Chapter 13
Sacrifice of Angels
Leliel led Lorelei through several corridors, several times ducking into rooms to avoid the Sabers that still patrolled the halls. After avoiding the 4th patrol, Lorelei turned to Leliel.
"I thought you were supposed to be all powerful. Why are we avoiding the patrols? Can't you just zap them?"
"It's not that easy." replied Leliel, beginning to walk down the corridor. "Any attempt I make to use what you lilim call an AT-Field, my brothers will detect it and investigate."
Lorelei nodded then looked around. "So where are we going anyway?"
"There is a tunnel that leads to one of the levels of Hell. Tabris, one of my brothers who shares my views, will be waiting there with several members of the heavens. They will then take you back to Terra 2."
"I'm afraid that is no longer the case...brother."
Leliel looked up the corridor to see a squad of Sabers blocking their way. In the midst of the Sabers stood Sahaqiel, the 10th Angel.
"Leliel, you have been led astray." said Sahaqiel, "Come back to us, destroy this lilim."
"I cannot do that. Sachiel is wrong to continue this path." said Leliel, "It will destroy us."
"No. It will only destroy those who oppose us." Sahaqiel turned to the Sabers. "Get them."
The Sabers started to run at Lorelei and Leliel. Lorelei was about to run away from them when she noticed that the Sabers were slowing down..and getting shorter. The floor beneath them was now pitch black. The Sabers were slowly sinking into the blackness, as was Sahaqiel. Sahaqiel glared at Leliel.
"You know you will not survive this."
"If that is my fate, I shall except it." replied Leliel, "The universe has gotten by without us before, and will do so again."
Sahaqiel made no move as he sank. He continued to glare at Leliel until he disappeared. The blackness that swallowed him and the others then shifted on the floor, moving towards Leliel and Lorelei. Lorelei made a move to escape it, but Leliel grabbed her.
"No need." Leliel remained in place as the blackness reached his foot, then disappeared.
Lorelei stared at Leliel stunned, "How..what.where?"
Leliel pulled Lorelei down the hallway, "We have somewhere to be, questions later."
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Otaru and Bloodberry walked quietly back to the apartment. They had watched the footage of Gartlant's devastation all day at the castle and were mentally drained.
"I knew the Angel's were bad," said Otaru, "But I never expected that. If they can do that to Gartlant, imagine what they could do to Japoness."
"But we have something that Gartlant didn't have." replied Bloodberry, "We have divine help."
"Yeah well." Otaru yawned, "enough thinking today. I want to crawl in bed and sleep with no distractions."
"Otaru-kun!!" shouted Hanagata, bursting out of his apartment. "Where have you been? I missed you so!"
Otaru let out a sigh and glanced at Bloodberry, "Would you mind?"
Bloodberry grinned, "Not at all." She pulled back her fist. "Bye bye Hana- chan."
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Touji and Rei sat on top of Japoness Castle, looking over the city.
"You know," said Touji, "At night, Japoness kinda reminds me of Tokyo-3."
Rei glanced at Touji, "How so?"
"Well all the lights, the sounds, even the view in a way."
Rei chuckled, "I don't see any of these buildings retracting into the ground." Rei turned and looked back over the city. "It is pleasant though."
It was then a human like object flew over their heads screaming, "YOU'RE SO CRUEL!!" The object then disappeared into the night sky. Touji turned and looked off in the direction it disappeared.
"What the hell was that?"
Rei's eyes never wavered from her view of the city.
"Don't ask." She said, "You probably wouldn't believe me."
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Sachiel marched down the corridor, followed closely by 4 Sabers.
* Brother, * came Bardiel's voice, * The lilim is missing, as is Leliel and Sahaqiel. *
* That cannot be. * replied Sachiel, * Sahaqiel left me not more then 5 minutes ago with a squad of these.false lilim. *
* There is no sign of him. *
Sachiel thought for a second, * Maybe the reason we cannot reach him is because he is not in this dimension. *
* You mean.. *
* Yes, * replied Sachiel, * Leliel is now our enemy as well. Treat him as such. *
* Of course.Brother. *
Sachiel continued heading towards that last place Tabris was detected.
'I grow tired of these distractions.' thought Sachiel, '4 of our number corrupted by the lilim and their 'gods'. They will pay.'
* Matariel. Ramiel. It is time. Attack. *
* Yes Brother. *
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Tamasaburo moved silently across the dark rooftops of Japoness. Since her repair after the kidnapping of Lorelei, she and Baiko had been patrolling the city as they had before the demons arrival. Tamasaburo stopped on one particularly tall building and took a look around. Her optics easily spotted the two Guardians sitting on top of the Castle. While Tamasaburo really didn't care for them, she did appreciate the Guardians presence. She and Baiko hadn't been able to do anything against either the Demons or the S2 powered Sabers. As part of the threat update, both Imperial Guard had been given all the information available on the Angels, including those that had defected to the heavens. Should an Angel attack Japoness, Tamasaburo had computed that no matter what she and Baiko did, they would be unable to defeat the beings. The fact that the Guardians had faced them before and won was comforting to the Saber.
"Tamasaburo." came Baiko's voice over the radio, "Status."
"Sector 34 clear." replied Tamasaburo, "No problems detected."
"Very well. Proceed to next patrol area."
"Understood."
