Elfen High 2: Skin to Bone, Steel to Rust

[Nationstatelandsville]

Calliel didn't say anything for a while and merely squeezed her hand briefly. And that's all that he could say there. He actually wished he could vocalise what he wanted to say in words. He wasn't sure how to begin it. He was broken and torn when in that coma from gaining his emotions. But Ivy had saved his life merely from his memories of her.

Humans! Such amazing creatures. They dealt with and survived these emotions regularly. And they still went on. After what Ivy had done and been through, Calliel kept his own strength to survive in this mad, mad world.

What if. A lot of what ifs had been going through Calliel's head lately. Calliel rarely considered what ifs- angels were advised not to. But now Calliel wondered what if this hadn't happened. What if he had never gained emotions. What if Ivy never carried his child.

And he realised deep down that he wouldn't miss any of that for anything. No. Calliel knew he loved Ivy. And there could never be a what if for that.

So he just looked at her with a beautiful smile and squeezed her hand one more time.

God, he wished he knew how to say it.

"So...." Ivy stammered, looking at Crowley, "I suppose this means we're angel and wife?"

"Hm?" Crowley said, looking up, "Oh, yeah, sorry. Nodded off a bit while you two stared at each other all lovey-dovey.

I now pronounce you all husband, wife, whatever you like. Bring in the rings."

D appeared, dressed in a suit, carrying a red velvet pillow bearing four simple silver rings. He advanced towards the altar, no gadgets or robots or any such things materializing with him, getting in the way, or just existing.

For the moment, he was but a ring-bearer.

He first presented the rings to Lewis, who took one and slid it on Megan's hand. Megan took one and did the same. D then displayed them to Calliel, who looked at them with befuddlement for a moment, picked it up, and placed it onto his own ring finger.

"Close enough," Crowley sighed, before reaching over the altar, grabbing the last ring, and handing it to Ivy.

"We done here?" Lewis asked.

"Unless someone has something to say," Crowley replied, "But no one here would ever do something like that."

[Nude East Ireland]

"So...." Ivy stammered, looking at Crowley, "I suppose this means we're angel and wife?"

"Hm?" Crowley said, looking up, "Oh, yeah, sorry. Nodded off a bit while you two stared at each other all lovey-dovey.

I now pronounce you all husband, wife, whatever you like. Bring in the rings."

D appeared, dressed in a suit, carrying a red velvet pillow bearing four simple silver rings. He advanced towards the altar, no gadgets or robots or any such things materializing with him, getting in the way, or just existing.

For the moment, he was but a ring-bearer.

He first presented the rings to Lewis, who took one and slid it on Megan's hand. Megan took one and did the same. D then displayed them to Calliel, who looked at them with befuddlement for a moment, picked it up, and placed it onto his own ring finger.

"Close enough," Crowley sighed, before reaching over the altar, grabbing the last ring, and handing it to Ivy.

"We done here?" Lewis asked.

"Unless someone has something to say," Crowley replied, "But no one here would ever do something like that."

"I'd just like to congratulate the couples," Anton noted, now standing beside Aleister. "Marriage is a time when we can be happy. Days pass, and life goes on, but we'll always hold a special place in our hearts for this happy occasion. Right now, we lie in the heart of a devastating storm, and it is here that we can enjoy the quiet embrace of our loved ones, and the tender warmth of our new couples. They join now, and forever, to be together until the ends of time, and the beginnings of a new world. And it is times like these that make us feel. That make us... human."

He smiled, and suddenly a microphone was in his hand. Music began playing, as well. Anton snapped, and smiled, pulling the microphone to his mouth. "Now I'd like to... sing a little song for the newlyweds..."

"Anything your little heart desires
Your slightest wish is my command
There's nothing I won't do
I'm so in love with you...

Anything your little heart desires
Just say the word and I'll be on hand
To make your dreams come true.

If you should want the moon
And the stars that shine
And the sun from up above
I'll tear them from the blue
Just to prove to you
That you're the only one I'm dreaming of my darling...

Anything your little heart desires
I just can't do enough my sweet
To make your life complete

If you should want the moon
And the stars that shine
And the sun from up above
I'll tear them from the blue
Just to prove to you
That you're the only one I'm dreaming of my darling...

Anything your little heart desires
I just can't do enough my sweet
To make your life complete"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Suddenly, a random student's phone rang.

He picked it up, still drunk. "Huh?" he said loudly. "Jade Gates is dead? Fuck. I need to figure out how to break the news." There was a pause as everyone in the room heard that. 'Never mind. It's been said."

[Nationstatelandsville]

Suddenly, a random student's phone rang.

He picked it up, still drunk. "Huh?" he said loudly. "Jade Gates is dead? Fuck. I need to figure out how to break the news." There was a pause as everyone in the room heard that. 'Never mind. It's been said."

Megan looked pretty damn confused, obviously, so she said nothing.

Lewis looked absolutely uncaring and shrugged a bit. He grabbed Megan and pulled her into an embrace, leading to the simultaneously most romantic and most disgusting (it's Lewis) kiss I've written. Largely because it's the first.

"I love ye'," Lewis said softly.

