Abel wiped the vampire blood from his face and readjusted his glasses on his face. He stumbled over to Asthe's limp body and released a heavy sigh of relief when he found her only unconscious. Checking his pistols, the silver-haired priest's stomach churned when he counted how many silver bullets he had left. Six... He froze when he heard a yell from the end of the hallway, it sounded like Ryoko's voice.
Rushing out into the stone corridor, Abel came to an abrupt halt when he saw the space pirate kneeling before Dietrich. The young sadist snapped his fingers to summon more Death Hunters from the shadows and into the hallway. Dietrich casually glanced up to meet Abel's gaze, "How good of you to join us finally Father," he smiled. "Your new friend here doesn't want to play with me it seems," he sounded disappointed. "Such a pity...she would make such a fun puppet."
"Go...fuck your-self..." Ryoko spat her blood out at his shoes. I'll kill you, just you wait and see.
Ignoring her insult and the blood spatter on his black shoes, Dietrich gracefully walked over to Esther's unconscious body and picked her up with great ease. "Kill them both," he flicked his short brown hair away from his beautiful face before he walked out of the hallway with the queen flung over his shoulder.
"Ryoko!" Abel rushed down the hallway to protect her from the fresh Death Hunters. He blocked an oncoming attack by using one of his pistols as a shield. The priest was shocked to find Ryoko still had enough strength left to fight the remaining resurrected vampire corpses.
It wasn't enough though; the Death Hunters were quickly wearing them down. Abel collapsed to the floor, with his blood seeping from the wounds he sustained in the battle, when he could no longer fight. I have to use it...he regretted using the Krusnik that lurked inside of him. It had been three years since the last time he resorted to succumbing to the incredible power inside of him. I have to save...
"Abel!" Why did you have to risk your pathetic hide like that for me? Ryoko retreated from the fight to stand in front of the wounded priest. I guess it's my turn to be the hero... The space pirate unpocketed the green-tinted capsule that she had stolen and twirled it around in her fingers. "I'd run," she hissed to Abel before she absorbed the capsule into her forehead.
Ryoko's heart was racing in her chest; the adrenaline rush she had injected into her blood stream was enough to kill any normal human being. Her body began to transform into something the vampire or human race had never seen before. The muscles on her body bulged and became more defined, her stature increased by a foot, and her fingers grew into deadly claws. Spikes shot out of the back of her shoulders and on the tips of her elbows. Her facial features hardened until she was no longer recognizable as a human and her fangs sharpened to protrude out of her closed mouth. Ryoko's eyes were no longer yellow; they glowed with every color in the world.
We are the same... Abel's blue eyes widened with horror as he watched what Ryoko had transformed into. This is what the others must feel when they see me.
Unleashing her full power on them, Ryoko quickly wiped out the group of Death Hunters all except for one in only a few movements. Purposely, the demonic creature had left the last vampire corpse alive long enough to torture him and to taunt Dietrich. The final Death Hunter was not to go down without a fight though. He unsheathed his sword and used his inhuman speed to strike at her with all his might. The Death Hunter's eyes flashed blood red as he delivered the blow.
Catching the blade with the palm of her hand, Ryoko stopped it from reaching her chest. The Death Hunter paused; she was far stronger and faster than what he had calculated. Wrapping her hand around the edges of the sword, the space pirate shattered the blade into several large pieces. Using her other hand, she tore through the vampire corpse's chest and ripped out his heart without making a single sound. Clenching the vampire's heart in her fist, she watched him die slowly with a smile on her demonic face. Looking into her colorful eyes, the last thing the vampire corpse saw was the reflection of his horror on his own face.
Once he was dead, Ryoko tossed his bloody body and his smothered heart with his comrades. Abel could no longer look at her. Was she the same as him? "Ryoko...?" the priest asked in a small voice once he had enough courage to speak. He froze when she turned around and locked her glowing eyes onto his; there was nothing left of Ryoko. Is this how I look? Abel knew that his Krusnik form was frightening but he didn't know that he lost everything when he became the monster.
Slowly walking over to him, the demonic creature snatched the wounded priest by the throat and lifted him to her eye level. "Don't do this..." he desperately grabbed her wrist, "Don't let this darkness swallow you!" Abel started to reach for his pistol but he stopped himself, "I won't kill my friend!" he yelled at her.
Her racing heart began to slow; the adrenaline was finally wearing out in her blood stream. Ryoko's glowing demonic eyes softened to a solid yellow hue as she set the priest back on the ground. Her clawed hand was loosely gripping his throat now.
Suddenly, Abel watched a silver bullet whiz past his face and slice through Ryoko's wrist. Releasing a blood-curdling shriek, the demonic creature shrank away from the silver-haired priest and immediately tended to her severed wrist.
"0.25 degrees off target," Tres adjusted his aim to deliver the final blow.
"TRES DON'T!" Abel used his last bit of strength to rush over to Ryoko's side to prevent Gunslinger from getting a clear shot on her. The space pirate's body began to shrink, returning to her normal appearance in less than a minute.
Tres frowned in annoyance, "Father Nightroad. Please stand aside."
Running up behind the cyborg were Leon and Hugue; they had nicks and bruises all over their body but otherwise they were in perfect condition. "What happened here?" Leon's eyes were wide open with amazement.
Shuddering from exhaustion and the pain, Ryoko leaned against Abel's shoulder panting loudly. Her heart was still pounding in her chest and she could feel her head throbbing with pain. "I...I'm sorry," Ryoko whispered so only he could hear.
"It's alright... It's over now," the humble priest wrapped an arm around her to steady her when she started to sway forward. He looked up to see that Tres had put his weapons away, "Dietrich took Esther..." Abel sounded defeated.
Ryoko sat in what she presumed to be one of the Vatican's prison cells with a sullen expression on her face. I save their pathetic lives and this is how they repay me... She glanced down at the restraints that barely kept her in her seat.
Drained of most of her energy, Ryoko felt helpless and weak. Sighing loudly, the space pirate glanced down at her newly regenerated hand. If that bastard hadn't shot me, she tightened her fists and frowned at the thought of last night, I would have... Ryoko paused. What would have I done? This question troubled her all morning. Would I have killed him? When she believed that the answer was most likely yes, Ryoko shuddered at the thought.
She pushed the disturbing thoughts of her killing Abel out of her mind and began to mull over what the sadistic boy had told her. Tenchi will be used for a greater purpose… Ryoko clenched her fists in anger when she could mentally picture the smile on the boy's face as he said it. It made her sick to think of the way he was describing Tenchi – like he was a child's play toy.
"Ryoko?" She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice that Abel had entered her cell to check up on her. "I didn't mean to scare you," the humble priest noticed her wide yellow eyes staring blankly at him for a moment.
Narrowing her eyes at Abel she growled at him to go away and leave her alone. "I thought you might want to change into new clothing," he was amazed that her ripped clothing still clung to her body after turning into a demon. "And that you might be hungry…"
Ryoko couldn't argue about her needing new clothes; even she thought what she was wearing was a bit to revealing for her tastes. "I'm not hungry," she lied without meeting his soft blue eyes.
"Ah," Abel took a seat next to the space pirate on the bench. "That's good because I'm not hungry either…" he was also lying.
The two sat in silence until Abel's stomach growled loudly, making him blush from the embarrassment. Shortly after, Ryoko's stomach growled louder than Abel's. "Well…we aren't very good liars, are we?" Abel pushed his glasses closer to his face and gave Ryoko a bright smile.
"W-would there happen to be any alcohol around here?" she was dying for some sake.