Tamasaburo turned and moved toward her next patrol area, which was along the outer edges of the city. As she moved toward the area, she could see the wall that protected the city from attack. The wall was fully manned by Sabers as well as Japoness troops. The gun towers were manned and fully armed. Tamasaburo stopped on another building and looked about the streets, checking for any signs of trouble. It was while she was doing this that her auditory senses detected something. It was the sound of heavy footfalls coming from the darkness beyond the city. A quick run through of her files revealed that the sound was similar to the Gartlant Krabenstaffs. Since Gartlant was no longer a threat, Tamasaburo checked her files on the Angels for something similar. She found it immediately.
"Have detected possible Angel outside of city near sector 51. Identity maybe the 9th Angel. Please advise."
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Rei sat up immediately. She grabbed the radio that was sitting beside her and looked in the direction indicated.
"Do you have visual yet?"
"Negative." was Tamasaburo's reply.
"Which Angel was the 10th?" asked Touji.
"The spider that dripped Acid." replied Rei, "It attacked during the power outage. Fairly weak AT-Field. We were able to defeat it rather easily."
"So where is it?" asked Touji.
"The Imperial Guard have very good sensing ability. It could still be several miles off."
Touji looked at Rei questioningly, "But we should still be able to detect it before the Sabers right?"
"Possibly.."
"What do you mean possibly?!"
Rei looked at Touji for several moments before raising the radio to her mouth again.
"Battery Alpha. I need illumination of area 14."
A gun battery along the wall fired. After several minutes passed, the night sky was filled with light as the star shell burst and slowly began its descent. The ground below it was instantly illuminated, revealing a massive 8-legged creature. Also revealed in the flicking light was a massive diamond shape, floating over the ground. Both were headed towards the city.
Rei turned and looked at Touji, "Signal Yggdrasil. We are engaging the 5th and 9th Angels."
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Blaring sirens awoke Otaru, who had just gotten to sleep. The sounds of the defense guns firing soon followed. Bloodberry raced into Otaru's room.
"What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know!" replied Otaru, "But I know where we can find out."
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Faust and the Saber dolls watched from the balcony of castle Japoness as battery after battery of defense guns fired at the approaching Angels.
Luchs looked over at Faust, "Reports coming in. Gunners reporting they are not getting through the Angel's AT-field."
"Where the hell are the Guardians?!" snarled Panther, "Aren't they supposed to be defending us?"
Two massive explosions blasted the ground next to the 9th Angel, causing it to fall onto its side. Several of its legs now lay shattered and twitching on the ground. The guns along the wall turned on the fallen form and were rewarded with a massive explosion.
"There is your answer." said Faust.
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Rei and Touji hovered over the fallen form of the 9th Angel.
"You're right." said Touji, "It was pretty weak." He glanced at the 5th. "Shall we finish this now?"
"Be careful." said Rei, "The 5th is very powerful."
Touji turned to look at the floating diamond. "Well then, let's take it out before it causes any damage."
Both then raised their hands and fired force bolts at the diamond. Just seconds before they hit, an orange hexagonal field appeared, blocking the shots. Touji glanced at Rei.
"Again." ordered Rei.
Two more force bolts ripped through the night sky. Once again, the shots were blocked by the Angel's AT-field.
"Alright." said Rei, "This could be a problem."
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Asuka, Shinji, Mara, and Tabris ran down through corridor after corridor.
"Where are they?" asked Asuka.
"Turn right at this intersection." replied Tabris.
Asuka started to turn right, and almost immediately slammed on the breaks, causing the other to crash into her.
"OW!" shouted Mara, "What's the big idea?" Mara looked to see the other three staring at something. She turned to see what it was. "Oh." Was all she could manage.
Standing before them was an Angel. He stood there, staring at them.
"Tabris." He said.
Tabris stepped forward, "Israfel. It does not have to be this way."
Israfel shock his head, "There is no other way. You will not make it past me Tabris."
"Who is this?" asked Shinji.
"The 7th messenger." replied Tabris.
Asuka let a smile appear on her face. "Mara, you and Tabris go around. Shinji and I will handle the Angel."
Tabris glanced at Asuka, "Are you sure? He can.."
"I remember." replied Asuka, "Now go."
Tabris shrugged and took off with Mara down a different corridor, leaving Asuka and Shinji staring at Israfel.
"What do you think Shinji?" said Asuka glancing at her husband.
"I think he's toast." replied Shinji with a smile, "Think we can do it in less then 60 this time?"
"Oh yeah."
As one both Asuka and Shinji turned and faced the Angel.
"Let's dance." said Asuka towards the Angel.
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Otaru had finally arrived at castle Japoness with Bloodberry. Now they stood next to Faust and the Saber Dolls watching as attack after attack was blocked by the 5th Angel.
"They're not getting through, are they?" asked Otaru.
Faust shook his head, "They took out the first one rather quickly. This one is proving more difficult."
"Have they said anything?"
"Other then asking the guns to continue firing, there was a weird comment made by Rei." said Luchs.
"What was that?" asked Otaru.
"Something about all the power in Japan. But I have no idea what she was taking about. Do you?"
Otaru shrugged. He then turned and looked back towards the battle. "I bet Cherry would know."
"Ummm Otaru." said Bloodberry, "What is that?" She pointed toward another area of the sky.
