Elfen High 2: Skin to Bone, Steel to Rust

[Nationstatelandsville]

"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."

"We're a six-month-old with a lightning-shooting WALL-E, Tony Stark, and Neo without the Jesus shit," D observed, "I'm thinking that going to Egypt alone would be a bad idea, even including the Enterprise crewmen Sanchez has posted there. You'd think an army would be more useful, but I think Crowley unconsciously sucks up all of the competence for himself and then wastes it on booze.

In other words, I wouldn't advise taking us into battle at all, but if you think we would be useful, we'll be most useful with our parents."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

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."

"We're a six-month-old with a lightning-shooting WALL-E, Tony Stark, and Neo without the Jesus shit," D observed, "I'm thinking that going to Egypt alone would be a bad idea, even including the Enterprise crewmen Sanchez has posted there. You'd think an army would be more useful, but I think Crowley unconsciously sucks up all of the competence for himself and then wastes it on booze.

In other words, I wouldn't advise taking us into battle at all, but if you think we would be useful, we'll be most useful with our parents."

Daisukebot paused, thinking. "I have made a conclusion. The conclusion is simple. Fuck Sanchez. You-" he pointed directly at D. "Are coming with me to New York. We'll build some cool shit and fuck some people up." He pointed at James. "You're a fighter, I'm taking you to the battlefield. Capiche? Good."

Then he held out a hand and blasted out a portal from his palm. He chucked James through with his other hand, and James found himself now lying on the floor in front of the Irish soldier in the tunnel.

"Some people have absurdly good skills regarding portal making." Crowley snarked. "You know, it was once a rare and difficult art to master, now every asshole is doing it."

Daisukebot then grabbed D. "Now, time to go."

He opened another portal into New York and blasted off through the New York, holding D close to him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAADVENTUUUUUUUUUUUUUURE!" they roared together as they smashed into Daisuke's apartment building. "The window can be fixed." Daisuke said simply as some robots proceeded to do exactly that. The Daisukebot let D go and went inert as Daisuke rolled his wheelchair toward D. "Welcome to my apartment. Want some orange juice?"

[Nationstatelandsville]

"We're a six-month-old with a lightning-shooting WALL-E, Tony Stark, and Neo without the Jesus shit," D observed, "I'm thinking that going to Egypt alone would be a bad idea, even including the Enterprise crewmen Sanchez has posted there. You'd think an army would be more useful, but I think Crowley unconsciously sucks up all of the competence for himself and then wastes it on booze.

In other words, I wouldn't advise taking us into battle at all, but if you think we would be useful, we'll be most useful with our parents."

Daisukebot paused, thinking. "I have made a conclusion. The conclusion is simple. Fuck Sanchez. You-" he pointed directly at D. "Are coming with me to New York. We'll build some cool shit and fuck some people up." He pointed at James. "You're a fighter, I'm taking you to the battlefield. Capiche? Good."

Then he held out a hand and blasted out a portal from his palm. He chucked James through with his other hand, and James found himself now lying on the floor in front of the Irish soldier in the tunnel.

"Some people have absurdly good skills regarding portal making." Crowley snarked. "You know, it was once a rare and difficult art to master, now every asshole is doing it."

Daisukebot then grabbed D. "Now, time to go."

He opened another portal into New York and blasted off through the New York, holding D close to him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAADVENTUUUUUUUUUUUUUURE!" they roared together as they smashed into Daisuke's apartment building. "The window can be fixed." Daisuke said simply as some robots proceeded to do exactly that. The Daisukebot let D go and went inert as Daisuke rolled his wheelchair toward D. "Welcome to my apartment. Want some orange juice?"

"As long as, by orange juice," D replied, "you meant O₂Ra₃N₂Ge₂ in liquid form, then yes. And I realize that molecule probably isn't possible - this is, as Father tells me, called a 'joke'. I don't believe him, no one would be that stupid."

He crawled out of the vehicle and smiled mischievously at Daisuke, removing the Rubik's Cube from inside the rover.

"As you may know," he said, "this Cube contains a WiFi connection. I lied when I said that I don't know why. Get your computer - I found something you'll want to see in Crowley's personal database, labelled 'Ellywick'. But don't tell anyone."

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."

"Well, yeah, you're in Azazel's land," Megan said.

"No," Lewis replied, "no puns. For the love of Ireland, please."

"Fine," Megan responded, playfully punching him in the arm, "what do you want us to do, Rick?"

"Rick?!" Lewis spat, "His first name is 'Sergeant'."

