A/N: Like i said before, i will be pushing out chapters as fast as i can. It may come to a point where i will shorten the total number of chapters. Well, we will see how it goes from here. Like i said, there is only one more week left before i will put this story on temporary haitus. For now, just enjoy the chapter. I think some of you will like this one.
Because i wasn't clear at times, i will now put out a list of enemies that the Organization faces, starting from the weakest.
Enemy lists:
NPCs:
-Student Council
- This group rarely comes out to challenge the SSS2 directly
-Disciplinary Committee
-Teachers
- this group does not really appear to do anything
Shadows:
-Infantry
- Most numerous and basic
-Stalker
- First seen when Katsuragi and the new Fort members went down to collect their weapons for the first time
- Able to avoid traps
- Hide in shadows
- Largely undetectable
- almost no attack power
-Spawners
- First seen during Katsuragi's recruitment test
- Able to create clones of itself
- Usually plants itself in one fixed spot to clone itself
-Cannibal
- First seen during Katsuragi's first promotion request
- Eats other Shadows to power itself up
- Requires Squad leader level to defeat when powered up
-Giant (Gigas)
- Unusually large Shadow (approximately ranging from ten metres tall to twenty metres)
- Quite rare, usually the combination of multiple Shadows
-Burst
- Suicidal Shadow
- Explodes itself after jumping into SSS2 members
Angels:
-Type D
- NPCs with guns
- Have gone against their original programming
-Extremely weak
-Type C
- Able to change basic composition of their weapons
-Type B
- Smarter than normal
- Enhanced physical abilities
- Equal to a Squad leader
-Type A
- Leader capabilities
- Capable to make people disappear
- Equal to a Guardian in strength
-Type S
- Able to change their own body's composition
- Twelve are known to exist
- Equal to division leaders
-Type EX
- Unknown powers
- Godly powers?
- Only one has been seen
- Only Kurogane Kou is known to match them in power
Angel Beats!
What We Live For
Operation 24
Bear versus Boar
Back in the World of living
Sakurai Yuri, once known as Nakamura Yuri, was getting impatient. Extremely. It has been several weeks since Kamiya Yuzuru, formerly known as Otonashi Yuzuru, told them that he knew of a way to get back in 'that' World. And yet in these few weeks, Yuzuru has yet to produce anything. He only told them that it requires time. What sort of thing requires time? !
"Maybe he's preparing for some ancient dark ritual."
Kitamura Yui said. Yui, Hideki's girlfriend and all-round hyper girl. She has not changed in the least since coming to this World. Yuri had to wonder if there was something wrong with this girl on the molecular and spiritual level. It can't be that her upbringing caused her personality to become like this twice in a row.
"With black magic, he needs to gather eye of newt, tail of spider, hand of hawk-"
"Those things don't exist."
"What if he needs to train his muscles! He must be trying to compete with mine!"
"No one is a hidden body-builder like you- Don't take off your shirt!"
Idiots. They are all idiots. Yuri had to surround herself with idiots. But... it was this atmosphere, this warmth that she wanted... it was this feeling that she wished for when she left 'that' World. Because she wished for it, that it came true. She came to this World to meet them once more. But... she was now going back. Dragging them all along with her, she was going to head back into the battlefield. It was something she needed to do, to finally put her past behind her. She will end this. No matter what. It was at this moment that Yuzuru came into the room. Everyone in the room all got up, anticipating what Yuzuru wanted to say.
"... Er... did I miss something?"
Yuzuru asked, seeing everyone on their feet.
"We were waiting, Kamiya-kun... waiting for what method you have to send us back into 'that' World."
Yuri said, her voice rather irate.
"Oh... erm... that would have to wait for awhile longer."
Yuri's nerve snapped.
"... WHAT DID YOU SAY? !"
Yuri shouted, banging one foot on the table.
"Well, it takes time to prepare... and it seems like I cannot make a connection unless the 'other' side is ready. And they aren't."
Yuzuru explained. This caught Yuri's attention.
"... You have contacts from 'that' World?"
"... In a way, yes. But I cannot tell you who they are, or how to contact them. Just trust me on this."
Yuri bit her lip, not liking it when Yuzuru used that word.
