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This chapter is meant to be humorous. It you don't find it funny, it's not that you're retarded. It's because my sense of humor suck. DX
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Allen wiped the foggy window with his sleeve and looked outside. Snowflakes were falling from the sky, swaying to and fro in the wind. It piled up on the ground and formed a fluffy white carpet that looked fun to play on. Deceiving. The gently falling snow seemed so harmless and playful, but its true evil nature was exposed when large amounts of it gather together on train tracks.
The train has been delayed by an avalanche, causing the impatience and complaints of many passengers.
Allen sighed and turned away from the window, it seemed like they won't be arriving at Headquarters anytime soon. He glanced at the female exorcist sitting opposite him. She sat there with her legs crossed, left arm folded across her chest and in the right had she held a strip of liquorice that she was chewing.
Allen was tempted to think that this girl doesn't eat anything else. Ever since he met her, he had never seen her eat a proper meal. Judging by her snacks of choice: coffee, liquorice, and dark chocolate, one will only have two conclusions. One, is that she is trying to keep awake, which Allen was having trouble doing. And two, she is extremely obsessed with bittersweet snacks.
In the current situation, both conclusions seemed reasonable. It was hard trying to stay up that late. Even if they are exorcists, they are still human. Desdemona was much more used to it than Allen. After being with the Order for two years, she had learned to compromise and overpower her body clock. Allen, on the other hand, wasn't used to it at all. Sure, Cross' trainings were harsh, but the General always made sure his apprentice had enough sleep.
Allen yawned for the hundredth time. His jaws opened up so wide that Desdemona was sure he could fit two fists in there. Tiny speckles of tear seeped out from the corner of his eyes; some clung to his silver-white eyelashes. He rubbed his sleepy eyes with the back of his left hand.
The girl's stare unintentionally turned into a glare, his actions were seriously irritating. This newbie definitely needs to get accustomed to the disorderly lifestyle of the exorcists. Daily necessities must be sacrificed to complete missions and orders; it is necessary if you want to stay alive. With hundreds of akumas chasing after you each day, one little mistake will get you killed. She was irritated by him showing such weakness. Exorcists can't give an impression of being weak! They are supposed to be saving the world here, if they become weak then what will come of this planet! Well, that was what the higher-ups always 'preach' to the exorcists. Truthfully, she doesn't care.
What was it about his behavior that irritated her so much? Maybe she was just too tired and found everything irritating, or maybe it was the constant yawning setting her on edge. She looked back at Allen, who continued rubbing his left eye, only his right eye was visible. Him doing that…it made him look seriously weak, weak and…vulnerable? No, that's not it. The little specks of tear stuck to his eyelashes sparkled under the light of the cabin as he blinked, emphasising his fluttering white lashes. The image: sleepy eyes, small tears and a slight pout, made him look very…cute…
CUTE? Exorcists aren't supposed to look cute! What is this? What IS this? This newbie's skills seemed impressive enough, but he still needs to be taught how to behave like a exorcist! General Cross did a great job in teaching this kid how to fight like an exorcist but he completely failed at making him act like one! Or maybe the General never even tried! Seriously, exorcists should give an impression of strength and reliability, as her Master said, not CUTE!
On the inside, Desdemona was snapping and facepalm-ing, but on the outside, she simply shifted in her seat out of irritation. Her teeth grounded the liquorice in her mouth. "If you're tired then sleep, the train's not going to arrive any time soon," she suggested, a bit too harsh.
"No, it's ok. Thank you for your concern," Allen replied, he had stopped rubbing his eye, much to Desdemona's relief. She narrowed her eyes, one could have easily and naturally meant that sarcastically, considering her harsh tone. She replayed the white haired boy's sentence in her mind and detected no hint of sarcasm. He really meant it? Unlikely.
"Um…" Allen began, "Er…Desdemona?"
"As I said, feel free to shorten the name anyway you like. I don't like people calling me by my full given name," even when she was irritated as ever, she softened her tone.
Allen stared, confused. Normally people get offended if they are called by nicknames, and it is always respectful to address people by their full names. Only this particular girl does not like being called by her full name, strange. Allen wondered why.
Desdemona removed her eyes from the window and glanced at the boy as the silence on his part stretched on. She raised an eyebrow at his pose. His left arm was folded across his chest, supporting his right elbow. His chin was placed in between his right index and thumb. The pair of silver eyes stared intently at her.
