Beyond the Outer Gates Lies... Earth on Hell?
We went first, to allow Rias and company a few minutes to catch their breath and collect their thoughts. We told them about the dozen Bandersnatch attacks across the Underworld. We explained how they turned out to be fairly weak to internal explosions. We talked about using Devil Power to manipulate physical objects instead of attacking directly.
Then we told them about the Jabberwocky, which rattled Rias and Azazel. At least until I explained that the spell Vorpal worked as well as the sword of the same name when it came to beheading the great beast.
I explained it in between bites of a certain candy bar I had taken from the hotel minibar.
That led to a brief discussion about whether the sword was made using the spell, the spell was adapted from the sword, or Alice Liddell used the spell and Carroll just made up the sword.
After we got back on topic, I said that I had realized their group was not in on the action, and that must have meant something else was afoot. So we came back here. I scryed for them. Detected a largish Dimension Lost overlapping the city. And created their escape route.
"At which point all of you, plus one Reaper, piled out," I finished, "A Reaper I wish you two would have left alive."
Kiba nodded. Tsubaki just shrugged.
"Are you ready to tell us what happened to you?" Sona asked Rias.
"We were eating our lunch, when we were engulfed by a mist," the red-head started.
"Dimension Lost," Sona and I said at the same time. Az nodded.
"And like all of the Heroes were there," Ise picked up the thread, "Cao Cao, Herc, Sieg, Jeanne. Georg was there, but he was doing something else. But also the mooks; shadow guy, Goth Hermione, the stone giant guy, that kunai guy Kojiro, the whip girl who knocked out Oakley on Togetsukyou Bridge, and also the blonde from that fight with the double ended naginata. Plus a couple of others I hadn't fought before."
'I'm surprised he remembered the girls from the bridge,' I thought. Then Lash reminded me what they looked like, before and after Dress Break. And I felt foolish for doubting him. They didn't quite match up to Rias, but they were definitely the Oppai Dragon's 'type'.
"The Heroes weren't holding back this time," Kiba noted, "Fortunately, we are also stronger than we were in Kyoto."
"Cao Cao has replaced the eye Ise destroyed," Azazel told us, "He claimed it was one of Medusa's eyes, but that should be impossible. Perseus gave Medusa's head to Athena, and she would have let us know if someone had stolen it."
"So was it a fake?" Reya asked.
"I'm not sure," the Fallen admitted, "It partially petrified the Oppai Dragon's Scale Mail. But it only made me flinch and slowed me for a moment."
"Are you thinking it was one of the other Gorgons?" I asked, "Stheno and Euryale resisted the curse because of their divinity, right? So their petrification powers were weaker. But they were still minor goddesses, so they could still be around."
"That's possible," Az agreed.
"And if that is the case, we may be able to remove the eye's power if we can convince Aphrodite to remove her curse," Sona mused.
I raised my eyes to look at 'nothing', and Lash appeared and shrugged. We didn't have any reason to doubt Sona. I guess in Bizarro World there wasn't a debate as to whether Aphrodite, Athena, or Poseidon was responsible for cursing the Gorgon sisters.
"Even though they were trying to kill us," Rias resumed, "we were not their primary goal."
She looked over at Ophis. So did everyone else. Asia and Le Fay were sitting protectively on either side of the Dragon God of Infinite.
"They were after Ophis?" I said sharply.
"Yeah," Ise nodded unhappily, "Georg summoned this monster guy. He was like half-Dragon, half-Fallen, but also totally huge. He was chained and nailed to this giant metal T. And when he opened his eyes, sensei and I both felt really weak. Then they did something to Ophis, but Rias and Le Fay were able to stop it.
"It was Samael," Az said, "The Angel who was in charge of snakes and dragons. Until the original Lucifer convinced him to have Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. He took the form of a snake and tricked them. Afterwards, he was cast out, and became the vessel for God's grudge against serpents. Samael wasn't a normal Fallen like us, because of both of those things. He went nuts down here, so eventually he was crucify and dumped in the deepest depths of Cocytus. How the Zeroes were able to find and summon him, I can't imagine. But whatever they did, it didn't last long and Samael was sucked back down."
"What were they trying to do to Ophis?" Reya asked.
"They stole of me," the Dragon girl said, "I am less."
"They stole her powers?" Asia said angrily. Probably thinking about what Raynare did to her.
