Harry slumped against the passage wall, face dripping with sweat. "Whew… ugh, this is more intense then our last operation Parachute!"

The Battlefront slumped around him, faces drawn. "How the heck did that happen?" Emmanuel asked. "That second one, it didn't seem like our Angel. It seemed like another…"

"Honestly, the lot of you are all morons!" snarled Albert, standing up. "-Except for you Sir Michael, you are intelligent! Anyways!"

The Student Body President waved his hands grandly. "Use your heads. The Fallen Angels have shown they can use the guardskills Handsonic and distortion. By that logic…"

Elliot put his head in his hands. "They can use Harmonics…"

"But wait! Didn't Winnie alter the program, so that if they use harmonic-"

"The clones could have made their clones before this alteration," Albert continued. "And if one clone made one more clone, and that clone made one more… Then our enemies could be endless."

"Yikes… that's some bad luck," Harry whistled.

"No, you imbeciles!" Albert cursed, eyes widened. "You're all brain dead sea sponges!-Except for you of course, Mike, you are proud noble!"

Winnie narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about, politician-pants? Surely more Fallen Angels is just more enemies for us to beat up."

"You have to think like a villain, which, these beings obviously are. Now, we have two Fallen Angels behind us, and many more between us and our goal.

"We're trapped, my fellows. We can't escape. They planned this, and there's nothing we can do."

There was a pause as the penny dropped. Emmanuel gazed at his handgun in alarm. "We're low on ammunition… and there's no way to get new supplies."

"If we stay here, we'll starve," Richie realized.

Mike hugged his knees to his chest. "I don't get it… why are they doing this? And, one of them mentioned a creator. Was I imagining that?"

Aw, cripes, Winnie cursed to herself. "It's obvious. Albert's right, these Fallen Angels have trapped us where we can't escape.

"This "creator" can only be one being, their Master. God. God is using these monsters against us, and if they find us, they will crush us," she predicted. Well, actually, it'll probably be a bit more graphic then that, but no need to scare anyone.

She grimaced. There was only one thing their enemies could be up to. "They won't let us leave, they'll just continue to attack and kill us, keeping us here until we submit to their will: and face obliteration."

All around her, her friends took a breath. Then Emmanuel made a fist. "Like hell. We've made it this far sticking it to the man; he ain't going to get us now. I don't care how many demons he uses." His companions roared their agreement.

Winnie smiled. "You got it. Now listen, if we can find the original Angel and get her to use Harmonics, all of the new angels should still absorb! We just have to find her. Right, let's go!"

Water dripped from the ceiling, splashing against bare necks. Handguns and blades poked out of their group as they advanced, one prickly barnacle.

"You know, once we find our Angel, how are we going to get her to use Harmonics?"

"If necessary, she can be persuaded," Hannah muttered darkly.

Winnie pursed her lips. "I'm not sure. Given present evidence, we can suppose that it was our Angel who was in the sack Bridget saw. The Fallen Angel's must be holding her captive."

Mike padded beside her, his fists clenching and unclenching. "It doesn't make sense. Emily-I mean Angel; you know how strong she is. How could they contain her?"

Good question, Winnie, thought. "Actually, I've put thought into the subject myself. What they're probably doing to keep her in a permanent state of damage. Basically, whenever she starts to recover, they tear her apart again."

See saw Mike's jaw slacken as his eyes widened. He looked like the blades were personally piercing him.

She frowned at him. "What's the matter?

Mike ran a hand over his face. "I-I'm fine. Let's just hurry, all right? And don't worry about Angel; I'm sure she'll help us."

"Whatever." What's his issue? He acts like he's worried about it.

Not that I care, of course.

A gasp from the front brought the procession to a shuddering halt. A Fallen Angel loomed out of the shadows, her leering face haloed in the flickering lamplight. Julie shrieked and attempted to hide behind Harry.

"Why, what a surprise. Aren't I lucky."

Winnie grit her teeth. This was bad. "All right, we can try-"

She abruptly felt a hand on her shoulder. Richie the fifth strode past her, crackling his heavy knuckles.

"Leave your weapons," he ordered, keeping his eyes straight ahead. "This is the only way." He strode forward.