Upon meeting the girl's penetrating gaze, Allen was jerked awake from his mental trance. That was when he realized his position that he shifted into absent-mindedly, universal body language for 'I'm trying to figure something out about you.' The white haired boy flailed his arms around aimlessly in panic as he tried to look carefree and casual. He was also making weird noises (that sounded something like: "A…er…ooo..uh…") as he tried to speak but no words formed. The attempts to justify his previous action made him look like a monkey instead.
"Pfft," Desdemona averted her eyes back to the window and rolled her eyes. A small smile played on her lips, it was amusing.
The boy finally settled down, he leaned back into the couch and coughed into a hand, a further attempt at disguising his awkward noises. "Ahem. Er…so…how would you prefer to be addressed?"
"Anything is fine," Desdemona watched the snowflakes dancing in the wind.
"Kanda calls you 'Dem', right?"
"You don't have to call me that." she said casually. "Lenalee, Kanda and most people who work long hours at the Headquarters call me 'Dem'. Some finders call me 'the little Demon'. A few of the Science Department call me 'Darmstadium', they say my name reminds them of the symbol for that element on the periodic table," she shrugged. "There were much more bizarre ones too. Like 'Emma', DeeDee' and even 'Daisy'. I have no idea how they came up with those." Desdemona popped the last bit of her liquorice into her mouth. "Maybe they are either deaf, mentally inept or have short-term memory loss."
Allen thought about it. Hm, Desdemona…DES-DE-MON-A…Hmmm…. "May I call you…" a word popped into his head, "Mony?"
As the word left his mouth, the girl visibly tensed. She slowly turned her head to face a now slightly panicky Allen. Her eyes were first wide with shock, then frowned in skepticism and finally narrowed in suspicion. Allen shifted nervously in his seat, did he say something wrong? He repeated the word in his head. Mony, Mony… Ah! Is it because by calling her that he was suggesting they know each other well when they have only met 3 days ago? Was it too much of an endearment? Was she offended by that?
The nervous boy bit his lower lip. He seemed to have offended the girl sitting opposite him, which wasn't good. Considering her superiority complex, impatience and the fact that she swore to kill the one living in the room next to hers (aka. Allen), she was not one he would want to offend.
"Why?" the girl's quiet but clear voice questioned.
"Huh?" Allen snapped out of his mini nervous breakdown and snapped his eyes back to the subject of his presumed offense.
"Why...How did you come up with that?" noticing his nervousness, Desdemona switched back to the casual tone with a hint of amusement.
Her tone did help Allen relax a bit. Maybe she wasn't offended? "I…don't know. I just said the first thing that came to mind," Allen confessed. He observed carefully, her usual penetrating gaze was not as intimidating at the moment, they seemed distant. "If you don't like it then I won't call you that," he added quickly.
Desdemona refocused on Allen, then gave a little smile, "No, that's not it. Just…it's just that no one had called me that for a long time."
"Oh," he replied, unsure of how to react to that. "Um…" he continued, "Would you prefer it if I just call you Dem?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she waved her hand dismissively and resumed her snow watching.
For the rest of the ride back to Headquarters, both 15 year-olds stayed silent. As the silence stretched on, Allen found it harder and harder to stay awake. The sleepiness got worse when they entered the canal under Headquarters on a small boat Toma was rowing. The gentle rocking and swaying of the boat did not help Allen's sleepiness.
The boat finally stopped at the small dock, it bumped into the concrete and the motion jerked Allen awake. By that time, Desdemona had already finished another small pack of liquorice (it's a wonder how much one can eat during a 6 hour train ride).
Toma leaned down from the side of the boat to tie the rope to a pole. Allen stepped out from the small rocking boat and stood back on solid ground. He lifted both arms above his head and stretched, a yawn soon followed. "We got back pretty late," he said during his yawn, which made it sound more like, "We haat hack hetty hate." Or something like that.
"The snow delayed our train," Toma stated the obvious.
After Allen had finished yawning, the tiny drops of tear clung once more to his white eyelashes, which resulted in him rubbing his sleepy eye with the back of his hand. "It's already midnight…what do we do with the Innocence?" Desdemona noticed his subtle actions. Why does she notice anyway? Maybe because it was so out of place. Really, why would a male exorcist look so damn cute! No, not the 'handsome guy' type of cute, but the baby-pink-bunny-rabbit-fluffy-stuffed-animal type of cute. She lifted her right leg out of the boat onto the concrete floor.