Everyone turned to see what she was pointing at. There, floating in the sky on the opposite side of Japoness from the attacking Angel was a massive ring, slowly rotating in the night.
"According to my files.." said Luchs, "That is the form of the 16th Angel."
Faust turned and looked at Luchs, "Inform the Guardians of this situation."
"Yes Lord Faust."
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Asuka and Shinji leaped about the corridor, telepathically coordinating their attacks against the Angel. Within seconds of beginning the fight, the Angel had split into two separate entities. Asuka and Shinji both spun and kicked the Angel down the corridor. The Angel was beginning to move slower and slower as the two Guardians continued to press on their attack. Finally, after being on the receiving end of two separate punches, the Angel reformed into a single entity. Shinji and Asuka looked at each other with smiles on their faces as they both turned and unleashed powerful force bolts from their hands. The bolt smashed into the Angel and exploded. Within seconds another more powerful explosion rocked the corridor as the Angel's core detonated. Shinji glanced over at Asuka.
"40 seconds. Not bad."
Asuka smiled, "It was a lot easier this time. Now, let's go find Mara and Tabris."
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The further Lorelei went with Leliel, the more she noticed something was wrong. He seemed to be sweating more and stumbling every few steps.
"Are you alright?" asked Lorelei.
Leliel smiled, "I will make it to our rendezvous."
"But will you survive after it?"
"That is up to fate to decide."
Lorelei looked at Leliel but continued to move. "How much farther?"
Leliel closed his eyes for a second. "We are here."
Lorelei stopped and looked around. "Aren't we supposed to be meeting someone?"
Leliel opened his eyes and looked at her. "They were delayed, but will be arriving."
"Greetings Brother."
"..now." Leliel turned shakily to the approaching Angel and Mara. "It is good to see you again, Tabris."
Tabris walked up to Leliel and looked at him with concern. "What is the matter?"
"Sahaqiel does not agree with me." replied Leliel with a smile, "I am glad you are here. I may not last much longer."
"What do you mean?" asked Lorelei.
Mara quickly grabbed Lorelei's arm. "Don't worry about that now. We have to leave."
"But." Lorelei looked back at Leliel. Leliel smiled at her.
"Go. Return to your friends."
"Thank you." replied Lorelei before allowing Mara to take her away. When they were far enough away, Tabris turned back to Leliel.
"You should let him go. You're only going to cause your destruction."
"Then my death will assist you. I have felt Matariel and Israfel depart this life already. Sahaqiel will follow." Leliel grabbed hold of Tabris' arm, "Go now. You are still needed. I have served my purpose. Good bye, Brother." He then turned and stumbled down the corridor away from Tabris.
"Good bye." replied Tabris. He watched as Leliel vanished down the corridor before turning and running after Mara and Lorelei.
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Mara and Lorelei continued to run towards the exit. They quickly ran around a corner, and promptly collided with Asuka and Shinji.
"SHIEST!"
"DAMN RIGHT SHIT!" shouted Mara, "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"
Asuka glared at the demon, "WATCH WHERE I'M GOING?!?!"
"Umm, can we do this elsewhere?" said Shinji as he helped Lorelei to her feet. "We should really be leaving here."
"I concur with the Third Child." said Tabris arriving on the scene, "This area is about to become a bit more dangerous."
Asuka and Mara glared at each other a few seconds more before following the others down the corridor.
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Leliel stumbled deeper into the rogue Demon's base. He headed towards a door and quickly entered. Standing before him in the room was the Lilim Taltamir and 4 Sabers. Taltamir turned from his computer terminal to face Leliel upon hearing him enter.
"Yes?" asked Taltamir, "Can I help you?"
"You are the lilim who brought us back?" asked Leliel.
Taltamir nodded, "I am."
"How?"
"I cloned and grew cells from samples of your remains." replied Taltamir, "And using the technology the demons recovered from how NERV and SEELE manufactured the Rei and Nagisa clones, I was able to restore you."
"These samples, where are they?"
Taltamir pointed to a large cabinet, "There. Why?"
Leliel ignored the question, "And these are the only remaining samples?"
Taltamir looked at Leliel confused, "Yes? Why are you asking me these questions?"
"To prevent the destruction of the lilim," replied Leliel, "and to make sure we cannot be revived again..ever."
"Huh?"
Leliel didn't hear him though. He allowed his core to collapse. The release of energy was instantaneous. With a loud roar, the core of the 12th Angel detonated. It was soon joined by the detonations of the 10th Angel's, as well as the 4 Saber's cores. The resulting explosions caused most of the caves and corridors to collapse. Lorelei, Asuka, Shinji, Mara, and Tabris had just exited into the main cavern when the corridor behind them spat out fire, before collapsing in on itself.
"What the hell was that!" asked Asuka.
"The destruction of 2 of my Brothers." replied Tabris, "1 who was led astray by Sachiel, and one who has sacrificed all to allow us to escape."
Lorelei knew instantly whom he meant. After several moments of silence, Tabris turned to Lorelei.
"It is time to return you to your home lilim."
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"This isn't good." said Touji, ducking as yet another powerful blast was shot at him by the 5th Angel. It apparently had gotten tired of being shot at. In the past 5 minutes it had come alive, destroying 7 of the gun towers, and taken several potshots at Rei and Touji. Neither Guardian had yet to punch a hole through the 5th's AT-field. In addition, the 16th Angel was floating over the opposite side of the city. Rei was finding it difficult to concentrate on her task against the 5th, while the Angel that had caused her the most pain hovered nearby.
