A/N: Sorry for the delay, got some writer's block. Hopefully nothing drastic happened while I was mulling over my lack of ideas... actually, something did happen, but I kind of forgot what did.
Angel Beats!
What We Live For
Operation 37
The Madness
She loaded a clip into the magazine, pausing to look at the weapon in her hand. It has been so long since she last held a gun. Her soul may remember it, but her body didn't. She may need to readjust herself to it. She looked up and saw the others picking weapons off the racks that lined in infinite rows within this endless white space. This was very much like a certain movie called "The Ma*rix". That 'Otonashi' had disappeared before the others arrived, apparently not wanting to be seen by them. But what he said to her before he went had made her quite disturbed.
One hour before
"The connection to the program?"
She asked. Otonashi nodded his head.
"Yes, a large number of the current SSS2 have linked themselves to the program, but their method of connection is crude and deep. So deeply connected that any flaws in the program would affect them, in addition, their own emotions may serve to drive them further down the path of insanity. The corruption is spreading faster and more deadly."
"... So, what are we suppose to do? You wanted to let your own guy deal with the SSS2."
Otonashi nodded with a smile.
"Yes, I did. I still have faith in my creation to finish the job, but the main problem is still the program. I cannot risk my NPC getting corrupted by shutting down the program, so I will have to ask you to take of the problem. The Angel program is comprised of two main parts, the core and the server. Both must be taken care of properly and at the same time, otherwise those connected to the program will lose their souls. If you only shut down one, the other will simply reboot and both will still be operational."
"So how are we suppose to take care of it?"
She wondered. Otonashi reached into his pocket and pulled out a small disc.
"Load this into the server. It will cause a virus to spread and open up a small window of delay to allow you to shut down both. Remember, the core must be shut down properly, don't carelessly shoot them like last time."
"Fine fine... but what if the two are too far apart?"
Otonashi tapped his chin in thought. Had he not considered that possibility?
"If that's the case, you will need to split up. I will not doubt that my two failed creations will be guarding each one, but there is no other choice."
Present
Split up. That would be tough, considering on the situation. She looked up and saw that Kamiya had just walked over to her, armed with rifles and guns. It was odd, seeing him being armed once more. Behind him was Kanade, she too bearing up arms. That was another odd thing to see. From her memories, Kanade never used guns. Well, guess there was always a first for everything.
"Ready Yuri?"
Kamiya asked.
"... Always."
"TO THE WALL!"
Explosions all around them. The very Earth seemed scream out in terror, quaking in fear with each explosion.
"Enemies in the open!"
Those dark red eyes. Those eyes of the enemy that held despair, darkness, pain and suffering.
"Take them out!"
Bullets flying everywhere. The rain of bullet casings hitting the ground.
"Our flank is going to be overrun!"
"Don't let them up the walls!"
This was hell. Simple as that.
"Access: Bookmarker"
The pages of the book in her hand flew out and created the shape of a giant sword. Formed within her hand, solidified into a giant real sword. She brought the blade around, swinging at the enemies before her, sweeping the shadows off the wall, making them fly far away. Panting and heaving heavily as the blade in her hand dispersed back into pages that floated gently down to the ground. She looked around, seeing the other SSS2 members fighting back at the waves of enemy that never seemed to end. She dared to peer over the parapet to the outside of the wall. She almost regretted it. Like a sea of black mist, their enemies came. Thousands of Shadows, each with their dark mist-like bodies and their deep blood red eyes that dotted the entire dark forest as numerous as the snow flakes that fell from the sky. They may not make it.
"AAAHHH!"
She turned around and saw one SSS2 Assault member on the ground, standing over him was a Shadow ready to devour him. She will not let that happen. She sprinted towards him, pushing aside the other members in her way as she brought out a stone from her pouch.
"Access: Creation: Book"
She muttered and the stone glowed, transforming into a hard-covered thick book. The book opened in her hand as the pages begun to flip through themselves.
"Access: Seven Hundred Page History"
The pages flew out of the book in her hand and shot out towards the Shadow like bullets, stabbing and piercing the enemy.