"If you go to the Science Department, there should be someone still awake," Toma suggested.
"Ok, I'll try there!" Allen looked back towards the boat through teary eyes but still managed a smile.
She can't stand it.
Her inner frustration made her not pay attention to where she's putting her left foot. The heel of her boot hit hard against the concrete side of the dock, she didn't lift her foot up high enough. She can hit any part of her boot but just not the heel. She panicked as the heavy condensed metal came off and dropped into the dark waters with a 'plop'. Her left foot, which was suspended in mid-air, became extremely light all of a sudden, which made her loose her balance and tip forwards, instinct made her skip on one leg to keep balance, but it was no use. It only made her come closer to the white haired exorcist and if she did fall, she would have fallen on top of him.
Allen stood there, the sleepiness made his reflexes slow. Only when she started heading towards him that he realized she was falling. It looked like she was falling straight for him. He can either catch her or be crushed by her.
Under normal circumstances he would extend his arm and try to help a person in need. But it was midnight, Allen was extremely sleepy. He did try to step forward and attempt to catch her but he ended up side-stepping and totally missing the girl.
Desdemona watched in dismay, she tried to re-balance herself but the sudden change in the weight on her left side made it difficult. She would personally prefer not to be helped by Allen, nor fall on him, but those are better options than falling face down on concrete. Now that he side-stepped, there's no hope. Stupid boy, WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH HIM?
The concrete came closer and closer to her face, Desdemona tried to think of anything to save her from being in an undignified position. Suddenly, a flash of black appeared in her line of sight. Desdemona landed on something soft, not the hard concrete she had been expecting.
Allen raised his eyebrows in surprise. Just as he side-stepped, he saw something rolling down from the stairs which led up to the Headquarters. It landed on the concrete dock, straight in front of the falling girl. A flash of recognition hit Allen, it was an unconscious Lenalee. Desdemona, inevitably, fell on top of the older female's stomach.
Desdemona growled in frustration and tried to get up, but the uneven weight of her boots challenged her sense of balance. Allen decided to help her, offering his hand to her. She brushed his arm away, not trusting or accepting his help. She climbed back onto her knees and tried to stand.
Desdemona stopped short as she noticed the unconscious exorcist lying on the floor before her. She bent down and lifted the older female's shoulders off the ground with an arm and gently shook them. "Hey, Lenalee! What happened!"
"You're back," an Australian accent sounded from the staircase. A stumbling figure in a white lab coat appeared in the stairwell.
"Reever!" Allen exclaimed. The Section Leader had visible scratches and bruises, he was stumbling down the stairs. The young boy ran to the scientist's aid as Reever started tipping forwards. Desdemona rolled her eyes.
"Reever! What happened!" Allen enquired.
"R-run…" Reever said weakly, leaning against Allen's shoulder, "Komurin is coming…"
As if on cue, a large robotic thing blasted through the wall next to the stairwell. It had a silver body, and 8 insect-like legs coming out from the side. A door dominated its 'chest'. The legs each had a purple stripe running down the center. The 'head' was shaped like a large surveillance camera, with two large lenses positioned vertically acting as its eyes. On the side of its head was a line of text printed in purple 'Science Department'. A large white hat with the purple letter 'K' sat on top of its head. It was huge, almost three times taller than a normal person.
"It's here!" Reever exclaimed. Allen can only stare wide-eyed at the monstrous robot. Komurin wriggled and pushed itself out of the wall, causing debris to fly everywhere. The white-haired boy helped Reever away from the falling debris.
Desdemona tried to move Lenalee and herself to safety, but the uneven weight prevented her from balancing. There's no hope in retrieving the lost heel, there's no time or point, she had a fairly good idea how deep the water in the canal is. There was only one solution left. She used the tip of her left boot to kick the heel of her right one. The intricate mechanism acted on the impact and the other heel also slid off. Komui made it so that with a specific way force is applied to the heels, she can easily remove the weights, but in this situation, she would rather not have it come off so easily. The Eurasian girl carried the unconscious Lenalee and ran to a safe spot, next to Allen near the stairs. She surprised herself with the lightness of her legs and the speed that came with it, even though she should be used to it.
Allen jumped in shock as a flash of black and white suddenly appeared beside him. It was Desdemona carrying Lenalee. He was sure the two were just on the floor near the boat a second ago. He never knew Desdemona had such speed. Previously, when they fought the akuma, her movements were average.
