Sailor Moon:
                        Seven Knights
                        *************
                   Part 7:  Final Judgments



                    Written by Strike Fiss
                    Ninja Crowbotics, 1999
















	Chess is a very odd game at times.

	There are Games within Games in Chess.

	History teaches us that it is perhaps the most fondly remembered 
social activity besides enjoying music or food with others.  Matching 
wits with a friend or stranger, on a board of game pieces that are both 
established and understood.  It gives a person a chance to prove 
themselves to have some degree of intellect, and to impose that 
intellect upon others.
	This is not necessarily a clash of egos.  In it's most friendly 
form, the thinking and strategy can be a wonderful way to spend time 
and bond with another mind.  Enjoying their company and the challenge 
they offer.  
	Still, there are others who recognize a somewhat less honorable 
meaning in Chess.  That it is battle.  Two foes struggling to deceive 
and out-maneuver each other.  Completely equal in power, but rarely 
equal in mind.  Such instances of equality are hardly rare, but they 
are bleak.  Stalemates, as opposed to Checkmates, usually occur when 
one side has completely destroyed the other, leaving only a struggling 
King to inch across the board.  Other times, both sides have been 
decimated, and the Kings are left, uselessly chasing one another around 
the black and white squares.  
	It is a game of friendship and challenge, but also one that 
mimics true war.  Where the pawns and powerful are destroyed by their 
own King in an attempt to gain the upper hand.  Where hidden plans are 
discovered too late, or to lead away from yet more plans.  
	It is also a game that, if a status-quo should exist, the Game 
itself will force one of the opponents to chose attack.  The 
alternative is not playing.  

	In this battle before Azrael's eyes, Michael had not been 
foolish.  Using the time it took to move pieces into place, the Knight 
of SkitZ had leaked a number of pawns through to the other side, and 
returned with pieces equal to his own power.  He had leapt off the 
entire chessboard to reclaim pieces that Azrael thought were long since 
destroyed.  
	Still, this made no difference to his plans.  While SkitZ and his 
foolish allies would slide across the black and white, dodging and 
destroying Azrael's pawns...the REAL pieces were still in place.
	
	Motivation is the one thing that never touches a friendly game of 
chess.  At least, not a true one.  Add money, and players will scramble 
like it was for life itself.  Add fame, and the losers will truly hate 
their victors with a passion.  

	But add the chance to become a God?	

	The chance to save himself from the Noize?

	The chance to rule Universes of his own design?

	For this...Azrael would kill them all.  He would drink the blood 
of this entire planet if it meant his God-hood.  He would turn this 
simple, peasant game into Hell on Earth, and burn down Heaven if it 
meant he could win.

	And so became the circle of the Game.  Michael's massive armies 
slid across the board towards Azrael for the final conflict.  Azrael 
prepared himself by focusing on his final moves.  All the while, he 
never saw that he too was just a Pawn.

	A pawn in a very old game of Chess.


















                            Chapter 1












	A'albiel was a small man with a big heart.  Actually, his 
physical size was determined by the fact he was a Cherubim of SkitZ, 
and therefore, destined to stay as a child for the rest of his days.  
This did not mean he had a childish mind or childish ways, however.  He 
would often challenge Michael himself on many points of philosophy, 
strategy and literature.  When it game to the wine bottle, he could 
usually drink the Archangel into the ground.
	It was no wonder Michael liked him.  A'albiel had graduated to 
the Cherub Commander position quite early.  However, as with all 
cherubim, they only cared to label themselves with such silly titles 
because the Archangels saw it fit.  A'albiel himself never understood 
the meaning of ranks or command, yet went along with it.  It actually 
did seem to speed things up in battle.  
	Still, he was not beneath himself to helping out around the City.  
He had been in charge of caring for Uriel in her cell.  A task that he 
was now loathing.  Even with his usually kind heart. 

	Uriel hadn't shut up since she became conscious.  

	A team of five Mages stood by the cell at all times, and they 
were perhaps the most angry at the task.  Each of their old, wise eyes 
looked blood-shot and ready to pop out of their robbed heads.  "Please 
say you're coming with an order for her execution." One of the Mages 
asked as he saw the little cherub flutter in.
	Sadly, A'albiel held up a tray of food.  His voiceless speech 
apologized to the Mages, and offered to come down with a few of his 
friends later so they could play a game of cards.  
	"I want to be there..." Uriel was whispering to herself.  "I want 
to be there...I want to be there...I want to beeeeeeee THEREEEEE!!" she 
snapped and began to sling fire across the walls for the tenth time 
that morning.  
	The Mages all sighed and checked the spell barriers that held her 
in.  Each was intact, as they always were.  The small cherub edged the 
tray of food into the cell's one weak point, then backed away so it 
could be re-sealed.  He pitied the Mages jobs.  Though this cell could 
probably contain three Uriels without cracking, there were to be no 
chances taken.  Uriel's craftiness was legendary, and they couldn't 
afford her escape.  Not with Michael away.  The only Knight in 
residence was Gabriel, who many thought to be on her last leg of life.  
	"I want to be there...I want to be there..." Uriel continued to 
whisper to herself after she realized her fire had fizzled without 
effect.  "I want to be there..."
	"I want to be in the hot-springs of the South." One of the Mages 
laughed, prompting the other four to agree.
	A'albiel hovered over to the edge of the cell, looking at Uriel.  
She was a tall, skinny woman.  Light, gray-whispered wings and long 
blonde hair.  Her face, nobody had seen in ages.  Ever since she dawned 
her mask.  
	Any idea what is wrong with her?  He asked.
	The Mages all shook their heads.  "It could be the Noize." One 
offered.  "She shows the same signs as Michael when he first came to 
us."
	That didn't seem right, though.  A'albiel could tell she was much 
deeper into her own mind then even the Noize.  Some kind of mental 
loop.  She was actually blocking the Noize with the mantra she kept 
repeating.  
	Look into it.
	The Mages all nodded.  
	A'albiel sighed to himself, then fluttered down the hall of the 
dungeon.  He hoped Michael and the others were having better luck with 
their plans. 











	"An interesting group of friends you have here." Cassiel smiled 
to herself as she walked past Michael.  Her soft blue eyes cast over to 
Lucifer.  "Mmm...very interesting."
	Lucifer, despite his shifty nature and evil ways, found himself 
squirming under the young woman's gaze.  "I...it's been a long time, 
Cassiel." He managed to squeak.  
	"Yes." She looked him over.  "Yes it has." She was almost leaning 
on his chest now.  "Tell me, how long...HAS...it been?"
	Lucifer swallowed hard, unable to think, let alone speak.  
Luckily, before he could sweat any more, she turned to Maury.  
	Maury, of course, didn't seem to mind.  He flashed her his best 
swinger-look.  "We meet at last." He gently took her hand...an action 
that seemed to aggravate Cupid, and kissed it.   "I've heard much about 
you." 
	Cassiel seemed impressed...slightly.  "Ahh, Maury.  You should 
watch who's hands you kiss.  Someone might be jealous." She smiled, 
walking past him.  Cupid began to hover in front of Maury, clacking his 
teeth.  Maury backed away, not sure what to do. 
	Demeter seemed unimpressed, having only eyes for Andrea anyway, 
and both of them caught Cassiel's gaze head on.  "You have a good man, 
here." She whispered to Andrea with a wink.
	"I know." She replied, raising an eyebrow.  Demeter did the same.  
	Cassiel purposely 'missed' Rei and Miharu and turned right for 
Chris, who had been watching the whole thing with a smile.  "What have 
we here?" she asked with a grin that was beginning to irritate Rei.  
	"Just thinking." Chris cleared his throat.
	She raised her hand to cup his chin.  Rei was about to rip her to 
bits.  "Oh?  Thinking about what?" she asked sweetly.
	Chris cocked his head to the side.  "I was just wondering why 
you're not a man."
	Cassiel did a double take.  "Pardon?"
	"Oh, it's nothing personal." Chris continued.  "Just in movies, 
you're always played by males.  I thought you would have been a man."
	Maury couldn't help but laugh.  "You're no fun anymore, Fissy."
	"Good thing for him." Rei smiled as she patted him on the 
shoulder.  
	Cassiel laughed softly and moved to Dave.  He just smiled and 
bowed.  "Oooh, and a man in uniform."
	"It's not much of a uniform..." Dave blushed.
	She looked him over.  "You look like the kind of man who would 
sleep in his clothes."
	"I suppose I usually do." Dave nodded.
	"Mmm." She shrugged.  "Too bad..."
	Michael finally turned around and sheathed his sword.  "Cassiel, 
we're here on business."
	Cassiel turned to him with a slight frown.  "If you don't mind, I 
was talking with your friends."
	He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but words never 
came.  Michael sighed and walked over to the wall so he could lean 
against it.  "By all means, take all week.  See if I care."
	"Now now." Cassiel smiled, walking back over to him.  "Behave, 
SkitZ, or I may have to get naughty."  
	"That would be preferable." Michael muttered back.  "At least I 
wouldn't have to watch people drool over your feet."
	Cassiel blinked.  Cupid giggled to himself.  "Well, where are my 
manners?" she snapped her fingers.  Three archangels walked into the 
room, appearing from the shadows.  Each looked like they could bench-
press a small truck, and were wearing only loin-cloth.  "Please take 
them to one of the high suites."
	Michael frowned.  "Cassiel, we really need to talk."
	"In the morning, my dear Michael." She winked, then turned 
around, dragging Cupid behind her.  "Have a good sleep."

	The three muscle-bound archangels crossed their arms expectantly.  
One of them pointed to a door that had opened up behind them.  

	Chris sighed and had to pull Miharu away from the sight.  "Come 
on, honey."  He paused, then had to come back for Rei.  "You too, 
honey."
	
	Michael gave the three one last look, then turned to follow the 
group out of the room.  "I remember why I didn't want to come here."


















                               Chapter 2









	Unlike the City of SkitZ, the City of Bri was not built to be a 
fortress.  At least, not one in the conventional sense.  Immediately, 
this was evident as they walked into their 'room'.  

	It was a small chunk of Heaven.

	Even Dave was impressed as they waded through long, fresh pond-
grass that left little trails of darker green in their wakes as they 
moved.  Flowers  were planted in various garden plots, while trees 
around them towered to the ceiling, giving them the illusion that they 
were in a woodland valley, and not an enclosed space.  A large window 
on the other end of the room showed black, indicating it must be night.
	In the center of the impressive expanse was a huge marble floor 
that held the suite's accommodations.  No walls, though.  Everything 
was open for living.  Privacy didn't seem to matter too much, as the 
motif seemed to be more of an intimate spot for couples.  The only 
barriers of any kind were water-walls that were spraying down from the 
roof, and the trees at the edge of the place.  
	"If one of these trees has Apples of Knowledge," Chris smiled.  
"I'm going to be very disturbed."
	"They taste like shit." Dave smiled.  "We make Applesauce of 
Knowledge.  It's much better."
	"Mm, Applesauce of Knowledge." Maury began to drool.
	Miharu already jumped up onto the marble and was testing out one 
of the numerous beds...that were the size of some hotel rooms back on 
Earth.  "Wow!  They're so soft!" she exclaimed happily.
	Before she could begin to bounce of them, Chris had already ran 
over and was using one as a trampoline.  "ALL RIGHT!" he shouted, 
almost smacking his head into the roof.  "These are AWESOME!" he turned 
to Michael.  "You think Cassiel would let me take one of these home 
with us?"
	Michael ignored Fiss and sat down on an overstuffed loveseat.  
"This is insane.  What am I doing here?"
	"You're moping about." Chris said.  "Now, come over here and help 
us bounce.  We need a third to get the really good ones." He bounced 
around, almost colliding into Miharu, who was joining in quite 
enthusiastically.  
	Beavis was sniffing the air.  "I smell grubs!" he zipped off into 
the bushes.
	"Oooh!  Where??" Lucifer ran after.
	"Wow..." Rei walked over to Chris and Miharu.  "This must be one 
of the best rooms in the City.  I didn't know you were on such good 
terms with Cassiel.  The way you were talking about her, I thought you 
hated her guts."
	"She may want to assassinate us." Michael offered.
	"HA!" Miharu drew her sword.  "Let's see her try!  Not when we've 
got TRAMPOLINE BEDS!"
	Chris drew his sword, and they began to duel while bouncing from 
bed to bed, accidentally destroying a few pillows in the process.  "Oh 
man, now I HAVE to get some of these for back home!" he launched 
himself at Miharu and they rebounded off in opposite directions, then 
picked up two large pillows to act as 'shields'.
	"You two stop that!" Rei laughed as they began to use 'dubbed' 
voices.
	"Now...you...DIE!" Chris lip-synced.  "DAMN YOU!  STINK MAN!"
	"MASTURBATE...IN...HELL!!!" Miharu countered as she leapt at him.  
They clashed swords and then dropped down, thinking of entirely new bad 
subtitles.  
	"Masturbate in hell?" Lucifer poked his head out of the trees.  
"How is it that everyone assumes that's all there is too do in Hell?"
	Everyone turned to Lucifer with dry looks on their faces. 
	"What?!?!?  Thanks to young Christopher's dreams, we also play a 
mean game of squirrel twirl." Lucifer nodded.  "The souls seem to like 
it."
	"What the hell is 'squirrel twirl?'" Rei frowned, looking at 
Chris.  
	Chris blinked, then turned to Maury, who was blinking as well.  
"How does he know about squirrel twirl?"
	"I don't know." Maury looked over to Lucifer.  "We must destroy 
the evidence."
	Lucifer blinked.  "Uh, never mind."
	Chris and Maury kept looking at him with evil eyes.  
	"Uh...I'm going to go back to the grubs." He ducked back into the 
trees.  The two boys turned back to the group, innocent smiles on their 
faces.
	"Hehe.  Silly Lucifer." Chris chuckled.  "Always making stuff 
up."
	"Hehe.  Yeah.  Silly Lucifer." Maury added.
	"Does anyone else hear cicadas outside?" Miharu said after an 
uncomfortable silence.  
	"Considering we're probably n a desert, I doubt that very much." 
Dave smiled.  "Now, what do you all say to some food?"
	Michael nodded.  "I suppose we could stand for a nice meal before 
we kill Azrael."
	Andrea yawned.  "I thought we were going to wait for your 
armies?"
	"No." SkitZ grumbled.  "We're getting out of here as soon as 
possible."  
	"Yes, but that includes waiting for the fifty thousand angels 
that are coming in a few weeks." Chris said, perching on the edge of 
one of the beds.  "Or have you forgotten that we're not on a suicide 
mission?"
	"Yeah." Demeter nodded.  "The not dying part would have been 
nice."
	"Agreed." Andrea chimed, already dozing off.  "Wake me up when 
it's time to eat..."
	Chris stood and grabbed Michael.  "Come on.  We'll see if Cassiel 
has any cooks still awake at this hour."
	Reluctantly, Michael stood.  "I guess it wouldn't hurt to look 
around..."
	"That's the spirit!" they walked over to the door.

	Two archangels were standing guard outside, and gave the Knights 
mean looks.  They also wouldn't get out of their way.

	"So, we're prisoners?" Fiss frowned.
	Michael shook his head.  "No, but they're probably keeping tabs 
on us."
	Grinning, Fiss nodded.  "Oooh, well then." He leapt at the 
biggest one.  "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"
	Startled, the angel fell back on his ass, dropping his spear.  
The other began to laugh as Christopher and Michael walked over him and 
down the hall.  
	"Works every time." He grinned.

	
	






	Not far away...rather closer than one might think, someone was 
watching.  Of course, watching and looking are two different things, 
and Raphael Weskic was not looking for anything out of the ordinary.  
Perhaps, this is why he did not notice the slight rippling light that 
surrounded the City of Fiss' reflection on the ocean.  
	Winter had fallen upon them.  The first part.  The calm winds 
came from the North, bringing with them a gentle, near-freezing 
temperature.  Frost was already forming on the water around the City, 
and so partially hid the massive structure's reflection anyway.  
	"It's almost time." Raphael mentioned.
	"The final spells are almost drawn." Azrael said, sleepily.  "I'm 
just waiting for the final batch of sand."
	The days had slowed down as they always had for the world.  
Winter in the world of Angels forced flights to be shorter.  Wars to be 
smaller.  Spells to be hardy and robust.  Miracles were saved for 
emergencies only.  These facts combined were all working for Azrael's 
plans.  
	Even if it did make for some dull afternoons.  

	Raphael was not as idle as he may have seemed, though.  Every day 
he would spend every spare moment honing his skills with his sword.  He 
would practice casting his favorite spells in record time.  He would 
ready the armies in the City of Fiss for combat.
	In the times he did not work, he meditated.  Raphael was the only 
Knight that still did in any semblance of a schedule, but it helped him 
keep up to the other, younger Knights in mental strength.  

	This was proving to be both a blessing and a curse, however, 
Michael's words kept repeating in his head.

	"Ask him." 

	SkitZ knew.  He knew something was wrong with Azrael and his 
plans.  The paranoid Knight of SkitZ would not drop his entire life for 
a crusade unless he was certain it was not a foolish cause.
	The more Raphael thought about it, the more he wondered what 
exactly Michael knew that he did not.  Massive spells.  Thousands dead 
to fill the gardens.  Already two Knights dead or presumed so.  Michael 
jumping out of the boundaries and back, bringing with him such amazing 
defenses that even a Throne had been thwarted.  Reports of entire Hosts 
slaughtered at the hands of only a dozen soldiers, as they received no 
losses whatsoever.  
	Gabriel knew Revelations had been coming for a long time.  If he 
was lucky, he had chosen the right side to be on.  However, faith in 
his abilities to judge a situation that he did not fully understand was 
wavering.  How could one put the faith of such things on guesses and 
half-truths?  How could one trust anyone...even their allies...when the 
War had begun and the lies spread like grass-fire?
	
	And Lucifer?  Risking a direct confrontation with two Knights?  

	That alone told of something strange in the works.

	A soft snore woke Raphael from his mental deliberations.  He 
turned and saw Azrael sleeping soundly on one of the observation room's 
only pieces of furniture.
	He walked over to the younger, smaller angel, looking down at him 
as he slept.  It would be so easy to kill him now.  The startled Knight 
of Fiss would not even have a chance to reach for his axe before his 
neck could snap under Raphael's massive grip.
	
	Judgment.

	The Word called for Judgment as well as Wisdom.  One could not 
exist without the other.  Judgment for Azrael would come in one or two 
forms.  Either his victory and completion of a spell that would save 
them all...or his death at the hands of enemies he never knew he had.  
	Raphael wondered which one it would be.  

	And he could do nothing.  

	Not until he knew for sure.

	Slowly, he turned and walked back to the edge of the crystal 
shield around them and tried to enjoy the view.  The air had turned 
stale in this City.  Not just here, but everywhere.  

	In the air, hung magic and death.  A very dangerous combination.


















                               Chapter 3












	Michael woke to a very unpleasant sensation.  It was a whole-body 
type of thing.  Not one that could be immediately pin-pointed, but one 
that was recognizable. 
	Sure enough, as he opened his eyes, Lucifer's grin was right over 
his face.  "Do you wish to die now?" Michael grumbled.
	Lucifer shrugged.  "I suppose I could wait a while."
	Michael sat up quickly, forcing Lucifer to move from his perch on 
the side of the bed, lest he be head-butted.  "What the hell do you 
want?" 
	By the way his eyes were still having trouble focusing, it had to 
have been only sunrise or earlier.  Lucifer knew this, of course, and 
enjoyed waking SkitZ up early.  "I want breakfast." He stated simply, 
though he was still grinning.
	"Then go eat some more grubs." He snapped quickly.  "I'm not your 
cook."
	"Whoever heard of grubs for breakfast?" Lucifer gasped in comical 
shock.  "Perhaps Brunch...but only a late brunch at that!"
	Michael reached for his sword in such a way to make it clear he 
intended to pull it out. 
	"Wait!" Lucifer laughed.  "Fine.  I was just wondering where the 
kitchens were."
	"Nobody's up at this time anyway." Michael yawned, looking out 
over the numerous beds to the others, huddled in their various pairs or 
solo sleeping patterns.  "Why don't you go back to sleep?"
	"Nightmares." Lucifer shrugged.
	Michael blinked, then raised an eyebrow.  "Nightmares?"
	Lucifer looked very offended.  "Just because I live in Hell and 
listen to the Noize on a regular basis doesn't mean I still don't get a 
bad dream or two that I'm not used to."
	"Sorry." Michael snickered.  "Pussy."
	"Humph." Lucifer crossed his arms.  "See if I let YOU give me a 
hug next time." A slight smile slid across his lips.  "Though, I guess 
I could always go see if Cassiel will share a hug or two."
	Michael's mood clouded over even more, but he said nothing, 
choosing only to lay back down.
	"I say!" he whispered.  "Did you see how she's grown?" he flashed 
his white teeth in the dark light.  "Why, I remember when little 
Cassiel was only as tall as my waist.  Oooh, what fun that year was."
	SkitZ had his eyes closed, but he was grinding his teeth.  
	"But now..." Lucifer sighed happily.  "I bet she's quite a little 
minx in the sack.  Perhaps I'll teach her a thing or two before we 
leave..." he paused and then laughed.  "Then again, she's already been 
taught...soooo...much."
	A sharp SHNICK! filled the air, and the mattress by Lucifer's 
head was sliced down to the floor.  Lucifer would have had quite a 
headache had he not moved just in time.
	Michael was on his feet a second later.  "You will DIE!" he 
yelled, waking everyone up in the process.
	Lucifer grinned devilishly and leaned in closer.  "What's the 
matter, SkitZ?  Archangel?  Knight?  Are my comments about your beloved 
Cassiel PISSING YOU OFF?" he yelled back.
	Michael ignored his sword, and despite Yamato yelling him to 
stop, the Archangel drove the palm of his hand right into Lucifer's 
chest, throwing the Fallen across the room.  
	"Do you like hearing about how I'm going to FUCK her, Michael?" 
Lucifer coughed as he stood, but he never took his razor-sharp eyes off 
of his opponent.  "Do you like all those memories?  All those 
suspicions?" he yelled.
	Michael ran towards him, catching Lucifer before he could dodge, 
and then flung him around like a sack of potatoes into the truck of one 
of the trees.  "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he yelled, grabbing him by the 
collar of his black coat.  "Don't you DARE even say her NAME!" he 
finished his sentence by delivering a rather painful sounding head-
butt.
	Lucifer decided that was enough, and he slid free of Michael's 
grip like a pile of sand...though each fleck of sand was a large 
cockroach like insect.
	Everyone watched in horror as the insects ran across the room, 
then reformed into a taller figure, melting away to show Lucifer 
rubbing his nose.  A trickle of blood ran down his cheek.  
"Okay...that's enough." 
	Michael was huffing in anger, still against the tree.  "Fuck 
you..."
	The Sensei all relaxed noticeably as they finally saw this fight 
was over.  Yamato jumped out of bed and walked over to Michael.  "You 
okay?"
	"NO!" Michael yelled.  "That unholy pig-fucker is getting on my 
nerves a little MORE each passing second!"
	"I am not a pig-fucker" Lucifer defended, rubbing his nose.  "At 
least, not that you can prove."
	"Shut up." Yamato turned to him.  "If you two would stop getting 
down each other's shorts about EVERY little thing, you MIGHT learn that 
you two are on the SAME SIDE!"
	Lucifer sniffed back the last bit of blood and crossed his arms.  
"I was only trying to help."
	Everyone...and that meant everyone in the room...looked at 
Lucifer with a 'yeah right' look and crossed their arms.
	"HEY!" Lucifer grumbled.  "I was!  Honest!" he raised his right 
arm and grinned at Hooze and Rei.  "Scouts honor!"
	"I am SOOO glad we switched to 'Senshi'." Andrea sighed.  Rei 
nodded. 
	"How exactly was all that helpful?" Chris blinked.
	"I'm simply trying to get Mike over there to recognize his 
feelings for Cassiel." Lucifer stated proudly.  "Since he hates me more 
than any one of his many denials about things, I knew it would override 
them if I got him to flip out."
	Michael shook his head.  "You're fucking insane."
	"Aren't we all?" Lucifer grinned back, then turned to the others.  
"However, you will all be wondering why I chose to wake you all up with 
that encounter, no doubt?"
	"You'd better." Maury grumbled.
	"Jolly good." Lucifer nodded.  "Anyway, while you were all 
sleeping, I decided to go back to Pandemonium for a few hours and check 
up on things."
	Everyone blinked.  Michael sighed.  "Pandemonium is his City."
	"Yes.  And it even has indoor plumbing and fecal-matter proof 
window coverings!" Lucifer smiled proudly.  "You all REALLY must visit 
hell sometimes.  It's not too bad where I stay."
	Miharu grinned.  "Maybe some other time."
	"Oh, well anyway, I went to Hell for an hour to check up on 
things." Lucifer continued.  "After all, Hell isn't exactly a pot of 
stew you can just leave simmering in the corner while you watch TV.  
Unless you keep an eye on it, it can get very stinky."
	Yamato shook his head.  "I believe there was a point?"
	"Oh yes!" Lucifer nodded.  "Well, I went down for about an hour 
and a half.  When I came back, I noticed that all of you were still in 
pretty much the same places on your beds when I left."
	Michael shrugged.  "And?"
	"So, curious, I decided to test out my observations.  I noticed 
Christopher had a watch, so I remembered the time it was showing just 
before I went to Hell again.  It read five twenty, PM.  Even though our 
days are longer, our hours are the same, or at least pretty close.  So, 
with that in mind, I went back to hell for an hour and a half.  That's 
ninety minutes, right?"
	Everyone nodded. 
	"So, when I came back, I checked Christopher's watch again." He 
pointed over at Chris' watch.  "It read only five twenty-seven."
	Dave blinked.
	Lucifer smiled.  "I think we know why Cassiel has such great 
looks after all these years, my dear Michael." He gestured around them.  
"We're in a Time Script."
	Rei's eyes were wide.  "What?  You mean, this City has slower 
time than outside?"
	Andrea gasped.  "I...I didn't even notice!"
	Chris pulled out his laptop from under his pillow and tossed it 
over to Dave.  Dave began working furiously on it.  "Oh shit..."
	Everyone looked over to him.  
	"We've already experienced a week." Dave's eyes were wide.
	"Just from staying in this place for a DAY?" Maury stood.  
	"More or less." Dave nodded, closing his laptop, then he turned 
to Michael.  "Your Hosts will be here in about three and a half DAYS, 
Michael."
	Lucifer had a smile on his face as Michael's eyes shot open wide.  
"Now you see, I was only trying to help."
	Chris had a huge grin on his face.  "Hey, Mo!  We just slept for 
a week straight!"
	Maury laughed.  "Right on!"
	Michael was looking down at his sword.  "Three days?"
	Yamato nodded.  "We'd better get ready."








	


	


	Cassiel watched from her balcony as the Sensei emerged from their 
room way down below.  The entire City looked to be a funnel on the 
inside, thanks to it's inverted nature.  She was on one of the highest 
floors at the moment.  Her own personal hall.  "Cupid, my dear..." she 
whispered.
	"Whehheeheheheheahahhehehahaheeaaaa!" Cupid replied, bounding 
around her, getting tangled up in his leash.  
	"Tell them that I will speak with them." She smiled softly.  "But 
lead them to the training grounds."
	"Whaaheea-Buttons?" Cupid stopped bouncing and looked at her with 
a quizzical face.  
	"Michael, I'll talk to him.  Bring him up here and get him 
cleaned up for dinner." Cassiel said.  "Be nice.  He's an old friend." 
She whispered.  "But make sure the others stay out of the way.  Clear?"
	Cupid bounced up and down once.  "AWHAHHW!"
	"Good." She sighed, gently un-fastening his collar.  "I will not 
be caught in the middle of this war."
	Giggling as he jumped over the edge, Cupid descended.








	
	Rei scratched her stomach angrily.  "You'd thing we'd be able to 
find the kitchen in a place like this."
	"I still have a few meals in storage." Dave said, looking up at 
the massive structures towering around them.  
	"Yeah, but I want some REAL food." Rei complained.  "Hell, even 
instant ramen would be nice at a time like this."
	Chris looked over Rei's head and rolled back his eyes, mouthing 
'that time of the month'.  Dave nodded, understanding.  Rei shot Chris 
an evil look.  He shrugged.  "WHAT?"
	"Don't start with me, Fissy." Rei grumbled.
	They walked a little more, finding a series of steps that led to 
the next floor.  
	"Do you think I'm fat?" Rei asked suddenly.  
	Everyone sighed.  
	"I don't think I'm fat..." Rei continued, crossing her arms. 
	"So..." Chris coughed, trying to change the subject.  "Mike.  
What's with that little Cupid guy anyway?"
	Michael turned and sneered.  "One of the most vile, horrible 
things to come from the Word."
	"Besides us Fallen Angels." Lucifer filled in.  Michael nodded.  
	Andrea laughed.  "What?  Cupid?  He's funny, but I wouldn't call 
him horrible." 
	Demeter nodded.  "He did seem to be a little mentally retarded."
	"No, he's just really horny." Michael replied.
	"Horny?" Maury laughed.  "Is that why he's always looking like 
he's going to hump someone's leg?"
	"Basically, yeah." Michael nodded.  
	"So, why doesn't someone just..." Miharu blushed.  "Uh...help him 
with that?"
	"He has no penis." Michael said, grinning.  "The higher angels 
don't have genitalia."
	Everyone blinked.  Chris quickly checked his pants, then let out 
a sigh of relief.  Yamato laughed.  "Don't worry.  Archangels aren't 
high enough on the chain."
	"Oh." Chris smiled.
	Miharu blinked.  "So, how can he be horny if he can't have sex?"
	Yamato rubbed his chin with his hand.  "That's the problem.  
Normally, Cherubim aren't horny.  However, Cupid seems to be a special 
case.  A long time ago, he was set in charge of arranged marriages.  
Literally, if a couple needed to get together for the good of the 
world, Cupid would be the one who made it happen."
	"After a while..." Lucifer continued.  "He got too interested in 
his work.  One of the problems with Cherubim is that they can become 
extremely dedicated to their tasks...sometimes to the point of 
insanity."
	Michael lead them up another flight of stairs.  "You see, Cupid 
isn't one of the original angels that came out with the Word.  He was 
created afterwards to fill a purpose that was found much later on in 
our planet's history.  Even the best Knights, however, can't come close 
to being able to create the same thing the Word did so many years ago.  
While most of the Cherubim in the land are original, we occasionally 
have to summon them.  Cupid is basically a spell that had cracks in 
it's final woodwork, and so, he has some interesting quirks."
	"He started to get horny after years of watching 
couples...uh...get together." Yamato coughed.  "Now, normally that 
wouldn't be a problem.  Just find the poor guy a lady and let him get 
out of those sexual frustrations.  However, Cupid is trapped, because 
he can never do that."
	Chris, Maury and Dave all shuddered.  "Poor guy." Mo said.
	"So he wants to hump your leg." Chris shrugged.  "I still don't 
see what the big deal is."
	Yamato coughed.  "Are you nuts?!  Do you know what kind of weapon 
Love is?"
	Michael continued.  "Before Cassiel took him under her wing..." 
he coughed.  "Cupid was actually one of the most feared entities on 
this world." He shook his head.  "Love makes people do crazy things.  
Cupid could literally control who loved who, who loved what, and who 
killed to protect their love."
	Andrea nodded.  "Yeah, I guess we've seen that in our line of 
work too."
	Demeter nodded sadly.  
	Lucifer grinned.  "Now you know why we were so worried when we 
saw that arrow.  That arrow didn't kill that Aszap."
	The Senshi all blinked.  "What did?" Rei asked.
	"It killed itself." Lucifer said.  "The actual arrow did no 
damage to the bastard.  However, Cupid probably sent along a spell with 
it that told the Aszap he loved US more than life itself, and when he 
realized he was about to kill us, he decided to end his own life."
	Maury was wide eyed.  "Whoah."
	"Exactly." Michael nodded, turning to Mo.  "That's why I want to 
get out of here as soon as possible.  Cassiel is crazy enough to 
actually use that little freak to carry out her own plans.  The last 
thing we need is everyone getting messed up with Cupid..." he turned 
around to see Cupid drop in front of him.  "AAAAAAAAARGH!"
	Cupid stood, giggling happily.  "Wwamamammaaaa!"
	Miharu backed away, noticing for the first time that, indeed, the 
naked little man had no...genitalia.  He looked like a Ken-Doll.  
"That's very disturbing..."
	Chris, Michael and Lucifer all blinked, then turned to the 
others.  "He's going to take us to Cassiel." Michael said.  
	"About time." Rei smiled.  "I hope she has some food ready."






















                             Chapter 4







	

	One handy thing about having an army of angels was the 
communication that was possible, even over long distances.  While the 
Hosts could only travel at a set speed, individual scouts were much 
faster, and could still report back to the City in only about a week.  
	The communication went both ways, as not only did it inform 
A'albiel and the other SkitZ about how the armies were holding up, but 
also let the armies know that everything was okay back home.  
	The reports coming in showed they had collectively hit about ten 
thousand angels of resistance on the way there.  That meant Fiss was 
playing smart.  He would decide the final battle terms on his home 
ground, rather than wasting his armies farther from the City of Fiss. 
	Of course, at this moment, A'albiel would rather be braving the 
cold than braving the dungeons once more.  He sighed to himself as he 
rounded the corner.  The guard detail had been cut to one watchman, 
since it was clear that Uriel was more interested in making sculptures 
of her own feces than escaping the cage.  
	The angel looked up and smiled at the cherub.  "How goes the 
war?" he yawned.  At least this man didn't complain too much.  He was 
actually quite cheerful, especially considering his assignment.  
	A'albiel smiled and explained how the Hosts were already on the 
outskirts of Azrael's farmlands, and casualties had been laughable so 
far.  
	"Good, good!" he yawned, stretching in his seat.  "I have a few 
buddies out in the Hosts.  Hopefully they get back in time so we can 
catch up on card night."
	With a nod, A'albiel agreed, and mentioned he'd bring the chips 
and dip for the next game.
	"Good man." The guard smiled, then turned to the opaque shield 
that surrounded the otherwise plain cell around Uriel.  She was huddled 
in the corner, as always.  "She's the same.  I really don't know why we 
don't kill her and get it over with."
	Uriel was one of the first of the new generation of Knights.  
Though she looked to be about Michael and Cassiel's age, she was at 
least half a century older than both of them.  Word had it that she had 
been tutored by the Azer brothers as well as Yamato.  The little cherub 
explained the problem with losing such a direct link to the past.  When 
Azrael was defeated, there was a chance she could return to a less 
harmful way of life.  At least, less harmful to the others.  
	"I suppose so." He shrugged.  "Though we should as least put her 
in stasis."
	A'albiel grinned.  That was actually a very good idea.  Though 
they would need a mage or two on hand at all times to keep the spell 
self-sufficient, that was no worse than the guards that had to be 
posted outside her cell.  
	"So you'll get some mages together?" the guard nodded.  "Great.  
You should probably get some of the higher mages from Choir Fifty."
	A'albiel agreed.  They were some of the best mages.  It would be 
required against Uriel, who was quite powerful herself.  
	With that, he left the tray of food he brought in the corner of 
the cage and re-sealed it.  Then, thanking the guard for his 
suggestion, he fluttered off to make the arrangements.

	The City had all but been rebuilt.  Only some of the deeper 
structural work had to be finished, but for now, any weak points in the 
walls and facilities had been temporarily patched and braced, just in 
case of anything like another Throne.  
	Testing had already been completed with Mister Reinquest's 
strange lighting machine, and it too was fully operational.  With 
enough juice to knock a Host or two out of the sky, the City had 
relaxed and started to prepare for the Winter season.  They were lucky 
that the war had been moved across the continent, as they were only 
finally able to stock up on food and supplies.  
	Besides most of the army being away, life was almost...boring.  
As a cherub, he did not mind this fact too much, though he did share 
the caution that Tsirya was always grumbling about.  It would be 
foolish not to prepare.  Still...there wasn't much to prepare for.  
Maybe keeping Uriel in stasis would be a nice tension breaker.  A few 
of the higher Archangels had been complaining that it was foolish just 
to let her sit there and plan whatever she was planning.
	A'albiel wasn't too worried.  She didn't seem capable of much 
right now.  But...this would make them happy.  About the only one of 
the higher angels that didn't seem to care was Anafiel.  He seemed 
perfectly willing to relax and continue with the running of the city.  
	
