Holding Out
Issei awakes sometime later, but things couldn't be worse for him. He can barely see because it is a dark room and there is a musty smell in the air and he is stuck in a chair. He sees two figures in front of him that get clearer as his vision gets steadier and notices wings.
"You finally awake yet?" One of the figures asks
The other figures turn towards the other "Let me try something, Dohanaseek…"
Issei gets a clearer picture and sees who he thought was a girl named Misa. But, thinking about it, Issei can't actually recall knowing anything about her. She approaches him and then pulls out an object from her skirt which catches Issei's eye and he is about to open his eyes fully, but a clicking sound is heard.
Moments later, Issei begins screaming as electricity runs through his body and he can't stand it. Not soon enough, the electricity stops flowing and Issei begins twitching a little.
Dohnaseek takes whatever Mittelt had in her hand "Are you stupid? We need him not fried, you dunce." he tells her.
Mittelt gets a sour look "Well I didn't see you trying anything, hard ass." She retorts.
Issei sits up straight once the shock passes and coughs a little. He now clearly sees the two people in front of him and is confused by this.
"Who are you both?" He asks them.
Dohnaseek messes with his hat a little "The thing is, kid, we've got no reason to answer YOUR questions." He explains to Issei.
Issei's hands are tied with rope and the chair is metal but Issei can't see what shocked him, but he thinks it may have been a battery or something. Another minute passes until Dohnaseek gets a little more threatening.
"You see, yesterday, our boss went on a little evening stroll with you…. And she met a pretty gruesome end from what we could tell."
Issei remembers Yuuma very clearly, but he had no idea that she was the boss of anybody. But he worries about what is going to happen next. Dohnaseek can see the hurt in Issei's eyes from remembering Yuuma and smirks at that.
"I guess your first really gets to you, doesn't it?...Anway…" He tries to explain.
Mittelt cuts him off "Yeah, and we want you to spill your guts about the exorcists that are here in this city. We know of the two right now, but we know there has to be others, and we know they helped you yesterday."
Issei begins to panic a little "What are you talking about….I didn't….she…."
He can't think straight and his panic is very apparent to the two and then they get an idea.
Dohnaseek puts his hand on Issei's shoulder, his good one, "We've got a lady exorcist in our care and she isn't doing too well. Heard a friend of ours put a bullet in her back. If you're not honest with me, then I might be tempted to tell our friends to …I don't know….slit her wrists and let her bleed out." He sadistically threatens.
Worried if it could be Irina they have, Issei lowers his head with a look of defeat.
"Just tell what you want to hear…." He submits.
The two smile and know they have power over him. Meanwhile, in the school area, Irina is running around looking for Issei knowing something is wrong. But she is catching too much attention at this point because of her running. But something does occur to her, if those two were tricking him, then they probably left the building or went somewhere quieter. Thinking this, she walks now to be less noticed and leaves the main building. She looks around and looks around the premise for somewhere they might have gone.
Back at their location, Issei is sweating a little from this situation with his anxiety at the max, but he does his best to keep cool under the fire. Mittelt holds the button she pressed earlier with a faux-innocent smile. Despite her holding the button, Dohnaseek is in charge of this questioning.
He looks at Issei with dead seriousness "We know that the other girl with earlier is an exorcist. But my question is how much more are there? I'm not a big fan of surprises."
Issei, in his best face, smiles "Why? Never had a good online date?" he casually retorts.
Mittelt, catching the vibe, presses the button again causing Issei to be shocked more and he begins screaming from the pain again and this goes on for another few seconds until Mittelt stops it. Issei's head lowers and he coughs a little blood from this intense experience.
He weakly raises his head " Okay…okay…They said there was four of them. But I just saw the two girls and I never saw the other two." He says in a slight panic.
Despite the pain, Issei is still trying to help and give the girls more time. His efforts aren't in vain since Dohnaseek and Mittelt begin whispering to each other. After some moments of catching his breath, Issei thinks of anything else to say if they ask as this is his only means of helping.
Mittelt is the one to approach and she has that same innocent smile and Issei is hoping that he'll get a break on this. However, this is not the truth as Mittelt cruelly presses her thumb into Issei's bad shoulder and twists her finger to cause him very bad pain that gets him to cringe.
She looks him the eyes "Listen, virgin…our boss is gone thanks to your girlfriend and her bitchy pal. We're not in the mood for bullshit. So either you cooperate, or we'll flay the skin off both of them in front of you." She explains to him with malice in her tone.
Issei has a picture of Irina smiling in his head and the idea of her being harmed like that is not okay with him. Mittelt continues her twisting of his wound and waits for him to say anything else.
But what goes through Issei's mind isn't potential lies to tell to these torturers, but to simply punch them, to do what the heroes in his favorite anime would do, punch the holy hell out of these two for threatening the person who saved his life. To focus all of his power into his fist like when Goku finished off King Piccolo, and shut up these two. Issei grits his teeth and Mittelt thinks her little method is getting to him, which it is, but not in the way she's thinking. Issei's focus is getting clearer and then something amazing happens.