"Luchs." said Rei, "Has the 16th done anything?"
"Negative." came the reply over the radio, "It's still just hovering there."
"Let me know the instant it moves."
"What do you think it's doing?" asked Touji.
"Damned if I know." Rei let out a sigh, and looked at the 5th which was just beginning to move over the city walls, "I'd feel a lot better if it did something besides just floating there."
"REI!" came a shout over the radio.
"HOLY SHIT!" shouted Touji as a giant white tube raced past him.
Rei stared as the 16th Angel raced past them, heading straight towards the 5th Angel. The 5th's AT-field flared into existence, before the 16th shattered it. The 16th made direct contact with the surface of the 5th Angel, but instead of stopping, it ripped directly through the diamond, blasting out of the back of it. With a roar of pain, the 5th began to settle towards the ground, but the 16th wasn't yet done. It whipped around again and plunged into the 5th, blasting out from the opposite side. The 5th let out one more roar of pain before falling silent. Touji glanced over at Rei.
"Feel better now? It moved."
Rei ignored Touji and turned towards the 16th. The giant tube simmered, before it began to shrink down. Then, with a flash of light, it vanished. In its place was the figure of a man, who Rei and Touji recognized as one of the Angels that had rejoined the heavens. He floated over to Rei and Touji.
"Forgive me for not arriving sooner," said the Angel, "But I was delayed by the Goddess Belldandy."
Rei's eyes narrowed, "You.."
The Angel turned and looked at Rei, "Hello..Mother."
Within seconds, the Angel was on the ground, laying flat on his back. Rei lowered her fist and step over the Angel, looking down on him.
"Don't call me Mother." Rei said. She then turned and walked away.
Armisael slowly sat up, rubbing his chin, "I suppose I deserved that."
"You deserve a whole lot more." replied Touji, glaring at Armisael.
Armisael let out a sigh, "I know this. No matter what I do, nothing can forgive what we did back then. But as Tabris told us, we can try."
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Asuka, Shinji, Mara, and Tabris led Lorelei towards the center of the cavern. Asuka then turned to Lorelei.
"Ok, Normally we'd just teleport out, but the Angel's the remain are still blocking us." Asuka then looked up, "So the quickest way out is that way."
Lorelei looked up to see the giant hole in the ceiling that led to the upper levels of Hell.
"And how am I going to get up there?" asked Lorelei.
"You're going to ride on Shinji's back." Asuka's eyes then narrowed, "Just don't get any ideas...He's mine."
Shinji rolled his eyes, "Asuka, I'm not going through the Sayoko incident all over again. Let her be."
Asuka looked back at Shinji, "Just letting her know."
"Right..." Shinji turned to Lorelei, "Don't worry about her. Just climb on and hang on tight."
Lorelei nodded and, with one last glare from Asuka, wrapped her arms around Shinji's neck and hopped onto his back.
Shinji then began to float off the ground, followed by Asuka and Mara. Tabris however, remained on the ground.
Shinji looked down at him, "You coming Tabris?"
Tabris looked up at Shinji and smiled, "You go on ahead....I will hold him off."
"Him?" Shinji and the others turned to see another Angel standing on the far side of the cavern. His eyes glared daggers at the group.
"Go on." repeated Tabris, "I will keep him busy."
Shinji nodded and immediately floated upwards, followed by Mara. Asuka lingered a bit longer. Tabris turned towards her.
"I said go."
Asuka shook her head, "We can take him if we work together."
"No..the 3rd Angel is mine." Tabris replied, "Your mission here has ended."
"But.." Asuka looked back at the 3rd, "can you take him?"
"No." replied Tabris.
"Then why.."
Tabris smirked, "Because it is something I must do." He then looked at Asuka. "In the coming days, something from the past will return to haunt you. Before you act on this information, all I ask is that you hear her out. She deserves that much."
Asuka looked at Tabris confused, "She?"
Tabris turned and looked towards the 3rd Angel. "Good bye, 2nd Child." He then began to walk towards Sachiel.
Asuka waited several moments longer before following the others upward.
Sachiel waited until Tabris was 10 feet away before speaking. "You are foolish to face me alone Tabris."
"Perhaps..But then I was foolish to have listened to you all those years ago." Tabris eyes flickered, "This is my act of penance."
Tabris' eyes flashed and a massive cross explosion engulfed Sachiel. For several moments, Tabris lost sight of Sachiel. Suddenly an energy pike burst forth from the fireball and punched into Tabris' chest, slicing through his core and exiting out his back. Tabris stared wide-eyed at the pike. The fireball cleared revealing Sachiel on the other end of the pike. Sachiel retracted the pike back into his arm. Tabris fell to the ground as soon as the pike exited him.
"Fool." said Sachiel, "Had you stayed with your brothers you may have lived to see us triumph. Instead you chose the path of death."
"No..." replied Tabris weakly, "I...chose the...path of...life..life.for the lilim." Tabris' eyes then went dark.
Sachiel glared at the corpse before his eyes flared, vaporizing the remains. Sachiel then turned his eyes upward where he could still see the rapidly ascending group.
"We will meet again.." he said quietly, "you can be sure of that."