"Access: Black Keys"
More pages flew out of the book and started to form swords. Throwing aside the now empty book, she grabbed the six swords in-between her fingers and charged at the Shadow, bringing her blades through the enemy when she got close enough. The Shadow screamed an inhumane scream before vanishing. The SSS2 sat there, trembling while watching her as the blades in her hand disintegrated back into pages and floated to the ground. She was losing energy, panting and wheezing. Her chest was tightening itself from the lack of air. Her mind was strained to its limits.
"T-This is the end! We're all going to die here!"
The SSS2 member was losing it, going hysterical. If she wasn't focused on fighting and surviving at the moment, she would too. But this was bad.
"We can't win this! This is the end-"
She grabbed him by his collar, using her strength to lift him up to his feet and butted heads with him, glaring straight into this eyes.
"No one is going to die! You understand me? ! You're a soldier of the Assault division! SO BLOODY HELL ACT LIKE ONE AND FIGHT!"
She pushed him into a machine gun nest where the SSS2 members manning it were blown up into a bloody mess. The SSS2 assault member stumbled and fell into the pool of blood and guts. The moment he realized what he was sitting in, he grew even more disturbed, but she slammed her foot right next to his face, stopping him from running away.
"WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING? ! THE ENEMY IS THERE SO SHOOT!"
She shouted at him. Trembling with fear, the Assault member got up to the gun and fumbled with the trigger but fired anyway. Good, at least now he was focused on the enemy. She turned around and saw the situation being hopeless. But she will not give up. Not now.
"REFORM THE LINE!"
She shouted, dragging soldiers who were cowering behind barricades up to their feet and pushed them towards the wall.
"DON'T LET THEM SCALE THE WALLS!"
She bent over and picked up a rifle that was left on the floor, rushing over to the wall and pointing her gun down, firing burst rounds at the Shadows attempting to climb their wall. The enemy was rushing at the wall like a tsunami, relentless and overpowering. She fired more rounds into a Shadow that tried to climb over the wall and kicked her boot into its face to force its body off the side.
"KEEP FIRING!"
She shouted, rallying the men together to the wall.
"PUSH THEM BACK!"
"I need more ammo!"
"Take out their spawners!"
She ducked under the wall to load her rifle and she saw that several soldiers were bringing up large barrels.
"POUR THE TAR OVER THEM!"
At her command, the assault members carrying large barrels of boiling tar ran over to the walls and threw the boiling substance down the walls, forcing the enemy to retreat from the wall.
"It isn't over! Keep the pressure up!"
"Ma'am! We're losing our Northern flank!"
A sudden report came. Things were getting real serious. She narrowed her eyes at the direction indicated in the report. She turned to a group of bloodied and tired assault troops. Now was not the time to rest.
"All of you, follow me!"
She shouted to the group and ran off towards the North wall. As she ran through the sections of the wall towards the North line, more Assault members joined her towards the North. And they were really needed. Reaching the North, she could see that they were overrun. Shadows were swarming onto the parapet of the wall, devouring screaming SSS2 members as they swept through the section and even started to pour down into the camp itself. She will not allow this to happen.
"Not on my watch."
She growled, turning to the soldiers that followed her.
"You! Take two squads down to the camp and make a full clean sweep! I don't those fowl things in my camp any more than they should be, understood? !"
She shouted, the Assault member snapped to salute.
"YES MA'AM."
"As for the rest of you. There are some real dirt bags staining my beautiful wall. I WANT THAT WALL CLEANED OUT AND SPARKLING, NOT A SINGLE PIECE OF DIRT LEFT, DO YOU GET ME? !"
"WE GET YOU MA'AM!"
The rest shouted in unison.
"Good! NOW CHARGE!"
She shouted, rushing ahead and leading the assault against the Shadows. She fired burst rounds from her rifle into the closest one, before ramming her entire body's weight in the next. Rolling to her feet, she took her rifle and rammed its butt into the gaping mouth of another Shadow, using the rifle to throw the Shadow off the wall. Reaching into her pouch, she pulled out another stone. She quickly transformed the rock into a new book and let the pages turn. At that moment, she noticed a Shadow from the far end open its mouth. A strange glow being emitted from within that mouth...-
"Shit! Access: Literature Wall"
The pages in the book flew out before her and formed a massive wall just as the Shadow unleashed a loud howling scream accompanied with a blast from its mouth. Like a energy beam, it shot out and impacted her giant wall, causing the wall of burn up and singe. But the wall held its shape. It scattered back into book pages once the blast was over, leaving her and the rest unscathed. But she was tired from using the skill. Creation type skills from the program required more energy from the user than enhancement types and she was already overworked from using the skill too many times. She reached into her pouch and grabbed another stone. The difficult part which uses up most of her energy was not her fighting skills, but rather the initial creation process.
