Almost there… The silver-haired priest closed one eye as he aimed his pistol at the Death Hunter running down the corridor with Ion Fortuna in its undead claws. Praying for God to guide his bullet, Abel pulled the trigger.
The gunshot echoed in the passageway; within seconds the Death Hunter collapsed to the ground and Ion struggled to crawl away. Black blood spilled on the floor and covered the noble vampire's pants and shoes. He was upset but otherwise was unharmed.
Abel examined the bullet hole in the neck of the Death Hunter; he had nicked the major artery. Not taking any second chances, the priest fired a second shot in the back of the creature's skull. The Death Hunter's body twitched and then nothing happened.
"Great shot," Ion sounded relieved as he rubbed his scrapped shoulder. "I didn't think-" he fell silent when Abel raised his hand.
Kneeling closer to the bloodied corpse, Abel could hear a faint voice being transmitted through its chest. "We-what-wanted," he did not recognize the voice at all. Flipping the Death Hunter onto its back, he could hear the voice more clearly.
"Time to retreat with the prize." Prize? Oh no…it was Ryoko – not Ion, Abel bit his lip in frustration.
"Destroy that stupid priest and his little friend."
Suddenly the Death Hunter's chest lit up with a red glow. Not this again, Abel knew instantly that a bomb strapped to the creature's chest was counting down. "We have to get out of here!" The clumsy AX member grabbed Ion and they rushed back down the hallway towards the ballroom.
"Tres! They want Ryoko!" Abel yelled into his communication device before the clock on the Death Hunter's chest reached zero.
The ground quaked from an explosion. Ryoko stared wide-eyed at the hallway Abel had disappeared through to rescue his noble vampire friend; it was now filled with rubble. Abel… she could feel her lower lip quiver.
The remaining Death Hunters began to circle her. Ryoko quickly recovered, turning her fear into anger. She conjured a ball of electricity and turned on the closest Death Hunter. Narrowing her yellow eyes at the living corpse, she coolly calculated her attack strategy.
"Come on!" Ryoko yelled at she charged at full speed. Leaping high into the air, the space pirate came down on the Death Hunter slamming the electric ball in its face. When her feet hit the ground, the body collapsed in front of her with just a stump for a head.
Ryoko swayed as she stood to admire her handy work. Not now…not yet. She was starting to feel light-headed and weak. In a last desperate attempt to keep the creatures away, the space pirate swung her energy sword madly. Her legs began to buckle. Please not yet, she looked back at the rubble-filled hallway; hoping Abel would come and save her. Her knees hit the ground and the energy sword vanished from her hands.
Father Tres kicked the ballroom doors off the hinges and ran into the room with gun blazing. Within seconds the Death Hunters surrounding Ryoko were lying dead on the floor. He kicked a bloodied corpse out of the way as he went to her side.
"You could have shown up a little sooner," Ryoko panted as she looked up at the droid. She was out of energy but was otherwise alright.
"I like my entrances to be dramatic," Gunslinger said in an emotionless tone. He placed one of his pistols back in its holster and offered his free hand to her. "Or that's what I have been told."
"Foolish Vatican SCUM!" hissed a dark voice behind them. Stepping into the light, a tall and slender vampire bared his fangs at Tres. He gracefully removed his black top hat to reveal his pale face and his short, spiky white hair; his beauty was only second to Deitrich. His gloved hand reached for a leather whip attached to his belt and tightened his grip on the handle.
"Who is this?" Ryoko whispered to Tres but he did not respond. She watched his shoulders tense up, preparing for a fight.
In a matter of seconds Tres raised his gun to shoot, but the vampire had lightning-fast reflexes with the whip and knocked the pistol out of Tres' hand and across the room. The vampire started laughing hysterically. "You destroyed Deitrich's pets…" he glanced around at all the carnage, "but you won't destroy mine." Cracking the whip in the air, the vampire summoned two hell hounds to his side.
Blood dripped from the fleshless skulls of the hounds as they growled and snarled at Tres and Ryoko. With a simple snap of the fingers from their master, the hellish beasts leapt into action.
Putting himself between Ryoko and the hell hounds, Father Tres pulled out his remaining pistol and fired at their skulls. To his amazement, the bullets were easily deflected off. In a last attempt to defend himself, Tres raised his arm to block one of the beast's attack.
Knocked onto his back, Gunslinger tried to wrestle his arm free from the hell hound's bloody jaws. It was too late; the hell hound tightened its jaws and crushed his robotic arm into two pieces. With a loud grunt, Gunslinger raised his leg and continually kicked the beast in the chest to no avail. The second hound stomped down hard onto his legs; the weight from the beast bent the metal alloy until his lower limbs were rendered useless.
Quickly climbing to her feet, Ryoko rammed the hell hound with full force to get it off the priest's body. "Leave my friend the fuck alone," she growled through clenched teeth. She gulped when both hell hounds decided to turn on her instead.
Tres started to crawl towards his gun with one arm and two crushed legs. Hearing the metal scratch the stone floor as the droid moved at a snail's pace, the hounds decided to finish him off first.
