Engel: Sacrifice
Armed In Darkness
Chapter Nineteen
"Grave memorial hewn white stone
Like the comforting caress of a mother
Or a friend you've always known
It evokes such pain and significance
What was once is reduced to remembrance
And the generations pass without recompense
What pretension! Everlasting peace
Everything must cease"
-Bad Religion (Lyrics from Cease)
Demonte twisted the corner and kneeled down as two shadows passed before him.
'Damn', he thought to himself, 'that was a close one.' Holding his gun in his right arm, Demonte waited until the shadows were long down the hall before he sprinted off into the left fork. Breathing heavily, he lurched forward and slipped into another corner just as two more of the same shadows passed down the same hall.
"Geez," He growled. "Why are there so many friggin' guards? You'd think they'd be wasting their precious time terrorizing people like my men do. Not hanging out and having a party back at HQ." He brought his gun up to his face. "Guess that there will have to be some bloodshed if I ever want to get around this place."
Demonte hunched over and crept down the hall until a pair of voices halted him in his tracks.
"I told you before that I was going to pay you back, you jerks!" A female voice…almost familiar.
"And I told you to pay up NOW!" A middle-aged man's voice this time. Demonte pressed his ear to the door, biting his lip.
"You didn't have to press the assault in December…" Ah, this was Celestia's voice!
"You murdered twenty of my men."
"I didn't do it!" Celestia roared. "I never killed any of them!"
"Then who the hell did it!?" Demonte's ears caught a quick slap to the psychic's face. "You're a little lying bitch, aren't you!?"
Demonte growled as he began to sense quiet sobs. He turned the doorknob and rushed in, holding his gun up in defense. "Hey!" Demonte's eyes darkened beneath his hood. "Just what the hell is going on here!?"
Ten shadows froze as they gazed upon Demonte, his eyes glistening with hatred. Celestia kept her tear-stained face lowered as she sat tied to a chair in the middle of the room.
"Who are you!?" The speculated Boss of the posse stepped forward, reaching for his own gun.
"Don't be a fool Boss!" A subordinate beckoned his Boss to stop. "He looks dangerous."
"Tend to your own business," The Boss snapped. "He's no match for me." The Boss stood tall above Demonte and, straightening his back, folded his arms over his chest and asked, "Are you playing the hero, kid?"
"Where are the captives?" Demonte hissed, locking his finger on the trigger.
"Around," The man chuckled and licked his lips. "What's it to you?"
"Those just happen to be my companions," Demonte growled. "Now either you hand them over or I'll be forced to make you suffer the consequences."
"You're bluffing." The Boss huffed.
Demonte snapped his arm over his shoulder and pulled the trigger, the barrel facing away from the posse. A body thumped in the doorway.
"Pretty sneaky, getting your men to creep up from behind." Demonte spun the gun around his index finger and then hooked the rest of his fingers around the butt of the gun, aiming it at the Boss's forehead. "Now, I'm warmed up."
"Bastard," The Boss swung his own gun upwards and a flash stung his eyes as well as his fingers.
Smoke lingered at the barrel of Demonte's gun as the Boss crumpled to the ground, clutching his distorted fingers. Steel clunked to the ground in front of the Boss. It was his pistol. The Boss reached down to pick up his severed index finger and half of the other few fingers that had once held his pistol. Blood crept down his hand like a fountain and trickled onto the floor. His mind had shut down, leaving him dumbfounded and he gazed in horror at his hand, finally realizing what he had been picking up from the floor.
"YOU BASTARD! LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO MY HAND!" The Boss wailed. Demonte showed no mercy as he held his aim at the Boss's skull.
"Where…are…the captives?" Demonte repeated. "Tell me and I might spare your life."
"Asshole," The Boss growled. "You may kill me and the rest of them, but you'll never escape 'him'."
Demonte remained nonchalant. "Then have it your way." Demonte pulled the trigger and the man was hurled backwards and landed in the back of the room. Demonte trailed the blood that led back to the Boss's stiff, cold body.
In defense to Demonte's attack, the other men withdrew their own guns, some were rifles, and others were shotguns.
"You killed the Boss," A henchman hissed. "Now it's your turn," The man stalked up and jerked back hard on Celestia's hair. She screamed as he held the barrel to her head. "Starting with this woman, should we say…?"