"I know," Megan replied with a massive grin, "I've been waiting a long time to say that."

[Ranbo]

Eldliam sat quietly as the wedding proceeded, watching the ceremony with interest. He leaned over to Kane and whispered discreetly to her. "Yeah, weird stuff like this happens all the time here. Well, I have to admit this is the first wedding I've seen here. But there's other mad stuff here...a few years ago it was killer rabbits, this year there was those tunnels to London ...say, would you want to go there some time after all this is done?" Eldliam asked, feeling himself begin to blush as he realized how Kane could quite easily get the impression he was asking her on a date. Then again, that wouldn't be bad at all He thought, which only made him blush even more.

Kane raised her eyebrows. "It seems that crazy things are a regular occurrence here," she whispered back to Eldliam, "But of course, I'm probably just stating the obvious to you. At my last school, the only excitement out of the ordinary was when the teachers decided not to hand out Siberian Gulag punishments for minor infractions."

Pondering on his request to her, she smiled back at him. "I'd love to go with you on a trip there. You can show me around the area and maybe tell me what the rabbits were doing there in the first place. It'd definitely be exciting."
Looking up, she glanced at Crowley. "I should probably get things straightened out here, just for good measure. When the whole event is over, I'll have him take care of the paperwork."

Just then, someone announced the death of someone by speaking too loud over his cell phone. Kane looked back at Eldliam oddly. "Wait," She asked, "Who's Jade?"

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

James stood frozen.

He then walked forward a bit until he was front and center. "You. Kid. Repeat what you just said." He demanded, his voice showing no hint of emotion. If one looked at his eyes, however, they would see a flood of them.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"He means just that." Sanchez replied, walking through a portal. "Jade Gates died an hour or so ago. She killed herself fighting Beezelbub. She was a good soldier. But I'm not interrupting the...party for this." Sanchez said, looking around. "I'll talk to you outside if you wish." he told James directly.

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

"He means just that." Sanchez replied, walking through a portal. "Jade Gates died an hour or so ago. She killed herself fighting Beezelbub. She was a good soldier. But I'm not interrupting the...party for this." Sanchez said, looking around. "I'll talk to you outside if you wish." he told James directly.

James shifted his gaze to Sanchez. "That will not be necessary, Brigadier General." He responded, monotone, before he began walking towards the door. "I'm just going to go for a bit of a drive."

[Constaniana]

Kane raised her eyebrows. "It seems that crazy things are a regular occurrence here," she whispered back to Eldliam, "But of course, I'm probably just stating the obvious to you. At my last school, the only excitement out of the ordinary was when the teachers decided not to hand out Siberian Gulag punishments for minor infractions."

Pondering on his request to her, she smiled back at him. "I'd love to go with you on a trip there. You can show me around the area and maybe tell me what the rabbits were doing there in the first place. It'd definitely be exciting."
Looking up, she glanced at Crowley. "I should probably get things straightened out here, just for good measure. When the whole event is over, I'll have him take care of the paperwork."

Just then, someone announced the death of someone by speaking too loud over his cell phone. Kane looked back at Eldliam oddly. "Wait," She asked, "Who's Jade?"

Eldliam looked down at his feet, looking noticeably regretful about the matter with Jade. "She was a teacher here. I think she taught self-defence classes or something of that nature, but I didn't know her too well. We talked to each other occasionally, but nothing more than that really. But I was there when she died....I saw Beelzebub swallow her, and then...the demon burst into a million pieces, and the blast killed Jade..." Eldliam's voice had grown even softer as the image of Jade's crumpled, shattered body laying on the ground next to him. He shook his head, sitting back up straight. "Sorry about getting all soul-searchy like that," He apologized.

[Ende]

The moment Crowley had handed her the ring, Ivy had slipped it on, and then, gripping Calliel's hand, steered him out of the room, to another area of the school.

"Well..." said Ivy, pausing for a few moments, and then she threw her arms around Calliel's neck, embracing him, and then kissed him.

[Nationstatelandsville]

"He means just that." Sanchez replied, walking through a portal. "Jade Gates died an hour or so ago. She killed herself fighting Beezelbub. She was a good soldier. But I'm not interrupting the...party for this." Sanchez said, looking around. "I'll talk to you outside if you wish." he told James directly.

James shifted his gaze to Sanchez. "That will not be necessary, Brigadier General." He responded, monotone, before he began walking towards the door. "I'm just going to go for a bit of a drive."

"Are you retarded?" D asked, "Like, actually legally retarded? Because that would explain a lot. You fucking clodpoll, you can't drive in a fucking warzone. Haven't you heard of a goddamn bomb? Just, Christ. How haven't you snuffed it yet? I've recor- heard about you insulting gods, for God's sake. I'm, like, six months old and I know that stepping on a land mine means you crump. Just... fuck. I can see why my dad hates you."

D pulled out a Rubik's Cube and pushed it into James' hands.

"Play with this for a bit," he said, "It has a WiFi connection. I have no idea why, seemed like a good idea at the time."

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

James shifted his gaze to Sanchez. "That will not be necessary, Brigadier General." He responded, monotone, before he began walking towards the door. "I'm just going to go for a bit of a drive."

