Elfen High 2: Gotterdammerung

[Condunum]

Jacob grinned, and took his hand, leading him to one of the convenient tunnels in the school. I'm assuming those still exist.

"Come on, there's an easy way to get out of here and into London. We shouldn't be too far from the restaurant!"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Crowley finished his call with Dracula, then phoned another possibly friendly ally. "Frostburner? Or Forestburner, whatever? You want me to show up to endorse your reign yet?"

[Nationstatelandsville]

Jacob grinned, and took his hand, leading him to one of the convenient tunnels in the school. I'm assuming those still exist.

"Come on, there's an easy way to get out of here and into London. We shouldn't be too far from the restaurant!"

They do exist (see Elfen High Arc 2: Ivy and Calliel Fuck, true believers!) and were currently inhabited by a little hobbit-y girl named Rosalind, who looked at Jacob with distaste as he landed and threw rainwater into her face - it rains a lot in London. A fucking lot.

"Asshole," she muttered, "What the hell are you doing down here?"

Crowley finished his call with Dracula, then phoned another possibly friendly ally. "Frostburner? Or Forestburner, whatever? You want me to show up to endorse your reign yet?"

Forestburner blinked.

"...I do not have a phone," he remarked, "and it is not yet the equinox."

[Condunum]

Jacob grinned, and took his hand, leading him to one of the convenient tunnels in the school. I'm assuming those still exist.

"Come on, there's an easy way to get out of here and into London. We shouldn't be too far from the restaurant!"

They do exist (see Elfen High Arc 2: Ivy and Calliel Fuck, true believers!) and were currently inhabited by a little hobbit-y girl named Rosalind, who looked at Jacob with distaste as he landed and threw rainwater into her face - it rains a lot in London. A fucking lot.

"Asshole," she muttered, "What the hell are you doing down here?"

Jacob wasn't expecting this. He blinked at the strange, short girl and said with a confused tone, "I'm... Using this tunnel to get to London. What are you doing here?"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Jacob grinned, and took his hand, leading him to one of the convenient tunnels in the school. I'm assuming those still exist.

"Come on, there's an easy way to get out of here and into London. We shouldn't be too far from the restaurant!"

They do exist (see Elfen High Arc 2: Ivy and Calliel Fuck, true believers!) and were currently inhabited by a little hobbit-y girl named Rosalind, who looked at Jacob with distaste as he landed and threw rainwater into her face - it rains a lot in London. A fucking lot.

"Asshole," she muttered, "What the hell are you doing down here?"

Crowley finished his call with Dracula, then phoned another possibly friendly ally. "Frostburner? Or Forestburner, whatever? You want me to show up to endorse your reign yet?"

Forestburner blinked.

"...I do not have a phone," he remarked, "and it is not yet the equinox."

"Never mind then." Crowley replied. "Call me up when it is."

[Astrolinium]

Caspian laughed again, following along behind Jacob. He was... well, he was enjoying himself. It was something of an adventure, really, if you thought about it. As he went along, he used his free hand to straighten his bow tie. As they came to the tunnel, he did eye it a bit warily. He asked, "Is this like, an- oh."

There was now suddenly a little hobbit thing there.

[Nude East Ireland]

They do exist (see Elfen High Arc 2: Ivy and Calliel Fuck, true believers!) and were currently inhabited by a little hobbit-y girl named Rosalind, who looked at Jacob with distaste as he landed and threw rainwater into her face - it rains a lot in London. A fucking lot.

"Asshole," she muttered, "What the hell are you doing down here?"


Forestburner blinked.

"...I do not have a phone," he remarked, "and it is not yet the equinox."

"Never mind then." Crowley replied. "Call me up when it is."

"Mr. Crowley," said a Slavic man who stood nearby.

He wore a Russian military uniform, and was decorated with hundreds of military medals and stars. He smiled, and approached the wizard. "My name is General Shank," he began. "I'm the head of an ISSR black ops battalion. I'd go into detail, but my superior - you're familiar with General Sanchez - doesn't trust you. I don't have feelings toward you one way or another. But I fought in the Abrahamic War as a grunt. Many of my friends died, but you saved my squad from death when you arrived. I respect you, Mr. Crowley. And I have some... concerns, let's say."

Behind the general, several black ops soldiers began digging through the wreckage. Gunships flew overhead, and some APCs rolled by. He sighed.

