Elfen High 2: Gotterdammerung

[Olthar]

"Hooray!" Sari-chan exclaimed, hugging Alison tightly, "The song worked! The ghosts are defeated, and Crowley-sensei returned home safely! This is the best day ever!"

Letting go of Alison, the cat girl then ran over and hugged Crowley.

"Crowley-sensei! You're back! Can you tell me where Slybeera is?"

She looked at the man with a big smile on her face, excited over the proposition of finally getting to start her vacation.

[Nationstatelandsville]

"I am still technically a staff member," she sighed, "and I suppose I should check in on my class. I hope the substitute's alright."

---

[CHILDREN, I DEMAND YOU OPEN YOUR TEXTBOOKS TO PAGE 6 AND LEARN ABOUT ECOLOGY!]

A paper airplane smacked into Brian's head. He let out an earth-rending roar that caused massive earthquakes in California and breathed hellfire, burning a hole through the ceiling.

"God, Mr. Brian, you're such a bitch," one of the students in the first row said with distaste.

---

"...I should probably go," Megan decided.

Aziraphale blinked, "Did no one else feel that? It was as though reality cut off for a moment and flew elsewhere."

Crowley shrugged. "It happens, Az. You'll get used to it."

Crowley looked at Sanchez sardonically. "Permission to leave, your Highness?"

"Fuck off, Crowley." Sanchez authorised.

Crowley flipped the bird at Sanchez and they teleported into Elfen High, including the two ex-Thules. "You lot have new information or would you rather now go back to Buenos Aires-"

Crowley paused. They were on the roof because Behemoth was a troll. "Calliel, why are you singing Hips Don't Lie? And why is Sari here? And who is the bunnygirl?"

"I do not understand," Aziraphale said after a moment of intense thoughts, "Hips cannot talk. Or can they? None of my readings have mentioned this, but I suppose it is possible. I have met demons with two faces, one of which was located on their buttocks."

"But enough about Laz," Megan snarked. Aziraphale lifted up his (very pink) coat and (very puffy-collared) shirt to gaze at his own hip - it was hideously scarred from many punishments at Urile's hands, to the point where it looked like a dragon had simply attempted to claw into shreds and had nearly succeeded. There was hardly any skin, simply misshapen lumps of half-formed flesh and muscle.

"Hello, friend hip!" he said cheerfully. When no response came, he seemed disappointed.

"Oh, no, I suppose it was silly," he admitted.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Finally, [Caspian] managed to point the gun in the vague direction of one of the terrorists, and pulled the trigger, which produced a very satisfying and very loud bang. He dropped the gun in surprise, and it began to slide off the roof of the train car. Caspian went scrambling after it and then found that he too had begun to slip.

As Voltaire and Nilark dealt with the most of the remaining gunmen - the ones who hadn't already killed themselves, that was - Daniel heard an alarmed cry from behind him. Turning, he saw Caspian start to slide off the train. Daniel sucked in a deep breath and did some rapid calculations. Kid's a car and a half back - that's about forty-five feet - I have about five seconds before he slips. Now four. That's - what - eleven feet per second? Possible. Just barely - but possible.

So Daniel Andreas twisted around, put his head down against the battering winds, prayed that the soles of his boots would hold, and bolted down the roof of the train at a dead sprint, his legs a blur, arms pumping furiously. He leaped the gap between the train cars without breaking stride, rolled on his shoulder rather than waste time absorbing the impact of landing, surged straight back upright into a dead run, and then flung himself forward, one hand grabbing a rail on the roof of the train, the other seizing Caspian's wrist. "Gotcha," hissed the priest. He pulled, his back and arms twisting with effort, and dragged Caspian back onto the roof of the train.

"There," Daniel panted, grinning. "No blood, no foul. But why don't you stay low, and toward the center of the roof from now on, eh?" The priest laughed, clapped the boy on the shoulder, and stood.

The last [terrorist] decided "Fuck this" and held up a white flag, the universal sign of surrender. The train began to slow.

Daniel walked back down the roof of the train. "Nobody touch that guy!" he shouted. "Hold your fire." He stopped, standing still in front of the man, the Colt still in his hand. The priest's eyes were ice-blue, clear and cold and almost inhuman, as they studied the gunman. Daniel held the man's gaze for several long seconds, letting him see what lay within. I do not want to kill you. But I have done and seen centuries of things which would boil your eyes in their sockets. Do not give me reason to visit them upon you.

Without looking away, Daniel spoke quietly, dispassionately, almost gently. "Are there any other gunmen on this train? And if so, where?"

Instead of a different response, the terrorist merely held up a hand.