"But how can she be less?" Xenovia asked, "She is infinite. I don't like math, but I understand that infinity minus 1 or ten or even a million is still infinity."
"There are different types of infinity," I said flatly.
"What's that mean?" Ise looked confused.
"It is college level math," Sona said, "But there are different categories of infinity. It is too much to explain here, but for a basic example, look up the infinite hotel problem, if you are interested. Suffice it to say, it is possible they found a way to divide Ophis's powers into small classes of infinity and stole one of those."
"Hmm," I hemmed as Lash gave me a mental dump, "That could be too, which is damn frightening. But it wasn't what I was thinking."
"What did you have in mind, Dresden?" Az's eyes glinted for a moment.
"Actually I was thinking about a light novel Reya and I are reading," I answered, "The main character asks for 'infinite mana' as a cheat. And the goddess can't give him real infinity, but still has to follow the wording of his request. So he has 17 mana. It never increases, but also never decreases. It is infinite, in the respect it is unlimited, but not infinity as a the number slash concept."
I turned and looked at Ophis.
"I don't know how the 'Dragon God of Infinite' works," I continued, "But if she has, say ten thousand mana, but it never goes down, that might as well be infinite. And if they took like two K of that, leaving her with 8 K, that would still be unlimited, infinite. But there might also be some nine thousand mana spell that she can't cast anymore."
"Have you found a way to quantify magical energy?" Az demanded.
"No," I rolled my eyes, "Those were just off my head numbers based on games I've heard about or played."
"Ophis-san," Asia said gently, "Can you tell us more about what happened? What they did to you, and how it feels?"
Ophis blinked. Then didn't say anything or even move. Just when it was starting to get awkward, she final spoke.
"They made me less. It was unique. It is unpleasant."
I wasn't sure what to feel.
One the one hand, I was livid. Ophis looked like a young girl, regardless of what she actually was. And after the time we had spent with her over the last week or so, I knew she wasn't the type to emote or volunteer. I could easily imagine her reacting with nothing more than a slow blink to having her names ripped out. For her to say 'it is unpleasant'... It implied pain on the level of some of my worst experiences. By people who were supposedly her allies.
On the other hand, not much, short of a Walker of the Outside, would have scared me more. The Chaos Brigade had stolen enough of Ophis's power for her to notice and talk about it. Between what they might do with it, and what she might do as a reaction, we were looking at multiple end of the world scenarios. And I was sitting across the room from one on them.
"Do you know how much of your power they took?" Sona asked, a visible shiver moving up her spine.
"42."
That was all she said. If it was anyone else, I would have thought it was a joke. I wanted to ask for some clarity, but didn't want to pressure her.
Besides, I pretty sure I wouldn't get a clearer answer.
"While they were draining her," Le Fay said, "Asia and I were able to block them. Then Rias almost tagged Georg, so they lost control of Samael. It sounded like they wanted more of her power, but we were able to stop it."
"Then the Hero Faction left," Rias continued, "But Cao Cao summoned a number of Hades' Reapers, and told them to kill us."
"But if the Reapers were involved," Reya suggested, "Does that mean Hades has chosen to side with the Chaos Brigade?"
"Not necessarily," I shook my head. And everyone looked at me. Azazel and Sona seemed to agree, but everyone else looked surprised. Well, I guess except Ophis and Fenrir. I couldn't really read either of them. Again.
"Why is everyone looking at me?" I demanded.
"Because you are good at providing an explanation that everyone can understand," Sona said, specifically avoiding the phrase 'dumbing it down'.
"And you frequently, between yourself and Lash, have unique ideas and insights," Azazel agreed, "So it is simpler to just let you talk."
"Fine," I mock groused, "For anyone who wasn't in Kyoto, or those who forgot, Az here told us that the True Longinus can control people of strong faith, quote not necessarily Christian faith unquote. Based on what I saw of the Reapers at the hotel before the tournament, I'd say their faith in Hades is pretty absolute. And they seem like they'd have pretty crappy Will Saves to boot."
No-one asked what a Will Save was. I had trained them well.
"At this point, we don't know if the Reapers are being controlled or not," I gave Kiba and Tsubaki another stink eye, "On the one end of the spectrum, it could be Hades has thrown in with the Brigands, but is using the True Longinus as a cover. Or it could be Cao Cao is really controlling the Reapers and Hades is innocent. And the Heroes are hoping we will blame or straight out attack Hades, to turn him against us."
