Chapter 10 – We Can't Go Back
"Geek-Boy…!" Panty said within earshot. The boy stood at attention.
"Y-y-y-yes P-P-Pa-Panty?" Brief stammered.
"Get that Ghost Stone, we'll distract these skanks," Stocking passed her the underwear she had on, and as Panty caught it, it materialized into another Backlace. Stocking herself materialized another blade out of her remaining thigh-highs. Brief made a dash for the spire, taking Chuck along with him. Scanty made a move to intercept, but Panty intercepted her, starting a point-blank, all-out, gun-fu battle between them.
"Not bad you little bitch," Panty sarcastically spouted as she back-flipped into the air. She fired off two bullets, both being intercepted by Scanty's own.
"I wish I could say the same for you…!" Scanty taunted, launching herself skyward after Panty.
Stocking jumped on the gigantic Ghost-Dragon's back, stabbing it with her blades to hold on. It roared in pain as they were both carried upwards, the Ghost flying through the underground cavern. It slammed itself into a wall, finally shaking Stocking off. She landed on the wall it slammed into, staying suspended and waiting for its next move. A giant claw came swiping, pushing her into the wall. As the dust cleared, Stocking held the beast's claw an arm's length away from her like it was nothing. She shoved the claw away, in turn launching the Ghost back down the cavern.
Kneesocks stood there, waiting for Cravat to make a move. Growing tired of it quickly, she came dashing at him, scythes aimed to kill. He was surprised at her speed, frantically sidestepping the strike. The Scythes crashed into the ground where he once stood, literally splitting that little patch of the Earth in half.
'Shit just got real,' Cravat readied himself, trying to see if she would leave an opening. One moment of his hesitation and Kneesocks managed to capitalize on it, swinging both her weapons in a full arc. He raised his left arm in defense, not being able to evade the blow at such a close range. She smashed his arm full force with the face of her scythes. Cravat let out a pained growl through gritted his teeth as he was sent reeling, then another smash sent him across the cold, stone floor. He lost grip of his whips and they were sent flying a ways away.
He tried to support himself on his right arm. As he tried to use his left, it crumpled down under his weight and throbbed like a bitch. "Fuck…!" he cussed under his breath. Demon weaponry seemed to have more effect on him than anything else. He pushed off the ground with his right arm and stood upright. 'Okay, let's think for a second… ah shit,' Kneesocks wasn't about to let him have a respite, throwing her Scythes at him, which he quickly flipped over as he got to his feet. He grabbed both Scythes in mid-air as they passed beneath him, and threw them back with the same ferocity, ignoring the pain in his left arm. As he landed back on the ground, she had already dashed for him, catching her weapons mid-flight without struggle. Crazy lady was hungry for his blood.
"Wahrgarbl..." he muttered incoherently under his breath as he anticipated when she would be in striking distance. He needed his whips now more than anything, and he had to make an opening to get to them. It took all his concentration as he nimbly dodged her horizontal swipe. Jumping over the huge blades of the Scythes, he got behind her, his knee colliding ferociously with the broad of her back. He just hit a girl. His conscience will never let him live this one down. Kneesocks hissed in pain as she was sent flying. Cravat landed and made a dash for his discarded whips. As he grabbed both, Kneesocks had already recovered, dashing for him once again. 'She isn't even breaking a sweat…!'
Cravat viciously swung his Ghost-Kiras in a wide arc to either side of him, ensnaring Kneesocks as she approached. He tightened his grip, sending a high-voltage shock from the handles all the way to the coil that wrapped her. She shouted in pain, squirming to break free of the prison. 'I can't beat you in direct combat, as much as I'd like to not admit it,' he thought to himself. The momentary upper-hand he had managed to distract him for a second.
"Otaku-boy!" Panty shouted in the distance. His head turned sharply. In an instant, all he saw was the distinct dark-gold flash of a revolver barrel facing his direction.
'Fucking shi-' Cravat instinctively retracted the whip he held in his right hand. At the same time he heard the gun fire, he swung out his whip in Scanty's direction, cleanly slicing the bullet meant for his skull in two, the halves making two sizeable craters to either side of him. Panty charged Scanty from behind, and they crashed into a far wall. He turned his attention back to Kneesocks. Suffice to say, the girl looked like she was going to murder him in a… painful way. He cringed. Cravat attempted to ensnare her again with the other whip, but she quickly broke away. "Brief, how's that Ghost Stone coming along?" he shouted, his eyes not shifting from Kneesocks, seeing the look in her eyes, finalizing his gut feeling of how much of a gap there was in their skill.
He couldn't beat her, and they both knew it.