"... Fine. We'll wait."
Yuri sighed, sitting back in her chair.
"Yurippe? Are you sure about it?"
Takagi, the halberd wielding idiot asked, pointing his (replica) halberd at Yuzuru.
"If you want, I can force him to speed up the process."
"Oi, put that away. You'll poke someone's eye out."
"That's the idea."
"Don't make it the idea!"
"That's enough!"
Yuri shouted, silencing the room.
"Kamiya-kun must have a reason for not opening the way so soon... So? What do you have for us in the mean time?"
She asked, noting the stack of documents in Yuzuru's hand.
"This... is something all of you should see."
Yuzuru smirked, putting the stack on the table. Yuri grabbed the first one and took a look through it.
"... What is this, a website?"
She asked.
"An English website I found. It is a gathering place for people who claim to have experienced another life time."
Yuzuru replied.
"... There are idiots like these everywhere. How does this help us?"
Yuri was now getting a little more irritated.
"Wait for me to explain everything. You see, I thought that it was all a hoax or just a group of delusional idiots. But after digging around more, I found something interesting in each section. This."
Yuzuru took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Yuri.
"'A place where we get rid of regrets' 'limbo was like a school'... This is-"
Yuri started to see what was going on. Yuzuru nodded with a smile.
"We aren't alone, Yuri. There are hundreds, no.. thousands of people out there in the World who have experienced similar things to us. This leads me to think that there are other 'Afterlife' Worlds, perhaps one for each culture."
Yuri was certainly surprised by this find. It was exciting... no, invigorating, to see such a large number of people who felt and did the same thing as they did. They truly weren't alone out there.
"There also seems to be a different form of 'limbo' for different age group. Some places have claimed that they tried to fight back, but ended up like us, reincarnating into this World. I had gotten into contact with some groups and explained our situation. Some groups have responded favourably, and more will follow."
Yuzuru said.
"... There must thousands of us... we don't have a small band of students any more... this is... an army."
Yuri said, realizing what Yuzuru was trying to do.
"Yes. We have an army. We will stop this Yuri, but to do it we must ensure that nothing goes wrong."
"I understand... take all the time you need, but you must still hurry... my... dreams... they have not been going well these few nights. I fear the worst."
Yuri told Yuzuru with a grim face. Yuzuru's smile dropped immediately.
"I know, Yuri... I know."
.
.
"Anyway, since when did you learn ten different languages?"
Back in Purgatory [Japan Teenagers}
The last thing that Katsuragi wanted to do, was to help out with Yuuko any more than he should. After Operation: Mine-sweeper, Yuuko made another Operation. Operation: Steam was nothing more than boiling overly large boiler tanks all around the school in an effort to blow them up. Yuuko called it 'collecting data' though Katsuragi highly doubted it. Operation: Torrent was actually raiding the kitchen supplies. Though Katsuragi expected that Operation to be fiercer, the truth is that the cafeteria is completely closed after ten at night, so at eleven, they just strolled in and took what they needed and left. So much a for a torrent.
There were a few more Operations Katsuragi participated in and his body was starting to give out. Yuuko would not let him leave, not at all. Just how much longer does she need assistance from a Wolf? Wait... maybe it was BECAUSE he was a Wolf, that she did not want to let him go. A Wolf member was useful to have around, after all they were meant to be extremely good, second best in the organization. And since they aren't part of your force, you can use them until they are all dried up like rags. And that was probably what Katsuragi was at the moment, a dried up rag.
Katsuragi sighed, cursing his own fate as he walked into Guild. He had spent the past week down in the tunnels of Guild, helping Yuuko with her weird eccentric ideas. None were so good. He walked by a group of Assault members who were wearing some thick clothing. Were they preparing for something? But what would you need thick clothing for?
"Yo, Katsuragi-chii. Morning."
Yuuko greeted him with her usual grin. That grin was now in his nightmares.
"How was your sleep? Well, since you've been here a week, you should be accustomed to it by now."
Yuuko without pause or his reply.
"Thanks to you and several other Wolves, Guild is more or less back at full potential."
Yuuko smiled, passing him a large stack of Meal tickets and some additional magazines for his weapons.