Mechanical creaks came from Komurin as it turned its head towards the five gathered at a corner, Toma had joined them. Its lens flashed green, "Located!" It announced, "Lenalee Lee. Allen Walker. Darmstadium. 2 exorcists and 1 element identified."
Desdemona stared dumbfounded. Definitely, this is definitely the work of the Science Department.
"Run! This thing is after exorcists!" Reever called out.
Komurin turned its entire body around, four of its legs lifted up and it started running with the remaining four on the ground. The uplifted legs now acted as arms, attempting to grab the exorcists.
Allen, Toma, Reever and Desdemona (carrying Lenalee) ran up the stairs. The weightlessness of Desdemona's feet made her reach the top of the stairs extremely fast. She looked back and saw Komurin still pursuing the three males.
That thing is definitely made by the Science Department, and has malfunctioned because of the Science Department. She had seen one of those robots before, it always loitered near the dining hall. It was destroyed a while ago by Kanda when it tried to steal his soba… Sighing in exasperation, she called out to the others, "I'm going ahead with Lenalee, I'll leave the rest to you." She dashed away quickly, intending to question the Science Department.
The three males could only watch as the two girls disappeared over the edge of the stairs, which seemed so far away. They tried looking back, but what greeted their sights was inevitably the dangerous, malfunctioning robot. They continued to run up the stairs.
"TIME FOR SURGERY!" Komurin yelled.
"Reever! What the hell is going on!" Allen yelled over the top of Komurin's destructive footsteps.
Reever's eyebrows lifted humourlessly, "That thing is Komurin, an omnipotent that Komui made. As you can see, it is out of control."
Allen bent down, avoiding a large piece of rock sailing over his head. "Why?"
Reever sighed and began re-telling the incident. "It was only 30 minutes ago. As usual, we were busily doing the work that we aren't going to get paid for…"
Desdemona ran up the million set of stairs. The structure of HQ was ridiculously impractical. Each floor only had a small amount of space, and there were a few hundred, if not thousand, floors in this tower. Each floor had its own purpose. The Science Department is located not far above ground, which Desdemona was thankful for.
Without the weights, she can move much faster. She had gotten used to the weights that Master had made her wear. It keeps her feet on the ground when she throws akumas around. Physically speaking, even if you have great strength, you have to be heavier than the object you are throwing around. If you aren't, you are going to fly away with it. That's practically what happened when she first tried to use her Innocence. The weights solved that problem, but it was at the cost of her stamina.
Carrying Lenalee bridal style had became a hassle, so Desdemona ended up piggy backing the Chinese exorcist. They whizzed up 10 more floors quickly. Desdemona looked around, attempting to locate anyone from the Science Department, but failed since no one was in sight. The walls had huge cracks and holes in them, looks like Komurin had been rampaging around for quite some time.
"Hey! Dem! Over here!" A voice called out, followed by mechanical sounds of gears grinding against each other. Desdemona turned, Lenalee still on her back. The Headquarter's 'elevator', a large inverted square prism suspended in mid-air that moves vertically up and down within the 'shaft' through the centre of all floors, descended from above and came down slowly. The platform was huge, large enough to fit the entire Science Department, and from the amount of people on the platform at that particular moment, Desdemona was sure the entire Science Department was indeed on it.
A short male in his 20s with unruly long brown hair leant out from the metal railing of the platform, waving his arm in an exaggerated attempt to catch the Eurasian exorcist's attention. A pair of over-sized earphones sat at his neck, he wore glasses so thick that his eyes were invisible. "Dem! Over here!"
The girl rushed to the railing that lined the edge of the floor, which prevented people from falling down the hollow centre of the tower and straight down to Hevlaska. She measured the distance from the railing to the platform. If it was Lenalee with her Innocence, they can definitely make it. Instead, it is Desdemona without her heels. It was the first time she had taken them off since the last time another 5 kilograms were added, each of them were as heavy as her. She can afford to make a bet, if by any chance she misses on the initial contact, she can always extend Thora and grab onto the railings of the platform.
Desdemona secured Lenalee on her back and climbed up the railing she had previously been leaning on. She stood on top of the metal bars and waited for the slowly moving platform to descend. As it neared, Desdemona bent down and braced herself for the take off.
3…2…1!
Desdemona pushed her legs off the railing with all her might. They became air-borne and she was, once again, surprised by the lightness of her movement. The platform came closer and closer, the jump seemed more and more likely to succeed. She tightened her grip on Lenalee, preventing her from falling.