"Almost there!" Brief shouted frantically, running up the spire with a flood of artificial Ghosts pursuing him. As they reached the top, Brief threw Chuck right at the Ghost Stone. The zipper-dog devoured it in one big gulp, and went to jump back to Brief when the pink… zipper-whatever-it-was Fastener kicked Chuck sky-high. Fastener unleashed a torrent of punches followed by a devastating knee to Chuck's gut. The latter excreted the Ghost Stone through its back-door and the putrid ball of evil, now made even more foul and disgusting, plummeted to the ground. Kneesocks tried to break away from her duel with Cravat to jump up and catch the stone, but the latter swung his whips in her direction, latching onto her leg and dragging her back down.
"Brief, the stone!" Cravat shouted, swinging Kneesocks around and smashing her into the side of the spire. Brief let out a loud gulp before jumping after the stone. It landed on the Ghost-Dragon's back, followed by Brief himself. As he clung for dear life, the stone fell once more right into the toilet they had used to get into the cavern.
"The things I do…" Brief said, laughing at his luck, or rather lack thereof, and then jumped right after it. Artificial Ghosts stormed the toilet in hot pursuit.
Stocking jumped high into the air, the Ghost opening its jaws at her. She smirked, before being eaten whole in one quick jerk of the massive Ghost's head. As the Ghost flew higher, a giant blue blade cut into its abdomen from within, slicing off its lower half. The Ghost exploded into ash, with Stocking catching the two Heavens that remained.
"I'll go get Geek-Boy, try and distract those two would you kindly? Kay-thanks-bye!" Stocking shouted as she went through the passage.
"Oh no you don't!" Scanty shouted, rushing after Stocking.
"Bitch you come back here!" Panty barked, right behind Scanty as they seemed to be absorbed right into the porcelain bowl. Nasty place, that. He honestly didn't want to do what he was about to do, but he had to help the others.
"I expected more, Cravat," Kneesocks suddenly called out, pointing her Scythes at him. "At this rate you won't even be able to touch me again."
He just had to snicker as she finished the sentence. Kneesocks's already flushed face turned a more crimson color as her face contorted in annoyance.
"You realize I can't even beat you in Dance Dance Rebellion right?" he said light heartedly. But it just hid how disappointed he was with himself. 'I can take down even the toughest of Ghosts but I can't hold my own against someone on equal footing… well, I guess I can't really call it equal footing anymore.'
"Do you know what will happen if the Ghost stone is destroyed, Cravat?" Kneesocks suddenly asked.
"Huh? The factory will be destroyed, won't it?"
"True," she gave him a stern gaze. "However it will not only destroy the factory, the compressed demonic energy that will be unleashed will swallow the immediate vicinity. In other words…"
Realization suddenly hit home in his head. "You're saying if we destroy the stone, the school goes down with it?"
"Precisely."
'Well that's just fucking great,' Cravat thought. He already had a feeling destroying the stone won't end things so easily. The lives of hundreds of humans were in jeopardy. He could already hear that annoying theme-song play in his head.
"Once those two bitch-angels realize that, I doubt they'd try and get a hold of the stone, let alone destroy it. They'll have no choice but to retreat let us take our course." Kneesocks said, almost with a triumphant tone.
Cravat had to laugh slightly, in a dismal way. "If there's one thing I know about the Anarchy Sisters, it's they'll will go to whatever length to get a job done. I doubt human lives would even stand in their way."
Kneesocks stood there, unmoving. She tried to feel if what he said was some kind of joke. He looked right into her eyes with a gaze that unnerved her. He wasn't joking in the slightest. "W-What kind of Angels let human lives go to waste?"
Cravat let out a sigh. "Look at it this way, and let me sugar coat it since I doubt they see things the way I do. We let you off the hook and your little army's going to screw the entire world over. We sacrifice a few hundred, and maybe save hundreds of thousands."
"Kill a few for the many? Does that not go against your moral code? I thought Angels sought to protect humanity at all costs, and this is how you do it?"
"What are you getting so worked up about? I think we all know humanity's one fucked up ball of contradictions and inconsistencies. Even so…" Cravat looked upwards, seemingly optimistic. "There are some who go on with their lives… their boring, mundane lives…" he paused for a bit, a sting reaching his head, but he ignored it, "… who live on in the hope that something will happen, to see the world change." He looked sternly at Kneesocks, the latter tensing at the former's newfound confidence. "What about you? You don't seem to be the world domination type."
"It's my obligation to what my master tells me to."
"There's a fine line between being obligated to do something and just being a puppet with no notions of your own, Kneesocks. You'd best remember that."