"Just take out the flying demons?" Megan asked, "That should be easy enough, Aleister can lightning them away."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"Very good to see you again, Megan." Sanchez said warmly before he turned serious. "I'm assuming my people have tried to hit them with such weaponry." he turned to the Irish soldier.

The man gave a helpless shrug. "We used our best weaponry, but so far we've only brought one down. We had to fire inside the mouth, which is insanely difficult at the best of times since the gap between blasts is only about seven seconds. And more and more demons are slowly coming."

Sanchez paused, absorbing this information. "Alright then."

Calliel spoke up. "Do you have aircraft?" he asked.

"Indeed we do." Sanchez said. "I can take a risk. I'm the best flyer in...well, forever." he admitted. "Megan knows that, as do my men. By the way, Megan, I'm glad nobody was injured on our last flight. I told you not to mess with the controls." he joked. "That was a dangerous bomb and we shouldn't accidentally drop more."

Sanchez glanced around. "But before I go to that, let's count up what we have. Who else can fly, if not a plane?"

"I can fly a plane." Minh said.

"I can fly." Calliel said.

"Yes." Crowley said in answer to Sanchez's question.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Daisuke turned it on. "Alright then. I don't know where Elly went, pity that." he said sadly. "But no matter. I assume you're working on building a god?"

[Ende]

"Very good to see you again, Megan." Sanchez said warmly before he turned serious. "I'm assuming my people have tried to hit them with such weaponry." he turned to the Irish soldier.

The man gave a helpless shrug. "We used our best weaponry, but so far we've only brought one down. We had to fire inside the mouth, which is insanely difficult at the best of times since the gap between blasts is only about seven seconds. And more and more demons are slowly coming."

Sanchez paused, absorbing this information. "Alright then."

Calliel spoke up. "Do you have aircraft?" he asked.

"Indeed we do." Sanchez said. "I can take a risk. I'm the best flyer in...well, forever." he admitted. "Megan knows that, as do my men. By the way, Megan, I'm glad nobody was injured on our last flight. I told you not to mess with the controls." he joked. "That was a dangerous bomb and we shouldn't accidentally drop more."

Sanchez glanced around. "But before I go to that, let's count up what we have. Who else can fly, if not a plane?"

"I can fly a plane." Minh said.

"I can fly." Calliel said.

"Yes." Crowley said in answer to Sanchez's question.

"I can fly a plane!" Ivy lied enthusiastically, gripping Calliel's hand. After a few seconds, she realized how absolutely ridiculous that was.

"Well, no, I can't, but I should do something. Is there anything I can do to help? I don't like feeling useless."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"Very good to see you again, Megan." Sanchez said warmly before he turned serious. "I'm assuming my people have tried to hit them with such weaponry." he turned to the Irish soldier.

The man gave a helpless shrug. "We used our best weaponry, but so far we've only brought one down. We had to fire inside the mouth, which is insanely difficult at the best of times since the gap between blasts is only about seven seconds. And more and more demons are slowly coming."

Sanchez paused, absorbing this information. "Alright then."

Calliel spoke up. "Do you have aircraft?" he asked.

"Indeed we do." Sanchez said. "I can take a risk. I'm the best flyer in...well, forever." he admitted. "Megan knows that, as do my men. By the way, Megan, I'm glad nobody was injured on our last flight. I told you not to mess with the controls." he joked. "That was a dangerous bomb and we shouldn't accidentally drop more."

Sanchez glanced around. "But before I go to that, let's count up what we have. Who else can fly, if not a plane?"

"I can fly a plane." Minh said.

"I can fly." Calliel said.

"Yes." Crowley said in answer to Sanchez's question.

"I can fly a plane!" Ivy lied enthusiastically, gripping Calliel's hand. After a few seconds, she realized how absolutely ridiculous that was.

"Well, no, I can't, but I should do something. Is there anything I can do to help? I don't like feeling useless."

Crowley spoke. "You can control plants, yes? Then try to use some of the natural wildlife here and strangle to death any nearby demons. If not that, grow some opium or other medical drugs to give to the wounded soldiers to ease their pain and potentially save them. Or fuck, start controlling any wooden objects to make bases and shelter and aid the earthbenders up there."

[Nationstatelandsville]

"Very good to see you again, Megan." Sanchez said warmly before he turned serious. "I'm assuming my people have tried to hit them with such weaponry." he turned to the Irish soldier.