The two girls landed on the platform with a thud. Without the weights to keep her landing feet first like always, Desdemona landed on all fours in a rather undignified position. She quickly recovered and stood up, dusting off her black pants in the process.
Half of the population on the 'elevator' rushed towards the two exorcists. Komui was leading the stampede; he ran quickly to Lenalee, who was lying on the floor. Johnny and Tapp followed closely behind. The rest of the stampede surrounded them, stepping on their co-workers in the process. The large number of people on one side of the platform made the suspended mechanism tilt.
Johnny pushed his sliding glasses up the bridge of his nose while staring wide-eyed at the Eurasian girl. "Woah! Dem! That was a HUGE jump!" he exclaimed, "Hey, there's Lenalee. But where's Section Chief Reever?"
The girl shrugged. She looked around and spotted the Supervisor kneeling on the floor with Lenalee in his arms. From the back, it was already apparent that he was crying. "Lenalee! My dear Lenalee! Are you alright? Thank God you're not macho! Wake up!" he wailed. Desdemona sighed, she walked over and tapped the Chief's shoulder. "What?" Komui turned sharply to face whoever it was that disrupted his touching reunion.
Desdemona flinched, the Supervisor faced her, which granted her a full frontal view of his face. It wasn't a pretty sight. Other than the two fountains coming out from behind his glasses, two streams of 'sticky liquid' flowed from his nostrils and some saliva dripped from the corners of his downturned mouth…or was it just tears or 'sticky liquid' that flowed into his mouth and out again? Who knows. "I need new heels," she stated calmly.
Komui wiped his face with the sleeve of his lab coat and continued to sniff. "I'll get you some spares later."
"I see them! There they are!" A deep voice called out. Some random scientist leaned out from the railing and pointed a long finger downwards. The large stampede then rushed to the other side of the platform to see what their colleague (who they have previously trampled on) have located. The large platform tilted to the other side.
Johnny and Tapp squeezed through the mass of scientists and got a clear view. They spotted Reever, Toma and Allen a few floors beneath where they were now. The three ran maniacally for their lives. Loud mechanical creaks and shattering building materials sounded not far away behind them. The large silver Komurin followed closely behind, its destructive movements demolished everything in its way. Reever, Allen and Toma turned a corner, stopping temporarily behind a wall.
"Heyyy! Are you alive?" Someone called out.
The three noticed the large moving platform and relief was written across their faces. "Supervisor! Everyone!" Allen yelled gratefully.
"Section Chief! Hurry over here!"
"Where is my Komurin!"
"Hey! Don't push!"
"Calm down!"
"It's here!"
The Science Department watched in fear as a large silver body crushed the wall the three were hiding behind. Debris flew everywhere and the brick wall fell apart. Komurin charged out and jumped towards the floating platform. Johnny rushed to the Control Panel and jerked the platform out of the robot's path.
The floating pyramid tilted dramatically, throwing many people off balance. Komui was forced to loosen his grip on Lenalee and as a result, Lenalee was thrown over the railing. "NOOOOO!" Komui exclaimed.
At the same time, Desdemona was thrown into the railing. It was sure inconvenient without the heels to keep her in place. How do the others cope with being so light? In the corner of her eye, she saw Lenalee falling down. Instinctively, she thrust out Thora. The whip uncoiled, glowed green and extended. It wrapped around Lenalee's body and she fell in an arc. A loud sigh of relief came from the Supervisor.
Komurin paused as it landed on the other side of the hollow space. Its surveillance-camera head turned towards the dangling Lenalee and its lens flashed green. "Located. Lenalee Lee, exorcist found." The mechanical voice announced. It launched again at the platform. Johnny jerked the control stick, causing the platform to tilt sharply, again, throwing many people around.
Desdemona leant out from the railing, barely kept in place. Another sudden tilt threw a heavy scientist in her way. She had her back towards the flying man and did not see him coming. The large scientist crashed into the young girl, pushing her over and out the railing. She shrieked slightly in surprise as she became air-borne.
"LENALEEE! NOOOOO!" Komui shrieked, reaching a hand out for his sister.
Desdemona realised what was happening, she pulled hard on the whip which caused Lenalee to crash into her. She wrapped an arm around the unconscious exorcist and withdrew Thora. With her free hand, she thrusted Thora up above her, catching onto the railing of the floor that was the exorcists' dormitory. The leather stressed and then slightly rebounded, stopping the fall.