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Leliel led Lorelei through several corridors, several times ducking into rooms to avoid the Sabers that still patrolled the halls. After avoiding the 4th patrol, Lorelei turned to Leliel.
"I thought you were supposed to be all powerful. Why are we avoiding the patrols? Can't you just zap them?"
"It's not that easy." replied Leliel, beginning to walk down the corridor. "Any attempt I make to use what you lilim call an AT-Field, my brothers will detect it and investigate."
Lorelei nodded then looked around. "So where are we going anyway?"
"There is a tunnel that leads to one of the levels of Hell. Tabris, one of my brothers who shares my views, will be waiting there with several members of the heavens. They will then take you back to Terra 2."
"I'm afraid that is no longer the case...brother."
Leliel looked up the corridor to see a squad of Sabers blocking their way. In the midst of the Sabers stood Sahaqiel, the 10th Angel.
"Leliel, you have been led astray." said Sahaqiel, "Come back to us, destroy this lilim."
"I cannot do that. Sachiel is wrong to continue this path." said Leliel, "It will destroy us."
"No. It will only destroy those who oppose us." Sahaqiel turned to the Sabers. "Get them."
The Sabers started to run at Lorelei and Leliel. Lorelei was about to run away from them when she noticed that the Sabers were slowing down..and getting shorter. The floor beneath them was now pitch black. The Sabers were slowly sinking into the blackness, as was Sahaqiel. Sahaqiel glared at Leliel.
"You know you will not survive this."
"If that is my fate, I shall except it." replied Leliel, "The universe has gotten by without us before, and will do so again."
Sahaqiel made no move as he sank. He continued to glare at Leliel until he disappeared. The blackness that swallowed him and the others then shifted on the floor, moving towards Leliel and Lorelei. Lorelei made a move to escape it, but Leliel grabbed her.
"No need." Leliel remained in place as the blackness reached his foot, then disappeared.
Lorelei stared at Leliel stunned, "How..what.where?"
Leliel pulled Lorelei down the hallway, "We have somewhere to be, questions later."
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Otaru and Bloodberry walked quietly back to the apartment. They had watched the footage of Gartlant's devastation all day at the castle and were mentally drained.
"I knew the Angel's were bad," said Otaru, "But I never expected that. If they can do that to Gartlant, imagine what they could do to Japoness."
"But we have something that Gartlant didn't have." replied Bloodberry, "We have divine help."
"Yeah well." Otaru yawned, "enough thinking today. I want to crawl in bed and sleep with no distractions."
"Otaru-kun!!" shouted Hanagata, bursting out of his apartment. "Where have you been? I missed you so!"
Otaru let out a sigh and glanced at Bloodberry, "Would you mind?"
Bloodberry grinned, "Not at all." She pulled back her fist. "Bye bye Hana- chan."
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Touji and Rei sat on top of Japoness Castle, looking over the city.
"You know," said Touji, "At night, Japoness kinda reminds me of Tokyo-3."
Rei glanced at Touji, "How so?"
"Well all the lights, the sounds, even the view in a way."
Rei chuckled, "I don't see any of these buildings retracting into the ground." Rei turned and looked back over the city. "It is pleasant though."
It was then a human like object flew over their heads screaming, "YOU'RE SO CRUEL!!" The object then disappeared into the night sky. Touji turned and looked off in the direction it disappeared.
"What the hell was that?"
Rei's eyes never wavered from her view of the city.
"Don't ask." She said, "You probably wouldn't believe me."
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Sachiel marched down the corridor, followed closely by 4 Sabers.
* Brother, * came Bardiel's voice, * The lilim is missing, as is Leliel and Sahaqiel. *
* That cannot be. * replied Sachiel, * Sahaqiel left me not more then 5 minutes ago with a squad of these.false lilim. *
* There is no sign of him. *
Sachiel thought for a second, * Maybe the reason we cannot reach him is because he is not in this dimension. *
* You mean.. *
* Yes, * replied Sachiel, * Leliel is now our enemy as well. Treat him as such. *
* Of course.Brother. *
Sachiel continued heading towards that last place Tabris was detected.
'I grow tired of these distractions.' thought Sachiel, '4 of our number corrupted by the lilim and their 'gods'. They will pay.'
* Matariel. Ramiel. It is time. Attack. *
* Yes Brother. *
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Tamasaburo moved silently across the dark rooftops of Japoness. Since her repair after the kidnapping of Lorelei, she and Baiko had been patrolling the city as they had before the demons arrival. Tamasaburo stopped on one particularly tall building and took a look around. Her optics easily spotted the two Guardians sitting on top of the Castle. While Tamasaburo really didn't care for them, she did appreciate the Guardians presence. She and Baiko hadn't been able to do anything against either the Demons or the S2 powered Sabers. As part of the threat update, both Imperial Guard had been given all the information available on the Angels, including those that had defected to the heavens. Should an Angel attack Japoness, Tamasaburo had computed that no matter what she and Baiko did, they would be unable to defeat the beings. The fact that the Guardians had faced them before and won was comforting to the Saber.
"Tamasaburo." came Baiko's voice over the radio, "Status."
"Sector 34 clear." replied Tamasaburo, "No problems detected."
"Very well. Proceed to next patrol area."
"Understood."
