The Fall of Elfen High (IC, Closed)

[Nationstatelandsville]

The Molotov caught the shoulder of one android, which quickly burst into beautiful purple flames as the metal expanded and crackled.

It did not react.

The android would probably react more to the radiant blast that slammed into its chest, followed by the lasers fired from Excalibur. Sir Nilark glared at the other androids as he opened fire on them with his own magic and the magic of Excalibur, hoping to lure the angel's attention away from Fen and the vulnerable slaves.

The android was indeed thrown backwards onto its ass, steam rising from its guts. Its comrades turned towards William.

They tossed aside their guns.

A dome of blue energy formed around the androids. Tactical force-field; battery depleting, difficult to maintain, but cheap and easy protection when the situation called for it. Best not to overdo it, though. Primary problem, though, was that guns couldn't penetrate either side of the field. Using them inside was suicide.

Luickily, the androids didn't need guns. Instead, they raised their talon-like fingers, and each of them shot an independent jet of electricity at William. Except, of course, for the one he had shot; that one rose and attempted to electrocute Fen. For now, they figured the Sabbatanos would be distracted by his injuries, or his dodging - whichever he chose.

Fen tucked the cocktail away and then began to nudge the prisoners along. There wasn't any sense remaining. The sooner they moved, the better. Sir William and Excalibur were providing an excellent distraction.

"Wade? Where's the exit? Do we need to make one?" Her eyes scanned the building's interior in search of a door or perhaps a convenient window. The penguins continued their efforts to remove chains and soon the entire group of beings would be able to make a run for it.

"Makin' one's a good idea," Wade grunted, roughly shoving Fen away from the android's bolt, "Can you do that?"

He himself jumped to the ground as another bolt flew towards him. At this moment, an android - having identified him as the brains of the operation - appeared on top of him. And then it stomped his head into the floor; the loud crack! wasn't very encouraging. The scream of pain only slightly more so.

"Fuckin' glowin' faggots!" Lewis spat, "All harmony and la-dee-da until there's a goddamn heathen and then it's BURN THE WITCH! Sanctimonious pedophiles, fuckin' winged cunt-twat bitch-ass Christmas ornaments..."

Megan cleared her throat, "Uh, Lewis, are you... ?"

"Goddamn cocksucking 'Holy Spirit' dickfucks!" Lewis raved, "I tell ye', what utter haughty fuckin' pricks. Sick of their 'salvation' and 'faith' shit. Fuckin' grovelin' candlewicks."

"I see you have some deep-seeded emotional issues we don't have time to sort out," Megan began, "but could we just-"

It was now that Lewis's cane sprouted another knife-like missile and he, raising it above his head, pounced at the seraphim, "I'LL RIP OFF YOUR FUCKIN' WINGS AND CHEW ON YOUR LIVERS!"

The Sepharim began to sing.

It was a soft, melodious song, sang in an old dialect of Hebrew. "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, so you're going to have to. Blood is getting hotter, body is getting colder..." If one understood the language, they would know the words that were said.

As it were, it sent a chill down their spine, almost literally. Those who heard the music found themselves becoming slower, their bones and muscles becoming colder.

The Irish soldier began to cough, kneeling down as he touched his left arm. He felt ice beginning to form on his skin, his body becoming much colder.

Lewis landed with a thud before the seraphim.

"WHAT THE FUCK'S A SEPHARIM?!" he demanded, before his cries devolved into incoherent screaming; raising his arm as naturally as he normally would - though it took considerably more energy to do so, it was safe to say Lewis had quite a bit of that - he drove his impromptu spear (now ablaze for purely dramatic purposes) forward at the seraph.

Specifically, at its eye. Hey, it worked for that other guy.

Megan, meanwhile, struggled to lift her gun. Panting, she raised it and slowly, very slowly, pulled back the trigger. A bullet exploded out towards the seraph attacking Ciel, before Megan went worryingly still.

[Nationstatelandsville]

The Molotov caught the shoulder of one android, which quickly burst into beautiful purple flames as the metal expanded and crackled.

It did not react.


Calliel's sword bounced off the metal plates of the Leader's body; the androids were built for military combat, after all.

"You damn insect!" the Android Leader howled, twisting around on his feet, "You stole my tactic!"

He slapped Calliel across the face with a limp wrist and a smirk beneath the mask of iron; he was enjoying himself.

"Dance, fleshie, dance!" he giggled, throwing blind punches at Calliel.

Calliel stared at the Android Leader, who appeared to be fighting him in the form of weak gay limp wrist punches. He gave a confused stare at Aziraphale, as if to say "What the hell, man?"

Calliel sighed, and merely snapped his fingers, causing a rain cloud to form over the Android. Except, instead of rain, oil droplets fell from it. Calliel then proceeded to grab the Android Leader with his hand, fire bursting out of it.

The Android Leader burst into his flame; his cape was consumed in an instant. (He had spares.)

"I fucking love you right now!" he giggled; not his usual insane cackle, but an actual schoolgirl giggle.

Look, I don't know if this really needs to be said, but if there's anything that's worse than an immortal, sadomasochistic robot-angel psychopath, it was an immortal, sadomasochistic robot-angel psychopath that's on fire.

"Wanna' get creative?" the Leader asked, "Let's get creative!"

The Leader grabbed Calliel's left arm, and it froze into solid ice; ice which the Leader crushed easily in his grip, before vanishing. He reappeared instantly behind Calliel, driving his foot up the other angel's ass.

Aziraphale stood shakily, only to be knocked back down by a punch from the flaming metal fist of his past self. He desperately hoped he was hallucinating.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Calliel stared at the Android Leader, who appeared to be fighting him in the form of weak gay limp wrist punches. He gave a confused stare at Aziraphale, as if to say "What the hell, man?"

Calliel sighed, and merely snapped his fingers, causing a rain cloud to form over the Android. Except, instead of rain, oil droplets fell from it. Calliel then proceeded to grab the Android Leader with his hand, fire bursting out of it.

The Android Leader burst into his flame; his cape was consumed in an instant. (He had spares.)

"I fucking love you right now!" he giggled; not his usual insane cackle, but an actual schoolgirl giggle.

Look, I don't know if this really needs to be said, but if there's anything that's worse than an immortal, sadomasochistic robot-angel psychopath, it was an immortal, sadomasochistic robot-angel psychopath that's on fire.

"Wanna' get creative?" the Leader asked, "Let's get creative!"

The Leader grabbed Calliel's left arm, and it froze into solid ice; ice which the Leader crushed easily in his grip, before vanishing. He reappeared instantly behind Calliel, driving his foot up the other angel's ass.

Aziraphale stood shakily, only to be knocked back down by a punch from the flaming metal fist of his past self. He desperately hoped he was hallucinating.

Calliel teleported behind the Leader, giving only a brief look at the stump where his arm once had been. He winced slightly at the pain in his ass, but glared at the flaming angel in front of him. "Alright then." he muttered slowly. "Let's try out something different now. I'm a bit slow at adapting to new technologies, but I've tried to practice..."

He blinked, activating his computer contacts. They began to scan the flaming android angel, but they sent out a message to other sources, away.

In the meanwhile, Calliel used his good hand to reach down and pull out a Magnum. He teleported again, directly behind the Android Leader, his gun right behind the angel. He fired the bullets out, intent on a direct hit - but the bullets had a special coating on them, one that'd cause teleportation to be, if not impossible, then highly painful. It was created by the ISSR to deal with some dangerous threats in Hell, and had proven highly effective at dealing with demons abusing teleport spam.

[Norvenia]

When the five androids had first appeared, Daniel Andreas had flung himself sideways; good he was, but not good enough to fight five of these superhuman creatures in hand-to-hand combat. The Sabbatanos' first movement was pure instinct: he hadn't even seen the androids as he began to move, hadn't heard the thunderclap of their teleportation - he just smelled them, smelled the first faint whiff of ozone as the androids appeared from thin air. And without thought, without even the conscious awareness of what he was doing, Daniel had dropped and rolled hard on his shoulder, hearing as he did the android's bullets drone by above his head, through the space where he had been standing a heartbeat earlier.