He took one deep breath and made a dash for the porcelain bowl while Kneesocks seemingly reflected on his words. She snapped out of her trance but it was too late. He found his way into the pipeline and slid up and out of the pipes into an empty cubicle, before dashing out of whatever bathroom he was in.
"I was pretty badass back there…" he mused. "You'd best remember that." He said in the same serious tone he was using just a few moments ago. He must've wound up in a far end of the school, because he could basically hear squat, and he expected various shouting and cussing by now. It was a good five minutes before a familiar noise sounded off in the distance. A distinct humming of sorts, or was it more of a 'vroom'? Definitely a 'vroom', Cravat noticed as the noise got closer. Then he realized, only one thing could make a sound like that, and that would be a car. A car in the school? How the hell would that work?
"Run Geek-Boy run." A familiar voice shouted over the noise. Stocking sounded like she was close.
"Aren't you going to give me a ride?" A boy, obviously Brief, shouted back. To one end of the hallway came rushing Brief, followed by a familiar pink Hummer. Chuck was driving See-Through for Stocking as they tailed the poor boy, who by now was out of breath as he ran for his life. Normally, someone would find vehicles in the school odd and illegal, but rules never really applied to the Anarchy sisters. Cravat heard another engine revving from a ways away. A giant limousine-esque SUV rounded a corner like a snake, its flexible chassis storming around quickly. G – Sting advanced like wildfire through the hallway, and Cravat made a mental note not to even try stopping it. He spied Kneesocks sitting shotgun, indifferent, but with her eyes narrowed at him.
An emergency stairwell was beside his position, and he decided it was now or never. At the moment Brief was in front of him, Cravat shoved both of them into the stairwell, before the two automobiles collided and were at a deadlock, Chuck and Fastener having fire in their eyes and punching the gas on their respective machines as far as they could go. 'Might as well give them a little help,' Cravat thought.
"Upstairs, the roof, go, now," Cravat said quickly, nudging Brief up the stairs.
"A-alright, be careful," Brief replied, trusting Cravat.
Cravat assessed what he could do. He spied something at the corner of his eye. It was a fire alarm.
Sacrifice a few hundred, and maybe save hundreds of thousands.
Finding another way without death and lost lives. Was this his hope for humanity? He acted all calm and collected, but his conscience wouldn't let anyone die if they could be saved. Deus-ex-machina, you've done it again. He smashed the fire alarm. As the bells rang in the distance, the confused echoing of voices told him that the students got the message.
'Now that that's settled…' He noticed the crevice the two cars made with their bumpers raised off the ground as the two machines vied for dominance. Well this would be fun.
'…I've done crazier things,' he mused. He dashed for the space underneath, shifting his weight and going into a slide, managing to squeeze into the tiny spacing between the two. He punched See-Through hard, rising high enough that it landed on G-Sting's hood, before absolutely mutilating its roof and Fastener in the process. He launched himself through the school window, using his whips to latch onto the side of the building.
Cravat started running up the side of the school to get to the roof when Kneesocks jumped out from a window below him, Scythes at the ready. She swiped at him, but hit nothing but air. She dragged her Scythes through the school walls as she ran up after him, ripping and tearing at the concrete before swinging her weapons above her head. Two gold and black blade-beams of darkness rushed to hack him to death. He made a full one-eighty degree turn, swinging his whips and slashing the energy-blades in two. As it disappeared, Kneesocks rushed him, creating a shockwave behind her before smashing herself into Cravat, the force propelling the two of them high above the school.
Cravat viciously kicked Kneesocks away mid-flight and swung wildly, latching onto her scythes. But instead of him pulling her, it was the opposite. She overpowered him and dragged him through the air, before smashing him viciously back down. Time seemed to slow as he fell down to towards the rooftop.
(C'mon, kid.)
Cravat recognized that voice. It was his(?) voice.
(Remember that little trick I did with my whips? Even an idiot like you can pull it off. I can't stand losing to a Demon of all things, so let me take over for juuuust a little bit, kay?)
Cravat had no choice. Or did he? Maybe it was his own pride speaking as well. He didn't want to be the weakest link, not now, not ever. He had to use whatever he could. He felt his consciousness fade ever so slightly. His eyes turned from brown to a glowing bright azure as he unconsciously thrust both whips to his side, and the tips disappeared into a portal that broke through reality. Two portals appeared behind Kneesocks, and the blades slashed through her, cutting and grazing her right arm and thigh, before disappearing and reappearing from another point, mercilessly assaulting her as she tried to defend herself to no avail. Cravat looked on as he felt like he really was no longer the one in control.
'You can stop now…!'
(Hell no, this is too fun!)
