front claws again to block his attack, and it cackles at his face.
Jeanne thrusts her spear at the Lahmu in front of her, aiming for its midsection. The Lahmu quickly holds up its right front claw in front of its body to block her weapon. Jeanne now lifts her spear up and tries to perform an overhead strike on it, but the Lahmu swings its front claws horizontally in the air to deflect her attack. Jeanne gasps and widens her eyes as the impact sends her stumbling back. When she sees the Lahmu charging towards her, she quickly holds up her spear horizontally in front of her. But when the Lahmu swings its front claws diagonally against her weapon, the impact sends her falling onto the floor on her back.
Nearby, the Lahmu crawls towards Kirito as it continuously swings its front claws at him. Kirito manages to block all its attacks with his Elucidator and Dark Repulser as he backs away from it. The Lahmu swings its front claws down on him and Kirito holds up and crosses his swords to block them. When he turns his head to his right and sees a Lahmu about to swing its front claws down onto Jeanne, Kirito widens his eyes and cried, "Jeanne!"
He looks back at the Lahmu in front of him and growls as he manages to push it back with his swords. After stumbling back by only half a meter, the Lahmu swings its left front claw horizontally at Kirito. Kirito swiftly dodges it by turning to his right and running over to the Lahmu in front of Jeanne with Volt's Lightning. Just as it swings its claws down onto Jeanne, Kirito stops it by stabbing his swords through its back and out from its chest.
The Lahmu began to laugh, causing Kirito to widen his eyes in bewilderment. It whirls about, tossing Kirito into the air and sliding across the floor on his back. As Jeanne gets up and runs over to him, Kirito's swords slowly slide out from the Lahmu's body and falls onto the metal platforms. The Lahmu turns back to Kirito and Jeanne as she helps pull him up from the floor. As the other Lahmu crawls over and stands beside it, both Lahmus laugh at them.
"These Lahmus are surprisingly tougher than the ones we fought before." Jeanne said.
"And they are wasting our time in destroying the shield generator." Kirito added.
"If only there is some way to stall them." Jeanne said as she draws out her sword from her scabbard. She charges towards the Lahmus again while Kirito runs over to his swords.
Meanwhile, as she backs away from it, C.C. fires her pistols at the Lahmu in front of her as it crawls towards her. But the bullets did nothing to its skin and claws, much to her dismay.
"Hahahaha! That tickles!" The Lahmu squealed. C.C. gasps as it now charges towards her. She quickly rolls over to her left to dodge it. After the Lahmu runs past her, C.C. turns around and fires her pistols again at its back. The Lahmu laughs in amusement again.
"Is there anything else you can do besides that?" The Lahmu asked mockingly as it turns around to face her. C.C. pulls the triggers of her pistols, but she gasps again when she realizes they have ran out of bullets. The Lahmu crawls over to her and swings its front claws diagonally to knock her pistols out of her hands, causing her to yelp. When she turns her head to her right, she sees one of her guns falling off the edge of the metal platforms.
"No!" C.C. cried before turning back to the Lahmu. The Lahmu grins as it lifts its front claws up and prepares to swing them down onto her face.
"Hang in there!" Makoto shouted to C.C. as she suddenly leaps over to the Lahmu and delivers a powerful kick to its mouth to send it stumbling back from C.C.. The lime green haired woman sits up from the floor as Makoto lands back down in front of her.
"Thank you." C.C. said to Makoto.
"Anytime. Stay behind me and you'll be safe." Makoto replied to her with a smile, causing C.C. to gape her mouth open. As the demihuman turns back to the Lahmu, she runs over and attacks it again.
C.C. lowers her head dishearteningly as she sat there. Although she is not much of a fighter as the others, she chose to volunteer in this mission when she was given the request from Darren, Alicia, Jeanne, and Kirito back in Zaphias, hoping that she can prove to everyone that she is a useful ally in battle despite her weak magical ability. But now, without her guns, it seems that she is going to be deemed worthless once again.