"Are you retarded?" D asked, "Like, actually legally retarded? Because that would explain a lot. You fucking clodpoll, you can't drive in a fucking warzone. Haven't you heard of a goddamn bomb? Just, Christ. How haven't you snuffed it yet? I've recor- heard about you insulting gods, for God's sake. I'm, like, six months old and I know that stepping on a land mine means you crump. Just... fuck. I can see why my dad hates you."

D pulled out a Rubik's Cube and pushed it into James' hands.

"Play with this for a bit," he said, "It has a WiFi connection. I have no idea why, seemed like a good idea at the time."

James' expression didn't change. "Oh, you silly child." He said, shaking his head. He tossed the Rubik's Cube up in the air, then turned away from D. "Trust me, kid, I'll be fine.

He took one last glance at the two happy couples, before lighting up a cigarette and leaving the auditorium. As soon as he left, his feet took over the walking, as his emotions flooded his mind. Tears pooled up in his eyes before running down his cheeks, his mouth and throat went dry, and his vision blurred. His route through the school took him past a familiar corner. Through the haze, he could see two people. One an 18-year-old with no knowledge of the grief to come. The other, another 18-year-old, with the bravery, skill, and beauty of a Valkyrie. As James approached, the two kids ran off to find themselves a dorm. That one chance meeting in a hall that changed the fates of two kids...

James continued on towards the garage. It was clear now, from what he had learned cleaning the hallways of the school, that it had a mind of its own. That was no chance meeting.

He took a long drag of the cigarette, and entered the cafeteria. Suddenly he saw a hole, at the top of it a young woman in a white dress. From the hole emerged James, face somber. He went straight for her and revealed a trinket. Two simple words was all he could utter, but in the end they meant nothing. I'm sorry... As James moved closer the two headed down in the hole.

He continued on, entering the garage. Like a beacon, the electric-pink Agera stood out, making it easy to find. But there they were again. James doing a once-over inspection of his baby, while the woman he loved watched. As he approached, as his muddled mind began to believe that maybe the Jade he saw was, in fact, real. That he could hug her, that he could know she was safe. But no, the moment he reached out, the vision disappeared.

He entered the car and turned it on, and the radio began playing...

Choice Time: Will the radio play So Cold or Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit?

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

[So Cold - Breaking Benjamin]

James sat in the car, dead eyes staring at the dashboard, hands resting numbly on the steering wheel. He turned his head to the right, to the beautiful woman beside him. "Where are we going?" She asked. James reached over, but again the figure faded away. Instead he opened the glove box and removed a small photo album. In it were pictures of days long ago, when two young, idealistic 18-year-olds shared a bond that could not be shared with others. Days of happiness.

James faced forwards, his eyes dry, a cold fury in his eyes. He set the car into drive and pushed the pedal to the metal, launching the supercar out of the underground garage. It sailed through the air before slamming hard against the streets of Heavensgate. James unlocked the hardtop roof, allowing it to fly off of the car. He reached back into the glove box and retrieved a Star Z-84 with 30-round magazine, one extra round already loaded in the chamber. Switching off the safety, he held the firearm in his right as he drove through the streets.

Until there he was, back at Elfen High. In the field North of the school. He was 18 again, facing Jade. Both held wooden swords, hand-carved by James. The two grinned at each other, then Jade looked at him seriously. "Are you ready?" She asked, before melting away.

The car entered the battlefield, tearing down a street past the positions of the Heavensgate defenders. An unfortunate minor demon, given no armour to speak of, was hit head-on by James. The car continued on, attracting the attention of Azazel's forces. Then James opened fire.

Bullets spewed from the small SMG in 3-shot bursts, each one hitting a demon. Loaded with explosive ammunition, the rounds tore open flesh, blew holes in armour and craniums, separated limbs. Cover meant nothing, instead only peppering those behind it with fragments of whatever materials they were made of.

At the same time James was in the gladiator pit, alone. No weapons, no powers. Just him and an army of dummies. The goal: To "kill" them in the fastest time possible. The buzzer went off, and the young man went to work. He ran at the nearest target, jumped up, planted his left foot on its chest and twisted, kicking the head off with his right. Using the momentum, James continued around until he was face-down, landing on his feet and hands. He launched forwards and continued his attack, not once stopping. In the end he was surrounded by decapitated and fallen-over dummies, panting. The buzzer sounded. James checked his time: 0:00:18, the new school record. He gazed over the faces of the spectators, ignoring all but that of his room mate. Impressed, awestruck... And now, he realized far too late, in love.

An explosion rocked the sports car. Then another. Rockets impacted the ground around the vehicle, peppering it and James with shrapnel. Up front, a massive, surgically-enhanced demon stood in the road, a rocket launcher implanted in its right arm. With a roar that shook the ground, it took aim at James.

It never got a chance to fire. James tossed a weight on the gas pedal and jumped out of his seat, planting one leg on the back of seat and the other on the dashboard. He took aimed and fired, blasting apart the rocket launcher. As he came closer, James set his feet and, timing it, jumped. High in the air he did a backflip, twisted his right arm around, and fired the last shot.

