Battle 02: In the Air

Oujirou sat looking out the windshield of the small single prop plane that was taking him back to civilization. The static shield glistened green in front of him, while the distant skyline burned a soft orange. Most of the people who lived within the shield knew that it protected them from the demons, but what most of them didn't know was that it also protected them from the harsh radiation that saturated most of the earth.

One year ago the war between the humans and the demons reached a critical turning point; the point where they out numbered us. The Germans and Americans jointly created what they called the 'N-Bomb.' Conceptually it is very similar to a classic Atom Bomb but with one important difference, the entire device is encased in a newly devolved form of carbon nanotubes. This new design was intended to cut down on the destruction radius of the bomb while generating a compression wave that is lethal to any living organism over a several mile area.

The first bombs were only dropped in the most rural parts of the world that had a fairly high concentration of Oni, and they worked perfectly. Eventually they started dropping the bombs closer and closer to civilization hoping to regain the upper hand. Soon they were dropping bombs on their own uninhabited cities, and on cites in other country's who requested help. For a while it looked like the battle was over and the demons just didn't know it yet. That was until the unexpected happened.

It started with the first drop sites, the effected area started to emit high level's of microwave radiation, and to the worlds horror it begun to spread, until every last drop site had became lethal. The ironic part being that the demons almost seemed to thrive on the radiation, causing them to reproduce at a far greater rate.

Luckily it was about this time that Oujirou and his team managed to erect the static shield around a good portion of Japan, saving them from the same fate as the rest of the world. The Japanese government tried their best to distribute the technology to the rest of the world, but as of six months ago no contact has been established with anyone outside Japan, they are all presumed to be dead. Since that time the radiation levels have only grown, turning the world into a barren, burning, demon infested wasteland.

"Were coming up on the first shield now boss." The Pilot said to Oujirou.

Another thing that most people don't realize is that there are really four shields. When Oujirou was first recruited to adapt his static shield for defense purposes he thought it would be a simple task, he was wrong. In the real world it turned out to unfeasible to generate a static shield large enough to encompass a city from a central location. Eventually it was decided that several external generators were necessary to generate a shield of that magnitude; so three generators were painstakingly built and placed around Japan. Once activated the generators not only combined their power to protect the land, but also projected a fields to protect each other. In the end four individual shields were created to stand as one.

"Everything looks good here, just head right on through." Oujirou replied.

One of the biggest problems with the shield system was trying travel between them. A plane properly equipped with the right paneling can pass through the shields quite easily. Unfortunately once on the outside of the shild the demons become a huge problem. Only an estimated three percent of the oni can fly, but with a couple billion oni on the planet that still made for a hell of a lot of them with wings.

"Stay sharp, we don't want any of those bastards sneaking up on us."

It only takes four minuets to pass between shields, but it is usually a very tense four minuets. Both men stared out the cockpit window intently watching for any sign of movement.

"How long we have?" Oujirou asked without even so much as blinking.

"About two min—SHIT! Over there!" The pilot smashed his finger against the windshield of the small plane indicating the direction the oni was coming from.

"I guess they didn't have to sneak up on us after all." Oujirou said while handing the pilot an oxygen mask. "You know the drill, try and keep away from him until we can make it through the shield."

The pilot made and audible gulp and replied.

"Yes boss."

Immediately the plane started moan as the pilot began evasive maneuvers. For several seconds Oujirou thought that demon may have just passed them by, but he quickly realized he was wrong when he felt the beast slam into the side of the plane.

"How long 'till the shield?" Oujirou asked while checking the interments himself. "If he busts up our grounding plates it's going to hurt like hell when we hit the field!"

"Roughly one minute." The pilot said. "They don't pay me enough to do this shit."

A loud thud came from beneath oujirou's feet. And another… And another…

"It's trying to bust though!" The pilot yelled.

"Really? Thanks for telling me." Oujirou replied in a sarcastic tone that he rarely used. "Just get us though the shield, that's your only concern right now."

Just as Oujirou finished his sentence the beast arm violently busts through the bulkhead just behind their seats.

"And they wonder why I want magic powers!"

Grabbing a piece of shrapnel Oujirou attempts fend off the attacking oni, but his efforts are wasted. The far stronger oni easily slaps Oujirou aside like a rag doll, and continues to pull itself farther into the plane.

