Hey guys! Soooo sorry this is so late! Biology is killing me. Maybe even literally because I don't get enough sleep, and classes are crazy, and my life is kinda sorta changing, so I forced everything else out of the way to get this chapter done.

Anyway. I have a really cute, true story to share with all of you before the actual chapter.

A weird book-loving girl got to the train station just ready to go home and sleep because her university's classes were crazy. At the train station, a guy walked up and the girl's roommate asked if he was from their university. He said yes, and he and the girl talked the entire time, even after the roommate had left and he saw some of his friends from football. They talked on the train, talked after his football friends got off, played star wars on his laptop, and he even stayed an extra stop with the girl so that they could talk more. They talked all weekend and he bought a new ticket so that he and the weird girl could sit together, and when they got to school, something had happened.

They boy told her the night they got back that she, the weird book-loving girl, made the train and awful bus ride amazing, and that he hoped to see her again. They talked, hung out, and even though the girl is a total weirdo and told him that she needs more time for herself than normal people does and may need some time adjusting to everything, he told her to take as much time as she needed because she was worth it, and it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever told her. Ever.

By the way, the girl is still stunned speechless, but will shut her big mouth and start with the actual story. Comments at the end (I can't reply to all, but I'll try!) Thanks for waiting everyone! 3

. . .

Angel POV

. . .

No one ever made a fool out of him.

Angel raised the sword a little higher so that the sharp blade lightly pushed against Mephisto's neck. Sickly, pale light gleamed against its sharp edge like madness swirling beneath a dark eye. The demon sneered back at him, his elongated canine lightly pushing down on his lower lip. Angel's grip on the hilt tightened.

And nobody ever used him like a puppet.

"Tell me one more time why I shouldn't kill you," the Paladin hissed between his teeth. His temper was white hot, and Mephisto's every movement made his fingers twitch against the leather grip of his blade. He wanted to kill Mephisto, wanted to strike him down dead, but only a lifetime of training kept his arm firm in place.

He wouldn't kill the demon.

Not until he dragged out every scrap of truth out of it, anyway.

Mephisto grinned, a dangerous grin, a grin that would had sent shivers down Angel's spine had he not been so furious. Blood lined his teeth, a stark contrast against the white. "I didn't like Gehenna," he said, then added with a dark laugh, "They were all too damn serious over there."

Angel's temple pulsed with a steady throb. "You're in a serious situation right now," he hissed, applying more pressure. The edge of the blade broke the skin, and warm blood dripped down Mephisto's neck.

Mephisto didn't make a noise, didn't even react. "I made a gamble," he said simply, "and I lost. But if you kill me, the Vatican will have your head."

Angel's upper lip rose in a sneer. "They wouldn't dare."

"Human's always dare," Mephisto retorted. His thin, violet eyes widened with sudden intensity, and a smile stretched his thin lips. "They dare to dream, dare to climb higher than the others, dare to reach out past their limits. It's what makes them so interesting; they dare, and yet most know that they will never be able to achieve. And yet they dare anyway, they dare to believe in their fragments of hope, and so they struggle. Why," he added, "you're struggling right now."

Angel blinked, then his temper flared twice as bright. His vision went white and, without thinking, he pulled his arm back for a killing blow. His sword was an arch of pure, unbridled destruction as it fell forward across Mephisto's neck -

- but something stopped it halfway through. Metal rang in the air and echoed against the stone walls as someone grunted. Angel blinked and jumped back, mostly on reflex. Whatever he hit was a sword, and the sound of the clash seemed all too familiar.

And when he got his bearings, he realized why, and his rage flared once again.

"Shura, get out of the way," he growled, raising his sword again. The woman was standing between him and Mephisto, to the demon's seemingly unending amusement, and had a dangerous look on her face. Her hair fell across her shoulders like living fire.

"Sorry, baldy," she said, a dangerous and yet unsure grin playing out on her lips. "I can't do that."

Angel reared back. "Move!" he roared, "or I will gut you along with him!"

"Nope," Shura replied, moving the pad of her thumb towards her lip in preparation for the bite. "That's not happening either."

"Shu - "

There was the click of a gun behind him, and Angel smirked and almost laughed. He had wondered, maybe for a millisecond, why Shura would be down in the Vatican prison by herself. But now that he was here, everything suddenly snapped into place.

"Oh, I get it," he said underneath his breath. "I know what you're after - " he turned around, " - Yukio."