"This is for the last job. Good job getting the generators back online. Can't believe that a loose screw found its way into the gears."
Yuuko laughed though Katsuragi wasn't. Loose screws are all over this place. Not just the screws. The people had a lot of loose screws here.
"Anyway, I need you for one more job. The Runners are having a major problem with their work. Topside has been hectic for the past three days and the Runners are slowed down in their jobs. Help them out and you'll be paid well for it."
Yuuko told him before she walked off. The Runners of Fort, also called Overcharge. They were seen everywhere, running from one place to another delivering supplies, documents and weapons. If Guild was the heart of the Organization, then the Runners were the red blood cells that carried oxygen throughout the body. They were vital to the organization and were the shadow workers that made this organization work. Still, even though you see runners almost everywhere, you don't really get to... see them.
Katsuragi meant that they never stick around long enough for you to actually realize they are there. They run around without a sound, appearing and disappearing like ninjas, dropping supplies and such around the school like Santa on steroids. So Katsuragi now had to find these mystic warriors... or road runners, which ever you think is more appropriate. But how was he to find the leader of these people? Just who is the leader of these ninjas? Somehow Hattori Hanzo came to mind.
"Hm? Aren't you that Katsuragi fellow?"
A voice spoke up, making Katsuragi turned. Standing there was a familiar face. More like two familiar faces. Takamachi Yukari and Amatsu Len. Both from the sixth division. While Yukari was full of smiles, Len... wasn't.
"KA .TSU. RA. GI!"
Len was stomping her way to him, her large crescent blades drawn was looking rather dangerous. Then Yukari stopped her by grabbing onto Len from the back.
"L-Let go! I'm going to kill this bastard!"
Len screamed, waving her blade at Katsuragi who backed away slowly.
"Sorry about that, Katsuragi. Ever since you became friendly with our leader, this one has been nothing but jealous the entire time. Don't know what you did, but our leader had been going on nothing but talk about you for one entire day-"
"I WILL KILL HIM!"
"Right right, let's cool off a little, shall we?"
Yukari smiled a little, making Len more angry.
"I don't need to cool off! I'm going to skewer him-"
CRACK
With a quick snap of the neck, Amatsu Len was put out of commission by Yukari. Dusting off her hands, Yukari's smile now seemed to have some sort of evil look to it.
"Ah, much better. Never thought I would hear the end of it. Now then, I must thank you for whatever you did to our leader."
Yukari bowed to him.
"E-eh? But I did nothing at all."
"Not true. You must have done something, otherwise your mere 'nothings' must have really flipped some switches in our half dead leader. She's taken on playing the guitar everyday now, saying something about needing to change."
Needing to change. It would be something Kou needed eventually. All she needed was the right direction to go by. That was all Katsuragi did, point her in the right direction. Katsuragi had met with Kou for two more times after that incident with Operation: Mine sweeper, both times she came down to Guild to get her weapons checked. For some reason, Kou would not talk much when they meet. She would just ask him one question and expect him to answer with ten paragraphs. But it was clear to Katsuragi that she wanted to hear it. No him... she wanted to hear Akira. Kou had told him before that he was very much like Akira, and maybe that was why she sought him. She wanted to hear her lover.
"... She wasn't listening to me."
Katsuragi sighed.
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
"... Whenever we meet, Kurogane-san... she wasn't listening to me, or even looking at me. She... she said she sees Akira in me."
At that, Yukari raised an eyebrow, rubbing her chin in thought.
"Akira?... I see. I see... Well, you do resemble him quite a bit."
"She came to see me because she wanted to see him again, wanted to hear the words he would say to her. It just so happens that what I say is somewhat similar to Akira."
Katsuragi muttered. For some reason, he was getting the feeling that he was putting himself down. Though it was the truth.
"So... you're saying that she sees you in order to see someone else?... Katsuragi, do you really believe that?"
Yukari asked with a dead serious face.
"H-huh? Y-yeah.. why else?"
"... I see. Katsuragi, do you know the meaning of 'When one asks a question, one already knows the answer being sought'?"
"... No."
What does that mean in the first place?
"... Go think about it. That would be your homework for now. Just remember, don't close yourself off from the truth just because you believe it to be so. Oh yeah, I heard that you're looking for Shinobu-chan. You should look for her over by the third tunnel of A-5. She's always there. Well, most of the time."