	Zooming up the insides of the giant hollow pyramid of the City's 
interior was simple for anyone with wings, and soon, he had scaled in 
seconds what it took mountain climbers weeks to do.  The little cherub 
landed on the open part of a balcony, leading to the council chambers.  
A kind of meeting hall that the higher-ups always used.  
	Sure enough, both Anafiel and Tsirya were inside, handling the 
daily affairs.  "I really don't see why we have to go over this again." 
The former sighed, playing with a little ball of light he had cast out 
of Theban.  
	"If the Hosts come back too soon, we're going to be short for 
First Harvest." Tsirya explained angrily, looking over his spectacles.  
He was one of the very few angels that admitted having eye trouble and 
did not want anything cast to correct it.  When ever there was 
bookkeeping to be done, the City always knew because Tsirya always 
donned his glasses.
	A'albiel watched quietly, not bothering to interrupt.  Patience 
was well endowed in the minds of cherubim.  
	"If we have to, we'll send out extra hunting parties." Anafiel 
sighed, clenching a fist over his little distraction to make it fade 
into nothing.  "You worry too much."
	"And you don't worry nearly as much as you should." Tsirya 
countered.  "I happen to have some faith in our armies, and know at 
least a fair amount of them will return to us alive." He said, quickly 
pulling out more reports from the shelves and bookcases around them.  
"I don't think anyone's going to be too happy if we can't feed them 
when they get back."
	Noticing a light at the balcony, Anafiel chose to use it as an 
interruption.  "A'albiel!" he smiled, motioning for the cherub 
commander to enter.  "We're blessed by your presence."
	A'albiel chuckled to himself, then began to speak of the plan for 
Uriel's containment, how it would be much more efficient, and safer in 
the long run.  Not to mention, a lot less dishonorable to a Knight who 
they would probably want to be allies with after Revelations.
	Both Archangels listened.  Anafiel had a smile on his face.  
"Wonderful idea!" he rubbed his chin slightly.  "Have you talked to the 
Mages yet?"
	He mentioned he did not.
	"Good." Anafiel nodded.  "I'll put together a shift team of Mages 
for you.  I happen to know of a few good angels that have cast a stasis 
spell before."
	"You do?" Tsirya blinked.  "Since when to you hang out with the 
Mages?"
	"Old friends." Anafiel laughed.  "Just because I'm part of the 
council doesn't mean I stay here all day like you do."
	Tsirya shrugged.  
	"If you'll approve it, I'll get the Mages for you early 
tomorrow." Anafiel continued, stretching out on his chair.  "I'm sure 
we'll all sleep easier knowing Uriel isn't beneath us with a fire in 
her hands."
	"It would allow us to close the dungeon and set up some more grub 
mines." Tsirya nodded.  "I agree."
	A'albiel was actually surprised the two had come to such a quick 
decision.  Michael had personally selected the two because they always 
fought and complained about each other's ideas and policies.  It was a 
wonderful system of balances.  With a smile, he mentioned it would be 
no problem, and he'd arrange for Uriel's transfer to the spell grounds 
in the morning with a nice escort.  
	"Excellent." Anafiel smiled happily.  "Thanks for stopping by, my 
friend."
	The little cherub bowed to each of the Archangels and then 
fluttered off to his own tasks. 
	Tsirya frowned, not bothering to turn to his counterpart.  "A 
sudden change.  I wonder why he suggested it?"
	Anafiel seemed unconcerned.  "You know how cherubim are.  Weeks 
are nothing to them.  He probably never bothered thinking about it 
until now."
	"Mmm.  Perhaps."
	"You're too suspicious." Laughed Anafiel.  "If Uriel was going to 
escape, she would have done so weeks ago."
	"I guess so." Tsirya rubbed his eyes past his glasses.
	"So, now where were we?"
	"Oh..." he blinked, then passed a book in front of the desk.  
"Now, onto the reconstruction costs of the East wall." 



















                            Chapter 5










	In the time it took them to enter this room, Dave thought, entire 
battles were waged outside.  Surly, by now, the SkitZ and Vohal armies 
had begun to brush up against some of the Fiss, Weskic and Aszap.  
Though probably not as active in the war anymore, Bikko Hosts were 
probably swarming around, looking to take out anyone they thought 
responsible for their Knight's death.   
	Outside, it must have been hell. 
	However, in the shielded palace of Bri, they really had no idea 
what was going on.  Dave was getting antsy.  Time was something he did 
not like being fucked with.  Just knowing things were happening in a 
different speed outside of these walls made him nervous.  It was one 
thing to be in the Omega Web with their 0.010298 microsecond difference 
to help seal the entrances, but when hours were turned into 
minutes...he just didn't like it.
	Cupid had showed them all to a strange, sterile room with some 
kind of public bathing system.  Much like a locker room in a gym.   
Then, he had taken Michael away, mumbling something about buttons.  
Michael just shrugged and said he'd try to make it back as soon as 
possible. 
	"This sucks." Miharu sighed, leaning against one of the far 
walls.  "How long do we have to stay here?"
	"Knowing Cassiel, she may keep us here for days." Lucifer offered 
with a shrug.  
	"Wonder-fucking-full." Maury sighed.  "Forget whatever nice 
thoughts I had of her." He pouted.  "And to think, I was going to let 
her become part of my most lurid fantasies."  
	Chris laughed.  "I don't think she could bend like that, Maury.  
Not many people besides Gumby could be in your most lurid fantasies."
	"Hey!  I know it's possible!" Maury defended.  "Spines are 
actually very flexible if a woman practices..."
	"Children." Rei warned, shooting Maury a look.
	"Oh." He smiled at Miharu.  "Never mind."
	Demeter blinked.  "Who's Gumby?"
	Beavis smiled.  "You don't want to know."
	Andrea yawned, leaning up against Demeter for warmth.  "Well, if 
anything interesting happens in the next little bit, wake me up.  I'm 
taking a nap."
	Most of the Senshi sat down against the walls.  "So, what do we 
do now?" Chris asked.
	Yamato shrugged.  "I suppose it's up to Michael.  We may as well 
get comfortable." He looked around at the damp, but otherwise 
acceptable accommodations.  "Lucifer wasn't kidding.  She really could 
decide to keep us here for days."
	"I'm glad I brought food." Dave sighed, taking off his lab coat 
for only the third time this trip.  "So, how do we get back when this 
is all over?  It might be handy to know in case SkitZ gets killed."
	Yamato smiled and turned over to Chris.  "There's a shortcut I 
know." He turned back to Dave.  "How fast can you transport us?"
	"Here?" he paused.  "Two at a time at a rather shitty speed."
	"No, I mean back in our universe."
	He paused, thinking.  "I suppose I could cross the solar system 
in a few hours with all of you tagging along."
	"Perfect." Yamato nodded, then turned to Chris.  "In case we 
can't draw up the script to get back home, try to find a crater.  It's 
a fair bit South of the City of SkitZ, but you can see it quite easily 
from the air."
	Dave nodded.  "What then?"
	"You'll know what to do." Chris smiled.  "It's a backdoor to our 
solar system.  Only problem is that it might lead you to outer space."
	Everyone blinked.  
	Demeter smiled.  "Don't worry, if it's anywhere near the sun, I 
can navigate."
	Maury groaned.  "Why can't we ever take cars anymore?  Or busses?  
I'd settle for a bus."
	Fiss stood.  "NEVER!  The mighty Strike Fiss only rides 
Nacho...or flies."  Everyone blinked.  Chris smiled and sat back down. 
"Busses are the tools of the devil." He added.
	"He's right you know." Lucifer added.
	Everyone sighed and smacked either Fiss or Lucifer, whoever they 
were closer to.










	"We REEEEALY don't have time for this." Michael growled in such a 
way that even Cupid flinched.  
	That was impressive, considering how feared the little Cherub 
was.  However, Michael wasn't exactly an unimposing figure himself.  If 
he could get a lucky shot before Cupid could retaliate, he very well 
could snap the little guy's neck with a punch.  
	Of course, it was even more impressive since, at the moment, 
SkitZ was dressed in a fluffy, bright pink bathrobe.  Anyone who could 
scare the shit out of Cupid while looking like that...well...was pretty 
impressive indeed.
	"Buttons!" Cupid said nervously.  "Whaa..a..a!  Buttons!"
	SkitZ assumed it was some kind of apology, and sighed.  "Fine.  
Anything to get out of this fucking pink shit." 

	They stood in front of a room littered with dressers and spools 
of fabric.  Clothes of every size, shape, color and style were across 
the walls.  They all shared a common theme, though.  Most of them were 
dress clothes.  Formal outfits and the such.  
	"Why can't I just see her wearing my normal clothes?"
	Cupid just bounced up and down.
	"You're a lot of help." Michael mocked.  "Thanks a bunch."
	"Hehehehheheheheaaaaaaa!"
	"Yeah.  That's what I thought." He fought the urge to grab the 
annoying little bugger and pop it's head off like a dandelion.
	Finally, SkitZ noticed some plain, black shirts and moderately 
normal pants.  Cupid shrugged as SkitZ walked over to grab them.  
"Buttons?"
	"If you think I'm getting all frilled and dressed up for Cassiel, 
you're mistaken." Michael replied sharply.  "You already put me through 
enough water to wash a Host.  That's as far as I'm humoring you two."
	The little jittery angel just bounced around slightly from foot 
to foot, like the floor was too hot.  
	With a smile, Michael found two very mean looking black military 
boots and put them on.  He could tell by Cupid's reaction that they 
were not supposed to be here.  "Someone must be looking out for me."

	Finally, he shifted his wings back into his outer coat and a dark 
blue leather.  The clothes were, at least, not annoying.  They weren't 
as comfortable as his traveling clothes but they would make do.  
Besides, nothing like an angel in a nice suit to scare your enemies.  
It reminded them that you really didn't need armor to crack their 
skulls.
	"Well?" Michael shrugged.
	Cupid giggled and bounced.  
	"I assume that means I don't look too retarded." He sighed, then 
walked over to Cupid.  "Let's go."









	Anafiel slid through the dark corridors with a practiced ease.  
In places like this, one could almost float around at a running pace 
without even touching the ground.
	Every day, he had been instructed to check on the guards in this 
vault.  Every day, it was the same old thing.  Nothing ever changed.  
This would be a nice change, he thought to himself.  Compared to this, 
guarding Uriel was an amusement part.    
	"Thank God." A guard laughed as he noticed Anafiel's approach 
down the hall.  "Someone new to talk with."
	He smiled.  "Actually, I was wondering if you four would like a 
change of pace?"
	Each of the four guards blinked.  "You're kidding." Laughed one.  
	"No kidding." Anafiel said, crossing his arms.  "We're going to 
transfer Uriel to a stasis spell.  You four are some of our best Mages, 
and I don't want to leave anything to chance."
	They all nodded happily.  "Did you notify the poor bastards?" the 
first asked.
	Anafiel blinked.  "Pardon?"
	"Our replacements." Another smiled.  "Surely you have already 
told them of their fates."
	The Vaults consisted of poorly lit, musty smelling passages that 
formed a ring around a central block of safes.  The room that connected 
to the exit wasn't much different, aside from some beds, desks, and 
small torches and candles.  It was bad enough four of them were sharing 
the cramped space.  But they had also been there for almost a month 
now.
	"They must have done something pretty bad." Laughed another.
	"Oh, yes." Anafiel laughed.  "Yes, we already have the next team 
getting ready."
	They all nodded.  "When do we start?"
	"Now." Anafiel shrugged.  "I'll keep an eye out on things here 
while you're gone."

	They all blinked.

	"Uh...but Michael said he wanted at least four guards in the 
vault at all times." The first said nervously.  He had no reason to be 
nervous.  It was well within their right to question the orders.
	Anafiel nodded.  "I sent a message to Michael already.  When we 
realized it would be safer for Uriel to be in stasis, I knew he'd want 
to know about the change.  We just got word back yesterday.  He 
recommended you four in the team." He smiled.  "He also said that they 
had already stationed an outpost, and have Raphael's Virtue captured, 
so we can afford a bit of relaxation with the ones here."
	The angels all smiled.  "Wow, I didn't know the battle was going 
so well!"
	"Neither." Anafiel laughed.  "Turns out they used the Throne to 
wipe out a lot of their defenses.  Michael credits Azrael for giving 
him the idea."
	They all chuckled happily.  "Okay.  You want us to report to 
Tsirya?"
	He shrugged.  "If you want.  He'll probably just tell you to go 
to A'albiel."
	"Well," one stretched.  "Let's get out of here.  I haven't had a 
breath of REAL air for weeks!"
	"You sure you'll be okay here?" the first asked.  "I can stay 
behind until the next team comes."
	"Don't worry about it." Anafiel sighed.  "I got some paper work 
to finish up anyway." He smiled, pulling out a scroll roll.  
	"Alright." The first Mage sketched a little cross and blessing 
with his fingers, then walked after the other three down the narrow 
hall.  "Good luck.  Uriel will be in good hands."
	"I know." Anafiel smiled as he watched them leave, pressing his 
fingers to his lips.  "That would be the plan."




















                              Chapter 6









	It was an odd place.  The entire City seemed to be a kind of 
thrown-together nest for thousands to inhabit.  At one time, SkitZ 
could remember the massive monument as his own.  Gently tapering 
upwards to a point.  Those memories were decades old, though.
	Still, the inverted nature of Cassiel's City seemed to fit her.  
She always did the exact opposite as he did, it seemed.  Not to mention 
she did not take the Noize very well.  He could still remember the 
horrible first few weeks after Re-Genesis.  How only a select few even 
noticed anything had happened...but were also cursed by the maddening 
silence and screams in their head after the universe ripped itself 
apart.  
	Cass had suffered some kind of mental breakdown.  SkitZ even came 
close, being as young and inexperienced at mental trauma as she was.  
However, he managed to fight his way though the initial shock.  She did 
not.  Cassiel was not a fighter.  She was...originally...a great poet 
and mage.  Rumor had it that she had been one of the few lucky enough 
to be taught Theban by one of the books Christopher had.  With that 
final book being burnt as his mother instructed, there...maybe...was 
only one more in existence.  
	All the Theban and spells in the world, however, could never have 
prepared her for the Noize.  It was like being locked in a dimly lit 
room for all of eternity, and listening to your own thoughts and breath 
bounce off the walls and echo in your mind.  It was a thousand screams 
for every one of yours.  It was loud, and it was maddeningly silent at 
the same time. 
	After her breakdown, Cass had secluded herself in her City, much 
as the same way SkitZ had...though for different reasons.  While he 
fought to learn what had happened, she did everything in her power to 
hide from everyone else.  Until just weeks ago, she had succeeded in 
hiding from Michael.

	Not that he was really looking for her.

	But Lucifer had reminded him...he did care for her.  Even if on 
some ancient note of friendship.  This helped him concentrate as he was 
led to a small balcony by Cupid.  He could finally put this all to 
rest.  A brief visit to make sure she was doing okay, and then a 
request for help against Azrael.  Simple, straight forward.  No 
problems. 

	Michael smiled as the door closed behind himself...thankfully 
leaving Cupid outside.  As with the rest of the City, this room fit 
Cass like a glove. 
	It was the 'bottom' of the City, now on top, and forming a floor 
almost as big as the plaza back at the City of SkitZ.  In a kind of 
fitting irony, the ceiling murals that had been painted decades ago now 
lay on the floor, crumbling under the feet of angels and humans.  They 
fuzzed and blended together to form a strange entirety that seemed to 
actually look better than the original separate paintings.  

	Leave it to Cassiel to turn everything upside down...and use it 
to her advantage.  

	He had to walk for a while, but finally neared the center of the 
giant room.  Not surprisingly, a small table had been placed there, and 
the area was lit by some kind of light script on the 'floor' above it.  
	"Cassiel?" he called out, wondering where she was.
	A hand rested on his shoulder, and he almost jumped out of his 
skin in surprise.  He turned, seeing Cassiel was right behind him.  
"WHAT THE...SHIT!" he almost fell over.  "How many times have I warned 
you NOT to do that?!?!"
	She smiled at him.  "Sorry...I just wanted to see if I could 
still sneak up on you."
	"Well you CAN!" Michael grumbled.  "And one day, I'm going to 
have my sword out and you'll regret it!"
	She shrugged and walked off towards the table.  "I could think of 
worse ways to go."
	He calmed down and rubbed his forehead.  "Considering that I can 
store the Noize in my sword, I doubt that very much."
	Cassiel blinked, suddenly turning white.  "Oh..." she said 
quietly.  SkitZ almost fell over.  He had never seen her get so visibly 
scared like that.
	"Just a second." He sighed, reaching into his coat to untie his 
sword.  Then, he put it down away from the table.  Cassiel seemed to 
relax slightly and smiled.  "There."
	She bowed slightly, gesturing towards the table.  "Sit down."
	Michael shrugged and grabbed the chair opposite from Cass.  "Nice 
place you have here." He looked up at the marble floor and smiled.  "A 
little upside down, though."
	"It's home." She said softly, snapping her fingers.  Cupid 
promptly leapt out of the shadows and began to set the table.  
	"How did he get in here?" Michael blinked.
	She laughed and shrugged.  "He's Cupid.  Do you have to ask?"
	He watched as Cupid managed to stay still long enough not to drop 
the china, then bounded off to fetch the food.  "No, I suppose not."
	They were both quiet until Cupid returned with a small cart and 
began to set up dinner.  Cassiel had the same dress he had seen her in 
when they all woke up, but had changed her hair slightly.  The way she 
was leaning on the table, however, was giving him a generous view of...
	"It's okay." She said suddenly.  "I don't mind." 
	Michael blinked as he realized he was staring.  He quickly 
coughed and looked away.  "Sorry.  Old habit."
	Cassiel just smiled and sat up in her chair, alleviating the 
problem. "Cupid, dear."
	Cupid looked up quickly as he set down the last plate.  
"Hehehehahaha?"
	"Go check on the others." She smiled. To the little cherub.  
"Make sure they have a chance to meet the boys."
	Cupid actually hesitated.  "Ba...?  Chaw?  Babachaw?"
	"Now." Cassiel stated in a firmer voice.
	Frowning, the little cherub turned to Michael and grumbled 
something that sounded rather threatening.  Then, he grabbed the tray 
and bounced off into the shadows again.
	Michael blinked, then turned back to Cassiel.  She shrugged.  
"He's very protective of me." She explained, then flashed him a 
rather...inviting smile.  "But I don't have to worry about you, do I 
SkitZie?"
	Grabbing a glass of water, SkitZ downed it in just a few gulps.  
"It's Michael, if you don't mind." He said after a slight gasp.
	She blinked, then put on a pouty face.  "Aww...too bad.  I like 
SkitZie better." She poured herself a drink.  
	"Yeah." He smirked.  "I know."
	She raised an eyebrow.  "Funny...I never heard you complain 
before." 
	"Yeah, well I've been meaning to start complaining about a lot 
more things lately." He paused when he realized the contents of one of 
the dishes.  "Is that poppycock?"
	Before Cassiel could say yes, he had already grabbed the desert 
tray and began to yank off a large chunk of the popcorn/caramel/nut 
mixture onto his plate.  
	She smiled as he started shoveling it into his face.  "I thought 
you were going to start complaining?"
	"Later...mearrgohph!" he stated over a mouthful of caramel.  
"Eaaphting!" 

	With that said, Cassiel just smiled and joined him, helping 
herself to some poppycock as well.  The rest of the dinner went rather 
smoothly. 









	Cupid was noticeably less jittery when he opened up the door.  
Maury walked over to him before the little cherub could say anything.  
"Hey, you."
	"Wahahaerhhg?" Cupid blinked.
	"We're hungry." Maury stated, arms crossed.
	Cupid ignored Maury and turned to Chris.  Chris blinked.  "He 
wants us to stay here, but he says he needs help to bring food."
	Maury smiled.  "Right on!  I'll come."
	"I'll go to." Chris smiled.  "Translation services."
	Rei smiled.  "Don't get into any trouble."
	"Who?  US?" Mo and Fiss laughed like maniacs.

	With that, Cupid led them out of the room.

	"So." Rei sighed, crossing her arms.  "How much longer until we 
miss the war?"
	Dave did the calculations in his head.  "If this spell is 
constant, we have another fifty hours.  That's all assuming the last 
stages of a final, all out land-war.  We SHOULD try to be out of here 
by tomorrow's evening."
	Lucifer nodded.  "I can get us out in a hurry.  If we can't get 
Cassiel to help, we'll take the short-cut."
	"What's the short-cut?" Miharu asked.
	Lucifer smiled and pointed down.  
	Rei frowned.  "I think we'll try the door."
	"Just an offer." He smiled.



















                                 Chapter 7










	The assembled crowd gasped as they realized something was wrong.  

	Red light began to fight against the shimmering silver air around 
Uriel as the four Mages desperately tried to repair the spell.  
"Something's not working!"  one of them yelled, looking to the Cherubs.  
"Get Tsirya and Anafiel NOW!"
	A'albiel didn't even wait for the order before he zipped off 
across the plaza and then launched upwards toward the higher offices.  
This was all going to hell and back.  

	They had taken Uriel...without struggle...from her cell and 
brought her to the plaza where there would be enough room to cast a 
stasis field.  The very nature of such a spell made it hard to screw 
up.  It was a safe, gradual addition of magic and energy that stopped 
the spell's target from being able to use internal energy and 
thought...at least any more than was required for life-sustaining 
levels.  If such a spell was cast on a person, it was like falling into 
a peaceful, dreamless sleep.  Even the most powerful Mages could not 
use magic in their sleep.

	Unless they had cast the spell to take effect while they slept.

	Uriel had done so.  Or at least it was A'albiel's guess she had.  
Then again, she may have simply not WANTED to be put into Stasis.  With 
her mind so chaotic at the moment, it was possible her subconscious 
will was fighting back.
	She was not one to be underestimated.  That was why the little 
cherub became extremely worried when he saw that Tsirya wasn't in the 
office.  Neither was Anafiel.  Both were the highest Archangels still 
in the City, and they would probably be the only ones able to reverse 
whatever power Uriel was using to free herself.  
	He found a clerk nearby and quickly asked where the two were.
	"Uh...I think Tsirya was going to the Vaults to check on 
Anafiel." The man shrugged.
	A'albiel was off in a flash.  The bad feeling he was having all 
day was now amplified.  Why would they be in the Vaults?  The only 
thing there at the moment were the Virtues of Aszap and Bikko.  
	
	Oh shit.

	Quickly, the little cherub changed course to the residential 
block.  It took only seconds to find Gabriel in one of the suites.  She 
was dozing off in her bed with a book gently placed over her stomach, 
but on noticing A'albiel, she woke with a pleasant smile on her face. 
	"Hello, A'albiel." She yawned.  "Sorry, I was just napping..."
	She was interrupted by a barrage of thought from the little man.  
He quickly explained what was happening with Uriel, and that something 
was going on at the Vaults.
	Gabriel, despite her old bones, was up and out of bed in a 
thought.  "I'm glad you came to me.  Do you want me to check the 
Vaults?"
	A'albiel shook his head.  Gabriel would be needed if Uriel 
actually escaped.  She was the only person in the City with a Virtue 
under her power.  
	"Good idea." Gabriel said as her old, gray wings slid off her 
back and spread to lift her into the air.  "Get the others.  Make sure 
the other Virtues are safe." She withdrew her own sword.  It was an 
elegant iron broadsword.  Almost like a less decorated version of 
SkitZ's.  It had seen just as much battle, though, and the Knight 
holding it still had a bit of life in her eyes.
	They flew out the window and headed their separate directions.  
She flew to where the crowd of swordsmen were gathering, while the 
cherub continued to the Vault.

	He was met at the entrance by two other Cherubim.  His 
Lieutenants.  Augustine was a little taller than average, and 
specialized in war tactics.  He had with him two Spears of Light, the 
cherub weapon of choice.  He quickly tossed one to A'albiel, who 
thanked him for his foresight.  
	Rikbiel mentioned that the others were being gathered to help the 
spell, and they would be on their own.  He too, had a spear.  The tiny, 
yet brilliant barbs of light at the end of the silver staffs could rip 
an Angel or Fallen apart if needed, though few instances had ever been 
recorded.  They were also some of the only weapons that could do 
physical harm to a cherub.
	A'albiel nodded, and the three little men slid down the stone 
passages at top speed; their smaller size allowing them to shoot down 
the corridors like they were in open air.

	They could already smell blood. 

	Something was wrong.  
	
	








	Uriel's first breath came in a roar.  

	A lightning quick hand ripped through the last of the numbing 
spell around her and grabbed the neck of one of the Mages.  Before the 
poor fellow could react, his head burst into flames.
	That was enough to finally collapse the spell, and the resulting 
backlash of magic threw everyone else away like fish caught in a wave.  
Gabriel quickly got to her feet, half expecting Uriel to be flying 
through the air with an intent to rip her to shreds.  
	Uriel, however, hadn't moved.  She stood, with her thin wings 
clung to her back, shivering.  Though the fire in her hand was still 
lit, she didn't seem to care about the hundreds of warriors flocking 
around her.
	Gabriel couldn't believe she had finally broken out.  Weak, 
probably tired, and outnumbered, her fellow Knight simply tore the 
spell apart, even as they were adding more power to it.  "Uriel!" she 
bellowed, raising her sword.
	Hissing, the younger Knight turned to Gabriel.  "Fool...you're 
all fools."
	Frowning, she walked closer.  Her sword pointing at Uriel's neck.  
"We were just going to put you in stasis."
	Uriel's eyes blinked behind her mask, then she laughed.  "I KNOW 
what you were trying to do." Her eyes narrowed.  "That's why I stopped 
it."
	"So you could escape." Gabriel countered.
	Uriel's flame went out and she slowly sat on the ground in a 
meditative pose.  "No."
	Hundreds of swords clanged as people dropped them in surprise.  
Gabriel herself was rather shocked.  "Pardon?"
	Uriel cocked her head to the side and sighed.  "What happens to 
us now is not important.  I simply want to be here when it happens."
	Gabriel slowly slid her sword into her sheath.  "When WHAT 
happens?"
	Looking up with a grin under her mask, Uriel leaned closer to 
Gabriel.  "The Second Word."

	Gabriel's jaw dropped.  









	A'albiel couldn't help but cringe when he saw the scene.  

	A thick trail of blood led to the corner, where a shivering man 
in a dark green robe was trying to force himself to stay awake.  It was 
quite a feat, considering his feet were in the opposite corner of the 
room.  
	Tsirya?  
	The angel looked up with fading eyes and smiled.  "A...A'albiel.  
I...I'm glad you're here."
	The two other Cherubs quickly went to the Vault to see if anyone 
else was there.  And to check on the swords.
	"It...it was Anafiel." Tsirya whispered.  "I...came to check on 
things...he had the Virtues in his hands."
	If the little cherub could have gotten any more pale, it would 
have been impressive.  
	"He...just minutes ago..." Tsirya continued weakly.  The pool of 
blood around him grew as his skin got whiter and whiter.  "You 
must...stop him."
	A'albiel turned as Rikbiel came back into the outer room, 
mentioning that the two swords were no longer there.  Furious, the 
cherub commander ordered a Mage to come quickly to try a healing 
spell...even though he could tell it was already too late.
	"Don't worry, A'albiel." Tsirya sighed, leaning against the wall 
as his strength gave out.  "Just stop Azrael.  Help Michael."

	With a final sigh, the man slumped forward, and his glasses fell 
off his face, landing in the pool of red below.  

	The three Cherubim stood silently over the body, praying for the 
soul's safe journey.  Then, they fluttered out of the Vaults as fast as 
they could.





















                                Chapter 8










	"I don't know." Maury said as they walked down the hall.  "If it 
were up to me, I think I'd have bat-wings."
	"Well, I didn't exactly have a choice." Chris shrugged as they 
walked.  "Besides, I don't think bat-wings are part of the deal.  I 
think it's limited to feathers."
	"Can you set them on fire?" Maury asked.
	Chris blinked.  "Why would you want to do that?"
	He shrugged.  "Well, that would be pretty cool.  Imagine.  Big 
old flaming wings of doom.  That's pretty sweet."
	"I think it would hurt a little to much to be worth it." Chris 
grinned.  "Hey, don't do that!"
	Maury plucked off a feather from his friend's back.  "He he.  
Cool."
	"That stings, you know." Chris grumbled, rubbing his shoulder.  
"And it itches too."
	"Ahh, bitch bitch bitch." Maury sighed.  "Come on, you'd do the 
same thing if I had wings."
	"Yeah.  But that's the third time you've done that today." He 
poked Maury on the arm.  "Besides, you can fly without wings.  I don't 
see what the big deal is."
	"Mm, true.  But I look like the flaming torch guy." He shrugged.  
"Sure, it looks cool, but I always get really thirsty after flying."
	"Aww, poor Mo."
	"Yeah.  Oh well."
	The two had been following Cupid for quite a while now.  The hall 
seemed to go on forever in a giant circle.  Chris hoped it wasn't just 
some sick game the little cherub was playing.  Especially when it was 
wasting hours of their time ever few minutes.  
	"Hey, Cupid." He sighed.  "How much further?  You get lost?"
	Cupid shot him a dirty look and kept bounding forward, assisted 
by his rapidly flapping wings.  
	"Ooh.  I haven't heard that kind of swearing since High-School." 
Chris blinked.
	"What did he say?" Maury laughed.
	"Something about your dick and the nostrils of an animal I've 
never heard of before." Chris shrugged.  "But it sounded rather nasty."
	"HEY!" Maury rolled up his sleeve.  "Fucking Cupid!  See if I 
ever honor Valentines Day again!"
	"Relax." Chris offered.  "He's probably just having one of those 
days."
	"Huh?"
	"You know.  Like you remember the flights over to Tokyo after we 
haven't seen Rei or Lita in months?  Ever notice how we're really pissy 
towards the stewards?"
	"You mean, besides just annoying them for more peanuts?"
	"Yeah."
	Maury nodded.  "Ahh.  Yeah.  Poor Cupid.  We should send him some 
Playboy magazines or something."
	"Naw, that would probably make things worse." 
	They were interrupted as Cupid stopped at a huge, wooden door.  
He pushed it open with an ease that was surprising, considering how 
small he was.  The laughter and sounds of a crowd of people were 
inside.  "Must be the dining hall?" Maury shrugged.
	Cupid led them inside the expanse that indeed turned out to be a 
dining hall.  Hundreds of angels, men and women and cherubim fluttered, 
walked, sat and ate around bench after bench of food and drink.  
"Whaehehgh." Cupid motioned to the far side of the room where another 
door seemed to lead to the kitchen.   
	Maury and Chris shrugged and followed, ignoring the stares they 
were catching from the feasting individuals.  "Why are they looking at 
us?" Mo frowned, adjusting his sunglasses.
	"They probably like your coat." Fiss smiled.
	Suddenly, two of the largest men he had ever seen stood from the 
seats and blocked Chris' path.  He nearly bounced off one of their 
chests before he noticed.  
	"Remove your sword." One growled, arms crossed.  He had arms like 
tree-trunks, and a dull silver breastplate that had scratches from 
uncountable swords on it.  
	The other, though wearing no armor, was a foot taller, and had to 
weigh close to four hundred pounds.  At least three hundred of raw 
muscle.  Both shared similar looks on their faces, like Chris had just 
insulted their mothers or something.  
	"Pardon?" Chris blinked.
	"Your sword." The other mentioned, reaching for Chris' side.
	Chris sidestepped, then tugged his coat close over his sword.  
"Sorry.  Can't do that."
	Maury walked up next to Chris and stood an inch away from the 
other man.  "Is there a problem?"
	"We don't allow weapons in the dining hall." Explained one.  "It 
is sacrilege."
	Chris smiled and attempted to step around him.  "Well, don't 
worry, we're just here with Cupid.  We'll be gone in a second."
	He was blocked by an arm...with a little more force than was 
necessary.  Chris fell on his ass, actually.  Maury helped him up, but 
kept a steady eye on the two angels in front of them.  "Now THAT was 
just uncalled for."
	
	Cupid watched the exchange with a grin.  

	"I apologize for not leaving my sword at the door." Chris bowed 
slightly, though it was obvious Mo didn't think he should have.  "We're 
new here.  Next time I come in, I won't have my sword on me."
	Both of the men grinned at each other.  "You're right.  You 
won't." 
	The one in front of Chris reached over his head, and grabbed him 
by his wing, lifting him up.  "HEY!"
	"I'll just take this little tooth-pick from you before you hurt 
yourself." The other laughed as Chris struggled, but couldn't reach 
behind himself far enough to free the man's grip.  
	Not about to let anyone touch his sword, even if it was just out 
of some stubborn samurai pride he held, Chris closed his eyes and 
remembered the song SkitZ had told him.  Instantly, his wings slid 
themselves out of the other angel's grip, and wrapped themselves around 
Chris' dark gray coat, turning into a second, snow white layer.

	Three hundred people dropped their eating utensils at the same 
time.

	Chris blinked as he saw the terrified looks on the faces of the 
two huge men.  Maury noticed too.  "Oh...right..." he swallowed hard.  
"The coat..."
	Instantly, screams erupted.  It was almost like a nuclear bomb 
went off and caused a shockwave to throw the entire room back in 
horror.  Maury and Chris stood, blinking as everyone scrambled to get 
as far away from them as possible.  
	The tallest of the two angels began to stutter.  
"Th...th...th..."
	"THE MAN IN WHITE!!!!!!" a huge, burly man screamed, sounding 
like a frightened old woman.
	"THE NI PROPHECY!" yelled another.  
	"What the hell's a 'Ni'?" Maury looked over to his friend.  
"I...think you'd better change back."
	Chris nodded, raising his arms slightly and stretching his 
shoulder muscles.  The coat slid back and formed his wings once more.  
"Sorry..." he smiled nervously.
	
	Of course, that was when the armed guards began to rush through 
the door.  Two swords were tossed to the two big angels who had 
originally stopped Mo and Fiss.  They too, judging by the colors of 
their clothes, appeared to be guards. 
	"It's HIM!" they both pointed.  "The Prophesized one!"
	"HEY!  I am NOT prophesized!" Chris pleaded, looking around at 
all the pointed objects being held by nervous, anxious angels.  
	"Something tells me they think you are the prophesized one." 
Maury quipped, earning a grumble from Chris.  
	They were surrounded on three sides.  The wall blocking in the 
other.  Considering they were trying to get Cassiel to help them, this 
was not going to be very fun.
	"Hey, Mo?" 
	"Yeah?"
	"Duck."
	Maury ducked and Chris whipped out his sword, blowing a bright 
blue ball of energy through the wall, making an exit into the hallway.  
Mo didn't wait for Chris to regain his balance from the swipe, and 
grabbed his friend, yanking him through before anyone knew what was 
going on.
	As the guards all rushed for the new exit, Mo and Fiss landed 
past the thick metal and concrete wall.  "Wait!"
	Mo stopped.  "What?"
	"Hit the roof.  Now!"
	"Hoot yeah!" Mo swept his hand at the tunnel, throwing three Sol-
Stars at it.  
	Chunks of stone began to fall, but it wasn't enough to burry the 
exit.  Fiss, however, had his sword out.  "STOP!"

	At the end of the blade, in golden, shimmering light, a perfect 
Theban character had been traced in mid air.  Like magic, the stones 
began to stop falling and froze.  

	Three of the guards in front smashed into the strange net of 
suspended pebbles.  They seemed to shudder, but stayed in place, 
forcing the guards back as they tried to thrust their swords through 
the gaps.  
	Maury barely managed to pull Fiss out of the way in time, but was 
awed.  "How...did...you DO that?"
	Chris shrugged, quickly sheathing his sword.  "I figure I 
eventually had to get that bloody spell right."
	Without another word, they rushed over to the dining hall door.  
Maury pressed his hands against the metal hinges, fusing them shut with 
a blast of raw heat.  "We'd better get the hell out of here."
	"Please don't say 'hell'." Chris sighed.  "This place is getting 
to me."
	They took off down the hall, just as the first shoulder-checking 
began against the door.  It wouldn't be long before they broke free.


















                               Chapter 9









	"You're going to get fat." Cassiel laughed.

	It was a young, innocent laugh.  Michael replied in same.  "I 
don't see YOU watching your weight." He grabbed another chunk of 
poppycock and stuffed his face.
	"I'm only fourteen!" Cassiel laughed.  "I'm not fat!"
	"Suuure." Michael grinned.  "Fatty."
	"Hey you two!" Yamato called from the kitchen.  "Michael!  Knock 
it off."
	Cass stuck out her tongue and made a face.
	"She started it!" Michael yelled back.
	"Then be a gentleman." Cass grinned.  "After all, you have to 
respect a lady."
	Little SkitZ grinned evilly, then started batting his eyelashes.  
"Oooh!" he cooed in his best 'girlie voice'.  "I'm Princess Michelle!" 
he said with pouty lips. 
	Deadpanned, Cassiel almost fell over onto the giant fur carpet 
that spanned across the room.  "Stop that!"
	Michael...or Michelle...began to copy Cassiel's little flirting 
eyelash thing that seemed to be really effective against most other 
guys.  "Oooh!  I'm so cute and defenseless!  Big bad Cassiel is always 
picking on Princess Michelle."
	"Stop that!" Cass grumbled, though she had to fight laughter.
	Yamato came into the room with dinner and sighed.  "Cassiel.  How 
many times have I told you not to pick on Princess Michelle."







	"Michael?"