Tamasaburo turned and moved toward her next patrol area, which was along the outer edges of the city. As she moved toward the area, she could see the wall that protected the city from attack. The wall was fully manned by Sabers as well as Japoness troops. The gun towers were manned and fully armed. Tamasaburo stopped on another building and looked about the streets, checking for any signs of trouble. It was while she was doing this that her auditory senses detected something. It was the sound of heavy footfalls coming from the darkness beyond the city. A quick run through of her files revealed that the sound was similar to the Gartlant Krabenstaffs. Since Gartlant was no longer a threat, Tamasaburo checked her files on the Angels for something similar. She found it immediately.
"Have detected possible Angel outside of city near sector 51. Identity maybe the 9th Angel. Please advise."
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Rei sat up immediately. She grabbed the radio that was sitting beside her and looked in the direction indicated.
"Do you have visual yet?"
"Negative." was Tamasaburo's reply.
"Which Angel was the 10th?" asked Touji.
"The spider that dripped Acid." replied Rei, "It attacked during the power outage. Fairly weak AT-Field. We were able to defeat it rather easily."
"So where is it?" asked Touji.
"The Imperial Guard have very good sensing ability. It could still be several miles off."
Touji looked at Rei questioningly, "But we should still be able to detect it before the Sabers right?"
"Possibly.."
"What do you mean possibly?!"
Rei looked at Touji for several moments before raising the radio to her mouth again.
"Battery Alpha. I need illumination of area 14."
A gun battery along the wall fired. After several minutes passed, the night sky was filled with light as the star shell burst and slowly began its descent. The ground below it was instantly illuminated, revealing a massive 8-legged creature. Also revealed in the flicking light was a massive diamond shape, floating over the ground. Both were headed towards the city.
Rei turned and looked at Touji, "Signal Yggdrasil. We are engaging the 5th and 9th Angels."
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Blaring sirens awoke Otaru, who had just gotten to sleep. The sounds of the defense guns firing soon followed. Bloodberry raced into Otaru's room.
"What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know!" replied Otaru, "But I know where we can find out."
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Faust and the Saber dolls watched from the balcony of castle Japoness as battery after battery of defense guns fired at the approaching Angels.
Luchs looked over at Faust, "Reports coming in. Gunners reporting they are not getting through the Angel's AT-field."
"Where the hell are the Guardians?!" snarled Panther, "Aren't they supposed to be defending us?"
Two massive explosions blasted the ground next to the 9th Angel, causing it to fall onto its side. Several of its legs now lay shattered and twitching on the ground. The guns along the wall turned on the fallen form and were rewarded with a massive explosion.
"There is your answer." said Faust.
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Rei and Touji hovered over the fallen form of the 9th Angel.
"You're right." said Touji, "It was pretty weak." He glanced at the 5th. "Shall we finish this now?"
"Be careful." said Rei, "The 5th is very powerful."
Touji turned to look at the floating diamond. "Well then, let's take it out before it causes any damage."
Both then raised their hands and fired force bolts at the diamond. Just seconds before they hit, an orange hexagonal field appeared, blocking the shots. Touji glanced at Rei.
"Again." ordered Rei.
Two more force bolts ripped through the night sky. Once again, the shots were blocked by the Angel's AT-field.
"Alright." said Rei, "This could be a problem."
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Asuka, Shinji, Mara, and Tabris ran down through corridor after corridor.
"Where are they?" asked Asuka.
"Turn right at this intersection." replied Tabris.
Asuka started to turn right, and almost immediately slammed on the breaks, causing the other to crash into her.
"OW!" shouted Mara, "What's the big idea?" Mara looked to see the other three staring at something. She turned to see what it was. "Oh." Was all she could manage.
Standing before them was an Angel. He stood there, staring at them.
"Tabris." He said.
Tabris stepped forward, "Israfel. It does not have to be this way."
Israfel shock his head, "There is no other way. You will not make it past me Tabris."
"Who is this?" asked Shinji.
"The 7th messenger." replied Tabris.
Asuka let a smile appear on her face. "Mara, you and Tabris go around. Shinji and I will handle the Angel."
Tabris glanced at Asuka, "Are you sure? He can.."
"I remember." replied Asuka, "Now go."
Tabris shrugged and took off with Mara down a different corridor, leaving Asuka and Shinji staring at Israfel.
"What do you think Shinji?" said Asuka glancing at her husband.
"I think he's toast." replied Shinji with a smile, "Think we can do it in less then 60 this time?"
"Oh yeah."
As one both Asuka and Shinji turned and faced the Angel.
"Let's dance." said Asuka towards the Angel.
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Otaru had finally arrived at castle Japoness with Bloodberry. Now they stood next to Faust and the Saber Dolls watching as attack after attack was blocked by the 5th Angel.
"They're not getting through, are they?" asked Otaru.
Faust shook his head, "They took out the first one rather quickly. This one is proving more difficult."
"Have they said anything?"
"Other then asking the guns to continue firing, there was a weird comment made by Rei." said Luchs.
"What was that?" asked Otaru.
"Something about all the power in Japan. But I have no idea what she was taking about. Do you?"
Otaru shrugged. He then turned and looked back towards the battle. "I bet Cherry would know."
"Ummm Otaru." said Bloodberry, "What is that?" She pointed toward another area of the sky.