With that, Yukari left, dragging Len's corpse behind her.
"... The answer being sought..."
What does that mean? And who is Shinobu?
"Sigh, well, I've got no other leads anyway."
Katsuragi muttered, walking over to the tunnel A-5. Tunnel A-5 was the tunnel that was used mostly by the Assault division and was probably the longest tunnel with the most number of exit points. This meant...
"What third tunnel?"
Katsuragi sighed, starting his search. Actually, it did not take him long to find who he was looking for. Standing outside the third tunnel, which clearly had a sign saying 'third tunnel', Katsuragi was dumbfounded by what he was seeing. A door with the large sign 'Shinobu's room' was sitting right in front of him at the end of the short tunnel. The door was slight run down and looked as though it was stolen from a classroom. Still... why 'Shinobu's room'?
"... Nothing makes sense in here."
Katsuragi muttered, walking up to the door and knocking on it. He waited for a response but heard none. He knocked on it once more. Still nothing. He tried the door handle and found that it was unlocked. Was the person not in? He stepped into dark room, unsure of what he would find. It was pitch black in the room and Katsuragi slammed his foot against various items.
"Ow ow ow... what the... where is the light switch in here?"
Katsuragi fumbled about the room, looking for a switch of some kind, and his hand hit something that felt vaguely like a light switch. Without hesitating, he hit it. A giant wash basin slammed on his head instead.
"What... the... Who... uses... wash basins... these days..."
[Katsuragi is unconscious]
When Tomoyo said she would train Yamato, Yamato seriously did not think that Tomoyo would be such a devil instructor.
"Another five laps!"
Tomoyo shouted as Yamato panted and wheezed, running around an obstacle course for two hundred laps whilst dragging two car tires. Who drags tires these days? Just the day before Tomoyo had Yamato sit under a waterfall to 'meditate', as well as punch tree logs that came flying down the waterfall. What sort of shounen manga training schedule is this? Yamato swore that if she continued with this she could probably compete with some Houkuto. Maybe she will be able to do a 'isshun sengeki'. Her energy giving out, Yamato collapsed onto the ground, her vision almost blacking out.
"You still have two more laps."
Tomoyo said, walking over to Yamato and uncapping a bottle of water, pouring it onto the younger girl's face. Yamato coughed and gagged on some water.
"Awake now? Good. Add ten more laps and another five for every second you can't get back up on your feet."
Demon. Tomoyo is a demon. Just how did Ayane withstand this sort of training on a daily basis? Just how did anyone take on this sort of training? Yamato struggled to her feet, and pushed herself to continue.
"Remember, you wanted this. You wanted power and since you want it fast, this is the result. Did you think that the fast method would come without any pain?"
Tomoyo shouted at Yamato, who was now unable to run and was now dragging her feet. Yamato was tired, but Tomoyo could still see the fire inside her eyes. Yamato had not given up. She was driven. And that is why she is dangerous. Tomoyo will break that spirit, sooner or later Yamato will break. Some people think that proof of strength is having how much determination within you. Tomoyo thought different. She believed that once you had your spirit crushed, your determination demolished, that you would understand the true meaning of strength. If you are able to recover your drive after having gone through hell and back, then you would have obtained true strength. An old Spartan form of thinking.
"Yo, Tomoyo. I see you got yourself a new student. A Wolf member too."
Tomoyo did not bother to turn as Fujibayashi Kyou walked over.
"What do you want, Kyou? The recruits are more or less trained. I've let Shimagawa take over the training."
Tomoyo said, continuing to watch Yamato do the obstacle course with two tires dragging behind.
"I don't really care about the recruit training. It's not my job in the first place. Still, didn't you say you were tired of training people?"
Kyou asked.
"... Kusanagi reminds me of the past."
"Of your past?"
"... Ours."