It pierced the car right above the gas tank and detonated. The car quickly turned into a fireball that slammed straight into the demon, spreading over its flesh. The organic parts began to flash-burn and catch fire, while the automated parts became red-hot, melted, the metal expanding... The demon roared as the kinetic force of the destroyed car knocked it backwards, before its cybernetics exploded and left only a smoldering stump.

James landed feet-first with a skid, SMG still gripped in his right hand, right where the demon used to be. His face was down, hair over his right eye. He was back in the school, in the rubble-strewn halls. Right after Loki's invasion, right after Ivy's death. He stood in front of Jade, leaned in, kissed her...

Then he snapped back to reality. Surrounded on all sides by demons. James looked up, hair snapping back out of his eyes. He examined the opposition, smirked, and tossed the empty firearm underhanded at the demon to his right. He leaped left, delivering an elbow to that demon's nose, sending the cartilage up into the brain. He gripped the body and spun, blocking fire from behind as he delivered a hard thrust kick to the next demon's nose, doing the same thing to him. Tossing the body away James ran at another demon, jumped up, planted his left foot, twisted, caved in that target's head with a picture-perfect Enzuigiri. Leaping off, he tackled another demon to the ground, stole his axe, and with one swing opened a gash in its chest. He swiftly leapt off, rolled, and chopped down another demon at the ankles with one swing, bringing the axe around on the follow-through to cut cleanly through the neck.

James got to his knees and deflected a spear with the axe, bending backwards at the same time. With the demon off-balance he shot out his right leg, kicked the assailant in his ankle, and forced him to fall over. Rolling to the side to avoid the collapsing beast, he swung his left hand up with the axe and chopped off the demon's head. Retrieving the spear, he immediately ran it through another demon, withdrew it, and impaled another. He lifted and spun, knocking others away with the body of their comrade, before releasing the body.

He swung around, lined the tip of the spear up perfectly, and cut another demon's neck open, before throwing the spear into another. He jumped backwards, slamming an elbow into a demon's Adam's apple, crushing the windpipe. Ripping its anti-tank rifle from its hands, James took aim and fired thrice, blasting three demons into pieces.

Another demon grabbed the rifle and wrenched it from James' hands, but misjudged the force needed. While the beast recovered, James jumped over him, removed his tie, looped it around the demon's neck, and landed. Then, still with his downward momentum, he curled into a ball and pulled. Internal decapitation.

James stood up, retrieving that demon's weapon, a pistol. He opened fire as he dashed for cover, hitting seven more. From cover he emptied the rest of the magazine, each shot hitting another demon. Being of demonic origin, the weapon was large enough in calibre to punch through normal demon armour.

Return fire forced James to drop the gun and return to cover. He took a moment to catch his breath, only for a fireball to explode beside him, peppering him in debris and setting his suit jacket and undershirt on fire. He quickly shed them, noting a burn on his left shoulder and arm stretching down to the elbow. He pushed the pain back and focused. Peeking around the corner, he judged the distance to his opponents.

Then he climbed up the building. On top he found the corpse of an angel. He retrieved the sword and muttered a short prayer for the brave man, before making his way to a point over the demon officer, the one who had launched the fireball. He jumped.

And landed swordpoint-first on the officer, the blade sliding effortlessly into his cranium, through his brain, finally ending all the way into his neck, having gone in all the way to the hilt. No sense in attempting to retrieve it, so instead James jumped forward and hit another demon in the nose with his shoulder. Stealing his assault rifle, he spun and sprayed, cutting down more demons with every bullet. With the magazine empty he swung around and broke the buttstock of the rifle on another demon's head, caving in his skull.

Retrieving that demon's sword he went to town on the others, dodging and parrying every swing at him, killing the attackers with just one strike. He picked up an axe and used both, utilizing his speed and sense of defense to avoid attacks from the demon's firearms. He broke the sword stabbing a demon in the chest, tossing the mostly-useless and jagged half into another demon's eye. Finding himself at a distance to the second-last-remaining demon, he tossed the axe into his skull. Turning back to the one with half a sword in his eye, James slowly walked forwards and retrieved a dagger.

Only to suddenly be in a dark room, a laptop in front of him, a human with a gun pointed to his head. "Send the email." The human growled out. "Send it, and sever all your ties with your past life." James looked at the email, looked over the words. "It's alright." The human said. Fighting back the tears, James reached over and sent that last email to Jade Gates. The human turned and left, leaving James alone. He closed the laptop and sobbed. "Find me..."

And he was back in Hell, standing with the pulverized remains of a dagger over the shredded remains of a demon. He dropped the weapon and stood straight, shirtless, his pants torn halfway to the knee. His hair hung over his right eye, and his mouth curled into an evil bloody smirk...

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

[Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit - Neil Patrick Harris]

James sat in the car, dead eyes staring at the dashboard, hands resting numbly on the steering wheel. He turned his head to the right, to the beautiful woman beside him. "Where are we going?" She asked. James reached over, but again the figure faded away. Instead he opened the glove box and removed a small photo album. In it were pictures of days long ago, when two young, idealistic 18-year-olds shared a bond that could not be shared with others. Days of happiness.