After punching its mouth and sending it falling onto the floor, Makoto jumps up and kneels on top of the Lahmu. She proceeds to deliver several hard punches across both sides of its mouth with her tonfas attached to her wrists. However, when Makoto tries to deliver another punch with her right tonfa, the Lahmu suddenly turns its mouth and chomps on her right fist, causing her to scream in pain. C.C. gasps in horror as she watches the display.
Makoto quickly uses her left hand to grab the Lahmu's left jaw and pulls open its mouth. She manages to get her bleeding right fist out, but the Lahmu takes the opportunity to swing its mouth forward and hits her at her midsection. Makoto falls off it and the Lahmu gets itself back up. She gasps as it now stands above her.
"STOP!" C.C. screamed as she suddenly gets up and runs over to the Lahmu. The Lahmu chuckles as it lifts its front claws up and prepares to swing them down onto Makoto's face. C.C. quickly places herself in front of Makoto and holds out her right hand in a vain attempt to protect her.
When she realized nothing happened, C.C. opens her eyes to discover that she had placed her hand onto the left side of its mouth, and the Lahmu had stopped mid-swing.
"Wooooow, I feel weeeeaaaakkkk…" The Lahmu squealed as it lowers its claws and wobbles side-to-side. C.C. lowers her hand as she and Makoto watch it collapses onto the floor on its side. A huge smile plasters across Makoto's face.
"Whoa, you totally put that beast out of action! Great job!" Makoto cried.
"Of course." C.C. uttered as she looks down at her hand. She may not be able to fight these Lahmus that are tougher than the ones they fought before, but she can still put them to sleep with her magic. When she felt Makoto placing her hand on her right shoulder from behind, C.C. turns her head to her.
"Tell you what, I'll help distract these things while you give them naptime." Makoto said enthusiastically. C.C. smiled back at her.
"Got it!" C.C. replied with a nod.
As Marie fires several bullets at the Lahmu in front of her with her M16A2 rifle, it holds up and crosses its front claws to block them as it crawls towards her. When it is near her, it swings its front claws horizontally at Marie, who dodges them by rolling to her left. She gets up on a knee and fires her rifle at the Lahmu again, but it ran out of bullets. Marie gasps as she lowers her rifle. When the Lahmu swings its front claws down at her, Marie rolls to her right before she gets up and swings her rifle down onto the left side of its mouth. The Lahmu turns and swings its right front claw horizontally to slash across Marie's midsection. She cries in pain as she stumbles back and collapses on her knees. As she tries to cover her wound with one hand, the Lahmu laughs as it crawls towards her.
"Don't cover it. I want to see what's inside!" The Lahmu said excitedly as it tries to swing its left front claw at her.
"Pick on someone your own size!" Makoto shouted as she runs up to the Lahmu from behind. The Lahmu turns around and finds itself getting punched across the right side of its mouth by Makoto's left tonfa. Makoto quickly delivers an uppercut to its midsection with her other tonfa before she turns around and grabs both its front claws. She growls as she manages to push and toss the Lahmu onto the floor and it lands on its mouth. As the Lahmu turns its mouth to the side and lets out a squeal, C.C. runs over, kneels to its level, and places her hand on top of its mouth, making it fall asleep.
"DIGITAL TRIANGLE!" Yui shouted as she throws a digitized triangle at one Lahmu that is pushing its front claws against Kirito's swords. As the Lahmu throws its mouth forward from the blast, Kirito manages to lift his right leg up and kicks it on the chest. As the Lahmu stumbles back, it turns around and charges towards Yui.
"Yui!" Kirito cried to his foster daughter as Yui turns around and sees another Lahmu crawling over to her.
"BARRIER!" Yui shouted as she holds out her hands to form a barrier over herself. When the two Lahmus reach her, they continuously slam and slash her barrier with their front claws, and Yui notices huge cracks are taking shape on it.
After pushing the now sleeping Lahmu aside, Makoto goes over to C.C. and grabs her hands.
"You ready?" Makoto asked. C.C. simply responds by nodding her head. Makoto soon twirls around in circles and swings C.C. through the air.
"Cavalry has arrived!" Makoto cried as she came to a sudden halt and releases her hands, sending C.C. flying over to one of the Lahmus hitting against Yui's barrier from behind. C.C. manages to wrap her legs around its chest and places her hands on both sides of its mouth. A few seconds later, the Lahmu lowers its front claws and collapses onto Yui's barrier.