The man gave a helpless shrug. "We used our best weaponry, but so far we've only brought one down. We had to fire inside the mouth, which is insanely difficult at the best of times since the gap between blasts is only about seven seconds. And more and more demons are slowly coming."

Sanchez paused, absorbing this information. "Alright then."

Calliel spoke up. "Do you have aircraft?" he asked.

"Indeed we do." Sanchez said. "I can take a risk. I'm the best flyer in...well, forever." he admitted. "Megan knows that, as do my men. By the way, Megan, I'm glad nobody was injured on our last flight. I told you not to mess with the controls." he joked. "That was a dangerous bomb and we shouldn't accidentally drop more."

Sanchez glanced around. "But before I go to that, let's count up what we have. Who else can fly, if not a plane?"

"I can fly a plane." Minh said.

"I can fly." Calliel said.

"Yes." Crowley said in answer to Sanchez's question.

"I can fly a plane from Scotland to Norfolk on a sack of cocaine," Lewis said.

"You've done cocaine?" Megan asked incredulously.

"You know Sanchez?" Lewis replied in the same tone, "He locked me up in that fuckin' Hell base for years!"

"He proposed to me," Megan replied with a shrug, "Guess I'm prettier."

"You," Lewis said darkly, glaring at Sanchez, saying it clearly and without an accent, "You are going to die. This is a fact."

"Anyways, get us two planes and a bottle of scotch," Megan said, "I'm a newlywed and my honeymoon is gonna' be a dogfight."

Daisuke turned it on. "Alright then. I don't know where Elly went, pity that." he said sadly. "But no matter. I assume you're working on building a god?"

"Working?" D replied, pressing one of the blocks and sending Ellywick's work to the quarter-orc's computer, "I wouldn't say that. We don't have the materials for that at Elfen High. Given sufficient funding, a laboratory, and some collegiate interns I can harass, however... well, I'm not Richard, but I imagine I could make an entire army of drunken Norse assholes to kick Azazel, or whoever will have replaced him by the project's completion, in the ass so hard that his colon will have a boot-print on it.

But, I have more than that, too. Been studying an elf corpse, trying to figure out how Claus is immortal. If I can find a match between Thor's DNA and the elf's, we could change everything. Or not. But it's worth a try."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Sanchez grinned at Lewis and clapped his shoulder, pulling him in what seemed like a hug to the outsider. In his ear, he whispered. "Banged your wife before you, Jameson." He was fully aware he was playing with death right now, but he was getting into a dogfight anyway.

He pulled him away from the hug and turned to his men. "Let's go." he barked. The Irish soldier, who I now call Luke, nodded and opened another tunnel with his earthbending. In this tunnel were a dozen F-22 Raptors. Just in case. "Excellent." Sanchez laughed, walking toward one. "Get ready." he advised as the tunnels grew and the roof began to open. The plane started building up speed, going down the makeshift runway...then was in the fucking sky, firing toward the sky demons and dodging their beams.

Crowley and Minh joined him with their own planes shortly, while Calliel flew as he was. He didn't need a plane.

[The Inritus Extraho]

Out of a portal behind Crowley in the plane's cockpit floated Monolith. "Sky demons. Shoot them!" Monolith exclaimed shortly. Yes, he did this just to annoy Crowley and the everyone-has-portals thing; why else? It's not like he could fly a plane... but he could have a lot of fun with portals. He opened up inch-wide portals in front of some of the sky demons, 'laughing' as they found themselves missing an arm, or a leg, slowly crippling them. Amusing, right? Imagine an armless demon going "Wait, where's my hand?"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Out of a portal behind Crowley in the plane's cockpit floated Monolith. "Sky demons. Shoot them!" Monolith exclaimed shortly. Yes, he did this just to annoy Crowley and the everyone-has-portals thing; why else? It's not like he could fly a plane... but he could have a lot of fun with portals. He opened up inch-wide portals in front of some of the sky demons, 'laughing' as they found themselves missing an arm, or a leg, slowly crippling them. Amusing, right? Imagine an armless demon going "Wait, where's my hand?"

Crowley just sighed as this bizarre thing was behind him. "Well, at least you're useful." he grumbled, firing missiles toward the giant sky demons, one blasting into its mouth...and blasting back out, barely missing the mage.

Crowley spoke over the radio to Sanchez. "You see that? Something's in there, in the mouth. It sent the missile back."

Sanchez dodged one of the red beams. "I see. we need to get in there."