Desdemona looked up to see how far they were from the railing. Instead, she saw the long silver cannon extending from the elevator. "Don't underestimate the Science Department!" Johnny exclaimed. "NOOO! DON'T SHOOT MY KOMURIN!" The Supervisor's voice was heard.
Suddenly, the platform spun around in wild circles, metal balls were shot out from the cannon aimlessly. Toma, Allen and Reever jumped around the rooms and hallways, dodging the bullets. Desdemona had no way of dodging in midair with Lenalee like this. A large bullet hit the wall beside them; the force had both girls thrown up and, by retracting Thora, over the railing onto concrete ground.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! TRYING TO KILL US!" the whole Science Department tackled Komui, peeling him off Johnny and tying him up with a rope.
The culprit was then forced to walk the length of the cannon and face his beloved robot. At the moment, first priority was to get Lenalee back safe and second was to prevent Komurin from being destroyed. Anything else won't matter. Komui scanned over the present exorcists: Lenalee, Desdemona and Allen.
"Komurin, look over there!" Komui pointed towards Desdemona, holding Lenalee by the shoulder. He soon regretted his choice of sacrifice as any attacks on Desdemona would also affect Lenalee. "No, no, no. Not there!" the Supervisor panicked. Komurin turned its mechanical 'head' and his lens flashed green. "Darmstadium. Element located." The robot repeated.
Seeing Komurin having no intentions of 'attacking' an element (who programmed that in?) Komui resulted to plan B. "Allen's anti-akuma weapon is damaged. Go fix it."
"WHAT?" the said boy screamed in disbelief.
"Damage?" Komurin's lens flashed red dangerously, "Order placed. Allen Walker, due to damage, is now places as first priority." With amazing speed, Komurin charged towards Allen, not giving the injured exorcist a moment to react. The door thing at Komurin's chest opened, revealing many Komui look-alikes holding a variety of machinery. A purple leg/arm extended and wrapped around Allen in a vice-tight grip. "Taking Allen into the surgery room."
The white haired boy struggled in the robot's grip, unable to free himself.
"Now! Reever, Dem! While Komurin is focused on Allen take Lenalee over here!" the Supervisor called out.
Desdemona and Reever watched the entire 'betrayal' wide-eyed. The Supervisor was willing to sacrifice Allen to a malfunctioning machinery just to prevent his sister from getting in its hands. Desdemona frowned, what the hell is this? She still needed an explanation. Tch. Allen can fend for himself; he's got a new weapon hasn't he? Desdemona put Thora back at her belt.
Reever came to the girl's aid, offering to carry Lenalee.
"Whoa! A new anti-akuma weapon!" Desdemona heard many scientists exclaim and followed their amazed eyes to see Allen activating his Innocence. Bright light shone from within the weapon and he aimed at Komurin's head. If he fired, he couldn't have missed at such close proximity.
Whew!
A small shiny needle flew from the platform towards the struggling exorcist. It embedded itself in Allen's neck. The white haired boy visibly went limp as his Innocence deactivated. "Paralysed…." Allen muttered.
"Huh?"
"Sir Walker!"
"Allen!"
Desdemona, Toma and Reever said in unison. They watched in horror as the boy was dragged away defenceless.
"SUPERVISOR HAS A BLOW PIPE!" "GRAB IT OFF HIM!" More chaos on the platform as the entire Science Department threw themselves at Komui, attempting to grab the blow pipe while the supervisor struggled in the demonic claws of his co-workers.
Desdemona panicked for some unknown reason. Somehow, she felt the need to get Allen out of there. Well, it seemed to be common sense. Who wants a co-worker to be in there anyway? She quickly lowered Lenalee, leaning her against the railing and pulled out Thora from her belt. The activated Innocence made the leather glow green. She flicked her handle and the whip extended. It headed towards Allen, who was transferred from the purple arm into the 'Surgery Room'. Thora grabbed onto Allen and wrapped around his waist, giving Desdemona a solid hold of the paralysed boy. She tried to pull him out of it, but instead, Komurin turned and jerked Desdemona off her feet. She was sent flying towards the robot and crashed into the metallic body of the robot, right shoulder first. She flinched. That was the shoulder she dislocated not so long ago. She gritted her teeth but still kept a good hold on Allen.
Reever, at the last second, grabbed onto the end of Allen's coat just before the doors closed. Both the whip and his coat kept Allen from being dragged further into the surgery room.