Issei's left glows and then the rope binding it breaks away to reveal a jewel in the back of his hand and then red is seen forming on his hand and forearm.
He stands up "You won't touch a single hair on her hot bod, you winged ass-monkeys!" he shouts.
Suddenly Mittelt's eyes go blank from shock and Dohnaseek is blown away and through a wall. From the outside, Irina is approaching an old abandoned building she spotted since it seems like the perfect spot for a hideout and her suspicion proves true when she sees Dohnaseek crash through a wall and she immediately removes her civilian clothes and equips her Excalibur. Dohnaseek quickly recovers and sees her running towards him and he immediately flies away and flees, but his face shows he was hurt.
Irina doesn't dwell on that since Issei is her priority. She runs through the hole in the wall and follows the destruction seeing that Dohnaseek went through two walls. Inside the building, Irina catches the last glimpses of Mittelt as she immediately explodes into a flock of black feathers that surround the room. Seeing the red fist and Issei attached to it, Irina is shocked by the sight. But what shocks her is Issei about to collapse, so she runs over and holds him to prevent his fall.
"I'm so glad you're okay." Irina tearfully expresses.
She hugs him and looks at where there are, a closet-like area that is probably a storage room used before the building was abandoned. She then looks at what he was sitting in, an electric chair made with a large battery and some cables with metal around it. Seeing this, Irina gets the idea and becomes angry.
"Those fallen angels are animals. I can't believe they did this to you." She says to Issei.
Irina helps Issei to a chair, a better one, and sits him down to help him rest. She feels so bad about leaving him like that, but she figures that those fallen angels must have messed with his memories to make him think he knew them, but it wasn't that good because they laid low. Since Irina didn't know what they looked like she was at a disadvantage.
Looking at Issei's condition, Irina is racked with guilt over not letting him stay home or actually taking him to a doctor since he needs help right now.
Issei shakes his head at this "No if you left me with a doctor, they would have killed me. if you left me alone anywhere they would have killed me. Yeah, I'm just not safe without you right now. Not that I mind."
Irina is happy to hear this, but she needs to get him something to help. She carries over to an old nurse's office in this building, which still has some viable medicine in it, so she replaces Issei's bandages on his shoulder, gives him some medicine for the bleeding. While she searches around for anything, Issei can't help but stare at her form since her outfit is quite provocative since it clings to her body nicely. He suddenly looks at his left hand and remembers what he did to Mittelt, his thoughts, and the power he suddenly displayed.
Irina manages to get some clean water in a glass since the sink still works and that's when she sees his hand and it takes the form of a red fingerless gauntlet with a jewel on the back of the hand. She doesn't truly understand what it is, but she knows what to call it.
"That's a sacred gear…" she says with surprise.
She didn't notice it at first due to her worry, but upon seeing this, Irina has an idea of why a fallen angel was after him in the first place. She also worries about it in his weakened condition, the people after him, and the problems that could arise from it awakening since he was a normal human up to now. Issei gets his words back to explain what he told the fallen angels.
"I think I got us some more time. I told them there were four of you guys out there. Can't say that believed me all the way. They also said that Yuuma, or whatever her real name was, was the boss of their gang."
Irina is pleased with Issei's efforts and is glad to hear that, but he also reminds her that they know about Xenovia. But without their leader, the one that got away may get aggressive and do something to harm Issei's family and with that rogue priest on the loose, there are too many problems at the moment. Irina decides that once Issei can move properly again they have to find Xenovia and finish the mission together. But they may also have to force Issei to come with them now that the situation has changed for him.
Back at the abandoned church, Xenovia is still on the ground, barely conscious and her captors are talking with Dohnaseek as he informs them of Issei killing Mittelt. Kalawarner, the woman who is now practically in charge, has to call the shots. However, Freed Sellzen has his own ideas of the situation.
"I say we just lure out that bitches and send those assholes at the church their skin as a don't-fuck-with-us card." He suggests.
Kalawarner isn't opposed to the idea, but they do need to play it safe. She looks at Xenovia and gets an idea. She walks over to the defeated exorcist and strips her down which gives Freed a few ideas, but he is denied by Dohnaseek. Kalawarner then uses some kind of magic to shrink a little, shorten her hair, and puts on Xenovia's outfit to impersonate her.
"I'll lure them here, and the two of you ambush them. Then, we'll our last prize and be done with everything."
Xenovia lies on the ground and is enraged that she can't move. Kalawarner kneels down to the girl whose form she has taken, smiles cruelly, and summons her spear.
"I'll use your face and send them to a slaughter. But because you've caused us some much trouble…." She utters to Xenovia.
Kalawarner then takes her spear and slits both of Xenovia's wrists, stands up, and begins walking away. Her intention is to let Xenovia bleed to death and it begins working as Xenovia's blood begins to line the floor around her. She hears them leaving, and begins to lose consciousness. Her thoughts are frustration about what's going on and her helplessness about it. But, before she passes out, a pair of shoes approaches her, though she can't see who they belong to, not that it really matters and she goes under, but she feels something fall on her.