James faced forwards, his eyes dry, a cold fury in his eyes. He set the car into drive and pushed the pedal to the metal, launching the supercar out of the underground garage. It sailed through the air before slamming hard against the streets of Heavensgate. James unlocked the hardtop roof, allowing it to fly off of the car. He reached back into the glove box and retrieved a QSZ-92, one extra round already loaded in the chamber. Switching off the safety, he held the firearm in his right as he drove through the streets.

Until there he was, in the streets of whatever city was closest to Elfen High. He and Jade were walking along, viewing the shops, when a now-familiar scarlet-red suit came into view, visible in the shop window. James stopped, viewing the suit. Jade came up beside him. "I think it would look good on you." She answered the unspoken question. James looked at her with a smirk. "Maybe... If I could afford it..."

The car entered the battlefield, tearing down a street past the positions of the Heavensgate defenders. An unfortunate minor demon, given no armour to speak of, was hit head-on by James. The car continued on, attracting the attention of Azazel's forces. Then James opened fire.

Bullets spewed from the pistol one at a time, each one hitting a demon. Loaded with explosive ammunition, the rounds tore open flesh, blew holes in armour and craniums, separated limbs. Cover meant nothing, instead only peppering those behind it with fragments of whatever materials they were made of.

James returned to the past, this time in a high-end restaurant. He tugged at the collar of the scarlet-red suit, cooling himself off a little. In front of him sat Jade, like always clad in a nice-looking dress. She smiled at him. "Was it worth it?" She asked.

James snapped back to reality. A large group of demons were dug in ahead of him. In the center was a massive cannon. It took aim at James' car/

It never got a chance to fire. James tossed a weight on the gas pedal and jumped out of his seat, planting one leg on the back of seat and the other on the dashboard. He took aimed and fired, blasting apart the rocket launcher. As he came closer, James set his feet and, timing it, jumped. High in the air he did a backflip, twisted his right arm around, and fired the last shot.

It pierced the car right above the gas tank and detonated. The car quickly turned into a fireball that slammed straight into the defenses, setting several demons on fire. But more importantly, the heat and concussive force impacted the cannon and its ammunition. Two seconds after impact, they began cooking off and exploding, tearing apart the cannon and the defenders.

James landed feet-first with a skid, pistol still gripped in his right hand, right where the cannon and its attendants used to be. His face was down, hair over his right eye. He was back at the school, sitting on Jade's bed with her, the two with arms wrapped around the other, both still in the clothes they wore to the restaurant. They smiled. "Did you enjoy it?" Jade asked.

Then he snapped back to reality. Surrounded on all sides by demons. James looked up, hair snapping back out of his eyes. He examined the opposition, smirked, and tossed the empty firearm underhanded at the demon to his right. He leaped left, delivering an elbow to that demon's nose, sending the cartilage up into the brain. He gripped the body and spun, blocking fire from behind as he delivered a hard thrust kick to the next demon's nose, doing the same thing to him. Tossing the body away James ran at another demon, jumped up, planted his left foot, twisted, caved in that target's head with a picture-perfect Enzuigiri. Leaping off, he tackled another demon to the ground, stole his axe, and with one swing opened a gash in its chest. He swiftly leapt off, rolled, and chopped down another demon at the ankles with one swing, bringing the axe around on the follow-through to cut cleanly through the neck.

James got to his knees and deflected a spear with the axe, bending backwards at the same time. With the demon off-balance he shot out his right leg, kicked the assailant in his ankle, and forced him to fall over. Rolling to the side to avoid the collapsing beast, he swung his left hand up with the axe and chopped off the demon's head. Retrieving the spear, he immediately ran it through another demon, withdrew it, and impaled another. He lifted and spun, knocking others away with the body of their comrade, before releasing the body.

He swung around, lined the tip of the spear up perfectly, and cut another demon's neck open, before throwing the spear into another. He jumped backwards, slamming an elbow into a demon's Adam's apple, crushing the windpipe. Ripping its anti-tank rifle from its hands, James took aim and fired thrice, blasting three demons into pieces.

Another demon grabbed the rifle and wrenched it from James' hands, but misjudged the force needed. While the beast recovered, James jumped over him and landed, stole the demon's dagger, and shoved it straight into his head just above the right ear.

James then retrieved the demon's primary weapon, a sub-machine gun. He opened fire as he dashed for cover, hitting seven more. From cover he emptied the rest of the magazine, each shot hitting another demon. Being of demonic origin, the weapon was large enough in calibre to punch through normal demon armour.

Return fire forced James into cover. He quickly made his way down the side of the building until he found a point he could climb, narrowly avoiding a fireball that slammed into the corner he had been hiding at. He tested the wall, but his suit jacket, shirt, and tie were too heavy and restricted his movement too much. He removed them, sadly, and made the climg.

On top he found the corpse of an angel. He retrieved the sword and muttered a short prayer for the brave man, before making his way to a point over the demon officer, the one who had launched the fireball. He jumped.