Demonte's eyes widened in horror as he immediately brought his aim up to the henchman.
"Are you stupid!?" The henchman roared. "Put the gun down, NOW!"
Demonte froze, and a moment later, the gun was dropped to the ground, clanking hard against the cement floor. Demonte held his arms behind his back.
"That's better," The henchman breathed. Demonte's eyes drifted to the other men who had him pinpointed with their own guns. "But the Boss is dead. You must pay for this."
Demonte's arm began to illuminate faintly.
"You're making a big mistake," Demonte told the man. "I only killed your Boss because he would not consent to answer my questions."
Electricity began to drift up Demonte's arm, cackling softly as it crawled slowly in both directions of his forearm.
"You don't want to do this," Demonte warned. "If you let them go, and her," He gestured to Celestia. "I won't be forced to hurt you."
"Hurt ME!?" The man guffawed, his belly rumbling. "You're unarmed!"
"That's not entirely true," Demonte clenched his glowing arm. "I'll not ask you again. Let them go."
"Over my dead body," The henchman laughed as he tugged on the trigger.
"You're a fool…" Demonte turned his body, exposing his radiating arm. "But that can be arranged." The henchman paused as he became dazzled by the power.
Demonte held his arm, palm outstretched, towards the man and the room exploded into a brilliant amplitude of light. The henchman instantly disintegrated into cinder, his gun falling to the floor as it followed its owner's ashes. Demonte twisted his body and struck his shoulder forward, aiming his arm, like a gun, at the others that dared oppose him. A vortex of lightening swirled beneath the other henchmen and suffocated them within its embrace.
They fell to the ground, their skeletons emerging through their seared flesh. The room fell silent and Demonte lowered his arm, the light dwindling away. Celestia's body quaked as she watched him approach her. Her breathing intensified as he finally rested an arm on her shoulder.
"I appear to you as the Devil himself, don't I?" He said finally. "I scare you."
She could say nothing, but her eyes remained fully on him.
"My powers," Demonte began to unbind the ropes from Celestia. "They're unusual, I know. If I wanted to, I could liquidate this entire city."
"But you won't," Celestia mumbled.
Demonte paused and sighed softly. "That's right, I won't."
The ropes slipped off of Celestia and Demonte stood up straight. "But I want you to know that I would never hurt you," He said. "I don't want you to be afraid of me." He caught sight of her swollen cheek where the Boss had dared to harm her.
"I know you," She said touching his arm gently. "I'm not scared."
Demonte opened his mouth to say more, but a thunderous crash shook the room and turned his attention to more important matters.
"Damn, that must be what the Boss called 'him'!" Demonte spun on his foot. "What did those bastards want with you and the others anyway!?"
"Those were the men from December," Celestia explained, shouting above the tremor. "They're after me for the debt, remember?"
"I remember," Demonte shifted his weight to his back leg as he stooped low and retrieved his gun. "Where are the others?"
"I don't know," Celestia whispered. Her face tilted towards the ground. "It's my fault, it was the food. They spiked the food and I knew I felt something wrong but I ignored it. The others got involved because of me. Everyone in this town is a part of the insurance agency."
"No," Demonte turned and grabbed her arm. "It's not your fault. Everything will turn out okay, I promise."
The quakes escalated and the two stumbled backwards.
"We have to get out of here, now." Demonte muttered.
"What about the others?" Celestia inquired. "We can't leave them behind."
"Damn!" Demonte nearly smacked himself. "I forgot. We'll have to take care of the beast in that case." Demonte grabbed his companion's hand and rushed from the room, hauling Celestia behind him.
Meryl gritted her teeth, squirming in the shadow's grasp.
"Stop it!" The voice hissed. "It's me, Vash!"
Meryl's body dropped at the name and she glanced up. "Vash?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Vash turned his head and stared at the hostile monster within the cell. "We've got to get out of here," Vash pulled Meryl away from the wall.
"Wait!" Meryl pulled backwards. "I'm not leaving my gun!"
"Meryl, this is life or death now. Forget the gun."
"I most CERTAINLY am NOT going to just FORGET the gun!" She bellowed and looked in the cell. "…I just need to come up with a plan on how to get it first."
