Re:Chapter 9 - Date A Raid (Part 1)
...
Ahh... A normal morning. Or rather the type of morning that's been my normal for the past few weeks. Everything changed for the better 3 weeks ago.
When I was broken, and couldn't take anymore, She appeared and gave me my power.
My angel, my Gabriel.
Finally, I could put those worthless men in their place. Finally, I could rid them of their desire to be above me. Finally, they can be what they were meant to be.
Trash.
The same goes for women too, all humans, really. When I was in despair, in loneliness, did anyone ever reach out to help me? No. No one did. Not a single, God-forsaken person.
But now, I can put all those worthless humans aside, and have them serve me.
As I sit in the living room of my mansion, a girl, one of many whose names I don't know nor care to learn, pours me a cup of tea. As I pick up the cup and take a sip, I wave my hand to her, a signal to leave.
When I got this power, I thought I had confirmed my desire. My desire to put the cruel species known as humanity below me.
But why can't I stop thinking about that boy's words?!
"Remember that humans are capable of great good and great evil in equal measure. Don't give up on we humans just because you've seen the worst of what we can do. We can be better."
Great good?! What a sick joke!
Humans are worthless, less than trash! How could they be capable of anything good?!
Those people that were my fans turned on me the very instant they heard I'd done those things! Those worthless peons kicked me to the curb after that fucker tried to get me to bed him!
Humans are evil. Cruel. Worthless. Meaningless.
But enough of that. I need to calm down and take my mind off of this.
I take a sip of tea. Its warmth careens down my throat, soothing my woes. Idly picking up the remote, I turn on the television. Interestingly, a news report is on. How odd, I usually don't care for the news.
"Last night, at 22:39, a secret military base located on Neryl Island, an island in the Pacific, was attacked by terrorists. The facility was owned by the British Government and funded by Deus Ex Machina Industries. However, for on what we've learned, is that the site became fully autonomous roughly 10 years ago. We are currently unsure of the exact number of casualties. Fortunately, none of the prisoners were harmed in the attack. Yes, you heard that right. Prisoners. The people running this facility were performing tests and other God-forsaken things to people held captive here."
See? See?! Another example of humanity's cruelty. They're all evil! Pure evil!
"We interviewed a few of the prisoners that were rescued by authorities, when they arrived early this morning."
The footage cuts from the female anchor, standing on the beach, to a middle-aged man. His hair is long and unkempt, yet is also receding in the front. His skin is deathly pale and seems to stick to his very bones. His clothes, if you can even call them that, are disheveled. His eyes, brown and lifeless, are sunken into his face, a glimpse into the horrors he's witnessed there.
"How long have you been here, sir?"
"Uh... what year is it exactly?"
"Twenty-twenty-two."
The man's eyes widen in shock and confusion.
"Twenty... Twenty-two...? ...Seven years. I've been here seven years? I suppose time did seem to slip away at one point."
His voice is labored, and quiet. Haunted, even.
"Can you tell me what happened last night?"
"...It was the same as usual. All of us, forced into cramped cells after a long day. Usually, they'd randomly pick one of us to 'experiment on' sometime during the day. It wasn't experiments. It was torture. They'd cut off our fingers or break our limbs or do any number of things, then inject some stuff in us and we'd be perfectly healed by the next day, like nothin' happened. Last night though, everything was normal, until an explosion went off. Sirens started blaring, guards grabbed their weapons. Scientists running for dear life. I had no idea what was going on.
Then he showed up.
Some guy, dressed in some honest to God, demonic-lookin' armor shows up, and begins taking out the guards. They shot at him, but he just flipped around 'em! He was doing moves even the most athletic people couldn't do!
When they all went down, he says 'Don't worry, you're safe now.' Then he walks to the control panel and punches straight through it! All the doors swung open.
He lead us to the beach and said authorities would arrive and that we'd be safe here. This lady, she asked him why he was doing this.
All he said was 'These people've caused too much pain in this world. I wanted to tip the scales. Show the world we humans can be kind, and not just hurt others'."
"!" I let out an audible gasp, and though it might've been my imagination. Those words seem ever so familiar.