And landed swordpoint-first on the officer, the blade sliding effortlessly into his cranium, through his brain, finally ending all the way into his neck, having gone in all the way to the hilt. No sense in attempting to retrieve it, so instead James jumped forward and hit another demon in the nose with his shoulder. Stealing his assault rifle, he spun and sprayed, cutting down more demons with every bullet with both rifle and SMG. With the magazines empty he swung around and broke the buttstock of the rifle on another demon's head, caving in his skull, and dropped the SMG.

Retrieving that demon's sword he went to town on the others, dodging and parrying every swing at him, killing the attackers with just one strike. He picked up an axe and used both, utilizing his speed and sense of defense to avoid attacks from the demon's firearms. He broke the sword stabbing a demon in the chest, tossing the mostly-useless and jagged half into another demon's eye. Finding himself at a distance to the second-last-remaining demon, he tossed the axe into his skull. Turning back to the one with half a sword in his eye, James slowly walked forwards and retrieved a dagger.

Only to suddenly be in a dark room, wearing the same scarlet-red suit with white undershirt, a laptop in front of him, a human with a gun pointed to his head. "Send the email." The human growled out. "Send it, and sever all your ties with your past life." James looked at the email, looked over the words. "It's alright." The human said. Fighting back the tears, James reached over and sent that last email to Jade Gates. The human turned and left, leaving James alone. He closed the laptop and sobbed. "Find me..."

And he was back in Hell, standing with the pulverized remains of a dagger over the shredded remains of a demon. He dropped the weapon and stood straight, shirtless. His hair hung over his right eye, and his mouth curled into an evil bloody smirk...

[Ranbo]

Eldliam looked down at his feet, looking noticeably regretful about the matter with Jade. "She was a teacher here. I think she taught self-defence classes or something of that nature, but I didn't know her too well. We talked to each other occasionally, but nothing more than that really. But I was there when she died....I saw Beelzebub swallow her, and then...the demon burst into a million pieces, and the blast killed Jade..." Eldliam's voice had grown even softer as the image of Jade's crumpled, shattered body laying on the ground next to him. He shook his head, sitting back up straight. "Sorry about getting all soul-searchy like that," He apologized.

Kane took one of her hands and clutched Eldliam's shoulder with it, hoping to comfort him with her actions. "That must have been really painful for you," She said softly. "I think I'd have liked to know her." Having noticed James's reaction to the news, she wondered inside what was going on with him, or why he seemed to be taking this so hard.

Luckily, she had enough respect to keep her questions to herself. It wasn't her place to make a ruckus over something that so clearly didn't concern her. Looking back to Eldliam, she paused for a moment before asking something. "So, where do we go from here?"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Sanchez spoke up. "I hate to interrupt the good times," he said dryly. "But we have an issue here. The demon attacks have been growing rapidly bold. They're striking all around the world now- our world, kidnapping or killing humans in equal measure. They haven't done what they tried to do at Athens with the sacrifice from what I can understand. But now things are getting more and more desperate."

Sobek growled. "Well, we shall fight. We will fight as well as we can."

"I agree with you." Sanchez said briefly. "But we need aid. The ISSR's meager resources won't be enough. We can easily persuade the forces of Earth to aid, as well as much of the supernatural. But we need to start a fight again. I need anything we can get. Our goal must be to wipe Azazel and his forces from existence."

Sobek stood up slowly. "One way or another, this will be my last war. I will aid."

The mummy grumbled. "Why? Because we're all going to die on April 4th anyway?"

"Do you want Egypt to host the World Cup?"

"Fine. Go fight."

Sanchez was unfazed by this exchange between the Egyptian God and the mummy. He figured shit like this happened at Elfen High.

Calliel kissed Ivy's forehead and walked toward Sanchez. "Where are we going then, sir?" he asked respectfully.

"To fuck up bitches." Sanchez said, aware this did not answer the "where". "Now, there are locations I'm considering to send you. Cairo, where there was a recent attack. Or to aid some of our troops attacking some of Azazel's ports in Hell." Sanchez paused, mulling this over.

1. Cairo
2. Aiding ISSR soldiers attacking Azazel's ports.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Suddenly, James felt a sharp pain in his leg, having been electrocuted.

The prod recoiled back into D's vehicle, the young Jameson lifting the hatch and poking his head out from inside.

"Hey, you human anus," D said with a mix of irritation, concern, and hesitation - he was very much aware of his surroundings, his age, and how much he was disrespecting someone he probably shouldn't disrespect, "What are you doing out here for? Don't you listen to those wiser than you? I told you it would get blown up. And now you don't have a car.

Don't be stupid - it's time to go home."

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

Suddenly, James felt a sharp pain in his leg, having been electrocuted.

The prod recoiled back into D's vehicle, the young Jameson lifting the hatch and poking his head out from inside.

"Hey, you human anus," D said with a mix of irritation, concern, and hesitation - he was very much aware of his surroundings, his age, and how much he was disrespecting someone he probably shouldn't disrespect, "What are you doing out here for? Don't you listen to those wiser than you? I told you it would get blown up. And now you don't have a car.

Don't be stupid - it's time to go home."