"Meryl you're a fool," Vash said plainly. "That beast will tear you apart in seconds."
"Then give me your gun," Meryl ordered.
"What!? No! I'm not going to stand here and let you take the innocent life of another!"
"Innocent!? That damned thing nearly tore my arm off!" Meryl groped for Vash's colt. "Now give me the gun!"
"No way!" Vash twisted his body and dodged her hands. "If we leave it alone, it'll leave us alone! We have more important issues to deal with than getting a stupid gun! I'd prefer to waste my bullets on something more important!"
"Why you little…!"
An unexpected tremor seized the room and shook it violently, throwing the two against separate jail cells. Meryl's head jerked backwards, plummeting against the steel. Her eyes became groggy and her head was dazed with confusion. She could hear the beast in the cell snarling behind her, but her mind couldn't seem to comprehend what actions she should take.
"Meryl!" Vash scrambled to his feet, lunging for her as the monster's hands reached through the cell bars and around Meryl's neck, its long nails singeing her neck ever so lightly. Meryl's head tipped forward, almost drunken-like, as her eyes fluttered open and shut.
Vash screeched to a halt and grasped the monster's wrist. Letting out a piercing cry, a third arm curved around Meryl's body and latched itself around Vash's esophagus. Startled, Vash dropped the monster's wrist and became occupied with prying the fingers from his neck. The nails were sharp, as though they could tear through flesh as though it were cotton. Vash's hand sought for his holster.
Then a gunshot resounded in the hall and the hand slumped down Vash's chest and plopped into his lap. Almost immediately, Vash brushed the hideous thing away and pulled Meryl away from the cell. Glancing to the oncoming shadow above him, he recognized BDN.
"I didn't mean to kill it, Vash," BDN already speculating what Vash would say to him. "But if I hadn't have shot it, he would've killed you both because we both know that YOU wouldn't have shot it."
Vash turned back to the unmoving monster, blood seeping across the floor.
"I'm not too fond of fact that you did kill it, Brilliant, but there's nothing I can do…" Vash lowered his head to Meryl. "For now."
"Fancy me finding you two down here. All I had to do was follow those dastardly looking cult members to the sand steamer garage and POOF! There you guys are."
"We need to find the others, Brilliant," Vash hoisted Meryl's unconscious body onto his back. "And quick. You felt the earthquake just now, right? I think that something big is headed our way."
"Wait, is she gonna be all right?" BDN motioned to Meryl.
"She hit her head against the cell door when the tremor hit. I'm certain that she'll come around in a few."
"Just a bump on the head?" BDN asked.
"Just a bump on the head." Vash nodded. "Do you have any idea where the others might be?"
"Slam my head in a door if I did." BDN said. "I found myself passed out at the inn. Someone hit me over the head and then I went out like a lamp. You?"
"I think that something was in our food." Vash said, retreating down the hall. "I found myself in a similar cell such as these, but I broke free using my trusty partner here…" Vash smiled as he gestured to his gun.
"Well I'm impressed, Vash the Stampede. Now let's find the others and get the hell out of here."
"Wait," Vash stopped and jogged back to the cell where the demon had once been held sojourn in. He stooped low and reached into the cell, grasping Meryl's gun. Turning, he smiled at the large man. "She would kill me if I left without her gun."
"Crap, it just keeps getting closer!" Demonte hissed as he rounded a corner, pulling Celestia along behind him. The corridor began to vibrate with monumental strength. Demonte readied his gun, anticipating the monstrous beast.
"Demonte you're not thinking about fighting that thing, are you!?" Celestia grasped his arms. "Don't you know what that thing is!?"
"Not really, nor am I interested in finding out."
"It's one of those dark beasts we fought in Felnarl! The Boss of this agency has managed to capture one of those beasts and has been holding it captive down here. I even saw it for myself."
"What!?" Demonte sulked back against the cavern wall. "Fine time for telling me. Are you saying that those beasts from Felnarl are controlled by the agency?"
"No, I don't know what went on in Felnarl," Celestia admitted. "But I do know that the agency has managed to get a hold of one of them. THAT thing is what's chasing us now."
"Oh…GLORIOUS." Demonte reloaded his gun. "All the better for me to fight it."
