Sorry about the slow update. With it being the end of the school year, I've been busy. But school's ending June 1st and I have Memorial Day off, so I should be able to put the next chapter up soon.
"I believe Gibbs said a lunch break, Abby, not a vacation."
DiNozzo was sitting at his desk when Abby and the Exorcists walked through the office area.
"Tony, you're just jealous that I got a lunch break and you didn't."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Ducky sent some stuff to your lab."
"What kind of stuff?"
"I don't know, he just came here and asked if you were around because he had some evidence for you to process."
"Okay, I'll go check it out."
Abby walked forward, towards the elevator that had taken Lavi and Allen to Abby's lab earlier.
"Hello, Abby." Allen and Lavi froze in their tracks at the voice that just greeted Abby. The person walked around the corner, and their fear was confirmed.
"Hey, Ziva."
A woman with dark hair walked around the corner, a woman that Allen and Lavi knew all too well. She was the one who found them at what everyone was calling the "crime scene," the one who had almost shot them.
"Ziva," Abby called her, stopped in front of the Exorcists, looking at them as though they were insects. They didn't dare breathe, let alone move. Was she going to shoot them for real this time? Her eyes looked dangerous.
"Excuse me," she told them. Had they heard her right? Just earlier today they had thought she was going to kill them and now she was saying excuse me?
"You're in my way. Move."
Allen and Lavi stepped aside and let her pass.
"Come on, slowpokes," Abby shouted over the desk dividers between her and the Exorcists. They jogged to her side like puppies returning to their master.
In a few minutes they were back at Abby's lab, and the group noticed a small container inside a plastic bag on the table. Abby walked over to it, lifting it to the light to examine the black dust inside. Allen and Lavi knew what it was.
"That," Lavi said, "Is the result of an Akuma attack. It's bullets contain a virus that breaks down the human body in less than a minute. Please handle that carefully.
Abby looked from Lavi to the container. "I still have to analyze it for Gibbs, though."
"Just be extra careful, Miss Abby," Allen said. "We don't want you to get in trouble with your boss, but this is a very dangerous virus."
Abby nodded before setting the container down. "I think the biohazard suits are in my office.
The elevator doors opened and Ziva walked through them. She smiled at the image of those kids just a few minutes ago. They looked like she was going to shoot them.
She walked through the door to Abby's lab carrying a bag with the victim's clothes and another container with the rest of the black dust.
"Abby, I brought some more evidence."
Ziva saw Allen and Lavi next to the table, and they turned to face her. They still looked marginally scared.
Abby came through her glass office door carrying one of the biohazard suits. Ziva wondered why she had it.
"Ducky didn't know what to make of this dust, so he just sent it all to you."
"Okay, Ziva, just one—"
Everyone turned to face Allen when they heard a whirring sound, as though a camera flash were charging. What she saw surprised Ziva.
Allen's left eye was black with a red target and had a black cogwheel over it.
"How many?" Lavi pulled a hammer out of its holster on his right leg.
Allen looked back and forth without moving his head. "One, but I don't know where . . ." His eyes went wide and he turned his head.
From that point, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.
A strange creature resembling a dragon appeared in front of the window.
It raised its arm so the fist was pointing to Ziva.
She removed her gun from its holster and aimed it at the creature.
A whiff of smoke erupted from the creature's wrist as a large, purple, bullet-shaped object started flying towards her.
Before Ziva could shoot, something—someone—tackled her. Something pushed her and the person grabbing her into the wall behind them. She closed her eyes at the impact.
Ziva opened her eyes and saw Allen roll off of her. He got on his knees, but didn't try to get on his feet. Ziva stood and walked over to him.
As she got closer to Allen, she saw him, head down, holding his left hand over his right arm. Timcanpy was flying over his right shoulder. She went to his right side, wanting to get a better look at the wound.
The wound looked pretty bad. Had he taken that oversized bullet for her? Ziva reached out to touch his arm.
"Don't touch me," he said, his voice weak. He raised his head. "You'll be infected." Ziva gasped at what she saw next.
He was turning black. It wasn't just fading to black, either, but black stars were appearing on his skin. He seemed to be getting weaker, as well.
"Allen? What's going on?" Looking at Abby's face, one would wonder how she could keep her voice calm . . . ish.
"The Akuma virus . . . every bullet is loaded with it." Allen put his left hand to his heart, and the black began to disappear. His natural color seemed to force the virus to the star on Allen's forehead, which was glowing red.