Komurin bent down, causing Desdemona and Reever to dangle in midair. Its lens flashed green after locating Lenalee leaning against the railing. The Chinese exorcist stirred, the anaesthetics were starting to wear off. The robot charged at Lenalee with full speed, intending to recapture the exorcist and start the surgery before she wakes up.
"Nooo! Lenalee WAKE UP!" Komui screamed at the top of his lungs from the platform. Komurin lunged, crushing the railing that Lenalee was leaning against, destroying the metal and a few dormitory rooms in the process. Dust and shattered concrete flew everywhere, making it hard to see what was going on. "LENALEEE!" Komui screamed.
Desdemona and Reever, still dangling from the door, looked around in the cloud of dust trying to locate Lenalee. But no avail, they did not spot the unconscious exorcist anywhere.
When the dust cloud cleared, Desdemona rescanned the surrounding area for any signs of Lenalee. She regretted leaving Lenalee at the railing, what was going on in her head anyway? She only focused on holding onto Allen and forgot all about Lenalee. What was wrong with her?
"Look!"
She looked up to the source of the voice, up to the platform. Standing at the tip of the silver cannon, was Lenalee. When did she get up there? Desdemona wondered. Well, never mind that. Once she wakes, it can't catch her. For the time being, she has to concentrate on not letting go of Thora and keep from falling. Komurin leaped towards the elevator, successfully throwing Reever and Desdemona in circles. For the first time, Desdemona understood how her victims must have felt.
Lenalee activated her Innocence and sailed through the air to avoid an attack from Komurin. Johnny informed her that Allen was inside the surgery room. She had to defeat the malfunctioning robot to get him out. Komurin wrapped its legs around the extended cannon. Its lens fired laser beams at Lenalee. She skilfully dodged them with her Dark Boots, while at the same time dodging its long flexible legs that were grabbing at her. The Chinese exorcist leapt and landed a hard kick on the large robot, it lost its grip on the cannon but still managed to land on a floor, again, destroying some exorcists' room. Desdemona recognised one of the two rooms that were crushed. Oh damn, she'll have to stay in the public Laboratory for some time.
Komui appeared in front of Komurin's lens, holding his arms out protectively as Lenalee stared them down from the tip of the cannon. How did he get there? "Wait Lenalee!" he pleaded, "Komurin is not evil! The coffee is evil! Hate the crime not the person. Hate the coffee not Komurin. Please, Lenalee."
Reever and Desdemona (still dangling) looked up disbelievingly. Reever managed to pry open the surgery door and get Allen out. He was wrapped in bandages and Timcampy was nowhere to be seen. Desdemona withdrew Thora and jumped down from Komurin to land next to her crushed room. Reever followed with Allen on his back.
Just after the three evacuated, Lenalee mercilessly landed a final blow on Komurin and its creator. They fell all the way down the shaft and crashed into another few floors before disappearing down into the dark void…
Poor Hevlaska.
"I said I need new heels," Desdemona repeated for the hundredth time. She tailed the Supervisor, weaving through mountains of paper in the Public Laboratory. She hadn't slept a wink last night. They arrived at HQ at midnight and the Komurin incident took almost 5 hours to revolve. Now everyone's busy doing damage repair. Komui just wouldn't listen, he kept on saying he's going to get the spares but he never got to it.
"Yeah, yeah, Dem. I'm getting them now." Komui replied. He walked to the general direction of his 'storage room' where he keeps spare weapons and accessories for some exorcists. "Supervisor! We need help!" someone called out.
Komui strayed from his path and went to help whoever just called out behind two mountains of paperwork. Desdemona sighed. If she doesn't get the weights back on quickly she won't be able to walk later on. Her feet have been walking around weightless for 6 hours, she can feel her strength deteriorating. Damn Komui, keeping all those weird codes and locks on the storage room. If there weren't any locks she could have got them herself.
She looked around the laboratory for anyone who can help her, maybe Reever know Komui's codes? She walked around a mountain of paper and spotted Lenalee sitting on a stool in front of a red couch. On the couch slept Allen. He had been unconscious ever since Reever pried him out from the surgery room. Lenalee leant over, taking the towel on his forehead and wrung it out in a basin of cold water before putting it back on again. Why was she doing that? It's not like he has a fever or anything. Maybe it helps with canceling out the effects of the anesthetics. Desdemona rolled her eyes; at least he got some sleep. She approached Lenalee, hoping the elder female could offer her some help.