"Demonte you can't do that!" Celestia cried. "You would get yourself killed!"
"And what am I supposed to do? Leave it to kill everyone else?"
"There they are!" The two turned as a mob of henchmen moved through the corridor, guns held high.
"Geez…Don't these guys ever give up!?" Demonte backed away, stopping at the intersection of a larger cavern. Bullets rained to the ground as Celestia and Demonte separated down different halls.
Demonte spun on one heel as the mob poured into the large cavern, and pulled the trigger on his .44. Several men collapsed to ground as others began to face him, almost challengingly.
"You're the monster who killed the Boss, aren't you!?" A man yelled as he aimed his rifle at Demonte. "I won't let you get away with this!"
More than half of the other henchmen simultaneously mimicked the so-called 'leader's' movements as they aimed their own weapons at Demonte. The others stayed facing Celestia with their guns.
"Stop!" Celestia cried, withdrawing her gun from her dress.
"Stay out of this, Celestia," Demonte commanded. "Just run away."
"No one is going anywhere," Another man responded, cocking his gun. "Your tombs will all be here."
"Step aside and I won't be forced to hurt you," Demonte said, lowering his gun. "Your Boss only died because he could not assent to my demands. I'm giving you a chance; don't throw it away."
"What makes you think that you have the advantage over us?" The so-called 'leader' sneered. "We have the monster with us…'him'…"
"I'm not scared of anyone you bring against me," Demonte said confidently.
"Arrogant, aren't we?" The leader grinned. "Well then, let the battle begin."
The men from behind the leader pulled on their triggers and bullets exploded from the barrels. Celestia picked her feet up just as they landed, and almost danced around them. She rolled to the ground and brought her arm up which held the gun.
She pulled the trigger back. The bullet struck a random man in the neck and blood gushed from his esophagus. He landed on the ground with a thud as the others commenced the shootings.
On the other side of the gunfire, Demonte had ducked low and held his other arm over the gun as he pulled the trigger. Men beside the leader fell to their defeats and the leader became agitated even more so.
"You think that you're good!? You're nothing." The leader's rifle exploded as continuous bullets streamed one after another. Demonte leaped high into the air, lurching forward, and crashed down upon the leader, swinging the butt of the gun through the air and making contact with the side of the leader's head.
He crumpled to the ground as the rest of the men watched in incredulity as Demonte towered above them, holding his gun proudly. The gunfire ceased and Celestia watched as to see what would happen next.
"I'm letting you off," Demonte said. "If you want to stay and fight, go ahead. But you see your dead comrades around you. This chance is not so easily given, but easily denied. Don't be a fool. Run…now."
As though he were commanding robots, the men instantly retreated back through the hall in which they had came. Celestia blinked and stood straight.
"I'm actually impressed Mr. Kalabis."
"I surprised myself." Demonte said. "I usually don't give people like that any kind of mercy, as you already know."
"Quite true," Celestia sighed and patted him on the back. "At least I can rest assured that the men won't try to ambush us again."
Suddenly, the tremors became active once again.
"I thought that you said that they wouldn't try to ambush us again!" Demonte shouted.
"I said that the 'MEN' wouldn't try to ambush us again! I never said anything about the beast!"
Demonte spun around as a shadow darkened the room. Piercing red eyes narrowed as the monster growled.
"Is it just me or does that monster have two heads?" Celestia asked.
"It looks just like a dragon from those legends…" Demonte remarked as he reloaded his gun. "But a two headed dark dragon is beyond me."
"Okay!" Celestia grinned as she reloaded her own gun. "Let's get the show on the road."
Demonte turned.
"You're not thinking about fighting it are you? That's a man's job."
"Excuse me!" Celestia held her hands on her hips. "You're being extremely sexist! Why don't you just give me a chance!?"
The dragon advanced towards them, two long tongues hanging from the mouths of both heads.
"Nevermind the arguing," Demonte said. "Fight if you want."
Demonte locked his aim onto the dragon pulled the trigger. The bullets merely bounced off of the dragon's chest and Demonte stepped backwards.
"No way," He breathed. "The damned thing is immune to our bullets."
"Now what are you planning on doing?" Celestia asked, backing away from the dragon.