"Richie, no!" Harry cried.

The giant's only response was a dull growl that built into a roar as he raced down the passage. "Give 'em hell for me!" The Angel's blade winked into existence.

At the last possible moment, the man mountain launched into the air. Winnie saw the fallen Angel's eyes widen in disbelief as hundreds of pounds of muscle collided with her.

SCHLIZE! Richie roared in agony as the blade burst through his chest.

"Richie the fifth, NOOOOO!"

"Go on," he grunted, his arms locked around the struggling form. She was a doll in his arms. "I've got her in a judo lock. Get going, while I'm still conscious…"

They filed past, flipping him the thumbs up.

"All right," Winnie grunted. "Thanks to Richie the fifth's noble sacrifice, we now know how to get past these Fallen Angels." Kamikaze ninjas, why didn't I think of that? "Angel is powerless once her arms are locked in. The time has come to use the Judo locks Richie taught us."

"So… this way we only lose one person per Angel?" Elly confirmed, pushing his glasses up his suddenly slick nose.

"Yep. That's about it." Hopefully, we won't come across anymore, of course.

They bumped into another Fallen Angel five minutes later. The wall had turned to brick, the red material enveloping the tunnel as the fair-haired figure advanced.

This time, it was TK who danced forward.

" 'S my turn dudes. With the lights out, it's less dangerous!"TK careened forward, spinning right into a very surprised enemy.

"Awww-yeah-SCHLIZE!"

"TK, NOOOOOO!"

The next opponent found them as they entered the star trek-decorated section of the guild. Elly's shirt fluttered to the ground.

"Be strong, my companions," he declared, deliciously perfect pecs roaring their defiance. "I shall bring justice! Tally ho-SCHLIZE!"

"Elly, NOOOOOOO!"

Luke was in hysterics.

"What gives," Harry accused. 'It's like where in some third-rate horror flick!"

The Fallen Angel stood in their path, cold eyes locked on them, as a twisted tongue licked past parted lips.

"You think you can scare me, punk," Emmanuel howled. "You don't scare me! Give me the heeby-jeeby-Mcfleebies, yeah, but…eh-hem! Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries! Come at meeeee-SCHLIZE!"

"Emm, NOOOOOO!"

Hannah crossed her arms. "This is so stupid." She started forward. "Arg, this is so stupid." She broke into a run.

"This is just so-SCHLIZE!"

"Hannah, oh NOOOOOO!"

Luke collapsed. His face was taught with horror, still stung from Hannah's sacrifice just a ways down the path. "I don't… I don't think I-"

Albert's luminous eyes suddenly obscured his vision, massive, entrancing, beguiling… "Why, my dear friend… It's time you realized the truth about yourself. You are a clown. And there, lurking in the shadows, is a little girl. Why, she's all alone…"

Luke sprung up with a laugh, rosy cheeks gleaming as he skipped forward. "Why, you're right! I've got to make her laugh! Come here, little-SCHLIZE!"

"Luke, NOOOOOO!"

Mike glared at Albert. "You're really awful, you know that?"

"H-huh? No, you misunderstand!" Albert protested, his hand gesturing wildly. "I can be good! Look, I'll take care of the next one."

SCHLIZE!

Winnie folded her arms. Harry kicked a stone.

Mike coughed. "Uh, isn't anyone going to say anything?"

Julie shrugged. "Nah. I don't even know his name."

They ran into some luck. They didn't hit another Fallen Angel until they had reached the subterranean lake. They were almost here.

Mike steadied himself with a breath. "Right. I'll take this one."

Harry caught his arms. "No, I'll handle it. Besides, you have to go on. You need to be there, at the end."

"What? Why?"

When Mike met Harry's eye, what he saw stopped him short. Harry understood. "Dude, I got you. You need to free her, don't you? You-"

"Get a move on, if you're going, you great chicken!" Julie pounded, sending Harry spinning away with a kick. Not stopping Harry broke away, and launched himself onto their resistor.

SCHLIZE.

Julie flinched. "…Ah." She sniffed. "Thank you, Harry."
Winnie and Mike exchanged glances.