	SkitZ looked up from his empty plate.  Cass was looking at him 
with an odd grin on her lips.  The little girl from his memories now 
the fellow Knight in front of his eyes.  
	"Sorry." He shook his head.  "Memories."
	Her eyes lowered, knowing exactly what kind of memories he must 
have been having.  "Hope they're nice."
	A long silence.
	"You must know why I'm here." Michael said finally, setting aside 
his plate.
	"I was hoping it was just a rumor." Cass shrugged.  "Revelations 
happening twice in our lives?  I mean, it does sound a little much."
	"Considering what happened during the last few years, I would be 
surprised if it only happened once." Michael shrugged, rolling around 
the wine in his glass.
	"How's it going?"
	"We're winning." Michael shrugged.  "But, I think Azrael is up to 
something."
	"Are you kidding?" she smirked.  "He's ALWAYS up to something."
	"We all are." Michael retorted.  "He just is always up to 
something that everyone else will pay for later."
	Cassiel nodded.  "I've noticed."
	SkitZ frowned.  "How so?"
	"I've watched Azrael's city from time to time." She said.  "I 
think he's been casting Callings."
	"Calling spells?" Michael blinked.  "Where did the beams go?"
	"That's just the thing." She smiled.  "They're not going 
anywhere.  
	"Well, not anywhere here, anyway."
	Cassiel leaned back in her seat.  "That still doesn't explain why 
you're here." She crossed her arms.  "You and a group of little 
children out in territory even YOU haven't ventured on in decades, 
while your armies are still weeks behind you.  Do you really expect to 
defeat Azrael by storming his City?"
	"The idea has come up." Michael grinned.
	"You can't be serious."
	SkitZ shrugged.  "You haven't seen what we can do." His lips 
suddenly sported a dangerous grin.  "I haven't smacked around so many 
people who've deserved it since the first Revelations.  It's nice to 
have friends who understand what needs to be done, and even nicer that 
they can actually help me do it."
	"That's what you said with Azrael." Cassiel frowned.
	Michael blinked, then shrugged.  "True, but when I was Azrael's 
friend, he wasn't a pig-fucker.  People change, Cassiel.  I've changed.  
I know what I need to do and how to do it.  If Azrael wasn't so full of 
his own bullshit, I'd probably still be his friend.  If he could 
refrain from blowing up the Word and everything under it, I would leave 
him alone.  I don't care what he does so long as it doesn't fuck with 
my world as well."
	Cassiel sighed.  "You overestimate people.  Including yourself.  
You haven't changed, SkitZ."
	"And how would you know that?" he replied coldly.
	"Nothing changes here." She said cryptically.  "We are a dead 
society.  A race of ideas.  We're guardians who do more harm than 
good." She stood, pushing her chair back.  "Hope is not enough to 
justify our atrocities.  Nothing will change so long as we live."
	Michael clenched his fists.  "Fine.  I knew it as a mistake to 
come here." He stood and turned around.
	"Why DID you come here, Michael?"
	SkitZ sighed.  "I wanted you to help."
	Cassiel blinked.
	"I wanted to know if you would join us on the final assault." 
Michael said.  "I have to admit, we'd have a better chance of 
overwhelming the bastard with a Host or two."
	She sighed.  "No."
	"Figured as much." Michael walked off towards the exit.  "Thanks 
for dinner.  We'll be gone by morning."

	Cassiel couldn't believe it as she watched him go.  When his 
shadow had passed through the door, she turned to the table.  "Shit." 
She whispered.

	"SHIT!"

	The table exploded upwards as her sword connected with it.  

	
	  
	


















                               Chapter 10









	"Is this the way back?!?" Chris gasped as they slid around the 
corner.  The sounds of armor and weapons clanged behind them.  
	"Trust me!" Maury smiled happily.  "Remember, I'm an experienced 
woodsman.  Trails are no problem."
	"What about that time when we were following the river and..."
	"Okay, except for that time." Maury grumbled.  "But it's not my 
fault.  You're the one that wanted to go chasing after frogs."
	"True enough." Chris shrugged. 
	"Here!" Maury grabbed his collar and hauled him against the wall.  
"SOL STARS!"
	A large patch of the wall exploded outwards to reveal another 
hallway.  Chris was about to grumble at the directions, but then saw 
the door to the room the others were in.  "Sweet!" he grabbed Maury's 
collar now, and they jetted forward through the hole thanks to a quick 
wing flap.  
	
	The Senshi all blinked as Maury and Chris fell through the door 
and quickly closed it behind themselves.  
	"What's going..."
	"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" they both hushed.  
	Rei frowned.  "Now what did you guys do?" she whispered.
	"They don't like my coat." Chris grumbled.
	Dave's eyes widened.  "Oh my." He quickly took Chris' laptop and 
scanned.  "I'll put up a sound wall."
	Outside, they saw hundreds of feet run past, leaving quick 
flashes of shadow under the door's crack.  The sound was dampened, 
though, thanks to the computer.  
	"Dave?" Chris whispered as they waited for the rest of the feet 
to run past.
	"Yeah?"
	"What the hell is a 'Ni'?"
	He shrugged.  "I don't know.  The script was muddled in that part 
of the prophecy.  I think it might have been changed due to Re-Genesis.  
I think it's part of an instruction.  Maybe how to stop the plague."
	"Great." Chris sighed.  "Well, those guards out there tried to 
kill us because they saw my coat."
	"And they called you the prophesized one." Maury added.
	"I AM NOT PROPHESIZED!"
	Beavis shrugged.  "It sure seems that way to me."
	"Shut up." Chris fumed.  
	"So what do we do now?" Rei sighed.  "Did you guys get in trouble 
with Cupid?"
	As if by magic, Cupid opened the door, scaring the hell out of 
everyone.  He had a creepy smile on his face as he delivered the tray 
of food, then looked at Chris.
	Chris clenched his fist.  "You say ANYTHING, and I SWEAR you'll 
have to learn to breathe through your own ass."
	Cupid just narrowed his eyes and left, still smiling.  With a 
quick flutter of his wings, the door shut behind him.
	"What did he tell you?" Maury asked.
	"He asked if I wanted to play with all the guards some more." 
Chris replied.  "I really don't like this."
	









	Raphael sighed as he walked down the halls.  Once more, to the 
Gardens.  In his fist was a report of border activities.  Michael had 
begun his attack, it seemed.
	Their first line of defense had been easily taken out, and they 
had advanced quite impressively considering the elements against them.  
He hoped that this was all part of Azrael's plan.  
	The guards were still outside the doors. 

	The same guards.

	Almost zombies now, they were thin and fragile looking.  Deathly 
pale, yet their unnerving stares gave Raphael the impression they would 
still have enough strength to rip intruders apart with their swords.  
The magic had them.  They would gladly be the walking dead if they 
could stay around it more often.
	He nodded to one of them, receiving no indication he was 
received, and proceeded into the chamber.  "Lord Azrael?" he called 
out, looking around the oceans of script and sand.  
	Azrael was sitting next to the sand, laying on his back with a 
smile on his face.  His hand was wrapped in a piece of blood-stained 
cloth.  "Hello, Raphael."
	Raphael blinked, then looked out over the script.  Every last 
inch of the sand had been covered in Theban.  "Y...you're finished..." 
he whispered.  Just to the edge of the sand was a small splatter of 
red.  Where the caster's blood had sealed the sand.  
	"Oh yes." Azrael sat up slowly.  His weapon was at his side, on 
his belt, instead of in his hands being used to draw.  "I am finished."
	The larger angel smiled.  "Congratulations."
	Azrael laughed, standing up weakly.  "I have been laboring on 
this spell for over a year, my friend.  I have formed the biggest, and 
greatest spell since the Word...possibly surpassing it.  I have worked 
endless nights and mornings." He took a deep, cleansing breath.  "And 
all you have to say to me is 'congratulations'?" he laughed.  "I AM 
DONE!"
	Raphael watched his younger friend jump up and down, doing a 
little dance.  He laughed despite himself.  "I am glad.  You'll finally 
be able to save your strength for the final stages."
	"Thank you." Azrael smiled, walking over to his friend.  "I know 
you mean well...even though your enthusiasm is not as obvious." He 
paused, looking down at the scroll reports.  "You brought me 
something?"
	"Reports." Raphael nodded, handing them to Azrael.  "It seems 
Michael knows we're up to something."
	Angrily, he breezed over the reports.  "This is not of any 
concern."
	Raphael blinked.  "Pardon?"
	"By the time they think they've breached our defenses, there will 
only be three or four of their Hosts left.  It will be the dead of 
Winter.  Not only that, but if they actually get here with time to stop 
the spell, I would be very impressed indeed."
	With a sigh, Raphael nodded.  "I guess so.  But that's not a very 
good tactic."
	Azrael smiled.  It was very scary, actually.  "Yes, but don't you 
love a nice trap?"
	Raphael sighed.  "Very well."
	Walking past him, Azrael just chuckled.  "Send another two Hosts 
to the front.  Just in case Michael sent some actual talent our way." 
He paused.  "You remember the exceptions, right?"
	"An older man and anyone who claims to be a Knight.  I remember." 
Raphael shrugged.  "Strange orders, though."
	"The world works in strange ways."

	


















                            Chapter 11






	


	Michael had been walking for hours.  

	At least the clothes fit nicely.  The last thing he would have 
wanted was to have to find Cupid and get his old stuff back.  They were 
probably already burned or thrown out.  

	He had wasted enough time.  Cassiel had already given up.  Like 
hell he was too.

	Still, it took him a long time to regain those thoughts.  
Cassiel, even now, had a calming effect on his mind.  Every time he 
felt himself leaving her presence, it was almost like a cold wave would 
wash over him, just to remind him how nice and warm it had been with 
her.
	Lousy body.  No fucking good.  Always wanting to take the easy 
path.  Lay down in bed and sleep in.  Lay down your weapons and you 
might not feel pain.  Maybe, just maybe, if you gave up fast enough, 
you'd just die and get it over with.  Even if you were able to drag 
your good-for-nothing body out of bed, grab a sword and go out into the 
fray, there was always the physical attractions to deal with.  
	Even to Michael's oldest memories, he had always liked being 
around Cassiel.  Not in any sexual sense, though it was certainly 
present now.  But before, she was comforting.  Someone with a nice 
voice and a patient ear that he could talk to all night.  Hell, the 
damn woman even knew exactly where, if he had an itchy back, to 
scratch.  Nobody else had ever gotten that right.  
	As if just to make a point, Michael's back began to itch.  "Oh 
come on..." he sighed and leaned up against the metal railing to quell 
the sensation.  
	Gabriel was full of shit.  Flesh was just a pain in the ass.  He 
would have much preferred being made out of holy light like the Old 
angels.  The ones they were supposed to be imitating.  
	Finally making up his mind, he started heading back for the 
others.  They would leave as soon as everyone was ready.  With or 
without Cassiel, it no longer mattered.  They were running out of time 
anyway.  It was one of those times they had to drag their bodies out of 
bed, no matter how tempting it would be to sleep in.
	Of course, even though deep in thought, SkitZ DID notice the 
sudden influx of guards that were running around the hallways.  Some 
would give Michael a quick stare, then realize who he was and return to 
their running around.  
	"What the hell's going on?" he frowned, feeling the reassuring 
weight of his sword at his side.
	With a smile, he pulled a small chunk of coal out of his pocket 
and traced some Theban on the floor.  One of the guards zipped by, but 
accidentally stepped on the character, activating it.  A large ball of 
fire enveloped the poor bastard, scaring the hell out of him.
	As soon as the fire had started, though, it flashed off, leaving 
a trembling and smoking guard.  He looked up at SkitZ with shocked 
eyes.  "Knight Michael!"
	"Now that I have your attention..." he smiled.  "What's with all 
the troops?"
	The man, ignoring his singed feathers, looked even more 
surprised.  "You mean you don't KNOW?!"
	"That would be why I asked, idiot." 
	"Oh, sorry." He bowed.  "We've found the Man in White."
	SkitZ's eyes widened.  "What?"
	"Of the Ni Prophecy." The man nodded as more and more guards flew 
past.  "Of the Soulless Faces and the Wingless Skies!"
	"Where is he?" Michael grabbed the collar of the man's armor and 
hauled him up to eye level.  "He's NOT the Prophesized one!  You must 
NOT kill him!"
	Confused, the guard just shook his head.  "I...I don't know!  
He's hiding somewhere in the City's lower levels."
	"Dammit!" Michael sighed, dropping the guard.  "I told him NOT to 
show anyone his coat."
	Gasping, the guard almost fell on his ass.  "You mean you KNEW he 
was here?!?"
	"Yes, but he's not the Man in White." Michael growled.  "Tell 
your commander that Michael SkitZ says so.  I will NOT be pleased if 
that man is killed."
	"But..."
	"NOW!" Michael thundered, reaching for his sword.
	With a nervous bow, the man ran off.  
	Michael sighed and ran off to find the Senshi.  "I should have 
never taught him that fucking song."












	Everything was perfectly quiet.  

	Then...

	Maury growled.  "Okay..."
	Everyone turned to him.  "What is it, Mo?" Hooze asked.
	"Who farted?" he shot an accusing glare at everyone.

	They sat, huddled in behind a flight of stairs that lead to the 
higher levels.  While guards tromped up and down the steps, they never 
thought to look behind in the dark crevice, and had continued to do so 
for almost an hour.  
	"So who the hell farted!" Maury frowned.
	Suddenly, Dave sniffed the air.  "Oh dear god!"
	Each of the Senshi began to groan at the smell.  Lucifer just 
smiled.  "Sorry..."
	"DAMMIT!" Chris growled.  "Can't you just hold it IN next time?  
That was horrible!"
	"Few times in my life have I smelt such a vicious and lament-evil 
fume." Beavis commented in his usual Shakespearean prose.  "If you 
weren't the Devil, I'd damn you to Hell!"
	Demeter began to franticly wave his hand, hoping to fan the 
gasses away from his nose.
	Their evil looks toward Lucifer were cut off by a sudden group of 
nearly guards stopping their random advances and regrouping close to 
where they were hiding.  "We've sealed the rest of the City.  They must 
be here on the Gate level." One said.
	"Gate?" Chris blinked.
	Rei smiled.  "Hey...maybe we're at the entrance!"
	"You mean we can get the hell out of here?" Maury's eyes 
brightened.  "Kick ass!"
	Dave allowed himself the liberty to use Fiss' laptop and did a 
quick scan.  "We should be able to see it past the guards."
	"Do they have Cherubs?" Miharu offered.  "If there's any guarding 
the entrance, then we'll never get out of here alive."
	"I don't hear any." Fiss smiled.  "If there are any, they're all 
quiet."
	"What about Michael?" Miharu asked.  "We need him to come with 
us!"
	"Yeah, but sooner or later, those guards are going to find me." 
Chris sighed.  "Then, we're all going to be in a pile of nougat."
	"We could always dress you up like a girl." Lucifer grinned. 
	Chris blinked.  "What?"
	"Well, it worked on Final Fantasy Seven, didn't it?"
	Everyone gave him dry looks. 
	"WHAT?" Lucifer grumbled.  "I say it WOULD work!"
	Demeter's eyes went wide.  "He's right!"
	Everyone gave Demeter even dryer looks, however, Andrea nodded.  
"Wait...it might work.  After all, Demeter could just add a little 
glass here N there to make you look completely different, Chris!"
	"Well..."
	Demeter nodded.  "I won't be able to do much, but I could at 
least change your hair, and maybe give you a different face."
	Chris' eyes widened.  "Can you make me look like MacGuyver?!" 
	"Uh...sure!" Demeter shrugged.
	"Right ON!" Chris beamed.  "Okay!  Let's do this!"
	Andrea laughed softly.  "Well, just remember, you won't be able 
to talk much.  That glass is actually kind of brittle."
	"And you should hide your sword so they don't recognize it." 
Maury offered.  
	"Cool..." Miharu was also beaming.  "Now I can brag to all my 
friends that my dad is MacGuyver!"
	Rei frowned.  "Who's MacGuyver?"
	"He can make a nuclear bomb out of tin foil and some lobster 
shells." Maury filled in happily.  "He's invincible!"
	"And he does it all with his knowledge of science!" Dave 
continued enthusiastically.  "He's my hero!"
	"Well, him and Michael Knight from Knight Rider." Chris nodded.
	"Ooh!" Maury exclaimed.  "And Airwolf!  And don't forget Bo and 
Luke Duke from the Dukes of Hazard!"
	Rei almost fell over on her face.  "I must be the only person 
here who never watches TV."
	"Don't worry." Chris smiled warmly.  "Your amazing beauty and 
skill makes up for it." He raised an eyebrow.  "But just barely."
	Rei shot him a look.







	One of the guards noticed the sudden appearance of a group of 
people by the steps and drew his sword.  "Hey!  You!  Who goes 
there?!?!"
	The Senshi were immediately confronted by an equal number of 
swordsmen.  Dave...who had wisely taken off his white coat and hung it 
around his waist...went to the front and bowed.  "Good evening, fine 
sir."
	Each of them lowered their swords.  "What business do you have on 
this level." He scanned the group, picking out the males and giving 
them each a hard look.  None of them matched the description of the Man 
in White...though one did look like MacGuyver, and was grinning like an 
idiot.
	Luckily, besides Michael and Lucifer, nobody in this universe 
knew what TV was, let alone MacGuyver.  He ignored the strange man and 
relaxed.  The bearded man...almost...looked like Lucifer...but it 
couldn't have been him.  Otherwise, he'd be ripping everyone apart.  
Yeah...must just have been someone who looked like Lucifer.
	"We were just passing through." Dave stood and smiled his best 
disarming smile to one of the female guards, who blushed noticeably.  
"My friends and I couldn't help but notice all your guards.  Is there 
something the matter?"
	The guards all put away their swords.  "Well, have you seen 
anyone wearing a white coat and looking like this?" he pulled out a 
small piece of paper that had a rather hideous drawing of Chris on it.  
He was growling, and looked like his forehead was about to burst open 
due to the throbbing veins and glare from his eyes.  Dave almost lost 
it and laughed.
	"Oh my..." he coughed.  "What a scary individual!"
	"If you had seen his evil in person, you too would know why we 
have so many guards active at the moment." The guard nodded.  
	The young man who looked like MacGuyver was no longer smiling.  
In fact, he was mumbling something under his breath.  Beavis turned to 
him and whispered for him to shut up.
	Dave ignored Fiss and continued.  "Well, in that case, would you 
mind if we made our way past?"
	The guard blinked, almost like he didn't get it.  "Pardon?"
	With a shrug, Dave pointed past the guards to the huge doors 
behind them.  "I assume that's the exit.  We need to get going."
	Almost at the same time, the guards began to laugh.  
"You...you're not serious, are you?"
	"What do you mean?" Dave frowned.  "I can assure you we are 
inclined to leave."
	"You mean you don't know?"
	Dave, due to his position of intelligence back on Earth, couldn't 
help but feel a little smack to his brain upon hearing those words.  
That had to have been the first time he heard that phrase in the last 
eighty years at least.
	"No." he admitted through a strained smile.  "I do not."  	
	"If you were to open those doors..." the guard laughed "you would 
probably drown."
	Everyone's face went blank.
	"That leads to the ocean." The guard continued with a smile.  
	"Then where's the exit?" Dave edged.  All humor in his voice was 
gone.  
	"Well, we're actually not supposed to let anyone out for now." 
Another guard offered.  "With Revelations happening, Cassiel probably 
chose you all for a purpose.  She'll want you to stay until 
everything's safe."
	"We can handle ourselves, buddy." Maury stepped forward and 
pushed his sunglasses up on his nose.  "Now, make with the exit."

	Beavis sighed as the argument began, then was suddenly hit by a 
chunk of something falling on his back.  He looked up from Chris' 
shoulder to see another chunk of Fiss' disguise cracking off.  "Oh..."
	Chris blinked, causing a part of the darker skinned "mask" to 
fall off of his cheek.  "Sheeeit..." he breathed through his teeth, 
trying not to move."
	
	"Well then." Dave frowned.  "I demand to talk to Cassiel."
	The guards laughed like it was the funniest joke ever.  "Nobody 
'demands' to talk to Cassiel."
	"I am not 'nobody'." Dave defended with a growl.  "And had I 
known I was to be a prisoner here, I would have talked to her when I 
had the chance earlier."
	The guard sighed and confronted Dave and Maury with crossed arms.  
"Listen, this is a time of crisis.  If a Knight wants you to stay, you 
listen.  It's divine privilege, and part of something much greater than 
your simple need to travel."
	"Right now, my need is to travel my foot into your nuts." Maury 
mumbled under his breath. 
	"What was THAT?!" The guard sneered. 
	
	"Chris?" Rei looked over to him, noticing his face was beginning 
to crack...quite literally.  
	He turned slightly and shrugged.  A small flake fell down to the 
floor.  Though he still didn't look like himself, the guards were bound 
to notice this sooner or later. 
	"Just stay still..." she whispered, then took a few steps over to 
Dave.  "Uh, we better leave."
	Dave turned, catching the sight of Fiss trying to hold his face 
on.  "Oh..."
	Maury still hadn't noticed, and was dragging out the argument.  
"AND ANOTHER THING!" he poked his finger into the guard's chest.  "Your 
uniforms look GAY!"
	"Happy?" the man shrugged.  "I never thought they looked 'happy' 
before?"
	"Dammit!" Maury sighed.  "You can't even insult people properly 
in this place."
	"Uh, no no no." Dave interrupted.  "I suppose he's right.  We 
should go find Michael." He turned to Maury.  "Quickly."
	Maury blinked.  "WHAT?!  Don't tell me you're wimping out too!  
Can't we just kick some..." he noticed Chris and stopped.  
"Oh...uh...yeah, we should be going."
	The guards all blinked.  "W...uh...okay..."
	The Senshi began to turn around and walk off, surrounding Fiss, 
hoping that nobody would notice.

	"What's with that?" the female guard frowned.  "Why did they 
suddenly leave?"
	The lead guard narrowed his eyes.  "I'm not sure..."
	
	Chris was having a very hard time trying to walk.  The mask had 
shifted over his eyes slightly, and was only guessing where to go 
thanks to Rei's hand on his shoulder.  "We...better get out of here..." 
he whispered.  "It...is...coming off..."
	"Shh!" Rei smiled softly.  "MacGuyver can survive anything, 
right?"
	Fiss smiled just enough so he didn't crack off the remainder of 
his disguise.  "Yeah..."

	Of course, nobody thought to tell him about the stairs.  

	"WHOAH!"  

	CRAAAASHHHHHHHHH!

	"Oh oh."

	The guards all looked at the Senshi in horror, as Strike Fiss 
stood, rubbing his head from his face-plant into the stairs.  
	"THE PROPHESIZED ONE!" gasped one of the guards.
	Chris sighed.  "I really hate being called that..." and then they 
ran.
























                            Chapter 12








	
	Cassiel stormed out of her room, holding Cupid back via his chain 
leash.  "What the HELL is going ON here?!" she demanded as a second 
explosion down in the bowels of the city echoed around them.  
	Cupid had his suspicions, but just shrugged.  This would be fun 
to watch.  
	One of her personal guards...the huge, body-building rejects in 
loincloth, ran up to her and bowed.  "We've found the Man in White.  
The Prophesized one."
	Cass almost fell back on her ass.  "WHAT?!?!"
	"He's here.  We already have the Dominions harnessed and ready." 
The guard smiled proudly.  
	"Holy shit..." she growled.  "So Azrael sent us the Ni Prophecy."
	"He is the work of Azrael?" the guard blinked.
	Nodding, she walked past him.  "I wouldn't be surprised.  
Especially since the outside is so close to the Winter Soloist."
	"Well, never fear, my Knight.  We shall kill this intruder 
and..."

	They were interrupted by a large ball of liquid flame slamming 
into the opposite wall.  When the flames dissipated, it turned out to 
be a surprised, smoking black Dominion, who promptly fell with it's 
wings melted off by the heat.  

	"You were saying?" Cassiel frowned slightly, then took flight.  
"I'll handle this myself."
	Cupid giggled and then was drug along after her.  








	Three massive dragons, actually slightly larger than the one they 
had encountered in the forest, circled the Senshi at a distance.  They 
would have been closer, but Maury was having a lot of fun with his fire 
abilities.  "Oooh, come on...who's next?"
	Yamato sighed.  "This is going to be messy.  Dominions never die 
easily."
	"Antimatter." Dave smiled, taking out a Pookie.  "It cleans up 
after itself." 
	With that, he fired a round right into one of the Dominion's 
feet, vaporizing it's lower half.  The beast howled in pain, and fell 
towards Dave, attempting to crush him.
	"Jan Ken Pon...PAPER!!"  A pink shield popped up in front of Dave 
just in time, and the beast was halted in it's advance.  
	Finally, running to the front, Strike Fiss leapt at the dragon's 
neck, and in one swift motion sent the silvery-green head flying into 
the crowd of assembling guards.   
	The two final Dominions were just as easily destroyed.  Miharu 
slit the throat of one of them at an angle, starting from the beast's 
skull.  It dropped to the floor, shuddering.  Rei simply took out an 
ofuda and flicked it at the forehead of the next one.  As it was 
stunned, she placed her hand into it's open jaws.  "Mars FIRESTORM!  
STRIKE!"  While the Dominion's stomach might have been able to handle 
so much fire, it's lungs obviously could not, and it collapsed in a 
smoky cough.  
	Meanwhile, the others had regrouped in case the guards decided to 
charge.
	They didn't.  However, a dozen Mages did.  As they advanced, they 
began to trace little spells in the air with their fingers.  Chris 
gasped, dropped to the ground, and began to do the same with his sword 
into the floor.  "Everyone!  Huddle!"
	From each of the Mages came a sudden bolt of lightning.  It was 
unnaturally orange in color, and flew straight and heavy towards the 
Senshi.  Chris finished his own spell, however, and activated it just 
in time.  A spider-like cage of metal rose out of the ground around 
them.  When the lightning hit it was captured by the metal and flowed 
into the ground harmlessly.  
	"Nice one." Dave smiled.
	"Thanks." Chris puffed, catching his breath.  
	The metal spines dissolved as Chris stood.  Yamato quickly found 
what he was looking for in his backpack, and threw a dozen small wooden 
chips at the Mages above their heads.  Each one attached to the 
forehead of the angels like magnets drawn to opposite poles.
	"LIGHT STONE!!" he yelled.
	Each of the Mages were suddenly enveloped in white, shimmering 
light, forming perfect spheres around them.  The twelve orbs then fell 
to the ground harmlessly as each Mage tried in vain to break their way 
out.
	Finally realizing that Yamato was one of their adversaries, many 
of the guards began to take steps backwards.  "The Knight Master!" a 
few gasped.
	"It must be a trick!" another offered.  The guards around him all 
nodded as they eyed the old man suspiciously.  "KILL THE IMPOSTER!"
	Yamato groaned, but knew nothing was going to stop these guards 
now.  "Well, so much for respecting your elders."
	Chris raised his sword.  "Yeah.  I hate it when they do that."

	Three hundred of the best swordsmen on the planet charged at the 
same time.

	"FFFFRRRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!"

	The thundering noise literally flattened everyone to the ground 
as they held their ears.  The City shook.  

	And the Archangel Michael walked through the crowd, unopposed.  

	It was obvious he was not happy.  His sword was in his hand, and 
was humming contently...daring someone to piss him off.  "You're all a 
bunch of assholes, aren't you?" he said in his normal volume of voice.
	Andrea ran over to meet SkitZ.  "Uh, Mike...be nice..."
	Michael growled, looking at the guards who were still huddled on 
the floor.  "What do you mean, 'nice'?"
	Yamato nodded quickly, seeing that Michael was close to doing 
something...well...something that would probably kill all the guards in 
the room in some gruesome way.  "We were just trying to leave.  They 
haven't hurt us." He begged.  "Diplomacy is key at this time."
	Michael's eyes narrowed.  "They were about to kill you."
	Andrea shook her head.  "We were fine...just...get them to point 
out the door, and we'll go."
	"Diplomacy?" Michael frowned.
	Andrea nodded.  Yamato too.  "Yeah.  Diplomacy."
	"Try talking to one of them." Offered Demeter helpfully.
	
	Michael smiled brightly, then turned to one of the guards.  
"Okay!" he sheathed his sword and knelt down.  "Excuse me..."
	The man shivered in fear.  "Y...Y...Yes...Knight Michael???"
	SkitZ turned back to the others with a shrug.  Andrea shrugged.  
"Be gentle." She explained.  
	He turned back to the guard as hundreds of eyes watched, 
unblinking and nervous.  "Hey." He brought up his finger and poked the 
man on the shoulder.
	"Ahh...ehh..." the man stumbled for words, but was clearly too 
scared to say anything.
	Michael shrugged, and continued to poke the man.  "Pokey pokey!  
Hello in there?!?!"  he smiled happily.  "Pokey!  Pokey pokey pokey!"
	"At least he's being gentle." Yamato sighed.  Everyone else 
sighed as well.
	Michael seemed to be having fun, actually.  "Pokey!  Poker poker 
poker!  This is fun.  You guys gotta try this!"	

	The poor guard was now weeping openly. 

	"Now, I'm going to ask you a simple question." Michael smiled, 
showing all his teeth.  "Did you KNOW that man was Yamato?  The Knight 
Master and my personal friend?"
	Shaking, the guard nodded.
	"And you were going to try to kill him, weren't you?" Michael's 
smile turned rather evil looking.
	Still crying, the guard shook his head to the affirmative.  
"I...I'm sorry..." he babbled. 
	Michael stood slightly, then delivered a swift punch to the 
guard's face, knocking him over and out cold.  He turned to the others 
with a smile.  "Hey!  You're right.  I LIKE diplomacy!"

	Everyone developed large sweat-drops on their heads.  	

	The relative silence didn't last long, though.  Michael drew his 
sword again, causing a deadly sharp ring to sound out.  "Attention City 
of Bri." He said loudly.  "You have been misinformed about the 
Prophesized One.  He is not in this group of warriors.  I will offer 
proof if needed, but know this: Anyone who further attempts to harm 
anyone in this group shall have to go through me." He grinned evilly.  
"And that's fine by me, because I'm itching to kill some assholes."
	
	"JAN KEN PON PAPER!" Andrea struggled to yell out the words in 
time.  
	A pink shield snapped into existence right over Michael's head, 
and a bright red arrow slammed into it, stopping it's advance just 
barely an inch away from it's target.  
	Everyone, including her own troops, gasped as they turned to the 
sky above them.

	Cassiel and Cupid hovered there, descending slowly.  Cupid looked 
extremely mad that his arrow had been thwarted, and was already loading 
another into his bow.  
	"This..." Cassiel growled.  "...is not your playground, Michael, 
and you are WAY out of line."
	Michael's grip tightened on his sword as the arrow and shield 
fell away harmlessly.  "I'm not playing."
























                           Chapter 13









  	It had been eight of the hardest days he had ever known.  
Carrying three Virtues was hardly easy.  Their very nature made them 
slightly heavier than average swords.  Combine that with the need to 
keep them in good condition while traveling, and dealing with three 
different shapes, and it made for some very strenuous flying.
	Anafiel never stopped, though.  What little sleep he did allow 
himself came in short, five hour bursts whenever he could find a safe 
hiding spot.  
	Venturing into towns and villages was too risky, but he still had 
managed to enter one, relatively undetected, to purchase supplies and 
warmer clothes.  
	Though completely exhausted, he had flown over the battles below 
as the massive armies of SkitZ and Fiss began to clash at the inner 
borders.  The small bit of his mind that had not betrayed Michael felt 
pride in noting that the SkitZ Hosts were fighting exceptionally well 
and seemed to be surviving the war.

	That was, however, a very small part of his mind. 

	The rest of him was disgusted at the war.  Angels were not 
supposed to fight against each other.  It was blasphemous.  At least 
Azrael was only defending himself against irrational enemies like 
Michael. 
	When Azrael had first contacted him, he had been surprised, 
angry, but open to the suggestions presented.  Azrael had explained 
that the old Word was breaking down.  It explained the wars and the 
Noize.  
	He had also mentioned that he...for a long time...had been 
working on a new Word.  To replace the old, and save them all.  To 
strengthen the world through divinity like the first Word had done with 
the Old Religions.  
	Though it took a lot of soul searching, Anafiel finally decided 
that Azrael was right, and his own Knight had betrayed them all.  When 
the Knight of Fiss offered him a chance to help with the creation of 
the next Word, he agreed wholeheartedly.  There was no higher honor in 
his mind.
	And so, he took the Virtues and fled the cesspool of corruption 
and unholy-ness that was the SkitZ.  
	
	By now, Uriel would probably be loose and wreaking havoc in the 
City of SkitZ.  Everyone would be too busy to notice the absence of one 
Archangel, assuming he was killed...just like Tsirya had been.
	A smile crossed Anafiel's lips as he trudged through the snow 
with his heavy backpack.  "Bet you didn't see that one coming, fucker." 
He whispered.  "Not even with those childish glasses on your wrinkled 
nose."
	There was only so much patience and love one could have for a 
person who was at their throat every day for every reason possible.  
Anafiel would admit freely that he did enjoy killing his counterpart.  
Strangely satisfying, despite the ease that it came to his sword. 
	
	With his final destination only hours away, these last eight days 
of hardship were nothing.  They felt like his penance.  Cleansing 
punishment for his years of serving the wrong side.  Finally, though, 
just past two giant mountain cliffs, he could see a glint of sunlight 
reflecting off of an angel-made structure.  

	The City of Fiss.

	The giant tower of metal and stone seemed to rise out of the 
earth like a tooth, high into the air.  It had to be at least twice as 
tall as the City of SkitZ, though much more slender in width.  
	Each of the Cities had the same pyramid design, but this one was 
set on a natural tower of stone, making it much harder to access.  Not 
only that, but it was out on the water, much like SkitZ's own domain.  
The very top of the smooth metal walls seemed to be cut away, and was 
replaced with a shimmering dome of crystal instead of the point.  
	To the weary traveler, it was a sight for sore eyes.  Azrael 
would reward him for such loyalty for sure.  It was reward enough 
knowing he would have a part in recreating the glory of the angels.  
	He was so awe struck by the sight that he didn't notice his 
shadow shifting to his front, indicating some strange source of bright 
light approaching him from behind.

	One simple slice, and Anafiel lost half of his left wing.  

	Gasping in pain, he tumbled forward, somehow managing to save his 
wings by turning them into his coat.  The impact was hard, and he 
rolled down a slope of icy rock, further into the valley.  Vision 
returned slowly as he shook his head free of snow.  "Wh...who's 
there!?!" he coughed, noticing the coppery tang of blood in his mouth.  
	A tiny man in a cloth diaper frowned, holding a silver and light 
spear in his hands.  He stood at the edge of the valley, waiting for 
the next move.
	"A'albiel!?!" Anafiel stood, quickly drawing his own sword.
	The cherub nodded and his eyes narrowed.  Even though most 
Archangels could fly much faster than Cherubim, it was a little known 
fact that Cherubim didn't need to sleep.  Or worry about the cold.  He 
had been tailing the traitor for a week now, finally catching up in 
time to stop him.  
	"You...you don't understand!" Anafiel pleaded, taking steps 
backwards.  "Azrael's trying to HELP!"
	The little angel held his spear in both hands like a sword.  The 
glowing white tip made steam trails as he walked trough the cold winter 
air.  

	"You killed him." He spoke at last.

	Anafiel had never heard him speak out loud, and almost dropped 
his sword in surprise.  
	"You killed your own brethren, and you DARE to tell me what is 
right or wrong?" he said angrily, taking more steps toward the larger 
angel.  "You hide behind a smile and use the attention toward false 
targets to accomplish your treason.  You do all this, without remorse 
and without guilt.  You fly to our enemy, offering to give him power 
not even God had, and you DARE TO TELL ME WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG?!!"
	Shivering, though not of cold, Anafiel could only inch backwards, 
hoping to find some way of escape.  With his wings damaged, though, the 
little cherub would easily be able to catch up and strike again.  "You 
don't know any more than I do." He defended, hoping to strike some 
doubt into A'albiel's mind.  
	It didn't work.  The cherub had made up his mind to slay this 
traitor LONG ago.  
	"It's not even enough that you betrayed our trust and our House." 
He continued.  "You betray us all.  This entire world.  You risk 
bringing the Noize back to us and causing our destruction, even though 
we've been given a second chance." He sighed.  "You've lost the Word 
and your Grace.  You have fallen.  Even if you don't know it yet."
	"THE WORD IS DEAD!" Anafiel screamed.  "Don't you SEE that?  
Heaven is gone!  Only Hell and Earth remain!  I'm helping to bring 
Heaven BACK to us!"
	"Heaven?" the cherub frowned.  "You have no idea what Heaven is.  
It's inside yourself." He brought forward his spear.  "Though, in your 
case, only Hell will remain."
	"A'albiel...please..." the Archangel begged.  His hand never left 
his sword, though.  "You don't know the whole situation.  There are two 
sides to this game."
	"Tell me one thing before I kill you." A'albiel growled, edging 
forward.  "Will you ever repent?"

	A long pause as the angel looked down at his smaller brother.  

	"I don't see why I should." He said quietly.  
	The little man nodded.  "Then there is only one side for you."

	He lunged.  Desperate, Anafiel fell backwards to avoid the 
weapon, however, his feet caught an edge of ice, and he slipped.  With 
a cry out in pain, he began to slide into the valley even further, 
noticing his descent was taking him into one of the red clouds that 
were hovering in the lower areas. 
	"NO!" he gasped, trying to stop his fall by clawing his fingers 
into the raw ground.  Bloody trails were left, but offered no purchase 
on the fresh snow and icy slope.
	His backpack came loose, throwing the Virtues into the snow.  
Desperate, he tried his wings, but the tangled into a bone-crunching 
mess of feathers and blood as they were smashed between his own body 
and the ground.  

	A'albiel watched sadly as Anafiel tumbled into the thick red 
mist, and let out one final, horrifying scream.

	Then, all was silent.

	"Up and Down." He whispered to himself.  "You chose Down."








	Deep in the red cloud, the body of Anafiel SkitZ finally tumbled 
to rest.  His eyes were frozen shut, though it was clear that they had 
burst from the sudden ice that formed inside them.  His skin looked 
shriveled, as the moisture in his body had combined with the deadly 
chemical to speed the cooling reaction.  Instead of blood, he now was 
filled with ice.

	On his back were shattered wings.  





