By the time that Daniel's heart had beat a second time, the priest's roll had carried him a good eight feet, and Daniel vanished beneath the nearest of the rickety bunk beds to which the slaves had been chained. The androids' bullets chased him, just inches behind him, blasting splinters from the beds; Daniel felt chunks of shattered iron and wood pelt his body armor. But the priest was still moving, just ahead of the androids' fire. He was rolling, passing under one bunk bed after another, breaking the androids' line of sight time and time again, creating uncertainty as to his final position - and creating space that Daniel himself could use to strike.

When Daniel emerged from the bunk bed, it was just in time to see Sir Nilark blast one android nearly in half with bolts of magic. The four remaining androids responded by dropping their weapons, producing a dome of blue light - Daniel immediately realized, with a sinking feeling, that neither his sword nor his rifle would avail him against that kind of protection - and extending their long and razor-sharp fingertips. Instinctively, the Sabbatanos ducked again, and a moment later the barracks was filled with more than twenty blasts of lightning, leaping straight through the forcefield toward William and Fen.

Well, some distant part of Daniel's mind thought, isn't that interesting.

Daniel felt his heart beat once, and he spun and raised his rifle. Firing with a speed that turned the weapon's muzzle into a blur of motion, the priest blasted the chains off the three nearest bunk beds; the penguins had already unlocked the manacles, and so there were no slaves in Daniel's line of fire. Now, the priest's bullets shattered the chains' connection to the frames of the beds. Daniel felt his heart beat again, and he crouched, and picked up the severed chains with a soft grunt; they were an unwieldy mass, perhaps twenty feet of chain all told, weighing around fifty pounds.

Daniel felt his heart beat a third time, and he twisted, and heaved with all the strength in his back and legs, and hurled that mass of chains - like a shot put - across the barracks and straight at the five androids.

The force field, of course, stopped the chains; the iron links hit its surface with a popping sound of electrical discharge, and draped themselves over the dome of blue light like locks of hair over a man's scalp. And then, something unexpected happened.

To understand this, you have to know some (possibly erroneous) science. Electricity - like that which the androids were blasting from their fingertips - is nothing more nor less than the flow of electrons from one atom to another. This flow is electrical current, and when it is powerful enough, it discharges photons. This is why Daniel could see the electricity arcing through the air.

But some materials conduct electrical current better than others. Flesh, for example, conducts better than air - which is why the electricity that the androids were firing could leap directly to its targets. You see, when one material conducts better than another, electrical current is much more likely to move through that material rather than continuing in a straight line.

Metals conduct electricity very, very well. And so when Daniel Andreas covered the androids' force-field in chains, the electricity that they were firing would have immediately leaped to the iron chains - not to its original targets. There was just too much metal, too close, for anything else to be a relevant conductor. The lighting leaped from the android's talons, through their forcefield, and into the chains.

But because electricity is just the transfer of electrons, there is only so much electrical current that one conductor can channel at any one time - because there are only so many electrons in that conductor. And when more current than a conductor can channel is still forced into a material, then the excess current will transfer into the nearest available alternative conductor - like lighting leaping from an overcharged cloud and into a lighting rod.

The amount of electricity necessary to kill a man is enormous. The chains, heavy as they were, could not channel all of the electrical output which streamed from the androids' talons. And so the excess current leaped from the chains to the nearest available alternative conductor - in this case, the nearest mass of metal. And that was, of course, the androids themselves. The lighting which they fired from their fingertips passed through the chains and leaped back upon their metal bodies, passing through the force field exactly as they had intended - just in the opposite direction.

And when an electrical current begins and ends in the same place, a curious thing happens. The current forms a complete circuit, and it can continue to run through its course almost indefinitely, until the natural forces of energy attrition - heat and light - bleed it away to nothing.

Thus, the electricity that had blasted from the androids' talons now closed a circuit, linking the five metal bodies to each other and to the chains suspended above them in blinding arcs of lightning that caused even Daniel Andreas to flinch back from the devastation that he had wrought. Enough electricity to kill a man four times over now passed through the androids' own bodies millions upon millions of times per second. And by the time, five or ten seconds later, that the current had finally exhausted itself, Daniel had no reason to believe that there would be anything left of the androids but ash.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Death chuckled. It knew. It knew very well just what could be grander. It turned to Caspian, its face not showing. "THE BATTLE OF HEAVEN IS A STEPPING STONE. THE TRUE BATTLES ARE NOT FAR OFF. THE DRAGONS YOU SAW JUST RECENTLY WERE GATHERING FOR A REASON. NEWLY BORN, THEY PREPARE FOR THEIR OWN WAR, SPANNING THE UNIVERSES."

It looked quiet, wistful, old. The voice changed, becoming something sterner and more inhuman. This is not saying that it was bad. It was neutral in and of itself, merely a change in the tone and the way it was heard and perceived. Before, one could hold the illusion the speaker was a mere human, but no longer. "MY SIBLINGS AND I PREPARE. SOMETHING IS INDEED COMING, A CREATURE MOVING QUICKLY, THE WORLD SHAKING ALONG WITH IT. IT IS VERY CLOSE. IT IS THE HARBINGER OF THE UNRAVELLING OF ALL THINGS, THE GREAT COILS OF EVERY WORLD UNWINDING LIKE A THICKLY WOUND KNOT BEING TAKEN APART. NO." A pause. "CUT. CUT IN THE MIDDLE, NOT UNWOUND. YES, THAT METAPHOR IS A BETTER ONE."

"Hey, Death," Damien interrupted. "Remember me? Damien Seward? Yeah, um, why am I alive right now? Seriously, what the fuck is happening? Other than that, continue with the ominous plot information."

"YOU ARE INDEED ALIVE.." Death nodded. "CONGRATULATIONS. OR MY CONDOLENCES, WHICHEVER WAY YOU PREFER TO SEE IT. I HAVE AN OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE, AFTER ALL. WHY ARE YOU ALIVE? REINCARNATION. IT'S A PROCESS. WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING? DO YOU MEAN IN A COSMIC SENSE?"

[Nationstatelandsville]

When the five androids had first appeared, Daniel Andreas had flung himself sideways; good he was, but not good enough to fight five of these superhuman creatures in hand-to-hand combat. The Sabbatanos' first movement was pure instinct: he hadn't even seen the androids as he began to move, hadn't heard the thunderclap of their teleportation - he just smelled them, smelled the first faint whiff of ozone as the androids appeared from thin air. And without thought, without even the conscious awareness of what he was doing, Daniel had dropped and rolled hard on his shoulder, hearing as he did the android's bullets drone by above his head, through the space where he had been standing a heartbeat earlier.

By the time that Daniel's heart had beat a second time, the priest's roll had carried him a good eight feet, and Daniel vanished beneath the nearest of the rickety bunk beds to which the slaves had been chained. The androids' bullets chased him, just inches behind him, blasting splinters from the beds; Daniel felt chunks of shattered iron and wood pelt his body armor. But the priest was still moving, just ahead of the androids' fire. He was rolling, passing under one bunk bed after another, breaking the androids' line of sight time and time again, creating uncertainty as to his final position - and creating space that Daniel himself could use to strike.

When Daniel emerged from the bunk bed, it was just in time to see Sir Nilark blast one android nearly in half with bolts of magic. The four remaining androids responded by dropping their weapons, producing a dome of blue light - Daniel immediately realized, with a sinking feeling, that neither his sword nor his rifle would avail him against that kind of protection - and extending their long and razor-sharp fingertips. Instinctively, the Sabbatanos ducked again, and a moment later the barracks was filled with more than twenty blasts of lightning, leaping straight through the forcefield toward William and Fen.

Well, some distant part of Daniel's mind thought, isn't that interesting.

