Angel worked all alone outside the cafeteria, carefully removing posters. The honors art classes would be finishing their semester end projects soon, and someone needed to clear a place on the walls. As she worked, she hummed a simple melody. She glanced down at the gaudy pile of papers before her. She liked the melody, she decided. It was beautiful.

Fred tapped her desk menacingly, gaze sweeping over her subordinates. "Last night's mission once more ended in failure," she declared ominously, not blinking. "And, there shall be… recriminations."

"What are you talking about?" Mike protested, standing up. "We snuck into her room! We even found that weird computer program!"

"But, we didn't find how she communicates with God," Richie noted helpfully.

"Richie could you just-"

"This is so stupid…"

"Actually," Leonard broke in, pushing up his glasses as he sat, legs crossed. "I wouldn't label it a complete failure."

Winnie raised her eyes at him. "Oh, really."

He nodded. "Indeed. I didn't want to say it at the time, as we were rather rushed, but I did notice the connection in that program. The programming that we saw, that wasn't random." He tutted. "That was the programming for her guardskills. They are run by that computer. Now, again, please call me Christ-"

"A computer?" Luke questioned incredulously, running a hand through his mousy hair as he swayed unsteadily. "But I thought angels worked by magic!"

"Do you know how computers work?" Elly asked coolly.

"Um. No, but…"

"Precisely. It's magic."

"-As I was saying…." Leo continued with frustration. "Her guardskills are applications, made by that program… And… we could use that program, Angel Player, to edit her guardskills." Winnie regarded him thoughtfully. "Very, interesting… thanks, Leonard."

"I told you, call me-"

Interesting… she thought again, cradling her head. Why on earth would God choose to give his servant powers in the form of a program? Maybe-

"Hey…" a voice spoke up. It was the new guy, Mike again. He sure did ask a lot of questions. "I was just wondering, because no one else really seems to be talking about it," he said awkwardly. "But, what happened to Hayley, last night? I know Angel went to stop her, and then… but, I thought that in this world, we couldn't die?"

At his words, a pall broke over them. TK stopped singing, and started to frown out the window.

Way to go, dufus, Winnie cursed to herself. "Look, you're new here, so it's all right to be confused," she explained, using an imperious tone. "But she didn't die. She was obliterated."

Mike's eyes widened. "Obliterated? But, but I thought that only happened if you went along with Angel! Hayley was definitely still fighting, she didn't give up!"

Winnie looked around. Everyone else looked just as confused, and forlorn, as Mike. They all had liked Hayley, and missed her. Her departure had left them shook, and worried. Winnie felt just as confused.

"Look, we don't know exactly how this world works, all right? Weird things like that… have happened occasionally. We're just going to have to get over it.

"We have an applicant to fill Hayley's place as GirlDeMo's lead singer," Winnie proclaimed, waving in a figure from the back of the room. "Julie Oakland."

With a hop, skip, and a jump, the girl pranced to the center of the room, to smile out at them.

"Oh dear mercy, It's you," Harry recognized.

"Yep! It's me! Hiya, everybody!" Julie chirruped, literally spinning in excitement.

Elliot coughed. "Uh, excuse me, little girl, but I think you're confused. Girl's Dead Monster is a rock band… aren't you thinking of a pop group?

"No!" she exclaimed vehemently, mouth open. "I love GirlDeMo! I know all of their songs, everything.

"Right…" Emmanuel muttered.

"Just looks like a groupie to me," Jake sniffed suspiciously.

Julie put her hands on her hips, her lips pouting. "You jerks! Don't start judging me before you've even heard me!"

"She certainly has a different outlook than Hayley," Winnie noted neutrally.

"Yeah… Hayley was actually great to listen to, while listening to her makes me want to go poke out my eardrums."

"In a nutshell, she's incredibly annoying."

"Enough, enough! Julie grumbled, pulling a shiny red guitar out of her case, and plugging it into the amp. "Just be quite for half a moment, and give me a chance!"

When the sound broke through, they did fall silent, more out of surprise that she could actually play guitar than anything. Mike listened to her performance openly. He really liked it, he decided. Yes, she wasn't Hayley, and in some ways lacked Hayley's natural style. But she had passion, and you could hear it in her voice.

However, men who have given an opinion are loathe to change it, especially when only confronted with something as inconsequential as facts. "Didn't touch my heart," Emm sniffed dismissively.

"She's a real nowhere man, man." TK sang huskily.

"I simply can't see her as a rock singer," Elly said dryly.

"I don't know… she definitely has the spirit," Winnie added. "And, well, she's the only one we've had so far who's had enough guts to even try to fill Hayley's shoes."

"Aw come on," Harry complained, glaring at Julie. She glared back.

Winnie nibbled her knuckle thoughtfully. "All right, whatever. We'll just send her over to the band. They can decide what they want to do with her."

Julie gasped. "I'm… I'm going to meet GirlDeMo? Ohmygoshohmygoshoh my gosh!" Julie clasped her hands together with ecstasy. "I'll get to meet Jess! Ooh…her murderous riff is absolutely killer! She has the skills of a demon and the burning energy of a thousand-"

"They're going to fire you," Elliot broke in confidently.

"Huh?"

"Yep. You are going to be fired," Harry agreed bluntly.

With a growl, Julie started to stalk towards Harry, and was abruptly halted when he planted his hand against her forehead, yawning as she struggled towards him, arms flailing.

Winnie sprung back up the front of the room. "Ehem! Now, to business. To overcome our recent loss, we must retaliate! So, to strike back as quickly as possible, we shall all be entering in the ball tournament being held tomorrow. The goal: To defeat Angel."

Everyone cheered, except Hannah, who rolled her eyes, and Mike, who raised his fist half heartedly. "Whoo…hoo?"

"You will need to create your teams today, and then register with a sports instructor. And… one more thing…"

"Uh-oh…" Emmanuel prophesized darkly.

"As an incentive… there shall be a penalty for all, if we fail to defeat our foe. The details, of course, will be decided as necessary."

Everyone gulped. After a moment, Harry stood up, eager. "Well, no time to waste! Let's get going!"

The tension broke, and The Battlefront spilled out the door, laughing. Mike got up to his feet. "We better be careful," Harry said from beside him. "Fred really means it… Hey," he put his hand on Mike's shoulder, staring at him intently. "I really need you man…" "Uh… Again, are you…"

"NO! Quit reading things the wrong way, moron! I just want you to be on my team, for the game!"

Mike laughed, happy to finally get a reaction out of someone. "I'm kidding. But, warning, I don't really know how to play any sports."

Harry smirked, eyebrows popping as they strolled out into the hallway. "Oh, that won't be a problem. I've gotten along here for so long by surviving off of my popularity. I've got our team all planned out…"