                                  Chapter 14









	"I can't believe you Michael." Cassiel yelled as they walked down 
the hall.
	Chris and Michael followed quickly, trying to keep up with her 
and Cupid as they stormed through the passages to god-knows-where.  The 
rest had been mutually ordered to stay behind before an all out war 
erupted between the two groups.  
	"You stomp in on my own House and assume your word is law." She 
fumed, throwing apart door after door.  "You make a mockery of my 
guards, and ME." She spun suddenly, startling the two Knights.  "If 
that was all...I could forgive you." She jabbed her finger into 
Michael's chest.  "But you've done so much more that I'm surprised I 
haven't killed you yet."
	Michael's eyes narrowed, and Cassiel turned and continued leading 
the small group.  
	"You KNEW that this little man was the Man in White, didn't you?" 
she yelled.  "You brought the most feared prophecy in the history of 
the Word right to MY DOOR!  And on the Eve of a Second Revelations?  I 
didn't know you liked playing with death that much, SkitZ."
	"YOU are the one that assumes I'm playing some kind of game." 
Michael said suddenly.  "I'm actually quite serious here."
	"YOU," Cassiel echoed "have never been, never will, and never ARE 
'serious'." She sighed, pushing open a final door to reveal her main 
quarters.
	Michael just followed, barely keeping his anger in check.
	"The MOST serious question I have ever heard from your mouth is 
'Do this smell?'" she laughed.  It was not a merry laugh;  rather 
spiteful.
	"Oh COME ON!" Michael yelled back.  "We were just KIDS back 
then!"
	"NO, Michael." She spun, standing almost as tall as him.  "YOU 
were just a kid back then."
	"Oooh, that hurt." He said dryly.
	Christopher cleared his throat.  "Uh, may I have a word?"
	"NO!" they both yelled.
	He stumbled back.  "Oh..."
	Cass turned back to Michael.  "But while I'm at it, back to this 
Prophecy!" she pointed at Fiss, almost poking out his eye in the 
process.  "You KNOW what the Prophecy says!  Don't you REMEMBER how 
close the Howling Desert is to this City?"
	"We already crossed it and nothing happened." Michael defended.  
"And if you were SOOOO worried about the Prophecy, you would have 
stopped me and Azrael from even MAKING the Desert!"
	"That was ages ago, and I didn't think anyone was so stupid to 
let something like HIM get this far!" she sneered at Chris.  Chris 
jumped back slightly.
	"Hey!  Leave him alone!" Michael growled.  "And while you're at 
it, get your retarded little..."
  
	Cupid shrugged at Chris.  Chris shrugged back.  Both of them sat 
down against the far wall as the two Knights argued.  
	"So, Cupid.  Are they always like this?" Fiss asked.
	"Whaehehgh!  Muffins!  Yarrrgh!"
	"Ahh.  I see."  

	"Don't lecture ME about my duty to the Word." Michael continued.  
"You're the last person who should be giving ANY advice!"
	Cassiel's voice was now in full 'pissed-off yelling' mode.  
"Why's THAT?  Because I'm the only Knight who's smart enough to know 
we're no longer needed?  That all we do is cause wars and death now?"
	"You're no longer qualified because YOU GAVE UP!" Michael 
thundered at her, getting even more angry that she wasn't flinching.  
"It's so easy just to hide in the shadows and let people die, isn't it?  
Much easier than actually TRYING to SAVE those people!  You've gotten 
lazy, Cass.  You still remember the Word...you're just content to let 
it ROT!"
	"TRYING TO SAVE THEM?!!  How many have died in your wars this 
year?"
	"How many will die if Azrael succeeds?!" He countered.  "And 
while we're on the subject, did you actually think we'd LIKE this?!?"
	Cassiel blinked.  "What are you talking about?!"
	Michael gestured to the walls around them.  "Oh, I suppose you 
just assumed we already KNEW you had Time-Script around this place?"
	Her face went white.  "H...how did you...?"
	"That's not BLOODY important, is it?" Michael growled back.  "By 
the end of the week, you'd let us out to whatever Hell awaited us 
outside, and everything would be over!  You tried to trick us!  You 
KNEW we were the only ones actually TRYING to do something, and you 
tried to STOP US!" he yelled.  "WHY?!!"
	"Dammit!" she yelled, though her voice was cracking now.  "I was 
only trying to protect you!  So WHAT if Revelations happened and Azrael 
won?  While you were so busy fighting, you didn't stop to think there 
was nothing you could have done!  You all would have been lured inside 
that bloody maze of his and ripped apart at his leisure!"  
	"Fuck you." Michael retorted.
	"You KNOW what kind of tricks that unholy fucker pulls, SkitZ!  
He even taught YOU some!  Ones I know you never used because you had 
more virtue than that!"
	"I KNOW the risks.  So do the Senshi." Michael said simply.  
"That's not..."
	"THE HELL IT ISN'T!" Cass yelled, and slammed the palms of her 
hands into Michael's chest, delivering a rather impressive knock to the 
larger body that forced him back a few feet.  "You want to know what I 
was doing here?  I was SAVING YOUR ASS!  You and whatever little 
friends you managed to get riled up with your hopeless crusade!"
	"You TRAPPED US IN TIME, Cass!" Michael yelled, his patience 
thinning even more.  "You pulled us out of the picture for WEEKS!  
Weeks where we COULD have done something!  You don't KNOW what this 
group can do!  What you saw against the Dominions and Mages was 
nothing!  Any one of those individuals could have wiped out half your 
army without even using Theban."
	Cassiel turned her head to the side, but it was not a defeated 
motion.  "I was right.  You're exactly the same."
	"What the hell is THAT supposed to mean!?!"
	"You're like little boys on the playground, fighting for the 
sand-castle.  On each side, you have your toughest, meanest friends, 
and no matter how big or mean or how many are on the other side, you 
all think your fucking invincible." Cassiel turned to Fiss, who was 
wisely keeping out of the conversation.  "You are all just little boys.  
That will never change.  And when the dust settles, you'll have broken 
bones, sand in your eyes, and all your precious toys will be stolen by 
the other boys who were just a LITTLE bigger and stronger than you 
thought they were."

	Chris and Cupid sighed, knowing they weren't about to get a word 
in anytime soon.

	"I was right when I said you haven't changed, Michael" she said, 
this time much softer.  "You may have new toys and new friends, but so 
do the bullies.  And when you fight these bullies, you'll suffer a lot 
worse than a broken arm or leg."
	"At least we're fucking TRYING to stop them." Michael hunched 
over to glare at her.  "At least we're not sitting off to the side with 
our little dolls and tea-cups, fretting over those silly boys who are 
fighting on the playground."

	The twitch in Cassiel's right eye was almost audible. 

	Michael smiled dangerously and leaned closer.  "While we're on 
the subject, you haven't changed much either.  Still soooo worried 
about growing up and being important that you forget what the world 
needs is a good swift kick to the..."
	
	CRUNCH

	Michael cursed himself for giving her the idea and stumbled 
backwards, holding his crotch in pain.  "Now that was out of line..." 
he squeaked.  
	Both Chris...and surprisingly even Cupid...were wincing at the 
display.  "HEY!  Now THAT is enough!" 
	"Back off, Chris..." Michael wheezed.  "I'm okay."
	Cass stood over him, not really gloating, but also not showing 
any regret.  "I didn't hit you that hard." She sniffed.  
	"Last time you did that..." Michael stood again, though still 
winced as he did.  "...I was seventeen.  I didn't exactly have to worry 
about it as much back then."
	Cassiel raised an eyebrow.  "Is that some obscure brag?"
	"Shut up." Michael snapped.  "Every time you can't win an 
argument you get like that."
	She blinked and took a step back.  "What?!"
	"You know EXACTLY what I mean!" he laughed.  "Any time you 
couldn't get what you wanted, you just turned on the pouty lips and the 
thing with the eyes!"
	Cassiel pursed her lips.  "I...I do NOT!"
	"Or, you just acted like a slut..." Michael shrugged.
	Everyone else' jaw dropped.  Chris hadn't really expected him to 
actually say that out loud.
	"Mmph." She growled.  "Not that you'd care anyway."
	Michael was equally surprised by her reply.  "What?"
	"It's not like I was biased against you, you know." She sighed.  
"If you'd only open your eyes once in a..."
	"HA!" he laughed.  "I was the only guy that DIDN'T fall over 
myself because of you.  If anything, that just pissed you off.  I 
remember quite vividly the subject of that last argument that ended 
when you kicked me in the nuts!"
	Cassiel blushed, to both Chris and Cupid's surprise.  "W...what?"
	"If I remember correctly, you were extremely mad when I beat the 
shit out of those guys who were trying to..."
	"I could have handled myself." She stated quickly, feeling the 
eyes of the two other people in the room.
	"Oh, yes, but then, afterwards, you didn't want me to tell 
Yamato." Michael said with a shrug.  "I suppose on retrospect, I 
probably would have agreed if you said 'reward' instead of 'bribe'."
	Cassiel just stood there, jaw dropped to the floor.  
	"However, even back then, you were quite a control freak.  You 
said that in exchange for not telling about your close encounter of the 
non-consensual kind, you would fulfill two or three of my young mind's 
fantasies." Michael continued, finally able to stand straight without 
his groin groaning in pain.  "Isn't that almost EXACTLY how you said 
it?"
	She didn't dare move.  Cupid looked from her to Michael, and 
back.  "Muffins?"
	"Of course, you made it sound so sneaky." Michael sighed.  "So, I 
turned you down.  After all, it was important.  I had to tell Yamato." 
He smiled happily.  "It ate you up that I didn't fall head over heels 
for your little attempt, and so, when you saw me next, you delivered a 
nice, swift kick to my happy sacks and even mentioned that I wouldn't 
know what to do with them if they worked anyway."

	"Ouch." Chris winced.  Cupid giggled something unintelligible.

	"And I bet it helped to further piss you off that I was the one 
that saved you, too." Michael said casually.  
	"You're FUCKING right it pissed me off!" Cassiel yelled, suddenly 
back on the offensive.  "I may have worded it wrong, and that's my 
fault, but you didn't have to go off on a holy crusade against me just 
because I wanted to pay you back!"
	"Ahh, is THAT what you call it.  'Paying back'?" 
	"And you WONDER why I said you didn't know what to do with them 
anyway?" she shot him an ice cold glare.   
	SkitZ rubbed his forehead.  "This is EXACTLY why I wanted to stay 
away from you.  If I had WANTED my sex drive attacked both physically 
and verbally, I would have stood naked in front of a punching bag while 
the cherubs giggle at how silly human sex organs look!"
	Cassiel shook her head with a sigh.  "Michael, there's no sex 
drive to laugh at.  You're too busy being the Archangel all the time."
	Something in Michael snapped, and he remembered Gabriel's advice 
earlier on that month.  Sometimes, he DID forget about flesh and blood.  
No matter how annoying it was...it was still...
	"No sex drive to laugh at?!!" he growled, reaching for his sword.
	Cassiel hadn't noticed, though Cupid and Chris did.  "What's the 
matter?" she smiled slightly, though her eyes still were shooting 
daggers.  "Are my comments pissing you off?  I thought angles weren't 
supposed to get horny anyway, right?"

	"Fuck that, cooter..." 
	
	Chris and Cupid winced and turned away as Michael grabbed Cassiel 
by the arm violently, hoping not to get splattered by the bloodbath 
that would certainly come. 

	However...

	There was only silence.  Well...not complete silence.  Chris 
could swear he heard kissing.  When he dared to look up, he almost fell 
over.
	Michael and Cassiel were almost wrapped around each other in what 
could only be described as a very...intense...kiss.  Not only that, but 
any anger in Cassiel's eyes seemed to dissipate, and she melted into 
the embrace with a satisfied little whimper.  
	
	Cupid looked up at that time and his jaw dropped in absolute 
horror.  "Ba...babachaw!"
	Chris smiled and stood, walking over to Cassiel, who barely even 
noticed him slip the leash off her wrist.  She didn't mind, though, and 
was then able to use her free hand to haul Michael closer via his coat.
	"Come on." Fiss whispered, taking Cupid to the door as the poor 
little cherub watched as the object of his affections was taken away so 
easily.
	"Uuuuguh..." Cupid sighed, following as his chain tugged toward 
the door.  "Me bad?"
	"No." Fiss said as they walked out.  "There's just some things 
that have to have closure."

	The doors shut behind them, leaving the two very old...very 
close...friends alone at last.
	Cassiel broke from the kiss gently and looked up at Michael.  "Is 
that a cherub in your pocket?  Or are you just happy to see me?"
	Michael grinned.


















                            Chapter 15







	
	Though Gabriel would have been very pleased to know what was 
transpiring elsewhere, she found herself firmly rooted in the here and 
now.  Against everyone's better judgment, including her own, Gabriel 
had decided to let Uriel stay free of any confinement.
	She really didn't seem to be too much trouble, actually.  She 
asked for meals, but did so very politely.  The rest of the time, she 
actually sat and meditated in Gabriel's room, usually asking no more 
space than a corner.  
	So, as odd as it felt just to watch her endlessly, Gabriel found 
herself fascinated by her fellow Knight.  She seemed to be able to 
recover from the Noize, even though SkitZ had blasted her with an even 
higher dosage than he himself received.
	"You wish to ask me something." The younger woman said suddenly.  
If it wasn't for her voice, you could have never noticed her talking 
behind her mask.  
	"Yeah." Gabriel admitted.  "How come you're so calm?"
	Uriel cocked her head to one side.
	"You've lost your Virtue, control of your armies, and have been 
exposed to the Noize." She smiled softly.  "I doubt I would be taking 
it as well as you are."
	"I need only to be here when the Word happens again." Uriel 
sighed.  "Nothing else matters."
	That made sense.  Even Michael, when he was focused enough on one 
thing, could almost forget that the Noize was even inside his head.  
Though he was often a strange individual to know personally, his 
professional side was flawless.  
	"Tell me about this second Word." Gabriel asked.  "What will it 
do?"
	The mask beneath Uriel's face shifted slightly, and could have 
been caused by a smile.  "I do not care.  I do not know."
	"Do you always speak in riddles?" Gabriel frowned, leaning back 
against her chair.  
	"It is not a riddle." Uriel replied.  "I answered your question.  
What this second Word will accomplish, I do not know."
	"Then why are you looking forward to it so much?" Gabriel 
pressed.  "You said yourself that it is the only thing of importance to 
you."
	"Do you know what will happen?" Uriel said with a cute, girlish 
voice.  "Magic will fill the air and begin to change everything.  No 
matter what it will change into, there will still be magic unlike 
anything you have ever seen."
	"Or you." Gabriel smiled to herself.  "But why is that so 
important?"
	"I have use of that magic." Uriel stated quietly.  The playful 
tone in her voice was still there.  "I know Azrael is planning 
something big.  However, I require only enough magic for myself and my 
House."
	Gabriel frowned.  "You...you know of a way to shape a Word 
spell?"
	"Not the entire spell." Uriel admitted.  "But just enough so I 
may use it to make my own."
	"Your own what?" Gabriel whispered.  
	"My own Hell." She whispered back, then began to laugh at the 
elder's horrified reaction.
	"You're insane!" she gasped.  "Another HELL!?!"
	The playful tone was now gone, replaced with condescendence.  
"You read names too literally." Uriel said sternly.  "Hell is simply a 
place where the Word can no longer reach.  Where I will be free of it's 
laws and it's pain." Her voice became much happier at the thought.  
"This place will be a Hell, but it will also be my Heaven.  Where my 
House and I can start a new world."
	Gabriel calmed down slightly, but her opinion that Uriel was 
insane was still the foremost thought in her mind.  "You're going to 
make your own Heaven?"
	"I want only to practice magic and live until the end of my 
days." Uriel said with a content sigh.  "Azrael is a fool.  I can see 
he makes his Word for the wrong reasons.  But then, we are all fools at 
times.  I will use his time to take me away from all this foolishness."
	"But..." Gabriel found herself thinking about it.  "...Magic is 
changed during a Word spell.  It is universal and massive.  Everything 
is different!"
	Uriel nodded happily.  "Oh yes.  You are correct." She leaned 
forward.  "Everything is MUCH easier to do during a Word Spell." She 
giggled.  "Magic flows like honey, and can be pulled along with your 
bare fingers if you know how."
	Gabriel leaned back, contemplating the information.  "I wonder if 
we'd be able to stop Azrael then?"
	"The time is too brief to cast a counter-spell." Uriel yawned, 
leaning back against the corner.  "But, there is still a moment when 
much more is possible than before."
	"Oh." Gabriel sighed.  
	"I shall now meditate." Uriel said quietly.  "If I may request a 
favor, can you leave a small meal for me before you sleep?  I may wake 
early."
	"Sure." Gabriel nodded, then watched Uriel as she slowly relaxed 
and began to breathe as if asleep.  "This is creepy." She whispered to 
herself.  "I sure hope Michael knows what he's doing right now."







	"I'm pretty sure Michael knows what he's doing." Chris said 
nervously, as Cupid shot him a glare that could kill a small animal. 
	The Senshi were still surrounded by the others, but everyone was 
relaxed, and nobody had any weapons at the ready.  Yamato was even 
chatting with a few of the higher ranking guards, letting them know 
they were on the same side, and what the situation was outside.  
	Andrea was exhausted due to the fight, and was being fussed over 
by Demeter and Maury, who offered to get her some food.  "I really hope 
we wrap this up soon." She sighed as Demeter let her relax up against 
his chest.  "I'm getting too fat for this."
	Dave was giving her a quick scan, and looked up from the computer 
with a smile.  "Well, you're doing great.  No problems.  If we keep 
doing our jobs and keep you away from sharp, waist-level objects, I 
think you and your child will both be fine."
	Miharu and Rei were sitting across from Chris and Cupid.  Cupid 
seemed to be admiring Miharu's bluish hair, and in turn, Miharu was 
blushing quite obviously.  
	"So what did you guys talk about?" Rei leaned back against him.
	"Uh...well, I didn't get in much in the way of conversation." 
Chris shrugged.  "But...considering the way the day started, I think 
the delegations went well."
	Rei smirked.  "YOU didn't get in many words?  That's gotta be a 
first."
	"Well, I couldn't." Chris shrugged.  "The yelling seemed to drown 
out most of my ideas."
	"Yelling?" Rei frowned.  
	"A lot of yelling." He smiled.  "I really didn't think anyone 
could stand up to Michael in the way of yelling.  Turns out they were 
pretty much perfectly matched."
	Maury sighed, hanging his head.  "Beautiful, and a bitch.  I'm 
going to have dreams about tying her up all erotically, but then 
kicking the shit out of her."
	"Oh." Rei sighed.  "Well, so long as they didn't start hitting 
each other."
	"Well..." Chris coughed.  "Cassiel did kick him in the nuts."
	Every male in earshot cringed; even Cupid who had no nuts to 
begin with, yet still knew it must have hurt.  "Bawbachaw!" he 
exclaimed, bounding up and down and getting tangled in his leash.
	Rei turned and looked up at him.  "And you left those two alone?  
They'll KILL each other!"
	"If they did, it would probably be through dehydration." Chris 
commented dryly.  
	Rei blinked.  "What?" she noticed Chris' raised eyebrow.  
"Oooh..."
	Miharu sighed and began to untangle Cupid.  "Sit still."
	He obeyed, helpless anyway.  It wasn't long before Miharu finally 
did untangle the little cherub, though, and smiled in satisfaction.  
"There."
	Cupid smiled happily and began to chatter his teeth together.
	Lucifer hovered over her head suddenly.  "I think he likes you, 
Miharu." 
	Both Chris and Rei sighed.  "Miharu, no dating cherubim until 
you're at least seventeen." She said.  
	Miharu quickly slunk back, blushing terribly.  "I...I was just 
untangling him..." she turned to Cupid.  "You should really just learn 
to relax, you know."
	Cupid shrugged, and actually sat still for the rest of the 
evening.  

	Love does strange things, they say.  
	
	 




















                               Chapter 16











	When it was clear that things would have to be resolved in the 
morning, the guards decided that everyone should go back to their 
quarters.  The first two big men that had noticed Chris' coat back in 
the dining hall even came up and apologized.
	Everyone was shown to slightly less lavish, yet very hospitable 
rooms for the night and dinner was waiting for them.  Dave was about to 
hit the sack when someone knocked on his door.  "Come on?" he blinked.
	Chris poked his head through.  "Hey, Dave."
	"Come on in." Dave smiled, hanging up his lab coat by the bed.  
"I was just about to nod off.  Did you need anything?"
	"Well, I was going to grab my laptop from you for the night." He 
smiled.  "Unless you needed it?"
	Dave shook his head and pulled it out of his coat's Penguinspace 
pocket.  "Not really.  I can play music inside my head anyway."
	"Really?"
	"Well, no Spice-Girls, of course." Dave smiled. 
	Chris smiled and nodded.  "Oh, I wanted to thank you for looking 
after Hooze while I was gone."
	"It was no problem." Dave nodded.  "I feel almost like a brother 
anyway." He smiled warmly.  "You all grow on a guy."
	"Just like fungus!"
	"Except with more eyeballs." Dave nodded.
	"Well..." Chris sighed.  "Anyway, I'll let you get some sleep." 
He paused.  "Tomorrow, I think we'll be ready for the final attack.  
I'll make sure you know where that exit to the Sol system is just in 
case you need it."
	"Sounds good." Dave nodded.  "Have a good sleep, Chris."
	He smiled, then closed the door behind him.  Dave yawned, crawled 
into bed, and decided he should get some sleep.  

	




	"It's strange." 
	"Mmm?" Cassiel looked up from her vantage point on Michael's 
chest.  "What's strange?"
	They lay together, huddled in the corner of Cass' bed.  Various 
articles clothing had been tossed aside, forming a trail from outside 
to the bedroom.  The only thing that seemed to keep with the strange 
ways of this universe were that two swords had also been tossed aside 
with the rest of the clothes.  
	"I was just thinking..." he said.  "I normally hate doing this."
	Cassiel blinked.
	"I hate staying in bed unless I'm sleeping." He explained.  "I 
always get bored, or start thinking all crazy.  Eventually, I just get 
up and beat the shit out of something until I go back to sleep."
	A pause.  "Do you hate it now?" she smiled sweetly.  
	"Well, at least I'm not bored." He grinned.
	They lay there for a while longer, enjoying each other's warmth.  
"You wanted to know why I didn't tell you?" she whispered. 
	He nodded.
	"I didn't want you to go off and kill yourself before I had a 
chance to say sorry." She said.
	"I accept your apology." Michael said happily.
	Cassiel frowned, then laughed.  "You're just saying that because 
of the sex."
	He shrugged.  "Hey, I'm an easy SkitZ to please." He grinned.  
"Plus, you owed it to me for kicking my nuts."
	"Everything seemed to be in excellent working order." She 
commented with a grin on her face.  "So don't complain."
	"Well..." he yawned.  "I guess we'll leave by tomorrow afternoon.  
It's going to be a long day.  Might as well get it over with."
	Cassiel was silent.
	"Don't worry." Michael offered.  "We can take care of ourselves."
	"That's not what I'm thinking about."
	"Oh?" SkitZ blinked.
	She turned and looked up at him again.  "I can send you two 
Hosts.  Cupid and I will also fight.  Will that be enough?"
	"Why the sudden change of heart?" he grinned evilly.  "Then 
again, once you've had SkitZ, you're a changed woman..."
	She laughed quietly, but shook the comment off.  "No...it's just 
that..." she shrugged.  "I don't know.  If I'm not out there helping, 
you'll have no chance.  At least this way I can make sure you don't 
kill yourself."
	"Mmph.  My hero." 
	Cassiel grinned.  "Well, someone's got to protect Princess 
Michelle, right?"
	"Princess?" Michael sat up suddenly, slid out from underneath 
her, then wrestled her still as she giggled and tried to escape.  "I'LL 
show YOU 'Princess!'"
	"My my, Princess." Cassiel laughed.  "You certainly are an ugly 
woman."
	"Well, if you were a man, I'd still do ya." Michael commented.
	"Aww, how romantic." Cass smiled, then leaned forward for a kiss.







	"Where's Miharu?" Rei yawned as Chris gently shut the door.  
	"Talking with Cupid." Chris said.  When he saw Rei's worried 
look, he just nodded.  "Maury and Beavis are with her.  She'll be 
fine."
	"Oh...okay." She replied sleepily, watching him set the little 
computer up besides the bed.  "What are you going to put on tonight?"
	They had a kind of ritual formed after all these years to listen 
to music before going to sleep.  Especially before a big battle, it 
seemed to calm the nerves and promote a nice, restful night. 
	"I don't know.  Maybe just random." The music started to play.  
Some kind of classical symphony.  It was nice, very restful.  
	"Sounds good." She nodded, then scooted over, letting Chris crawl 
into the bed behind her.  "Looking forward to going home?"
	A long pause.  "Yes."
	"How long have we been gone?"
	"Not sure." Chris shrugged.  "Less than a year, though.  I know 
that much." He smiled slightly as he wrapped his arms around her waist.  
"I hope Serena isn't worried about you.  She'll probably start crying."
	Rei smiled, knowing that was probably what would happen.  "I told 
Ami.  She probably explained it a million times by now.  Still, it has 
been a while.  I was only thinking this was going to be a month or 
two."
	"Look on the bright side." He yawned sleepily.  "Only one more 
year until the next Star Wars movie comes out."
	"Baka." She turned over so she could give him her best frown.  
"I'm trying to be serious."
	"Well, nobody's perfect." He grinned back.
	She sighed, but settled against his chest contently.  The two 
drifted off to a much needed sleep right around the time the song 
ended.  








	Miharu sighed, watching Cupid as he nervously handed her some 
tea.  "I...no, really...I just wanted some water."
	"Teeeee!" Cupid giggled happily.  "Shahehwhahaha!"
	She sighed and shook her head.  "Do you know what caffeine is?  
There's a lot in tea, and it keeps me up all night."
	Cupid promptly began to vibrate.
	"NOT like THAT!" Miharu blushed.  "I meant not being able to 
sleep!"
	That didn't help, and Cupid began to vibrate faster.  His little 
wings making quite a stir.  Maury, who had been nursing a cup of 
coffee, just smiled.  "I could have told you that."
	"You're not helping, Uncle Mo." Miharu shot him a look.  
	"Face it." Maury shrugged.  "He's a pervert.  Just like me.  And 
I say there's nothing wrong with being a pervert.  How else do you 
think your mom and dad got together?" he smiled proudly.  "Chris and I 
were the biggest perverts ever!"
	"What about those people who draw Pokemon Hentai?" Beavis asked 
suddenly.
	Maury blinked, then nodded.  "Yeah, I guess they're bigger 
perverts..." he shrugged.  "But you have to admit, we were pretty damn 
good perverts ourselves before our old age."
	"Poke!  Pokey!" Cupid said happily.  "Hentaiooooo!"
	"You're just making him worse." Miharu frowned at Beavis and 
Maury.  "Cupid, don't listen to them.  They're just being childish."
	"Fine." Maury stuck out his tongue.  
	She turned back to Cupid, who was still fluttering on occasion, 
letting his little wings carry him a few inches into the air at a time. 
"Listen.  What you need to do is find some way to use all 
that...energy...of yours."
	Cupid paused, then fluttered around some more, waiting for a 
suggestion.  "Bawbachaw?"
	She blinked, then smiled.  "You know...you're about as tall as I 
was when I got into kenjitsu.  Do you have any bokken here?"
	"Bokkenchomp?"
	Miharu nodded.  "Yeah.  Like pieces of curved wood that..."
	Maury and Cupid began to giggle.  Beavis sighed.  "You said 
'curved wood'."
	"Grr." Miharu growled at both of them, making them be quiet once 
again.  "ANYWAY...as I was saying, wood practice swords."
	Cupid thought about it for a moment and shrugged.
	"We could always carve one up for him." Maury offered.  
	"That's good." Miharu smiled brightly.  "You'll be whacking wood 
in no time flat..."
	Of course, even Beavis had to laugh at that one.  
	
	Miharu sighed, stood up and walked off.  "I'm going to bed."

		

	















                              Chapter 17







	


	Above was endless sky.  An infinite heaven with nobody to divide 
it between, and only one's self to conquer it from.  Only a slight cold 
on his back gave away the existence of the ground.
	Laying in the snow, Azrael watched the clouds roll by.  Some were 
flying so low, he could reach out and brush his fingers with the gentle 
mists.  If it weren't for the Noize, the scene would be extremely 
relaxing.  Almost peaceful in it's beauty and simplicity.  
	With the Noize, however, it was terrifyingly slow.  Like time 
drawing out, torturing his mind with nothing.  A visual manifestation 
of the deepest parts of the Noize.  Where heaven was always just an 
arm's length away from your face, but your back refused to move from 
the biting cold ground.

	"Why do you do that?"

	He turned and looked to his side, gently brushing the snow away 
from his eyes.  Sitting besides him was a small boy wearing a little 
black vest over a white shirt and some kind of dark sunglasses.  White 
gloves on his hands reminded Azrael of some kind of third rate 
illusionist who would perform at parties and gatherings.

	"Pardon?" Azrael finally answered.  

	"You keep reaching up at the clouds." The little boy said with a 
shrug.  "Why do you do that?"
	Azrael turned back to the clouds, not worrying about why the boy 
was there.  "They bring me peace." He said softly.  
	"That is a lie." The little boy giggled.
	The Knight turned with a growl.  "Where are your parents.  Go 
bother them.  I am in no mood for your voice."
	"You watch them still." The boy shrugged, ignoring the comment.  
"You watch them so your mind will be full of Noize.  So you will 
remember that you lost them once.  That you lost Heaven."
	"What do you know of me?" Azrael frowned, ignoring the boy.  "I 
never lost Heaven."
	"You never had it." The boy accused.
	"WHAT?" Azrael sat up, glaring at the little boy, who was smiling 
right at him.  "What do YOU know of anything, little man?  Do you even 
know who you're talking to?"
	"I know." The boy nodded with an eerie, calm smile.  "You're a 
spoiled little brat."
	Azrael's fists clenched.  
	"You never deserved what the Pool gave you." Continued the boy.  
"Nobody really does...but you least of all." He leaned closer.  "You're 
so much worse than Lucifer.  You won't even realize you've fallen until 
you have lost every feather on your back."
	There was a sudden, sharp pain on Azrael's shoulder, and he 
gasped, reaching back to find something sticky, warm and wet.  When he 
withdrew his hand, it came back bloody.  Before he could question it, 
another pain rocked his mind from his other side, and he fell over 
against the snow, desperately trying to dull the pain.

	Unrelenting, the boy continued.  

	"I know of your plans, Azrael." He smiled.  "I know you wish to 
be the next..." he laughed "...the next God.  But that can never be."
	Azrael lay there, shivering as a puddle of red began to spread, 
turning the snow a similar color, and melting it to add to the mess.  
"I will succeed!  We are all our own Gods."
	The boy nodded.  "That is true..." he sighed.  "But you wish to 
be everyone's God.  It was not enough that you were allowed to serve 
for the same ideals.  Men and women would beg to have that honor, but 
you only bickered about not having more power."
	The larger man could only lay there and watch as the sky turned 
into a storm.  "W...what's happening?"
	"Your Heaven." The boy looked up with a frown.  "Your Heaven will 
be nothing.  Your own fantasies mixed in with false power.  All the 
while, you are nothing but a puppet in a sick game." 
	"Shut up..." Azrael whispered.
	"But what you didn't plan on..." continued the boy "was that 
while you made yourself so pure and focused, you discarded the good 
parts of your own soul.  That soul that has now grown into something 
more than you could ever be." He smiled, looking down at the shivering 
Archangel.  "Someone with a kind heart.  Someone who understands honor 
and the virtue of protecting, instead of destroying."
	"SHUT UP!" 
	"Look below you, Azrael." The boy smiled.  He pointed to a pile 
of gore that had thawed from the snow.  Bodies by the thousands now 
lifted him up like a mountain.  Faces of fellow angels just as numerous 
as the innocents of the wars.  "All your deeds are pushing you toward 
your so-called Heaven."
	"SHUT UP!!!" Begged Azrael as he felt himself being lifted 
towards the now-turbulent storm.  "STOP THIS!"
	"But you're so CLOOOOSE!" the boy whispered.  "Why would you want 
to stop now?  What's a few more bodies to help you up to your Heaven?  
It's just a matter of time, right?" he laughed playfully.  "So VERY 
soon!  You just have to wait a little while longer!"
	Azrael nodded quickly.  "That's right.  Just one more night.  
That's all..."
	
	Silence.

	Azrael looked up from the ground.  It was gone, replaced by 
perfect, white clouds, capped by a beautiful blue sky.  

	Slow realization came to him.  

	He had made it!

	Heaven.

	No...

	HIS Heaven!

	But he was not alone.  The little boy was standing next to him, 
shaking his head.
	"What?" Azrael grinned, kneeling down to face the little boy.  
"Are you scared you're wrong?  That I might succeed?  Are you some 
pitiful attempt at a dream spell to scare me out of my Grace?" he began 
to laugh.  It was a low, haunting laugh.  "You said yourself, that it 
was only a matter of time.  That it was so soon."

	The little Christopher looked up with a smile.  Sunlight 
reflected off his sunglasses.  

	"Not soon." He said quietly.

	Azrael's smile faded as he noticed something being reflected off 
the little boy's glasses.  Something...behind...

	He turned, face to face with Strike Fiss.

	Strike Fiss wore a perfect copy of his younger smile.  He also 
held his sword off to the side, ready for a strike.  This time, as he 
opened his mouth, he did not say "soon."

	"Now."

	Even before he could scream, Azrael was cut in half.
	










	Azrael woke, drenched in sweat.  To his credit, however, he did 
not scream.  He held onto his tongue, forcing the dim morning light to 
kick his mind into reality and away from the nightmare.  
	"Shit..." he whispered, taking deep breaths.  "Him again..."
	This dream had been much worse than any before.  Not only did the 
other Him seem to know what was going on in the real world, but that 
strange copy of his with the shorter hair and piercing eyes actually 
killed him!  
	The sheer audacity for his sleep induced mind to want to commit 
suicide was bloody annoying.  
	
	Of course, that train of thought was interrupted as he looked 
down through the crystal dome.  He had spent the last night in the 
observation room, finishing another Calling spell, and had slept on one 
of the makeshift beds.  
	As he gazed out over his City's shadow, however, something was 
different.  A small glimmer of light.  Almost like something just below 
the surface of the water.  
	Even through the red clouds and morning frost, he could see it 
plain as day.  A shimmering light that seemed to be getting brighter 
and brighter with each passing second.  It took his straining eyes a 
moment to distinguish the shape...Almost like thousands of little 
slivers of metal...swords...

	A cloud?

	It moved suddenly, heading closer to shore and away from the 
shadowy reflection of the City of Fiss.  Beneath the water, however, he 
could see a long, snaking tube connecting somewhere down below, into 
the water.  Finally, however, the cloud began to change as it slid over 
the shore.  

	And the Angels began to pour out.  

	If on cue, Raphael came running in, desperately clinging to a 
report in his hands.  "LORD AZRAEL!" he yelled.  "It's..."
	
	"Cassiel." He smirked.  

	"Yes!" he gasped.  "What are we going to do?  The Hosts are 
already deploying, there's not enough time to set up any firm ground 
battle."
	Azrael simply strode past his larger companion with a glare.  
"Deploy our Hosts.  Recall the others from the front.  Prepare the City 
for invasion." He paused.  "Bring me Yamato and the other Knight when 
you find him.  I'll be here."
	Raphael blinked.  "L...Are you sure?"
	"Just do it." He turned after fixing his weapon to his belt.  
"Kill everyone else.  Michael is yours to do with as you see fit."
	"Yes...sir..." Raphael ran off and slid down the access hall.  
	Alone again, Azrael watched a growing storm-cloud of angels 
forming at the entrance to the tube.  His smile was gone, though he 
showed no fear.  

	"Now, indeed."





















                              Chapter 18








	A'albiel had stayed there for days.  After a while, they ran 
together.  Even a Cherub could not enter the strange cold clouds 
without becoming frozen after only moments.  
	What was it that Mister Reinquest had called them?  Aluminum?  
Ammonium Nitrate clouds?  Strange words, but he seemed to already know 
what they could do.  
	Just sitting next to the red cloud meant suffering extreme cold 
that even the harshest winters would never be able to bring by 
themselves.  They were horrible to battle next to.  Winter wars were 
almost never fought in such strange conditions, as both sides would 
suffer terribly to the cold. 
	The Virtues were still waiting inside the cloud that had yet to 
dissipate.  It was the little Cherub's duty to make sure he got them 
back safely.

	When he first noticed the black and silver flashing cloud growing 
nearby, he feared the worst, and had begun to cast a protection spell 
around the valley so as not to be discovered.
	"So, this will be how it ends." He whispered to himself as he 
noticed the angels begin to rain down onto the snow.  "Dammit...and 
Michael still owed me ten bucks."
	
	"What was that????"

	The little cherub almost shit his diaper.  When he turned around, 
there was Michael...and someone else he hadn't seen for a very long 
time.

	Cassiel smiled, pulling her winter coat around herself as she 
leaned over and tapped the smaller angel on the nose.  "Aww, 
Michael...you didn't tell me you had such adorable friends like this!"
	Stunned, mostly from surprise, A'albiel just stood there as 
Michael grinned.  "Hey!  A'a!  I didn't know you were here!?!"
   	Finally regaining his bearings, A'albiel smiled and bowed deeply, 
then mentioned how wonderful it was to see them both...and also 
wondered why Michael was glowing.
	"I am NOT glowing!" Michael grumbled.
	Cass shot the little cherub a sly smile.  "He's glowing."
	A'albiel smiled, and then got serious.  He told of Anafiel's 
betrayal, Uriel's escape, but containment, and the three Virtues that 
were in the valley below, probably buried under layers of ice by now.  

	Michael's jaw had dropped open.  "That FUCKING COOTER!"