That boy said he was a Spirit... could he save saved those people? No. Impossible. Humans can't be kind.
They can't.
THEY CAN'T!
THEY FUCKING CANNOT!
"I'll never forget those words. When I get back home, I'm gonna be a better person. I'm gonna show people the kindness that man showed us."
As the man finishes his explanation, tears threatening to spill from his eyes, the footage changes again to the anchor standing on the beach.
"The people in charge of this facility were cruel to all, equally. One of the prisoners was a former guard, who attempted to rebel against them, hoping to put an end to their atrocities. Two more, scientists, who couldn't stand the inhumane things going on. They even tortured a pregnant woman! She was interviewed, but wished to not appear on television. She claimed that after her son was born in the facility, she never saw him again. That is, until last night.
The two had a heartfelt reunion. The young boy, six years old, claims most of the things he can remember were painful, showing that today, we really have seen the worst of what humanity has to offer. But-"
The footage changes to scenes to authorities helping the prisoners. People hugging one another, thankful to be alive.
"We've also seen the best of what humanity has to offer as well. That 'armored man', whoever he was, did save those people. We, as a species truly are capable of equal amounts of great good and great evil."
The words hit me, like a freight train, yet again. Just as they did the day before yesterday.
"Neither the British Government nor Deus Ex Machina Industries have give comment on this incident, back to you in the studio."
I press a button on the remote, turning off the tv. The words of that woman, that man and that boy all fresh in my mind.
Is humanity truly capable of good? Why did no one ever show me such kindness?
Why?
Why?!
"WHY?!"
"O-Onee-sama?!" The girl from before bursts into the room, in worry and fright.
"Oh, my apologies, I got a little worked up is all." I say sitting back down. In my turmoil, I seem to have stood up and screamed. "Be a dear and fetch me some more tea."
"R-Right away, Onee-sama!" She yells, running off.
It seems that my mood has only been made worse. Perhaps I'll go 'shopping' later. Not that I'll need any money.
Not when I can do what I please.
The girl desired to be shown kindness. The same kindness that man showed those prisoners.
The kind she was never shown when at her lowest not too long ago.
She wished for proof that humanity wasn't cruel. Wasn't evil.
She wished to have people not abuse those lower than them on the social ladder. Those weaker than them.
Her angel granted her power.
Without realizing it, she had become the very type of person she despised most.
One who walks over the weak.
Late evening. I destroy the training room dimension. The girls have finished training and have learned a bit of their new powers, admittedly some pretty cool stuff. Kurumi's got crazy sword and gun techniques and Natsumi has this weird mud stuff.
As for the rest of their tricks, it'll have to be learned on the fly. That hopefully won't be a problem, they knew their angel's powers at first, so it'll hopefully be the same here.
"Alright then." I say, turning to the girls, a serious expression of my face. "You both already know the general game-plan we've revised a minute ago. I'll go straight for Nia, while clones of me rescue the prisoners. Kurumi." The time-warping Spirit turns her head to me. "You'll focus on distracting the wizards. There's a lot of them, but they shouln't pose too much of a threat, aside from their numbers."
"Ufufu~ I'll be careful." Kurumi says with a nice smile on her face, one that hides her sadism quite poorly.
"Natsumi." The illusion-crafting Spirit turns to me. "You don't have many offensive capabilities with your angel, so you'll stealthily grab some documents of theirs. Whether we'll use these as proof or blackmail, we'll figure out later."
Natsumi nods her head resolutely. "I'll turn the guards into something quiet and immobile. Maybe a... caterpillar?"
"You'll figure it out." I say, with a reassuring smile, before turning serious again. "Girls, we've only got one shot with this. If we fuck up, we probably won't get another chance as good as this one. We're gonna get in, save our fellow Spirit from these assholes, and get out. Are you both ready?"
"Yeah!" Natsumi says, serious.
"Of course." Kurumi adds, equally as serious.