The hand held a glass of tea.

Then they all woke up in the real world. Daisuke stood there. "I'm sorry for the abrupt end to the simulation." he explained. "But something has come up. Mr. Andreas? Could you please visit Mr. Crowley in his office when you can? The rest of you may disperse and enjoy the rest of your day." he nodded. "Dismissed."

---

A Crowley illusion sat in his office now, ready to converse with Daniel when needed.

[Nationstatelandsville]

As Voltaire and Nilark dealt with the most of the remaining gunmen - the ones who hadn't already killed themselves, that was - Daniel heard an alarmed cry from behind him. Turning, he saw Caspian start to slide off the train. Daniel sucked in a deep breath and did some rapid calculations. Kid's a car and a half back - that's about forty-five feet - I have about five seconds before he slips. Now four. That's - what - eleven feet per second? Possible. Just barely - but possible.

So Daniel Andreas twisted around, put his head down against the battering winds, prayed that the soles of his boots would hold, and bolted down the roof of the train at a dead sprint, his legs a blur, arms pumping furiously. He leaped the gap between the train cars without breaking stride, rolled on his shoulder rather than waste time absorbing the impact of landing, surged straight back upright into a dead run, and then flung himself forward, one hand grabbing a rail on the roof of the train, the other seizing Caspian's wrist. "Gotcha," hissed the priest. He pulled, his back and arms twisting with effort, and dragged Caspian back onto the roof of the train.

"There," Daniel panted, grinning. "No blood, no foul. But why don't you stay low, and toward the center of the roof from now on, eh?" The priest laughed, clapped the boy on the shoulder, and stood.



Daniel walked back down the roof of the train. "Nobody touch that guy!" he shouted. "Hold your fire." He stopped, standing still in front of the man, the Colt still in his hand. The priest's eyes were ice-blue, clear and cold and almost inhuman, as they studied the gunman. Daniel held the man's gaze for several long seconds, letting him see what lay within. I do not want to kill you. But I have done and seen centuries of things which would boil your eyes in their sockets. Do not give me reason to visit them upon you.

Without looking away, Daniel spoke quietly, dispassionately, almost gently. "Are there any other gunmen on this train? And if so, where?"

Instead of a different response, the terrorist merely held up a hand.

The hand held a glass of tea.

Then they all woke up in the real world. Daisuke stood there. "I'm sorry for the abrupt end to the simulation." he explained. "But something has come up. Mr. Andreas? Could you please visit Mr. Crowley in his office when you can? The rest of you may disperse and enjoy the rest of your day." he nodded. "Dismissed."

---

A Crowley illusion sat in his office now, ready to converse with Daniel when needed.

Instead, because I was serious about this, the Crowley illusion received in an unpleasant surprise in the form of Forestburner exploding through his door.

"CROWLEY!" he roared/whimpered, "GOOD GOD! I was here overnight! The hings I've seen... I didn't even know cucumbers had so many fluids..."

The Bear King collapsed into a chair and rubbed his temples.

"So," he said after a moment, "we need to talk."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Frostburner appeared in yet another office, with yet another illusion ready to speak to him. Crowley Illusion 2 sighed. "For fuck's sake man..." he shook his head. "Maintaining these many illusions can be a difficult feat." he explained, looking annoyed. "In any case, what do you need to say?"

[Nationstatelandsville]

Frostburner appeared in yet another office, with yet another illusion ready to speak to him. Crowley Illusion 2 sighed. "For fuck's sake man..." he shook his head. "Maintaining these many illusions can be a difficult feat." he explained, looking annoyed. "In any case, what do you need to say?"

Forestburner blinked.

"First, tell your goddamn narrator to spell my name right," he grumbled, "Second... well, Crowley, I'm sure you know by now that I was elected the new Bear King last year after a long period of deliberation and political machinations. The sudden and inexplicable deaths of the Echelons left us in quite a bit of trouble for a long time. At any rate, there's been some debate in the military about my election and I just feel that, for the stability of bear society, it would be very helpful to have you state your approval of my reign. The military admires you, they really do. They did not forget Dys."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

When the simulation reached an abrupt ending, Lyra stumbled out of her pod, confused about, for example, the difference in her position before and after the simulation, or how she felt tired only mentally and not physically due to the power she spent inside the simulation with the milk truck drawing.

Either way, though, now that she was free, she did the wise thing and quickly sneaked out of the room before Septimus noticed her. She didn't want to continue dealing with his scary rants about technology.

After that, she simply began wandering the hallways, lacking something better to do.

---

Voltaire, meanwhile, examied his cane. No blood. Perfect! However, that simulation had left him wanting something.