Kyou said nothing at that. It was true, the drive that they had in the past was similar to Yamato's. In fact, they were angry. They hated their lives, despised their weak self. They sought power to correct their mistakes. But somewhere along the years they realized that their path was an empty one. That power was something they did not seek. Tomoyo knew that from the beginning... but... tempted by power... tempted by the possibility of changing herself. Taeno Yuki. The Queen of Fort had a way with words. Yuki had a way with bending words and reality, making it seem as though she is constantly right. And perhaps she is. But Yuki isn't evil. No... Yuki was one who suffered a lot of pain, and it was because of the pain that she suffered she cannot forgive. In a way, Yuki was like Kou. But unlike Kou, Yuki never had anyone able to console her. She was too proud, to stubborn to change her mind. As such... Yuki is now-
"Don't think about it."
Kyou said, breaking Tomoyo's thoughts.
"... You're right. It isn't our problem at the moment."
Tomoyo nodded.
"... By the way, Kyou... what did you do to Ayane?"
"Mitsuhide? I only asked her to check up on something."
Kyou replied.
"You made her go into the Woods alone with ten Shadows without back-up... did you really believe I wouldn't find out?"
"And you think I wouldn't find out that you applied for your student to get an A ranked personalized weapon, did you?"
Kyou shot back.
"She's my student, and I'd say she is more than ready to have one."
"She's only a corporal. Only Warrant Officers and above can apply for one unless you are a Guardian or squad leader. The rules are clear."
"The rules are stupid."
"I wrote some of those rules."
"You are stupid."
.
.
.
The two most powerful women in the Assault division were now having a moment of intense silence, even though they still weren't facing each other throughout the entire time. Then-
"You know last night's meal? I may have 'accidentally' added sugar in your bowl."
Kyou started with a smirk.
"You know what? I had a very good meal just now consisting of... PORK."
Tomoyo shot back. That made Kyou's eyes widen.
"Y-you don't mean-"
"Ever wonder why you don't see your precious Botan lately?"
"Y-you... Ever wondered what happened to a certain 'teddy bear'?"
"... You didn't-"
"The fire that night had some extra spark to it."
.
.
.
The two women suddenly jumped away from one another, the aura radiating from the two of them was enough to crack the ground and make grass wilt.
"... As I thought... we can never get along with one another."
Kyou muttered menacingly.
"I agree... How could you have ever thought to be the same as me... I went out with 'him' as a girlfriend. You simply sat there as your own sister took 'him'."
"I had no choice. It was for my sister... and you... you caused him to die."
"You did have a choice. You always had a choice. And I did not kill him, he fell ill."
"Same thing."
"You never told me the truth about your past."
"I don't need to."
.
.
.
"... You will die now."
Kyou glowered, reaching into her sling bag which she had by her side.
"... You will die a thousand times."
Tomoyo answered back, clenching her gloved fists.
.
.
.
DING
FIGHT!
" " ACCESS " "
"Sub routine: Creation, item: the Hard truth!"
Kyou shouted, bringing out an extremely large hard-covered book. The book itself was larger than Kyou herself so how did she fit it in her bag?
"Sub routine: Enhancement, Strength: fists!"
The Gloves on Tomoyo's hands started to glow.
"SAKAGAMI TOMOYO!"
"FUJIBAYASHI KYOU!"
The two girls charged at each other. It was a battle of epic proportions, a battle of titans as the ground around them blew up from the sheer power that the two were emitting. Trees uprooted and tossed for miles away like they weighed nothing. The ground had become a large crater, all life seemed to be obliterated within a good five metre radius from ground zero. Kyou and Tomoyo pressed hard against each other, trying to blast the other away. Large book against reinforced gloves. The pressure had built up to its critical point before the two separated, jumping away from one another.
"Access: 'Seven-hundred page history'."
Kyou muttered, her large book opening up and pages started to fly out of the book at lightning speed at Tomoyo. Tomoyo dodged the pages that flew at her like rain, some pages managing to cut her but Tomoyo was still standing strong.
"Access: 'Earth-shaker'."
Tomoyo lightly jumped, only a slight height in the air, flipping her body and crashing her foot into the ground, causing giant cracks to form from the point of impact, spreading all around. A few cracks reached Kyou, who lost her balance slightly and had to cancel her attack. Tomoyo used this opportunity to counter attack.
"Access: 'Earth-mover'."
Tomoyo shoved both of her hands into the ground and grabbed it. With one giant pull, Tomoyo lifted a chunk of the ground up and flipped it over to crush Kyou.
