Winnie's eyes widened in horror. No, arg! They moved too quickly, curse them!
Her friends crowded around her, gaping like goldfish. In front of them, the infirmary beds lay in shatters, sheets torn and mattresses exploded.
"They're gone," Jake croaked, pointing out the glaring absence of angels, fallen or otherwise, in the room.
"Judging from the state of the room, I suppose that the Fallen Angel woke up first," Elliot conjectured. "She left… bringing our Angel with her."
"…Knew we should have left a guard."
"This is so stupid."
Emmanuel palmed his forehead. "Dudes, I'm so confused… Did Angel go with the Fallen Angel, or was she forced? I mean, if they're both angels, wouldn't they be working together?"
"It doesn't matter," Winnie declared. Regardless of whether Angel works with the Fallen Angel or not, she is still God's servant. She's our oldest enemy.
"We need to find the original Angel. Leonard and I altered her guardskill; all we need to do to destroy the Fallen Angel, is to get Angel to use harmonics. Then, her clone will absorb.
Harry whistled. "Whoa, so we need to find the original Angel, all the while avoiding the evil, creepy, Fallen Angel? But, but, I don't think I can last another day of classes though. It was hard!"
"We don't have time to stall anymore. Every hour we wait, the greater the chances of our enemies finding some way to close our window of opportunity," muttered Winnie. She paced back and forth, her friends following her nervously. "They could rewrite the program, though I had Leonard change the password. Heck, God could just destroy Angel, leaving the Fallen Angel as a replacement."
The Battlefront's eyes widened. Angel was their enemy, but at least she was the evil that she knew.
Mike collapsed into a chair.
Suddenly, a loud, irritating beep rang out. Mike scrambled, patting in his pockets franticly before withdrawing his old and rickety radio. He brought it to his ear hesitantly.
"Hello, Mike? This is Bridget. Everyone else has their radios off. Could you pass me to Fred?"
"Uh, yeah! Yeah, of course."
Winnie accepted the radio cautiously. "Yes? Huh? Oh!" Her face lit up. "Guys! Bridget says she saw one of the Angels leaving the hospital an hour ago, she couldn't tell which. The Angel had something else in a sack. They made their way… to the gym."
Winnie paused as there was a burst of static from the radio. She sighed. "And yes. I, Winifred Washington, hereby declare that Bridget Lanesbury is the coolest, omnipotent surveillance geek in existence." Another burst of static. "All right. And I hereby take back all my previous remarks concerning the stupidity of bird watching. It is a noble and extremely fruitful sport."
She put the radio down. "All right gang, go get your guns. We're ending this."
Harry turned to Julie. "All right. Just how long do you think Girls Dead Monster can keep the distraction running?"
She swung to face him, elbows knocking. "N-no way Jose! No way am I going to something as scary as try to distract that creepy Angel! I have standards!"
Harry shoved his face into hers. "Hey, punk. GirlDeMo's purpose is for distractions! Just what kind of band leader are you if you let us all down?"
Julie growled in his face, her own skin flushed.
She spun to face Winnie. "Right! Oh-leader-Fred, I shall do my best to hold Creepy-Psycho-Fallen-Angel back, even if I do faint in the process. My life is in your-"
"That won't be necessary. There shall be no distractions this time, just a fair fight. Besides, we know where they are. Both of our Angels have descended into the Guild.
Inside the Gym, the entrance to the Guild leered at them, a dark hole to the unknown.
"We have to parachute again?" Harry asked nervously. "But… last time, nearly all of us died."
Jake threw his head back with a sneer. "Ah, don't be such a wimp, Harry."
"If I recall, you were the first one to die last time," Emm reminded him teasingly.
Winnie stood before her battalion. "It is most probable that our targets are at the bottom floor of the guild, where our factory used to be. This would be the most difficult for us to reach. Is everyone ready?"
Her team nodded their assent, or in TK's case, danced in a way signifying affirmation.
Right, Winnie prodded to herself, this is it. They're all looking at you to get them through this. I've worked out my strategy, and no overblown-super powered-servant of God is going to hurt us. And this time, no one is dying.
"Then, let's go!"
They trekked along the passage way. Lamps cast shifting shadows around their group. Dust hung heavy over the floor, still a wreck from the passage of the crushing stone form their first parachute.
"We're in luck," Harry said optimistically. "Since we moved the Guild factory, no one's bothered to reset the traps. At least we won't have to worry about that. Not to mention the blood stains should lead us right to the old factory."
Julie, already shivering, soon escalated into full on hummingbird-mode. "Y-you k-kn-know, I th-think if we meet Angel down here, I-I'm going to f-faint."
"I don't care," Harry replied haughtily.
Julie latched onto his arm. "Oh-please-oh-please care! I-"
A form abruptly flickered into view ahead of them. Hazel eyes piercing through the shadows, as Angel stepped from the gloom.
Julie collapsed. Harry immediately went to work slapping her awake.
"Ha! Showing up already? You surrender the element of surprise!" Winnie sneered, stepping forward. They paused, regarding their enemy. Which one was it?
The question was answered as the figure grinned, perfect teeth snarling as them as it cackled. Spit flew from the Fallen Angel's gaping mouth as she stepped forward. Blades appeared on either of her arms, trembling with anticipation.
"You children aren't supposed to be down here," the monster snarled in a voice like rusted knives. "You could get hurt, down here in the dark…"
Aw, crap, Winnie cursed. "Everyone, fire-"
The monster dissolved into a white blur. Everyone cried out in horror as the Fallen Angel flew through them, blades flashing.
Hiss. With a rip, their guns fell apart in their hands, torn apart.
"Graag!" Jake cried out. His voice dissolved into a gurgle as he collapsed. His throat a mess of red, his eyes went still.
Emmanuel sighed. "Not that it matters, but I'd like to point out that he was the first to go again."
Winnie grit her teeth as they spun to face the Fallen Angel, which had come to a stop down the passage. She was playing with them.
"Everyone, you still have your hand guns! Get her!"
The bloodied school girl only smiled as the bullets flew past her, repulsed by her distortion field. "You'll have to do better than that, my dears."
"I bloody hate that ability," Richie roared, laying into her.
SHCLIZE!
Everyone froze as the familiar sound hit them. As one, they turned.
Leonard whimpered. His eyes drifted shut as the blade stuck in his neck lifted him up, so they could see the figure behind him.
Another Angel grinned out at them, bouncing Leonard's body on the end of her sword. With a motion, she flicked him into a corner. "Tut-tut. Such disobedience… The Creator would not be pleased."
Their itchy-trigger fingers opened fire on the new threat, the force of the bullets holding her back even as the ammunition was dispersed by another distortion field.
"Hmm," came a voice from behind as the first Fallen Angel strode closer. "You seem busy…"
"Winnie," Harry yelled. "We're almost out of bullets!"
Winnie's heart raced. The situation was escalating out of control, fast. It was time to cut their loses. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the passage they had used to escape the stone. It had a steel door.
"Everyone stay with me! Move quickly, and don't fall behind!" Flicking an object from out of her pocket, Winnie bit the cap of the grenade, and hurled it into the Angel before them. The impact stunned their adversary, cloaking her in smoke. "Come on!"
They sprinted through the smog, the Battlefront desperately following Winnie's form. They dashed through the door, Mike struggling to close it as Winnie hovered at his side, covering him.
The Fallen Angel behind them stopped striding, and started sprinting, blades rushing forward.
Mike and Winnie abruptly felt hands on their collars; they were dragged in, just as the door rumbled shut behind them.