Everyone turned to see what she was pointing at. There, floating in the sky on the opposite side of Japoness from the attacking Angel was a massive ring, slowly rotating in the night.
"According to my files.." said Luchs, "That is the form of the 16th Angel."
Faust turned and looked at Luchs, "Inform the Guardians of this situation."
"Yes Lord Faust."
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Asuka and Shinji leaped about the corridor, telepathically coordinating their attacks against the Angel. Within seconds of beginning the fight, the Angel had split into two separate entities. Asuka and Shinji both spun and kicked the Angel down the corridor. The Angel was beginning to move slower and slower as the two Guardians continued to press on their attack. Finally, after being on the receiving end of two separate punches, the Angel reformed into a single entity. Shinji and Asuka looked at each other with smiles on their faces as they both turned and unleashed powerful force bolts from their hands. The bolt smashed into the Angel and exploded. Within seconds another more powerful explosion rocked the corridor as the Angel's core detonated. Shinji glanced over at Asuka.
"40 seconds. Not bad."
Asuka smiled, "It was a lot easier this time. Now, let's go find Mara and Tabris."
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The further Lorelei went with Leliel, the more she noticed something was wrong. He seemed to be sweating more and stumbling every few steps.
"Are you alright?" asked Lorelei.
Leliel smiled, "I will make it to our rendezvous."
"But will you survive after it?"
"That is up to fate to decide."
Lorelei looked at Leliel but continued to move. "How much farther?"
Leliel closed his eyes for a second. "We are here."
Lorelei stopped and looked around. "Aren't we supposed to be meeting someone?"
Leliel opened his eyes and looked at her. "They were delayed, but will be arriving."
"Greetings Brother."
"..now." Leliel turned shakily to the approaching Angel and Mara. "It is good to see you again, Tabris."
Tabris walked up to Leliel and looked at him with concern. "What is the matter?"
"Sahaqiel does not agree with me." replied Leliel with a smile, "I am glad you are here. I may not last much longer."
"What do you mean?" asked Lorelei.
Mara quickly grabbed Lorelei's arm. "Don't worry about that now. We have to leave."
"But." Lorelei looked back at Leliel. Leliel smiled at her.
"Go. Return to your friends."
"Thank you." replied Lorelei before allowing Mara to take her away. When they were far enough away, Tabris turned back to Leliel.
"You should let him go. You're only going to cause your destruction."
"Then my death will assist you. I have felt Matariel and Israfel depart this life already. Sahaqiel will follow." Leliel grabbed hold of Tabris' arm, "Go now. You are still needed. I have served my purpose. Good bye, Brother." He then turned and stumbled down the corridor away from Tabris.
"Good bye." replied Tabris. He watched as Leliel vanished down the corridor before turning and running after Mara and Lorelei.
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Mara and Lorelei continued to run towards the exit. They quickly ran around a corner, and promptly collided with Asuka and Shinji.
"SHIEST!"
"DAMN RIGHT SHIT!" shouted Mara, "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"
Asuka glared at the demon, "WATCH WHERE I'M GOING?!?!"
"Umm, can we do this elsewhere?" said Shinji as he helped Lorelei to her feet. "We should really be leaving here."
"I concur with the Third Child." said Tabris arriving on the scene, "This area is about to become a bit more dangerous."
Asuka and Mara glared at each other a few seconds more before following the others down the corridor.
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Leliel stumbled deeper into the rogue Demon's base. He headed towards a door and quickly entered. Standing before him in the room was the Lilim Taltamir and 4 Sabers. Taltamir turned from his computer terminal to face Leliel upon hearing him enter.
"Yes?" asked Taltamir, "Can I help you?"
"You are the lilim who brought us back?" asked Leliel.
Taltamir nodded, "I am."
"How?"
"I cloned and grew cells from samples of your remains." replied Taltamir, "And using the technology the demons recovered from how NERV and SEELE manufactured the Rei and Nagisa clones, I was able to restore you."
"These samples, where are they?"
Taltamir pointed to a large cabinet, "There. Why?"
Leliel ignored the question, "And these are the only remaining samples?"
Taltamir looked at Leliel confused, "Yes? Why are you asking me these questions?"
"To prevent the destruction of the lilim," replied Leliel, "and to make sure we cannot be revived again..ever."
"Huh?"
Leliel didn't hear him though. He allowed his core to collapse. The release of energy was instantaneous. With a loud roar, the core of the 12th Angel detonated. It was soon joined by the detonations of the 10th Angel's, as well as the 4 Saber's cores. The resulting explosions caused most of the caves and corridors to collapse. Lorelei, Asuka, Shinji, Mara, and Tabris had just exited into the main cavern when the corridor behind them spat out fire, before collapsing in on itself.
"What the hell was that!" asked Asuka.
"The destruction of 2 of my Brothers." replied Tabris, "1 who was led astray by Sachiel, and one who has sacrificed all to allow us to escape."
Lorelei knew instantly whom he meant. After several moments of silence, Tabris turned to Lorelei.
"It is time to return you to your home lilim."
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"This isn't good." said Touji, ducking as yet another powerful blast was shot at him by the 5th Angel. It apparently had gotten tired of being shot at. In the past 5 minutes it had come alive, destroying 7 of the gun towers, and taken several potshots at Rei and Touji. Neither Guardian had yet to punch a hole through the 5th's AT-field. In addition, the 16th Angel was floating over the opposite side of the city. Rei was finding it difficult to concentrate on her task against the 5th, while the Angel that had caused her the most pain hovered nearby.