The tiny rock in her hand did not hold the same mass as the books she needed to produce. In order to compensate for the lack of mass, she needed to pour additional energy into its creation. Her eyes eyed the pages scattered all over the ground. Once they were detached from their books, they could not be used. Except for one skill. But that skill would not only consume all of her remaining energy, but the last time she did that, she blacked out for a week. She was not willing to risk it until she had no other options left. Her fist clenched onto the rock in her palm tightly. She still had some energy left. She will continue to fight until she had wrung out everything her body had to offer. She raised the stone in her hand and it grew in size, becoming a book.
"Access: Black Keys."
The pages from the book flew out and formed long thin swords in-between her fingers. She rushed forward, hacking and slashing the enemies as she pushed forward. A Shadow managed to harden its skin, causing the Black Keys in her right hand to shatter upon impact. Black Keys were agile and light weapons, thus easily broken if met with tough resistance. She reached into her pouch, pulling out another stone. The stone transformed into another book.
"Access: Word of Truth."
The pages from the book flew out and attached themselves to the Shadow. Pages continued to attach themselves onto the Shadow until the entire Shadow was covered with pages from the book. The Shadow struggled against the pages that constrained it but the pages would not let go, rather it began to constrict, forcing the Shadow into a smaller size. Sounds of crunching, inhumane screams, and other disgusting noises came from the ever shrinking pages until it was nothing but a small ball. Kyou kicked the ball at a bunch of Shadows and the ball exploded into a fireball, consuming all in range. She spotted a whole new group of Shadows climbing over the walls. She will not let them take this wall! Slamming her palms onto the ground, she shouted:
"ACCESS: LITERATURE STORM"
Scattered pages from all over the floor flew up from the ground, hovering in the air before shooting forward in the form of a storm of bullets. The pages pierced the Shadows, cutting down their numbers by the hundreds. But it wasn't enough. It was never enough.
"Access... Creation-"
She stopped halfway as her body wrecked with pain. Her muscles burned as they were stretched beyond their limits. Her chest tightened, each breath she took felt like a sharp knife piercing her lungs and heart. Her knees buckled under the pain. Her grip loosened, the rock falling out of her hand. She had no weapon, no energy left, entire body in pain, surrounded by enemies. She tried to struggle, to reach out for that piece of rock. She tried as hard as her body could allow it, but... her hand fell short. The sounds of combat around her all dulled in her ears. The bullets that flew overhead were of no consequence. She wanted... to fight. She wanted... to push on. She wanted... to be in control of her own life. She never should have given up so easily. Why? Why was it always like this? It was the same back when she was alive.
"... Tomoya..."
His name escaped her lips. His image faintly appearing in her mind. Why? Why did she allow that to happen? She knew that Ryou loved him as well, so why did she give him up to Ryou just like that? Because she wanted the best for Ryou? No... because she was weak. She could not face Tomoya herself. She could not bring herself to confess her love for him. She lacked the confidence, the commitment, the determination. And because of that, it was too late for her. Even when Tomoya claimed that he had loved her as well... it was all too late. She could not turn back the hands of time. Ryou had taken him away from her. No... It wasn't that. Ryou did not take him away. It her own doing. She pushed him away. Why? Why couldn't she be honest with herself? Why did she have to hide behind so many layers of lies? Why did she have to hide her feelings under the mask of false smiles? Everything was suppressed underneath. What she wanted... was not what she was allowed to do. Her heart wanted to love him, but her body, her mind would not allow it. She had believed that she held no right to love him. Under what context? Under what stupid reasons was she not allowed to love him? UNDER WHICH PRETENIOUS FUCKING REASONS WERE SHE NOT ALLOWED TO LOVE HIM? FUCKED UP FUCKING STUPID BULLSHIT REASONS. That was what they were.