Slouched down beside the copilots seat the only thing keeping Oujirou conscious are the memories of his wife. Every memory from they first time they 'danced together' at the Piffal Princess to the last time they made love played in his mine. I love this feeling I get when I am with her. He thought to himself. So tingly and warm.. But something not right… This is not love I am feeling, but it still feels familiar… It feels like… Static!

Leaping back to his feet Oujirou could see that they were only meters from the shield, and the demon had fully pulled itself into the plane. Apparently the pilot must have been armed as he was now filling the demon with lead. However the tiny pistal did little more then to piss off the demon.

"I haven't spent all these years away from my wife just so you could kill me you sonava-bitch!" Using pure willpower Oujirou took a flying leap forcing the beast about halfway back through the hole it created in the floor. Timing is everything, and Oujirou had his just right, because at that very moment they passed through the shield. The ground plating on the plane allowed most of electricity to pass though the shield unaffected, but unfortunately for the demon the bottom half of its body was outside the ground plating. Upon impact with the shield the bottom half of the demons body came to a dead stop while the top half continued on with the relative motion of the plane. Not even an Oni can survive being ripped in two.

While passing through the shield proved fatal for the demon Oujirou didn't fare well from the experience either. Through the damaged bulkhead large arcs of electricity bathed the inside of the plane, knocking Oujirou unconscious.

Typically being unconscious has both advantages and disadvantages, and this time was no different. In this situation the primary disadvantage being that Oujirou had no way of knowing that the pilot was also unconscious, and that he was bleeding profusely from an oni inflicted wound. On the other hand being unconscious spared him from knowing the fear of being in a plane that is about to impact the ground…

oooooooooooooooo

As much as Misaki hated not being able to walk, rarely did she consider herself being disabled; there were even times when she had considered it a gift. For many years her mother had to cope with not being able to walk, and now Misaki was getting a first hand look at what she had to deal with, and oddly enough it almost made her feel closer to her mother. But the one chore she found to be he hardest with her disability was tending the garden.

Since Icchan let her off the hook scavenging for parts today, she decided that this would be a good time to catch up on weeding the garden. As the war spread across the world, and most food production facilities were destroyed gardening had became a necessity. Misaki considers herself to be one of the luckiest people alive; since money no longer has any value once a month she receives a shipment of frozen meat, as payment for her husbands hard work. She liked to believe that with each shipment she received it was further proof that her husband was still alive, even if she had no way to contact him.

Misaki took a second to wipe the sweat from her brow and take a much needed drink of water. Using a wheel chair in a garden was no easy task, that why Icchan had devised a small 'creeper' system to help her get around. Running from the house to the garden and between each row of vegetables Icchan laid two foot path of concrete. So when Misaki worked in the garden she just leaves her Wheelchair inside the house and gets down onto her small board with wheels she dubbed "the creeper". She then navigates her way around the garden pushing herself around with her arms. The system was crude, but in the end it kept them feed.

Out of nowhere a large mass slams into Misaki's back and pull's here backwards into the dirt. She would have known for sure that her life was over at the very moment, if it wasn't for the one thing that told her otherwise, the yelling of something she had not heard in a very long time…

"Misakichi!" Tamayo yelled at the top of her lungs. "You look so cute working out here in your little garden, I knew I shoulda made you my wife!"

"Tamayo." Kotarou said catching her attention. Tamayo immediately stopped rolling around in the dirt and looked at her husband. Kotarou simply nodded toward Misaki. Following his gaze Tamayo looked down at the pissed expression of the woman she held in her arms.

"Ahh! Gomen!" Tamayo yelled as she quickly helped Misaki back up into a sitting position. Kotarou sat down in the lotus position in front of Misaki and Tamayo followed suit.

"Were sorry.." Kotarou started. "For everything that happened… Were sorry for never contacting you after…" Misaki interrupted before he had a chance to finish.

"Kotarou… Tamayo…" Misaki said in her most serious voice. "The only thing I have to say to you is… I've missed you guys!" She said pushing herself over and taking both of them to the ground in a big hug.

After lots of laughing and a little crying, the three old friends regained their composure.

"What do you say that we go inside and do some catching up?" Misaki asked. Both of them nodded in the affirmative she decided that now would be as good as time as any to break the news to them.

"Could you just do me one favor first?" she asked.

"Anything!" they both replied in unison.

"Go up to the house and get my wheelchair."