"Huh? What did you do?" The other Lahmu asked curiously as C.C. gets off it. "I got to know! Maybe I should tear your body open to see how it works!"
The Lahmu quickly goes around Yui's barrier, crawls over to C.C. and swings its right front claw horizontally at her. C.C. rolls over the ground to her left to dodge the attack. She gets up, turns around and backs away as the Lahmu crawls over and tries to attack her again. But while it is distracted, Yui brings down her barrier and moves to her left to let the sleeping Lahmu collapse onto the floor. She quickly forms another digitized triangle in her right hand.
"DIGITAL TRIANGLE!" Yui shouted as she throws the triangle at the left side of the Lahmu's mouth. After it explodes, the Lahmu laughs as it turns back to Yui.
"Why do you keep doing that for? Don't you already know that it can't hurt me?" The Lahmu chuckled. Suddenly, C.C. leaps into the air, wraps her legs around the Lahmu's upper torso and places her hand on the back of its mouth.
"Huh?" The Lahmu could only say as it begins to feel sleepy.
"That was just a distraction, silly." Yui giggled with her hands behind her back. The Lahmu moans as it collapses and lands on its mouth. C.C. gets up and she and Yui smile at each other.
Kirito also smiles in relief from a distance to see his foster daughter safe and sound. But he quickly turns to his right and holds up his swords in time to stop a vertical strike from another Lahmu. Kirito delivers two horizontal strikes at the Lahmu who holds up its front claws to block his attacks as it backs away. Kirito jumps back for a moment before aiming the tip of his Elucidator at the Lahmu and illuminating his weapon with bright yellow light.
"VORPAL STRIKE!" Kirito shouted as he charges at the Lahmu and thrusts his sword at it. The Lahmu crosses its front claws to block the attack, but the impact sends it flying through the air.
Makoto quickly did a running jump from behind the Lahmu and punches it at the back of its mouth with her left tonfa to send it skidding across the floor on its teeth. The Lahmu tries to get up but C.C. quickly leaps over to it and places her hand on the back of its mouth to make it fall asleep.
Shouto, Momo and Rita breathe heavily as they stay in their fighting stances and stand close to each other. The three of them have bruises all over their bodies and they are feeling tired trying to take down the three Lahmus standing between them and the entrance to the control room all day. As the Lahmus snicker at them, Rita lets out a heavy sigh.
"Shouto, Momo, even though I was brainwashed at the time, I'm sorry for all the experiments I've performed on the both of you." Rita said grimly.
"It's okay, Rita. You don't have to apologize." Shouto replied. Momo nods her head and gently places her hand on Rita's shoulder.
"Whatever happens, I'm glad to have fought alongside you." Momo said. Rita looks back at her with a sad frown.
"How I wish I could say the same thing to my fellow guildmates." Rita said somberly. The three of them look back at the Lahmus as they hold up their fists, staff, and sash in front of them. The Lahmus squeal as they charge towards them. The frontmost Lahmu raises its front claws, eager to deliver an overhead strike on Rita.
Suddenly, Jeanne runs over, places herself in front of Rita, and spins her spear around in circles. The frontmost Lahmu swings its claws down at her, and Jeanne swings her spear horizontally to deflect its attack. The impact causes the Lahmu to fly through the air, collide against the other two Lahmus behind it, and they all skid across the floor on their backs.
"Shouto! Use your ice now!" Jeanne ordered him. Shouto quickly runs past her and stomps his right foot onto the floor to create a ridge of ice towards the fallen Lahmus. The Lahmus find themselves raised from the floor by a meter and trapped inside Shouto's ice. C.C. quickly runs around to the back of the ridge of ice and places her hand on the sides of their mouths to put the Lahmus to sleep.
Afterwards, the ninth and final Lahmu squeals as it leaps into the air, pulls its front claws back and prepares to swing them horizontally at Shouto and Momo from behind. But as the two turn around, Kirito swiftly runs over with Volt's Lightning, places himself in front of them, and swings his swords diagonally at the same time to fire an X-shaped blast of electricity at the Lahmu. The Lahmu cries as the electricity surges through its body, and the blast sends it falling back onto the floor.