"Or it could be something in the middle," Rias mused, "Hades lent some his Reapers to the Chaos Brigade to repay a debt, with some restrictions. And the Heroes controlled the Reapers for the reasons Dresden said."
"Either way, we need to capture anymore Reapers that attack us alive," I told them.
"So we can find out if they are being controlled," Sona nodded.
"Or if they aren't, fake it," I added. That surprised basically everyone. Even Fenrir.
"Look, the basic idea is we capture them, hand them back over to Hades, and say the Heroes were using them against us, right?"
Everyone nodded their agreement.
"But I have to think that Hades has heard by now that I can remove the Longinus Shards," I continued, "So it will look weird if I don't try to remove them. But if they aren't there, that's almost better. Az and Sona can fake it, pulling fake little glowing shards out of them. Then when we turn them back over to Hades, it will no longer look like I'm the only one who can counter the Spear. Which making me less of a target. And Cao Cao will probably be more hesitant. And if it looks like we took shards out of them that weren't supposed to be there, Hades will think the Zeroes, and maybe the rest of the Brigade, betrayed him."
"And if there actually are Longinus shards controlling them, then they really have attacked Hades," Akeno said.
"And regardless of the truth," Rias mused, "Hades will be indebted to us."
"Yup," I nodded.
"That is devious," the red-head smirked, "I like it."
"And I'm sure Hades calling out Ise back in the hotel has nothing to do with that," Tsubasa raised an eyebrow at the other King. Rias shrugged.
"There is one potential hole in Harry's reasoning," Sona looked at me cautiously.
"Never claimed to be perfect," I said, "And I will claim that you are smarter than me Sona. So what's up?"
"Hades may not have joined the Chaos Brigade," Sona said, "but the Reapers may not be controlled. The Reapers fighting with the Heroes may have betrayed Hades. Pluto, Persephone, or Hecate may have betrayed Hades and ordered the Reapers to work with the Heroes, so the Reapers might be innocent. Admittedly, your scenarios are more likely, at least so far as I can tell."
"True," Azazel mused, "Persephone is unlikely, and Hecate only slightly more likely. But Pluto or Reapers as traitors are not impossible. Pluto is very loyal to Hades, but he would be a great target for the True Longinus because of that. Take over the lead Reaper and have him order the others to help..."
"I still like Harry's plan," Reya said.
"Yes," Akeno said, "Putting the screws to Hades either way is a good thing."
"What's going on?"
She wasn't intimidating by any measure. A hair or two under five and a half feet tall. Slender arms, legs, and waist; with noticeable bust and hips that would not be called small, but certainly not voluptuous either. Soft and wispy golden hair with a hint of green at the roots. Gentle, kind green eyes, regardless of her mood. A face best described as cute and delicate. Like a certain voice actress, she was eternally seventeen, always one day short of her eighteenth birthday.
Despite her non-threatening appearance, the seven-foot tall skeleton flinched at her question and its tone.
"Ah, Persephone," Hades managed to fill his voice with affection. He looked up from his tablet at his wife, his bleach skull not betraying any particular emotion.
"Don't you 'ah, Persephone' me, Hades," she barked... well, yipped back, "Forty six minutes ago, a portal came out of seemingly nowhere. Tore through Tartarus, and tunneled into Cocytus, shaking the entire region. It partially sucked something or things out of the prison of eternal ice. Ultimately it failed after about eight minutes, collapsing and sending the convict or convicts back."
Hades said nothing.
"Normally, you'd be up in arms now," she continued, "Calling the Furies, probably even pulling Cerberus off his post. Vowing to track down and kill whoever had the hubris to violate your realm. Kill, or at least extract suitable punishment and recompense. Instead you are here reading... The Hidden Oracle?"
"I have to make sure Riordan honors our deal and does not besmirch our name by attributing further false demigod children to me," Hades stated simply, "Or by misusing the ones he already created. And as such I have a duty to complete my editorial read-through in a timely fashion."
Persephone sighed, and sat down next to her husband. She reached out and took his left hands in both of hers. Her fingers did not reach the bone, but instead stopped as if touching invisible flesh.
"I know you and Hecate have been up to something," she said more gently, "And I know you want to protect me. But please, my love, tell me what is going on. I may be able to help. Or at least not panic and potentially interfere when things like this happen."