"WHEELCHAIR?"

oooooooooooooooo

Ichirou and Ogata started down at the monitor on the desk in front of them waiting for the computer to give them the final results. It seemed to take an eternity. Finally the English words: "Test Complete, Sync-ratio 98.3" Started flashing on the screen.

"It works!" Ogata yelled, while dancing around the lab.

"What exactly are you so happy about?"

Ogata froze mid-dance and for the first time noticed the expression on his bosses face. It seemed to be etched from stone.

"Because you said we would be done once we got it near 100?" He said as a question and not a reply.

"We need it perfect, not 'near perfect' we need 100"

"But you said…"

"Doesn't matter wait I said, 98 is not good enough. But we are going to need Misaki's help to get any farther." And with an evil grin he added, "Now go get the pantyhose and shaving cream!"

"Yes boss."

oooooooooooooooo

"That's why my mom left me when I was a child." Misaki stated as a cold fact.

After getting Misaki her wheelchair the three old friends had all went into the house and sat down around the kitchen table.

"I don't understand." Tamayo said. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Being slightly more perceptive about these things Kotarou already knew what she was talking about.

"She knew…" He whispered.

"That right, she knew I was going to end up like this. She knew that it was genetic. That's why she left; she didn't me to watch her go through the pain I would have to suffer with myself." Misaki waited several seconds for what she said to sink in before continuing, "That's why when she met Icchan she wanted to help him. Not so that she could walk again, but so that I would have a chance. But that was before Angelic Layer. Because of that game she understood that her legs weren't the real issue, her family was. And, well, you know the rest."

Tamayo and Kotarou just sat at the table stunned, of all the homecoming scenarios they had pictured in their minds this was definitely not one of them.

"When did you find out?" Kotarou asked as delicately as possible.

"Mom told me on her deathbed; it was the second to last thing she ever said… I guess that's why I got so mad at her funeral, not because I knew I was destined to be handicapped, but because I knew what she had done for me. When that guy made fun of her I lost it. I know in the heat of the moment I may have said and done some nasty things to you, and I apologize." Misaki took a deep breath, and instantly she looked as if a large weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "After that I decided that if I didn't have the ability to control myself in public then I had no business control an angel on the layer."

"We know." Tamayo said. "We seen your press release soon after we left. We wanted to get back in touch with you, but the timing was just too bad…"

"Don't apologize!" Misaki nearly shouted. "I know you were busy saving our asses out there! If it weren't for you two and Oujirou I know we wouldn't be here."

"Where is old Oujirou anyway?" Tamayo asked while glancing around the house. "He working today?"

"You could say that." Misaki replied. "As a matter of fact, he has been working for the past three years. After the first Oni attacks he was placed in charge of the entire static shield defensive team. His amazing talents have kept us safe for years."

Tamayo's eyes got real wide as she heard what Misaki was saying. She obviously couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Are you telling me…" Tamayo paused for emphasis. "That it has been three years… Since you have 'gotten some'! Damn Misakichi! I will tell you what, I will let you borrow Kotarou for a night!"

Both Misaki and Kotarou nearly jumped out of their skin. That is not the response they were expecting.

"What?" The two screeched in unison.

"Sure!" Tamayo said with a sly grin on her face. "Not only is he great in the sack, but you have wanted to do it since the day you met him twenty years ago!"

Tamayo watched her two oldest friends squirm in their seats and babble incoherently until she couldn't take it anymore and she fell over the table laughing. Misaki and Kotarou both calmed down and just sat watching her laugh.

"After twenty years… You two are… still… exactly the same!" Tamayo managed to say in-betweens fits of laughter.

"That wasn't very nice you know, putting us on the spot like that." Misaki said in a half-serious tone."

At that moment the kitchen door opened and Ichriou and what looked like a shaved Ogata with pantyhose stretched over his entire body walked out.

"What's so funny?" Ichirou asked in his normal tone, acting as if it was not surprised in the least about the two visitors.

oooooooooooooooo

Oujurou had just made what felt like the biggest mistake of his life, he regained consciousness. From head to toe every part of him hurt, but by far his left arm hurt the most.

"Damn, some magic healing abilities would sure be nice right now." He said to himself while trying to assess his injuries. Within several minuets he had determined that he was going to be fine, especially seeing as how there was no way in hell he should have survived in the first place. It must have been because I was unconscious. He thought to himself. I was tossed around like an angel in a shoebox, but being limp helped keep me from getting hurt.