[Erinkita]

"My name is Orv." the dwarf replied. "And I understand your concerns, so..." he injected the vaccine into his arm, followed by another dosage to reassure the priest. "Now, let's begin. The virus will transform those it infects into mindless, shambling husks, minions of the Fae's commands. That horrific sound you hear is not only a way to weaken us, but also a way for it to give commands to its minions. I assume Aaron is hopefully fine- he seemed to be a powerful angel and reassured me by saying he would leave more audiotapes- he left one with me now, in fact." Orv said, pulling out a cross-like disk, which Horn took. Horn also took some of the vaccinations, injecting his team now and the Elfen Highers.

"As for what the status of the angels is, I cannot tell you for sure, but I do know they were building something down there. I heard the noise of infected dwarfs and angels working together and using construction tools or magic to build something. And as for how we get down there...well, that may be the easiest bit." the dwarf grinned. "There are several normal and orthodox means of entry, but I'm certain that those are quite well guarded. So we'll just blow a new hole in the ground, in an area I doubt they would have guards in."

Sisitu gritted her teeth. So now she was in the middle of a biohazard. How fun. Memories floated like pondscum on the surface of her mind. The Antonine plague back in Rome, the English sweating sickness, the black death that had ravaged Europe and Asia, of yellow fever in Peru and typhus in Italy. You could build a mountain out of the corpses she had seen fall to microscopic killers. And she had walked through it all untouched. Any infection she picked up was purged from her each day as her body remade itself. In the midst of death, we are in life. Endless bloody life.

She vaccinated her kappa before herself. She hoped it would have the same affect on their reptilian physiology. They were too valuable to lose.
"Any idea what the vector for this thing is?" she asked Orv while she waited for Horn to play the newly found audiopate "Is it airborne? Should we avoid drinking the water? Or do we have to touch one of the infected? I thank you for the vaccines, but there's no point taking foolish risks." For the same reason, she kept her crossbow loaded and ready in the dwarf's presence and stood behind her two kappa.
"If that tape doesn't tell us what they're building, we should find out. Even if it does, I would feel safer knowing exactly what we have waiting for us. The kappa are stealthy, but not that stealthy. I do have something that can likely come and go unnoticed."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

After hearing the whole story behind what had happened in Armenio, Alastor was concerned. A Fae virus that turned dwarves and angels into mindless servants? It would likely affect any lifeform if that was so, and that was not good. In fact, it reminded him a little of what had happened in Moscow. Part of him wondered if they would have to face angels dressed like medieval knights, but another part told that one to focus on the imporant stuff or fuck off.

When the vaccines were offered, the demon warlord took one of them and momentarily dissipated a part of his armor in order to be able to inject himself. Afterwards, that armor piece reformed. Alastor then looked at Horn.

"Well, let us hear the tape then. We shall need whatever information we can get if we are truly going to blow a hole in the ground and delve down into the unknown." He said to the doctor, before falling silent again, waiting.

[Constaniana]

Sir Nilark had left Jacob's room promptly before the throwing up began, wandering the halls once again as he nostalgically passed the spot where Hilde had punched him.

I actually miss her a little bit. A bit horrible, yes, but she was hot. The knight thought wistfully. Well, might as well give this Christmas tree to Daniel. He can probably figure out something to do with it,

A few minutes later Eldliam quietly walked into his best friend's office and sat the tree down in the corner. Before walking out the room he glanced over at the gym teacher's desk, particularly noticing the pictures of his wife and kids. Daniel really did hit the jackpot with Sarah Sir Nilark thought with the faintest hint of envy. You wouldn't have expected the guy who spent years masquerading as a bear to get married before a nice guy like Sir Nilark, but life always had a funny habit of specifically going against plans you made or things you expected. Deciding he had better things to do than philosophize in a gym teacher's office, Eldliam quietly walked out, shutting the door behind him and going back to what was quickly becoming a major hobby of his, wandering the halls to find random stuff, like Trogdor or more death bunny legions.