"Hmmm…" Demonte's face lit up. "Celestia! Use your psychic abilities to get a reading on that dragon. I'll distract it!"
"H-Hey!" Celestia called out to him. She sighed when she saw him dash forward. "He'll never learn."
Demonte dodged the dragon's deadly swipe and rolled to the ground. The two heads leaned forward, crashing into the cavern walls, snarling and snapping their jaws. Demonte shielded himself from the falling rocks and looked up.
A little…too late.
The tail of the dragon collided with Demonte's front and he was hurled to the back of the cavern. Celestia shrieked, but knew that her post entitled her to stay put. She closed her eyes and peered into the dragon's mind.
Demonte looked up, and spit out a mouthful of blood. His hood had fallen backwards, revealing his dangerous violet eyes. He brushed his hair from his face and leapt forward, gun in hand. He pulled the trigger, pounding four more bullets into the dragon. They bounced off carelessly and Demonte halted.
"This isn't working," He muttered. "But I can't use Forbidden Magicks here." He grasped his injured arm. "I've used it once already. If I do it again, it will drain the life out of me…possibly even kill me…" Demonte watched the dragon raise onto its hind legs and then drop with a violent downswing. Demonte stumbled backwards and fell onto his rear. His gun had slid away from him, landing in the back of the cavern.
Demonte turned back towards the gun, and then at the dragon.
"Celestia!" Demonte shouted over his shoulder.
"Demonte!" Celestia's eyes reopened. "The heads! Aim for the heads."
"Are you sure?" Demonte asked, swinging himself to his feet.
"No I'm not sure!" Celestia shouted with complete sarcasm. "Now stop being an idiot and get up there!"
Demonte bit his lip, remembering his lost gun. "Great," He muttered. He dashed in between the dragon's legs and grasped the dragon's tail. Roaring, the dragon twisted its body back and forth, the heads screeching with fury. Demonte buried his head into the scales of the tail as it swung into the cavern walls. Rocks rumbled and crashed down to the ground.
Celestia glanced towards the roof of the cave and jumped off to the side as a boulder crushed the ground where she had once stood. Demonte crawled up the tail, careful as to keep his balance on the mobile body. He held his arms around the dragon's waist and the two heads turned, snapping their gruesome blood-stained teeth at him.
Demonte reached into his cloak, avoiding the dangerous jaws, and withdrew a dagger from within. He waited for the dragon to come closer but was unaware of the second head advancing towards him. He jerked his head towards the oncoming head and was met with a whip to the face.
He was torn from the dragon's body and fell onto his back. His face grew with horror as one of the heads readied itself to dive-bomb on top of him. Holding his dagger outstretched before him, the dragon opened its colossal sized mouth and prepared to swallow Demonte. The teeth enclosed around him and Demonte yanked the dagger upwards, catching the roof of the dragon's mouth.
The dragon stopped moving, startled, as blood rained from its mouth. Demonte closed his eyes as the blood drenched his hair and body and drove the dagger deeper within the dragon's mouth. The head became limp and Demonte pulled the dagger out. He crawled out from underneath the dragon's massive mouth and looked up at the other head.
Smoke rings swirled around the dragon's nostrils as flames began to emerge from within its mouth. Demonte turned and fled towards his gun. A vortex of heat flared from the dragon's mouth as smoke lingered around its snout. Demonte dove for the gun grabbing the barrel and spinning onto the floor.
He looked up as the flames converged towards him with such celerity. Leaping out of the way, he prepared to shoot the dragon.
That is…until someone beat him to the punch.
Blood gushed from the dragon's eyes as the white of the circular balls became punctured with bullets. The dragon screeched and rammed its head into the cavern wall next to him. Still, bullets continued to pound into its head. Demonte watched as Celestia pulled the trigger one last time and caught the dragon between the eyes.
The dragon's body lunged forward and collapsed to the ground. Blood soaked the floor as both heads lay dead and the body of the dragon remained still. Demonte picked himself up and staggered towards Celestia.
"I'm not even going to ask what that was there." He muttered.
She turned her eyes towards him, beaming. "See? I'm not so much of an amateur after all." Her smile disappeared as she gazed into his eyes. Faltering backwards, Demonte reached up for the hood of his cloak and flipped it over his face.
"Let's go find the others," He said coolly.