"Luchs." said Rei, "Has the 16th done anything?"
"Negative." came the reply over the radio, "It's still just hovering there."
"Let me know the instant it moves."
"What do you think it's doing?" asked Touji.
"Damned if I know." Rei let out a sigh, and looked at the 5th which was just beginning to move over the city walls, "I'd feel a lot better if it did something besides just floating there."
"REI!" came a shout over the radio.
"HOLY SHIT!" shouted Touji as a giant white tube raced past him.
Rei stared as the 16th Angel raced past them, heading straight towards the 5th Angel. The 5th's AT-field flared into existence, before the 16th shattered it. The 16th made direct contact with the surface of the 5th Angel, but instead of stopping, it ripped directly through the diamond, blasting out of the back of it. With a roar of pain, the 5th began to settle towards the ground, but the 16th wasn't yet done. It whipped around again and plunged into the 5th, blasting out from the opposite side. The 5th let out one more roar of pain before falling silent. Touji glanced over at Rei.
"Feel better now? It moved."
Rei ignored Touji and turned towards the 16th. The giant tube simmered, before it began to shrink down. Then, with a flash of light, it vanished. In its place was the figure of a man, who Rei and Touji recognized as one of the Angels that had rejoined the heavens. He floated over to Rei and Touji.
"Forgive me for not arriving sooner," said the Angel, "But I was delayed by the Goddess Belldandy."
Rei's eyes narrowed, "You.."
The Angel turned and looked at Rei, "Hello..Mother."
Within seconds, the Angel was on the ground, laying flat on his back. Rei lowered her fist and step over the Angel, looking down on him.
"Don't call me Mother." Rei said. She then turned and walked away.
Armisael slowly sat up, rubbing his chin, "I suppose I deserved that."
"You deserve a whole lot more." replied Touji, glaring at Armisael.
Armisael let out a sigh, "I know this. No matter what I do, nothing can forgive what we did back then. But as Tabris told us, we can try."
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Asuka, Shinji, Mara, and Tabris led Lorelei towards the center of the cavern. Asuka then turned to Lorelei.
"Ok, Normally we'd just teleport out, but the Angel's the remain are still blocking us." Asuka then looked up, "So the quickest way out is that way."
Lorelei looked up to see the giant hole in the ceiling that led to the upper levels of Hell.
"And how am I going to get up there?" asked Lorelei.
"You're going to ride on Shinji's back." Asuka's eyes then narrowed, "Just don't get any ideas...He's mine."
Shinji rolled his eyes, "Asuka, I'm not going through the Sayoko incident all over again. Let her be."
Asuka looked back at Shinji, "Just letting her know."
"Right..." Shinji turned to Lorelei, "Don't worry about her. Just climb on and hang on tight."
Lorelei nodded and, with one last glare from Asuka, wrapped her arms around Shinji's neck and hopped onto his back.
Shinji then began to float off the ground, followed by Asuka and Mara. Tabris however, remained on the ground.
Shinji looked down at him, "You coming Tabris?"
Tabris looked up at Shinji and smiled, "You go on ahead....I will hold him off."
"Him?" Shinji and the others turned to see another Angel standing on the far side of the cavern. His eyes glared daggers at the group.
"Go on." repeated Tabris, "I will keep him busy."
Shinji nodded and immediately floated upwards, followed by Mara. Asuka lingered a bit longer. Tabris turned towards her.
"I said go."
Asuka shook her head, "We can take him if we work together."
"No..the 3rd Angel is mine." Tabris replied, "Your mission here has ended."
"But.." Asuka looked back at the 3rd, "can you take him?"
"No." replied Tabris.
"Then why.."
Tabris smirked, "Because it is something I must do." He then looked at Asuka. "In the coming days, something from the past will return to haunt you. Before you act on this information, all I ask is that you hear her out. She deserves that much."
Asuka looked at Tabris confused, "She?"
Tabris turned and looked towards the 3rd Angel. "Good bye, 2nd Child." He then began to walk towards Sachiel.
Asuka waited several moments longer before following the others upward.
Sachiel waited until Tabris was 10 feet away before speaking. "You are foolish to face me alone Tabris."
"Perhaps..But then I was foolish to have listened to you all those years ago." Tabris eyes flickered, "This is my act of penance."
Tabris' eyes flashed and a massive cross explosion engulfed Sachiel. For several moments, Tabris lost sight of Sachiel. Suddenly an energy pike burst forth from the fireball and punched into Tabris' chest, slicing through his core and exiting out his back. Tabris stared wide-eyed at the pike. The fireball cleared revealing Sachiel on the other end of the pike. Sachiel retracted the pike back into his arm. Tabris fell to the ground as soon as the pike exited him.
"Fool." said Sachiel, "Had you stayed with your brothers you may have lived to see us triumph. Instead you chose the path of death."
"No..." replied Tabris weakly, "I...chose the...path of...life..life.for the lilim." Tabris' eyes then went dark.
Sachiel glared at the corpse before his eyes flared, vaporizing the remains. Sachiel then turned his eyes upward where he could still see the rapidly ascending group.
"We will meet again.." he said quietly, "you can be sure of that."
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