"Good. Oh, and if you see Ellen or Isaac anywhere-" I cut myself off as I make 3 small things in my hand. "Use these communicator thingies. Push a little bit of Reirokyu into them to activate, and the other two of us can hear you. Simply say what you need to say in your head, and it should travel to the other devices. They hook onto your right ears." The girls take both communicators and place them on their ears, as do I.
"Okay, testing, testing." I say, without moving my mouth.
"Whoa, it works!" Natsumi exclaims, surprised.
"Well of course it works. You think I'd mess up making something simple as this?" I ask, almost offended.
"This is rather odd, but that's so like you, Issei-kun." Kurumi praises.
"Alright, enough screwing around. Let's go rescue our new friend. Are you with me?!" I shout the last bit, throwing my arms into the air for emphasis.
""Yeah!"" Both of the girls shout.
"Then let's go!" I turn around and hold out my hand. In it, a copy of Michael appears. In front of me, a portal appears. I walk into the portal. The two follow.
Neryl Island. 22:32
We step out of the portal and onto the beach of the small island. A place hidden from the world, the cruelty that occurs here is just below the surface. Seeing the two girls behind me, I close the portal. Our Reirokyu levels are at 'zero', and can't be detected.
"We've still got the element of surprise. Good." I say, creating a small whiteboard, on it is a diagram of the facility, thanks to Rasiel. "Now here's how the floors are situated. A single above-ground floor, ten below-ground and a single one very deep, containing Nia. Most scientists and papers will be on the tenth and ninth floors. The eighth, seventh and second are where the wizards are primarily. The higher floor is guarded by one squadron of twelve, the lower two have two squadrons.
In between that are the fourth and fifth floors, containing prisoners and the third and sixth contain more scientists. The higher scientists experiment on the prisoners, the lower ones, on Nia." Both girls bristle at this. "The first floor and the above ground parts are weak, only guarded by humans. These guards are also present on all other floors, to the eighth, none are below that. After you're done we'll meet up at say... the fifth floor and teleport out. You both know your jobs, and we're gonna try to stay non-lethal here."
"Haah, if I must." Kurumi says with a sigh, pouting like a child.
"K-Kurumi?!" Natsumi is taken aback.
"Stop teasing her, dammit." I say, having enough. "Besides, you didn't let me finish. I said try. I want no prisoner bodies, only the guards and scientists."
"Oh? Are you certain, Issei-kun?" Kurumi asks. She appears teasing when she asks me that, but I know she's serious.
"Yes. The scientists who knew what they were doing was wrong are either dead or imprisoned here, same with the guards." I explain. "Help the prisoners, kill the rest, or at the very least, cripple them. It's the least they deserve for the shit going on here."
With a flash of black and red, Kurumi activates her Astral Dress. "Ufufu~" She begins to walk forward as she lets out a giggle.
"Anyways, Ellen and Wescott are on the first floor, but I'll fuck with the elevator, hopefully slowing them down quite a bit. We oughta be able to get in and out without having to deal with them at all." I explain.
"That's quite good to hear." Kurumi says, happily.
Natsumi and I transform as well as I destroy the whiteboard. "Oh and Kurumi?" I say, causing her to turn and look at me over her shoulder. "Feel free to go wild." I say with a savage grin.
"Kihihihihihihi!" A mad grin appears on the worst Spirit's face and she cackles like a woman possessed. "You sure know how to excite me, don't you, I~ssei~kun~?" A mass of black appears below her as she sinks into it. "I'll distract those idiots for you two~"
As she disappears, Natsumi draws my attention. "Issei?"
"Yeah?" I ask.
"Do I have to...?" She begins, but is unable to finish asking.
"No. Knock 'em out, turn 'em into caterpillars if you want. Kurumi's used to killing, so she should do that for us." I explain, hoping to dissuade the small girl's worries. "Besides, she was a bit sadistic even before becoming a Spirit, so-" I begin to say, but...
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM
My words are cut of my the alarm blaring suddenly. "Well, that's our cue." I feel my helmet form around me. Creating another portal with Michael, I turn to Natsumi. "This leads to the sixth floor, incapacitate everyone and take anything you can." I hand her a small bag. "Put those documents in this, it's much bigger on the inside." She takes the bag and steps into the portal.