[Norvenia]

Daniel nodded quietly, rolling up his sleeve and injecting himself with the vaccine. As the others talked, he walked slowly up to the chancel. The priest pulled off one tactical glove and ran his weathered palm over the stone surface of the altar. People lived here. Daniel glanced up at the cross hanging over the stone table. Not people quite like me. Not people who worshiped quite like me. But people. Daniel's hand slowly clenched into a fist on the altar. They came into the unknown seeking a better life. They built and farmed and made love and fought and prayed. Here, they prayed. Not to my God, maybe. But I'm not so proud anymore as to think that I know for sure. Or to think that I know if it even matters. Daniel looked around the shadowy church, and he felt the slow burn of anger within him, of outrage. They lived and loved and prayed, and someone took them and tore their lives apart and turned them into slaves. There was no violence in Daniel's fury, no bloodlust; even now, the priest could feel only an aching pain at the thought of the death that had to come. But the cleansing fire of moral indignation, the unshakeable conviction that it should not be thus - that Daniel had. In spades.

"I'm going to get these bastards," Daniel said quietly, mostly to himself. He was still standing at the altar, bare knuckles resting on the stone. "Not today, maybe. But soon. I'm going to get them, and I'm going to cast them on the mercy of the God whose church they have defiled." The priest's words hummed with restrained fury. "We'll see what justifications they have to offer the Lord."

Daniel spun on his heel and walked back down into the group. "Let's hear Aaron's audiotape. If it gives us actionable intel about where to find him, we split up. One team goes to contact the angel, the other breaches the underground facility. If the audiotape is inconclusive, we all go down - I'm done with goose chases for the day. This is still a recon, so we want to blow our hole where we won't immediately be detected. We need more information - about what's happened and how to reverse it, as well as about what they're doing down there and how to stop it." The priest nodded to Sisitu. "We'll send your little spy on ahead once we make our breach - no harm in seeing what it can tell us. You need to make absolutely sure that it doesn't get spotted, though. We still have to assume that we're dead if anything detects us."

Daniel glanced around the group, his gaze intense. "People lived here," he said quietly. "Normal people, angels or not. People who just wanted a fresh start, a place to love and build and farm and pray in peace." You could hear, in this moment, the voice of the preacher whose sermons had electrified millions. "I hope that we can save them yet," Daniel said grimly. "But if not, then what we do today will be the first step in taking down whatever did this. Not for revenge. But so that we won't ever have to stand in another empty church, and wonder what families, what struggles, what triumphs, what sweet calm nights of love might yet have been - had we only gotten here in time." The priest flicked the safety on his assault rifle off; the click echoed in the silent church. "Let's hear the audiotape, Doctor. And then let's get to work."

[Esternial]

"Holy-"

The sudden appearance of the Asian managed to startle him, in fact Jacob even peed a little when it appeared. Just his luck. First he had to run into the overly exaggerated Mexican stereotype who came from outer space, now he stumbles upon an Asian being projected by state-of-the-art technology he probably put together himself. Quickly he checked his pocket to make sure his watch wasn't nicked by some black hoodlum.

"I'm the new Chemistry teacher in this...ehh...school" He said, eye-balling the Asian hologram.

The hologram nodded. "Ah, I see. In any case, Crowley isn't here. However, I can likely give you some other tasks or just let you explore around this school." Taka offered.

The chemistry professor sighed, dropping his shoulders in disappointment.

"A task? Sure, though it depends on what it is and who's giving it"

It'd be a cold day in hell when Moriarty obeys the commands of some slant-eyed banana. Depending on the weather there, that could actually be today.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Fortunately, Parnell had majored in Classical Studies. So he shouted back, "Quis estis? Quare nos iuvatis?" as he grabbed onto the ladder and began to scramble upward, followed closely by Eric.

"Quis es tu et cur inest in agris?!" the solder barked back, gfollowing them up. Two more soldiers waited in the helicopter, along with the pilot.

As soon as D, Eric, and Parnell were safe, the soldiers instantly slammed against the sliding and pressed their guns to the three's skulls.

"Straightforward gentlemen, military types," D said, "I fucking hate them."

"We are the warriors of Hades!" one of the soldiers barked, "We are the unseen, those who preside over the meetings of the dead! We serve the Father of Riches, he is who called Orcus, Pluto, and Hades himself. What brings you to our kingdom, humans?"

They do exist (see Elfen High Arc 2: Ivy and Calliel Fuck, true believers!) and were currently inhabited by a little hobbit-y girl named Rosalind, who looked at Jacob with distaste as he landed and threw rainwater into her face - it rains a lot in London. A fucking lot.

"Asshole," she muttered, "What the hell are you doing down here?"