That maniacal voice ringed in his head. Whatever it was, it was enjoying this. Cravat felt himself regaining control again, forcing the controller to undo its hold on him.
(Aw, just when it was getting to the good part.)
Kneesocks tilted her head in time before a blade skewered her face, the blade cutting loose her ponytail, before another blade appeared in front of her chest about to run her through.
'FUN'S OVER!' It stopped right before it connected, Cravat having regained control. She fell down towards him, battered and grazed everywhere, her hair flowing. He threw himself upwards, defying gravity and laughing in its face, and caught her as she fell. She was shaken, but she was conscious, conscious enough to try and struggle free. She was too weak even for that.
"I think I got a little… carried away," Cravat said awkwardly.
"You should just kill me now and save yourself the trouble later," Kneesocks grimaced.
"No."
She blinked. "What?"
"Just like I said. No."
Cravat landed safely on the rooftop, letting Kneesocks down on an opposite side to regain her strength as he heard Brief's voice call out somewhere. He hurried towards it, leaving her to regain her composure.
'An absolute idiot,' she thought. But she couldn't help but grin slightly. She shook her head, feeling her fatigue fading quickly. 'Whatever the case, I must finish what my sister and I started.'
Cravat opened a door just to see Brief scramble out with a bunch of artificial Ghosts behind him. Cravat started to work on them as Brief tried to regain his breath, but Kneesocks had other plans. She was already up and running towards both of them, Scythes at the ready. She threw both Scythes full-force at them, Brief scrambling under one, warning Cravat of the other, who noticed it too late.
'Shit…!'
A distinct metallic clashing filled the air as the Scythes were deflected. Two bright blue Katanas returned to their master as she walked up beside Cravat. Stocking knocked him upside the head.
"You keep letting your guard down."
Cravat rubbed the area she hit. "Sorry, I'm a little out of it right now," considering, well, he went all psycho-killer nary a few minutes ago. "Where's Pa-"
A pitch-black bullet was intercepted before it found its way into Brief's skull by a bright blue sniper-rifle shell from a higher-up vantage point. Panty's skirt flowing through the air left nothing to the imagination as her very 'soul' was shamelessly displayed to the entire world. She jumped down, reforming her dual handguns, pointing them at Scanty, who held Brief at gunpoint. Kneeoscks put a Scythe to his neck for good measure.
"One more step and the human dies," Scanty said smugly.
"Go ahead, and when you do pull the trigger your big head will be exploding into a million pieces," Panty barked, slowly advancing with Stocking towards the Daemon sisters. "You're fine with that, right, Geek-Boy?"
Brief let out a loud gulp. "Can't you at least say my name properly before I die?"
Scanty was starting to get frustrated. "You… you call yourselves Angels?" she yelled, flustered and awe-struck that they would let the human bite the proverbial bullet. Kneesocks looked at Cravat, who just shrugged in a very I-told-you-so fashion, having a half-way smirk on his face.
Scanty narrowed her eyes. Panty hoped her banter would get the demon-girl frustrated enough to shoot at them. It seemed to be working.
"Fuckin' angels…!" Scanty clicked her gun to full auto.
'Get ready Stocking,' Panty signaled her sister. But instead of shooting at them, Scanty pressed the barrel of one revolver against the side of Brief's head.
"I'm giving you until the count of five…!" Scanty growled with a crazed look on her face. "ONE."
"Oh joy, a counting game," Panty said sarcastically.
"TWO."
For some reason, Panty had a feeling Scanty wasn't messing around. "… ah shit."
"Did I mention my sister will also go to any length to achieve our goal?" Kneesocks said to no one in particular. Cravat put a hand to his face.
"Crap dammit."
"THREE."
"Panty, now what?" Stocking asked. "She's really going to shoot him."
"FOUR."
A moment before the word five came out of Scanty's mouth, Chuck and Fastener came crashing through the roof from below, skidding across as they turned sharply towards each other. They all scattered, Scanty pushing Brief away to make a dive for it as Kneesocks rolled away, while the three Angels all jumped skyward. See-Through and G-Sting clashed once more, smashing and skidding along each other as they used the rooftop as their own personal death-derby raceway.
"Chuck!" Brief shouted as he rolled to his feet. He unzipped his pants and retrieved the Ghost stone from only god knows where, throwing it into Chuck's path. The zipper-dog turned sharply, letting the Ghost stone fall right beside the driver's seat.
"What the hell?" Scanty cussed loudly. "Fastener!"
The Daemon sisters hopped into G-Sting as the Anarchy sisters along with Cravat and Brief jumped into See-Through.
"Can we break the stone now?" Stocking shouted.