"Oh no you don't!" Ryoko ran after both hounds and grabbed one by the spiked tail. Using whatever strength she had left, the space pirate dragged and slammed the hound into its mate. She could hear their master laughing at her failing strength from afar.
Panting loudly, Ryoko hunched over to catch her breath. She lifted her head to find the drooling jaws of one of the hound's just inches from her face. Without thinking about the consequences, she jabbed the beast in the eye as hard as she could.
"Son of a bitch," pain shot up Ryoko's arm. Looking down at her hand, she realized that it was broken and now useless.
Snarling and snapping their jaws, the hounds ushered Ryoko backwards until she was only a few feet from where their master was standing. "Tougher than those pathetic puppet corpses, eh?" the vampire snickered before he cracked the whip.
Meanwhile, the stone rubble shifted from the collapsed hallway. Large, eloquent, black feathered wings emerged from the debris. Shaking the dust off his body, Abel – who had activated his Crusnik form – folded his wings behind his back. His glowing red eyes focused on the young vampire kneeling by his feet; Ion nodded to Abel to go ahead.
Acting as the hand of God, the Crusnik summoned his dark red scythe in his pale hands. A low growl came from his throat as he focused on the hounds snapping dangerously close at Ryoko.
"Call off your hounds and retreat to whatever hole you came from," Abel warned in a dark voice.
A wide grin quickly spread across the vampire's thin lips, "Or what?" He placed his top hat neatly on his head, "From what I hear, you made a pact with God to never kill again." The vampire tightened his grip around the handle of his whip, just waiting for the Crusnik to make his move. "You don't want to make your Lord angry, do you?" he teased.
Ryoko stared at Abel wide-eyed. The humble priest had transformed into a powerful being, something with fangs and wings. If the space pirate was to believe in God, then she was witnessing His Angel of Death.
"Strip this angel's wings," the vampire snapped at his hounds to attack.
Still shocked at her friend's appearance, Ryoko didn't notice the vampire approach her from behind until it was too late. He wrapped his whip tight around her neck and dragged her towards the exit. "Don't worry," he whispered in her ear as she struggled for air, "I won't kill you. My master has wonderful plans for you my beauty-"
A bullet whizzed by the vampire's face and knocked his top hat to the ground. The vampire hissed bitterly at the shooter.
Tres had finally crawled to his pistol and was very shakily aiming his second shot at the hound master's forehead. "Six inches off target," he said as he adjusted his aim slightly. He pulled the trigger.
The vampire laughed shrilly when nothing happened. "Aww, the tin man ran out of bullets…" he grabbed Ryoko by the hair when she struggled against his grip.
"He'll-kill you," Ryoko could barely raise her voice to make the threat.
"Hush my pet," he licked her cheek as he yanked her into the shadows with him.
"NIGHTROAD!" Tres yelled at his AX partner.
Tearing a hound from his shoulder, Abel swiftly sliced the beast in half with his black scythe. He grabbed the other by the scruff of its neck and slammed its skull into the ground until it was stunned. Raising his scythe high, the Crusnik decapitated the second beast.
"He took her…" the damaged droid watched blood drip from Abel's wounded shoulder.
"I will come back for you," Abel growled. His hardened eyes glowed crimson before he followed after Ryoko and the psychotic vampire.
Back at the Vatican's secret headquarters, tortured cries echoed through the walls. The hound master had been successfully captured alive – minus one limb. The AX members were slowly extracting information from the vampire with the whereabouts of the queen and Tenchi.
Ryoko poked her head into Wordsworth's experiment room to check how Tres' repairs were coming along. She brushed her fingertips against the new metal legs on the professor's working table as she walked in. "You need to work on your aim," the space pirate scorned playfully at the droid as his new arm was tightened in its socket.
"I like your new look," Gunslinger teased back about her black eye, "You look much tougher now." He glanced over at Wordsworth and asked for a private moment with Ryoko.
Tres rotated his shoulder and flexed his new arm until he felt like no one was listening in on them. "I just wanted to say thank you," he mumbled the last few words.
The space pirate raised a questionable eyebrow at him, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that last bit." She started to grin when Tres repeated himself but a little louder this time.
Abruptly, Gunslinger held out his hand. "I propose a mutual partnership," he stared blankly at her.
Ryoko frowned for a moment as she thought about what he actually wanted. "You want to be friends?"
"Affirmative."
They shook hands, metal with flesh, and the friendship was confirmed.
Before Ryoko left, Tres called out to her. "Inform Father Nightroad that he has to present his findings to the Vatican officials tomorrow morning. Make sure he doesn't sleep in again," he added dryly.
Abel opened his eyes to see Ryoko sitting by the edge of his bed - still wearing the dress from the dinner party. He watched her yellow eyes shine in the darkness of the room; she appeared to be deep in thought. Finally, she lifted her head and smiled sweetly at him, "I'm glad you are safe." In the moonlight he could see her right eye was bruised.