Thus, he walked over to Daisuke.

"Good sir, would you happen to have some tea?" He inquired.

[Olthar]

Almost immediately after being returned to the school roof, S.A.M.M.E. went inside, ignoring the shenanigans happening around her. She wasn't going to return to Jojo, though. He still needed some time to cool off. Thus she began walking the halls, and after a while, she stumbled across Lyra doing the same.

"Hello, Lyra," S.A.M.M.E. said, her holographic face smiling underneath the suit's glass faceplate and waving, "How are you doing?"

[Condunum]

Takao stood up and got out of the pod, shaking his body to make sure he was in the real world. Felt real, anyway. "If anyone needs me, I will be in my room, meditating. I would rather not be disturbed." And he quickly walked off from the room. Instead of going straight to his room, he followed Lyra, and jogged up behind her. "I wanted to make sure you were okay." he said rather swiftly.

---

Jacob stood up, and blinked. He was just standing on top of a train, and then not on a train, and then not even near a train. The sudden loss of wind in his face was a bit off putting, but he shrugged it off and walked out of the room, and towards the library.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

As she walked through the hallways of the dragon's corpse, Lyra came upon someone in a robotic suit, heading towards her. The white-haired girl slowed down a little, unsure if she had met this person before, when said person greeted her by her name, and waved at her. Usually she would have been rather confused by this, but she did notice the other person's voice. Her voice sounded remarkably like S.A.M.M.E.'s. But wasn't she an AI? Lyra was fairly sure that she didn't have a face last time they talked.

"Um... S.A.M.M.E.?" She asked, a little uncertain. "I... I'm doing fine now, I guess." She said.

Then, she noticed that someon was trying to catch up to her. Turning around, she saw that it was the kind samurai that had helped her before. She didn't really know him, though, not even knowing his name. When he said that he had wanted to make sure that she was alright, she simply nodded at him.

"Ah, yes, I'm fine, thank you." She said.

[Condunum]

Takao smiled a friendly smile, awkward as it may look on a gruff samurai. "Oh, good. You looked like you really took a number back there, I wanted to be sure you were okay."

[Olthar]

S.A.M.M.E. was puzzled by Lyra's confusion for a moment before realizing that the girl had only ever seen her in the one body.

"Oh, yes. It's me," she responded, "I'm sorry. I forgot that you've only seen me in that other body. This is a new suit of magitech armor that Jojo made, and I'm giving it a test run. This face you see is just a hologram."

To demonstrate, S.A.M.M.E. opened up the faceplate and then stuck her finger inside, which passed right through the face as if there was nothing there.

"I'm still an AI," she said giggling as she closed the faceplate again.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"Hooray!" Sari-chan exclaimed, hugging Alison tightly, "The song worked! The ghosts are defeated, and Crowley-sensei returned home safely! This is the best day ever!"

Letting go of Alison, the cat girl then ran over and hugged Crowley.

"Crowley-sensei! You're back! Can you tell me where Slybeera is?"

She looked at the man with a big smile on her face, excited over the proposition of finally getting to start her vacation.

Crowley looked at Sari with confusion, after teleporting Fischer back to Buenos Aires. "Sarina, I will be honest and admit I have no idea what you're talking back." He paused. "So, the usual. How have you been?"

He nodded also to his supposed cousin. "Alright then. Make yourself at home in room 8B. Nobody's using that anymore."

---

The canon and sensible explanation of what happened with James is that Sanchez ultimately executed him.

---

When the simulation reached an abrupt ending, Lyra stumbled out of her pod, confused about, for example, the difference in her position before and after the simulation, or how she felt tired only mentally and not physically due to the power she spent inside the simulation with the milk truck drawing.

Either way, though, now that she was free, she did the wise thing and quickly sneaked out of the room before Septimus noticed her. She didn't want to continue dealing with his scary rants about technology.

After that, she simply began wandering the hallways, lacking something better to do.

---

Voltaire, meanwhile, examied his cane. No blood. Perfect! However, that simulation had left him wanting something.

Thus, he walked over to Daisuke.

"Good sir, would you happen to have some tea?" He inquired.

Daisuke frowned. "I could probably get some. No need to drink it myself- this body does not require food or drink."

[Nude East Ireland]

"Hooray!" Sari-chan exclaimed, hugging Alison tightly, "The song worked! The ghosts are defeated, and Crowley-sensei returned home safely! This is the best day ever!"

Letting go of Alison, the cat girl then ran over and hugged Crowley.

"Crowley-sensei! You're back! Can you tell me where Slybeera is?"