	Even Cassiel looked shaken.  "Your two High Ministers?"
	"Fuck...I'm going to kill Azrael for this shit..." Michael 
growled.  "If Fissy gets him first, then I'll piss on Azrael's remains 
instead."
	A'albiel offered to do the same, if he had the ability to 
urinate.
	"Thanks buddy." Michael sighed, then cringed.  "Okay, all that 
can come later." He turned to the sun, that was just starting to rise.  
"Let's get with the others.  The sooner we start, the sooner we can get 
to the pissing."
	A'albiel blinked, then wondered that he meant.  Were they to 
attack NOW?  Without an army?  It would be impossible!
	"Follow us." Michael smiled, then followed Cassiel's lead.  

	The little cherub shrugged and hovered besides the two as they 
crossed the valleys.  It was only a short climb, and they could already 
see the crystal dome on top of the City reflecting the early morning 
sun.  
	"We noticed the power emanating from this valley." Michael filled 
in.  "Caused by the three Virtues in one place.  We came to check it 
out, incase Gabriel and the rest of you all were here for some reason."
	A'albiel asked where the others were.
	"Right over here." Cass said.  "We're ready for the final 
assault."
	Curious, the little cherub mentioned how he remembered the 
initial plan called for a sneak attack.
	"Well, the others are still fighting the main force." Michael 
said.  "Probably around the Howling Desert by now.  So long as we can 
keep them split up, we have a chance with an all out attack."
	They reached the top of the valley, now leading down to the 
shore.  

	A'albiel almost shit his diapers again...had it been physically 
possible for him to do so. 

	Fifteen thousand angels, mages and Dominions stood ready, 
literally filling the plain.  Wow.
	"Not bad, eh?" Michael smiled, looking over to Cassiel.
	"I have to admit, I missed this Divine Wrath thing." She sighed 
happily.  "It's the best part of the job."
	"Isn't it, though?" SkitZ grinned as they made their way down to 
the assembled armies. 








	Dave was making sure everyone knew how to use the special 
features on the last four remaining Pookies as they got ready.  Miharu 
and Cupid had paired up.  Considering Cupid's abilities to scare the 
hell out of anyone, Rei agreed.  He'd be a good bodyguard.  
	She, and Yamato also got a Pookie, and the last remaining one 
went to himself.  Dave had also given Demeter the last bit of glass he 
had in Penguinspace to top off his body's supply.  If there was ever a 
time, it was now.  
	Already, they could see angels begin to swarm around the City of 
Fiss like insects.  They would have to start the attack soon.  This 
would be an aerial battle since most of the water had not yet succumbed 
to winter ice.  
	The construction of the City of Fiss was slightly different then 
they were used to, but would come in handy if they could just get close 
enough to it.  Surrounding the base was a wide rock ledge that could be 
used for a ground attack once they got onto it.  Even if they couldn't 
breach the walls immediately, at least they wouldn't have to fly around 
all the time.
	That was great, considering some of them couldn't fly anyway.  
	Maury checked his belt, insuring he had a nice amount of Sol 
Stars to use, and then brought out a bo that Dave had stored for him.  
"What's this made out of?" he asked, impressed at it's balance.
	"Aluminum tetrocarbon plastique wrapped with the same armor 
Chris' vest is made out of." Dave said as he checked his Pookie.  "In 
fact, it will probably stand up to the Virtues, so long as you don't 
misuse it."
	"Sweeeeeeeeeeet." Maury grinned, spinning it around once.
	Andrea sighed and flexed her fingers, getting ready for spells to 
be cast.  In her other hand was her Time Key.  The smaller, but similar 
copy of Pluto's staff.  "Well, I guess we didn't come all this way for 
the scenery, now did we."
	"How ya doing, Hooze?" Chris asked, flexing his wrists to get 
them ready for swordplay.  
	"I crave pickles and orange Jell-O, but otherwise I'm fine." She 
smiled.  "Besides, I have Maury to watch my back, right?"
	"Damn right." He growled.  "If you think I'm letting you and your 
kid out of my sight, you're in for a surprise."
	"See?" she smiled.  "I'm all set."
	Demeter gave Maury a smile and nodded.  "Thanks, Maury."
	"This is all YOUR fault, you know." Maury grumbled.  "So you 
better help or I'll make sure you can't have any MORE kids!"
	"I will!" he backed up as Maury swung his new bo dangerously 
close to Demeter's groin.
	"You really think we can do this?" Lucifer frowned as he watched 
the sun rise.
	Chris nodded.  "That's the FIRST thing you have to do if you want 
your wings back, Lucy.  Never give up."
	"I'm not giving up." He glared, then shrugged.  "I just seem to 
have more experience with fighting angels than most angels do."
	Fiss nodded, then took out his sword.  "Well, now's your chance, 
Lucy.  Just remember.  Think happy thoughts.  Even as you crack 
people's heads open."
	Lucifer grinned.  "I always do."
	Chris shook his head.  "Well, whatever works."
	"Oh my..." Lucifer whispered.
	"What?" Chris turned to the horizon.  
	"I..." he blinked.  "I haven't done this in...years." Lucifer 
paused as he watched the sunlight begin to flood over the ocean.  
	As if on cue, every angel behind them stopped talking and 
clattering and moving about, and everyone turned to the sunrise.  It 
was beautiful.  For one, perfect moment, a valley of Death became a 
smiling group of humbled angels, each enjoying the coming day's 
entrance.  Anyone who didn't already have their wings open promptly 
shed their coats and stretched in the cool winter air.  
	A collective deep breath seemed to be mandatory, and the Senshi 
all smiled at the sight.  Dave promised himself to re-think his 
position on the angels and their war.  If anything, they were still 
very inspiring when fighting for the right reasons.  "We'll this is 
it." He sighed.
	Yamato and Beavis both smiled and nodded.  "In case we don't have 
time later, I just want to wish you all good luck." Beavis said.
	"Luck?" Yamato laughed.  "Luck's got nothing to do with it."
	Dave smiled.  "Now I know where Chris gets it from."
	
	They were interrupted as a distant thundering roar echoed out 
over the water.  Small clouds of Fiss warriors began to cross the gap, 
lead by a small force of War Dominions and their riders.  There had to 
be at least a hundred in the first wave, not to mention the rest still 
grouped with the Hosts.  
	"Oooh, this is going to be fun." Fiss smiled.
	"You always say that." Andrea commented.
	"What can I say." He shrugged.  "I love my life." 
	"Glad someone does." Hooze chuckled.  
	"Ahh shad up and do your stuff." Chris grumbled. 
	"Jan Ken Pon..." she grinned.  "STONE!!"

	Her punch impacted hundreds of feet away, growing in size until 
it splattered ten of the massive beasts like flies in mid-air.  Parts 
of dragon and angel splashed down into the cold waters below.  

	"You're right." Hooze smiled.  "Very fun."

















                              Chapter 19








	Raphael was smiling.  

	Not because the battle.  Actually, if he had cared about the 
casualty ratio, he would have been quite worried indeed.  Luckily, 
these were not his armies at stake, so he allowed a small smile.
	Somehow...somewhere...Michael had pulled together an assault from 
the seat of his pants.  It was incredible.  The sheer determination of 
the Knight of SkitZ was enough to make even he proud.  
	"Well done..." he chuckled as another explosion rocked the sky 
nearby, knocking the feathers from more of the Fiss troops.  
	
	The battle was complex, and on all fronts.  Whoever could still 
fly was in the air, eating away at, or being the defenses that hovered 
around the City like a cloud.  Despite the initial surplus of Fiss 
angels, the two groups were now almost evenly matched.  
	Had they been Michael's own Hosts, Raphael mused they may have 
already won by now.  Still, the Bri attackers had some skill, enough to 
combat Fiss.  
	Air battles were always the most spectacular to watch.  They 
lasted longer and were so complex, one would need a dozen eyes just to 
watch half of it.  Hundreds of dog-fights combined with massive-scale 
chunks of a Host.  You could almost watch the battle itself as one 
entity, or rather two halves of one.  
	What worried Raphael were the small group still left far off on 
the shore.  Occasionally, he would catch a glimpse of a spark or flash 
of light, and somewhere, even this far away, dozens of the Fiss would 
be hit by magic.  
	Luck was with the City, however, as some of the lower areas were 
now hazed with the red winter clouds.  Few dared to get close.  In 
doing so, one could freeze their wings solid, even without entering 
them.  They were a protection against any direct assault, and would 
probably last far into the day.  
	Though he hoped for a chance to challenge Michael himself, 
Raphael decided that this battle was probably too little, too late.  
Azrael had been correct.  It would not be in time to stop the spell. 
	With another scan over the battle, Raphael decided he should get 
ready for the final stages.  






	Chris grabbed the reins on the Dominion just in time to avert the 
jet of flame away from a few of Cassiel's fighters, and into the path 
of three advancing Mages.  Though the massive dragon struggled, it 
didn't pull away in time, and the surprised mages screamed briefly 
before being burnt into toast.  
	With that accomplished, Chris angled the Dominion down at two 
other Dominions, and cut off it's head.  As the dead beast fell, Fiss 
concentrated, hovered, and then launched out a streak of blue energy 
from his sword, that impacted into the Dominion's belly just as it 
reached the two others.  
	The explosion engulfed all three, and then amplified with the 
addition of more explosive chemicals.   There were only ten or so 
Dominions left...oh...nine...Michael slit one in half not too far away.
	Cover-fire was being provided by the Pookies, but most of the 
battle was up close and dirty.  Miharu was given a lift via Cupid, 
who's tiny wings put out a surprising amount of lift.  Occasionally, 
Chris would see his daughter zip past, then come back with blood on her 
sword.  
	Like he had taught her, she stayed very focused.  Even during the 
more...gory...deaths, she never got phased once.  She was actually 
tutoring Cupid when she could as well, explaining afterwards about 
certain strikes. 
	"Ahh, my baby's all grown up." Chris sighed, then extended his 
sword to the side to catch a surprised angel off guard.  A sickening 
slurp later, and the man fell to the ocean in two pieces.
	Maury was having a ball.  He had finally been able to use his 
flame-on attack, though much slower.  At the moment, he was a 
zigzagging jet of flame that was ramming through two more Dominions, 
adding to the large clouds of smoke caused by Chris and Michael.  
Though the view was probably not that great...flying through a dragon's 
intestines and coming out on the other side...it certainly was 
effective.
	Dave finally caught up with Chris, somehow hovering.  "They're 
stalling us." He coughed, out of breath.
	"I know." Chris nodded, turning to the City.  "Need cover?"
	"Sure." He checked the levels on his Pookie.  "Just don't get 
near that red shit.  It's that crap they use in instant-cold packs."
	"Got it." Fiss grabbed Dave's collar, helping him along, and then 
flew towards the City.
	Cassiel and Michael joined them moments later.  "We have to 
breach the wall!" he yelled over another explosion nearby, this time 
via a very well times shot by Rei.  
	"That armor's too thick!" Cass warned.  "I've already had Mages 
try against it.  Something's protecting it."
	Michael and Chris both began to cut a thick path through the 
guards, all the way to the massive City that loomed up around them.  
They were high, about half-way up the mountain-like structure, but it 
was the only place not almost covered by the red clouds.  
	Cassiel kept an eye on Dave as he took aim at the blue, gray and 
black metal pattern and lights.  "Pinpoint discharge!  Full stream!  
Everyone get clear!"
	"Think this will work?" she whispered.
	"It always does." Dave nodded.  "Locked, Cocked, READY TO ROCK!"

	CRACK!

	A blue and white explosion threw them all back as the green beam 
dissipated.  However, there was only a charred dent in the City's 
meters-thick armor.  
	Dave blinked, then shrugged.  "Mmm, that's a new one on me!"
	Chris wound up with his blade and stabbed it right into the dent.  
Thought the blade did slide through to an extent, it stopped after only 
inches.  "SHIT this stuff is strong!" he tried to pull free the blade.  
"Dammit!  FISS!"
	His sword came loose, but the armor only showed a small scratch 
for his efforts.  Michael tried the same, but even his crushing, heavy 
blade could make only scratches.  "Well, so much for that..." he 
huffed, then got angry and kicked the side of the City with all his 
force. 
	"How are we going to get in now?" Cassiel said.  "This battle is 
just to slow us down.  They might be calling re-enforcements as we 
speak!"
	Dave had his laptop out, scanning already.  "Shit...more 
interference." He paused.  "But...if we could get a big enough 
explosion, it might work."
	"But the antimatter did shit!" Chris blinked, flapping his wings 
once to stay in place.
	"That's because it was concentrated on one point." Dave said.  
"Just like your swords.  If we could get that kind of power to a wider 
area, it should buckle at least some of the internal structure." 
	Michael nodded.  "Got it.  I'll get Hooze and Maury here.  If we 
concentrate enough energy on this one spot, it might work."
	"Maury does have the most raw energy." Fiss nodded.
	"And I'll see if I can throw the remaining Dominions over here." 
He smiled.
	As if on cue, a howling dragon slammed into the wall just past 
them, and they all shielded their eyes from the explosion.  Lucifer 
smiled a few meters away.  "Oops.  I should have warned you, Michael."
	"Yeah.  Remember that for next time, asshole."
	Cassiel sighed.  "Now now, boys."

	Maury landed next to the others on the shore, breathing heavily.  
Andrea frowned.  "You okay, Mo?"
	"Yeah, just a little tiring." He coughed.  "And I smell like 
barbequed Mo."
	Demeter shot another volley of antimatter to ward off the latest 
group of attackers.  "What are the others doing by the wall?" his eyes 
automatically adjusted like a telescope. 
	"I think they were trying to breach the armor.  If we could get 
inside, this battle would be much easier." Maury sighed as he heated a 
handful of snow in his hand so he could have a quick drink.  
	"Hey, Maury..." Demeter frowned.  "What did Dave call them spooky 
red clouds?"
	"Ammonium nitrate." Maury coughed.  "Why?"
	Demeter smiled.  "Isn't that a high explosive???"
	Maury blinked, then nodded.  "Yeah, from the old Terrorist 
Handbook days.  The only problem is that it needs a really good trigger 
to ignite it."
	"What kind of trigger?"
	"Uh...lots of heat." Maury coughed.  "But even I couldn't get 
enough heat.  You'd have to do it to the entire cloud, or it would just 
fizzle away like a firework."
	Andrea noticed the sparkle in Demeter's eye.  "What is it, 
honey?"
	"I...I think I can do it!" he said excitedly, looking up at the 
sun, now almost to it's highest point in the sky.  
	Maury looked up at it too, and shook his head.  "We'd have to 
focus it.  Otherwise, it won't be hot enough."
	"I can do it." Demeter grinned.  "Tell everyone to get away from 
that cloud hovering around the base."
	Maury nodded, then took to the air.  "I hope you know what you're 
doing."

	"HEEEYA!" Fiss launched out another blue slash, but it simply 
wasn't making enough damage. 
	Michael, at the same time, was focusing a beam of solid sound, 
trying to make the metal resonate, but there was too much to break.  
They needed something much bigger.  "FUCK!" he turned to Chris.  "No 
wonder Azrael got the Throne.  You bloody well NEED one to get through 
this shit."
	A sudden jet of flame slid to a stop next to them, and Maury 
dissolved out of it, panting.  "Man, that's hot."
	"Good, we need your help here." Chris said.
	Maury shook his head.  "No!  I came to warn you.  Demeter's going 
to try something.  I think he's going to ignite one of the clouds!"
	Dave's eyes widened.  "Oh my god!  That's PERFECT!" he looked 
around.  "That one?" he pointed below their hovering feet.
	Mo nodded.  "That one."
	"Okay." Dave took charge.  "Cassiel, does your attack generate 
any heat?"
	"Damn rights I'm hot." She laughed.
	"Okay, I'll set this Pookie to thermal detonation at the same 
time.  That should do it.  If Demeter can do the rest, that is."
	Chris and Michael nodded.  "Lets get everyone back."
	"How far?" Michael blinked.
	"Far." Dave smiled.  "This will be big."

	Andrea watched in amazement as Demeter began to morph.  It was 
slow and smooth, not like some cheesy sci-fi rip-off.  Rather more 
organic, like something growing into something else.
	He thinned out and began to expand into a large disk.  As he did, 
his clothes turned transparent, along with his body, except for his 
back, turning almost reflective.  A small blob at the base showed his 
Zistle body was out of the way.  Though thin, he began to make slight 
ripples in his forward surface, forming a flat lens.  
	"Stand back!" he warned suddenly. 
	Andrea, Rei and Yamato all nodded and quickly put distance 
between them and Demeter as he solidified his structure.  
	"He's going to use that crystal dome!" Yamato said in amazement 
as he noticed the sun was lining up almost perfectly now.  A bright 
spot of light, about the size of a compact car, was now inching towards 
the giant lens-Demeter.
	Sure enough, the light hit Demeter dead on, and he soaked it up 
for a good minute, getting brighter and brighter as the light became 
more and more intense inside his body.  
	"Demeter?" Andrea blinked, wondering what his plan was.
	"Just a second..." he said, though his voice seemed distant, like 
he was concentrating.  "Stand back..." he warned again, then began to 
re-shape back into his human form.
	Finally, after about a minute, he stood there again, fully 
formed, eyes closed.  "Ready!  Aim!" he smiled.  "ZZZZZZZZZZZAP!"

	Demeter pointed his finger right at the base of the City of 
Fiss...then let out a blast of light.

	Andrea and the others had to shield their eyes from the amazing 
red beam.

	The red light focused onto the cloud, and began to superheat it.  
Any angel unlucky enough to be in the way was vaporized instantly in 
the brief, but massive beam of energy.
	At the same time, Dave tossed in his Pookie.  The tiny weapon 
slid through the fog for less then a second, then exploded in a ball of 
pure heat.  Also, Cassiel closed her eyes, pointed her sword, and let 
out a beam of scalding white light.

	That was when the cloud exploded.






	Raphael fell flat on his face as the entire City was shook by the 
blast.  "What the HELL was THAT?!!" he yelled, getting to his feet as 
Mages and swordsmen scrambled around him, wondering what was going on. 
	"You're good, Michael." He found himself saying as he ran to the 
nearest vertical passage way.  "Damn you're good."






	As the dust cleared, Demeter smiled, now relaxing from the heat 
he had just collected.  "COOL!"
	Andrea, Rei and Yamato were all in awe.  "I didn't know you could 
do that, Demeter...?" Rei said weakly.
	"I didn't know either!" he laughed.  "That was NEAT!"
	"Uh...one thing, Demeter." Andrea walked over to him and placed a 
hand on his shoulder.  "Why did you say 'Zap'?"
	"Well, light is silent, right?" Demeter shrugged.  "So I figured 
I needed a cool sound-effect.  Zap seemed a good one.  I was also 
thinking about using Blam."
	The three of them almost fell over in surprise.
	"That's my Demeter." Andrea smiled. 




















                               Chapter 20











	Coughing from the dust, a team of swordsmen climbed through the 
rubble in the hall, already drawing their sword.  "What happened?" one 
asked.
	"It must have been some kind of new spell." Replied another.  
	"Set up a defense parameter until the repairs get here." The 
leader ordered quickly as his teams set up next to the smoking hole in 
the outer wall.  
	Nobody was really prepared for a bright, yellow barbed spear to 
slide through the smoke, however, and A'albiel managed to kill half of 
them even before they realized what was going on.  
	Michael forced himself through the tiny opening, followed by 
Lucifer and Christopher.  By then, the tiny team of guards was no more, 
and they sheathed their swords after making sure nobody else was in the 
hall yet.  
	"Okay." Dave said, sliding through the hole thanks to his 
transportation abilities.  When he materialized, he had the remaining 
laptop open and scanning.  "There's less interference in her.  I'll 
have a rudimentary map of the City in less than ten minutes."
	Cassiel came in next, then Miharu and Cupid, who both seemed glad 
to be on solid ground again.
	Chris looked around.  This was nothing like the other Cities.  
While Bri and SkitZ had built their palaces like hollowed out 
mountains, this structure, from what he could see, had much more 
internal working.  
	Lit passages ran left and right, though he could also see holes 
in the roof and floor at regular intervals to allow access to other 
levels.  Doors opened up onto the halls every so often.  Almost 
everything, aside from an occasional bit of script on the intersections 
looked almost identical.  It was a bloody maze.
	"Man, what I wouldn't give for a GPS tracker right now." Maury 
whispered as he poked his head inside.  The hole the explosion made was 
just big enough for a full grown man or two to slide through at the 
same time, but it was also jagged, and had to be carefully entered.
	"Wouldn't work." Dave commented.  "Need the satellites as well as 
the tracker.  Plus, they don't work in three-dimensions very well."
	A'albiel commented that he preferred the open space of the SkitZ 
City much better.
	"Well, just remember.  Once Azrael's dead, we can get back to 
places slightly less fucked up." Michael nodded. 
	Lucifer yawned and took advantage of the dull moment to lean up 
against the wall.  "Well, Azrael's probably in the bubble at the top of 
the City, but you can bet there's going to be some serious resistance 
getting there.  If I were me, I'd go to the Gardens.  That's probably 
where he drew whatever spell he's planning to activate."
	"Where are the Gardens?" Fiss frowned.
	With a spooky smile, Lucifer pointed down.  "Beeloooooowww..." he 
whispered, then chuckled.
	Michael smiled.  "Yes.  In the most spooky place in the entire 
City.  Where else?"
	Dave nodded.  "The path should be fairly simple.  You just need 
to get to the center access column." He showed Fiss the computer 
screen.  "It leads the farthest way down, though you might have to blow 
through those two doors to keep going."
	Chris nodded.  "Okay.  Lucifer, you know where they are?"
	Lucifer nodded.  "I think I can get there again."
	Cassiel shook her head.  "If you two are going, you're going to 
need help once you find the spell.  I'll go too."
	"Okay." Chris said, turning to Miharu.  "You and Cupid get all 
the others up here.  Bring some of the Host if you notice any really 
good swordsmen, honey.  We might need them."
	Cupid sketched a salute that looked very official.  Even though 
he was still very jittery looking, at least he was wearing clothes this 
time.  Bright silver and gold armor.
	"Be careful, dad." Miharu ran over and gave him a quick hug 
before walking back out of the breach, assisted by Cupid, who held her 
by her shoulders as he flew.  
	Michael turned to Chris.  "Dave, A'albiel, Maury and I will see 
what we can do to track down Raphael and anyone else who might cause 
problems once the others get here.  By the time you get that spell un-
made, we'll have cleared a path right to Azrael." He smiled.  "I 
believe you'll want the honors."
	Chris nodded, but didn't smile.  "If you see the fucker, kill 
him.  Don't let him escape just because you don't want to finish him 
off yourself." He looked over to A'albiel.  "We all have reasons."
	"Oooh goodie." SkitZ grinned.  "So if I kill him, you won't be 
mad?"
	"I'll buy you a case of peaches when I get back." Chris nodded.
	"Deal."
	Dave gave Chris his laptop back after the scan was done and he 
memorized the data.  "Okay.  Just follow the route there.  I'm sure 
Lucifer knows the rest."
	"Thanks." Chris smiled, then turned.  "Come on, people.  Time to 
go gardening."
	"Bad joke." Cassiel grinned. 
	"I know." He snickered.
	Michael cleared his throat as Cassiel was about to follow the 
other two around the corner.  She stopped, and turned with a slight 
grin.  "Yes, Princess?"
	He batted his eyelashes.  "Don't get yourself killed, okay?"
	Cassiel raised her eyebrow.  "Is that a badly disguised attempt 
at saying you'd miss me?"
	"More or less." Michael nodded toughly, though he had a hint of a 
smile.  
	She nodded, then blew him a kiss.  "You too, big guy.  Watch your 
wings."
	With that, she disappeared around the corner.  Michael sighed, 
then turned his attention to the hole in the wall as Maury helped 
Andrea through the breach.  







	"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE INSIDE?!!" Azrael yelled.
	Raphael sighed, having quite enough of this.  "You heard me.  The 
team to guard the breach hasn't reported back, and one of the cherubim 
have already spotted intruders."
	"Where are they headed?" the smaller angel demanded.  "How many?"
	"Probably only a dozen or so at the moment, but I believe both 
Michael and Cassiel are among them.  Maybe even Gabriel.  I can sense 
three Virtues."
	"So can I." Azrael grumbled.  "I should have never sent Uriel out 
into the battle.  At least then we'd have someone who could counter 
Cass."
	"The lack of foresight would seem to have a negative effect on 
the situation, Lord." He commented with a grin.
	Azrael shot him a look that could have melted flesh.  "Find them.  
And when you leave, seal up the upper levels.  I do not want to be 
disturbed."
	Raphael blinked.  The seals?  If he did decide to stop Azrael, it 
would be difficult for even HE to break through the script.  "Lord!  I 
insist otherwise!" he said nervously, not wanting to seem worried.
	"What?" Azrael frowned.  "Why??"
	"I cannot leave your side in these final hours." Raphael 
demanded.  "You do not know what Michael may have planned.  He's 
already broken into the City, and the Hosts from the field are at least 
an hour away still!"
	Azrael didn't buy it.  "This spell will be completed at ALL 
costs.  If that means I will have to fight another seven Knights 
myself, I will succeed.  Now go.  Make sure it doesn't come to that." 
He demanded.  
	Raphael hesitated still.
	"I will still be able to escape if needed." Azrael sighed.  "Now, 
go.  Find Michael and Cassiel."
	Finally, Raphael sighed, bowed, and headed for the floor exit.  
"Good luck, Azrael."
	In a rare common insight with his alter ego, Azrael said  "Luck?  
Luck is no longer in play."
	
	There was a loud swishing sound as the exits all sealed 
themselves, except for one.  His own personal halls.  He would still 
have access to the entire City, but nobody would have access to this 
place. 
	Perfect. 

	The final pieces were in place.  Michael and his friends would 
receive more meaningless pawns to play with, and never, ever, would 
they see the grand scheme of the board until it was too late.
	All Azrael had to do was find Yamato and the Eighth before 
nightfall.  Both were close.  He could feel it.

	Strange, thought Azrael as he walked over to the edge of his dome 
to watch the battle.  Yamato and Michael had taught him chess long ago, 
yet neither were as advanced as he was today.  "Proof." He whispered as 
he watched the two armies fight.  "Proof that one can raise themselves 
from their original state." He smiled.  "As far as necessary..."
	His mind replayed the last part of his dream from that morning.  
"And we shall see who gets their Heaven."

	He walked over to the exit, now partially sealed, except for the 
branch that lead to his network of passages.  As he descended into 
them, he held his axe in his hands.  It almost seemed to glow in the 
dim light.

	
















                                Chapter 21










	In such a large City, it was strange Chris found himself 
getting claustrophobic in the narrow spaces.  An uneasy silence 
followed the three as they walked.  Fiss carried his sword along the 
back of his arm, not willing to let his guard down for a second.
	"You really do look like him." Cassiel said suddenly as they 
found the main vertical access tunnel.  
	"Pardon?" Chris turned.  
	"Like Azrael." She smiled softly.  "Not a bad thing.  He used to 
be one of the world's most eligible bachelors." She paused.  "Well, 
until the whole 'evil plan to destroy the world' rumor started leaking 
out."
	He smiled and shrugged.  "Well, I can assure you, I am not him." 
He frowned as they each spread their wings and began to descend down 
the dark, inclined space.  
	"I know that." Cassiel nodded.  "If I thought any differently, I 
would have killed you long ago."
	"Thanks for the vote of trust." Fiss replied with a grin.
	"I see the way you look at Rei." She continued.  "And how she 
looks back.  That kind of love doesn't happen between bad people."
	Fiss blinked, then smiled brightly.  "Really?  You think so?"
	Lucifer sighed.  "Stop it, you two.  All this warm and fuzzy 
stuff is making me sick."
	Cassiel laughed quietly.  "Poor Lucifer.  You know, back when I 
was a little girl, I had the biggest crush on you..."
	A loud 'SMACK!' echoed around them as Lucifer temporarily lost 
his concentration and slammed his head into the side of the wall.  
"What?!"
	"Just kidding." She grinned.  "You deserved that."
	Lucifer rubbed his forehead angrily.  "Damn you and your spooky 
mind control powers."
	"Oh, it's not your mind I can control." She said coyly, then 
turned back to Chris.  "Azrael has never looked like that towards 
anyone that I know of.  He is devoid of love, and therefore, he does 
not truly hear the Word.  I know you're different, because he does not 
have that spark that I see in you two."
	"Two?" Lucifer blinked.
	Cassiel smiled.  "Yes.  Even you have a little spark left."
	"You're too kind." Lucifer replied.  Though he did sound slightly 
sarcastic, there was real gratitude behind that mask.  
	"We're coming up on the doors." Chris interrupted them as they 
continued to slowly slide down the shaft.  

	Now noticeable in the dim light, they saw two massive wood doors 
that cut the circular column in half.  Some kind of emergency gate in 
case of a full-scale invasion.  The power needed to open such massive 
gates would probably require a team of Dominions harnessed together.  
Luckily, Strike Fiss had the ultimate door-knob.  
	"Stand aside." He slowed his fall by flapping his wings until he 
was standing on the doors, right in the middle.  Then, he knelt down 
and jammed his sword right through the wood.  
	"Not bad." Cassiel nodded.
	With a grunt, Fiss then began to drag his blade around in a large 
circle, making the cut at an angle like the top of a pumpkins so the 
lid would not fall down inside.  
	When he was done, he walked over to the side, then, also using 
his sword, traced a glowing gold symbol in the air.  Both Cassiel's and 
Lucifer's eyes went wide, impressed he had learned how to do that.  
	"You got one of His books, didn't you?" Lucifer smiled as the 
wooden circle began to lift up like it was lighter than air.
	Fiss smiled.  "Yup."
	"I co-authored those books." Lucifer said.  "They were a bitch to 
make." He raised an eyebrow.  "Did you burn it afterwards?"
	Chris nodded.
	"Oooh, then you got the hidden meanings." He smiled.  "That was 
my idea."
	"Uh, well, SkitZ's mom just told me to.  I really didn't know 
why."
	Lucifer blinked, then sighed.  "Damn.  That was the best part of 
the book, too!"
	Their conversation was once again interrupted.  A sword slammed 
right through the door, almost hitting Chris' leg before he noticed and 
leapt away.  "Shit!  Guards!"
	Angels began to pour out of the hole, onto the upper level.  Each 
of them sported a double silver stripe down the front of their vests.      
	Cassiel was more than ready, however, and was doing some script-
drawing of her own.  Without warning, she grabbed Lucifer, hauled him 
to the floor, and touched the script. 
	Luckily, Fiss was also on the ground, or he too might have been 
hit by the razor-thin plane of light that suddenly snapped into 
existence over their heads.
	Ten of the swordsmen didn't duck in time, and their heads 
promptly separated from their bodies before the spell flickered off and 
disappeared with the fading glowing script.  
	Once it was safe to stand, Chris joined the other two.  "That was 
rather interesting..." he blinked.
	"That's the great thing about Theban." Cassiel smiled wickedly.  
"You're only limited by your imagination, and how fast you can write."
	"Hoo haw!" Fiss raised his sword and cracked it into the skull of 
the next attempted assassin.  
	Lucifer picked up one of the guard's sword and started to help.  
"Whip up something to flush out these cookers." Lucifer advised as they 
quickly dispatched anyone who tried to climb or fly out of the hole.  
	A small fireball flew up, narrowly missing Fiss.  "Quickly, if 
you can." He smiled.
	Cassiel was already drawing a more complex spell on a piece of 
wood that she had cut from the door's edge.  "Just give me a minute." 
She nodded, etching into it with the tip of her sword as she rested it 
against her shoulder.
	Lucifer closed his eyes, and pulled out a rat from the inside of 
his coat.  "Go get them, boy." He tossed it down the hole.  Screams 
promptly filled the air.
	"That's some rat." Chris blinked.
	"That rat has venom." Lucifer explained as they heard three more 
horrified screams before someone caught the rat and a squeak sounded 
out, signaling it's death.  "Damn.  He was my favorite, too.  Rats like 
that don't grow on trees, you know."
	"I sure the hells hope not!"
	"Run." Cassiel advised as she pressed her thumb against the 
wooden chunk, activating her new spell.  Then, she tossed the wood down 
into the abyss below.  
	The three of them made it to the walls just as a massive fireball 
exploded up and into the air around them.  The smell of cooked flesh 
soon followed.  "Wow..." both men nodded. 
	Cassiel grinned and spread her butterfly wings once more to 
descend.  "That was nothing.  You should see me at parties."
	
	They dropped down, ignoring the broken and burnt bodies.  This 
time, the door was on the wall, so Christopher had no problems opening 
it up with one well-placed slice to the hinges.  Apparently, the guards 
had hoped to stage one last line of defense in the hall they just 
cleared.  When this next door opened, nobody was waiting for them.
	Lucifer walked past the other two.  "This is the way."
	"How do you know so much about this place?" Fiss asked as they 
followed him into the darkened passage.  
	"If I was going to take over a Virtue..." Lucifer said quietly 
"...it would probably have been Azrael's.  I made sure if I ever needed 
to, I could kill him in his own City and escape with his axe."
	Both Cass and Fiss blinked.  "Oh." They said.
	"Unfortunately, he got more powerful later on, and I never got 
around to actually trying." He smiled.  "At least all that planning 
came in handy."
	"I'll tell you what." Chris smiled.  "If you help save the 
universe, I'll get you his Virtue."
	"Really?" Lucifer smiled.
	"I hate axes anyway." Chris nodded.

	They began to walk down a series of stairs.  The passage curved 
around a number of times, sometimes left and right, eventually moving 
into a series of strange corkscrews, like three or four spiral stair-
cases linked together in series.  
	Light was almost nonexistent.  If the air had been only slightly 
more stale, it would have been like a crypt.  The fact that breath 
still came easily showed that this decrepit passage had been used 
recently.  Occasionally, Chris could pick out a footprint in the soft, 
loose dirt steps.  
	"How does anything GROW this far down?" Chris whispered.  "It's a 
garden, right?"
	"Artificial light." Lucifer offered.  "It's a simple spell.  
Lasts a long time, too.  Azrael probably has cherubs to refresh the 
script every month or so in the City."
	"That's a lot of script." Chris said.
	"There are a lot of angels." Lucifer smiled, then frowned.  "In 
fact, there should be more.  Everything's been rather quiet here, don't 
you think?"
	"Don't jinx it." Cassiel said.  "Everyone must assume we're 
heading for Azrael.  This may throw them off for a while."
	"Or maybe this is all a big trap." Lucifer said quietly.  "I 
really don't think the Gardens would be a nice place to die."

	Light was leaking through at the bottom of these stairs, leading 
to another room.  Each of them walked as quiet as a mouse, unsure what 
to expect.  Least of all, Chris, who had no idea what these 'Gardens' 
would look like.  As they entered, however, a new smell filled the air.  

	Decay.

	Cassiel traced a simple circle in the air with her sword, 
enhancing the dull lamp light from the walls.  "Oh my God..."
	In each corner of the room sat...

	Skeletons?

	No, these were still...they still had some flesh on them.  Six in 
total.  Two sat by a set of massive oak doors set into the farthest 
wall.  In their bony hands rested long, wicked swords.  
	"What the hell are these things?" Chris whispered as they stared 
in horror.  
	"I have no idea..." Lucifer admitted.  "But the magic in the air 
is horrible..."
	Chris finally noticed.  It was like an invisible smog that made 
his chest hurt when he breathed.  A taint that was almost visible in 
the shadowy corners of the room.  It made his skin crawl, and every 
feather on his back stand straight up in protest.
	Cassiel leaned over to him, careful not to speak too loud.  "They 
were angels...look at the feathers..."
	Each of them sat or lie on a small pile of feathers that Chris 
had initially thought to be dust.  They were gray and fragile looking.  
Lifeless.  Like leaves of a plant never watered.  "W...what happened to 
them?"
	"I'm not sure..." she whispered.  "It's almost like they rotted 
at their posts."
	"Buried alive?" Lucifer wondered.  "No...they could have gotten 
out...they just didn't...want to."
	"What do you mean?" Chris blinked, gripping his sword tighter.  
	"He means whatever's behind this door was worth it to them to 
stay here until they rotted alive." Cassiel whispered gravely.  "Come 
on..." she walked past Lucifer and towards the doors. 
	Chris eyed the one closest to him carefully.  "Hey...Cass..." he 
leaned closer.  "Is it just my imagination, or are they breathing?"
	"It's probably just the light." Cassiel said, reaching over to 
grab the massive metal ring that acted as a door knob.  "Here we go..."
	Had Lucifer been paying any less attention, he wouldn't have been 
able to pull Cassiel away in time to save her arms.  He yanked her 
backwards at the same moment as two swords came whistling towards her.  
"WATCH OUT!"
	
	Cass and Lucifer fell backwards as the two guards by the doors 
stood up.  "Holy shit..." she whispered.

