Kicking the vent gate off its hinges, Abel tumbled out of the air vent and dropped to the ground with a thud. Tres followed, but landed on his feet silently. With their guns ready, the two AX members headed towards the center of the air ship and to Ryoko's screams.
"We have visitors Dietrich," called Isaak from the control room. He had caught sight of the silver-haired priest's nasty fall from the air vents on video.
"Take care of them," Dietrich barked at his vampire puppets. He strolled over to Ryoko with a dark look in his eyes, "I'll make sure your friends make it to you in several pieces." He signaled for Esther to follow him to intercept the Vatican priests.
"Take care to not remove the jewel," Dietrich called to the space pirate over his shoulder. "Or you will be in for a terrible surprise…"
Once he was gone, Ryoko tried to pull the jewel off her chest but the pain was too much. She glanced over the coffin to see a mummified hand twitching. "ABEL!"
"Wait," Tres held his hand up to stop Abel from busting the door down to take the stairs. "There is movement…" The keen sensors in Tres' ears and eyes picked up noises and several heat signals coming from above them. "Hunters," he cocked his pistols.
"How many?" Abel whispered.
"Too many," Gunslinger quickly surveyed the hallway to their left. "I suggest taking the route to the left-"
"You aren't coming?" The humble priest could hear the Hunters now – they were rushing down the staircase.
"Affirmative," the droid cracked his neck and rotated his shoulders in preparation for battle. "I will join you when I am able Father Nightroad."
Abel headed down the hallway, "Thank you Father Tres." He glanced over his shoulder once to catch a glimpse of Gunslinger kicking the door down and blasting the first Hunter point-blank.
Running down the hallway, Abel took the first right, then a left, and then right again. There has to be another way to get upstairs… He went down the next hallway, which was dimly lit. Cautiously, the silver-haired priest checked the first room. It was empty. As he moved towards the next room, Abel heard what he thought was familiar muffled crying.
"Esther?" Abel whispered softly as he poked his head into the room. He lowered his pistols and sighed with relief when he saw the queen sobbing on the floor with her back to him. "Esther we have to get you out of here…" the priest bent down and touched her shoulder.
When he saw her glazed-over expression he knew that this had been a trick.
Before Abel could react, Dietrich had silently snuck up behind the priest from his hiding spot and slammed his brass knuckles into the back of Abel's skull.
"This is the last time you get in our way," Dietrich growled as he stood over his stunned enemy. He snapped his fingers and Esther appeared by his side, "Be a dear and dispose of him."
Through his blurred vision, Abel could make out a gun aimed at his chest. "Esther…please don't do this…" the room was still spinning for him.
With the gun shaking in her hands, Esther flicked the safety off. Almost there…she prepared herself.
"Pull the trigger Esther…" cooed Dietrich to the right of her.
Abel shut his eyes tight and lowered his head. Two shots were fired. Taking a deep breath, Abel realized that he hadn't felt anything. Opening his eyes and lifting his head, the priest saw Esther hovering over Dietrich's bleeding body.
Blood was pouring from Dietrich's chest as he stared wide-eyed at the red-head like a deer caught in the headlights.
"I am no longer your plaything!" Esther screamed as she pulled the trigger again. His beautiful face was gone forever.
As she staggered back away from the faceless body, Abel stood up and wrapped his arms around Esther. The queen turned around and began sobbing on the priest's shoulder for real this time; most likely from the shock. "I-finally d-did it," she said between sobs.
"He'll never touch you again Esther…" Abel sighed with relief.
I have to get this off… Ryoko was trying to build enough mental courage to rip the jewel off her chest. The mummified hand was growing muscle, white skin, and moving more as time progressed. Counting down slowly in her head, Ryoko wrapped her fingers around the edges of the jewel.
Now… As she tugged, Ryoko could feel her heart stop and her lungs nearly collapse. Writhing in pain, Ryoko kept pulling for a few more seconds until her grip loosened from the throbbing pain. Lying on the cold ground, catching her breath, the space pirate stared at the ceiling of the airship. Where are you Abel?
The coffin lid started moving. Ryoko's head jerked to see a half-fleshed hand slowly pushing the coffin open, revealing the rest of the body.
Rolling onto her stomach and awkwardly climbing to her feet, Ryoko stood on the green glowing circle facing whoever or whatever was rising from the coffin.
Covered in all white, a man emerged from the coffin with long blonde hair. He examined his body, inspecting the recovery process. The glowing jewel on his chest was tapped once by his bony index finger. Satisfied with the results thus far, the Crusnik moved his attention over to Ryoko. His blue eyes pierced into hers.