"Here I go..." She says, hiding her worry.
"Stay safe, Natsu-chan." I cheer.
She blushes. "O-Okay. You too, Issei." She says, stepping into the portal.
As the portal closes, behind her, I feel a wicked grin on my face. "Here we come, assholes!"
Eighth Floor - Kurumi
"Shit, shoot her!" "How is she doing that?!" "Why the fuck is Nightmare here?!"
Feminine screams and alarms fill the hallways of the Eighth Floor and I dance between swords and bullets.
"She's a fucking monster!" "Kill her already!" "How did she even find this place?!"
The desperately scream, calling for my death, as I've slaughtered a few of their friends already.
As I entered the room, I shot two of them through the head, which alerted the others. Needless to say, it certainly lowered their mental states, seeing their friends taken from this world so easily.
I don't get to let my sadistic side out as much as I used to, so this is very nice. I suppose I'll have to thank Issei-kun for this opportunity later.
After the inital shock wore off, they began fighting me, to little result.
These wizards are certainly stronger than your run of the mill AST, but they're still quite weak. A bullet catches one of them in the leg. Another person begins to move oddly, having been slowed by Zafkiel, another is sped up and moves clumsily. A full twenty-four wizards, and barely any of them have even hit me. And Issei said they were trained to specifically guard this place?
Whoever trained them must be an idiot. Or perhaps, I've merely gotten stronger. I never could shoot Zafkiel's stronger bullets willy-nilly like this, but thanks to Issei fixing Zafkiel, now I can. I don't even need my clones to do my work.
What was it he said? 'Not a front-line fighter'? Well, that's certainly changed.
Fufu~ I'll really have to thank him later...
...thoroughly~
"Really now. Are you all seriously having this much trouble with just little old me?" I tease the girls, enraging them further.
"Fuck you!" One of the braver ones shout at me, baring her clenched teeth, like a dog.
"Well that's not very nice... Though if you don't want to play with me..." I summon eleven of 'me' around myself as I feel a manic grin worm it's way onto my face. "How about you play with the other 'me's'?!"
"Oh fuck..." "Shit!" The cry out in fear and realization that their chances to win, their chances to survive, have plummeted.
"I hope you all can handle all of me~ KIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI!"
I'll have to try quite hard to hold myself back from killing them too quickly.
Sixth Floor - Natsumi
This was easier than I thought it'd be. I let out a soft exhale in relief as I run through the hallways of the sixth floor.
The scientists and guards are pretty much helpless. Kaleidoscope quickly turned them all into even more helpless caterpillars. Haniel really is good for incapacitating enemies!
Eventually, I find one of the rooms I'm looking for. It has papers scattered scattered amongst the tables and cabinets. The tables and shelves are covered in various beakers, chemicals and other mechanisms. I have no idea what any of them are or what they do, not that it matters.
I quickly skim through documents, looking for something incriminating.
"Let's see..." I begin skimming through the papers. "Nothing, nothing, nothing, no- !"
I find what I'm looking for. 'Ongoing Report on Patients, October 21, 2022'. Quickly, I decide to skim through the paper, see what they've been doing here.
As I read the paper, I can feel the blood drain from my face with each passing word.
Oh-Oh God... Issei was right, these people are downright evil. I place my hand over my mouth in an attempt to stop myself from vomiting. These... These people did all of that? All of...?
I slap my cheeks. 'Get a grip, Natsumi!' Grabbing the documents, I begin to skim through more documents, focusing on the titles this time.
With a sigh, I look around the room. There are so many papers... I hope I can finish soon.
Ninth Floor - Issei
Ah, the ninth floor of this man-made hell. It's filled with scientists exclusively, no guards nearby at all.
Having teleported directly behind the group of lab coat-clad men, I speak.
"Good evening."
With my words, they all whirl around to stare at me. As they take in my visage, their faces instantly pale and are overcome with fear.
Wasting no time with these scum, I dash forward, grabbing two by the neck with one hand each. I toss them across the room, to show them I mean business. They collide with the wall on the far side of the room, landing to the ground with a thud.