I didn't flinch when the prod pierced my leg. Adrenaline still pumped through my veins, dulling the pain my body was experiencing. If the uppity brat was paying attention, he would notice a large tattoo on my back. I delved into the experiences of my civilian, weaker side, as I turned to face the child. D, he was called, the son of Lewis Jameson. "Silly, silly child." I said, no emotion in my voice. I did not feel emotion. "The battlefield is my home, and the loss of some trinket, some remembrance of the past, means nothing to me."

[Nationstatelandsville]

Suddenly, James felt a sharp pain in his leg, having been electrocuted.

The prod recoiled back into D's vehicle, the young Jameson lifting the hatch and poking his head out from inside.

"Hey, you human anus," D said with a mix of irritation, concern, and hesitation - he was very much aware of his surroundings, his age, and how much he was disrespecting someone he probably shouldn't disrespect, "What are you doing out here for? Don't you listen to those wiser than you? I told you it would get blown up. And now you don't have a car.

Don't be stupid - it's time to go home."

I didn't flinch when the prod pierced my leg. Adrenaline still pumped through my veins, dulling the pain my body was experiencing. If the uppity brat was paying attention, he would notice a large tattoo on my back. I delved into the experiences of my civilian, weaker side, as I turned to face the child. D, he was called, the son of Lewis Jameson. "Silly, silly child." I said, no emotion in my voice. I did not feel emotion. "The battlefield is my home, and the loss of some trinket, some remembrance of the past, means nothing to me."

"I'm no psychiatrist," D replied, "I'm honestly not sure if I can even spell that word. But even I know that's bullshit, Mr. Please-Forgive-Me-Jade. So, don't think I'm going to let you get all apathetic and monotone. You are not an automaton, Jamie-"

D was an ass, what can I say?

"-nor a soldier," he continued, "You're a child. Only a few years ago did you get your menarche. You got a license to drive that automobile four years ago. Four. You don't get to be a whiny hard-ass yet, I need an irresponsible college-age role model to teach me what not to do with my adolescence."

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

I didn't flinch when the prod pierced my leg. Adrenaline still pumped through my veins, dulling the pain my body was experiencing. If the uppity brat was paying attention, he would notice a large tattoo on my back. I delved into the experiences of my civilian, weaker side, as I turned to face the child. D, he was called, the son of Lewis Jameson. "Silly, silly child." I said, no emotion in my voice. I did not feel emotion. "The battlefield is my home, and the loss of some trinket, some remembrance of the past, means nothing to me."

"I'm no psychiatrist," D replied, "I'm honestly not sure if I can even spell that word. But even I know that's bullshit, Mr. Please-Forgive-Me-Jade. So, don't think I'm going to let you get all apathetic and monotone. You are not an automaton, Jamie-"

D was an ass, what can I say?

"-nor a soldier," he continued, "You're a child. Only a few years ago did you get your menarche. You got a license to drive that automobile four years ago. Four. You don't get to be a whiny hard-ass yet, I need an irresponsible college-age role model to teach me what not to do with my adolescence."

"My name isn't James." I responded flatly. "That man was weak. He allowed his emotions, his unattainable dreams, to cloud his judgement. No, kid, I'm not James Callahan, although we inhabit the same body."

He stared D in the eyes. "My name is Snowflame, and I am no role model."

[Nationstatelandsville]

"I'm no psychiatrist," D replied, "I'm honestly not sure if I can even spell that word. But even I know that's bullshit, Mr. Please-Forgive-Me-Jade. So, don't think I'm going to let you get all apathetic and monotone. You are not an automaton, Jamie-"

D was an ass, what can I say?

"-nor a soldier," he continued, "You're a child. Only a few years ago did you get your menarche. You got a license to drive that automobile four years ago. Four. You don't get to be a whiny hard-ass yet, I need an irresponsible college-age role model to teach me what not to do with my adolescence."

"My name isn't James." I responded flatly. "That man was weak. He allowed his emotions, his unattainable dreams, to cloud his judgement. No, kid, I'm not James Callahan, although we inhabit the same body."

He stared D in the eyes. "My name is Firefly, and I am no role model."

D burst out laughing.

"Holy shit!" he cackled, his slightly-nasally laugh identical to Lewis', "Just... holy shit! Wow. Well, Firefly, we're going to go back to the school now. Sanchez is there and has some form of mission a young Lampyridae with a gun is perfect for. It involves battle, so that should get you aroused. Now, quickly, follow me - we must egress."

D slammed the door of his vehicle shut, turned it around, and began to putter back to the school.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Sanchez raised his head. "I have made a decision." he said simply. "We are going to the ports. The soldiers there need aid."

"What?" Sobek roared out. "My people need it more!"

"I need to make some choices." Sanchez replied back simply. "Part of being a leader is that you need to make sacrifices. I am afraid you need to acknowledge that."

"He's right." Crowley said simply. "Sobek, Egypt isn't your home any longer. And we have bigger things to consider. It may not be honourable to abandon your home, but stand in the ashes of a billion dead souls and ask them if honour has ever mattered."

Sanchez was James'ing horribly, staring down an Egyptian God who was clearly full of rage and fury. But the god backed down. "Very well." he growled. "I shall accept this decision, General."

Sanchez nodded. "Good." he turned to the group. "These are dark times, there is no denying it. Our world has perhaps faced no greater threat than it does today. But we cannot help the people of Egypt and the rest of the Earth unless we do what we must be done. People will die. But in this war, we can minimise the causalities. Let's go out there and give them hell."