Daniel felt his heart beat once, and he spun and raised his rifle. Firing with a speed that turned the weapon's muzzle into a blur of motion, the priest blasted the chains off the three nearest bunk beds; the penguins had already unlocked the manacles, and so there were no slaves in Daniel's line of fire. Now, the priest's bullets shattered the chains' connection to the frames of the beds. Daniel felt his heart beat again, and he crouched, and picked up the severed chains with a soft grunt; they were an unwieldy mass, perhaps twenty feet of chain all told, weighing around fifty pounds.

Daniel felt his heart beat a third time, and he twisted, and heaved with all the strength in his back and legs, and hurled that mass of chains - like a shot put - across the barracks and straight at the five androids.

The force field, of course, stopped the chains; the iron links hit its surface with a popping sound of electrical discharge, and draped themselves over the dome of blue light like locks of hair over a man's scalp. And then, something unexpected happened.

To understand this, you have to know some (possibly erroneous) science. Electricity - like that which the androids were blasting from their fingertips - is nothing more nor less than the flow of electrons from one atom to another. This flow is electrical current, and when it is powerful enough, it discharges photons. This is why Daniel could see the electricity arcing through the air.

But some materials conduct electrical current better than others. Flesh, for example, conducts better than air - which is why the electricity that the androids were firing could leap directly to its targets. You see, when one material conducts better than another, electrical current is much more likely to move through that material rather than continuing in a straight line.

Metals conduct electricity very, very well. And so when Daniel Andreas covered the androids' force-field in chains, the electricity that they were firing would have immediately leaped to the iron chains - not to its original targets. There was just too much metal, too close, for anything else to be a relevant conductor. The lighting leaped from the android's talons, through their forcefield, and into the chains.

But because electricity is just the transfer of electrons, there is only so much electrical current that one conductor can channel at any one time - because there are only so many electrons in that conductor. And when more current than a conductor can channel is still forced into a material, then the excess current will transfer into the nearest available alternative conductor - like lighting leaping from an overcharged cloud and into a lighting rod.

The amount of electricity necessary to kill a man is enormous. The chains, heavy as they were, could not channel all of the electrical output which streamed from the androids' talons. And so the excess current leaped from the chains to the nearest available alternative conductor - in this case, the nearest mass of metal. And that was, of course, the androids themselves. The lighting which they fired from their fingertips passed through the chains and leaped back upon their metal bodies, passing through the force field exactly as they had intended - just in the opposite direction.

And when an electrical current begins and ends in the same place, a curious thing happens. The current forms a complete circuit, and it can continue to run through its course almost indefinitely, until the natural forces of energy attrition - heat and light - bleed it away to nothing.

Thus, the electricity that had blasted from the androids' talons now closed a circuit, linking the five metal bodies to each other and to the chains suspended above them in blinding arcs of lightning that caused even Daniel Andreas to flinch back from the devastation that he had wrought. Enough electricity to kill a man four times over now passed through the androids' own bodies millions upon millions of times per second. And by the time, five or ten seconds later, that the current had finally exhausted itself, Daniel had no reason to believe that there would be anything left of the androids but ash.

Now, I can't speak to the science of Daniel's plan - but I can speak to the magic. And it worked stunningly.

One crackling ball of brilliant white light later, the chains clattered to the ground loudly as the force-field vanished. The gray smoke cleared, unveiling a pile of androids, smoldering and steaming; the air was filled with the smell of burnt meat. There the androids lay, unconscious and beaten - but not destroyed, as they logically should have been.

All was quiet, for now.

Except for the sound of the other android relentlessly pounding the shit out of Wade, that is.

And the other sound of a few thousand terrified slaves stampeding out of the building through the sole set of doors, threatening to trample Fen and William.

[Norvenia]

"Well," Daniel muttered to himself, "that worked remarkably well."

Next, Daniel took two steps forward so that he was standing behind the android attacking Wade, and he let his rifle fall on its tac-sling. Too many slaves running around to risk a through-and-through, or a miss, or a ricochet. Instead, the priest drew his sword, four feet of Spanish steel glimmering in his gloved hand like a spike of ice. And then he swung the sword, almost lazily, and decapitated the android in one blow. The metal head fell to the ground about a foot from the prostrate Englishman.

Grunting, Daniel grabbed Wade by the shoulder, and hauled him upright. Then he did the same to Fen. "You two, start getting these people under control," the priest shouted over the din. He glanced around. Steam from the vaporized ice-shield should be thick enough now to screen the escape of the slaves. Moreover, since the slaves were all stampeding toward the doors of the barracks, the other end of the building was empty - and thus save to detonate explosives in.

Without further ado, Daniel raised his rifle to his shoulder, aimed at the far wall of the building opposite the main door, and fired two high-explosive shells from his under-barrel grenade launcher into the wall. The explosives blew a hole about five feet in diameter through the plywood and out to the wastes beyond. The building groaned in protest, but Daniel had carefully blasted his second exit precisely opposite the preexisting door - so the barracks' overall structure remained in balance, making it unlikely that the building would actually collapse.

Lowering his smoking gun, Daniel turned back to Wade and Fen. "Wade," the priest said quickly, "take half of these people and get them out that way." Daniel pointed at the main door. "Fen, take the other half and get them out through the hole over there. Meet up on the outside, using the steam to conceal yourselves, and head for the wilderness. Wade, you guide them." The priest raised his voice. "Frederick! Go with Wade. He may need your fire support. William! You and I are going to get the attention of whoever is still out there, and keep them from attacking the slaves."

With that, Daniel ran to the hole which he had blown out of the barracks, and ducked through it, emerging outside to the sight of Calliel and Aziraphale fighting the Android Leader. The priest did a quick scan for other hostiles, sliding behind some rocks for cover as he did so. Then, assuming that no androids were in a position to kill him immediately, Daniel rested his rifle barrel atop the rocks, settled his holographic gunsight's reticule over the android leader, and sighed as he felt the moving meditation of combat wash over him once more.

By the time Daniel had finished sighing a little over a second later, he had put ten rounds downrange, all aimed directly at the android leader's head and torso. The priest's rifle used depleted-uranium tipped caseless ammunition that could punch through solid titanium armor. Whether or not that meant it could hurt the android leader, Daniel didn't know. But it certainly couldn't make the situation any worse.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

The Sepharim began to sing.

It was a soft, melodious song, sang in an old dialect of Hebrew. "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, so you're going to have to. Blood is getting hotter, body is getting colder..." If one understood the language, they would know the words that were said.

As it were, it sent a chill down their spine, almost literally. Those who heard the music found themselves becoming slower, their bones and muscles becoming colder.

The Irish soldier began to cough, kneeling down as he touched his left arm. He felt ice beginning to form on his skin, his body becoming much colder.

Anton clenched his fists, fire surging up his arms. "Eh, fuck it," he yelled, as flames engulfed his entire body in an attempt to keep himself from freezing. "I'm like the Human-fucking-Torch. No Angels are gonna stop me."

He leapt into the air, and blasted a barrage of fire balls at the Sepharim.

As previously noted, Sepharim can use fire.

Anton's fireballs were absorbed, and shot back at Crowley who was currently in a flame war with the angels.

The Sepharim began to sing.

It was a soft, melodious song, sang in an old dialect of Hebrew. "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, so you're going to have to. Blood is getting hotter, body is getting colder..." If one understood the language, they would know the words that were said.

As it were, it sent a chill down their spine, almost literally. Those who heard the music found themselves becoming slower, their bones and muscles becoming colder.

The Irish soldier began to cough, kneeling down as he touched his left arm. He felt ice beginning to form on his skin, his body becoming much colder.


Ciel would be affected by the song, but her attack with the dead robot corpse would stun and surprise one of the Sepharim, causing that particular one to stop singing (and reduce the speed of everyone beginning to freeze). The Sepharim instead reached out with its left hand, intending to grab Ciel's face and crush it.

Ciel was affected by the song indeed, in more ways than one. Sure, she was getting slower and slower and colder and colder, like everyone else, but there was one other thing that was making the song affect her.