Crowley turned to Monolith. "You. Be useful, create a portal Calliel can fly into, and have it appear inside that thing's stomach. Teleportation seems to be a bad idea, there's some sort of magic block in those monsters." Teleportation was an easy power, but also easily blocked.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Out of a portal behind Crowley in the plane's cockpit floated Monolith. "Sky demons. Shoot them!" Monolith exclaimed shortly. Yes, he did this just to annoy Crowley and the everyone-has-portals thing; why else? It's not like he could fly a plane... but he could have a lot of fun with portals. He opened up inch-wide portals in front of some of the sky demons, 'laughing' as they found themselves missing an arm, or a leg, slowly crippling them. Amusing, right? Imagine an armless demon going "Wait, where's my hand?"

Crowley just sighed as this bizarre thing was behind him. "Well, at least you're useful." he grumbled, firing missiles toward the giant sky demons, one blasting into its mouth...and blasting back out, barely missing the mage.

Crowley spoke over the radio to Sanchez. "You see that? Something's in there, in the mouth. It sent the missile back."

Sanchez dodged one of the red beams. "I see. we need to get in there."

Crowley turned to Monolith. "You. Be useful, create a portal Calliel can fly into, and have it appear inside that thing's stomach. Teleportation seems to be a bad idea, there's some sort of magic block in those monsters." Teleportation was an easy power, but also easily blocked.

"Megan and I will cover him," Lewis offered, stepping up to his plane, "By the way, just a quick question, but how do ye' land one of these? I, uh, never learned how to do that."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"I can make a portal myself." Calliel pointed out, and did so. In a minute, he was inside the stomach of the beast and didn't see anyone...until a minute later. "By God..." he said simply.

All at once, the creatures in the sky stopped moving and shooting. "Crowley, you need to come in here." Calliel's voice came over the radio. "Bring the planes in with you." The creature's mouth opened up wide and revealed a long, long passageway, one you could easily fly an F-22 into. It was damp and dark, with water or poison dropping from the roof of the mouth and the long fangs.

But it was also perfectly and utterly still. Crowley paused. "We're going down its throat." he said briefly, looking at the situation. "Alright."

[The Inritus Extraho]

Monolith harrumphed quietly. "Don't need me, do you? He's just fine. Ugh. If you say so. He cursed quietly, and just sat back, waiting, watching the Demon's mouth expand. "I wonder if that really is a demon? Or is it a devil? Possible a daemon? Monolith frowned to himself, wanting to know, but not really caring. He simply sat back and enjoyed the ride.

[Nationstatelandsville]

"I can make a portal myself." Calliel pointed out, and did so. In a minute, he was inside the stomach of the beast and didn't see anyone...until a minute later. "By God..." he said simply.

All at once, the creatures in the sky stopped moving and shooting. "Crowley, you need to come in here." Calliel's voice came over the radio. "Bring the planes in with you." The creature's mouth opened up wide and revealed a long, long passageway, one you could easily fly an F-22 into. It was damp and dark, with water or poison dropping from the roof of the mouth and the long fangs.

But it was also perfectly and utterly still. Crowley paused. "We're going down its throat." he said briefly, looking at the situation. "Alright."

"Fuck," Lewis said simply, "Meg, stay outside and wait for us. Start shootin' if it we start screa-"

Before Lewis could finish that sentence, Megan was flying directly ino the creature's mouth.

"Fine," Lewis sighed, "I'll do it. Everyone else, go fuck that thing up."

He lifted off into the air and began to circle the monster, waiting for something to happen.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Crowley, Megan, Minh and Sanchez flew inside the beast. "It's a deep tunnel." Minh observed.

"No fucking kidding, Captain Obvious?" Sanchez asked.

But soon they were in a hallway instead of an actual stomach passageway, which was rather bizarre. No, this was more like an ordinary lab hallway, which you normally didn't find in demon stomachs. The planes landed and the passengers climbed out- Sanchez helping Megan out of hers like a gentlemen who wants to piss off Lewis- and saw Calliel staring at familiar hieroglyphics on the wall.

Crowley rushed toward said hallway. "Ancient hieroglyphics!" he yelled in surprise, staring at the wall in interest, barely noticing the giant monitor screen behind him.

Sanchez did notice it. "Hmm...we saw a similar design in the Vimana we found in the deserts of Natal." he noted. "Interesting."

Calliel nodded. "Azazel's dug up Ancient technology somehow. I'm not sure how he got it though."

