"We are still taking considerable damage!" cried the vampire in the control seat. "A few more hits like that and the ship will be gone sir!"
There was a pause for a moment. "Activate the terran's power then Dietrich," commanded the smooth voice.
Releasing Esther from his control, she collapsed to the floor unconscious. Placing his dainty, well-polished hand on Tenchi's shoulder, Dietrich delved deeply into Tenchi's mind to control him completely. "Let's try that little shield of yours at forty percent shall we?" he whispered softly into Tenchi's ear with a sick smirk on his lips.
"Abel watch out!" Ryoko reached out, snatched the priest's hand, and jerked him back before a crumbling pillar crushed him.
Once the dust had settled, Abel could see what would have become of him if Ryoko hadn't been watching his back. "Thanks…"
"Damage report Father Nightroad," called an emotionless voice from the other side of the ruble.
Abel sighed with relief, "I'm fine. Is there anyone else here in this part of the Vatican Father Tres?"
"Negative," Gunslinger leapt over the ruble with some trouble. It appeared that his right leg was crushed.
Ryoko let Abel examine Tres' damaged leg and peered out the window to see the battle raging above them.
Three clear blue blades formed at the front of the ship and slowly expanded to cover it entirely. "Tenchi!" Ryoko's yellow eyes widened when she recognized the light-hawk wings enveloping the front of the enemy airship.
Just as she was about to teleport up to the airship, Abel sprinted across the floor and tackled her right into the tiled ground. "It's a suicide mission going up there!" he hissed in her ear as she desperately tried to knock him off her back.
"Tenchi is up there and he needs my-" the space pirate froze when Tres placed his pistol at the back of her head.
Tres wouldn't kill her but maybe this would be enough to stop her from doing something foolish. "Listen to me Ryoko! If Tenchi's powers are as strong as you say they are – the Iron Maiden will be no match. That means we have to get out of here before the whole city collapses on us." He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he waited for Ryoko's reaction.
Tears formed in the corners of her yellow eyes when she had finally made her decision. "Tenchi…" Ryoko couldn't save him this time and it crushed her.
Suddenly the light-hawk wings disappeared from the enemy airship just as the Iron Maiden was preparing to fire. The Vatican airship started to shoot the now-vulnerable ship down.
Oh no…no-no-"NO! TENCHI!" Jamming her elbow into Abel's stomach, Ryoko stunned him just long enough to kick him off her and into Tres instead.
It was too late. Small explosions started at the back of the ship, progressing to a final major explosion in the front which would utterly destroy everything and everyone on the enemy airship.
Tenchi…? Ryoko stood blankly watching the black and red sky. Was that the end? Is he really dead? It took a few seconds for the shock to fade and a different emotion to take its place.
"Ryoko we-have to go!" Abel awkwardly got up to his feet as he tried to catch his breath. "RYOKO!" he finally grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and forced her to look at him.
The priest fell silent when he looked into her eyes. The pain of Tenchi's death was obvious; tears were continuously falling from her empty eyes. Seeing her sorrow made Abel come to the realization that Esther was now gone too.
It took a piece of stone the size of a vehicle crashing several feet away from where they were standing to snap Abel out of his sorry state. He helped Tres back to his feet and quickly glanced around to find the nearest escape route when the ceiling above them began to cave in.
Several chunks of marble falling towards Abel and Tres were suddenly blasted into bits of dust. The priest glanced over to see Ryoko aiming balls of electricity at the marble chunks. Blasting each piece of the marble ceiling before it crushed them, she worked in complete silence. When every marble boulder was destroyed the cyan-haired space pirate grabbed Abel's hand and Tres' shoulder.
"If you look at the explosion in slow motion, you can see a smaller airship with the blue shield making an escape," Kate pointed out with her hologram finger at what she had discovered. "So it is safe to assume that Esther and Tenchi are still alive," she glanced back over to the AX members.
Since nearly one third of the Vatican City had been practically destroyed, the AX members retreated to the catacombs of the church. The pope and rest of the members of the Catholic Church had been successfully evacuated to several random safe houses outside of the city.
Abel could now relax his tense shoulders. Thank God they are still alive.
"Which direction were they headed to?" Caterina asked in a serious tone.
"To Byzantium I believe," Sister Kate responded.
Leon let out a long sigh, "We were just there!"
After the emergency meeting, Abel went to a deeper part of the catacombs to a dimly-lit room that smelled like stale death. He was relieved to find that Ryoko was sitting on the edge of a tomb alert and awake. She had collapsed after using all of her energy to help them escape from the crumbling city.
Studying him in silence, Ryoko finally took a bite of one of the biscuits he had left for her.
Abel opened his mouth to ask how she was feeling but decided against it. It was better to tell her the good news first. "Sister Kate discovered an escape pod leaving the airship before the final explosion and it was protected by a blue shield," he finally said. "We are going back to Byzantium tomorrow afternoon to find them. We're going to be partners on this."
It concerned him when he didn't see Ryoko emotionally respond to the news. She continued to sit in silence eating her biscuit.
"Did you hear me partner?" the humble priest asked quietly.
The word dug deep under Ryoko's skin. No one had called her that since Hotsuma. Fuck why do you have to be so much like him?
Abel noticed Ryoko clenching her fists at the word partner. "Did the biscuits help?" he tried to change the topic quickly, pretending he had not seen her uneasiness.
Staring into his light blue eyes, Ryoko sat in silence for a long time. She was at a fork in the road and she could either trust this priest whole-heartedly or always assume he is going to stab her in the back. Reaching into her pocket, she tossed Abel the second biscuit. "Better get your strength back up if you want to save our friends, partner," she smirked.