"Who the hell are you?!" One scientist yells.
"Me? I'm the one who's taking your place on the food chain." I say, channeling some theatrics into my tone and body language. "Y'all have had too many people at your mercy for far too long. I am here to be what you all have been to them... The Butcher." I say, bringing out my inner Kurumi, as I let my Reiryoku flow like a torrential rain over them.
Dashing to a closer scientist, I rear my hand back and...
squelch
...punch my fist clean through his torso, eradicating his heart and everything around it.
"AAAH!" The men, and a few women, yell in fright, seeing their comrade turned into the human equivalent of a Capri-Sun, with my hand being the straw.
"No! Please!" "Mercy!" The cry.
"Mercy... MERCY?!" I shout as I pull my hand from the now limp corpse, not holding back my rage. "You want MERCY you selfish FUCKS?! No, no, no... you do not get mercy, not for your sins."
One brave, or perhaps cowardly, man runs for the exit. He slams against the door and begins to desperately pull the handle. "No, no, NO!"
"Oh, right. I sealed the exits." I say, nonchalant, before holding my hand out and calling forth Sandalphon's power to fire a beam of dark energy at the man pulling on the door, disintegrating his head. His body flops to the ground, stone dead, as his colleagues scream in fright.
"Fuck!" "Stop him!" "Where are the guards?!" They shout, frantic.
"Guards? Oh you mean your wizards, they're dealing with my friend. Ever hear of Nightmare? I'm sure you can hear those bullets above us." I say, teasingly, feeling great satisfaction in watching these worthless worms squirm.
"N-Nightmare?!" "We're doomed!" "Please, mercy!" They cry, they beg.
"Mercy? Didn't I say before you don't get any mercy? Besides, I'm already doing you all a mercy. You all get to leave here alive, just not as healthy as you were before. Well, most of you" I grab another one by the neck. "Besides, you never showed mercy to that girl you've got downstairs, so why should I show you pieces of shit any?" Reaching over towards my newest victim, I grab his arm and...
SNAP "AAGH!"
"Oh, that was your arm. Sorry, I don't know my own STRENGTH!" I finish by throwing him, creating a crater in the cement wall as he impacts.
Do I feel bad about this? No, nott really. I've never really wanted to cause harm to another, but I'm BEYOND fucking pissed. Besides, after knowing what just an incredibly small amount of what they've done to Nia, I feel justified. Sure it's hard to watch a man's head turned into mush, but fuck it, I'm letting my inner Kurumi out on these worthless bastards.
"Oh, God." "Please anyone!" They begin to pray.
"God? Your God is right in front of you, idiots." I begin with a sadistic smirk that would make Kurumi proud..
"AND HE'S FRESH OUT OF MERCY."
Seventh Floor - Kurumi
These idiots... I'll give them credit, they're quite durable. The other 'mes' have been throwing them around and they're still standing. Well, three of them are.
"You... d-damn." BANG
With a single, lazy shot, she goes down.
"N-No!" BANG BANG
The last two fall as well.
"Sigh, well that was disappointing. What floor are the rest on, again?" I ask myself.
"The second." A clone answers.
"Ah, thank you, me." I thank.
Issei really over-estimated these girls, or perhaps he just under-estimated me and my new abilities.
"Let's hope the rest entertain me more than these fools..."
Fifth Floor - Natsumi
I run upwards, toward the next floor of scientists, passing unconscious guards when I spot a familiar shape.
"Issei?" I ask, the armor-clad person.
"Oh, Natsumi. The real me is lower, but another me already finished up here. You heading up?" He, or rather his clone, asks.
"Yeah." I answer, still a bit shaken from it all.
"...You read the documents, didn't you?" He asks, knowing.
"Yeah..."
"I should've warned you not to do that." He says, with a sigh.
"No. This just makes me more sure we need to get everyone out of here." I say, resoultely. I was a bit skeptical people could be so evil, but now I know these DEM people are pure evil.
"Another 'me' has taken the people held here to the beach and put a barrier around them and the real me is gettin' closer to Nia, so don't worry, we'll make sure these people don't have to go through this shit again." He says, likely smiling behind his helmet.