[The Inritus Extraho]

Monolith didn't deign to climb (float?) out of the plane - instead, he simply dropped through a portal and then out of the ceiling, next to Crowley once more. "Interesting... although this is Ancient technology, it seems... oddly familiar..." he mused, distracted by the wall. He floated on, next to Crowley and on 'autopilot' as he floated.

(Relatives are over, not posting much.)

[Constaniana]

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?"

Eldliam smiled gently at Kane as she comforted him. "Thanks Kane," He replied, as Crowley opened up his portal. "Well, I think we could go through there and find out where we go from here," The boy said, although a part of him didn't want to go fight. While he knew he should do it, he also wanted to simply stay in the cafeteria with Kane, or go to London, or do something normal people got to do. Well, once this war is finished and I graduate, I'll have plenty of time to spare Eldliam thought. "Oh well, what can it hurt?" Eldliam said with a shrug, stepping through the portal and suddenly appearing in the middle of the battle in the ports.

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

Alone, I sighed. Finally free of those two annoying children. One could only hope that both would meet their fates at the end of a demon's claw, to spare the sanity of everyone.

I made my way back to the school, walking through the now-empty and silent streets of Heavensgate.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Crowley, Megan, Minh and Sanchez flew inside the beast. "It's a deep tunnel." Minh observed.

"No fucking kidding, Captain Obvious?" Sanchez asked.

But soon they were in a hallway instead of an actual stomach passageway, which was rather bizarre. No, this was more like an ordinary lab hallway, which you normally didn't find in demon stomachs. The planes landed and the passengers climbed out- Sanchez helping Megan out of hers like a gentlemen who wants to piss off Lewis- and saw Calliel staring at familiar hieroglyphics on the wall.

Crowley rushed toward said hallway. "Ancient hieroglyphics!" he yelled in surprise, staring at the wall in interest, barely noticing the giant monitor screen behind him.

Sanchez did notice it. "Hmm...we saw a similar design in the Vimana we found in the deserts of Natal." he noted. "Interesting."

Calliel nodded. "Azazel's dug up Ancient technology somehow. I'm not sure how he got it though."

"I really don't give a shit," Lewis said over the communicators they totally have, "Just get your asses out or murder the damn thing. We're in a fuckin' battle, we don't have time for this shit."

"Or you can explain what an Ancient is," Megan said not so subtly.

"Titans, basically," Lewis replied, "Scary. Nuke the damn thing."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Crowley, Megan, Minh and Sanchez flew inside the beast. "It's a deep tunnel." Minh observed.

"No fucking kidding, Captain Obvious?" Sanchez asked.

But soon they were in a hallway instead of an actual stomach passageway, which was rather bizarre. No, this was more like an ordinary lab hallway, which you normally didn't find in demon stomachs. The planes landed and the passengers climbed out- Sanchez helping Megan out of hers like a gentlemen who wants to piss off Lewis- and saw Calliel staring at familiar hieroglyphics on the wall.

Crowley rushed toward said hallway. "Ancient hieroglyphics!" he yelled in surprise, staring at the wall in interest, barely noticing the giant monitor screen behind him.

Sanchez did notice it. "Hmm...we saw a similar design in the Vimana we found in the deserts of Natal." he noted. "Interesting."

Calliel nodded. "Azazel's dug up Ancient technology somehow. I'm not sure how he got it though."

"I really don't give a shit," Lewis said over the communicators they totally have, "Just get your asses out or murder the damn thing. We're in a fuckin' battle, we don't have time for this shit."

"Or you can explain what an Ancient is," Megan said not so subtly.

"Titans, basically," Lewis replied, "Scary. Nuke the damn thing."

Then the snake thing started to vibrate and Lewis found that he no longer had a connection with the communicators.

A loud voice shook through the snake creature. "I AWAKEN." it boomed out slowly, audible only to those inside the beast. The mouth began to close, blocking the exit.

[Nationstatelandsville]

"I really don't give a shit," Lewis said over the communicators they totally have, "Just get your asses out or murder the damn thing. We're in a fuckin' battle, we don't have time for this shit."

"Or you can explain what an Ancient is," Megan said not so subtly.

"Titans, basically," Lewis replied, "Scary. Nuke the damn thing."

Then the snake thing started to vibrate and Lewis found that he no longer had a connection with the communicators.

A loud voice shook through the snake creature. "I AWAKEN." it boomed out slowly, audible only to those inside the beast. The mouth began to close, blocking the exit.

"Crowley!" Megan snapped, "BLOW THIS THING UP!"

"Fuck!" Lewis swore outside, "She's my wife, ye' bastard! Ye' can't have her!