The priest cracked a small smile back at her as well, "Not going to chew me out this time?" He stretched his arms above his head and realized that his right shoulder and chest was tightly bandaged. When Ryoko shook her head in response, Abel chuckled to himself. "Not even a little profanity? Just for old time's sake?"
He wondered why she was acting so quiet and calm. The last time he was hurt, Ryoko had nearly torn two of Ion's guards apart trying to keep him safe. Now, here she was sitting tranquilly not raising her voice or slapping him around for endangering himself earlier.
The next logical thought process then was that she was afraid of him. But then why is smiling at me like that?Abel asked himself. He scratched the feeling of fear off his list of why Ryoko was acting so strange.
Teleporting from the end of his bed to sitting right next to him, Ryoko's yellow eyes stared deeply into his with the smile still present on her red lips.
"You're not afraid of what I can become?" Abel asked quietly in the darkness. He could still remember Esther's horrified reaction when he had activated his Crusnik's powers to protect her. The space pirate was responding differently, like she knew what it was like to have a demon lurking within...just waiting to rip apart the world.
"Personally, your demon would kick my demon's ass – unless I cheated or something," Ryoko muttered in a sarcastic tone of voice. "Plus, I can't heal myself after drinking my enemies' blood..." she reached out gingerly with her bandaged right hand to touch the dressed wound on his shoulder. The pirate gently moved the bloodied linen wrapping to find perfect and pale bare skin underneath.
Abel felt his skin tingle when her fingertips brushed against his shoulder as she inspected him. Again, the priest could feel his heart thumping in his chest when she made contact. She looked so beautiful tonight…just like a star that had fallen from the heavens.
If Ryoko hadn't been there to stop him, the priest in his Crusnik form would have torn the vampire to pieces and broken his vow with God. His boiling anger had been cooled by her touch and worried look. She was his salvation and it frightened him.
He shivered slightly from her touch.
Immediately pulling her hand back, Ryoko quickly apologized. "Does it still hurt?"
"No, it wasn't that..." Abel avoided direct eye contact with her momentarily. Just tell her how you feel already! How hard can this-
Ryoko suddenly leaned forward on the bed and pressed her lips against his. When he closed his eyes in response, she kissed him more passionately and finished by biting his lower lip playfully.
It took Abel a few seconds to realize what was going on. Once he knew, panic began to flood his mind. "I-I shouldn't be-"
Before letting him finish, she grabbed his hand and placed it on her chest. Abel could feel her heart pounding – just like his. "This is real Abel," Ryoko whispered. "Now shut the fuck up and kiss me."
Without wasting another second, Abel locked his lips with her. He fumbled with his hands, not knowing what to do with them, until Ryoko finally placed one hand to grab her hip and the other to cup her breasts.
She pushed him down on the bed and kissed his neck, listening to his breath quicken, before moving on top of him. Ryoko began unbuckling his pants.
"We shouldn't be doing this…" Abel said as he slipped his shaking hands under her dress, "The others will…" he lost his train of thought when Ryoko tugged on his earlobe with her lips.
Pausing for a moment, Ryoko teleported to the door and locked it. She undid the strings of her dress behind her back and allowed the dress to fall to the ground. "Yes, we shouldn't…" she said before returning to his bed.
"STOP! Stop-" blood tears ran down the vampire's cheeks. His nostrils flared when he caught whiff of his own charcoaled flesh. "I'll tell you-" he coughed blood that dribbled down his chin and stained his shirt, "what you want to know. Stop…"
Valclav lowered the red hot, iron cattle prod from the hound master's stubbed left shoulder. "What are the Orden's plans for Queen of Albion and Tenchi?" he hissed in a dangerous tone of voice.
The vampire bit his lip as he gathered his thoughts but started speaking when the priest raised the cattle prod at him again. "The Rosenkreuz Orden is planning to resurrect the fallen angel-"
Valclav pressed the iron prod deep into the vampire's skin, "They can't bring Cain back. He is dead!" he growled while the vampire howled in pain. "I watched Abel kill him with my own eyes!"
Once the cattle prod was removed from his flesh, the vampire took in long breaths to tolerate the pain. "They want to use demon-summoning powers and electric energy of that girl in your custody to summon Cain back from the dead…then equip Cain with the red-head's power and the boy's protective shield. Then he is indestructible…" He watched silently as this information sunk into the priest's brain.
Valclav glanced over at Sister Caterina, who just simply nodded in response. The AX member pulled out a silver stake out of his robe sleeve and slammed it into the vampire's chest. The tortured extremist's body twitched for a few seconds before he finally slumped over dead.
"We have to stop this before it progresses anymore," Caterina said to her long-time friend. "Summon all of the AX members immediately for an emergency meeting…"
Bowing and exiting the make-shift torture chamber, Valclav contacted Sister Kate using his ear piece.
Caterina moved closer to inspect the dead vampire; she stepped precariously to avoid the pool of blood. "Another pitiful casualty of war," she moved back in disgust when a piece of blackened flesh dropped and nearly landed on her shoes.