He looks just like Abel… She backed away to the edge of the circle as he took a step towards her. "Who are you?" Ryoko hissed.
"I am Cain," the blonde bowed gracefully in front of her, "I am Abel's brother." He pulled a pair of white gloves from his pocket and put them on carefully.
"Welcome back my lord," Isaak said over the communications system.
"You can free the woman," Cain ordered. When Isaak started to protest, the Crusnik repeated the order. "Her strength is siphoning into me…there isn't much she can do now Isaak."
The radiant green circle under her feet dimmed and the intense gravity field was lifted. Ryoko moved cautiously to the side, ready to strike if there was the need.
"Abel is here my lord," Isaak warned.
"I know," Cain smiled softly at Ryoko. "This time my foolish younger brother will not get in the way…" He stretched his hand out to her, "You can still join us. Watch the world burn-"
"CAIN!" Abel shouted at the top of his lungs as he finally made it to the center of the airship. "Leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with you," he snarled. It was the first time Ryoko had heard the tone of pure hated in Abel's voice.
Esther meekly peeked over the priest's shoulder to see the villain mastermind. "He is still alive? How in the world?"
"Your friend…" Cain momentarily glanced at Ryoko, "Has been kind enough to provide me enough energy to pull myself together." He smirked at his silver-haired counterpart, "How have you been brother?"
"Enough of the damn pleasantries," Ryoko barked. "Release Tenchi before I fucking make you!"
Cain gave her a surprised look, "My, you have a tongue on you. I can't release him my dear. Tenchi is the only thing protecting this airship from being destroyed until I am fully recovered."
Tensing up the muscles in her shoulders, the space pirate glanced around the airship. She had fought in tighter spaces before. The only problem was forcing Abel to save Tenchi while she distracted the evil brother. An idea suddenly popped into her head.
"Then I'll just kill you," Ryoko conjured her energy beam sword and charged at Cain with very little force. She left herself a wide vulnerable spot as she attacked, hoping that the Crusnik would see and act upon it. The space pirate hoped that he would not try to kill her in the process until he was fully recovered.
He did. In one swift movement, Cain stopped Ryoko's attack by grabbing her throat and tossing her across the room at Abel and Esther. "Fool," he snapped, "You are no match for me."
"Ryoko-" Abel rushed over to her. "Are you alright…?"
"Never better," she muttered in a sour tone. "You have to find Tenchi. Get them out of here once I have your brother's attention," she hissed to Abel out of the corner of her mouth.
"Ryoko you don't understand, he's-" He fell silent when she looked at him with her stern yellow eyes. The silver-haired priest noticed the tears forming in her eyes – she was afraid. Ryoko please don't do this…I can't lose you too.
"You have to promise me to get Tenchi out of here…no matter what Abel," she whispered as she got to her feet.
"I-" the priest sighed. "I promise, Ryoko." He paused and bit the bottom of his lip, You might not get the chance again, he told himself. Abel reached out and brushed his hand across her cheek, "I meant it when I said that I love you."
"I know," Ryoko fought the oncoming tears. "Go now," she gave him another thumbs-up signal, "I've got this."
Cain laughed at the smitten look on his brother's face, "So, you have feelings for this woman? How adorably grotesque…"
"Hey asshole," Ryoko growled, "I'm not done with you yet…" The red energy beam sword appeared in her hands again.
"Isaak-release the Hunters to keep my brother company while I deal with the harlot," Cain ordered before activating his Crusnik form.
While he was transforming, Ryoko charged at the powerful blonde Crusnik with her eyes burning red. Teleporting constantly back and forth, Ryoko took multiple short swipes at Cain with her energy beam sword. All her attacks were blocked effortlessly except for one.
Blood dripped down Cain's left cheek. He wiped his blood away with his gloved hand and inspected it intently. "Still have enough fight left in you, eh? You are what I had hoped for," the Crusnik removed his white cotton gloves. "A new challenge…" he spread out his six beautiful snow white feathered wings.
An angel? Ryoko frowned as she tried to remember Tenchi's description of angels. He always described his mother as an angel…soft eyes, gentle heart, and would keep you warm with her white wings. This isn't an angel. He wants the world to turn on itself and watch it slowly destroy all life.
Cain's now blood red lips curved into a vicious smile, "Better keep up now…because I'm not done with you yet either." The Crusnik revealed a scythe from behind his back, similar to Abel's, but in a different color.
Ryoko swallowed loudly. Fuck.
Note: Thanks for all of the favorites and adding this story to your alerts. Please let me know what you think via review, I would like to improve as a writer in as many ways possible. Sorry for the long delay, I am currently finishing veterinary school and studying canine cardiology usually wins over writing my fanfiction. Thanks again.