"Good." I say with a smile. I hope those people can have good lives from now on.
"C'mon, I'll help you get those papers." He says, gesturing forward.
I nod as we begin to head up. "I wonder how Kurumi is doing."
"She's probably left those wizard girls less injured than those guys on the Ninth and Tenth floors..."
"What?" I ask, surprised.
I guess they both have dark sides to them.
Or maybe they just don't have any mercy for these people...
Not that I have any, either.
Tenth Floor - Issei
The tenth floor, once a pristine white and grey laboratory, is now painted red and pink.
Corpses wearing crimson labcoats are scattered across the room. Other corpses are still alive, although barely. Once they see them, DEM will probably just kill these fools instead of helping them.
The sound of papers rustling as my clones read through them are the only things in this new mass grave.
"I tried to not get blood on the papers, but..." I begin, apologetic.
"Nah, it's fine, me." "There ain't much on them." My clones say, waving off my concerns.
"Good." I say, relieved. "Find anything good?"
"Good? Are you kidding?" One clone asks, incredulous. "All these papers are littered with their records."
"Christ, I knew it was bad, but..." "Save it for later, just keep getting 'em." My clones chatter amongst themselves as they shift through papers.
"Keep at it guys, I'll be back with a guest." I say, walking towards the elevator that leads down.
"Got it, man." "Good luck." My clones call out as I make to leave the crimson floor.
Walking to the wall, I press a button on a panel to open the door, then step inside the elevator.
There's only two buttons here. Down it is! The doors shut as I feel a shift, fuck I've always hated elevators... I decide to create a fake Rasiel to skim through as I descend, don't wanna be caught off-guard. Humm... Seems that even with the alarms blaring... these fuckers are still experimenting on her?!
With a slow inhale and exhale to calm myself, I ignore those murderous thoughts. The elevator stops and the doors open. A long corridor leading to a single room greets me. I step forward as my footsteps echo in the eerily quiet hallway. There are 'alarms' on the walls, glowing a bright red, but no sound is emitted.
My body tenses. Am I prepared to see what's in this room? Even after killing those shitheads upstairs...
I have to be. That fucker Isaac can't keep getting away with this. I'm getting Nia out of this hell hole, then I'm gonna save the rest of the Spirits, both from DEM, Mio and themselves.
I stop at the door. Inhale... exhale... I draw power into my arm and rear my fist back.
"I'm comin', Nia."
Pain
PAIN
PAIN
PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN
This is all I've felt for what seems like an eternity. How long have I been here, anyways? My sense of time got muddled together a long time ago...
Various voices speak out words I can barely make out as- PAIN PAIN PAIN!
Again and again. Day after day, it's always the same. These guys break me in different ways, then heal me, never letting me die.
Why are they doing this?
Why?
WHY?!
Truth be told, I stopped asking myself that a long time ago. Now I ask myself a different question these days.
Why did that woman have to turn me into a Spirit?
If she hadn't, I wouldn't be here. I hate these people, but I think I might hate her more.
BOOOOOM
An explosion rocks the room. It's reverberations clear my mind and I can hear voices clearly.
"Who are you?" "You can't be here?" Two voices, belonging to people who've been doing this shit to me, speak to someone.
"I can't?" A third, much deeper voice asks, sarcastically. "Well that's funny. Last I checked you can't fucking kidnap and experiment on people." The last few of his words are said with an indescribable amount of rage.
The only sounds in the room quickly become meaty thumps, cracks, beats of footsteps and pained creams. Heh, these guys had it coming. But why's this guy here?
To save me, or to hurt me more?
"P-P-Please..." A strained voice calls out.
"How many times did she say that? How many times did she beg for mercy while you assholes did God knows what to her?" A wet squelching noise silences the room. "Fuckin' asshole... Don't you worry, Nia. I'm gettin' you outta here." The new person says, calm now.
"...uh?!" I can barely speak.
"Shit, these guys messed you up, hang on." As he says that, I feel a calming warmth wash over me.
The pain fades.