Jacob wasn't expecting this. He blinked at the strange, short girl and said with a confused tone, "I'm... Using this tunnel to get to London. What are you doing here?"

"That's none of your fucking business," Rosalind replied, "It's dangerous down here. Too dangerous for a bunch of fucking pansies. Don't you know that this place is swimming with monsters, wizards, and Englishmen?"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Cloning was a wonderful new field of technology,, as well as a rapidly growing one.

Subject DNA and corpse has been recovered. a robotic voice had said a year ago. The Corinthians Project will proceed as planned.

Since then, scientists had been hard at work trying to re-clone one particular battler who had died ten years ago. Many, many people had died, certainly- but this was the best recovered corpse of the more important people there.

The project cost a fortune- certainly a billion dollars. But Sanchez wanted to be sure he could do this- once this work had begun, who knew where they could go from here?

It took time and money and effort, but now they were nearly at a result and-

"Holy 'ell, the lass is awake." A British voice said, perhaps recognised as the same person who delivered baby Richard ten years ago.

"I noticed." Sanchez's voice said dryly. "Jade Gates, keep your eyes closed right now. Just stay calm right now..." he said smoothly. "Alright, you can open your eyes now."

When Jade opened her eyes, she would see Sanchez sitting in a chair next to her in his military uniform and dozens of doctors in the medical room around her. Wires were attached throughout her body, monitors also around her recording her blood rate, blood pressure, brain waves and so on.

There was something else that was odd for her though- Sanchez seemed older than he had when she had last seen him. His hair was grayer, he had more wrinkles and he seemed more tired. But he gave a grin. "Welcome back to the world of the living, Miss Gates." he said.

[The Inritus Extraho]

Cloning was a wonderful new field of technology,, as well as a rapidly growing one.

Subject DNA and corpse has been recovered. a robotic voice had said a year ago. The Corinthians Project will proceed as planned.

Since then, scientists had been hard at work trying to re-clone one particular battler who had died ten years ago. Many, many people had died, certainly- but this was the best recovered corpse of the more important people there.

The project cost a fortune- certainly a billion dollars. But Sanchez wanted to be sure he could do this- once this work had begun, who knew where they could go from here?

It took time and money and effort, but now they were nearly at a result and-

"Holy 'ell, the lass is awake." A British voice said, perhaps recognised as the same person who delivered baby Richard ten years ago.

"I noticed." Sanchez's voice said dryly. "Jade Gates, keep your eyes closed right now. Just stay calm right now..." he said smoothly. "Alright, you can open your eyes now."

When Jade opened her eyes, she would see Sanchez sitting in a chair next to her in his military uniform and dozens of doctors in the medical room around her. Wires were attached throughout her body, monitors also around her recording her blood rate, blood pressure, brain waves and so on.

There was something else that was odd for her though- Sanchez seemed older than he had when she had last seen him. His hair was grayer, he had more wrinkles and he seemed more tired. But he gave a grin. "Welcome back to the world of the living, Miss Gates." he said.

Jade blinked. What... she softly thought to herself. Even her thoughts seemed to echo. The last thing she could remember... traumatic. Her heart rate raised slightly, and she thought back to that fateful fight - merely a moment ago for her. The power of the Demon she had fought, the crushing pain of the expansion, the sinister cracking as her own body gave up on her. Her brain waves spiked, dropped, flatlined for a moment, then rephased as the neurons fought against the cold clutch of death. Her eyes slid closed again.

After a minute, she opened them. She blinked at Sanchez. She looked around the room, down to the wires, around to the monitors, then back at Sanchez. She blinked again, and thought. Mulled over her words. Then, blatantly - she has charisma, just not very much tact - said "You're older. What did I miss." It was not a question. Barely even a statement. There was an iron tone to her voice, almost compelling Sanchez.

But such were the perils of being Jade Gates. Some tried to contain her. Those who did, invariably died. She paused, heart accelerating once more as she thought of John and Damien, then settled again. Gone now. Not going to do anything.

[Condunum]

Fortunately, Parnell had majored in Classical Studies. So he shouted back, "Quis estis? Quare nos iuvatis?" as he grabbed onto the ladder and began to scramble upward, followed closely by Eric.

"Quis es tu et cur inest in agris?!" the solder barked back, gfollowing them up. Two more soldiers waited in the helicopter, along with the pilot.