Hades gave an impressive sigh for someone seemingly lacking lungs.
"It was the self-proclaimed Hero Faction," Hades said, "They wished to summon Samael, the Dragon Eater from Cocytus. I told them I would not interfere, but also that it would not work. They claimed they only need Samael temporarily."
"The Chaos Brigade?" Persephone frowned, "You are working with those terrorists?"
"I have made a few deals and am not opposing them," Hades corrected, "I am not with or against them at this point."
"Semantics," Persephone countered sharply, "If the others find out, they will revoke the 12th Parallel Treaty. At the very least."
Hades again said nothing.
"Why?" she asked, "What would make you risk governing half the unaligned souls, and the power and prestige that brings? What could be worth it?"
Hades set down his computer. He raised his now empty hand to cup her cheek.
"You," he said, "Us."
She blinked at him in confusion.
"We have been married for four thousand five hundred twenty-seven years," he continued, "And I have only been able to spend half that time with you."
Another blink, realization dawning.
"Your mother called me a kidnapper, and worse," he said angrily, "She threatened to send Greece into an ice age. Threatened and coerced not just Zeus, but the pantheons around us. Forced Ra and Odin and Shiva to pressure Zeus as well. Were it not for you and Hecate coming up with the aril plan, they probably would have annulled our marriage entirely."
She nodded.
"And Demeter has never budged. She has never acknowledged our union. She has never met our children. Her grandchildren. She selfishly drags you up to Earth for six months, even though July through October are her busiest time, and she doesn't get to spend it with you.
About thirteen hundred years ago, just after the Treaty, I made a proposal. Demeter could come down here for Christmas. See you and the kids. Stay until April, when you would need to return to Earth to fulfill your role as Goddess of Spring. She would have three months with you down here, when she was least busy above. And then the three months with you up on Earth. She could see her family, and I promised she would never see me while she was down here."
Hades took his hand away from her face and lightly punched the couch.
"Zeus and the others were fine with it. But Demeter wouldn't even consider it. It doesn't matter that she can come down here without issue, while being on Earth will quickly destroy me and the kids and send us back... Except Mel, who has her own restrictions. She wouldn't listen to the pain Zag went through as a child, trying to see his mother and find out why she kept leaving him. That was when I knew. Those six months aren't about seeing you. They are about separating us, punishing us."
Persephone's grip tightened on Hades hand until it was almost painful for him.
"But now we have this. These insane paradoxical terrorists. A threat to the current order. They want to overthrow it. So I am positioning myself. When things reach a breaking point, I will betray the Brigade. Take what I have learned, exploit their trust. Be the champion that destroys them. I will take the power I have earned from the treaty, and the favors and honor I accrue from destroying the villains, and I will force Demeter to renegotiate. I will have Zeus and the rest of the world on my side this time."
Then he laughed harshly, "Tartarus, with what Humans are doing to the environment on Earth, the other pantheons might welcome an unexpected ice age in Greece."
Then his expression hardened, a neat trick from an unmoving skull.
"Unless it looks like the Brigade will win. Then I will stand with the victors, and carve out our place in their new order... That is also my secondary reason. Ares is with the Brigade, him and his troop of misfits and morons. I will not have that worthless chunk of divinity being the only Olympian standing with the Brigade, should they win."
Persephone shuddered, remembering the looks her half-brother had given her, before she met her love and escaped Olympus. She looked up at her husband, determination in her gaze.
"How can I help?"
"So what happened when the Reapers attacked you?" Tsubaki asked, focusing on Kiba.
Rias's team resumed describing the rest of their fight, right up to where I opened the Way into Dimension Lost and pulled them out.
"They were focusing on Ophis and whoever was protecting her," I said softly, looking at the Dragon again.
"That, and my darling Ise," Rias confirmed.
"You think they were trying to kill her specifically?" Ise frowned, "More than the rest of us?"
"If no-one got away," Sona said, "There would be no-one to say that the Reapers were working with the Heroes. At the same time, it does not sound like they had the numbers or force to win against you."
"They want Ophis dead," Le Fay said, hugging the Dragon, "They got what they want from her, so they want her out of the way. And if they could eliminate the Oppai Dragon, their most dangerous enemy, that would be a good second option."
I knew Le Fay was a fan of Ise. But did she really think he was more of a threat than Vali? Serafall? Sirzechs? On the other hand, his ability to draw people to him, especially (and somewhat confusingly) powerful women... That might make him a greater threat.