	They were zombies.  Horrible, sick looking twigs of their former 
selves.  The speed they achieved with their swords should not have been 
possible...but then again, the way they were actually able to WALK was 
probably just as impossible.  
	One opened it's mouth, showing a cracked, bloody tongue.  It 
howled something that would have frightened most wild animals, then 
slowly brought it's sword to it's front.  Though it's knees were 
creaking and it's skin threatening to crack, the guard crouched as if 
it was getting ready to charge.  
	Lucifer quickly spread his right wing over his arm and formed his 
usual bladed feathers.  "Everyone get back!  These things are still 
alive!"
	"No shit." Chris smirked.  The howl the first one made had woken 
the other four, and he was now looking at a very rotting individual who 
shouldn't have been able to hold such a massive sword in it's atrophied 
arms.  "But we can fix THAT!" he lunged.
	To Fiss' shock, the zombie actually blocked, and then made a 
swipe for his head.  
	Lucifer was finding a similar trend with his two targets.  
"Shit...these guys are good!" he blocked a double-bladed attack, and 
had to roll out of the way to avoid an energetic suicide leap.  
	Cassiel had regained her bearings and managed to bring her own 
blade down into the skull of the one that just charged, slicing it in 
half down to the collarbone.  It died, but not before trying to rip her 
sword free from her hands.  
	"EEEEEARGH!" one of the guards charged, deflecting Fiss' blade 
with it's own, and then using it's decaying head as a battering ram to 
flatten Chris against the wall.  
	Winded, he barely found the strength to block and then duck the 
other's series of attacks.  "Damn I hate zombies!" he tapped his sword 
on the floor, spun so it exposed the dull edge of the blade, and 
splattered the semi-solid remains of one of the bastards all over the 
wall.  It fell over, missing most of it's shoulder and neck.  Then, 
without slowing, he switched directions and the sharp tip of the katana 
slid effortlessly through the first three inches of the other's neck.  
It's head tilted back in a silent scream and blood oozed out of the 
gash as it hit the ground.
	Weaponless, but far from defeated, one of the original guards 
ignored Lucifer and jumped at Cassiel, clawing it's way onto her back 
and wrapping it's bony arm around her neck.  Chris took a swipe at her 
neck, slicing the zombie's arm open lengthwise, letting the bone and 
muscle spill out in a gooey black mess.  Cass managed to stumble back 
into the wall, knocking it off of her back.  
	"Fucker!" she gasped, then buried her sword deep within it's 
chest.  "NEVER touch a lady without her permission!" her sword lit up, 
and the smell of cooking flesh flooded the room. 
	Two left.  Lucifer easily took care of one by ripping out it's 
spine...through it's belly.  Then, he turned and used the wet spine as 
a club to beat the last zombie down into the dirt long enough so his 
bladed feathers could slit it's torso open.  Bowels mushroomed out of 
the wound, and the guard was silent with a final, raspy breath.  
	Cass retrieved her sword from the smoking zombie and they all 
took a deep, shaky breath.  "Well, I can't say I enjoyed that." She 
wiped her coat-sleeve off on the wall, leaving a trail of blackened 
blood.
	Chris cringed and had to avert his eyes from the mess at their 
feet.  "I'm liking Azrael less and less."
	"Well, the walking dead don't help in public polls." Lucifer 
huffed, letting his feathers relax.  "Trust me, I've been there."
	
	  

	 




















                               Chapter 22



 


	

	"Locked!"
	"Cocked!"
	"Ready to ROCK!"
	Mother and Daughter knelt down, aimed, and pulled back the "fun" 
grips on their Pookies, sending out a dozen deadly green projectiles 
flying into the opposition.  
	Just prior to Rei and Miharu's attack, Yamato had tossed out 
another handful of anti-spell spell-chips, neutralizing the last of the 
Nephilim's magic protection.  Each antimatter round found their mark, 
and destroyed them with frightening ease.  
	"FALL BACK!" yelled some of the Mages, who's colleges attempted 
to cover their retreats with more fireballs.  
	Andrea was ready this time, though, and a series of three paper 
shields sprung up, saving them from even having to retreat.  "This is 
getting insane!" she coughed as more smoke rolled past them.  
	Bodies of the less effective sword-toting angels were lain out 
over the hall behind them.  Also behind were a few of Andrea's paper 
spells, protecting them from any sneak rear attacks.   Dave hoped this 
would be the quickest way, but it was proving to also be the most 
guarded way.  
	"We just have to get to that door." He said, pointing to just a 
few meters down the hall.  "Then, we can get into an air-duct and come 
out on the next level."
	They had already tried to go through the roof, but between armor 
and protection spells, it was a waste of time they could not afford 
while under fire.  The confines of indoors was making it harder and 
harder to fight the growing numbers against them.  For some reason, 
many of the guards from outside had returned, yet none of the Bri had 
yet.  
	"Let's make a break for it!" Maury yelled, ready to stop any 
attacks.  His body was already slipping into liquid plasma state.  
	Rei and Miharu nodded, and launched another massive volley of 
antimatter at the Fiss armies, and then again around the Senshi and 
their small entourage of swordsmen and mages.  Maury stood at the 
front, blasting anyone who dared attempt to take the advance to their 
good fortune.  
	Dave blasted open the door with his hand, and the group piled 
into the training hall quickly.  It was vacant, luckily.  Maury slid in 
at last, once he was sure everyone got in okay.  When he solidified, he 
noticed his trenchcoat now had three large holes in it.  "Man...I can't 
keep this up much longer." He coughed.  
	"Almost there, Mo." Dave promised.  "We just have to get to this 
next level.  We'll have a good ten minute breather before anyone 
figures out where we got to."
	Rei pressed her hands onto the edge of the light metal door.  
"Fire SOUL!"  It was welded shut seconds later.  "Cupid!" she turned.  
"Get Miharu up to the vent.  Honey, get your sword through that roof 
and make a hole."
	Though they both looked tired, neither of the two smaller members 
of the group complained, and with a quick boost from Michael, was able 
to reach the roof easily.  Dave pointed to the support beam.  "Just 
left of it."
	"HAI!" Miharu drove her wakizashi up into the weaker metal and 
plaster, finally breaking into a structurally unprotected section of 
roof.  "Got it!" she cheered. 
	Dave breathed a sigh of relief.  If the scan had made an error, 
and the air-ducts had been armored, their advance would have reached a 
rather abrupt halt.  "Secure this up there." He pulled a collapsible 
rope ladder from his coat, to the constant amazement of the angels in 
the group.  
	"How does he do that?" whispered one of the swordsmen.
	"Big pockets." Dave smiled.
	Miharu had carved out a large hole, and now was attaching the end 
of the ladder over the side, into the air duct far enough so it's self-
attaching bolts could embed into the City's main superstructure.  "Sa, 
ikimasho!"
	"Let's go." Rei translated.  Whenever Miharu got tired, she 
started talking in Japanese.  It was cute, but at the moment, it 
worried her.  
	Andrea finished placing about a dozen Paper shields around the 
door, reinforcing it's weld.  "That should buy us some time." She 
huffed.  "We'll need it."
	Dave helped Hooze up the ladder, before going himself.  Maury and 
SkitZ waited until everyone else was up and crawling through the vents.  
"Just a second." Michael said, tracing a few quick symbols on the 
ground with his blade.  
	"What will that do?" Dave asked.
	"Make their feet explode." Michael grinned.  "Come on." He 
followed Dave up the ladder and into the vents, carefully rolling up 
the ladder and tearing it out of it's supports so it couldn't be used 
by anyone else.
	Behind them, Mages began to try to break down the door with 
spells...but it would still take time.  Time the Senshi desperately 
needed against an unrelenting enemy.










	Old, creaking doors finally gave way to the next room, along with 
a sudden flood of tainted air.  The sickening bittersweet touch of 
magic hit all three at the same time, and they reacted as if being 
blasted by a cold wind.  
	"What's in here?" Chris whispered as his eyes adjusted to the 
sudden brighter light.  
	"Oh my..." Lucifer gasped.
	Cassiel couldn't find words.
	"The Gardens..." Lucifer walked forward slowly, venturing closer 
to the strange, glowing, yellowish-gray sand that seemed to flood the 
floor.  
	Christopher found himself unable to breathe in any more than 
small gasps.  He finally realized what the sand was.  "Oh my god..."
	"Did..." Lucifer swallowed hard.  "Did Michael tell you what the 
Aszaps do to their victims?"
	Chris wished he didn't know, but couldn't find words to voice his 
wish.  
	Cassiel actually lost her footing and had to sit down.  
"Brains..." she whispered.  "Those are all brains..."
	The younger Azer brother nodded grimly as he clenched his fists.  
"They dry them out in the sun for a week." He whispered.  "Leave the 
corpses to rot.  Then, they haul them back to Uriel's City.  There, 
they have a room who's walls are lined with Mages."
	"Shit..." Chris coughed, fighting the urge to throw-up.  He could 
still remember the first night, with all those brains in the gutted 
houses.  Now, it was coupled with the stench of powerful sorcery and 
multiplied God knows how many times.  
	"They say it takes a month or so." Lucifer continued coldly.  
"Each cell is separated from the others.  Grated and grinded until it 
is a silky powder." He pursed his lips and ran his hand over his beard.  
"Each fully grown man will only produce a weak handful of this shit.  
They'll often slaughter thousands just to make enough for a decent 
spell..."
	"There has to be millions here..." Cassiel whispered.  Her face 
was deathly pale.  "Millions of lives."
	"All turned into paper for some sick bastard's piece of shit 
spell." Lucifer growled.  Then, he growled again.  Louder.  "FUCK your 
bloody divinity!"
	Chris closed his eyes.  "Come on, Fissy.  Pull yourself 
together..." he stood slowly, then walked over to Cassiel.  She looked 
up at his offered hand.  "We better figure this out fast, so we know 
exactly how to destroy it."
	She nodded weakly, and took his hand, standing up after a moment 
of struggle.  "You're right." She took a deep breath.  "Let's get this 
over with."
	Lucifer was already reading the spell.  "This is...not...good..." 
he whispered.  "Cass, check out what it says on the far side of those 
trees.  There should be another focal point there." He turned to Chris.  
"You know what a Theban focal point is?"
	Chris nodded, thinking back to his lessons.  "Points where the 
actual spell is condensed into, so it can strengthen the individual 
characters around it."
	"Right." Lucifer smiled briefly.  "Go to that area and find the 
point.  Then, read what it says around it.  Tell me what it says.  
Don't step on the shit until we know how to disarm it."
	"Okay." Fiss nodded, letting his wings take him over the angel-
made beach.  
	Lucifer did the same, only in the opposite direction.  "There are 
four points." He frowned.  "I don't get it.  There should be a fifth." 
He muttered as he read the patterns like they were plain English.  
	"Found it." Chris announced, looking down just past his feet.  
"I...I think..." he closed his eyes, envisioning the script.  "It's 
some kind of key."
	"What does it unlock?" Lucifer called back, reading a similar 
spell arrangement himself.
	"I think it's to open Hell..." Chris blinked as images flooded 
his mind.  Strange images, flashing through his brain, showing glimpses 
of darkness and pain, but never being so cruel to show him the whole 
picture.  "Yes.  It's to open Hell..."
	Lucifer re-read his own section in horror.  "You're right..."
	"But..." Cassiel called back.  "That's not too bad, right?  You 
control Hell, right?"
	"No." Lucifer said quietly.  "Not my hell..."
	"What do you mean?" she blinked.
	"You can't create a Heaven.  It's impossible to do with Script, 
since the original Word and Theban still had no idea what a real Heaven 
was like.  However, being the sick bastards that we are, we had very 
clear ideas on a Hell."
	"He's going to open up another Hell???" Chris coughed.  "WHY?"
	"So he can turn it into his own Heaven and flood the world with 
it." Lucifer whispered.  "Brother...my brother...what have we done?" 
	"Then we have to stop him." Chris said slowly, kneeling down to 
the sand.  "Now.  Before this is used." He angled his sword at the 
spell.  "FISS!!!!!!"
	A blast of bright blue light exploded into the sand, throwing it 
around in a blast of dust.

	The dust, that, when it re-settled, formed the exact same pattern 
that had been under it before.

	Lucifer looked around quickly.  "Oh SHIT!  He SEALED IT!"
	Cassiel groaned as she found a small patch of dark brown.  "Dried 
blood.  It's already done..."
	"Why...what do you mean, SEALED!?!" Chris demanded, desperation 
in his voice.  He landed with full force into the sand, leaving 
footprints.  However, as soon as he lifted his feet, the sand seemed to 
slide back into place.
	"It's Script-sand." Lucifer said weakly.  "It REMEMBERS the final 
spell.  Once it's sealed, it will never move until the spell is 
activated."
	"You can't be serious..." Chris whispered, looking up at him and 
Cass.  Both wore grave faces.
	"It's already finished, Chris." Cassiel said quietly.  "This 
part, anyway.  If we can't stop whatever else he has planned, then he's 
already won."
	"No...I refuse to believe that!" Chris growled, turning back to 
the script.  "There has to be a way..."

	He stopped, dead in his tracks.  Lucifer noticed.  "What?"

	 Chris shook his head.  "There's something else.  This script 
over here is also a lot like the spell Michael used to bring us here."
	Lucifer hovered over and noticed it.  "Oh shit..."
	"What?" Cassiel asked, flying over to see for herself.  "I...I've 
never seen that kind of script before...what does it mean?"
	"He wants to break the boundary." Lucifer said simply.  "He wants 
to create his own, private Hell, and then completely obliterate 
everything around it."

	"Not quite." Came a familiar voice...

	The three of them turned, casting shocked eyes onto a man with 
white robes and crow-black wings on his back.  Swinging back and forth 
from his right hand was a long, gnarled staff.  It's vicious blade 
tapped lightly on the marble floor as he walked toward them.
	"Azrael..." Lucifer growled.
	"Lucifer..." Azrael hummed, smiling right at him.  "I'm glad 
you've come." His smile faded, though, as his eyes moved to Chris.

	Chris couldn't believe it.  It was Him.  

	Him.

	After all the stories.

	After all the battles.

	After all the prophecies.

	Nothing could have prepared him for this confrontation.  Seeing 
this nightmare come to flesh almost knocked Chris' breath away.  

	Azrael stared back with an equally unsettled look.  "You..." he 
whispered.

	Chris raised his sword.  "Me."

	























                                 Chapter 23










	"Who are you." Azrael demanded, backing up as Strike Fiss gently 
floated to the marble floor.  
	"Christopher Fiss." He replied calmly, folding away his 
sunglasses.  
	"That's impossible..." Azrael glared at him as they began to 
circle each other.  "I've never had any brothers.  Or children."
	"You're nothing but an accidental copy of me." Chris whispered.  
"A part of me I should have known to have left out of this universe 
long ago."
	"What are you talking about...?" the Knight demanded.  "If 
anything, YOU are the copy."
	"Either way, you're a part of me that died a long time ago, and 
should have stayed dead." Strike Fiss stated, gritting his teeth.  
"I've had dreams that scared me to my bones thanks to you.  I've seen 
everything I care about die in your hands.  I've seen, even just today, 
that those dreams PALE in comparison to who you REALLY are." He gripped 
his sword, making a leather squeaking sound.  "And I have waited for 
this moment for months.  Where I finally get to save myself from you."
	Though shaking, Azrael glared back with the same intensity.  
"You're on my ground, little Christopher.  I suggest you respect that 
before it comes back to hurt you."
	"I'll kill you anywhere I can, Azrael." Chris replied.
	Shaking in rage, Azrael brought his axe forward, then yelled a 
battle cry, trying for one, massive slice.  "DIIIEEEEE!"
	Christopher's katana moved effortlessly, and the massive axe 
blade stopped dead in it's tracks an inch from his face.  The shaking 
in Azrael's hands made the weapons rattle.  "Try again." Strike Fiss 
whispered back in a harsh voice. 
	Realization came to Azrael's eyes as he saw the katana, however, 
and he stumbled back.  He was smiling, though.  "You're..." he paused, 
then laughed.  "You're the Eighth!"
	Frowning, Fiss also took a step back.  "What do you mean?"
	"I've been waiting for you for months." Azrael said through a 
sudden, eerie smile.  "Tell me, will Yamato come to pay his respects as 
well?  I've been looking forward to it."
	"Okay, that's enough." Strike Fiss said, bringing his sword to 
his side.  "Looks like it's party time..."
	Having seen the speed of his katana in dreams, Azrael was 
prepared for the blue slash, and brought around his axe in time to 
deflect it into the roof.  SMASH!  
	Before Chris could wonder what just happened, Azrael charged, and 
forced Fiss to block and flip the other angel over his head.  Katana 
found only air when he slashed a moment too late.  "You have NO power 
here." Azrael growled as he flew into the air.  "This is MY domain.  My 
sapphire throne to my own Heaven!"
	Chris slashed upwards twice, but only caught roof.  Cassiel and 
Lucifer had to dodge the falling debris.  "I should have killed you in 
my dreams so many times." Chris replied, taking to the air also.  "And 
I finally did, once, because I finally figured out what you were." He 
hovered across from Azrael.  "I don't need power to kill you here 
either."
	"We shall see." Azrael smiled, then brought out his axe.  
"HURRICANE!"
	
	At first, it was nothing.  A gust of wind that breezed past their 
faces.  However, both Cassiel and Lucifer recognized it.  "Oh no..." 
she whispered.
	"Help him.  I'll see what I can do..." Lucifer said quickly as 
the wind began to pick up.

	Chris launched himself sword-first at Azrael, but his sword slid 
to the side at the last moment, hitting a shield of some kind.  He was 
about to try again, when he noticed something familiar.  
	Azrael was being surrounded by blue light.  His eyes were closed 
in concentration, but a smile was still on his lips.  "Tell me, little 
Christopher..." he yelled over a sudden gust of wind that threatened to 
toss Chris to the side.  "Did you ever learn how to do this?" he 
laughed.
	The roof began to crumble as the light expanded, forcing itself 
past the stone and plaster, then outwards, pushing Chris back as he 
strained against the ultimate attack with his own sword.  He was too 
late, though, and there wasn't even time do try it himself.  Not that 
it would be guaranteed to work anyway.
	"Shit...come on!" he gritted his teeth as his wings twisted in 
the accelerating winds.  His katana would not budge, however.  The wall 
of blue light held fast.  
	"Oh, I see now." Azrael grinned as he forced the spell to speed 
up.  "You KNOW what this is...but refuse to give up?  Is that it?" he 
laughed slowly.  "How heroic."
	"SHUT UP!" Fiss demanded, but was cut off from further voice by a 
sharp pain in his back taking the air out of his lungs.  That was 
exactly when he noticed his coat sliding back over his arms.  "Oh 
shit..."
	The wind picked him up like a rag doll in a tornado.  Barely able 
to hold onto his own sword, Strike Fiss tumbled away from Azrael and 
the miniature hurricane's epicenter. 
	A quick arm snagged him, however, before he could crash into the 
wall.  Cassiel, grimacing under the strain, managed to slow their 
tumble until they only bounced off of the hard stone confines of the 
room.  "Hold on!" she coughed as sand was thrown around their faces.  
"We have to get down!"
	Her face suddenly snapped into shock, and her wings disappeared, 
forming an elegant, but useless blue robe around her shoulders.  The 
wind was too much for her delicate stature, and they both fell down to 
the floor hard.  
	Lucifer hadn't moved, but instead, seemed to be chanting 
something with his eyes closed. 
	Azrael ignored him and began to draw the power of his spell into 
his weapon, exactly like Chris had done against his clone years ago.  
"Oh shit...we have to go...NOW!" Chris begged as he sheathed his sword.
	"I...I can't..." she gasped, still out of breath.  "Get out of 
here!  Take Lucifer!"
	"No!  You don't understand!" Chris looked up.  The blue light was 
almost completely focused now, transferring all it's energy into 
Azrael's blade.
	"Well well, mister Christopher." Azrael whispered, looking up at 
the slashes across the roof.  "It seems you like destroying my 
ceilings." He grinned.  "I don't see why I shouldn't help you."
	Slowly, he raised his axe, and then, in one quick jab, he 
embedded it into the stone above them all.
	Chris knew right away that a 'Fiss' deflection wasn't about to 
stop that giant slab of marble from crushing everything in the room 
flat.  "Shit..."
	Trees off in the distant corners of the Gardens began to offer 
resistance to the roof as it fell...but failed in a horrible explosion 
of snapping wood.  The entire room shook, though the Script-sand stayed 
still.  Even with the slab on top of it, it would be intact.  Not only 
that, but it would be sealed on top of it's seal.  Nobody would even be 
able to touch it.  
	Strike Fiss and Cassiel could only watch in horror as inch by 
inch, the massive crushing block came down on them.  "This..." he 
whispered.  "Is going to suck."
	Azrael was now above the falling rock, having slid through the 
hole his own attack had made in the rock.  "Goodbye, my nightmare." He 
whispered.  "And thank you for brining me the Eighth Virtue."  It would 
survive.  Any of the Virtues would be able to.  

	However, a black object ran past his feet.  Lucifer.  He ran, 
still chanting his spell, even as the roof threatened to crush his 
head.  
	At the last second, he dove at Chris and Cassiel, covering them 
with his coat.  


	THUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMM......


	A cloud of dust billowed up from the crumbling rock.  Azrael 
smiled to himself as he watched the dust settle.  He had the Virtue.  
More or less.  There would be time to retrieve it later.









	"I love this sword." Michael sighed happily as the door he just 
sliced down fell to the side.  
	They had already taken a break, and were another level up, 
encountering only three guards on that last one.  "How much further?" 
Rei asked.  They were defiantly reaching the top.  They could see each 
side of the entire hallway curve around from end to end.  Probably only 
three dozen meters squared per floor now.  
	Dave looked around.  "I'm not sure...something's changed.  There 
should be an access tube going up at an angle somewhere close to here."
	"Shit." Michael looked around quickly.  "This entire floor is a 
big seal." He ran his fingers over some script on the wall.  "Is there 
any way through it to the next level?"
	Dave nodded.  "One passage way.  But it's almost vertical.  We'll 
have to set up another ladder, and the drop is...well...very bad.  We 
have to be REALLY careful."
	"How about through the roof?" Demeter asked, looking up.
	"Scans showed it was at least three times as thick as the outer 
wall." Dave smiled.  "We'd get there faster by breaking our way out 
through the wall, then breaking back in from the outside again."
	"Considering we're down to three Pookies and no midday sun for a 
Demeter-Laser, that might not be a good idea." Rei smiled.
	Demeter smiled proudly, but nodded.  "We'd still need some of 
that fancy explodey-cloud anyway."
	"So, the passage it is." Yamato nodded.  "Which way?"
	Dave pointed towards a door leading to the interior 'core' of the 
floor.  "Let's go." He reached for the latch and melted it with a quick 
blast of power.  

	Raphael's ancient, but smiling face met Dave's as the door fell 
aside.  "Hello, there."
	The Senshi all blinked in horror as they saw the room behind the 
Knight was full of Mages.  A snarling War Dominion sat in the back with 
it's head snaking over their heads.  

	Dave smiled politely, then shrugged.  "Uh, wrong door?"

	"ATTACK!!" Raphael bellowed, stepping aside.
	Rei raised her Pookie, but was immediately overrun by bodies, and 
the weapon got tossed off to the side.  She would have been a goner, 
except Miharu shot the ones piling on top of her mom.  "RUN!" she 
yelled, getting back to her feet.  
	Frantic, Hooze barely was able to generate a Paper in time to 
stop the lightning bolt cast by a Mage, and it indeed, did not have 
enough time to take hold, shattering upon impact.  Dave took charge and 
flung himself down the hole they had risen from.  One by one, he caught 
the Senshi as they slid down the ramp, careful to catch Andrea without 
harming her stomach.  He noticed, however, that Michael, Yamato and the 
other swordsmen were not coming. 
	"GO ON!" Michael yelled from above.  "I'll hold off this old 
geezer!  Get everyone out of here!  Find another way!"
	He was cut off by the sounds of swords clashing, and a ball of 
fire racing over the opening, throwing Dave back on his ass.  
"Shit...we have to MOVE!"
	"WHERE?!!?" Miharu yelled as the sounds of battle surrounded 
their thoughts.  
	Dave looked to the door they came from.  The other group would 
almost be arriving.  They couldn't go back down.  He then turned to the 
wall.  "Out."
	"But!" 
	"NOW!" he grabbed Miharu's Pookie.  "Demeter, press the "Extra 
Fun" button, then fire right there!"
	"Where?" Demeter blinked.
	Dave reached over to the wall and pounded his fist into it with 
such force that it left a large dent.  "THERE!" he activated his own 
weapon, trying not to notice the 'low regeneration' gauge flashing on 
it.  They had no time to set the Pookies to generate more antimatter.  
"FIRE!"
	The two remaining weapons pelted the wall with all the force they 
could muster.  Each time, the glowing green packets were smaller and 
smaller.  Explosions still racked the wall and flooded their vision 
with mist, but it was obvious they were running down.
	Maury and Rei noticed a new sound.  "Footsteps?" Mo wondered.
	Rei nodded, and they both looked down the hall at the same time.  

	The other group.  At least fifty swordsmen charged.

	"ANDREA!" Dave ordered.  "Stone!  Wall!  NOW!"
	"Jan Ken Pon...STONE!" she wound up and punched as hard as she 
could, throwing chunks of rock and metal everywhere, but still not 
breaching it.
	"You can do it, Hooze!" Maury promised.  "We'll hold them off!" 
he let his body change into fire, then shot forward into the charging 
forces, vaporizing entire chunks of bodies at a time.
	Rei, however, noticed that Michael and Yamato were only holding 
Raphael at bay.  "INCOMING!" she yelled, pointing at the chute they 
just came from.
	Demeter extended his arms into two deadly blades and began to 
meet the threat head-on.  Rei used her impressive karate abilities to 
pacify any of the strays that got through.  
	
	"Jan Ken Pon...STONE!" Andrea punched again.  "Jan Ken 
Pon...STONE!" she cried.  "DAMMIT!"
	Each attack only knocked away inches at a time.  It wasn't going 
to be enough...

	Beavis suddenly joined the fray.

	"Stand back!" he ordered, glowing a blinding white blue.  "YEAH!"
	He shot forward at blazing speeds, impacting with the metal armor 
with all his might.  Though it hurt more than he would ever admit to 
anyone, it actually made progress. 
	Dave's eyes widened.  "Hooze!  GO!"
	"STONE!" Andrea yelled.  The familiar red energy splatter now 
eating deeper into the wall. 
	"BEAVIS!" Dave said.
	The little hedgehog powered up once more, and slammed all his 
energy into the wall the best he could, but he too was fading.  
	Andrea had spun and erected a Paper shield on the tube, buying 
Rei and Demeter some time.  It was getting harder and harder to focus 
the power she needed.  "Come on..." she swallowed hard.  "Jan Ken Pon 
STONE!!"
	The crackling hole was now deep enough to crawl inside, but 
still, no sunlight could be seen on the other end.  "Go Beav!" she 
coughed weakly, trying to regain focus. 
	"COME ON!" Beavis roared, crashing again into the metal.  
Surprising everyone watching, he quickly regained his glow, and did it 
again in rapid succession.  "Son of a BITCH!" still no hole. 
	"Just a little more!" Dave promised.
	"HURRY!" Rei begged as the shield began to crack and Maury's 
strained grunts could be heard as he tried to keep his plasma form 
longer than he had ever attempted before in his life.  
	"Jan Ken Pon STONE!" Andrea gasped, collapsing to her knees, 
absolutely exhausted.  "Jan Ken Pon STONE!!!!!" Again, and again, both 
attacks ate away at the seemingly endless wall.  "FUCK!!" she screamed.  
"JANKENPON-STONE!" she forced her fist out again.  "JANKENPON-STONE!!"
	She collapsed, sobbing from the effort.  Miharu rushed over to 
her, but didn't really have any idea how to help.  "Hooze-chan!  Get 
up!"    
	Dave tried to help Andrea up, but she was almost unconscious by 
now.  "Come one!  Just one more, Hooze!  You can do it!  One more and 
we're out of here!"
	Again, Beavis sacrificed more of his power into another blast, 
but he was getting weaker and weaker.  The last hit didn't even make a 
scratch and he bounced off of the metal with a pitiful squeak.  
	"It..." he coughed as Miharu picked him up.  "It can't end like 
this...not for Bond..." he chuckled weakly. 
	"It's..." Hooze gasped, barely able to speak.  "No...it's not the 
end..." she shivered.
	"Stay still...rest..." Dave offered, hoping they could hold off 
the others for an amount of time he knew they couldn't.  
	"No..." Andrea gritted her teeth and slowly picked herself up.  
"One more..." she promised.  "One more...just one more..."

	"Jan..."

	The paper broke, and Demeter was almost crushed by the sudden 
avalanche of bodies.  Rei was barely able to keep them off.  

	"Ken..."

	Andrea closed her eyes, making the symbols for paper and scissors 
as Maury fell back on his coat, completely exhausted.  More swordsmen 
were coming from down the hall, though, and his bo wasn't going to stop 
them for long.
	
	"Pon..."  Hooze focused all the energy she could into one last 
thought.

	"BITE ME!!!!!!"



	CRACK!



	A sudden rush of air flooded over them as Andrea's stunned eyes 
realized she actually did it.
	
	In a heartbeat, Dave grabbed Rei and Demeter.  Cupid, also 
waiting, grabbed Miharu and Beavis.  Maury ran over to Hooze just 
before the swords got there, and yanked her towards the opening.  "HOLD 
ON!" he yelled, hopping he could figure out a way to stop gravity.  
	
	Poor Hooze was too exhausted to even worry about the fall, though 
she did have a smile on her face.









	"I hope this works.  I hope to God this works, because that's the 
only way we're going to survive this..." Dave prayed to himself as they 
fell.  Cupid, Miharu and Beavis would all be fine, but he was too 
tired, and too heavy with both Demeter and Rei clinging on for dear 
life.  And unless God was miracle-happy in this last thirty seconds, 
Maury and Andrea were also going to suffer the same fate that Chris had 
months ago in the Pool of Angels.
	There was JUST enough antimatter left in the Pookie.  Dave made a 
quick mental calculation and then threw it at the water as fast as his 
arm could drive it down.  Then, the moment after it slid through the 
surface, Dave dug deep into the recesses of his power.  What little 
power he had left.  
	He scrounged little bits from every corner he could muster.  
Every second taking him and the others closer to a nice, watery impact 
from a height of a thousands of feet.
	Into his mind came the atomic structure of Water.  He saw it and 
felt it in his mind.  He used every neuron in his gray matter, and 
every facet of his universe of a mind to pull that shape apart.  H2O 
began to take another shape.  It began to shift and form links with 
other H2O's until it was like peer pressure.  Soon, everyone wanted to 
be like that first molecule.  
	It continued, trillions of times a second in Dave's mind, until 
all his mental energy, in it's amazing entirety, was focused onto the 
water below.  One purpose.  

	At the exact moment he knew it would, the Pookie, now a few 
meters below the water, exploded with tremendous force.  The antimatter 
generator had been working to the brink of overload, and still only 
just managed to make enough of the amazing substance to negate enough 
water to displace each of their volumes.  More or less.
	He hoped it was more and not less, or this was going to hurt a 
lot more than it was going to before.

	The energy focused into the water did one, incredible, amazing 
thing.  And by the time the five Senshi hit the water, it's surface 
tension was one hundred percent.  

	Like some kind of rubber.

	There was no splash at first, only a strange, stretching sound as 
the water caught them from their fall, and gently cradled them as they 
descended.
	Because of the vacuum below, the water was cut away like a wedge 
going through wood.  A trampoline over top of empty space so you didn't 
hurt yourself when you landed hard.  Dave remembered looking up and 
seeing crystal blue water stretching up around them, leaving a dry view 
of the sky above.  "Wow..." he whispered as he felt the negative 
acceleration pass through his body.  

	Unfortunately, because he said 'wow', he lost concentration, and 
the water immediately returned to the state Mother Nature intended it 
to be.  "BLARGH!"  the Senshi all gasped as they found themselves 
surrounded by the ocean.

	Everyone surfaced moments later, very wet and cold, but still 
quite alive. 

	Miharu looked at Cupid.  "Did you just see that??" 
	Cupid was so shocked, he didn't even clack his teeth in 
excitement.  "Woooow..."
	She smiled, then turned to Beavis.  "I didn't know Dave was 
related to Moses!"
	Beavis laughed.  "Anything's possible."

























                              Chapter 24








	




	"Don't open your eyes."

	Chris remembered Lucifer's voice, though his head was foggy, and 
decided to listen to him.  After all, when a Fallen Angel took the 
effort to warn you about something, it was usually for a very good 
reason.  "Wh...what happened?" he coughed, feeling a strange air fill 
his lungs.
	It seemed dry and dead, but at the same time, full of smells.  
Bad smells.  Smells he wasn't even sure he wanted to know what came 
from.  Cold, too.  If they were in some kind of sewer, the decay would 
be warm, not cold.  
	"W...where am I?" Fiss whispered, keeping his eyes closed shut.  
Finally, he noticed he was moving somehow.  Carried by someone, 
piggyback style.  From the feel of the clothes, it was probably 
Lucifer.  "What happened?"
	"Don't talk." Lucifer said quickly, keeping his own voice down as 
well.  "You'll attract their attention.  We don't need that."
	"Who's attention?" Chris frowned, fighting to resist the urge to 
open his eyes.  
	"Shh!"
	
	Screams.

	More bloody screams.  

	"Ahh shit." Lucifer sighed, then picked up his pace.  "Keep your 
eyes closed and your head down."
	"Where's Cassiel?" Fiss asked as he heard the screams get closer.  
They were tormented, horrible sounds.  Barely even human, if you could 
call such a twisted though 'humanity.'  
	"She's safe.  I already brought her.  We're almost there." 
Lucifer promised.  "Don't open your eyes."
	Chris nodded, still drowsy.  "Okay..."
	"Keep them CLOSED!" Lucifer warned, just before Chris felt 
something grab at his back.  
	It ripped a handful of feathers off of his wings, and Chris had 
to fight the pain back.  "What the HELL?!!" he gasped, squeezing his 
eyes shut with all his might.  
	"Exactly." Lucifer said, now running as fast as he could to try 
to beat the things behind them.  
	There were many.  MANY.  Screams and growls of anguish.  Howls of 
pain and sadistic laughter at that pain.  Some moments, they were loud.  
Almost creeping up on Chris' ears like insects he desperately wanted to 
swat away, but they never touched again.  Lucifer redoubled his efforts 
and they began moving up a slight incline.  The voices and screams 
finally began to fade completely, leaving only cold and darkness.  
	"Hold your breath." Lucifer said, finally slowing.
	Chris took a deep breath, then almost screamed as he felt himself 
being covered by insects. 






	"STRIKE FISS!" Cassiel shook him violently by the shoulders. 
"WAKE UP!"
	He sat up, clawing for air.  "AAARHHH!!!!!"  Both Lucifer and 
Cassiel sat around him, waiting until he caught his breath before 
speaking.
	"We're safe." Cass said quietly.  She had hurt her head, by the 
looks of it.  A small dribble of blood had dried across her brow.  
"Relax."
	"Where..." Fiss gasped, leaning back on the cold ground, vaguely 
noticing that it was sand.  Normal sand.  Not like the 
processed...brain...oh god...  "Where was I?" he asked after a moment.

	"Hell." Lucifer smiled.

	"You're kidding." Fiss blinked.
	"Nope." He shook his head.  "We were going to be squished flat as 
cookers under an Aszap Cherub's hoof, so the only exit was Down."
	"Well..." Fiss blinked, looking around.  They were at the edge of 
the Howling Desert, as far as he could tell.  Screams and wails could 
be heard off into the distance just a short while away.  "HOW!?!?"
	"Don't ask questions I can't answer." Lucifer smiled.  "If 
everyone knew how to get to Hell, I'd be killed or taken over within a 
week." He sighed.  "I'm sorry I had to bring you both down there, 
though.  It was the only way I could think of."
	"We're in the Howling Desert." Cassiel continued.  "If we fly 
quickly, we can get back to the City in about an hour."
	"Then lets go!" Chris stood, ignoring his woozy stomach.
	"GET DOWN!" Lucifer hissed, grabbing his arm and yanking him to 
the sand.  "Look over there..." he pointed in the direction of the 
Cities.  

	Three thunderclouds. 

	Hosts.

	"There's no way we'll be able to sneak past them, and even less 
of a chance we'd be able to defeat them all." Cassiel sighed.  "The 
mountains narrow to the South, but it will take three hours just to 
walk there.  They may already have another Host guarding that 
approach."
	Chris slumped to his knees.  "What are you saying?"
	"That by the time we get back...the war will be over." Lucifer 
said, looking down at the cold sand around them.  "We can't do anything 
anymore."
	Fiss shook his head.  "NO!  Just bring us back!"
	"Through Hell?" Lucifer grinned.
	"YES!"
	"I can't." he frowned.  "I told you to close your eyes because I 
didn't want you to see all the damned souls that were coming for your 
ass.  Do you even realize what kind of an attraction an angel is in 
Hell?  A REAL angel?  They'll tear you apart just because you have a 
feather boa down there, let alone wings!" he shook his head.  "And 
they'll be waiting for your return for quite some time.  We can't just 
go back the way we came, and there's no way in, or out of Hell, that 
you'd be able to avoid thousands of angel-hungry asshole-souls.  Your 
sword would probably just make them ticklish."
	Cassiel, hoping for a chance, cleared her throat.  "Can't you 
control them, Lucifer?"
	"HELL NO!" he yelled under his breath.  "I don't even LIVE near 
those fucking things.  I can throw them around, ruff them up and 
slaughter some of the weaker ones into non-existence, but they 
certainly aren't going to obey me just because I'm the 'Big L'."
	"Fuck this." Chris stood, then began to walk towards the Cities. 
	"WHAT are you DOING?!" Cassiel yelled.  "Get down!"
	He did nothing, and kept walking forward.  "I'm not giving up.  
I'm going to kill Azrael.  I'm going to kill Azrael, and I don't care 
how I do it."
	Cassiel did the only thing she could do to stop him.  She tackled 
his legs.  Fiss waved his hands out for balance, but found none, and 
slammed face-first into the sand.  
	"Fuck." He said, muffled.
	"Sorry." Cassiel stood, brushing herself off.  "But we can't just 
one man against thousands of angels.  It's suici..."
	Fiss turned his head, his face still covered in sand.  "What did 
you just say?"
	She blinked.  "Uh...it's suicide?"
	"NO!" he said, suddenly excited.  As he got to his feet, he 
grabbed Cass by the shoulders.  "Before that!!"
	"Oh..." she paused.  "Well, I said we can't just pit one man 
against thousands of angels."
	