She could not face him because she was weak! She could not bring herself to step up in front of him because she failed to overcome the limitations of her frail mind, frail determinations. She came to this World, vowing to overcome her own weak will. And this... Was this the end of her power? Was all of her years of training all for naught? What happened to the pain? ! The anguish that she suffered? ! The torment that she went through all of these years? ! Tomoyo was wrong! THAT BITCH WAS WRONG! They weren't powerful enough! Not powerful enough to overcome this obstacle! Physically strong, yes, but mentally and emotionally? NO. Tomoyo claimed that she managed to find peace within herself. BUT SHE ISN'T TOMOYO. She can never be 'self-enlightened'. She only did what she knew best. She had trained all of these years, trying to put away the dark past of her life that haunted her in her sleep, in her dreams. They would not leave her alone. EVERY FUCKING WAKING HOUR THEY TORMENTED HER! Lies... ALL LIES!
"... Tomoya..."
No matter how much she trained, IT WASN'T ENOUGH! Her hand clawed through the snow. It was never enough. The sound of rain. The smell of lavender. The taste of salty tears. The feel of cold wet clothes clinging to her frail skin. Why... WHY WASN'T IT ENOUGH? ! HADN'T THE GHOST OF HER GUILT AND REGRETS HAUNTED HER ENOUGH? ! She tried to push them out, training and abusing her body physically just to focus her mind on something else. But why did this always have to happen? Why wasn't it ever enough? No matter how much she put in, it was never enough. Her hundred percent was short of fourty. Her two hundred percent would be short of eighty. Why did it always have to end up like this? Power. She hungered for it.
CRACK
The floor started to form cracks. Pressure was building up inside of her. Because she wanted it. More power. She wasn't like Tomoyo. She could not find the answer within herself to appease her pain and suffering. She wasn't that hard working. She just... went with the flow. She wasn't smart. She just... knew what to study. She wasn't strict. She just... wanted things to be normal. She was ordinary. Too ordinary. She wasn't like the rest of the girls whom Tomoya hung around with. She wasn't Nagisa, able to smile no matter how harsh reality had forced her life to be. She wasn't Kotomi, brilliant and a genius who could see things beyond her own small World. She wasn't... who was that weird girl in the party hat? No matter. She wasn't Tomoyo, striving and sacrificing everything to obtain what she wanted. She wasn't Ryou-... Wasn't Ryou. Because she wasn't Ryou she had given up. Because she could not get close to him. Because she could be with him through his pain. Because she could not comfort him. She was Kyou. Fujibayashi Kyou. Not Fujibayashi Ryou. She was Kyou... Kyou the class rep. Kyou the boar raiser. Kyou the book thrower. Kyou the violent. Kyou... the sister of Ryou. Just that... just a sister of Ryou. That was all she would amount to. That was the wall she could not climb. That was the wall that blocked her from moving on. She wanted to climb that wall. She wanted to so badly. She wanted to destroy that wall. She wanted that power. More than anything. Power. She needed more.
CRUNCH
The floor buckled under extreme pressure. More. She must have more power. Power... Power to overcome anything. Power to push away her pain. Power to smother the cries of her guilt. Of her despair. Her stomach churned. Pain filled her body. Her mind was in immense pain. But power. Power will overcome it. She just needed more. She vomited blood onto the floor. But she did not care for that either.
Power.
She needed more.
More.
The hunger.
More.
The thirst.
More.
The craving.
More.
[Angel Program Access: Back-feed system engaged]
[Power Levels reaching critical levels]
[Corruption detected]
[Corruption levels reaching critical mass]
[Error detected]
[Error]
[Error]
[Error]
[System detecting damage to host]
[Host does not have enough space to contain power levels]
[Unable to contain power levels]
[Back-feed system abortion rejected]
[Host reaching critical levels]
[Emergency Protocol activated]
[Program Apocalypse: Initializing]
The power... the corruption... is was taking over... the darkness...
"WAKE UP YOU BIG IDIOT!"