"Finish the job." Kirito said to C.C.
"Roger that." C.C. replied as she runs past Kirito and the others and over to the fallen Lahmu. Before the Lahmu could get up, C.C. places her hand on the left side of its mouth to put it to sleep.
Bradley manages to deliver two punches across Noel's cheeks before throwing an uppercut to the bottom of her chin. As she stumbles back, Bradley charges up his right gauntlet before jumping into the air and slamming it onto the ground to create a circular wave of purple electricity across the metal platforms. When it reaches her feet, Noel throws her head back and screams in agony as the electricity surges through her body. Bradley charges over to her and throws a punch to her chest with his left gauntlet to send her sliding through the floor on her back.
"Is that all you got, girl?" Bradley sneered at her as he holds up his gauntlets and charges them up. Noel throws herself back up on her feet and aims her revolvers at him.
"I could say the same thing to you." Noel muttered.
When Bradley charges over to her again, Noel began firing her revolvers at him. Bradley deflects the bullets with his gauntlets before throwing his right fist at her face when he reaches her. Noel swiftly moves to her right to dodge it and fires her left revolver at him. Bradley also swiftly moves to his right to evade the shot and tries to deliver an uppercut to Noel's midsection with his left gauntlet. Noel dodges it by turning to her right and leaning herself back. As she turns back to him, she swings her right revolver down onto the top of Bradley's head. As Bradley yelps and throws his head down, Noel takes the opportunity to lift her left knee up and kick him in the face.
As Bradley stumbles back, Noel fires two lethal rounds at his shoulders with both revolvers, causing him to yell in pain. He growls furiously at Noel as he claps his hands hard to create a powerful surge of electricity at Noel. Noel quickly crosses her revolvers together to block the attack, but Bradley runs over, jumps up and delivers a powerful kick with both legs at her guns. The impact sends Noel stumbling back until she felt her back colliding against the railing behind her. Noel gasps and widens her eyes as Bradley gets up, charges towards her, and prepares to push her down to the bottom of Cambion Mons.
But suddenly, Makoto leaps over to Bradley on his right and punches him across his right cheek with her left tonfa. As Bradley slides across the floor, Makoto runs over to Noel, grabs her hand, and pulls her away from the railing.
"You okay?" Makoto asked her friend.
"Yeah, but what about you?" Noel asked concernedly as she looks down at Makoto's injured right fist.
"I'll be fine." Makoto said reassuringly before they look back at Bradley who gets himself back up.
"Let's take him down." Noel said as they both hold up their revolvers and tonfas.
"Together." Makoto added.
Bradley yells as he gets down on a knee and slams his right gauntlet onto the floor to form another wave of electricity across the metal platforms. Noel and Makoto leap into the air and flip themselves over to Bradley as they dodge his attack. When they land in front of him, Bradley swings his right fist at Makoto, who blocks it by holding up her right tonfa. Noel quickly swings her right revolver horizontally and hits Bradley across his left cheek. She tries to fire her left revolver at his legs, but Bradley quickly looks down and kicks it out of the way. But Makoto twirls around and delivers a kick across his right cheek. Makoto tries to swing her right tonfa at him, but Bradley holds up his left arm to block her attack and punches her in the stomach with his right electrified gauntlet. As Makoto stumbles back, Noel lifts her left leg up and kicks Bradley in the abdomen. Bradley backs away and Noel performs a flip to kick him on the top of his head with both legs. When he looks back up, Noel aims her right revolver at his face and fires a non-lethal round at him. Bradley yells as the shot sends him flying through the air and sprawling across the floor.
When he came to a halt, he looks back up and sees Makoto leaping over to him and throwing a powerful punch down onto his chest with her left tonfa. Bradley yells in pain again before he manages to grab Makoto's left arm and tosses her to his right. As Makoto rolls over the ground, Bradley gets back up and runs over to her. But Noel fires a lethal round at his left lower leg, causing him to fall on his left knee. Bradley turns to Noel and tries to clap his hands again, but Makoto charges towards Bradley and slams the top of her head against his chest with the force of a raging bull. The impact sends Bradley flying over to the other side of the platforms and crashing through the railing. Bradley helplessly plummets down to the bottom of Cambion Mons until he lands hard on the metal tentacles. He lets out an agonizing scream as he felt his bones break. And when the tentacles move and coil around him, he gave one final yell that was soon cut off as he gets crushed by them.