Allen sat up sharply, probably still alarmed by the incident. He looked around and saw Lenalee first, then the Eurasian exorcist coming up behind Lenalee. Desdemona's heart dropped, his awakening meant Lenalee was less likely to help her. "Lenalee," she decided to ask anyway, "do you know Komui's passwords to those locks he put on the storage room?"
The elder exorcist turned and looked at her. "Dem! Welcome back!"
"I'm back." The younger girl muttered habitually, still walking towards the two while speaking at the same time, "I need new heels, I dropped mine in the Order's underground canal."
"Oh. Sorry, I don't know brother's passwords," Lenalee smile apologetically.
Desdemona arrived beside the Chinese exorcist, she stopped and stared down at the white-haired boy. "So you're alive."
Allen looked up Desdemona and nodded stiffly.
"She means 'Glad to see you're alright'," Lenalee elaborated, she smiled cheekily and winked at Desdemona.
"I don't mean that," retorted the younger girl, looking away from the two to stare at yet another mountain of paperwork, putting her hands on her hips.
Lenalee chuckled before turning to Allen apologetically, "Sorry about my brother's invention."
Allen shook his head and smiled. He looked at his surroundings again, all he could see was mountains of paper. "Where am I?"
"It's the public laboratory. Everyone's busy repairing the damage."
"Allen," Desdemona began, his name felt awkward on her tongue. She noticed his coat was missing, Lenalee probably took it somewhere, but still good to check, "Where did you put the Innocence?"
Realization flashed in Allen's eyes and he began to panic. Desdemona sighed for the thousandth time that morning.
Then, the always reliable Lenalee came to save the day. She held out the container containing the Innocence to Allen, "Here, this was in your coat. Luckily it wasn't broken. Just take it to Hevlaska and she'll protect it." Allen took the Innocence from Lenalee and released a sigh of relief.
Desdemona turned to walk away to seek other assistance but realised then she was surrounded by familiar faces.
"Hey! Why do I, the chef, have to do the carpentry?" Jerry's unmistakable voice complained.
"We don't have enough people." Reever pointed out.
"You guys aren't going to get any breakfast!" Jerry retorted.
"Hahaha."
Jerry, No. 65, Reever, Johnny and many other people appeared from nowhere and gathered around them. The laboratory was suddenly filled with laughter.
"Oh, Allen. You're awake!" Reever's cheerful Australian accent greeted the white-haired boy.
"Darmstadium, why are you looking so lost?" No. 65 inquired.
"Anyone know Komui's passwords to the storage room?" Desdemona asked no one in particular.
"Haha, welcome back." said everyone that met her eyes.
A smile appeared on Desdemona's lips. The atmosphere hadn't been so light for a long time. This is rarity.
"Hey Allen, Dem. Both your rooms were destroyed," Jonny said casually.
"WHAT?" Allen exclaimed disbelievingly.
"I know," replied Desdemona a-matter-of-factly. She paused as she took in Johnny's words. "What? Allen's room was destroyed too?" She asked.
Johnny stared at Desdemona like he couldn't understand English. "What are you talking about? Allen's room is the one next to yours."
"..."
Suddenly the room turned silent. Everyone stopped their chattering as an air of extremely fearsome murderous intent was emitted into the atmosphere. The temperature dropped several hundred degrees. Allen gulped, sweat pouring from his forehead like a waterfall. He looked slowly up to see Desdemona glaring down at him, small cracks of lightning appeared near her. He flinched, her eyes were extremely scary, murderous.
As if sensing the disastrous effect of Johnny's words, everyone evacuated quickly. Even Lenalee hurried away. This left only two people in the public laboratory; Allen and a murderous Desdemona. Allen looked helplessly around, there's nowhere to run. He looked slowly back at the only person left. She seemed to have grown devil horns by the second.
The boy gulped again. Uh-oh…
B/N: Psh. Somehow, I think Kami won't need me anymore. She's doing waaay better. You guys should review ;w;
A/N: That is not true! *points up* I can't do anything without Ink! Ah, yeah. That second part is true. You guys should review. This story is always following the cannon storyline until now. But after a few chapters, I will fork out the plot and run it parallel to the cannon storyline. Thank you for reading it! I'm also planning to edit my previous chapters, because, reading those chapters now, Dem seemed to be OOC back then. And I spot too many mistakes…
Edit: Edited and edited and edited. Thus the edit: Anyways. I hope you read this chapter with a smile on your face. ;D
Click and type! It's just that simple.
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