"Tch! Access: 'Hundred word shield'!"
Kyou opened her large book and more pages flew, forming a giant wall that stopped the giant piece of ground from crushing her. But Tomoyo used that as a distraction, running by the side and getting through Kyou's shield.
"Access: '9999 hit combo'."
Tomoyo muttered.
"Shi-"
Before Kyou could react, Tomoyo's flurry of kicks connected. A lightning fast combination of high, low and midsection kicks that went too fast for the human eye to see. The kicks happened in such rapid succession that it was impossible to see what was going on other than Tomoyo's feet being a blur that covered Kyou. But something was wrong. Tomoyo knew it. She jumped back immediately. And sure enough, what Tomoyo was hitting wasn't Kyou, but rather a thick pole made of paper. The pole dispersed into thousands of paper, leaving no sign of Kyou.
"A paper copy... I never knew you were a ninja, Kyou."
Tomoyo said, sweating dripping down her brow as Kyou stood behind her.
"I always have a back-up plan, unlike you. Sheesh, even in my past, you were such a barbaric mountain gorilla."
Kyou smirked, slamming her giant book into the ground.
"Access: 'Black Key'."
Pages from her book flew out and into her hands, forming six long and thin swords, three in each hand. Kyou then used her swords at Tomoyo, cutting, slicing without pause. She twisted her body with each swing, brought her arm in full rotations with each turn of her torso. It was like watching a dance. Kyou continued to cut and slice before she slammed her foot down.
"Access: 'Book marker'."
Her swords dispersed and formed together to create one giant sword. The sword was a total length of three metres, one metre in width. The sword formed just nicely as Kyou repositioned her hands and she brought the sword over her head and crashing down onto the ground in front of her. The impact caused yet another explosion, and an even deeper crater than before.
"Hmph... you want the truth? You can't handle my truth."
The dust from the explosion was immense, and Kyou had trouble seeing through the dust. Till a slight wind picked up, showing a small gap in the cloud. Tomoyo was standing there, her arm covered with the same glow from her glove as she used it to block Kyou's Book Marker. Kyou was caught unprepared as she saw Tomoyo's mouth move.
"Access: '9999 hit combo'."
Before Kyou could pull up her guard, Tomoyo swung her leg at her, hitting Kyou squad in the side of her abdomen. This time, it really did hit Kyou.
"Got you this time."
Tomoyo smirked as her attacks continued to connect with Kyou. The flurry of kicks racked up to the total of 9999 kicks before-
"Access: 'Combo-chain'."
Tomoyo twisted her body and sent another few hundred kicks into Kyou.
"Access: 'Combo-breaker'."
Tomoyo slammed her foot into the ground, twisting her body and sent one powerful round-house kick into Kyou. The second in command flew far back, crashing into a tree.
"That is what you get for messing with me."
Tomoyo smirked. But of course, she did not get out of this scratch-free.
"Ow ow ow... damn Kyou... had to use her stupid Book Marker. That thing is a Type A angel killer! Tss... that stings. I think my bones in my left arm have completely turned to dust."
Tomoyo muttered, checking on her own condition. She was more or less bleeding all over.
"Cuts, scratches, missing left arm bone, half of my ribs are broken, pulverized collar bone, collapsed lung, damaged liver, broken right leg, and... I think I cracked my skull."
Tomoyo sighed, thinking of how much trouble this fight was. For the record, it hurts like hell. At this moment, Yamato finally dragged herself over to Tomoyo and collapsed onto the ground. Tomoyo noticed her new student had just continued to run even while the fight was going on.
"Oh, there you are. Good. You're up for another ten laps."
Tomoyo said, earning a groan from Yamato. But Yamato still pushed herself up and managed to find more strength to continue dragging her feet across the now blasted-to-bits obstacle course.
"Well, while she runs, I think I'll go take a nap for these wounds to heal over."
Tomoyo walked over to the same tree Kyou was now part of, the impact she caused made an impression in the tree which trapped Kyou up in the tree. Tomoyo sat down under the tree and closed her eyes.
"... Kyou, we're both ridiculously strong already... it's about time we leave it to the younger ones to take over... Don't you think?"