"H-Ho-o-o-w-w?" I ask, somehow.
"I healed you." The guy says, as I feel the bindings on my body begin to loosen. "As for how I'm here, I can't just let a fellow Spirit rot in here."
Spirit? This guy? The bindings fall slack and I can move my body, albeit with quite a bit of effort. "Hold still, this thing's wrapped around you head." I then hear the sounds of him fiddling with the machinery.
"How do I...? Oh fuck it." CLACK
Did he just stab the helmet?! He grunts as the helmet splits and light enters my eyes. I quickly close them and begin to get up. As I do, my body fall from under me, a pair of large arms catch me, gently.
"Easy, there. You've been here for four and a half years and probably haven't moved much. Spirit or not, you've weakened a lot." He says, with a calm voice.
"F-Four years?!" I all but shout.
"Yeah. Can you open your eyes?" He asks.
"I-I think so." I slowly force my eyes to peel open. The first thing I see is-
HOLY SHIT! HOT!
-an incredibly handsome guy smiling at me?!
"Can you see well? No blurriness?" He asks, genuinely concerned for me.
"N-No" I say. I don't need my glasses when I'm in my Astral Dress.
"Good." He says, smiling.
Fuck, why's this guy got me stuttering like a little girl?! More importantly... "Who are you?" I ask.
"Ah, I'm Sahashi Issei. Me and my pals came to bust you out and piss off these DEM fucks." He explains.
"How did you even know I was here?" I ask, not understanding how anyone could even find this place.
"My angel, Helel, lets me make anything with my imagination as a catalyst." He explains. "I made a copy, albeit a weaker one, of your angel and found out about you."
"S-Seriously?" I ask, surprised.
He nods, then speaks. "Can you stand?"
"I don't think so." I admit, my legs are too shaky. He suddenly picks me up bridal style?!
"What the hell?! You're gonna give me the wrong idea holding me like this!"
"Oh, shush. Besides, I thought you only could love two-D?" He teases.
"You know that, huh?" I ask, slowly.
"Feels weird when someone knows about you instead of the other way around, huh?' He says with a grin. He begins walking out of the small room.
Wait. This guy has imagination powers, and he saved me this sounds like-
"Are you a fucking protagonist?!" The grey-haired girl, wearing only a thin gown in my arms suddenly shouts as I stop walking down the hallway.
That room was awful, those two fuckers were in the process of grinding away her arm with a giant fucking nailfile. They had better be glad they get to live at all. I nearly retched when I saw that, I had to activate a pseudo-Gamer's Mind for a second to calm myself. After they were dealt with, I used Camael's flames to heal her. The binds were kind weak, but I had to use Sandalphon to pry open that helmet.
"What the fuck?! How am I a protagonist?" I say, stunned by her antics, but unable to hide my smile.
"You have imagination powers! You can copy angels too! On top of that, you raided a secret base to save a girl! You're a real-life protagonist!" She shouts, her voice filled with a great deal of emotion.
I stare at her in pure confusion for a long while, before laughing uproariously for a minute or so. "I guess so." I say, catching my breath. "You seem to be feeling better, at least." I say with a chuckle as I continue to walk.
"Yeah, the pain's all gone." The all-knowing Spirit mutters.
"Good." I step into the elevator and it begins to raise. "Think you can stand?"
"Maybe." I sit her down. A soon as she tries to stand, her legs buckle. I quickly catch her. "Guess not." She says with an awkward chuckle as she holds onto the railings in the elevator to stay standing.
"...Though, maybe you're right. Maybe I am a protagonist. At least an iseaki one." I admit.
"Huh?!" The grey haired girl shouts, eyes wide.
"Long story short, Helel pulled me from my world into this one. When I came here, I got knowledge of a 'canon timeline' in my head. Using that knowlegde, I knew what was happening to you and where you were, so I decided to help ya out. Of course, screwing over DEM is just a bonus." I explain.
Nia says nothing for a minute, frozen stiff until-
"Oh God! You're a fanfiction protagonist!" She declares, pointing an accusing finger at me. Ha! She's funny, there's no way that I'm a...