After convincing himself that his arm just had a hairline fracture Oujirou made his way back to the front of the plane, hoping the pilot had been as lucky as he had. Oujirou's hopes were dashed before ever making it to the cockpit by the stream of blood slowly making it way down the floor. Upon entering the cockpit Oujirou found exactly what he had feared, the pilots body brutally impaled by a large piece of shrapnel. Oujirou closed the pilot's eyes and said a little prayer requesting that his soul go to a better place.

Once finished Oujirou located the largest hole in the bulkhead and slowly climbed out. To his surprise and dismay the plane had only crashed meters from the barrier that he himself helped create. After a short walk Oujirou sat himself down on a small pile of rubble and stared at scene before him.

Oujirou knew how the barrier functioned, what it looked like, and what it did; however, witnessing it firsthand filled him with a sense of accomplishment and dread. Just beyond the barrier lie hundreds, if not thousands of the ugliest damn demons he had ever seen.

No two oni are ever the same, some are only a meter tall, while other may be more the four meters in height. Some oni have claws, some have tails; while others have appendages humans don't even have words for. About the only thing the all of the oni have in common is their color, whether it be fur or feathers all of them share the same shade of obsidian Black. Just looking at them filled Oujirou with dismay.

"You deserve a vacation he said" Oujirou mumbled to himself. "no one deserves it more then you he said. Next time I'm going to make sure Mata-kun is the one who 'goes on vacation'".

Looking around Oujirou decided that the plane must have been pretty well on course and crashed just inside the Wakayama prefecture. Well I am a long way from home, He thought to himself. But at least I know someone close by.

Cradling his injured arm as best he could Oujirou started off toward the house of an old friend.

oooooooooooooooo

After Ogata had left in humiliation Icchan had sat down at the table with his oldest friends and joined in on the conversation. The conversation went as expected with five years of catching up to do. Each person couldn't help but be impressed and slightly frightened by how much their friends had endured in such a sort amount of time.

"So Icchan, what have you been up to for all this time?" Kotarou asked, not really expecting a straight answer.

Icchan just smiled and fingered his glasses in his trademark manor that made them glare so bad that you couldn't see through them.

"He's been sending a cripple to scrounge for parts all day!" Misaki blurted out before Icchan had a chance to answer. Misaki flinched as Tamayo and Kotarou snapped their heads around and gave Icchan an evil glare, causing poor Icchan to nearly jump out of his skin.

"Nya, I was just kidding guys," Misaki said with a weak chuckle. "It's not so bad, really! Anyway I am sure whatever he is doing with the parts it's important."

Once Tamayo and Kotarou's gaze let up Icchan settled back in to his seat and attempted to speak once more.

"That's right, It is important."

"So what is it?" Tamayo asked.

"It is…" Icchan said before pausing for suspense. Misaki, Kotarou and Tamayo all three leaned over of table in anticipation of what he was going to say. "A secret." He finished.

Misaki and Kotarou both face faulted straight into the table. Tamayo burst out in anger.

"Why you!" Tamayo yelled while getting ready to climb over the table and deck him. Luckily Kotarou was ready for this and reached over and stopped her without his face ever leaving the table.

"Anyway, you will all find out tomorrow." Icchan said with a smile. I promise that you won't be disappointed. The three old friends seemed satisfied with this answer, and moved on with their discussion.

"Kotarou?" Misaki said timidly. She had wanted to talk to Kotarou about this since he first arrived, but she was afraid of what she might hear.

"Yeah?"

"Have you heard from your sister? Do you know where Hatoko is?" There, she said it. A sad look came over both Kotarou and Tamayo's face before she got her answer.

"Yeah. She's dead."

"What? How do you know?" Misaki said in a near yell.

"You know as well as I do that she was in America when things started to get bad, and according to all military reports the only humans left alive are right here in Japan." Kotaro said while trying to keep his emotions in check.

"But why? Why didn't she come back?"

"It was a year and a half ago when I last talked to her," Kotarou explained. "America was working on a bomb, and Hatoko just knew it was going to work. You know how stubborn she could be when she makes up her mind. She said she would come back and visit when this war is over…"

An akward silence filled the room while they all recalled their own memories of their good friend. Countless minuets passed before anyone said a word.

"It is getting late." Icchan said to break the silence. "We are all going to have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Let's get some rest."