Wha-
WHAM
A large blow connected with the side of Kyou's face, sending her flying off for some distance before hitting the ground and rolling a few more yards. Her vision was filled completely with stars and a monkey's face, but she shook her head, clearing her vision as she sat up. Storming towards her, with a furious look on his face, was-
"E-Ein-"
"Don't 'Ein' me! What the FUCK were you thinking? !"
The leader of the Assault division demanded, pulling her to her feet by her collar.
"I-... What was I-"
She stammered. Her mind was not able to comprehend what he just said. Did what?
"You were so drunk on power you were nearly consumed by it!"
Ein shouted at her, his face contorted with anger. Anger? At her? Why?
"Po...wer..."
"You activated the back-feed system! Do you know how dangerous that is? ! What were you thinking? !"
"I-"
"ANSWER ME, FUJIBAYASHI KYOU!"
Ein's sharp tone snapped her back to her senses. The power. The thirst. She desired them. She was... drowning in her own despair?
"I... I couldn't... stop myself."
She muttered, closing her eyes in disgust of herself.
"Couldn't stop yourself? Just who do you think you are?"
"Wha-"
"DON'T BE SO DAMN CONCEITED, KID!"
With one mighty swing, Ein threw a punch at her, straight into her cheek. She flew a few feet, sprawling on the ground. She coughed, spitting out blood and a tooth.
"Get up... I SAID GET THE GOD DAMN UP!"
Ein shouted at her. She struggled to her feet, her strength was all gone. But she still forced herself to stand. She finally managed to stand on her two feet, looking straight up to a very angry Ein. She had never seen him this angry before. No... maybe once. That was when Yuki did something extremely stupid. Strange... she thought he only showed that face to Yuki.
"Let me ask you one more time. WHO ARE YOU? !"
He demanded.
"I... I am... Fujibayashi Kyou."
She answered, tasting the bitterness of her own blood in her mouth.
"And?"
"I... am the vice commander... of the Assault division."
"AND? !"
"I am the leader... of the War Boars."
"GOOD!"
Ein suddenly leaned back, before suddenly bending forward, sending his head straight into hers with one powerful head butt. The impact sent her back on the floor.
"I-teee!"
The pain that wrecked throughout her head was almost mind-blowing.
"Feel that? Good! That is the feeling of being alive! We may be dead, but our souls are still very much alive! You are the leader of an entire squad! An entire battalion of SSS2 troops! What sort of attitude are you showing when you succumb to something as easily as that? !"
Ein shouted at her as she slowly scrambled back to her feet.
"And also one more thing that you always seem to forget."
"?"
"Being a leader does not mean you have to shoulder everything. A leader is one who guides others, who shows the path that others should take, not take on the whole World on your own. You have subordinates here to help you, to share your burden. You are a leader, not a one man army. A leader is someone who has people who follow, people to help out, people to be there for you. Do you understand?"
Ein asked, offering a hand to her. She looked at his hand, then around her. All around her, SSS2 soldiers were fighting. Fighting with everything they got. They were all inspired. They were all determined. And her? She let herself be consumed by her own grief. Let herself be thrown into confusion. She wasn't alone in this fight. She never was. Her pain may be her own to bear, but this fight wasn't. She had comrades. She had friends. Ein smiled, liking the new found strength in her eyes.
"Good. Now get out there and fight. Sakagami is already back with reinforcements from the scouting parties, so just a little more and we'll be able to push the enemy off."
Ein said, picking up a rifle and tossing it to her. She grabbed the rifle and nodded.
"Yes sir!"
Ein watched her as she ran off. A strained smile crept onto his face.
"Good thing... she didn't notice."
He muttered, clutching onto his stomach. A small stain was starting to spread.
"Tch... that fight earlier really did a number on me... Talk about not following my own advice..."
Ein walked over to the wall, using it for support. Now everyone was so focused on the battle that no one noticed he was injured. This was for the best. They needed to fight on.
"I guess... I'll have to lie down for awhile-"
He stopped in mid-sentence as he saw a small figure running out from the wall. It wasn't a shadow, or an angel. That was...
"Yuki?"
Where was she going? And all by herself? Ein sighed, shaking his head, forcing himself to stand despite the pain it caused him.
"Looks like lying down would have to wait... man, I need to eat something."
A/N: And so it begins.