"Harry is a bigger threat than Hyoudou," Tsubasa insisted, "Especially since he can find, break into, and break out of Dimension Lost better then anyone else.'
My King nodded, but Rias and Akeno gave my Rook a dubious staredown.
"They have to get rid of Ophis," I headed off any argument, "She still has more than half of her power, and is the original owner. She might be able to track her power. Or I can use her to douse for her power. Or someone else might able to do something similar. And if she finds it, she can reclaim it."
"They would think that Ophis would want her power back and want revenge," Azazel said, "Because that is what they would do in her place. And they have to be afraid of that. She is still powerful, and like Dresden said, she is a way to track that power down."
"So what do we do now?" Xenovia asked. And again, everyone looked at me.
"I'm definitely not the best to ask about this," I said, pointing to Sona the strategist and Azazel the general with experience in a thousands year blood war, "But fine, here's what I see as our options."
I held up a hand, "I am by no means advocating this, but am saying it to be complete. Our first option is to cut Ophis loose and run. Send her back to the Vali team and any of the other Brigands still on her side."
"Why would you do that?" Fenrir growled. That got a lot of owlish blinks.
"I wouldn't," I repeated, "But it would be hard to blame us if we did. The Brigands are attacking Ophis. We are just targets of opportunity. And she is still technically our enemy. She hasn't denounced the Brigade or asked for the Accords' protection. She asked to observe Ise, and we agreed to try to get her to shift sides, to find a way to divide the Brigade, or at least to understand her better. The first and third thing haven't happened, but the Brigade seems to be infighting on your own. So from a practical standpoint, why should we keep putting ourselves at risk here?"
The wolf in dog's clothing shifted uncomfortably.
"Of course, practicality isn't my strong suit, nor is leaving people in trouble alone," I said, that one memory, one mistake flashing through my head again.
"Also," Sona added, "It is not in our best interest to let the Chaos Brigade do whatever they are planning to do with Ophis' stolen power."
Nods all around.
"So, unless anyone objects," I said, "We should be talking about how we are going to deal with the next attack. Like for starters, where are we going to bunker down?"
"Bunker down?" Asia prompted.
"Settle in and prepare our defenses," I explained, "Like the obvious answer is to go back to Earth and use Hyoudou House. It's already a fortress, and given a few hours, I can add some more temporary wards. And if we call for reinforcements, the Kyoto Youkai and the Five Clans are right there. It will also be easier for the Angels, the Olympians, or the Asgard to send help to Earth than to the Underworld. Best of all, the Brigade has to be careful, if they stretch the Masquerade too far the mortal police and military might get involved."
"On the other hand," I said quickly, "Hyoudou House is in a suburban neighborhood. In a city with lots of vanilla Humans who are our friends or family. And it may be a fortress, but I seriously doubt it is a well defended as the Sitri main house, or other ancient strongholds down here."
"Which in my mind, is our other option. We hit up the Maou, or the Gremory or the Sitri for a strong base that is not in a major city. Some place we don't have to worry about civilians, where we can cut loose and not be as worried if the Brigands cut loose. The downside to staying in Hell is that the Brigade has Hela's forces close at hand. And Hades, too, if he is on their side. While all we can call on quickly and easily are the Devils, which the Brigade will be expecting. And they are still reeling from the kaiju attacks an hour and change ago. Of course, back on the advantages column, staying down here will help us preserve our energy, while going back to Earth is either a mana intensive circle, or a slow train ride. Umm, does anyone else have any thoughts or suggestions? Opinions?"
"You said we only have the Devils," Azazel said pertly, "But there are more than a few Fallen down here as well. If we are going to fight Brigands down here, I'm know a number who would be happy to pitch in. Especially if the Old Maou or Loki Factions get involved."
"To be honest, I figured the Old Maou faction had to be at least partly involved," I told him, "Given that the Heroes were able to get down here unnoticed and knew where to launch the Bandersnatches."
"And how Georg knew where we were," Rias added. Then she took out her phone.
"Do we have to fight?" Asia asked, "Isn't there anything else we can do? Besides abandoning Ophis, that is? Some way to get them to leave Ophis alone, like when you made Alice White into a normal person?"
Asia didn't know the truth about Alice. In Rias' Peerage, only Rias and Akeno knew.