She really hated music, as has been stated several times before.

Now, this resulted in a curious situation. She could feel herself freezing, which pissed her off quite a bit, not to mention that the fact there was a song being sung pissed her off as well. The fact that said song was what was freezing her pissed her off even more, causing her to ignore its consequences on her body in order to kill those singing bastards. With a considerable effort, she moved out of the Seraphim's way and attempted to bash another one, all while constantly shouting incoherencies at the top of her lungs in order to disrupt the blasted song.

Ciel's physical attacks were more effective. It distracted the Sepharim considerably, causing them to be pushed back and knocked down.

The android would probably react more to the radiant blast that slammed into its chest, followed by the lasers fired from Excalibur. Sir Nilark glared at the other androids as he opened fire on them with his own magic and the magic of Excalibur, hoping to lure the angel's attention away from Fen and the vulnerable slaves.

The android was indeed thrown backwards onto its ass, steam rising from its guts. Its comrades turned towards William.

They tossed aside their guns.

A dome of blue energy formed around the androids. Tactical force-field; battery depleting, difficult to maintain, but cheap and easy protection when the situation called for it. Best not to overdo it, though. Primary problem, though, was that guns couldn't penetrate either side of the field. Using them inside was suicide.

Luickily, the androids didn't need guns. Instead, they raised their talon-like fingers, and each of them shot an independent jet of electricity at William. Except, of course, for the one he had shot; that one rose and attempted to electrocute Fen. For now, they figured the Sabbatanos would be distracted by his injuries, or his dodging - whichever he chose.

Fen tucked the cocktail away and then began to nudge the prisoners along. There wasn't any sense remaining. The sooner they moved, the better. Sir William and Excalibur were providing an excellent distraction.

"Wade? Where's the exit? Do we need to make one?" Her eyes scanned the building's interior in search of a door or perhaps a convenient window. The penguins continued their efforts to remove chains and soon the entire group of beings would be able to make a run for it.

"Makin' one's a good idea," Wade grunted, roughly shoving Fen away from the android's bolt, "Can you do that?"

He himself jumped to the ground as another bolt flew towards him. At this moment, an android - having identified him as the brains of the operation - appeared on top of him. And then it stomped his head into the floor; the loud crack! wasn't very encouraging. The scream of pain only slightly more so.

The Sepharim began to sing.

It was a soft, melodious song, sang in an old dialect of Hebrew. "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, so you're going to have to. Blood is getting hotter, body is getting colder..." If one understood the language, they would know the words that were said.

As it were, it sent a chill down their spine, almost literally. Those who heard the music found themselves becoming slower, their bones and muscles becoming colder.

The Irish soldier began to cough, kneeling down as he touched his left arm. He felt ice beginning to form on his skin, his body becoming much colder.

Lewis landed with a thud before the seraphim.

"WHAT THE FUCK'S A SEPHARIM?!" he demanded, before his cries devolved into incoherent screaming; raising his arm as naturally as he normally would - though it took considerably more energy to do so, it was safe to say Lewis had quite a bit of that - he drove his impromptu spear (now ablaze for purely dramatic purposes) forward at the seraph.

Specifically, at its eye. Hey, it worked for that other guy.

Megan, meanwhile, struggled to lift her gun. Panting, she raised it and slowly, very slowly, pulled back the trigger. A bullet exploded out towards the seraph attacking Ciel, before Megan went worryingly still.

The bullet hit the Sepharim that Ciel was fighting as it started to stand back up, stunning it for a moment. Then a crazed Lewis stabbed it through the eye with a spear, causing the creature to stop the song and instead start screaming uncontrollably, a primal rage filled yell, causing spasms of pain in those who heard it. Crowley winced, keeping his control.

But the creature twitched, then went still.

Crowley had taken advantage of this and pushed the flames closer to the Sepharim, who began to fly upwards in the sky, covered in flame. Their song stopped. And they began to spin very quickly, fire flying everywhere, burning the books and the shelves.

In their heads, Hope began to scream in agony.

The Library began to burn.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"Hey, Death," Damien interrupted. "Remember me? Damien Seward? Yeah, um, why am I alive right now? Seriously, what the fuck is happening? Other than that, continue with the ominous plot information."

"YOU ARE INDEED ALIVE.." Death nodded. "CONGRATULATIONS. OR MY CONDOLENCES, WHICHEVER WAY YOU PREFER TO SEE IT. I HAVE AN OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE, AFTER ALL. WHY ARE YOU ALIVE? REINCARNATION. IT'S A PROCESS. WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING? DO YOU MEAN IN A COSMIC SENSE?"

Gabriel sighed. "Alright then. What do you want us to do?"

"HELP ME OUT." replied Death. "YOU'LL BE DOING SOME SIDE WORK FOR ME. FIGHTING EVIL ABOMINATIONS AND THE LIKE, TRYING TO SAVE THE WORLD. I HAVE NO INTEREST IN THINGS DYING BEFORE THEIR TIME."

"So we're like the Avengers now." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Fantastic."

"YOU SHOULD FIND HELP." Death noted. "I CAN GET YOU SOME PEOPLE. YOU CAN ALSO USE MR. QUIXOTE."

Gabriel's face paled in an "Oh fucking shit" moment.

---

Don Quixote and Gabriel had adventured together in the past, a bizarre time in Las Vegas and Albuquerque, as well as Kabul. But Gabriel had forgotten the man in Kabul one day, as he had to run off and do his own thing in the APS universe. There were battles to fight. And Don Quixote had entirely slipped his mind. He did give the man the ability to speak and write fluent English, Pashto, Dari and Urdu, so there was that.

About five months would have passed for Quixote, Gabriel realised. He should see what happened to the man.

---

Gabriel sighed. "Yeah, I'll get him. I think he'll be a good addition."

Death nodded. "I WILL RETURN. I THINK I KNOW SOMEONE YOU CAN USE AS WELL." he vanished.

Gabriel sighed, turning to the ship controls, pushing a Scottish engineer out of the way. "Take me down to Kabul, 2015, if you will. I have to get someone. You guys can come along."

They teleported down just outside Kabul, where Don Quixote would be. Gabriel wasn't sure what to expect.

---

Death appeared suddenly in a room in Elfen High. It was daylight, so the inhabitant of the room was fairly likely to notice him. He changed his voice, making it more human, though not changing his appearance, which remained skeletal and covered in a black robe. But in Elfen High, this would not be a big scare.

"Hello." he greeted the girl, Lyra.

[Cerillium]

"Well," Daniel muttered to himself, "that worked remarkably well."

Next, Daniel took two steps forward so that he was standing behind the android attacking Wade, and he let his rifle fall on its tac-sling. Too many slaves running around to risk a through-and-through, or a miss, or a ricochet. Instead, the priest drew his sword, four feet of Spanish steel glimmering in his gloved hand like a spike of ice. And then he swung the sword, almost lazily, and decapitated the android in one blow. The metal head fell to the ground about a foot from the prostrate Englishman.

Grunting, Daniel grabbed Wade by the shoulder, and hauled him upright. Then he did the same to Fen. "You two, start getting these people under control," the priest shouted over the din. He glanced around. Steam from the vaporized ice-shield should be thick enough now to screen the escape of the slaves. Moreover, since the slaves were all stampeding toward the doors of the barracks, the other end of the building was empty - and thus save to detonate explosives in.

Without further ado, Daniel raised his rifle to his shoulder, aimed at the far wall of the building opposite the main door, and fired two high-explosive shells from his under-barrel grenade launcher into the wall. The explosives blew a hole about five feet in diameter through the plywood and out to the wastes beyond. The building groaned in protest, but Daniel had carefully blasted his second exit precisely opposite the preexisting door - so the barracks' overall structure remained in balance, making it unlikely that the building would actually collapse.