	Chris grinned.

	Had he been Azrael, it would have been very creepy indeed.  
However, this particular grinner had no something else in his eyes.  A 
spark.  An idea.  A plan.  
	"One man, eh?" he shrugged, turning around.  "Not even the Man in 
White?"  His coat slid onto his back, replacing his wings.  Indeed, it 
was white.  Indeed, it was a coat.  

	Cassiel's face was one of absolute surprise.  

	"Wait just a second..." she whispered.
	Lucifer scrambled over to them.  "It can't be...all these years?" 
his gawking mouth began to change into a smile, then a full fledged, 
toothy gape.  "The Prophecy of Soulless Faces wasn't a warning?"
	Strike Fiss smiled at them both, then in his best impression of 
Beavis, retold what he knew of the Prophecy.  "It will come during a 
dark time.  A man in white shall bring forth a plague of Ni, and the 
sky shall be filled with soulless faces.  All enemies will be 
vanquished under these wingless skies." He cleared his throat.  "Now, 
is that prophecy looking more and more like a GOOD thing to you, or am 
I just fucking insane?"
	"You're fucking insane." Lucifer nodded.  "But, we all are."
	Cassiel blinked.  "But...what's a 'Ni'?"
	Fiss and Lucifer blinked.  

	"Uhh..."













	SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

	The final wave of soldiers fell, though once again, Raphael 
stood, immune to the little 'tricks' of Michael's sword.  Still, his 
expression was one of admiration as he stepped into the training room.  
	"I am truly impressed." The old Knight smiled.
	Michael wasn't nearly as humoring as he had been last time they 
met.  "Fuck you, Raphael."  His shoulder was cut, he was exhausted from 
a day of heavy battle already, and had no idea if the Senshi escaped 
alive or not.  
	Yamato leaned up against the wall, catching his breath.  His 
magic pouch was almost empty now.  One more round of powerful Mages and 
they would be finished.  
	A'albiel was also suffering.  A Mage caught him off guard, and 
nearly disenchanted his Light Spear.  It flickered on and off like a 
battered light bulb.  He also had a deep gash down the side of his 
cheek, and a white glowing liquid seeped out much like blood would.  It 
was the closest thing to pain the little cherub had ever felt, and it 
was not helping his ability to fight.

	Of course, Raphael had all but meditated while Michael fought one 
of the hardest battles in his life, and was fresh as a spring shower in 
some cheesy soap commercial.  

	"At this moment, your forces are outnumbered by almost ten to 
one." Raphael continued, letting his fellow Knight catch his breath.  
"We recalled the war.  Though your Hosts are also outside, you will 
find that nobody will be able to reach this fortress before dawn of 
next day.  By then, your crusade, no matter how noble you think of it, 
will be over."
	"Fuck you, Raphael." Michael said again, this time in a stronger 
voice.  His strength was coming back quickly, out of his sheer desire 
to rip Raphael in half with his toes.
	"In about an hour, we will be sending our remaining three Hosts 
to attack your armies from behind.  It is my understanding that, while 
they put up an excellent fight, the House of Bri has fewer than two 
hundred of her warriors left." Raphael explained.  "It will be a messy 
battle, but a glorious one."
	"Fuck you, Raph." Michael growled as he slowly lifted his sword 
again.  
	"Furthermore, it seems that your 'allies' Lucifer and Cassiel 
were caught in an unfortunate accident in the Gardens." Raphael sighed, 
honestly sorry.
	Michael's grip tightened on his sword.  "Fuck.  You."
	Raphael smiled and brought out his own sword.  The massive, 
twisted chunk of metal gleamed in the artificially created light.  
"And, even though you know it is hopeless, you continue to fight." He 
smiled.  "And that is why I will always respect you, Michael.  No mater 
what side you fight on."
	"No." Michael growled, taking a deliberately large step forward.  
"No, you don't fucking get it, Raphael." He began to growl under his 
breath.  "You can do whatever unholy bullshit you want, so long as you 
keep bitching about the Word and the Virtues.  But you never practice 
them." He looked up past his bloody blade.  "And for that, Raphael, I 
will now, and forever, tell you to go fuck yourself until you bleed to 
death in an anal fashion."
	Even Raph was surprised as Michael launched himself forward, 
striking down at his opponent hard.  The blade dodged the block, and 
sliced through the giant angel's breastplate and beard like it was 
nothing.    
	Raphael stammered backwards as his armor snapped off and 
clattered to the ground.  His long white beard now cut at an ugly 
angle, and the same angle was etched onto the Knight's chest in a thin, 
but real line of blood.  
	"My words alone can not tell you..." Raphael coughed, but then 
smiled.  "They can not tell you how much I respect you, Michael.  So my 
actions will.  This will be a fair battle.  No tricks.  No Noize.  No 
miracles."
	"Just shut up so I can kill you." Michael wiped his brow with the 
back of his hand.
	Their swords clashed again; each one grunting at the effort.  







	

	Shivering, the Senshi all climbed up onto the shore.  Rei quickly 
lit a fire to warm them up before hypothermia set in.  
"Thanks...Dave..." she chattered when she was able to breathe again.
	He nodded, not shivering.  His brain issuing orders to his body 
like a computer, telling it to burn the fat stores immediately to get 
more warmth.  "Saved my ass too..." he shrugged, drying out his coat.  
	They sky was now a cloud of warriors.  The main battles had been 
recalled to the City to put the pressure on.  The battle was much 
slower now.  The SkitZ, Vohal and Bri just barely having time to save 
their own asses, let alone kill the other side.  
	"No more Pookies." Miharu sighed as she and Cupid chattered their 
teeth.  For once, because of the cold.  
	Hooze and Maury were almost unconscious from overexertion, but 
were out of the danger zone physically.  Demeter and Dave each took 
care of them as they watched the war above wage on.
	"How the hell did we get caught up in all of this?" Maury said 
weakly, as he realized with some sense of awe that he was watching 
angels fight.
	"At least the trees don't bite." Andrea whispered back.

	The sun was far behind them now.  Only an hour, maybe two, 
remained of the daylight.   























                              Chapter 25







	They call it serendipity.  

	A strange force that will let you discover something important, 
often when you needed it most, and were thinking in the exact opposite 
direction.  
	It brings ideas, inventions and progress in amazing leaps forward 
at times.  It is the mother of invention, when there is no necessity, 
or when the necessity is almost too far fetched to believe. 
	
	Naw.

	It was the caffeine. 

	Yup.  Definitely the caffeine.  

	When ingested occasionally, this amazing drug promotes awareness, 
creativity, and even arousal.  Because Strike Fiss never drank coffee 
every day, he suffered only those three positive side effects when he 
finished his last bottle of "End of the World" reserve Jolt Cola.
	And so, while wondering how he was going to sneak back one of the 
soft, bouncy beds in the City of Bri for him and Rei, Chris found 
himself drawing in the sand with his finger.

	Cassiel and Lucifer, who were wracking their brains for answers 
to the 'Ni', noticed this, and watched in fascination.  "What are you 
doing?" Cass asked.  
	Chris shrugged.  "I don't know.  Just drawing." He sighed, 
tracing the letters 'NI' in the sand.  
	Luckily, that was about the time where the Creativity and 
Awareness kicked in.  "Hey, Lucifer." He looked up.  "You can use 
Theban as a literal sound alphabet, right?"
	He blinked. "Uh, yeah.  There is a list of sounds along with the 
non-language based spells."
	"I was just thinking." Fiss looked at the sand as it whispered 
back little screams to him.  "Maybe that Prophecy was an instruction 
manual.  I mean, the 'Soulless Faces' seems to be used enough to be the 
official name, right?"
	Cassiel and Lucifer nodded. 
	"So why do they have that weird chunk about 'Ni' in there?  It 
seems out of place." Chris pondered.  With his hand, he smoothed out 
the sand at his feet, then began to trace the character representing 
'N' in Theban.  
	"But that might not do anything at all." Lucifer warned.  "Sound-
based script doesn't work, unless it's used to call spirits or other 
powers."
	Chris carefully traced the representation of "I" under the "N".  
The character for I looked almost like an upside down Omega symbol.  A 
'U' shape.  
	"Well, how about that?" he let the two experts look.
	Cassiel shrugged.  "It will probably just make a sound."
	"Well, here goes nothing." Chris gently placed his hand over the 
tiny spell, and pressed down into the sand.
	Something coughed.  At first, Cassiel thought it was Lucifer.  
Lucifer thought it was Chris, and Chris thought it was Cassiel.  They 
all smiled politely and said "Bless you!"
	That's when the awareness really kicked in.  Chris slowly lifted 
his hand, staring down at the sand.

	A Ni stared back at him.  Then, it blinked.

	"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

	"SQUEEEEEEEEE!" it jumped up into the air, scared half to death.  
	All three of the angels scooted away from it, scared the other 
half to death.  "W...what the hell is THAT?!" Cassiel gasped.
	Fiss leaned forward, noticing the little creature was shivering.  
"It's a Ni!" he whispered.
	"Ni!" the little thing replied, eyes wide.  

	Actually, that's basically all it was.  Two large, round eyes.  
They were squished flat on the side, but appeared to be actual eyes.  
Little black pupils followed Chris' hand as he slowly moved it back and 
forth.  Four long hairs...or eyelashes...or...something...stuck out of 
it's head.  Below it's eyes were teeth.  Sharp looking, white teeth.  
However, there was no bottom jaw.
	The most distinguishing feature, besides the large body to eye-
ball ratio, was it's tongue.  Dark pink and human-like.  It even seemed 
to be capable of salivating.  The entire creature was only about the 
size of a large grapefruit.  

	Lucifer's jaw had long since dropped on the ground.  "THAT is a 
Ni?"

	The little Ni suddenly turned as Chris shot Lucifer a mean look.  
Somehow, it looked angry all of a sudden.  It's eyes narrowed and 
arched upwards to make the illusion of a frown.  
	Of course, that was nothing compared to when the Ni flew over to 
the shocked Lucifer, and embedded it's teeth in his forearm.  
"AAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed, grabbing at the little monster and yanking 
him free from it's bite.  "That FUCKING HURT!!!!"
	Cassiel laughed despite herself.  "Wow...not bad for a little 
guy."
	Chris laughed and nodded.  Promptly, the Ni jetted over to 
Cassiel, and began to purr like a cat.  Lucifer just grumbled.  "That 
thing doesn't even have a penis!"
	"Goes to show nobody can resist me." Cassiel grinned. 
	"Unless of course, it's tongue is it's penis." Chris coughed. 
	Cassiel's eyes shot wide open. 
	"So it's a Script-Creature." Lucifer sighed.  "I don't see how 
that little eyeball collection is going to start this prophecy."
	"Ni?" Chris said suddenly.
	"Ni!" the little Ni answered back.  
	"Can you help me make more of you?" Chris asked in slow, plain 
words.  
	The little creature blinked.  Well, it didn't actually blink, 
since it had no eyelids.  But the pupils seemed to disappear for a 
moment.  
	"Are you crazy?" Cassiel blinked.  "You want to make MORE of 
him?"
	Chris nodded.  "Yes."
	"What?  Crazy or you want to make more?" Cassiel frowned.
	He smiled.  "Yes." Then, he frowned.  "We are running out of 
time.  If we don't get to the City of Fiss soon, the war will be lost 
and we'll all get tossed around in that damn spell of his."
	Suddenly, the little creature dove into the sand, then flew back 
up, leaving another Ni where it had landed.  

	"This is getting weird." Cassiel whispered.

	The second Ni shook off the excess sand and it's teeth tilted up 
at the sides in an odd kind of smile.  
	"A self-replicating Script-Creature?" Cassiel whispered.  
"I...didn't know they could do that?"
	"They can't!" Lucifer whispered back as the two Ni became four, 
and then eight.  "But these aren't like normal Script-Creatures."
	"What the hell are they then?" Cass took a few steps back as a 
batch of sixty-four turned into one hundred and twenty-eight.  

	Chris, however, was having a ball.  "Ooooooh, now THIS is cool."

	"Holy shit..." Lucifer's eyes went wide.
	"What?!" Cass replied.
	"I know what they are!" he laughed, turning to her.  "These are 
his Cherubim!"
	Cassiel turned back to Chris and the Ni now hovering around him.  
"It can't be..." she almost fell backwards as she realized how many 
there were now.  There had to be close to a million of the little guys.  
It took only moments for them to fan out, then replicate again.  "Those 
are Cherubs?"
	"It would explain why we could never draw a spell like that..." 
Lucifer nodded.  "Cherubim are an extension of the Word and the 
individual Knights.  Strike Fiss is not part of the original Seven.  He 
can do magic we've never heard of, just like he can't make an Aszap 
cherub."

	They watched the silent army grow, just as one of the Hosts 
noticed the growing cloud of strange creatures, and decided to 
investigate.  
	Hovering around their Knight, one of them alerted him to the 
approaching angels.  He nodded, understanding what they were saying the 
same way he could with A'albiel.  
	"If they are from Azrael..." he said.  "Take them out."
	Three of the little Ni zoomed up into the air, meeting the force 
head-on.  Minutes later, one came back, and explained that not only 
were they of Fiss origin, but were hostile.
	"Attack." Chris said with a small grin on his face.  "Let's show 
these fuckers what caffeine can do."






















                            Chapter 26










	"Mmph." Michael spat out a bit of blood.  "I never needed both 
kidneys anyway." He took a deep breath, and launched another attack.  
"YEEAHH!"
	Raphael hadn't expected the younger man to recover from such a 
nasty kidney punch, and had to block the series of strikes the best he 
could until he hit the wall.  Michael wasn't about to let that 
advantage get away from himself, and pinned the larger angel against it 
long enough to get one, perfect shot on his arm.
	SkitZ's blade found flesh and then, found steel, pinning 
Raphael's right hand to the wall right through the bone.  Raphael 
yelled out in pain, but didn't dare move.  If he did, the wound would 
only get worse.
	"Good one, Michael..." Raph cringed, but then slammed his foot 
into Michael's stomach, launching him backwards so far, he hit the 
opposite wall.  
	Michael fell, coughing, but it was clear that Raphael was not 
able to take advantage of the situation.  He had dropped his own sword 
and was now trying to take out his opponent's blade from his arm.  
"Fuck!  You're a bloody moose!"
	With a horrible slurp, Raphael finally did pull free the sword, 
and tossed it away, collapsing to his knees as he held his arm.  A 
small puddle of red was forming at his feet already.  "You...you are 
much better than you think you are, SkitZ."
	"I don't care what I think." Michael crawled over to his sword.  
"My head always lies to me." He slowly stood.  "I don't see why you're 
any different.  Maybe you don't bitch at me when I'm hungry for tacos, 
but that's besides the point!  I want my tacos, dammit!  And you're not 
going to stop me now!"
	Raphael didn't even bother to reach over to his sword.  His arm 
wasn't strong enough to pick up a katana, let alone his huge chunk of 
metal.  "I concede, Michael."
	Michael drug his sword along the floor.  "Since when do YOU 
concede?" he laughed.  "I thought never giving up was a Virtue.  
Patience and Judgment and all that stuff."
	The larger angel sighed.  "Since I realize I wanted to be on your 
side."
	"What?" Michael blinked, almost dropping his sword.
	"I've sent message to my House." He said.  "They will come to 
your side when this is all over.  If I die, they are yours to command.  
That should help you clean up anyone who is opposing you or wants 
revenge for Azrael's death."
	Michael actually did drop his sword this time.  "You're serious, 
aren't you?!"
	"Azrael, from what I can tell, wants to form another Word." 
Raphael continued.  "Stop him.  Blow this city sky high if you need to.  
Save the Word we've fought for."
	"A...second Word?" he turned to A'albiel who nodded, saying it 
fit with what Anafiel was blabbering on about.  
	"Where's the focal point?" Yamato asked suddenly, running over to 
Raphael.  
	"Up there." He pointed.  "A small plot of sand.  The Gardens 
can't be erased, but that one can." Raphael leaned back against the 
wall.  "He sealed it...but there has to be a way inside.  Don't go 
through the tunnel.  The script in there will kill anyone but him."
	Yamato quickly knelt down and began to pull out medical supplies 
from his kit.  Raphael smiled, but shook his head.  "Go.  Now.  I can 
hold on long enough for a Mage to arrive.  You, however, have to stop 
this before sunset."
	Michael picked up his sword and sheathed it.  "You could have 
decided this sooner, you know."
	"I had to be sure." Raphael grimaced.  "That you were the SkitZ I 
knew before the Noize."
	With a tiny smile, Michael turned.  "Come on...let's find the 
others.  We still have a few hours."
	They filed out of the room quickly.  

	Raphael sighed, ignoring the pool of blood that continued to 
expand.  It was probably too late anyway, but...

	At least he made the right choice in the end.







	


	

	Dave looked up as the sun was blocked out by a Host.  "Oh man..."
	The Senshi, all huddled together, out of the way of the battle, 
watched as another thundering cloud of Azrael's army headed over their 
heads to destroy the resistance.  
	"That's really overkill." Maury coughed, still smoky.  "You think 
they'd at least fight fair."  
	
	It was quite a shock when they heard a scream coming closer.

	"eeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRGH!" 
CRUNCH!

	Everyone gasped as an angel slammed right onto their camp fire, 
bleeding from numerous cuts on his skin.  One of his wings looked 
RIPPED off.  Andrea thought she was seeing things and began to giggle.  
"Wow, that was cool."
	Rei turned to Andrea.  "That really happened." She whispered as 
the angel let out one last moan, then was forever silent.  
	Andrea was standing a second later.  "WHOA!  Who what when 
where?"
	They all looked around.  The Host that just passed over them was 
now headed for the City of Fiss, and seemed not to be slowing down.  
"What's it doing?" Miharu wondered out loud.  
	A strange trail of little white and pink dots seemed to follow, 
almost like a swarm of bees chasing a kid who rattled their nest.  
"That..." Dave strained his eyes.  "That is the WEIRDEST thing I have 
ever seen!"
	As if on cue, a little Ni popped out of the robes of the dead 
angel on their fire.  It smiled, burped, then licked it's teeth clean 
before rocketing back into the sky to attack more of the Fiss army.  
	They all sat, staring at the dead body.  

	"Oooo Kaaaayy..." Demeter blinked.

	"They're...biting the Fiss angels!" Dave blinked, clearing his 
eyes.  "There's MILLIONS of them!"
	With an amazing crack, the out of control Host slammed into the 
wall of the City of Fiss, finally dissipating and falling into the ice 
cold water below, all the while, more of the little creatures zipped up 
and down, attacking anything that was still moving under it's own free 
will and owned a House of Fiss uniform.  

	"Hey guys." Came a familiar voice.

	Everyone turned to see Strike Fiss smiling, standing with his 
white trenchcoat displayed proudly.  Behind him, Lucifer and Cassiel 
watched the battle around them begin to change power.  Their jaws were 
almost dropping on the ground.
	Maury stood and laughed.  "What the hell did you DO?"
	"Turns out I'm the Prophesized One after all." He grinned 
happily.  "I'd like you to meet my cherubim." He pointed to his 
shoulder.  On cue, a tiny Ni poked it's head out from behind Chris' 
neck.  
	"Ni?" it blinked.
	"Yup...that's defiantly the weirdest thing I've seen in a LONG 
time." Dave sighed, putting back on his coat.









	Azrael cringed as hundreds of bodies slammed into the thick 
crystal dome, leaving blood streaks as they fell.  "What in the FUCK 
was that?!"
	Of course, being all alone got him no answers.  That was, until, 
he noticed something strange attached to the dome.  It had two big 
eyes, a row of razor sharp teeth, and a tongue that it was using to pry 
itself off of the crystal.  
	When it finally did, it smiled at Azrael.  It was not a happy 
smile, rather a grin of knowing something he did not.  Then, the little 
face turned tail and zipped off to join the battle.  
	And, far off, by the shore once again, he noticed something 
strange.  A tiny man wearing a white coat of some kind.

	He was waving.

	Azrael's eyes narrowed into slits.  











	Strike Fiss waved from the beach happily.  He could feel the 
sickening gaze of his counterpart, and KNEW he'd be able to see.  It 
felt good.
	"Hello, butt-pumpkin." He smiled.  "I'm baaaaaaack..."























                             Chapter 27










	While the Ni were just as mortal as any cherub or angel on this 
globe, their sheer numbers were staggering compared to the few that 
were actually killed by a lucky sword-strike or two larger bodies 
colliding and squishing a Ni or two in between.  
	They didn't bleed, rather, just vaporized back to sand.  That 
further scared the poor bastards that were being the targets of the 
bites.  
	Though they were far from being a collective mind, the little Ni 
did seem to communicate quite well, and would often set up ambushes for 
some of the better Archangels or Mages who had avoided the random 
strikes.  
	Better yet, they didn't attack the SkitZ, Bri or Vohal armies.  
While the little cherubim bit and distracted their enemies, it was much 
easier for the Hosts to avoid casualties and still cut down their 
opponents who were now only outnumbering them five to four.  That did 
not include the two or three Ni that would attack each and every 
opponent.
	Now, with the armies taken care of, Chris looked over to the 
City.  "I guess it's my turn." He sighed.
	"What do you mean YOUR turn?" Rei demanded.  "We're ALL going to 
kick the shit out him."
	"Considering the spell in that place, I would prefer you all to 
stay out here where it might be safe if something goes wrong." Chris 
said with a stern look.
	"He's right." Lucifer added.  "We might be looking at the 
creation of a new Hell.  No matter how much I'd like some company down 
in Pandemonium, this isn't the best way."
	"At least if you guys are out here, you can get away if 
everything goes to shit." He turned to Dave.  "You know where the 
doorway out of this place is, right?"
	"Down the rabbit hole." Dave nodded with a grin.
	"Exactly.  You said yourself we need at least ONE of us to get 
back.  That won't happen if we're all swallowed into Hell part Deux." 
Chris turned to Rei.  "And I would fight a lot better knowing you're 
not inside that bloody deathtrap."
	"Michael and Yamato are still in there." Andrea said.  "They'll 
be able to help you."
	"If they're still alive." Maury coughed.
	Chris spread his wings and nodded.  "Smoke me a kipper, skipper.  
I'll be back for breakfast." 
	"Right, Ace." Lucifer smiled, spreading his wings.  Though the 
others hadn't really noticed before, his left wing was a little 
smaller, still growing back from his battle with Michael.  
	Fiss blinked, then sighed.  "You stay here too."
	"Like hell!" he chucked at his own joke, but then got serious.  
"You have no idea how to undo a Word spell.  Even if you did read that 
book.  I do." He turned to Rei and the others.  "Besides, I don't want 
them bitching at me if you don't come back alive.  I'll never hear the 
end of it!  Everyone always blames me.  The Devil made me do it!  
That's what they always say.  Devil made them do it...my white ass!" he 
crossed his arms.  "I'm also the only other one here with the expertise 
and power to be of any use to you.  I'm coming with you, and I'm going 
to make sure that if you die, I die too.  If I don't, then I'm going to 
have a shit-storm to sort out when I get back into Hell, and will 
probably end up killing myself anyway."
	Everyone blinked.  That was quite a mouth-full.  Chris hesitated, 
but then shrugged.  "Okay, but just you and I."
	Rei stormed up to both of them.  "Lucifer, you better watch out 
for my Chris here.  I'll do something nasty if you don't."
	Lucifer bowed.  "No problem."
	"And YOU!" she growled at Chris yanking him around by his collar.  
"You better come back alive, or I'll call you back with a spirit ward 
so I can kill you again."
	"Yes, honey." Chris smiled. 
	"Fine." Rei nodded, then gave him a quick kiss.  "Now hurry up.  
The sun's already setting."

	With a final smile and nod, Lucifer and Strike Fiss jumped into 
the air and rocketed through the still-fighting armies.  A quick 
thought to his cherubim alerted a dozen of the Ni to follow for backup.  
	"Any idea how we're going to stop him?" Lucifer asked as they 
swooped up to the hole in the wall.  
	"I'm sure we'll think of something." Chris smiled innocently.
	With a sigh, Lucifer followed him inside.  A Ni smiled at the 
Fallen, then began to snuggle with his shoulder, hoping to reassure him 
everything would be okay.  "Do you MIND?" he grumbled, scaring the Ni 
away.
	









	

	"Stand back." Yamato said, then activated the script.

	Michael and A'albiel covered their eyes instinctively as three 
lines of script on the floor lit up in a bright red light, then seemed 
to jump off of the ground, colliding at a point on the wall.  The 
explosion was quite impressive considering no chemicals had been used.  
	They got lucky this time, and finally exposed the final support 
beam at the corner.  Raphael had been right.  Inside the access tunnel 
to the top level, Azrael had written some kind of protection script.  
It was subtle, but powerful enough to warrant them to find another way 
in.  
	Since each City was built on a series of giant metal beams, 
acting as a frame, there had to be some kind of space between the beams 
and most of the walls to allow for cooling and heat expansion.  That 
meant that there were also small gaps between the outer armor and the 
inner walls.  
	"It's a really tight fit..." Yamato sighed as he poked his head 
through the hole.  "Any ideas?"
	A'albiel mentioned he could fit through just fine.  
	Michael shook his head.  "You'd be all alone up there."
	"With all due respect, Michael." Yamato said with a sigh.  "We're 
running out of time.  There's not a lot we can do unless at least one 
of us is up there."
	"What about the access tunnel?" Michael said.  "There has to be a 
way past that script!"
	"Yes, but that would require a mimic spell.  We don't have the 
time, or the sand to draw something like that.  Not only that, but 
there's no guarantee the script wouldn't see through the disguise and 
know you're an intruder."
	Without any other options, A'albiel explained, he had to go.
	"Fine." Michael nodded.  "Get up there and wait until you see the 
opportunity for an attack.  We'll keep trying to find a way up."
	With a little smile, the cherubim commander nodded, gave a little 
salute, and then entered the hole in the wall, slowly moving up the 
crack between the support and the plaster and wood making up the inner 
walls.  His only light was a badly flickering spear.

	"Come on." Yamato sighed.  "We'll try out in the hall again.  We 
might get lucky and find the air-ducts."
	Michael followed.  "What I wouldn't give for a Throne right now."







	

	A final layer of rock stopped A'albiel's ascent.  However, it was 
not any special armor, and he was able to chip away at it with the 
blunt end of his spear.  He recognized the white and red pattern as 
some kind of marble.  Usually, it was used for a floor's surface!  That 
meant he was almost through!
	He redoubled his efforts with bone jarring impacts that would 
have hurt like hell had he bones to begin with.  "Come on, you 
sonofabitch!" he muttered out loud. 
	After a few more minutes of scraping and prodding with his spear, 
a dull, golden red light punctured through the rock, illuminating his 
face.  
	A'albiel stopped, and stayed back for a moment, listening for any 
signs he had been heard.  Everything above was silent.  Once again, his 
tiny baby hands began to pull away small pieces of rock above his head.  
It broke off in tiny chunks at a time, and he made sure to stay 
absolutely still and silent as possible.  Each small crack and pull 
sounded already too loud to his sensitive ears.
	Soon, there was a hole big enough for him to fit through.  This 
was it, he thought.  Slowly, he raised his head through the crack.

	It was the observation dome alright.  The back of his head almost 
touched the massive crystal bubble over the entire area.  Smooth, 
marble floor stretched out before his eyes.  At the very center of the 
room was a small square of sand.  Directly over it was some kind of 
focal point for the light in the room.  It was the source of the golden 
light.
	A quick scan of the room found Azrael.  He was watching the sun 
set, laying back on a small sofa.  A'albiel gripped his spear tighter.  
One, tiny stab, and it would all be over.  Just one.  

	Taking one, last, deep breath, A'albiel flew.

	He brought around the spear to his front and charged as fast as 
his little body could go.  All the while, Azrael was turned to the 
setting sun.  

	Die...please die...

	A'albiel then noticed his reflection.  Oh no...

	Azrael ducked easily, seeing the Cherub's attack a mile away.  
Stunned, A'albiel had no time to swerve and try again.  A powerful arm 
shot up and a grip slid around his neck, slamming him forward into the 
wall.
	
	SMACK!

	Azrael stood, holding the little man against the glassy surface 
of the dome, his hands wrapped around his neck.  "A Cherub?" he 
growled.  "They send a CHERUB?" Azrael laughed as he grabbed the spear 
away from A'albiel and snapped it in half with one hand.
	Shaking from the pain, A'albiel couldn't even reply 
telepathically.  White light oozed from his forehead as he was pressed 
harder into the solid crystal.  
	"I wasted months over YOU?" Azrael growled.  "Worrying about some 
amazingly hopeless war, only to find my enemies could barely throw 
stones and scream at me when it came time.  I spent a dozen restless 
nights with nightmares that taunted me that I would fail, and THIS IS 
IT?"
	A sickening crunch sounded out as Azrael lifted the shaking 
little angel back, then rammed it's head back into the wall.  
	"I expected much more from such a foolish quest." Azrael 
whispered.  "But, I suppose it is all just a testament to how weak 
you've all become."
	He tightened his grip on A'albiel's neck.  "You know as well as I 
do that you will not die no matter how hard I crush you." He smiled 
down at the cherub's nearly shattered face.  "And I would love to 
continue showing you the exquisite pain you must be feeling right now." 
He lifted his head back to the sunset.  "But, I'm afraid I am on a 
schedule..." he grinned, throwing the little man down onto the floor.
	A'albiel couldn't move as he heard a weapon being drawn.  His 
'neck' was crushed, and he was weak with pain coursing through his 
entire body.  
	"Go..." he whispered.  "Go to hell, Azrael..."

	"I intend too." The Knight replied, then brought down his axe, 
slicing the little angel in half.
	  




















                            Chapter 28









	"How much time?" Chris gasped as they ran down the halls, 
stopping only to fight the remaining opposition.
	Lucifer tore the head off of a guard with his bare hands, then 
sprinted forward again.  "I don't know.  Less than an hour, now." 
	"Shit." He sighed, folding back his wings to squeeze through the 
hole in the wall he had sliced through.  Three Ni came flying around to 
him, bouncing up and down in mid-air.
	"What are they saying?" Lucifer asked.
	"It's Michael!" Chris smiled.  "He's still here.  Come on!  Just 
one floor up!"
	"If this were any time besides the End of Reality, I would not 
think that was so great of news." Lucifer followed.  "But for now?  I'd 
probably kiss the bastard."
	"He'd probably hate that more than you would." Chris smiled as 
they found the air-duct.  Assisted by his wings, he easily managed to 
crawl up into the passageway.
	Lucifer followed.  "How come you're so good at crawling around in 
air-ducts?"
	"You get used to it after stealing diamonds." Chris smirked as 
they crawled.  
	"You actually DID that?" Lucifer whistled.  "I thought you were 
just having some kind of fantasy dream when I saw that one." He 
laughed.  "Like the one with the thousands of naked women throwing 
little pickles at you on top of the pyramid."
	"Well, that one I'm saving for my honeymoon." Chris said.
	They were interrupted by the sounds of battle overhead.  "More 
fun!" Lucy grinned.
	Chris found the exit.  A small floor vent that had already been 
blown open wider by the Senshi earlier on.  He sent his Ni on ahead to 
cover them, and seconds later, he and Lucifer heard screams as the 
little cherubim began to bite their opponents.  
	"Those things are really handy." Lucifer admitted.
	"They're not bad for their size, eh?" Fiss nodded as they crawled 
out of the vent and got to their feet.  
	Yamato and Michael watched in amazement as two little Ni finished 
biting into various vital arteries and pressure points on the last 
standing guard, who fell quickly after.  
	They looked over to see Fiss.  "What the HELL are THEY!?!?" 
Michael yelled, raising his sword. 
	"Relax." Chris nodded.  "They're with me."
	"Turns out the Prophecy of Soulless Faces was a GOOD thing." 
Lucifer smiled as he relaxed his wing.  
	Yamato laughed and ran over to Chris.  "I'm impressed." He gave 
his grandson a quick hug.  
	Lucifer ran over and gave Michael a deep kiss before the Knight 
could realize what was going on.  "Hey SkitZ!  No hug for me too?"
	Michael gagged, leaning over so he could heave.  "Oh MY GOD!  
BLEAHH!"
	"Mm, guess he's not as happy to see me as I thought." Lucifer 
shrugged.
	"Would it kill you to eat a MINT!!??" Michael hacked.
	The two remaining Ni began to chuckle in that spooky way that 
only a pair of eyeballs, hair, teeth and a tongue could.  
	"Okay, where to?" Chris sheathed his sword.  
	"Azrael's on the top level.  Only problem is that it has a lot of 
script stopping us from using the tunnel." Yamato explained.  "You 
might be able to get up there, though." He said to Chris.  "But there's 
no guarantees."
	"Show me where." 
	They ran down the hall, past a disturbing amount of dead bodies.  
"What the hell happened here?" Lucifer frowned as they ran.
	"Did the others get out okay?" Michael blinked.  "They ambushed 
us."
	"Yeah, everyone's back on the beach." Chris nodded.  "They looked 
pretty beaten up, though."
	"How about the battle outside?" Michael wondered.  "Raphael said 
they called in more Hosts."
	"Taken care of." Chris smiled.  His two Ni nodded as they 
followed behind.  "Just worry about Azrael now."
	"A'albiel isn't back yet." Yamato said quietly as they rounded 
the corner.  "Either he can't get through, or..."
	"I know." Michael interrupted.  

	They had finally reached a hole through the wall, leading to a 
less-finished room with a large tube stretching from the floor to 
ceiling.  It was etched on the outside with a gently spiraling line of 
Theban.  
	"Damn..." Lucifer whispered, impressed at the magic.  "It's an 
insanity spell."
	"What do you mean?" Chris blinked.
	"You know all the stuff about the Noize driving you insane?  
Well, that's nothing.  The Noize is just a really nasty problem.  This 
will literally turn you into a cross between a raving, berserk lunatic 
and a vegetable."
	Chris tapped his sword on the hollow tube.  "I can break though."
	"So can I.  But anyone who isn't the Knight of Fiss will be 
attacked by the spell." Yamato said...then paused. 
	"He IS the Knight of Fiss." Michael grinned.  
	"Can you do that big vortex thingy?" Lucifer blinked.  "If you 
can, all you'd have to do is hover in the middle of the tube, and it 
would break the script so the rest of us can come up."
	"I..." Chris blinked.  "I might be able to...but I haven't 
tried."
	Yamato nodded.  "He might not have the power anymore.  We're not 
in the Sol System."
	"Bullshit." Michael smiled.  "He's got wings now.  He doesn't 
need no stinky planet." He took out his sword.  "All you gotta do is 
imagine the spell.  The wings and your sword will do the rest, right?  
It's simple."
	Mike wound up and smashed his sword through the metal, ripping a 
large line through it.  Then, he knelt down and did it again.  "SKITZ!" 
he yelled, blasting the section away with a well-placed wall of sound.  
	Though noisy, the attack did work, and they now were looking at 
the inside of the tube, where a second line of script had been drawn.  
	"So, if this doesn't work, I'll go insane?" Chris blinked as he 
walked closer to it. 
	"Basically, yeah." Yamato cringed. 
	"Well, I'm already halfway there, so I may as well." Fiss smiled, 
tucked his wings around his body, and then stepped inside.

	Everyone held their breath.

	Chris hovered there for as second, feeling the spell wash over 
him.  However, nothing strange happened.  He smiled.  Everyone outside 
of the hole breathed a sigh of relief.  "Okay.  Everyone stand back." 
He said, looking up.  There was only a few meters of tube, then it 
branched out onto another passageway without any writing on it.  
	His katana felt good in his hands.  As it always did.  
Remembering all those times in the past when he had been forced to not 
only use it, but call upon what he thought to be it's most destructive 
power, even now, he felt a bit of excitement.  
	Now, though, it was coupled with the fear that the massive 
hurricane of energy was NOT it's most powerful ability.  He had to 
focus.  Make sure he didn't start destroying Reality as well.
	
	"STRIKE FISS!"

	He closed his eyes and felt the energy start to come.  This time, 
it was different.  Something about it was faster.  More powerful.  All 
those times he used it before, it felt like sunshine.  The stored up 
power of the sun over thousands of years, collected in Saturn's rings. 
	This time, however, it was different.  Familiar, yet alien to 
him.  The air around him began to thicken and charge with power, until 
he could see the bright blue light through his eyelids.  
	
	It was working!  

	As he hovered in the middle of the tube, it began to expand 
outwards silently, surrounding him with a column of light that kept 
getting brighter.  Finally, it came in contact with the sides of the 
wall.
	The simple script and metal was no match for the power of his 
sword, and it began to crumble under the pressure of so much energy.  

	CHOOOOOOM!  







	Azrael fell to the ground as a massive cloud of dust exploded out 
of the floor.  "What the?" he coughed, shielding his eyes from the 
light.
	Pieces of plaster, rock and metal slid out across the floor as 
the rumbling came to a stop.  The entrance was now ripped up in a small 
crater.  Azrael found himself reaching for his axe.  "What have we 
here?"
	Two small creatures came zooming out of the hole, brandishing 
their teeth.  Azrael fell backwards, but was able to slice one in half 
on the way back.  
	The second Ni continued, though, and plowed it's little fangs 
right into Azrael's elbow as he tried to block.  "AAARRGH!"

	While the Ni bought them time, Michael had grabbed Yamato, and 
entered the now destroyed passageway with Lucifer.  Then, the four of 
them flew up and into the room via the hole in the floor.  
	Chris pulled Yamato up, then stood back as SkitZ and Lucifer 
popped up one by one.  