Crowley began to open a portal as the people there began to walk through it. He was one of the last to do so. He took a breath and went through, speaking under his breath. "Boldly they rode and well, into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell itself." he said simply.

Then they were through. They were in what seemed to be an absolute hell and a warzone beyond any. They were in a dry and dusty region, which was ironic considering it bordered an ocean. It was a beautiful and vast ocean...from which demons were rising out of. But they were the minor thing.

From the sky came massive dozen metre long snakelike creature, flying seemingly without wings. They had green scales and dark red eyes, their forked tongues hissing out of their mouths as they flew over the group. They blasted down beams of red laser light (which seemed to have a diameter of around a metre) from their gaping mouths, smashing through the soldiers they hit.

Because there were soldiers, hundreds of them and many tanks as well. Most bases and buildings had been shattered by the sky monsters, so any and all forts of protection were being created by a few mages in the group who were rapidly making makeshift cover with earthbending. One soldier gestured at Crowley and punched the ground, creating a quick tunnel down...somewhere.

Crowley shrugged, but quickly leaped toward the side as a beam of red light barely missed him. "Holy fuck." he swore, jumping down into the tunnel. After the PCs had all jumped in, the tunnel closed behind them.

"Keep walking, please." the weary soldier ordered in an Irish accent.

"What the fuck happened here?" Sanchez yelled. "Didn't you have proper reinforcements?"

"We did, sir. We were even winning when those bizarre sky demons came out. I have no idea what the hell those things are. And Azazel's sending more and more of his forces." the soldier said quickly. "Now, we're glad you came here. God, we're not in a good state right now."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Suddenly, someone slammed onto the ground right in front of D. It was...Iron Man. I have no other way to admit or explain this. It was Iron Man. But if D checked, being the asshole that he is, he'd notice it was just a robot rather than a person. The armour was hollow.

A familiar voice to some of the PCs spoke, the eye openings on the armour's face flashing as he did. "It appears we're in trouble." Daisuke spoke through the suit, sipping some coffee back in his New York apartment. "We need you and the assassin to come with me. Sanchez's orders. Well, come with the suit at any rate."

[Nationstatelandsville]

Suddenly, someone slammed onto the ground right in front of D. It was...Iron Man. I have no other way to admit or explain this. It was Iron Man. But if D checked, being the asshole that he is, he'd notice it was just a robot rather than a person. The armour was hollow.

A familiar voice to some of the PCs spoke, the eye openings on the armour's face flashing as he did. "It appears we're in trouble." Daisuke spoke through the suit, sipping some coffee back in his New York apartment. "We need you and the assassin to come with me. Sanchez's orders. Well, come with the suit at any rate."

"Oh, cool, I'm building this!" D said, poking the robot with a prod, "Only it's armor and still in the blueprint phase. Probably too expensive for Elfen High's budget, anyhow. So, you're Daisuke? Well, you're actually an automaton - LED's in the eyes, pretty self-evident."

He flipped a switch on the vehicle, turning away from the Daisukebot before doing so, and caused a bolt of lightning to fire from the vehicle's rod. Not something you'd want to get with, though Firefly had a 99% chance of being on the receiving end of at least one of them.

"Minh's said a lot about you," D lied, "I'm Lewis' son. You can call me 'D', but my real name's Franklin."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Suddenly, someone slammed onto the ground right in front of D. It was...Iron Man. I have no other way to admit or explain this. It was Iron Man. But if D checked, being the asshole that he is, he'd notice it was just a robot rather than a person. The armour was hollow.

A familiar voice to some of the PCs spoke, the eye openings on the armour's face flashing as he did. "It appears we're in trouble." Daisuke spoke through the suit, sipping some coffee back in his New York apartment. "We need you and the assassin to come with me. Sanchez's orders. Well, come with the suit at any rate."

"Oh, cool, I'm building this!" D said, poking the robot with a prod, "Only it's armor and still in the blueprint phase. Probably too expensive for Elfen High's budget, anyhow. So, you're Daisuke? Well, you're actually an automaton - LED's in the eyes, pretty self-evident."

He flipped a switch on the vehicle, turning away from the Daisukebot before doing so, and caused a bolt of lightning to fire from the vehicle's rod. Not something you'd want to get with, though Firefly had a 99% chance of being on the receiving end of at least one of them.

"Minh's said a lot about you," D lied, "I'm Lewis' son. You can call me 'D', but my real name's Franklin."

Daisukebot nodded. He knew Minh hadn't said anything about him. Cameras! "I'm glad he did." he lied, allowing himself to believe his father had. "I know about you, D. I know about the assassin James as well." he nodded to James. "In any case, we need to go to a port in Hell. The ISSR had formerly gotten hold of it, but it appears that the demons have done a considerable job in reclaiming it. Your father is there and so is mine. Sanchez has also suggested we could go to Egypt and back the lack of forces there, but it seems like it'll be a downright suicidal move now that most of EH isn't there. You're a smart kid, I know this. I'd like your opinion on this before we make a decision."