Meanwhile, Riah yells as he swings his beam saber down on Allelujah. Allelujah holds up his own saber to block his attack, but Riah accelerates his jetpack to push his opponent down onto the metal platforms below. Allelujah manages to kick Riah off him, flies up and swings his beam saber horizontally at him. Riah blocks the attack before swinging his beam saber diagonally at Allelujah. Allelujah dodges his saber by flying back and he opens the panels on his jetpack. Multiple bombs launch out from his jetpack and fly over to Riah in all directions. Riah flies up, causing all the bombs to follow upwards in a single direction. He now looks down and spins his beam saber around in circles to deflect and destroy all the bombs.
"Is that all you got, Haptism?" Riah said as he readjusts himself and lets his cannon come down onto his right shoulder pad. The cannon fires a large dark red energy beam towards Allelujah, who deactivates his saber and flies up in the air to dodge it. But Riah kept firing his cannon as he turns his body and follows where Allelujah is going.
Allelujah quickly flies up and performs a backward roll to dodge the energy beam before he accelerates his jetpack and swiftly heads towards Riah. He tackles him right in his midsection and wraps his arms around him, causing him to stop firing his cannon and deactivate his saber as he brings him down onto the metal platforms below.
Allelujah kneels on top of his opponent and throws several punches across his helmet. But Riah soon sits up, grabs Allelujah by the right side of his helmet and slams his forehead against his. As Allelujah falls off him, Riah gets up and delivers a roundhouse kick to his face to send him sliding through the floor on his jetpack. Riah smiles underneath his helmet as he activates his beam saber, jumps over to Allelujah and brings its blade down onto his chest. However, Allelujah quickly holds up his left arm and magically summons a large green oval-shaped energy shield to protect himself from Riah's saber.
"Don't resist, Allelujah! You are destined to die along with the rest of the old Azadistani army!" Riah sneered as he pushes his beam saber further down. Allelujah growls as he continues pushing his shield against the blade of Riah's beam saber, trying to prevent him from stabbing it into his chest. He must think of something quick to save himself from this predicament.
He holds out his right arm to the side and summons his tongs in his hand. He swings the tongs at the left side of Riah's armor, causing him to turn his head to his left. Allelujah hits his tongs against his armor again, making Riah yell in annoyance as he swings his left arm to knock them out of his hand. But this distraction allows Allelujah to push his shield up and knock Riah's beam saber out of the way. As Riah looks back at him, Allelujah swings his right fist across the left side of his helmet before he activates his jetpack and flies out of the way. Riah tumbles back onto the ground while Allelujah flies up high in the air. He swoops down onto Riah, slams his hand onto the front of his helmet and slides him across the floor as he flies forward. He soon turns around, carries Riah up in the air and throws his right fist at his chest, sending him flying through the air.
When Riah recovers, he activates his jetpack to stop himself and hover in the air. He aims his shoulder cannon at Allelujah and tries to fire a large energy beam at him again. But to his surprise, Noel uses her rocket launcher to fire a rocket right into the muzzle of his cannon. Riah yells as the front section of his shoulder cannon explodes and it sends him flying back.
Soon, Kirito, Yui, Jeanne, Rita, C.C., Marie, Makoto, Shouto and Momo run towards him. Riah tries to fly towards them and Allelujah, but Rita stops and thrusts her hand at him.
"ERUPTION!" Rita shouted, causing huge amounts of flames to burst up from the ground below Riah. Riah yells again as he stops and gets hit by her attack. Marie, whose wounds have recovered thanks to Rita's magic, also comes to a halt, and fires her rifle at Riah's visors, temporarily blinding his vision as he flies back. Makoto leaps over to Riah, performs a flip and brings her right leg down onto the top of his helmet to send him slamming onto the floor below. She quickly falls through the air and stomps her feet onto the back of his helmet before getting off him.
