(A/N: I managed to update faster than I normally do this time. This chapter is my favorite. I know I left you in suspense last time, but now it's over. I did have to change things the slightest bit in this chapter from what happened in the video, but it still follows the plot.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 6: Freedom

They were falling fast. Aska was furiously pressing buttons, but nothing was working.

"Hit the jets! The jets!" Chage screamed.

"I'm pressing them!" Aska shouted. "It's not working. It must have been damaged!"

Angel whimpered and Chage held her more tightly. "Then hit the eject!"

Aska immediately began pressing the eject button. The roof didn't open. It had been crushed shut when the police hover-car had pushed against it.

"Damn it, it's jammed!" Aska cried. They were trapped. Desperately he turned to Chage. "Get her out of here! She can fly!"

Chage nodded and kicked the door open. "Angel, go!"

He tried to push her out, but Angel held onto him tightly. "No, not without you two!" she cried.

Chage tried desperately to pry her hands off him. "You have to go! There's no hope for us, but you can still get away!"

"We were prepared for anything, even our deaths!" Aska cried, repeatedly pressing the jets and the eject. "Please, save yourself!"

"Fly away!" Chage shouted. "Go now! Fly! Fly!"

"I won't leave you!" Angel shouted, refusing to let go.

Aska swore and continued pressing buttons. Angel wasn't leaving. She was ready to die with them. But if they were going to die, they sure as hell were going to go down fighting.

There was the sound of something moving in the engine as Aska continued to press buttons. Suddenly the jets came on, stopping their fall almost immediately.

"It's working!" Aska cried happily.

Chage sighed in relief. "Thank god."

Aska steered the hover-car through the air, heading for the building he had parked his car behind. They had to abandon this vehicle; it wouldn't get them much farther in this condition.

"Aska, you're getting kind of close to that building." Said Chage. "Descend, turn, do something!"

Aska was trying, but nothing was working. "I can't, it's damaged. Brace yourselves!"

They crashed into the building. Thank goodness for seatbelts. The hover-car made a few weak noises before the engine died.

"Whoa, what a way to travel." Chage muttered.

Aska laughed in relief. "Yeah, I'll say. You ok, Angel?"

Angel was holding onto Chage desperately, her eyes wide with fear. She still managed to answer. "Yes, I'm ok."

Aska nodded. "Good, then lets get out of here before anyone shows up."

It took a few seconds to get the jammed doors open, but once they did, they made a run for it.

"This way, follow me." Aska cried.

"Right behind you." said Chage, carrying Angel.

They ran through the building, ignoring all the stares people were giving them. They had only one thing to worry about, getting Angel out of here.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Dr. Letue arrived at the last place Angel had been seen, which just happened to be the building Aska and Chage crashed into. The police and decontaminators were searching all over the building and rounding up everyone for questioning.

The doctor was in no mood for all this stuff. He wanted his specimen back. What had those two men done with her? He angrily stormed over to the chief and began to unleash his aggravation.

"Well, where are they?" he demanded.

The chief glared at the doctor. He was in no mood for the doctor's attitude, especially after being launched out of a police hover-car a few hours ago. "That is what we are trying to figure out. Please, sit down and we will tell you when we learn anything."

The doctor lost his temper. "Do not tell me to calm down!" he bellowed. "I think you're deliberately taking your time, to give your men time to escape with my specimen!"

The chief crossed his arms. "I thought she was being held to make sure she wasn't a danger."

The doctor's fists clenched. "She is! And by not cooperating, you are not obeying the laws of contamination!"

"We are doing everything we can!" the chief roared. "Perhaps you should take better care of your 'specimen'! Now sit down and shut up or so help me I will have you cuffed and removed from the premises!"

The doctor growled in frustration but backed down, leaving the chief and his men to their work. It would be several hours before they finished everything here, and by that time they will all realize the truth; Angel was gone.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

On the other side on the city, Aska, Chage, and Angel were driving through a tunnel that would lead them to the Danger Zone. No one, not the police, the decontaminators, or the scientists, would dare to enter here for fear of contamination. This was why Aska and Chage had brought Angel here. She could fly over the contaminated land, without worrying about being followed, and find someplace safe to live; not all of the Earth was contaminated after all.

"Woo hoo!" Chage cheered. "We made it! You hear that, Angel? You're free! Look!" He pointed up at the road sign declaring that the area coming up was contaminated. "You'll be safe now. No one will come after you for fear of contamination."

That last sentence made Aska look around. Houses that had been abandoned for years still stood, looking more than being capable of living in, and beyond them was a huge nuclear reactor left over from the war. But none of these things were what caught Aska's attention. It was the land itself. It was covered in greenery. Trees grew long and tall, cool green grass covered the ground, the land looked healthy.

"Chage, look around." He told his friend.

Chage blinked in confusion and looked around. "What's wrong?"

"Just look. What do you see?"

"Uh…" He looked around again. "Um, houses, warning signs, trees-"

"Exactly!" Aska cried. "Trees, grass, living things, things that are growing!"

Chage blinked and realized what Aska was saying. "My god, you're right! But the land, it's supposed to be contaminated."

"It must be purifying itself." Said Aska excitedly. "The environment is cleaning itself up. That means that someday the land won't be contaminated anymore."

"But it's contaminated now." Angel pointed out. "Won't we get sick?"

Chage shook his head. "No, we're not planning on staying here long enough to get sick. But this is your chance to get away." He pointed up. "Just fly above the clouds and you will be fine. You can find a safe place where you can live freely."

"What about you two?"

Aska chuckled. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine."

"That's right." Said Chage. "Our goal was to get you your freedom. Now you have it. Come on."

Angel stood up and spread her wings. Chage lifted her up to make it easier for her to achieve flight since they were in a moving car. He let go, only holding onto her hand, as Angel took flight. She looked upon the horizon, to her freedom. And she owed it all to these two men that had risked everything for her. She looked down at them with tears in her eyes.

"I can't thank you two enough for all that you've done for me." She said.

Aska waved at her and winked. "It was our pleasure." He said, meaning every word.

Chage kissed her hand. "And we'd do it again." He let her go. "Now fly."

Angel nodded and began to rise. It was at that moment that something came back to her. Her eyes widened as memories began filling her. Her memory was returning.

"Aska, Chage!" she called down to them. "My memory is returning. I remember my name!"

"That's great!" Chage cried, waving goodbye. "What is it?"

Angel smiled. "It's Hope!" she cried, as she rose higher into the sky.

Down on the ground, Aska pulled over so he and Chage could watch her fly away.

"Hope." Aska whispered. "Yes, she is hope. That's what I feel when I look at her. Hope that humanity can make it."

Chage smiled and nudged him. "Sounds to me that you're in love with her."

Aska rolled his eyes. "Honestly, can you ever be serious."

"Nope."

Aska shook his head as he watched Angel/Hope disappear beyond the clouds. "Lets get out of her before we get radiation poisoning or something."

He turned the car around and headed back to the safety of the city. They were ready to take full responsibility of what they've done. They knew that they were in trouble, but they didn't care. They did the right thing. They may have broken the law, but they did the right thing.

(A/N: NOT THE END! I decided to add on an Epilogue. It won't be that long so I should have it up by tomorrow. Anyway, who liked the chapter? I decided to sort of merge the two endings together, yet I went along with the happy ending in the end. Also, I decided on Angel's name being Hope because I remember reading somewhere, I can't remember where, that the angel was supposed to represent hope, or something like that. I'll let you decide on what her name and what she is means. See you next time.)