With the visible traces of the virus erased, Allen stood. He still had the wound on his arm, though.
Now they were even more confused. What just happened? He turned to face them.
"Another part of being a Parasite type; I'm immune to the virus."
Abby seemed satisfied, but Ziva was still completely lost.
"Lavi, we should—" Allen said as the white coat he'd been wearing when Ziva first found the teens appeared, and his hand turned into the claw form.
In all the confusion, Ziva hadn't noticed that the redhead—what was his name, Lavi?—and the weird creature had disappeared. Apparently, neither did Allen.
"Stay here." Allen ran through the huge hole in the wall—something else she hadn't noticed—towards crashing and shooting sounds, Timcanpy flying next to him.
He expected them to stay here in the lab while they were off fighting some monster that just tried to kill Ziva and almost killed Allen? Ziva could handle herself!
She and Abby looked at each other and ran to the elevator.
"Feeling better?"
Allen nodded at his friend as he joined in the battle.
It was the same Level 2 they'd seen earlier that day. Its shape reminded Allen of the Akuma who kidnapped Mei Ling in China, before they set sail for Edo.
"We can't let him get away again."
"Agreed." Lavi raised his hammer into the air. "Level Two, release!"
The NCIS team stood back from the battle, watching it in amazement. Abby and Ziva had explained the explosion everyone upstairs had heard, and Gibbs, Tony, McGee, and Ducky followed them outside. They had all grabbed their pistols with the thought that a gun would do some good.
Upon getting to a point where they could get a clear shot, the team saw that they were wrong. The sight was amazing, with Lavi swinging his oversized hammer and Allen swiping at the creature with his claw.
Not knowing what to do, they just watched. There had to be something they could do, but what? According to Allen and Lavi, this thing wasn't even from their time. At every hit the creature landed, someone winced. They did this for a living?
Allen grabbed his wrist, and the team widened their eyes as Allen transformed the claw on his hand into a large sword, and the coat over his shoulders lengthened.
And they'd thought a costume contest would be the highlight for today.
The Akuma swiped at Allen, and he activated the Crown Clown shield to protect him from the hit. The swipe still landed, and sent Allen flying and crashing into a tree, knocking the wind out of him. Timcanpy circled above Allen's head, seemingly encouraging him to get up.
He didn't get it. Granted, he was probably still out of it from recent events, but still. Crown Clown held up against the Level 4, so why not a Level 2? Was it because they were in a different time? If that was so, then why did the Akuma seem to have all its powers?
Allen had another idea. Allen was exhausted, and since Crown Clown was a physical part of him, it must be tired as well. Lavi's hammer, on the other hand, had just been rebuilt. Maybe . . .
"Lavi!" Allen stood up, leaning heavily on the tree for support. "Use a fire staff."a
"What's that?" Allen turned his head to find Lavi. He saw his friend standing several yards away.
"I said," Allen said louder than before. "Use a fire staff!"
"But—"
"What's the alternative, Lavi? I'm exhausted, so my Innocence is, too. Just hitting it's not helping! What've we got to lose?"
"Alright then." He held the handle vertical, so the hammer end was straight up in the air. "Level Two, release!" A ring of symbols surrounded the hammer. Lavi swung the hammer, driving it through one of the symbols and holding the now red-glowing hammer above his head. "Consuming fire staff!"
Lavi brought the hammer down, hitting the ground just short of the Akuma and the red symbol now covered the ground around them. A red dragon-shaped figure emerged from the seal, shooting into the air and twisting. It swallowed the Akuma, even as it tried to fly away. After a few seconds trapped in the fire staff, it exploded.
The staff disappeared and Allen and Lavi deactivated their Innocence, collapsing to the ground after doing so.
It was finally over.
a. I decided to go with the English dub version on this one, because I wasn't sure what the direct translation for "hiban" was.
So, this one's actually been ready to go for a while, but I was planning on posting it with the next one, all as one chapter. But I figured it was all a little much to put in a single chapter. I started it right after I updated this last, but hit some writer's block. I'm over it now, though. Obviously ^_^
If you're reading "Should I Die Before I Wake," my other fanfiction at the moment, I want to finish this one before updating it. Two reasons for that: 1. I started "Blast From the Past" first, I'll finish it first. 2. Writer's Block :p
Oh, on a random note, I ordered my cosplay finally! Yippee! :D
You know the drill. Review, check out my other sites, check out my other fanfiction(s)