They sprinted along the passage, as it merged with others, and gradually widened, until the tunnel would have been wide enough to accommodate a small plane. Finally, they reached what appeared to be a dead end, featureless except for a small hole in the floor, before a great, cement wall.
"Here," Winnie marked, jumping right into the pit to slide down the ladder, Mike following.
As Mike descended, he noticed the light change, from a claustrophobic lighting, to distant, epic illumination. At the bottom he stepped out onto a platform and looked around slowly. His jaw worked in awe.
They had been telling the truth. There was a factory, right here, far below the school.
He and Winnie had descended to the top of an incredibly huge cavern, one the size of the cafeteria several times over. Soaring to its rock-hewn ceiling was all manner and description of machines, clanking and roaring in the glittering red light cast from fiery, soaring oven. Conveyer belts clicked by, as apparatuses labored over them, the squeals of manufacturing ripping through the air. A comparatively tiny, skeleton crew of workers operated the machinery, rushing about from place to place like a tribe of very creative and sloppily dressed ants.
As the duo climbed to the bottom of the assemble floor, their presence quickly became noted. By the time they reached the bottom, a crowd of workers had assembled around them.
"Hey, it's Fred!" one cried, the mass of dirty workers swarming around her, laughing in relief. "You made it! You made it past all of the Anti-angel traps! You came for us! Amazing!"
"Now, now, give the girl some breathing room…" a low voice called out.
A figure shouldered his way to the front of the crowd. For a school supposedly composed only of young souls, this male seemed a bit too old to be in high school. He had a beard, for goodness sake.
"Ah, Freddy, glad to see you could make it," the young man grinned, as they shook each other's hands with the familiarity of old friends.
"Hey, Asher. Is it getting lonely down here for you yet?"
Asher laughed. "Not yet, man. You know me; I'd much prefer a good, solid set of tools in my hands then to have to deal with everything above ground. I'm glad-"
His statement was cut off, as a sudden boom echoed through the chamber. They all looked up. Dust drifted down from the ceiling.
"That was our last anti-angel trap," a young Guild member noted nervously. "Angel, she's right above us!"
Fred's eyes narrowed. "She can't be allowed to reach the Guild. It would a fatal breach in our intelligence, she'd learn too much."
Asher stepped up beside her, arms crossed, as the workers around him stood silent, gaze fixed upward in anxious suspense. "So, what do we do?" he asked.
Fred whirled around to face her constituents. "We have to blow it all up. We have to blow up the Guild."
"What?" came the cry of disbelief? "We've worked here for years!"
"It doesn't matter! The whole purpose of this place, of the entire Battlefront, is to defeat Angel, to fight back. That becomes pointless if Angel reaches this place."
Asher suddenly began to laugh, his deep, throaty chuckles sounding as his deep-set eyes glittered. "Very well. It seems we have no choice. We shall retreat, and rebuild in the sight of the original Guild, the one from the early days. Men!"
Asher turned to his crew. "Don't stand there lollygagging! Remember, we created this place out of our skill, and our determination. The Guild is not what you see around you, but the memories and skills you possess, and your ability to create. Now, on your pride as technicians, we shall destroy this facility, and create one even stronger!"
The dirt-stained figures gave a rousing cheer, and dispersed, running of with radical yells.
As Mike watched them go and begin to affix ominous red packages to the walls around them, he felt an absence. Looking around, he was startled to find Winnie suddenly missing.
She was halfway back up the ladder before he caught up with her.
"Where are you going!" he yelled over the rumble of the machinery. "Angel's up-"
"I know! Someone needs to stall for time, if we're going to pull this off."
She hoisted herself out of the hole, and found herself once more in the large, plane-sized tunnel. It was enveloped in dust. She heard a step, and turned around, startled.
Mike brushed himself off. "Well, you're not doing it alone. I'll do what I can."
"…Humph."
The dust began to settle, its cause soon evident. A hammer re-ascended into the ceiling, leaving behind the massive crater it had left when it had fallen. And, rising to her feet with endurance of a force of nature, Angel turned to look at them, pale face glistening in the gloom.
"Students should not be down here," she said softly, her words barely heard. "It's dangerous. You must leave."
Winnie hissed in response, and violently chucked a spinning smoke bomb right at her. Clouds of gas wafting around her opponent, Winnie flung out her pistol, and fired.
Angel went down heavily onto one knee, her other leg beginning to bleed profusely. But as they watched, she straightened. The bullet popped right out of her appendage, the bleeding staunched.
"Guardskill: Distortion"
Winnie cursed, and before the smoke could clear, she was sprinting at her foe, single knife held in her clenched fist.
In the cavern beneath where the fight was taking place, the Guild members gasped with exertion, as their workplace filled with explosives, the incendiary parcels attached to every smoke stack, stairwell, and assembly line. In the center of the cavern, a number of the more ambitious Guild members labored, dirt phasing into pipes, electrics, and gears. Soon, they had assembled a hulking mechanic behemoth.
Seconds before she reached Angel, her strike inches from the shorter girl's neck, Angel spun away, moving with impossible speed. "Guardskill: Hand Sonic." Two twin blades materialized on both of her wrists, ones and zeroes twirling as the grey steel materialized. Angel crouched, and then flew forward, points moving with deadly intent.
Mike closed his eyes in horror, but then reopened them in confusion.
Winnie had somehow dodged the blow. As he watched in awe, she ducked around Angel, seeking to strike on the side. Angel parried, her other arm coming around to hit below. But Winnie kicked the attack away, using the momentum to dart back, and then come again with the side.
It was incredible. The two flew back and forth, sparks flying from the confluence of the blades. Winnies speed, her ability was incredible. To Mike, it looked like her skill was on the same plane as Angel's, perhaps the only member of the Battlefront who could actually stand this close to the being and survive.
Angel momentarily stepped back, her face dripping in sweat. She examined Winnie with inscrutable eyes.
"Guardskill: Delay-"
Even as she spoke, Winnie attacked again, crying out as she sprung forward. With a strike, she cut right through Angel, stumbling as her blow flew.
As Winnie stumbled, there was a shimmer. The image of Angel, cut in two, was dispelled, and the shards of light reformed to where Angel stood, inches behind Winnie, the sight of her movement delayed by seconds.
Winnie's eyes widened, and she barely managed to drop to the ground to avoid the twin blades. She rolled to the left, and sprung up again against a rock to fly at Angel once more.
She soared right through Angel, and though she turned, was barely able to parry the real Angel's strike from slightly to the side of the after-image
With a clang, Winnie's weapon flew out of her hand.
Angel broke into the finisher. She spun and twirled, each blade slashing around her in grim pirouettes, each strike getting within inches of Winnie, who stumbled back frantically. Winnie stepped back, her toe catching on a rock. She teetered, as the silver blades whirled to their target-
Mike's shoulder caught Angel squarely in the chest, sending her surprisingly light form sprawling away.
What's up, Mike thought as he helped Winnie to her feet. I did something extremely hazardous even though I'm not sure I want to join the Battlefront. I just, I couldn't let her get hurt.
"Fred!" A voice called from behind them. "Get out of the way!"
They turned around, and stumbled back in surprise.