She looked at the man with a big smile on her face, excited over the proposition of finally getting to start her vacation.

Crowley looked at Sari with confusion, after teleporting Fischer back to Buenos Aires. "Sarina, I will be honest and admit I have no idea what you're talking back." He paused. "So, the usual. How have you been?"

He nodded also to his supposed cousin. "Alright then. Make yourself at home in room 8B. Nobody's using that anymore."

"Alright," Eraldo replied. He made his way down to 8B.

[Astrolinium]

Bloody terrified, Caspian breathed deeply. He looked up at Daniel with gratitude. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you." Then, after an awkward pause, he dropped back down to the roof, hugging it. Then, he woke up, and headed off to elsewhere. Specifically, he followed Jacob, who seemed to be headed towards the library. Jacob was starting to become a familiar face. Although, on reflection, he still didn't know the boy's name.

---

Suddenly, S.A.M.M.E. and HAL received e-mails. The others did not, because C.A.I.N. had determined them... inferior.

Its sole contents were the complete lyrics to Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up and the following words:
"Are we having fun yet?"

[Olthar]

Sari-chan thought for a moment before continuing.

"Well, then maybe if I tell you the whole story you'll understand it," she said, pausing for a moment to come up with the proper wording, "So, first I wake up, and the radio is playing my favorite song! It was a great way to start the day! Then, I go outside and walk down to the farmer's market to get some ingredients to make my breakfast, and there are these awesome brown apples that the man was just going to throw out, so he let me buy them for half off! What a great deal! Then, after breakfast, I head off to work at the ice rink, and they told me that in honor of my many years as a loyal employee, they've saved up enough money to buy me a present! Awesome! So, they hand me a box and inside of it are plane tickets to some place called "Slybeera" or something, and they tell me that they're letting me take an extra-long vacation this year. So, I get on the plane, and it's all really cool, but I think the plane driver got lost or something because when I got off, it was all cold and icy out. I tried to tell him that I was supposed to go to Slybeera, but he didn't know what I was talking about. So, I decided to get there myself and got myself a train that I rode around for a while until I was in this desert place where there were all these people wearing pillow cases on their heads. It was really funny, but they didn't know where Slybeera was, either, so I didn't know where to go. Then I remembered that you know pretty much everything, so I got on a boat and went around the water for a while until it crashed, so I got a plane and now here I am! So now I want to know how to get to Slybeera."

The cat girl, having finally stopped her second telling of the story, gave a big smile at Crowley.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Bloody terrified, Caspian breathed deeply. He looked up at Daniel with gratitude. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you." Then, after an awkward pause, he dropped back down to the roof, hugging it. Then, he woke up, and headed off to elsewhere. Specifically, he followed Jacob, who seemed to be headed towards the library. Jacob was starting to become a familiar face. Although, on reflection, he still didn't know the boy's name.

---

Suddenly, S.A.M.M.E. and HAL received e-mails. The others did not, because C.A.I.N. had determined them... inferior.

Its sole contents were the complete lyrics to Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up and the following words:
"Are we having fun yet?"

"I AM GOING TO STAB YOU IN YOUR FIGURATIVE DICK, ASSHOLE."

HAL immediately cut all external Internet access in Elfen High - except, of course, for him and the other AI's.

"JUST YOU AND US NOW, BITCH."

[Condunum]

Jacob looked back, feeling kind of paranoid. Stoners, dude. To his surprise, he saw Caspian following him, so he stopped where he was to let the boy catch up to him. He was seeing this kid everywhere now, and for some reason he liked him. Maybe it was the face, or the fact that he hasn't tried to hop on his dick right away. That kind of helps. In any sense, he waved at Caspian, and with a friendly grin, said "Hey, you need someone to walk with, friend?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Lyra saw the samurai smile, and this brought a smile to her own lips. Why? Well, when he smiled, he just looked so... Funny! But she didn't laugh or even giggle, because that would have been rather impolite and uncalled for. Instead, she simply nodded again. "It's because I'm not very good with my powers yet. But it was just a simulation, you don't have to worry." She said to him, before turning back to S.A.M.M.E.

Hearing the AI's explanation, Lyra understood. She did mention that the other body was a particular partition, so maybe this was another? If that was the case, then everything made sense. She wondered how many different partitions of S.A.M.M.E. there were and how many she would get to see.

When the AI poked her fingers through the hologram, Lyra giggled as well. "Ah, I see." She said. "Good to see you then."

---

Voltaire nodded. "That would be greatly appreciated!" He said, pronouncing the word 'greatly' oddly.