The younger Exorcist was holding his twin guns at eye level, the turquoise of his eyes deeper and deadlier than the darkest ocean. "Move, Angel," he said. His hands didn't shake, and neither did his voice, but Angel could tell how nervous the boy was, how close to the edge he had been pushed.

Angel laughed. "Why should I?" he taunted. "Are you hoping that Mephisto will be able to bring back your brother? Bring back that spawn of Satan from Gehenna?" The Okumura boy visibly flinched, but his pistols didn't waver. "Well, if you ask me," Angel continued, rolling his head to look at Shura, "that demon hybrid is right where he belongs."

Her violet eyes narrowed but, to his surprise, she wasn't the one who started yelling. Instead it was that timid blond-haired girl whose name escaped him at the moment, but she suddenly turned the corner with her emerald eyes livid in the weak light.

"Take that back!" she screamed. "Rin belongs here, with his family! And we're going to save him!"

Angel flicked his eyes from Shiemi, to Yukio, to Shura, and back again. Three again one weren't very good odds, but then again, he was the Paladin. He could grind them to the dust if he felt like it, which he didn't at the moment. All he wanted to do was rip Mephisto's life from his bloody chest, and he'd rather avoid killing these three.

Enough exorcists had died already.

And, now that he thought about it . . .

Angel spun; his hair spun about him like spun gold. "Demon," he said, addressing Mephisto, "tell me again why I should spare your life."

"Because I am the only one, other than Lord Satan himself, who can get you into Gehenna," Arrogance stained Mephisto's voice. "If you want to save Rin - and kill Satan - you have no choice but to rely on me."

Mephisto's hand spasmed against the hilt. That wasn't what he wanted. He hated relying on other people, hated feeling weak and powerless.

But if he wanted to kill Satan, he wouldn't have a choice. Mephisto would come later . . . and besides? What better revenge than to flip the playing field and use Mephisto as a puppet instead?

"Fine," he said. Shura's eyes widened from disbelief, and then widened further when Angel took two long strides and buried the blade into Mephisto's thigh. The demon winced and bit his lip, but the expression of pain faded a moment later. Behind him, the blond-haired girl gasped.

"Listen, demon. Mephisto. Samael. Whatever they call you." He lowered to one knee. "I will free you, but if you do anything strange - if you so much as look at me wrong - I will not hesitate to cut you down from your knees up. Do you understand me?"

Mephisto smirked. "Perfectly," he replied, sounding amused like always. But this time Angel held the undercurrent of pain beneath every syllable. It was satisfying, and he jerked the sword out. Blood splattered to the floor and, from the corner of his eye, he saw Yukio slowly lower his gun.

Angel turned back to the three exorcists. "Hurry and get the chains off before the guards change shifts, but leave the manacles around his wrist and neck on. If he goes crazy, we'll need something to stop him."

"I don't think he'll be resisting anytime soon," Shura muttered to Angel beneath her breath.

He couldn't help but agree. Mephisto looked terrible; bruises molted his skin and his skin was blackened and swollen from the chains. Angel felt no sympathy, however. This demon was the sole reason that dozens of exorcists had been slaughtered, was the reason that he had been shamed and forced to endure a demon possession by Satan himself.

Yukio and Shura managed to get the chains off - Shura had stolen a ring of keys off of the drunk guards - and they both hauled Mephisto to his feet. And as they all left, all following Angel, the Paladin remembered Mephisto's words as if they were an echo from a dream: And all humans dare to believe in their fragments of hope.

Side-note: this chapter was really hard to write, especially with my hiatus. Sorry guys :(

Side-note #2: you have no idea how happy it makes me that you all like my OCs! Honestly, so many people freaked out when they thought Raziele had died, it was just about the greatest thing. I consider it a badge of honor because most OCs are hated to death 3 So yeah. Thanks for liking my OCs :) it's so awesome you guys.

Azmus: Thank you! :) I try hard with characterization; Mephisto and Satan are really tough to get spot-on, same with Angel, but I try to keep the story believable.

Clarity in Scarlet: Whooo SnK for the win! It's so intense. I love it so much xD

Dowgma: I wish I could write more! D: I really do! Sorry for such slow updates!

LazzyGirlRinny: hahahaha that comment!

Crystal de Angelo: :D :D :D Isn't Raziele just a big sweetie? He just needs hugs. 3 Lots and lots of hugs.