"Students still too near, have to disperse them somehow," Cravat argued. He had a relatively bright idea. "Chuck, jump off the roof!" Chuck gunned it, and Fastener followed suit. The two vehicles launched off the roof of the school and flew through the air above hordes of confused students. Cravat had to get them to scatter away from the school.
"BOMB!"
Cravat motioned with his arms, but they all had those confused looks on their faces. Well, students these days always had that look, but nevertheless it didn't help in getting them the hell away from a blast that was about to vaporize their sad existence off the face of the Earth. He did a motion to all of them to get away from the school premises. Still wouldn't budge. Some of them even gave him the finger.
"Why am I trying to save these guys again?"
"Because you're an idiot, that's why," Panty said, looking at him with a deadpan expression. "This should scare em." she put one leg on See-Through's door, her skimpy red dress fluttering in the breeze and showing off her soul to the entire student body. Many whistles of appreciation came from below, but as much as Panty wanted to tease them more, she had to do something for the idiot sitting right next to him using one hand to block his own view of her womanhood... well the other idiot was already dying of blood loss via his nasal passages. She combined her pistols into a rocket-launcher. She let off an entire salvo, aiming at the walls of the school near enough to the students to get them running the hell away. She angrily pointed towards the road leading to the city. With no protest, they scrambled like little ants. Cravat laughed a little.
"That's one way to get things done."
"Well, you know me," Panty replied, beaming.
A Scythe came between the two of them, missing their faces by inches and lodging itself into the front-seat. Scanty and Kneesocks launched themselves off of G-Sting's hood, causing the LSUV, which Cravat made up as the acronym Limousine Sports Uber Vehicle, to spin back down to the ground, crashing into the ground with its front-end deep in the Earth. Scanty and Kneesocks landed on See-Through's trunk, pointing their weapons at the Anarchy sisters' throats before they could react. Cravat was about to move when Scanty clicked the hammer of her revolver, aiming at Panty right between the eyes.
"One move and her brain will decorate the sky."
"… Tree." That was all Cravat could say. Somewhere along their parabolic journey through the sky they ended up heading straight for one tall-ass oak. They all braced for the impact, but it never came. Normally they would've just crashed into it and be flung forward like normal, but through some twisted comedic sense of humor the oak tree absorbed the impact from colliding with an entire Hummer and its passengers, bending forward until they were mere inches from the ground.
"Doesn't this only happen on T.V.?" Cravat asked out loud through squinted eyes. Stocking looked at their situation.
"… yep."
"So this is the part where we…?"
"… yep."
The oak tensed itself back up, flinging everyone back in the direction of the school parking lot. They all managed to get off before crashing headfirst into a wall, save for Chuck and Brief, who braced themselves for the incoming collision.
See-Through crashed into the school wall, leaving yet another hole. The others scrambled to their feet, with one thing on their minds.
"Where's the stone?" Scanty shouted, surveying the area quickly. Cravat suddenly rolled sideways, getting up quickly as soon as he recovered. The glowing red stone was in his hand, holding it out in front of him all badass like.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't break this thing right now."
"The explosion will vaporize anything within the school grounds. That means my sister and I along with you lot," Kneesocks answered.
'Oh right, that reason,' Cravat mused. He was getting all climactic-level badass too. He saw a glint at the corner of his eye, and thankfully Lash-Out was a ways behind him. He clenched his fist tightly, shattering the orb and whatever power it had left within it.
It was simple really. He saw Chuck already speeding their way, with Brief's two arms outstretched towards the two Anarchy sisters. He would then make a break for Lash-Out, which was right behind them, just waiting for him to jump on and ride off quickly. The first part of the plan happened within moments.
Anarchy sisters are gone. Check. Time to get to Lash-Out. The ground beneath them already started to shift as a primal rumble emanated from beneath the school. He turned to the Daemon sisters.
"What will you two do after all this?" He asked over the crumbling landscape. G-Sting pulled over right beside them, the two demon-girls getting into their LSUV. Kneesocks answered back at him.
"Obviously we will no longer be able to return to how things were before. Plain and simple."
G-Sting sped away quickly.
"Right…"
He ran over to Lash-Out as the ground behind him started to fall, hopping over and onto it. He saw his escape route laid out before him. An obstacle course of sorts. He probably had a few more seconds to go.
"I guess the both of you have to stop pretending now…" Cravat gunned the throttle.
"Time to go back to reality."
Author's Notes: Many apologies for the lateness. Same reason, which would be school, basically. I make no promises as to how fast I can update anymore, but you can be sure it'll be there sooner or later, haha. Hope you all enjoyed this one, took bite-sized sessions over the course of about three months to complete XD