Riah gets up on his feet and tries to grab Makoto with his right hand, but Shouto quickly holds up his left hand and unleashes a stream of fire at his right arm. Riah yelps as he stumbles back while Jeanne runs up to him on his left and stabs her spear into the back of his left lower leg. This causes Riah to scream in agony as he falls on his left knee. As Jeanne firmly holds onto her spear and pins Riah in place, Momo takes the opportunity to run over to Riah on his right and swings her staff diagonally upwards at the bottom of his chin, causing his helmet to fly off and reveal his face. As Riah struggles to get up, Yui forms another digitized triangle in her hand.
"DIGITAL TRIANGLE!" Yui shouted as she throws the triangle over to his face and it explodes. Riah yelps again as he throws his head back and gets down on both knees. Finally, after Jeanne removes her spear from his left lower leg, she and Makoto move out of the way to allow Kirito to charge towards him from the front while pulling back his electrified Elucidator.
"VORPAL STRIKE!" Kirito shouted as he thrusts his Elucidator at the purple energy orb on Riah's chest when he is near him. As the impact sends Riah falling back, the sword stabs through the energy orb, and it shatters into pieces a few seconds later. Riah soon finds himself lying on the floor on his back with Kirito standing above him and looking down with his eyes narrowed. He removes his Elucidator from Riah's chest armor and sheathes both swords back into his scabbards. As Kirito jumps off and moves out of the way, Allelujah walks over to Riah and removes his helmet before him.
"And that, Riah, is the true power of friendship." Allelujah said firmly to his opponent. As Noel, Marie, Kirito, Yui, Jeanne, Makoto, Shouto, Momo, C.C., and Rita gather around him, Riah takes a moment to stare blankly at all of them. He looks back at Allelujah with a grimace.
"Kill me now, or Hamoud and the others will never rest in peace." Riah muttered to Allelujah.
"Never." Allelujah said. "Killing you won't bring them back."
"Then you will always be weak." Riah said.
"No. You are the one who is weak, for believing that Azadistan could thrive by walking down the path of tyranny." Allelujah replied.
Riah chuckled. "You will regret-"
"Oh, shut up." C.C. muttered as she kneels and places her fingers on Riah's forehead. Riah lets out a soft gasp before he closes his eyelids and slumps his head to the side as he falls into slumber.
"Thanks. He was getting on my nerves." Rita said to C.C. as she gets back up.
"Come on. We have a shield generator to destroy." Allelujah said. Everyone nodded their heads to him before they all turn and dash over to the control room.
Shouto uses his fire to melt the ridge of ice in front of its entrance and letting the Lahmus lie down on the floor. After moving the Lahmus aside, they all walk inside the control room and over to the large dark grey metallic machine located in the center of it.
"Alright, let's set up the bomb." Rita said to everyone behind her as she looks over her shoulder. Momo closes her eyes and clasps her hands together for a few seconds before forming a cylinder-shaped remote control on her right hand. On top of the remote is a red button with a clear plastic lid over it. She passes it to Rita before placing her hands on her midsection and gently pulls out a round-shaped mine from her body.
"Be very careful. Do not drop it." Momo warned Marie as she holds the mine to her. Marie carefully grabs it from her hands and slowly walks over to the right side of the machine. She plants the mine securely onto the machine and backs away from it.
Momo proceeds to create another round-shaped mine from her body and hands it over to Noel. After taking it from her hands, Noel cautiously walks over to the left side of the machine and plants the mine on it.
"These are proximity mines." Momo explained to everyone as Noel steps away from the machine. "When Team Natsu and the others are done with the people in the command bridge, we have to move far away from this room before we can press the red button on the remote to detonate them."
"So I guess all we can do now is wait." C.C. said. Allelujah looks up at the direction of the command bridge in concern.
'Darren, my friend…' Allelujah thought worriedly. 'I hope you and the others are doing fine.'
Rita takes out her lacrima orb from her pocket with her other hand and inquired, "Captain, can you read me?"
Sovereign: I would like to thank LayLay lives, AquaBluey and Amanny for reviewing, and Crimson-Tuna-Sub for checking out my story. Thank you!