As soon as D, Eric, and Parnell were safe, the soldiers instantly slammed against the sliding and pressed their guns to the three's skulls.

"Straightforward gentlemen, military types," D said, "I fucking hate them."

"We are the warriors of Hades!" one of the soldiers barked, "We are the unseen, those who preside over the meetings of the dead! We serve the Father of Riches, he is who called Orcus, Pluto, and Hades himself. What brings you to our kingdom, humans?"

Jacob wasn't expecting this. He blinked at the strange, short girl and said with a confused tone, "I'm... Using this tunnel to get to London. What are you doing here?"

"That's none of your fucking business," Rosalind replied, "It's dangerous down here. Too dangerous for a bunch of fucking pansies. Don't you know that this place is swimming with monsters, wizards, and Englishmen?"

"Englishmen? Bitch, I am an AMERICAN. Englishmen are fucking pussies compared to me. No offense, Caspain," Jacob said with an egotistical smirk.

I'm completely doped out. This is new Jacob.

[Astrolinium]

Caspian's eyes widened and he looked over at Jacob, taken somewhat aback. He said, in a small way, "I am an Englishman, and I should think I know how to use the bloody underground."

Meanwhile, in Hades...

Eric said, "Well, we were on a nice little tour of the underworld, you know, see the sights, say all the wrong verbs, end up kissing complete strangers, the works, when suddenly our flight suits malfunctioned and we found ourselves being attacked by zombies."

He smiled affably.

[Condunum]

Jacob, still in AMERICA mode, decided to start waving his metaphorical dick around.

"Pft, these can't be that bad. When I was in Detroit the subway tried to light me on fire."

[Astrolinium]

Caspian blinked. "You're kidding! You're kidding, right?"

[Condunum]

"Heeeelllll no! The fucking thing had some magician or what the fuck ever in it. Turns out, my Master had sent me to Detroit for that very reason. Bastard got what was coming to him, I tell you what," Said Jacob in an all too egotistical tone.

[Astrolinium]

Jacob, it seemed, had had a rather sudden change of personality. Caspian wasn't entirely sure he liked it at all. Hoping it would pass, however, he said, "Maybe we should just get to London a different way. I don't mind a late dinner and I don't fancy facing many more monsters today."

[Condunum]

Jacob shrugged, "Nah, I'm sure I can handle a few beggars and Englishmen. Although I don't see why the Hobbit is afraid of Englishmen," Jacob thought for a moment.

"Did you guys like, slaughter hobbits or something?"

[Nationstatelandsville]

"Heeeelllll no! The fucking thing had some magician or what the fuck ever in it. Turns out, my Master had sent me to Detroit for that very reason. Bastard got what was coming to him, I tell you what," Said Jacob in an all too egotistical tone.

Rosalind punched Jacob in the balls and disappeared.

There was a mighty roar.

Caspian's eyes widened and he looked over at Jacob, taken somewhat aback. He said, in a small way, "I am an Englishman, and I should think I know how to use the bloody underground."

Meanwhile, in Hades...

Eric said, "Well, we were on a nice little tour of the underworld, you know, see the sights, say all the wrong verbs, end up kissing complete strangers, the works, when suddenly our flight suits malfunctioned and we found ourselves being attacked by zombies."

He smiled affably.

The soldiers blinked.

"Not a single word in that sentence made me want to shoot you less," their leader replied, "Most made me want to shoot you more. Give me a reason not to."

[Condunum]

Jacob's eyes would have widened at the roar if he wasn't feeling extremely patriotic and stupid, so what his actual response was, "RAWWWWR FUCK YOU YOU SEWER MONSTER!"

And then he drew a circle on the wall with his nifty piece of chalk, detailing it with symbols that almost all resembled weapons.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Jacob's eyes would have widened at the roar if he wasn't feeling extremely patriotic and stupid, so what his actual response was, "RAWWWWR FUCK YOU YOU SEWER MONSTER!"

And then he drew a circle on the wall with his nifty piece of chalk, detailing it with symbols that almost all resembled weapons.

Jacob didn't get a monster.

Instead, with a heavy plop, a doll made of straw falling into the miniature river at the center of the tunnel.

Plop. Another.

Plop.

Plop.

Plop. Plop. Plop. Plopplopplopplop.

Plop.

They were all gathered in a pile not far from Caspain.