"...oh God, I'm a fanfiction protagonist." I realize, horror overtaking me. Critical hit.
"So what happens in this canon timeline?" She asks.
"Well, think of it like an anime or something." I begin. "Standard sci-fi action harem, that gets really fucking dark near the end. Like really dark."
"Harem? All the guy's harem is Spirits?" She asks.
"Was going to be all Spirits." I correct. "I didn't show up in that canon timeline, so that's likely changed."
She lunges forward, grabbing my armor to hold herself up as she looks dead into my eyes. "How does he get me?"
"He and the other Spirits drew a love manga. Also, DEM made you Inverse, but the guy saved you from that shit." I explain.
"Heh, the standard hero trope." She says with a chuckle.
"Yeah. From what I've seen, it was a bit cheesy at times, but the ending really made me interested in this odd knowledge I have. I've always been a sucker for dark stories, after all." I admit.
"Well at least you have some class." Nia begins to laugh, as do I.
"I'm surprised you're taking all of this so well." I point out.
"Eh, the last few years have felt like hallucinations. I'm sure it'll hit me later." She says with a shrug.
"Fair enough. But still, I feel you and I are gonna be good friends, Nia." I say, looking down at her with a smile. She's probably around 5' 5", so she doesn't quite come to my height.
"Same!" She smiles too, before becoming serious. "But remember, I can only love two-D."
"You kidding? This whole world looks two-D to me for some reason! I feel like I'm in an anime sometimes, not that I'm complaining. But, we're the same in that regard, I could only love two-D as well, though you look two-D from my perspective."
"Wha-?" Her face turns beet red as she pushes herself away from me. She holds onto the elevator railing with one hand, and her chest with the other. "You can't just say stuff like that suddenly! A girl's heart can't take it."
"Oh hush, anyways we're almost at the top. C'mere." I hold an arm out to her and hold her up. She leans back over and holds onto me to keep upright.
"...I'm really leaving, huh?" She asks herself quietly, disbelieving of this turn of events.
"Yup." I say with a smile. "Every Spirit has been though some shit, you more than most others. I got these powers by sheer luck and I decided I'm gonna make this world better, starting with you girls."
"Issei?"
"Yeah, Nia?"
"That was cheesy as hell."
"Oh, I know." I say quickly and seriously.
"Hahaha!" She laughs for a moment. "Thanks for saving me, though."
"Save your thanks, we've gotta regroup with the others first." The doors open as we begin to walk forward.
Second Floor - Kurumi
Dozens of wizard corpses stain the rooms. Blood, brains, guts and God-knows what else paint the walls.
"Fufu~ I haven't run wild like that since I found those Yakuza..." I mutter to myself with a please giggle. I suppose I'm done here.
"Well, that's all for now." I say, turning to my clones. "Thank you for your hard work again."
"Of course, me." "Anytime." My clones say as they slip into Zafkiel's darkness.
Oh well, time to leave.
Third Floor - Natsumi
"Hmm..." The clone of Issei hums, suddenly.
"What is it?" I ask, stuffing some papers in the bag Issei gave me.
"Seems like he's got Nia." He explains. "You 'bout ready?"
"...I suppose so. I'm not sure what else we could need." I say. We've got stacks and stacks of incriminating documents, including some signed by Isaac Wescott himself.
Seriously, is that guy insane or a chuuni? 'Sir Isaac Ray Pelham Wescott'? What a stupid name.
"Let's go then." I say, moving to leave.
"All right, I'm goin' back to me." The clone says, before popping, leaving a small cloud of smoke behind.
All right, fifth floor it is.
AN
That's right, I decided to combine Chapter 9 and 8.5!
Chapter titles in FanFiction can't have periods in them, so I had to make the chapter 'Chapter 8,5' and it irked me, so no more Interludes being separate chapters.
This Issei has let out his rage, DOOM Slayer style. After re-reading the old Chapter 9, I realized that I totally would turn those assholes that tortured Nia into piles of gore, if I had the chance. So, I changed that part up quite a bit.
Also, the last little bit of the original Chapter 9 will be in Re:Chapter 10.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next!