I glanced at Azazel and Sona. But shook my head at their expressions.
"Maybe, in the longer term," I told the former nun, "But not in the short term. I don't have any good ideas off the top of my head. And the mediocre ideas would take a week or longer to set up. Unless someone else has a plan?"
That got a round of noes and shaking heads.
"So are we staying in Hell, or going back to Earth?" Tsubasa pressed, "Because if we are staying, I'll need to call my parents. I'm guessing Reya will too. And Sona will want to let Kuoh know that we might miss class on Monday."
"My brother can't provide help," Rias said, "He and Grayfia are too entangle with the aftermath of the Bandersnatch attacks. But I assume you all remember the remote vacation home that was mentioned as a destination for the translocation circle? We have been given permission to use it. It is remote and at least as well protected as Hyoudou House. And we can use the translocation circle to escape if things go bad."
"If Ophis is willing and able to power it again," I reminded them softly, "Because if we are running from a failed battle, I'm guessing none of the rest of us will have the mana."
"If necessary, I will save the Oppai Dragon and his lively companions," Ophis said.
We briefly discussed our options and a few potential plans, before ultimately agreeing to stay in the Underworld and take Rias up on her offer.
"In that case, we should teleport to this base," Sona said, "Immediately, so we can enact our plans and get some rest."
"Why the hurry?" Xenovia said, glancing around at the suite Sona's team and I were sharing.
"Because they know we are here," Tsubasa said, "or at least we are in the city, if they don't know our hotel."
"And we don't know how long we have until they attack again," Akeno said, "But if we move, we can buy some time while they try to find us."
"Everyone get packed up," Azazel instructed, "But no-one alone. We'll meet back here in fifteen minutes."
"Why can't we attack now?" Shalba Beelzebub glared at Georg and Cao Cao. In the corner of the room, Jeanne rolled her eyes.
"Because, thanks to the attack on the city, which we advised against," the spear-wielder said blandly, "we have no prepared Maker Beasts. And Dresden realized we were involved, and pulled the Gremory group out of our trap before the Reapers could deal significant damage."
The defeated and reported dead Devil clicked his tongue.
"We are still tired from the first round," Georg added, "And we have to find them before we can attack."
"There is no way Azazel will let them stay in the same place," Siegfried agreed, "The church's records of his tactics say he will find some place we don't know and set up a new base."
"I can try to track them," the magician Hero told everyone, "If you give me access to the power we took from Ophis, I can track it back to her. But Dresden will expect it, and would likely be able to track it back to us."
Circe frowned angrily.
"Fine," Shalba whined, "I will reach out to the Loki faction. Find where they are and we can attack in the morning."
"You aren't our boss," Circe snapped. Shalba turned pointed a hand at her. A green mandala constructed in front of his palm. But before he could release the spell, two Demon swords appeared scissored at the Devil's neck. A holy sword pricked his side. The True Longinus pointed at his heart. And a cloud of mist wrapped his spell.
"She speaks the truth," Cao Cao said firmly, "Do not mistake us for your minions. We are your allies. And we don't subscribe to those foolish Villain clichés."
Shalba dismissed the spell with a scowl. Thankfully, everyone was focused on the Devil, so no-one say Jeanne roll her eyes.
"I will return in the morning," Shalba declared. And then he vanished.
"Prepare the tracking spell," Cao Cao said to Georg, "I expect they will have stayed in Hell, but we can't discount the chance they have fled to another plane. Earth, Shadow Kyoto, or even Heaven. If they have left, we need to know as soon as possible, so we can expand our search."
When we arrived at the Gremory vacation home, we were greeted by two unexpected allies.
"Took y'all long enough," Oakley smirked. Shizukesa bowed silently.
"Who are they?" Le Fay demanded cautiously.
"Two members of Serafall's Peerage," I said, "Friends. You can trust them."
Shizukesa's face lit up.
"My sister does not need you?" Sona asked.
"Nah," the Texan shrugged, "She and Behemoth got things in hand. She wants us here to help you, and so we can let her know if things get bad here."
"Well let's get inside," Azazel directed, "We can let you know our plans, and determine where you fit in and what you can contribute. And if you have any other ideas."
"Oh, Ah do have an idea," Oakley smirked, suddenly resting a TAC-50 over her shoulders.
Next: Beyond the Outer Gates Lies... A Dragon's Bane?