Keep Crowley and Sanchez, though. Please."

With that, Lewis began to fire at the monster-thing Night never bothered to describe, using the guns Night never bothered to describe.

"Die, goddamn it!" he hollered.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

However, in the tunnels, something suddenly happened.

A portal opened, but this wasn't a normal one. It was more like a sudden explosion, with the portal being reality's afterthought. A man with a badass beard, the eyes of a crazed maniac and two pistols in his hands virtually seemed to burst out of the wall, a few obviously frightened soldiers following him slowly out of the portal explosion.

The ground was on fire for what seemed to be no evident reason as Porter Rockwell glowered at everyone in general and the universe in specific. "I'M GOSHDARN HERE TO FUDGE SOME FUDGERS UP!" he roared out.

"GREAT GRANDPA ROCKWELL!" Avery Johnson roared, running to hug the man.

"AVERY! YOU READY TO KILL SOME FEMALE DOGS!"

"FUCK YEAH!"

The Irish soldier, frightened by this, spoke in almost a whisper. "Er...you guys will need some people..."

"YOU TWO!" Porter Rockwell yelled, pointing with one gun trotting hand at Anton and one at Edward/William. "WILL YOU JOIN ME?"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Daisuke looked at the various data. He raised an eyebrow. "Alright. We've made some conclusions based off this. The elf is related to humans. I think he's a subspecies and that he was created in a manner similar to the angels, where human DNA was taken and altered. It makes sense- the elves were a slave race for Claus, who probably didn't care too much that they turned out to have free will. On a contrary, Yahweh tried to keep his creations from having free will. Claus seems to have done a better job overall." Daisuke noted.

"Now, Thor. He's..." Daisuke shook his head with amazement. "Same fucking thing. I'm not even kidding, it is the same deal, but on a longer and bigger scale. I think that the Gods are just ascended humans. I think long ago, they were just humans. But...something happened." Daisuke tapped his finger against the table. "Now, let's think here. Some kind of event happened long, long, long ago that somehow ascended some humans into...well, godhood. We can't extrapolate based solely on Thor, even if we hold him to be a representative of his whole race. We need DNA samples from other gods."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Then the snake thing started to vibrate and Lewis found that he no longer had a connection with the communicators.

A loud voice shook through the snake creature. "I AWAKEN." it boomed out slowly, audible only to those inside the beast. The mouth began to close, blocking the exit.

"Crowley!" Megan snapped, "BLOW THIS THING UP!"

"Fuck!" Lewis swore outside, "She's my wife, ye' bastard! Ye' can't have her!

Keep Crowley and Sanchez, though. Please."

With that, Lewis began to fire at the monster-thing Night never bothered to describe, using the guns Night never bothered to describe.

"Die, goddamn it!" he hollered.

Crowley didn't blow the thing up. Instead, he glanced at it with a vague curiosity. "So, you're alive then?" he noted. "Just what exactly are you?"

All I have needed to be. it intoned. A machine made by my own masters, the Ancients. Made before they were destroyed and abandoned in Hell a million years before. This wasn't actually in English and everyone except Crowley was horribly confused. Crowley, on the other hand, already took the time to make a translation for himself in his own head.

"Interesting, that. Ancient tech." he looked around and grabbed a simple red box. That's all it was. A mere red box of around ten centimetres length, six centimetres wide and six centimetres tall. "You have been very helpful." he said back in the same alien tongue, the others hearing merely clicks.

Before the snake ship thing could object, Crowley blew a hole. He slammed his hands down onto the ground and blew a giant hole into the ship, causing them all to realise they were a mile high and overlooking a battlefield.

This seemed no object to Crowley, who merely decided to jump right down.

"Don't follow." Minh said simply as this snake ship monster started to break apart. The scales ripped themselves off the top and its lidless red eyes seemed to widen. It began to fall down slowly toward the ground.

Fortunately, Calliel teleported them all back into their F-22s and they flew out of the massive hole Crowley had created in their jets.

"So," Sanchez said over his communicator in the plane. "Just what the fucking hell happened there, Crowley? I need an answer. We could have been killed." His tone was calm, but hiding repressed rage.

"It was an Ancient ship." Crowley said simply, appearing behind Sanchez in his jet and nearly giving the Puerto Rican a heart attack. "Ancient ship, ancient weapons, so on. I have a plan. I read the hieroglyphics."

"Crowley, can we just have a start up explanation?" Minh asked in a tired voice.

"Sure, fine, whatever. Later. First get us back down into the tunnels."