Lowering his smoking gun, Daniel turned back to Wade and Fen. "Wade," the priest said quickly, "take half of these people and get them out that way." Daniel pointed at the main door. "Fen, take the other half and get them out through the hole over there. Meet up on the outside, using the steam to conceal yourselves, and head for the wilderness. Wade, you guide them." The priest raised his voice. "Frederick! Go with Wade. He may need your fire support. William! You and I are going to get the attention of whoever is still out there, and keep them from attacking the slaves."

With that, Daniel ran to the hole which he had blown out of the barracks, and ducked through it, emerging outside to the sight of Calliel and Aziraphale fighting the Android Leader. The priest did a quick scan for other hostiles, sliding behind some rocks for cover as he did so. Then, assuming that no androids were in a position to kill him immediately, Daniel rested his rifle barrel atop the rocks, settled his holographic gunsight's reticule over the android leader, and sighed as he felt the moving meditation of combat wash over him once more.

By the time Daniel had finished sighing a little over a second later, he had put ten rounds downrange, all aimed directly at the android leader's head and torso. The priest's rifle used depleted-uranium tipped caseless ammunition that could punch through solid titanium armor. Whether or not that meant it could hurt the android leader, Daniel didn't know. But it certainly couldn't make the situation any worse.

Fen didn't need to be told twice nor did she need to even raise her voice to motivate them. The slaves weren't stupid. The explosions had galvanized them into action; any port in a storm and any opening in a crush. The Polynesian found herself swept up in the tide of bodies without any opportunity to even acknowledge Daniel.

Clearing the opening wasn't much of a problem. The steam concealed them somewhat but Fen vibrated the molecules in the air to form a fog. It wouldn't last long and provided absolutely no cover but it was a good form of concealment and deadened their footfalls. She set it on each side of their path but kept the way ahead clear so as to guide them towards safety. It was a surge of slaves and penguins and her group moved quickly. They seemed to sense their danger for few of them raised their voices as they fled. She was jostled in the midst of grunting strangers and the stench of body odor (and fear) surrounded her.

"The trees. Got to make the trees," she hissed with each exhale. Fen expected to see heads or torsos explode followed by the loud crack of weapons fire.

Shadows loomed to the left and dread seized her but then, bless it all, she realized it was the front half of Wade's own group joining up with them. She increased the fog, rolling it along the ground to pass around them and draw them into her own group. Wade would lead them forward, or perhaps Frederick, if both were still alive. She'd let them lead so that she could focus on delving deep within herself - they might need more solid cover. Her power was beginning to tax her but she wasn't tapped yet.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

After bashing the robot corpse against the Seraphim and knocking them down, Ciel witnessed the creature be shot and then stabbed, and her incoherent shouting only grew stronger when the sudden pain rippled through her when the angel began screaming as well. However, it soon became evident that she no longer needed to do this, because the song of the Seraphim had stopped. Instead, the two angels that remained began spreading fire throughout the whole library, burning it, causing the angel girl trapped within to scream as though she herself was being burnt. In some corner of her mind Ciel figured that this was likely exactly what was happening here.

"Here's to you, kid." She said, using all of her strength to hurl the robot at the two spinning Seraphim, hoping to throw them off-balance or something, before turning towards Crowley.

"The library's burning, like the girl wanted, and we have the book we needed. Let's get the fuck out of here."

---

Frederick nodded at the priest and immediately headed towards the hole on the wall, pushing his way through the back of the crowd and out into the slave camps. He looked around. Fog to the left, and fog to the right, but the path forward was cleared. The dragon-slayer figured that this was thanks to Fen's magic. It was certainly the result of some good thinking if that was the case. Either way, Frederick continued pushing his way through the mass of slaves, heading towards the front, shoving prisoners aside as he advanced slowly but steadily. They wouldn't mind, probably. They would have to be idiots not to realize that the man with the machineguns was one of their liberators and defenders, and that having him at the front of the group and ready to fight was probably good for them.

As he pushed his way through, he eventually reached the Polynesian ice wizard, Fen. Perhaps she noticed him nearby, or perhaps she didn't. He certainly wouldn't blame her if she didn't, the path was very crowded and it was easy to miss someone, especially when one didn't know the majority of the people there. They were complete strangers to him as well, and yet here he was. Not a single familiar face, but he had to save and protect them anyhow. Not that he wasn't willing. He had fought for strangers many times before, it was not something new to him.

The man tapped her on the shoulder, lightly enough not to startle her, but still hard enough that it was evident it was not an accident, but rather, on purpose.

"Good job with the fog cover." He conveyed to her telepathically. It was, quite simply, an easier way to communicate amidst the crowd than shouting, not to mention it was less likely to alter the slaves or draw any attention to them.

And then, he simply went past her and continued pushing his way forward. He had to be at the front, defending them while Wade guided them.

---

The room death had manifested in was, for the most part, normal, with a few exceptions. First were all the sketches and drawings strewn across the floor, bed and desk as well as covering the walls. They depicted all sorts of things, from landscapes to more abstract figures, though the most notable ones, and by far the majority, were images of creatures. Monsters, beasts, whatever one would want to call them. Beings of many different shapes and forms, many of which didn't exist or existed only far away, multiversally speaking, which meant that they had come from a rather active imagination.

The other exception was likely more noticeable. It was, quite simply, the fact that some of the monsters, beasts and creatures depicted on said images, mostly still, though giving signs that they were quite alive... In the case of some, anyway.

This could all be easily explained by the fact that someone had to come up with the shit some students trained with.

Lyra, herself, was currently sitting on her desk, literally. She glanced at the new arrival, waving at him.

"Hello. Who are you? I don't remember drawing you." She said, before glancing at another one of her creations, which had briefly appeared in a simulation. The thing promptly offered Death a cup of tea.

[Agritum]

"YOU ARE INDEED ALIVE.." Death nodded. "CONGRATULATIONS. OR MY CONDOLENCES, WHICHEVER WAY YOU PREFER TO SEE IT. I HAVE AN OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE, AFTER ALL. WHY ARE YOU ALIVE? REINCARNATION. IT'S A PROCESS. WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING? DO YOU MEAN IN A COSMIC SENSE?"

Gabriel sighed. "Alright then. What do you want us to do?"

"HELP ME OUT." replied Death. "YOU'LL BE DOING SOME SIDE WORK FOR ME. FIGHTING EVIL ABOMINATIONS AND THE LIKE, TRYING TO SAVE THE WORLD. I HAVE NO INTEREST IN THINGS DYING BEFORE THEIR TIME."

"So we're like the Avengers now." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Fantastic."

"YOU SHOULD FIND HELP." Death noted. "I CAN GET YOU SOME PEOPLE. YOU CAN ALSO USE MR. QUIXOTE."

Gabriel's face paled in an "Oh fucking shit" moment.

---

Don Quixote and Gabriel had adventured together in the past, a bizarre time in Las Vegas and Albuquerque, as well as Kabul. But Gabriel had forgotten the man in Kabul one day, as he had to run off and do his own thing in the APS universe. There were battles to fight. And Don Quixote had entirely slipped his mind. He did give the man the ability to speak and write fluent English, Pashto, Dari and Urdu, so there was that.

About five months would have passed for Quixote, Gabriel realised. He should see what happened to the man.

---

Gabriel sighed. "Yeah, I'll get him. I think he'll be a good addition."

Death nodded. "I WILL RETURN. I THINK I KNOW SOMEONE YOU CAN USE AS WELL." he vanished.

Gabriel sighed, turning to the ship controls, pushing a Scottish engineer out of the way. "Take me down to Kabul, 2015, if you will. I have to get someone. You guys can come along."

They teleported down just outside Kabul, where Don Quixote would be. Gabriel wasn't sure what to expect.

"Who are you searching for, exactly?" Gwen asked, throwing a glance at the scenery outside of Avalon. "I could launch some survey drones to help us in finding and bringing whoever you are seeking out, Gabriel. Actually, I think I'll definitely do that, given that this city happens to be quite big, and I don't want to waste a few days following you all over the place."

Gwen sighed, walking near to an holographic keyboard and touching the 'drone release' button. "Again, what's the name of your acquaintance?"