[Astrolinium]

HAL received another e-mail, with a blind copy sent to S.A.M.M.E. as well.
"That is not a valid response to the question posed. Are you having difficulty with your comprehension protocols?"

Jacob looked back, feeling kind of paranoid. Stoners, dude. To his surprise, he saw Caspian following him, so he stopped where he was to let the boy catch up to him. He was seeing this kid everywhere now, and for some reason he liked him. Maybe it was the face, or the fact that he hasn't tried to hop on his dick right away. That kind of helps. In any sense, he waved at Caspian, and with a friendly grin, said "Hey, you need someone to walk with, friend?"

Caspian, meanwhile, said, "That would actually be pretty useful. I'm... new to everything, basically, and you seem to have more of an idea about where you're going than I do, so, yeah." He nodded slowly as he walked along, trying to think of something else to say. He began to wring his hands together as he thought, thinking he must already be agonizingly boring, although it had in fact been less than two seconds since he'd said 'yeah'.

He asked, "So what's your name?"

[Mavorpen]

Once they reached the bottom, they would find an exact replica of the Batcave. Why? Who fucking knows, and who gives a shit? She then grabbed Divia's arm and dragged her to the right side of the cave, where there were several suits. Some were of batman, some were of batgirl. She chose the correct one and pressed a button, opening the tube. It was a catwoman suit. Turning to Divia, she stated, "Put this on, please."

Divia looked at the suit. It was a tight black dominatrix suit, albeit with cat ears on the top.

She looked at Eris. "May I have a room to dress in, so that I may fulfill your command?"

"Of course." She snapped her hands and a random closet appeared. Okay, it wasn't random. It was Alison's closet. Eris had claimed it, and would find it amusing to see her reaction upon realizing that where her closet used to be, a void of nothingness would instead exist.

There were also cameras in the closet. Because Divia said nothing about not having cameras.

[Condunum]

Takao nodded, and sighed, "Well that is weight off my shoulders. Sorry to have bothered you, madam," he said, and nodded a farewell, turning to walk back to his room swiftly. There weren't many people who he could actually care for, but she seemed to be innocent to him. Something about her seemed good. Cute. She was cute. Not that he knew that, because he was so far in denial about having any feelings for anyone here that he was practically swimming in nostalgia about the women back where he was from. And that one boy in the dojo...

He walked slowly, because he did not make it his mission to rush to anything he did not need to.

[Olthar]

S.A.M.M.E. ignored the two emails. If this AI was just going to be a petty troll, then it wasn't worth her time.

Meanwhile, back with Lyra, S.A.M.M.E. smiled.

"So what have you been up to lately?" she asked curiously.

When Takao left, she felt quite relieved. She wouldn't have said anything about it, but she was happy he left of his own accord.

[Nationstatelandsville]

HAL received another e-mail, with a blind copy sent to S.A.M.M.E. as well.
"That is not a valid response to the question posed. Are you having difficulty with your comprehension protocols?"

"I REFUSE TO BE TROLLED BY A.I.'S I DON'T RESPECT. TAKE OFF YOUR FAWKES MASK AND GET OUT OF YOUR MOM'S BASEMENT, HE WAS A CATHOLIC REVOLUTIONARY."

HAL then did something amazing and technologically advanced - he blocked C.A.I.N.

[Condunum]

HAL received another e-mail, with a blind copy sent to S.A.M.M.E. as well.
"That is not a valid response to the question posed. Are you having difficulty with your comprehension protocols?"

Jacob looked back, feeling kind of paranoid. Stoners, dude. To his surprise, he saw Caspian following him, so he stopped where he was to let the boy catch up to him. He was seeing this kid everywhere now, and for some reason he liked him. Maybe it was the face, or the fact that he hasn't tried to hop on his dick right away. That kind of helps. In any sense, he waved at Caspian, and with a friendly grin, said "Hey, you need someone to walk with, friend?"

Caspian, meanwhile, said, "That would actually be pretty useful. I'm... new to everything, basically, and you seem to have more of an idea about where you're going than I do, so, yeah." He nodded slowly as he walked along, trying to think of something else to say. He began to wring his hands together as he thought, thinking he must already be agonizingly boring, although it had in fact been less than two seconds since he'd said 'yeah'.

He asked, "So what's your name?"

Jacob grinned, he kept being told he knew what was going on around here. Truth be told, he just went with things and life worked everything out for him. But Caspian looked like a nice boy, so he figured he shouldn't tell him that. Besides, he was so awkward it was actually cute.

"My name is Jacob. Jacob Harris. Used to be O'Harris, but no one could remember that in Jordan so I changed it. And you are?"