[Cerillium]

Frederick nodded at the priest and immediately headed towards the hole on the wall, pushing his way through the back of the crowd and out into the slave camps. He looked around. Fog to the left, and fog to the right, but the path forward was cleared. The dragon-slayer figured that this was thanks to Fen's magic. It was certainly the result of some good thinking if that was the case. Either way, Frederick continued pushing his way through the mass of slaves, heading towards the front, shoving prisoners aside as he advanced slowly but steadily. They wouldn't mind, probably. They would have to be idiots not to realize that the man with the machineguns was one of their liberators and defenders, and that having him at the front of the group and ready to fight was probably good for them.

As he pushed his way through, he eventually reached the Polynesian ice wizard, Fen. Perhaps she noticed him nearby, or perhaps she didn't. He certainly wouldn't blame her if she didn't, the path was very crowded and it was easy to miss someone, especially when one didn't know the majority of the people there. They were complete strangers to him as well, and yet here he was. Not a single familiar face, but he had to save and protect them anyhow. Not that he wasn't willing. He had fought for strangers many times before, it was not something new to him.

The man tapped her on the shoulder, lightly enough not to startle her, but still hard enough that it was evident it was not an accident, but rather, on purpose.

"Good job with the fog cover." He conveyed to her telepathically. It was, quite simply, an easier way to communicate amidst the crowd than shouting, not to mention it was less likely to alter the slaves or draw any attention to them.

And then, he simply went past her and continued pushing his way forward. He had to be at the front, defending them while Wade guided them.

The tap drew Fen's attention to Frederick and the weapons grafted into his arms. It was comforting to know they had some form of defense. "Thanks," she conveyed back although she was unsure if Frederick had heard her, nor was it important at the moment. Here was someone to lead and she trailed in his wake, gesturing for others to follow them.

This mission was supposed to be a distraction yet Fen couldn't throw these slaves to the dogs for the sake of some cause, no matter how important it was. If they could only get the people to safety, they could then perhaps team their efforts and create havoc on a grander scale. She had no way of knowing if the other groups were successful or even if they'd bought them a window of opportunity.

She pressed on and her eyes scanned the fog's walls and the sky overhead for androids. The Molotov bottle's cool glass was reassuring under her fingertips and she felt more assured because of it. Once again, the girl was aware of how much her life had changed since the prior year. I'm fleeing one of Heaven's slave camps in the company of penguins, she inwardly noted, and there's androids out there trying to kill us. Her face became grim despite the thought's surreal nature.

[Rupudska]

After the robot forces had left for the slave camp itself, the fleet's travel was pretty smooth.

In less than an hour, they were within 10 miles of the slave camps. Perfect striking distance for the Yamato's cannons.

Yuzuki, still on the prow of the battleship, withdrew a small pen. On the cap was a powerful signal light. It could be seen for over a mile.

She pointed it at the carrier.

Code: Select all

We're close enough to smell the battle from here. Prepare transports and fighters for launch, follow up with AWACS and gunships.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

The room death had manifested in was, for the most part, normal, with a few exceptions. First were all the sketches and drawings strewn across the floor, bed and desk as well as covering the walls. They depicted all sorts of things, from landscapes to more abstract figures, though the most notable ones, and by far the majority, were images of creatures. Monsters, beasts, whatever one would want to call them. Beings of many different shapes and forms, many of which didn't exist or existed only far away, multiversally speaking, which meant that they had come from a rather active imagination.

The other exception was likely more noticeable. It was, quite simply, the fact that some of the monsters, beasts and creatures depicted on said images, mostly still, though giving signs that they were quite alive... In the case of some, anyway.

This could all be easily explained by the fact that someone had to come up with the shit some students trained with.

Lyra, herself, was currently sitting on her desk, literally. She glanced at the new arrival, waving at him.

"Hello. Who are you? I don't remember drawing you." She said, before glancing at another one of her creations, which had briefly appeared in a simulation. The thing promptly offered Death a cup of tea.

"I am Death." came the reply. "Nice to meet you. And no, you did not draw me. Something else did, way long ago." it took the tea in one hand, sipping it on occasion. "I have a request for you, a job offer of sorts. There is a spaceship called Avalon. It's a ship that is from another universe, but hosts a variety of people, some of whom come from your world. You may have heard of them - Damien Seward and Ivy Green are among those on the ship. But they need more resources and aid. Would you be willing to come along?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"I am Death." came the reply. "Nice to meet you. And no, you did not draw me. Something else did, way long ago." it took the tea in one hand, sipping it on occasion. "I have a request for you, a job offer of sorts. There is a spaceship called Avalon. It's a ship that is from another universe, but hosts a variety of people, some of whom come from your world. You may have heard of them - Damien Seward and Ivy Green are among those on the ship. But they need more resources and aid. Would you be willing to come along?"

"Ah, I see. My name is Lyra, nice to meet you as well, Death." The girl said. "I would like to meet the person who made you, then. You seem like a very original work of art." Lyra remarked, before sipping some tea herself, her creation having offered her a cup as well. "Anyway, I have no idea who these people you mentioned are. I think one of them was some rich person or other? But either way, I am willing to go. I don't see why not, and given what you have told me thus far I don't want to pass up the opportunity to ride aboard a spaceship called Avalon that is from another universe." She stated, before glancing at her several creations. "Can they come along, though? If what you want from me is resources and aid, then here it is. This is what I can offer." She made a gesture towards the monsters in the room, before looking back at Death.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Gabriel sighed. "Alright then. What do you want us to do?"

"HELP ME OUT." replied Death. "YOU'LL BE DOING SOME SIDE WORK FOR ME. FIGHTING EVIL ABOMINATIONS AND THE LIKE, TRYING TO SAVE THE WORLD. I HAVE NO INTEREST IN THINGS DYING BEFORE THEIR TIME."

"So we're like the Avengers now." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Fantastic."

"YOU SHOULD FIND HELP." Death noted. "I CAN GET YOU SOME PEOPLE. YOU CAN ALSO USE MR. QUIXOTE."

Gabriel's face paled in an "Oh fucking shit" moment.

---

Don Quixote and Gabriel had adventured together in the past, a bizarre time in Las Vegas and Albuquerque, as well as Kabul. But Gabriel had forgotten the man in Kabul one day, as he had to run off and do his own thing in the APS universe. There were battles to fight. And Don Quixote had entirely slipped his mind. He did give the man the ability to speak and write fluent English, Pashto, Dari and Urdu, so there was that.

About five months would have passed for Quixote, Gabriel realised. He should see what happened to the man.

---

Gabriel sighed. "Yeah, I'll get him. I think he'll be a good addition."

Death nodded. "I WILL RETURN. I THINK I KNOW SOMEONE YOU CAN USE AS WELL." he vanished.

Gabriel sighed, turning to the ship controls, pushing a Scottish engineer out of the way. "Take me down to Kabul, 2015, if you will. I have to get someone. You guys can come along."

They teleported down just outside Kabul, where Don Quixote would be. Gabriel wasn't sure what to expect.

"Who are you searching for, exactly?" Gwen asked, throwing a glance at the scenery outside of Avalon. "I could launch some survey drones to help us in finding and bringing whoever you are seeking out, Gabriel. Actually, I think I'll definitely do that, given that this city happens to be quite big, and I don't want to waste a few days following you all over the place."

Gwen sighed, walking near to an holographic keyboard and touching the 'drone release' button. "Again, what's the name of your acquaintance?"

There was a loud crash! as a trash was thrown from a nearby dumpster, which sat below a two-story building made of weathered old bricks, just like most of Kabul; crawling up a mighty mountain, duplicates of this building huddled together like wanderers around a fire.

"Burn in Hell!" screamed a voice in heavily-accented English; the accent of an enraged Afghan, assuming any of the Elfen Highers recognized it. Gabriel likely did.

From the garbage, a head poked out - a sunburned man with whiskers of red, tinted glasses pulled over his eyes. He crawled from the dumpster and landed, catlike, on his feet. He sniffed; his mustache twitched beneath him. He glanced over his suit, formal and fine, now tarnished with the refuse of Kabul. He grimaced.

"I was just asking for directions," he mumbled, "You don't need to act like that."

Lewis Jameson cleared his throat and adjusted his tie, "None of you would happen to know where to find Elfen High, would you? I seem to be desperately lost."

[Agritum]

Imagine growing up in a fairly religious family. Imagine yourself embracing said religiousness to its fullest. Imagine yourself attending sunday school, getting your first communion, obtaining confirmation, confessing at least once a week. Imagine going on pilgrimage a couple of times, maybe even having a poignant spiritual experience during one of them. Imagine getting enrolled into a religious school, and growing up to be even more devout than you were before. Imagine learning the basics of theology, of the scriptures, of apologism. Imagine passing years of your life striving to follow the wise words of some ancient Jewish carpenter, while revering and seeking spiritual guidance from an old Argentinian man with a strange hat. Imagine your life, entirely devoted to Christ and the hope of seeing the Lord again, in Heaven.

Now, imagine all of those things above being practically useless in the end, when the reality of things surfaces, and everything you believed in is destroyed: the Church is insignificant, angels aren't perfect, and can become corrupt and evil. And the worst revelation of all: God has been almost powerless in countering the evils of the world, and he was a janitor all the time.

If you managed to imagine all of this, you'll quickly understand the mental breakdown Grace was going through. The fact that the library was now on fire, and that Lily was apparently unconscious didn't really make things easier for her. Clutching herself to her motionless companion, Grace was slowly, vainly trying to crawl away from the burning room, while struggling to avoid a complete shutdown of her senses, after the emotional trauma she had just went through.


Meanwhile, on the other side of the library, another person was going through a serious struggle, even though it was physical, rather than emotional: Hilde had just discovered that maybe she had stolen too much books from the shelves, and that she was now encumbered with the weight of several tomes and volumes. The German Chancellor promptly began throwing the less interesting ones away, while trying to keep up with the rest of the group.

"Ciel, Headmaster Crowley? Ginger and her friend are going to get crisped if someone doesn't haul them away!" she remarked, glancing at Grace and Lily.

[Nationstatelandsville]

The Android Leader burst into his flame; his cape was consumed in an instant. (He had spares.)

"I fucking love you right now!" he giggled; not his usual insane cackle, but an actual schoolgirl giggle.

Look, I don't know if this really needs to be said, but if there's anything that's worse than an immortal, sadomasochistic robot-angel psychopath, it was an immortal, sadomasochistic robot-angel psychopath that's on fire.

"Wanna' get creative?" the Leader asked, "Let's get creative!"

The Leader grabbed Calliel's left arm, and it froze into solid ice; ice which the Leader crushed easily in his grip, before vanishing. He reappeared instantly behind Calliel, driving his foot up the other angel's ass.

Aziraphale stood shakily, only to be knocked back down by a punch from the flaming metal fist of his past self. He desperately hoped he was hallucinating.

Calliel teleported behind the Leader, giving only a brief look at the stump where his arm once had been. He winced slightly at the pain in his ass, but glared at the flaming angel in front of him. "Alright then." he muttered slowly. "Let's try out something different now. I'm a bit slow at adapting to new technologies, but I've tried to practice..."

He blinked, activating his computer contacts. They began to scan the flaming android angel, but they sent out a message to other sources, away.

In the meanwhile, Calliel used his good hand to reach down and pull out a Magnum. He teleported again, directly behind the Android Leader, his gun right behind the angel. He fired the bullets out, intent on a direct hit - but the bullets had a special coating on them, one that'd cause teleportation to be, if not impossible, then highly painful. It was created by the ISSR to deal with some dangerous threats in Hell, and had proven highly effective at dealing with demons abusing teleport spam.

The Android Leader's head snapped back with a loud noise; half-groan, half-moan.

"Ow!" he laughed, black blood - like tar - exploding out of his wound like a broken pipe, splattering all over Calliel.

With that, Daniel ran to the hole which he had blown out of the barracks, and ducked through it, emerging outside to the sight of Calliel and Aziraphale fighting the Android Leader. The priest did a quick scan for other hostiles, sliding behind some rocks for cover as he did so. Then, assuming that no androids were in a position to kill him immediately, Daniel rested his rifle barrel atop the rocks, settled his holographic gunsight's reticule over the android leader, and sighed as he felt the moving meditation of combat wash over him once more.

By the time Daniel had finished sighing a little over a second later, he had put ten rounds downrange, all aimed directly at the android leader's head and torso. The priest's rifle used depleted-uranium tipped caseless ammunition that could punch through solid titanium armor. Whether or not that meant it could hurt the android leader, Daniel didn't know. But it certainly couldn't make the situation any worse.

The bullets cut straight through the Leader, who cried out in pain and joy.

However, it's worth noting that they went through him - in other words, straight towards Calliel.

With a wail, the Leader vanished; that is to say, for a moment, before quickly reappearing behind Daniel. Bleeding profusely and panting heavily, the Leader smiled under his metal mask.

"I like you," he grunted, grabbing Daniel by the collar. He jerked the priest up violently and wrapped both his arms around him, pulling Daniel into a tight bear-hug.

A very tight one, actually; Daniel might find breathing difficult, as well as keeping his spine together.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"I am Death." came the reply. "Nice to meet you. And no, you did not draw me. Something else did, way long ago." it took the tea in one hand, sipping it on occasion. "I have a request for you, a job offer of sorts. There is a spaceship called Avalon. It's a ship that is from another universe, but hosts a variety of people, some of whom come from your world. You may have heard of them - Damien Seward and Ivy Green are among those on the ship. But they need more resources and aid. Would you be willing to come along?"

"Ah, I see. My name is Lyra, nice to meet you as well, Death." The girl said. "I would like to meet the person who made you, then. You seem like a very original work of art." Lyra remarked, before sipping some tea herself, her creation having offered her a cup as well. "Anyway, I have no idea who these people you mentioned are. I think one of them was some rich person or other? But either way, I am willing to go. I don't see why not, and given what you have told me thus far I don't want to pass up the opportunity to ride aboard a spaceship called Avalon that is from another universe." She stated, before glancing at her several creations. "Can they come along, though? If what you want from me is resources and aid, then here it is. This is what I can offer." She made a gesture towards the monsters in the room, before looking back at Death.

Death gave a nod. "Of course you may. I'm counting on it." it said. It finished up the tea, handing it over to one of the creatures to be refilled. "Wonderful tea." Death commented. "Can you give me this creature to keep around as a friend or a pet? I do get lonely on occasion, and it makes lovely tea. What's it's name?" it asked as a portal began to open, through which Lyra could see sand and wind, and hear shouting.

When they walked through, they'd come upon the scene mentioned two posts up, where Lewis Jameson stood alongside a white man who spoke with an Afghan accent.

"Who are you searching for, exactly?" Gwen asked, throwing a glance at the scenery outside of Avalon. "I could launch some survey drones to help us in finding and bringing whoever you are seeking out, Gabriel. Actually, I think I'll definitely do that, given that this city happens to be quite big, and I don't want to waste a few days following you all over the place."

Gwen sighed, walking near to an holographic keyboard and touching the 'drone release' button. "Again, what's the name of your acquaintance?"

There was a loud crash! as a trash was thrown from a nearby dumpster, which sat below a two-story building made of weathered old bricks, just like most of Kabul; crawling up a mighty mountain, duplicates of this building huddled together like wanderers around a fire.

"Burn in Hell!" screamed a voice in heavily-accented English; the accent of an enraged Afghan, assuming any of the Elfen Highers recognized it. Gabriel likely did.

From the garbage, a head poked out - a sunburned man with whiskers of red, tinted glasses pulled over his eyes. He crawled from the dumpster and landed, catlike, on his feet. He sniffed; his mustache twitched beneath him. He glanced over his suit, formal and fine, now tarnished with the refuse of Kabul. He grimaced.

"I was just asking for directions," he mumbled, "You don't need to act like that."

Lewis Jameson cleared his throat and adjusted his tie, "None of you would happen to know where to find Elfen High, would you? I seem to be desperately lost."

Gabriel looked at Lewis. "You...yes, you are a bit lost. You're in South Asia. Elfen High is in Europe. So there is some distance to travel." he paused. "Well, if I recall correctly, at this time and place Elfen High is in Israel. I suppose that when you tried to teleport to it, you ended up teleporting when it moved position, causing everything to go southward." He sighed. "And you are?"

[Nationstatelandsville]

There was a loud crash! as a trash was thrown from a nearby dumpster, which sat below a two-story building made of weathered old bricks, just like most of Kabul; crawling up a mighty mountain, duplicates of this building huddled together like wanderers around a fire.

"Burn in Hell!" screamed a voice in heavily-accented English; the accent of an enraged Afghan, assuming any of the Elfen Highers recognized it. Gabriel likely did.

From the garbage, a head poked out - a sunburned man with whiskers of red, tinted glasses pulled over his eyes. He crawled from the dumpster and landed, catlike, on his feet. He sniffed; his mustache twitched beneath him. He glanced over his suit, formal and fine, now tarnished with the refuse of Kabul. He grimaced.

"I was just asking for directions," he mumbled, "You don't need to act like that."

Lewis Jameson cleared his throat and adjusted his tie, "None of you would happen to know where to find Elfen High, would you? I seem to be desperately lost."

Gabriel looked at Lewis. "You...yes, you are a bit lost. You're in South Asia. Elfen High is in Europe. So there is some distance to travel." he paused. "Well, if I recall correctly, at this time and place Elfen High is in Israel. I suppose that when you tried to teleport to it, you ended up teleporting when it moved position, causing everything to go southward." He sighed. "And you are?"

"Yes, well, I figured as much," replied the other man, adjusting his fedora, "Based on my calculations, I can assume quite safely that I entered Elfen High in the midst of transportation; the teleporter, programmed to drop me three feet from the main entrance, probably did not see fit to place me over the Mediterranean. There must be a slight difference in time between our worlds, as I logically should been dropped off to my normal dump zone, that being Amman, which currently resides in your Kabul's place on the Earth's rotation - but, ah! It matters not. You seem familiar with the school, and given its luck, are probably a staff member; as such, might I inquire as to its current location? Or, if you could supply, the current location of one Ciel Strider? She is enrolled in the school."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Ciel, awaiting expectantly for Crowley to say or do something after what she'd told him, noticed Hilde approaching, and sighed inwardly. Great, the xenophobe had something to say. Was she going to mention how pleasant it was to see heretic non-humans burn or something like that? Needless to say, it was fairly surprising that her message didn't in fact have anything to do with that, and so Ciel looked around, spotting one of the few people who could be called ginger in the room, trying to crawl away from the fire along with an unconscious person.

Sighing out loud this time, Ciel nodded at the German homunculus and walked over to Grace and Lily, slinging the unconscious one over her shoulder and carrying the other one over to where Hilde and Crowley were.

"I reiterate: Let's get the fuck out of here."

---

Lyra smiled at Death, briefly taking a moment to appreciate how odd the situation was for her to be smiling at Death, before nodding. "Yes, of course, you can keep it, and choose whatever name you want for it. I never personally named it, but you can do with it as you please. It does not speak much, though. I hope you don't mind." She said, before turning to her creature. "Mr. Death is your new master now. Treat him well, alright?" She said to the being, who merely shrieked in response, before walking over to Death's side.

After that, Lyra stepped through the portal, followed by her small army of monsters, and looked around. There was a blonde, armored woman, a man with tinted glasses, and several other rather interesting figures, to say the least. She soon learned, thanks to the words of one of the men present, that she was currently somewhere in South Asia. She also learned that the man with the tinted glasses was called Lewis Jameson. It sounded familiar, but then, if anything, this was probably another instance of him anyway.

"Interesting group you have here." She said, glancing at Death and then at the others, entirely unaware of the irony that this sentence, spoken by the girl with the monster entourage, carried.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Crowley stared at the flames around him with astonishment. "What the fuck..." he muttered, looking at the Sepharim. They merely sent their flames at the robot that Ciel threw at him, reducing it to ashes.

---

Lucifer's eyes opened again, as he looked around himself. Snow. That's what he noticed. Pure snow, comfortably blanketing the ground. "Where have you put me, Set?" he demanded, looking for the masked man.

"My base of operations." echoed the voice of the man claiming to be an Egyptian God. Lucifer turned his body by 90 degrees, seeing Set had been standing behind him. But as Lucifer had already checked that direction before, he was certain Set had just popped in. "I have a very specific sort of plan going on here, Lucifer."

"What the hell is going on?" the archangel sighed. "Can I just have a straight answer, if you will?" He probed the ground lightly with magic, trying to detect what it was, and what was going on. "Hold on. I recognise this aura." he muttered, feeling it further. "This is...Merlin's work?" Lucifer said with audible surprise.

"Indeed." Set's voice chuckled. "You hit the nail on the head, Lucifer. This place was created by Merlin. You see, you're currently standing on the moon of Armenio. After the Gotterdammerung, this place will be entirely forgotten about. The default assumption will be that it has always been there, as the Gotterdammerung was far too chaotic for anyone to keep track."

Lucifer paused. "But what is the purpose of this place? Why does it mean anything?"

Set's eyes were wild. If one could see his mouth, they could imagine an insane grin on his face. "Myths and stories get distorted and twisted. The Lady of the Lake is imagined to have seduced Merlin and sealed him away as a tree, or a cave or a rock in the future."

"Merlin never could control his old cock." Lucifer muttered. "So what was it? Where on this moon was he sealed as a tree, or a cave, or a...rock." he said slowly, his voice trailing off.

"You are standing upon Merlin's corpse." said Set triumphantly. "That is why this place matters, Morningstar! You are quite literally standing upon the body of the wizard who kicked off the Gotterdammerung. Untold secrets are buried in the ground of Armenio."

Lucifer stared at Set with disgust. "So the Gotterdammerung succeeded, judging by what I've already been told and what you have told. And you and Kronos brought this moon back into our time because-"

---

Crowley was knocked out of these newer memories as Hope's screaming grew out of control. "I can't let her burn." Crowley said, and it was unclear whether it was him or Lucifer speaking. "She may have given up, but I haven't. Start getting out." he ordered, looking at Daisuke and Ciel. "Get everyone the hell out of here now. I'll follow shortly. I can't let my niece die. I'll be out in a few minutes."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Ciel nodded. "Alright, that's what I wanted to hear." She told him, before turning to whoever else was inside the library at the time and shouting. "Alright, assholes, you heard the Devil! Let's get the fuck out of here already! Time to get moving, unless you people like your asses extra-crispy." She said, before turning to Daisuke. "You too, Dai. You might only be a robot and not the real thing, but I can still think of better uses for you than as firewood."

Afterwards, still carrying Grace and Lily, Ciel began making her way out of the library, whether the others followed or not.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Crowley was knocked out of these newer memories as Hope's screaming grew out of control. "I can't let her burn." Crowley said, and it was unclear whether it was him or Lucifer speaking. "She may have given up, but I haven't. Start getting out." he ordered, looking at Daisuke and Ciel. "Get everyone the hell out of here now. I'll follow shortly. I can't let my niece die. I'll be out in a few minutes."

Lewis turned away from the seraph to make eye contact with Crowley.

"Oh no ye' don't!" he snapped, leaping into the air and dive-tackling the Devil, "Not your call, Eddie-boy."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Lewis," Megan said, plucking a burning copy of Deuteronomy from the library shelf. She ran it across another shelf, the books of which also ignited.

"Ye' know what it's like to live forever," Lewis growled, "or ye' did, my Crowley did. Ye' can't do that to someone else - no one deserves that."