	Azrael finally threw the last Ni off his arm, and met it's re-
advance with his axe, slicing it in half and returning it to sand.  
Though his arm was bleeding, it wasn't cut on any vital parts.  He 
looked up in surprise to see four new opponents.  
	Each stood, now reaching for their swords, or readying other 
weapons, respectively.  "Miss me?" Chris smiled, spinning his katana at 
his side.
	His alter ego, however, was smiling.  "Good..."
	"Good what?" Michael frowned. 
	The other Knight of Fiss began walking over to the center of the 
room.  As he did, they noticed the light around them begin to darken.  
The sun had almost set now, leaving a bright orange horizon around 
them.  
	"You're just on time." Azrael grinned to Yamato, who swallowed 
hard.  Then, he smiled over at Chris.  "And you brought you sword too?  
How wonderful!  You saved me the trouble of going through all that 
rubble in the Gardens."
	Chris growled, gripping the handle tighter.  
	Azrael's smile was illuminated by the strange, ebbing focal point 
of light just above his head.  "Now that everyone's all here, we can 
start."

	Before anyone could do anything, Azrael leaned down to the sand 
beneath him and drew one last character.

	Everyone was thrown back by some invisible force as the top layer 
of the sand leapt into the air and wrapped around the ball of light 
like a blanket.  The light then began to eat away at the sand, leaving 
only brilliant glowing script.  They surrounded it like a shield, 
swirling and mingling in a hypnotic pattern.
	
	Michael helped them to their feet as Azrael began to laugh.  
"What's he done?" 
	Yamato looked around in horror.  "We're too late..."
	Lucifer sighed.  "Shit.  Not again..."























                           Chapter 29











	The battlefield was washed over with a silent, blinding white 
flash.  Angels and other warriors stopped their foolish battles in 
surprise.  Everyone turned to see the source of the light.  A pinprick 
of brilliant energy at the top of the distant City.  
	Sailor Hooze, co-guardian of Time, knew something wasn't right.  
The bright flash was a dead giveaway, but she also could feel something 
much deeper.  Like a gut feeling.  The same gut feeling she had around 
the time Armageddon started.  
	Cassiel dropped to her knees.  "They...failed..." she whispered.  
"It's starting..."
	
	Slivers of light began to appear in mid air where the spell began 
to spread.  Millions of them.  The sky looked almost like a field of 
fresh snow, full of growing cracks and light.  
	Dave lifted his arm in horror to see as he did, his body was 
pierced by these strange cracks as well.  They all were.  Each one 
radiating out from the City of Fiss.  "They're everywhere!"
	Rei and Miharu stayed close, watching as the strange 'cracks' 
began to multiply.  "We have to DO something!" Miharu begged, trying in 
vain to grab onto one of the impossibly thin lines and pull it out of 
her.  They were part of Reality itself, though, and her hands and body 
just passed around it.
	"Time's cracking..." Andrea whispered as everyone started to 
panic.  Her voice was strangely calm, though.  "It's all going to 
explode."
	"Is there anything we can do?" Rei asked Dave.
	He shook his head.  "Miss Hino...for the first time in my life, I 
honestly have no fucking clue what to do."
	"Great..." Rei smirked, even as more cracks appeared through her 
body.  
	The area was now a haze as the needle-thin fissures spread.  The 
armies all stopped and quickly found ground, unsure what to do.  Sounds 
and light began to come slower, almost like molasses to the senses.
	Andrea found herself almost slipping into sleep.  Between the 
exhaustion of the battle and her more fragile pregnant body, she was 
about ready to give into the inviting darkness.  It would be better to 
face the Noize while unconscious anyways.  
	Sailor Pluto had told them of such things.  How Time and the 
Universe died.  How it would crack and fold in on itself.  Even now, as 
the fabric of the Universe fought against the spell, the increasing 
number of slivery faults showed that it would not win against...

	Silence.

	Only the silent, cracking universe around her.

	The Senshi still stood around her, but there was no more sound.  
No more movement.  No more light.  They were almost gone now.  But, 
just before Hooze fell back into nothingness...

	She felt something.  Something at her stomach.  

	A kick.  

	Her child.

	Reality came rushing back over her as she felt it again.  
"Fight..." she growled, reaching behind her back and calling forth her 
Key.  "One more...time..."
	It materialized in her hand.  The cool, gray and purple steel was 
satisfyingly heavy in her gloves as she swung it around through the 
air.  If she hadn't been so focused, she would have noticed that as she 
did, it wiped the cracks away like an eraser.  
	"No..." she breathed angrily, her mind now re-focused.  
"Dammit...NO!"

	A new light began to form.  It was green and angry.  Fighting 
back against the slivers of white, it began to expand.  Energy began to 
pour around her in a small swirling tornado, now washing over the other 
Senshi, who finally noticed her actions.
	"Sailor Hooze!" Miharu whispered.  "You can do it!"
	Cupid bounced up and down.  "WHOO HOOO YEAH!"
	Demeter gently placed his hands over hers.  "Come on, Andrea!" he 
whispered.  "You can do it!"
	She nodded, grimacing under the strain.  "Stand back..." she 
replied.

	Everyone watched as the slivers tried once more to get through 
the green light.  Andrea held onto her staff with all her strength as 
she felt the Word spell begin to fight back.  
	"Oh no you don't..." she growled, lifting her Key over her head.  
"NOOO YOU DON'T!" she formed a bright sphere around her, slamming back 
the slivers.  "SAILOR HOOZE!  ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION PROGRAM!!!!!!!!!  
NYYEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"




	CRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




	Across the entire land, far past where the Senshi, and even the 
other Cities rested, the slivers stopped their spread.  Out in the 
furthest reaches of space, they stopped.  All the way to the edge of 
Reality, they stopped.
	All at once, countless infinity of these needle thin points of 
light rushed back to their origin, back to the City of Fiss, slamming 
through the tiny crystal dome that had been the origin.
	
	As they did, a sphere began to form around the City of Fiss.  An 
odd, black color.  No...it wasn't black.  It was blue, and red, and 
gold.  It was orange and green and silver.  Every color and every 
pattern melded into one, forming a giant, flickering egg around the 
City as the slivers of light tried to fight it.
	Thought, Reality and Time all collided and began to seal the 
breach, however, and the cracks could no longer get through.  

	Dave watched the formation of the sphere with wide eyes as it 
began to take on a strange new shape.  One that few with human eyes had 
ever seen before.  
	He watched the surface begin to shiver and change into the same 
shade of black as a shadow in the most intense light would.  The way 
the shape began to flatten out on the top and bottom and curve into 
itself.
	
	Andrea stood there, still wrestling with her Key as it finally 
faded into inactivity.  Though she was shaking, she had a determined 
look on her face.  "HOO HAW!" she yelled out happily.

	She had just created a Universe.

















                             Chapter 30









	The City was rocked by force like it had never seen before.  A 
deafening sound threatened to overwhelm even the Noize SkitZ knew, but 
never did.  
	Azrael, however, was watching outside in a panic as something 
began to crackle in the air around the structure, forcing back the Word 
and cutting it off before it could finally take hold.  "NOO!" he 
screamed as the rumbling began to slow down.  "WHAT'S GOING ON?!?"
	"We're being cut off from the rest of the universe!" Yamato 
whispered, looking out at the sky as it began to fade into darkness.
	The panicking Knight of Fiss took a few steps back as he realized 
what was happening.  "No matter..." he growled.  "All I need is here 
with me!"
	Lucifer had been waiting for him this time, and jumped forward 
with a roar as Azrael did.  However, Azrael wasn't about to let that 
stop him.  He brought around the blunt end of his axe and smashed it 
into Lucifer's shoulder.
	Despite his best efforts, Lucifer was tossed aside, completely 
winded by the impact.  Azrael took everyone's hesitation to his 
advantage, and pressed his hand into the script-sand once again, 
activating another spell.  
	Michael realized what it was, and grabbed Yamato and Fiss out of 
the way.  They fell to the ground next to Lucifer as a pillar of black 
light began to extend upwards to the domed ceiling.   "It's a Calling 
spell?" Yamato blinked.  "Why would he cast a Calling spell during a 
Word?"
	"What the HELL is a Calling spell?" Chris ducked as another wave 
of force threw everyone back out of the way.  
	"It opens up a gate between the caster's position and somewhere 
else..." Yamato looked up as everything got deathly quiet.  "But...it's 
not supposed to work outside the Universe..."

	They all turned to see a square, black hole in the ground.  
However, from it came forth a strange light.  It wasn't even really 
'light'.  More like the absence of darkness.  

	That's when the voices came.

	They were horrible.  Screaming loud and infinitely soft at the 
same time.  Some whispered.  Some laughed.  Some cried and some 
screamed angrily.  Whatever they said, though, it was combined into 
one, synchronous sound.  
	
	"Is it done?"

	Azrael stood quickly as the others watched.  "Yes.  But I don't 
know how long we have."
	"Are they with you?" the voices continued.
	The cold, ice blue eyes of Azrael found Chris'.  "Oh yes.  I 
brought you everything you asked for.  Yamato and the Eighth."
	Both Yamato and Christopher blinked in horror.  
	"We have to get you out of here..." Fiss turned to his 
grandfather.
	"There IS no way out." Azrael screamed back at them.  "Which one 
of you WAS it that did this?" he pointed to the strange, flickering 
blackness outside.  "What is YOU, Old Man?" he growled.  "I still had 
things to DO in that Universe.  What good is a new Heaven without an 
Earth under it?"
	"SILENCE!" 	Everyone clasped their ears as the voices screamed 
and yelled.  "AZRAEL!  Stop this foolishness." They continued after a 
pause.  "You will be returned if you so wish it.  As part of your 
reward."
	Azrael stood, letting a smile cross over his face.  "Very well." 
He raised his axe.  "Yamato.  Get in."
	Yamato glared at Azrael with none of the love he used to hold for 
the boy.  "Never."
	
	It wasn't about to be that easy, however, as a coil of smoke 
began to rise out of the hole in the floor.  Azrael stood back, but 
seemed to know exactly what it was.
	Chris could feel it coming long before it actually did.  He 
angled his sword just before it lashed out and slashed as the whip-like 
smoke slid past him.  The smoke simply slid around the blade, however, 
and headed straight for Yamato.
	"ERK!" he coughed as the black smog wrapped itself around his 
neck.  Then, it solidified, and turned into a gnarled organic root.  
"HELP!"
	Both Michael and Fiss shot their razor-sharp swords through the 
appendage as it began to pull Yamato towards the hole.  Both, however, 
slid through without actually breaking the thing's grip.  
	They fell over, off balance, watching in horror as 
the...thing...kept pulling their mentor towards and down into the hole.  
	Azrael stood, watching the whole scene with a smile.  "Save 
yourself the trouble...Strike Fiss, was it?"
	"Shut up!" Chris growled, standing.  "Make them STOP!"
	"You're next, I'm afraid." Azrael sighed with mock sorrow.  
"We'll need that little butter-knife too."
	Chris looked at Yamato, who's eyes were wide as he was slowly 
hauled into the darkness.  "No..." he whispered.
	Yamato shook his head.  "Chris!  DON'T!"
	Lucifer's eyes went wide as he caught their train of thought.  
"CHIRSTOPHER!  DON'T!"
	Azrael took a step back, not sure what to expect.  Suddenly, 
however, he felt a new power in the room.  "What??" 
	"DON'T!" Yamato shook his head, even as he was almost upon the 
edge of the hole.  
	"You'll FALL!" Lucifer yelled.
	Azrael's eyes were wide as he recognized the power.  "Casting 
Block?"

	Chris closed his eyes, held is sword...

	And cut Reality.








	It was instinctual, just as he had feared.  A small barrier 
stopped him, but slid aside at his insistence.  There was no other way, 
he kept telling himself.  No other way.  It had to be done.  
	Just one, tiny change.
	
	The katana turned into pure liquid silver as it moved.  Light 
played off of it's surface at an incredible speed.  Little notes of 
pure silver light began to float around it like dust caught in 
sunlight.  
	Everything turned into slow motion at that moment.  The blade 
came down, slicing through the gnarled smoke, permanently severing it.  
Yamato stumbled forward in shock as the rest of it dissolved and faded 
off of his neck.  
	
	He could feel it coming.  Something bad, Chris thought.  

	Still, he had time.  Just enough time, he thought as he ran.  He 
lunged at the crystal wall, stabbing his katana deep into the solid 
rock like it was nothing...even lighter than air.
	It was so easy.  Frighteningly simple.  It still took two hands, 
though, for him to drag the blade down, cutting not only the crystal, 
but the Universe as well.  
	Lucifer, Yamato and Michael watched in awe as beautiful golden 
light flooded them.  A tear in the fabric of Space-Time now shivered 
before them.  On the other side...they saw the beach.  








	The Senshi all gasped as they saw the blade of Chris' sword 
puncture the black, shivering ring-shape.  "What's that?" Beavis 
gasped.
	"He's breaking through!" Miharu cheered.







	"Chris..." Yamato whispered as he watched his grandson and 
student rip through the wall.
	Azrael was in complete shock.  Lucifer couldn't believe he 
actually did it.  Michael, however, yelled "RIGHT ON POKER!"
	Strike Fiss turned with a smile to his friends as he swung his 
sword around, free of the breach.  They had a way out.

	But...

	His smile faded as he felt something coming.  Lucifer, had to 
look away, not bearing to watch and relive it.  Yamato's eyes 
apologized with so much sorrow that he didn't have to say anything.  
"Oh no..."
	
	Strike Fiss Fell.























                            Chapter 31











	Every nerve in his body lit on fire.  Black, charring fire, that 
raced up every limb and inch of his skin, until flooding into his brain 
all at once.  Had the pain been that of organic nature, Chris would 
have probably gone unconscious.
	However, this was much worse.  His soul felt like it was being 
ripped in half.  Mouth open in a silent scream, the four others watched 
in horror as he was lifted into the air by some unseen hand.
	When he finally fell back down, his wings were shaking violently 
as he knelt down on the ground, trying to find breath that would not 
come anytime soon.  
	A high-pitched scream filled the air as a new light, now no 
longer from the sword, began to spread.  It was not a kind light, or 
one of power.  It ravaged and stripped itself off of Chris' body, 
pulling away like something bursting through the skin.
	Desperately, Chris curled around his sword.  It was the only 
thing keeping him from losing his mind to the pain at this point.  

	As soon as it had started, it stopped.

	Chris slumped to the ground, gasping for air as his shoulders 
smoked from the transformation.  There were no more wings.  

	The heavy air of silence was finally lifted by footsteps as the 
three rushed to his side.  Michael pulled Chris' head up, checking him 
over quickly.  "Chris!  Come on!  Wake up, man!" he shook the 
smoldering boy gently.
	Chris, though unable to speak, just smiled weakly, making a small 
cough that could have meant 'SkitZ'.
	Lucifer shot daggers at Yamato as they helped the weakened Senshi 
to his knees.  "You made him swear..." he whispered.  It was the 
closest thing to something threatening he could manage at the moment.
	Yamato, however, knew exactly what he meant, and his heart just 
shattered further.  "I know..." he replied, shaking.  Tears were 
evident in his voice. 
	
	For a long time, Chris thought he was dead.  Light seemed so 
distant.  Feeling and touch seemed like a dream, as if he was having an 
out-of-body experience.  Even his own body felt alien.  His 
wings...they were gone.  He could feel them gone.  The pain was fading, 
but now, that left him with the horrible realization that they were no 
longer there.
	"Go..." he whispered, still holding his sword.  It had changed 
back into it's original state long ago.  
	The three of them did nothing.  
	Chris finally stood, and looked over to the flickering hole.  
"Go...before it closes." He said.  His voice seemed almost dead.  
	Lucifer nodded gravely, and grabbed Yamato with a strong grip.  
"Thank you, Christopher..." he whispered. 
	Yamato nodded.  "I'm sorry..."
	"NOW!" Chris yelled, falling back down to his knees painfully.  
	Lucifer nodded and carried Yamato as he jumped through the tear.
	Michael sighed, and helped him to his feet again.  "Come on 
Fissy..."
	"No..." Chris smiled, looking up at SkitZ.  "You too.  I have to 
finish things here..."
	Though he looked about to protest, Michael nodded.  With a quick 
spin before he could change his mind, he walked towards the tear.  Just 
before he jumped through, however, he turned and waved with his first 
two fingers.  "Kick some ass, Fissy..."

	He was cut off by the hole closing.

	Chris collapsed, breathing just barely.
	Azrael was still in shock from seeing the sight.  He lay, 
gasping, from the far end of the room.  His axe was next to his heart, 
hoping for some protection.  
	"You..." he shook.  "What the hell ARE you?"
	Strike Fiss turned his head with a sigh.  "I don't know what's 
worse." He coughed.  "Losing my wings, or knowing that I was like you 
when I had them."
	Azrael stormed over to him, past the black hole, still open, in 
the middle of the floor.  "You are NOT me." He growled, kicking Fiss' 
sword away before lifting him up by the collar.  
	"For once, we agree." Chris smiled weakly.
	With a painful THUD, Azrael tossed Chris aside, turning back to 
the hole.  "You cost me Yamato." He growled.  "But at least I still 
have your sword."
	"You have nothing." Chris replied, slowly crawling over to his 
katana.  "I'll make sure you stay that way."
	With a glare, Azrael noticed him retrieve his weapon.  "So, you 
want it like that, do you?" he walked over to his end of the room and 
picked up his axe.  "Fine.  I can play your childish games too."
	Chris barely had time to duck as the blade screamed over his 
head, missing it by less than an inch.  Stumbling until he fell, Fiss 
only just managed to get away before Azrael could try again.  
	He headed for something in the corner.  A huge, velvet draped 
object he had seen earlier, but never paid much attention to.  Azrael 
looked up, huffing as he watched Strike Fiss dart behind it.  His lips 
pursed into a thin smile.  "Trying to hide now?" he walked over 
casually.  "I thought you would want the honorable fight to the death?"
	"Who says I'm hiding?" Chris coughed from the other side.  His 
brain screamed for sleep, despite his best efforts to stay alert.  Both 
his hands shivered, even as they tried to hold his katana.  "I'm just 
catching my breath."
	Azrael laughed.  "I guess Michael was right."
	Chris frowned.
	"I guess I eventually DID fall, in a sense." Azrael mused to 
himself.  "But even I wasn't expecting YOU to Fall for me.  I'm very 
grateful, though."
	Fiss winced as he felt his shoulders shoot pain through his body 
when he leaned back against his hiding spot.
	"Now, I guess you'll die." Azrael continued, mostly talking to 
himself anyway.  "You may have been able to rip apart those feeble 
little creatures outside.  The ones you called angels...but...I am not 
anything LIKE them."	
	"You can say that again, fucker." Chris grumbled as he began to 
lift himself back up off the velvet.  
	"Did you and your little friends honestly think you could defeat 
a God?" Azrael hissed contently.  "It's amazing what little ideas go 
through your minds.  It really is.  Annoying but useful in the form of 
entertainment."
	"You should watch movies instead." Fiss shook his head.  
	"Poor Chris..." Azrael continued.  "It must be especially hard 
for you."
	"What do you mean?" Chris frowned.
	"Well, obviously." He hummed.  "Growing up under the shadow of 
me?  It must have been very intimidating.  I can see why you chose to 
rebel against me."
	"Shadow of YOU?" Chris hacked.  "I've wanted nothing in my life 
as badly than to cut you away from me!  I don't want to BE you!  Are 
you fucking nuts?  You're everything that I hate!"
	Azrael frowned, but just sighed.  "I sense you are confused." He 
laughed to himself.  "I suppose I shall put you out of your misery 
now."	 Chris heard footsteps and quickly ran to the opposite direction, 
almost falling over on the velvet covering.  Azrael reached the other 
side and saw nothing.  He laughed again.  "Oooh, he still has a spark 
of life left!"
	Gasping for breath that just wasn't coming fast enough, Chris 
couldn't reply.  His body was pleading for him to just rest.  Just a 
few seconds, it promised.  Luckily, he never did trust sleep.
	"You know you've lost your powers." Azrael said loudly.  "You're 
just some silly little child running from death."
	Chris shook his head.  "Man, this guy really likes the smell of 
his own bullshit..."
	"And I am the Angel of Death." Azrael continued.  "You wouldn't 
want to keep me waiting much longer."

	Suddenly, the world rocked. 	

	Grunting in pain, Chris opened his eyes in time to see the room 
spin once, and then land against his face, floor-first.  Azrael stood 
on the other side of the mirror, laughing.  The velvet covering had 
been yanked out from under his feet.  His sword skittered off into the 
corner, unreachable. 
	"I don't believe that worked." Azrael laughed as he poked his 
head out around the side.  
	Chris spat out blood, but luckily, was able to finally breathe 
again.  "Dammit...I should have done that."
	Azrael strode over to him, tossing the cloth away.  "Don't feel 
bad." He picked Chris up by the neck once again, then spun him around, 
catching him in a secure headlock.  "After all, some would consider it 
an honor to be killed by me."
	Chris watched in the mirror as Azrael raised his axe to his 
throat.  Blood poured out of Azrael's mouth and his eyes as always.  He 
now knew that blood to be justified.  "I...don't...need..." he coughed.  
"I don't need wings."
	With a laugh, Azrael turned to the mirror.

	Then stopped laughing. 

	He saw himself.  This time, however, he was normal.  It was 
definatly his reflection.  In his arms, however, was not a weak, 
struggling little figment from his nightmares.  
	"What is this...?" he whispered.
	Strike Fiss looked at himself this time.  Kneeling down, about to 
be killed by Azrael, however, something was strange.  "I don't need 
wings..." he whispered to himself.

	Wings.  Angel.  

	He blinked, watching the ghostly reflection in his mind.  "I 
don't need wings..."

	Wings.  Light.

	Something touched his back.  Something warm and familiar.  "I'll 
still kill you..." Chris whispered.  "Even without wings..."


	Wings.



	Light.



	Sword.



	And at that moment, the sensation came back.  Somehow, Chris felt 
his fingers wrap around the handle of his katana.  In a smooth, quick 
motion, he took the blade in his hand, spun it to point backwards, and 
brought the blade back with his hands.  The warm, warn leather back in 
his grasp was almost as good as the sound of a blade hitting flesh.  

	Azrael's axe dropped as his mouth went wide in a horrified 
expression.  Slowly, Chris stood, still holding his sword into Azrael's 
side.  "I." He said quietly.  "Don't NEED wings."  The mirror-like 
katana moved around the flesh, digging deeper as he stood.
	"No..." the Knight shivered, backing up, off the sword with a 
sickening sound.  
	With a flick of his arms, a white trenchcoat slid onto his back.  
With it, the pain disappeared.  Strike Fiss then picked up Azrael's axe 
and walked past him as he lay, bleeding to death on the floor.  He 
would not live the night.  No matter what spells he had.  
	"WAIT!" Azrael begged, clutching his side in pain.  Between his 
wound and his bitten arm, the pain was almost unbearable.  
	Fiss turned.  
	"Don't leave me here..." Azrael pleaded.  "Bring me back."
	"I don't think so." Christopher said.  His voice was still weak, 
but his eyes had the same piercing blue they always did.  He had never 
lost that.  
	"You owe me." Azrael said, even as Chris sliced his hole through 
Reality once again.  "YOU ARE ME!" he screamed, trying in vain to drag 
himself closer.  
	With a grim smile, Strike Fiss turned, sheathing his sword as it 
gently returned to it's inactive state.  "Not any more."

	The rip closed behind him.

	


















                           Chapter 32









	It had been hours now.

	Days maybe.  Who could tell in this strange Hell that had been 
created around him.  Azrael, without his Virtue, now lay in the middle 
of the floor, arm shaking as he traced script into what was left of the 
sand.
	Even with just a little left, he might be able to do something 
with it.  Another calling spell.  The voices would reward him, after 
all.  Even though he had failed.  He still was useful to them.
	He wanted his Heaven.  Even as he bled silently.  The only sounds 
in the room were ragged, forced breath as he forced himself to keep 
living.  Living long enough to get revenge.  
	
  	Crunch.

	Just a little more.  Maybe a few minutes more.  An hour maybe.  

	Crack, crunch!  Tink!

	The sounds next to him didn't even register in his mind as he 
wrote.  Every thought in his twisted brain going towards salvaging all 
he had worked so hard for, ever since the Noize.  If only he had that 
damn sword...

	"Lord Azrael?"

	He jumped back in surprise as Raphael's pale, but huge face 
lifted out of the entrance tunnel.
	"Raph...?" he whispered back, then managed a small grin.  
"Raphael!"
	"Where..." the large angel grunted as he lifted himself up and 
onto the floor, taking a short rest before he stood.  His arm was 
bandaged, but covered in blood from the elbow down.  "Where is 
everyone?"
	"They escaped." Azrael hissed.  "But I am not dead yet." He 
continued writing on his spell.
	Raphael's eyes narrowed.  "I can see that."
	Oblivious, Azrael continued franticly.  "Help me, dammit!  We 
don't have much time left!"
	
	Raphael withdrew his sword.  

	Azrael looked up in horror as the massive angel began to walk 
towards him.  "W...what are you DOING?!?!"
	"Something I should have done a long time ago." Raphael hissed.  
"Before this all got out of hand."
	"Raphael!" Fiss yelled.  "Wait!"
	"I hope..." the larger man whispered.  "That you do not repent.  
That way, I have a chance of never seeing you in Heaven."  His sword 
came down.

	Azrael's crushed skull skipped across the floor, leaving a trail 
of blood.  

	Raphael got his wish.  And as he watched his own blood leave him 
on the floor, he knew that his angel of death would not be Azrael.  
Fading eyes widened, and suddenly grew bright as he clutched his sword 
to his chest.  

	"I see him..."



















	









                        Seven Knights Epilogue:

                          "Running for Home"














	Chris gasped, completely winded as he fell down onto the grass. 
"You're getting really heavy, you know." He groaned.
	Miharu laughed, sitting on his back.  "Hey!  You offered!  Now 
get up and take me to the smith."
	"Is it that time already?" Chris spread his wings carefully.  
They were still sore from the traumatic experiences over a month ago, 
and he didn't want to overexert them again.  Even in their weakened 
state, though, they managed to generate enough lift to get him and 
Miharu upright, so he could continue to give her a piggyback ride.  
	"It's been almost five weeks!" Miharu complained.  "I bet you 
could make a sword faster than that!" she held onto his neck as he 
walked.  
	"No, actually I can't." he laughed.  "Yamato tried to teach me 
once."
	"Ahh, well, I hope he did it right.  I don't want to teach using 
a second-rate wakizashi."

	The City of SkitZ was in full swing.  Tonight was to be the 
glorious First Harvest festival, and a lot had to be done.  Twice as 
many people now inhabited the City and surrounding provinces now.  
Raphael had been telling the truth.  Many of his old House were now 
allied with Michael.
	Luckily, the brought with them all the food Raphael had been wise 
enough to store over the last five years.  It would be a glorious 
feast.  
	
	"I hope you realize we can't take Cupid back with us." Chris 
warned as they dodged all the people who weren't flying.
	"I know, dad." Miharu sighed.  "It's not like I like him or 
anything."
	"Ahh, suuure." He teased.  
	"Anta baka?" Miharu frowned.  "Just because I hang out with him 
doesn't mean I love him.  He is kind of...strange..."
	Fiss shrugged and put her down as they entered the black-smith's 
shop.  Sounds of hammering could be heard in the back.  "Whoa...deja-
vue."
	"Huh?"
	"Nothing." He smiled.  "Let's go get his sword."






	Demeter and Andrea sat outside on the cool spring plain, watching 
the sun as it got closer to the mountains.  
	"Do you like it here, Demeter?" Hooze asked suddenly. 
	In the last month, any attempts to fit into her Sailor Fuku had 
failed miserably thanks to her child.  She was now having to wear a 
dull brown cloak that pissed her off to no end.  
	"Yes." Demeter said simply.  "It is nice, but I don't think I 
would like not being able to watch summer sunrises."
	Hooze smiled, but then sighed.  "I was thinking about the baby."
	"Mmm?"
	"It's probably going to come soon." She explained.  "We...should 
be making plans for where we're going to live."
	Demeter blinked.  "Oooh!" he smiled.  "Well, Beavis can teach me 
carpentry, and maybe I'll just build a nursery onto a nice little one-
bedroom townhouse back in Edmonton." He smiled brightly.  "You remember 
that one little place?"
	"No." Andrea shook her head.  "I meant...where are we going 
to...STAY...?" she gestured around them.  "What if our child has to 
stay here?"
	Demeter's face dropped slightly.  "Oooh..."
	"You saw my brother." She nodded.  "Even though he was born back 
home, because he spent his childhood HERE, he had to come to the Pool 
of Angels and all that bad stuff."
	"I guess." Demeter nodded.  "But, I thought that out kid 
was...uh..." he began to blush.  "Before all that."
	"That's the thing." She smiled.  "I'm not sure.  Even Dave 
wouldn't be able to guess perfectly."
	"Well, uh...we'll just bring him back here when he gets those 
nightmares!" Demeter proudly deduced. 
	"What if we can't?"
	They watched the rest of the sunset in silence.  "We should be 
getting back." Demeter offered.
	"Mmm." Andrea replied, not sure to what destination he meant.  
Her arms gently held her stomach as they walked back to the City. 





	
	
	Lucifer and Michael watched in absolute amazement as Maury 
chugged back his eighth glass of beer.  "AND another thing..." he 
hiccupped.  "I don't get it why you guys don't have no lobsters!" his 
Eastern Canadian accent was now in full swing.  "Why can'tcha have da 
lobsters?"
	The two angels shrugged, then looked at each other and began to 
laugh their asses off, also drunk.  "Man, that was fucked up." Michael 
snorted.
	Lucifer hailed down the waiter and asked for another bottle of 
wine.  "Soooo, SkitZie!" he stood.  "How do you like my brand-new 
bottle-opener?"
	"Oh no, not again." Maury laughed.
	The waiter came back with a new bottle of wine, and Lucifer 
promptly sliced the end of the bottle clean off, thanks to his new axe.  
"Damn I love this thing!" he whooped, pouring the table another round.
	
	Cassiel and Gabriel sat across from them, sipping their wine in a 
much more dignified manner.  "Amateurs." Cass smiled.

	"Hey!" Michael interrupted.  "Dontcha be givin my friend Lucy 
here no lip!"
	Everyone's jaws dropped.  Even Lucifer's.  "What did you just 
say?"
	Michael shrugged.  "Oh, don't get me wrong.  I'm still goinna 
kill you one day." He promised happily.
	Lucifer shrugged, smiled, and slammed back his mug.  "Same here, 
buddy."
	Gabriel just laughed as the two toasted glasses.  "Well, so long 
as it's not today.  Blood and food go horrible together."
	"Unless you're a vampire." Maury said, taking another drink.
	All the angels blinked.  "What's a vampire?" Cassiel shrugged.
	Maury sighed.  "AND no VAMPIRES?  You guys have a fuckin' rough 
life!"
	Dave woke up just long enough to mumble something incoherently, 
completely blasted out of his mind after trying to keep up with Maury, 
beer for beer.  Then, with a light 'thunk' his head fell back to the 
table.  
	"Heh..." Michael smiled over to Cassiel.  "I don't suppose you're 
doing anything tonight?"
	Gabriel blinked in surprise as Cassiel blushed.  "Well, at least 
someone's getting some."




	
	
	Of course, that night was the absolute worse night of them all 
for Dave to be drunk.  
	Andrea and Demeter were walking back to their room, when 
suddenly, she stopped in her tracks.  "Oh oh..."
	Demeter blinked, wondering what was wrong.  "What?"
	"Demeter?"
	"Yeah?"
	"I think we'd better get Dave up here..." she said, wide-eyed. 






	Fifteen minutes, and much yelling and screaming later, Dave had 
barely been able to wake up.  Chris was helping the best he could, 
feeding him coffee, but it obviously wasn't working.  Maury just sat 
off to the side, drinking another beer.  
	"Uh..." Dave groaned.  "Okay...and hot water...s'we need hot 
water."
	Rei ran off quickly, returning with towels and a basin of warm 
water as Andrea's yells began to flood the room.  
	Demeter looked absolutely terrified.  Probably because Andrea 
kept giving him the "this is all YOUR fault!  Why can't guys have the 
kids!" look.  "Uh...what now!?!?" he gasped.
	"I DON'T KNOW!" Andrea cringed.
	"Okay...uh...now..." Dave began to snore.
	"AAAAAAAAAH!" Chris shook him violently.  "DAMMIT!  Dave!  Wake 
up, Dave!" he turned to Maury.  "Damn you!"
	Maury just shrugged and took another sip.  "Can someone turn off 
the car-alarm?  It's loud."
	Luckily, Beavis was coaching Andrea.  "Don't worry, Sailor Hooze!  
I've done this before!"
	Andrea blinked nervously.  "You've given BIRTH before??"
	"Uh, no, but I've seen it happen lots of times.  You're doing 
great!" Beavis smiled.  
	"Grr." She replied.
	"Mo!  Dammit!  DO something!" Chris demanded.
	"Uh...like what?"
	"I DON'T KNOW!!!!"
	Demeter chose that moment to pass out and crack his head on the 
floor.  Luckily, his head didn't pop off again, but it still sounded 
rather painful. 
	"AAAH!" Chris freaked out.  
	"AAAGH!" Dave yelled as well.  "What's going on?!?!?!"
	"MY SISTER IS HAVING A BABY!" Chris yelled at him.  "DOOOO 
SOMETHING!"
	"One, two, in, out...PUSH!  PUSH!" Beavis yelled.
	"I'm PUSHING, DAMMIT!" Andrea restrained herself from grabbing 
Beavis and throwing him across the room.
	"BABY??" Dave gasped, promptly falling over on his seat.  "Ouch, 
my noggin!"
	"JESUS!  This is a bloody episode of E.R.!" Andrea yelled at 
Chris and Dave.  "STOP FREAKING OUT!"
	"AAAAHG!"
	Andrea sighed. 
	Rei promptly smacked Chris in the head, knocking him out of it.  
"Stop that!"
	Dave continued.  "AAAARGH!"
	"uh...guys?"
	"AAARGH!" Chris replied to Dave, who looked just as freaked out.
	"Guys???"
	Rei sighed and just slumped over.  "What do I DOOO???"
	"Guys!!!?"
	Maury finally joined in, forgetting where he was for a moment.  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAARHG!"

	"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Beavis bellowed.

	Everything was perfectly silent. 

	Except for a tiny voice crying.  Beavis smiled.  "The baby's 
already here."

	Instantly, everyone forgot about freaking out, and rushed over to 
Demeter, who luckily, was there to catch his...

	"It's a BOY!" Maury cheered happily, before passing out on the 
floor.  

	Andrea just lay back, stunned, and recovering from the 
experience.  "Ugh...I'm getting an epidermal next time..."
	Rei quickly grabbed a cloth and began to wash the child off, who 
had actually stopped crying as soon as it figured out he could breathe 
air.  Oh yes, this was rather nice!
	Dave finally had enough strength to stand up, and was smiling 
brightly.  "Wow!  You guys did it!"
	Chris just lay next to Maury, passed out.
	"Mmph." Hooze sighed.  "Wussies."
	Demeter stood as Rei helped wrap the perfectly normal looking 
baby in a towel.  "Aww!" she smiled.  "He's even got hair already!"
	Andrea slowly sat up on the bed.  "Hey, how 'bout sharing?" she 
smiled.  
	Demeter gently passed their son over to her as Rei continued to 
dry him off with a cloth.  "He's beautiful!" Rei cried happily.
	"I know..." Andrea whispered.  "You know...you're right...he's so 
cute!  And fuzzy..." she took the cloth away from Rei, and began drying 
his hair as he looked up at her with quizzical eyes.  
	
	SHNICK!

	Everyone jumped backwards.  The little baby looked up at Andrea, 
now with a spiky head of hair poking through holes that it ripped 
through the cloth.  
	Andrea blinked.  "Whoa...I'm glad he wasn't like that on the way 
out..."
	That prompted a huge smile from her son.  "Eeeehhh!"
	Demeter rubbed his own spiky hair and smiled.  "That's m'boy!"










	Weeks after the First Harvest, the Senshi once again found 
themselves at the Pool of Angels.  Though they had mixed feelings about 
coming back to this place, they knew that they had to do this one last 
thing before going.

	"Are you sure about this?" Andrea asked Michael as they walked up 
to the sealed entrance.  
	"Yes." He nodded.  "At the very least, he won't be hurt by it.  
You may as well see if he's going to be an angel now instead of 
waiting."
	"Five bucks says the kid has wings." Maury offered.
	"You're on." Beavis nodded.
	"Hey!" Andrea frowned at the two, then stood back as Michael used 
his sword to pry away the rock.
	Chris walked over and helped, and soon, they pulled away the 
large boulder.  The dark entrance was now beckoning them inside.  
"Ready, Hooze?"
	She nodded.  Demeter, Fiss and SkitZ followed her inside.     	

	"I'm scared." Hooze admitted as they descended.  "What if he 
can't come back with us?"
	"Hey, I was able to go back and forth." Chris shrugged.  "I don't 
see why he won't be able to."
	"I know..." Hooze sighed.  "I'm just worried."
	"You'll be a good mom, then." Michael said with a reassuring 
smile.  
	"Yeah, and I can still kick your ass." Andrea punched him in the 
shoulder.  Michael frowned and punched her back.  Hooze frowned and 
punched him again.  He was about to do the same when Andrea held up her 
smiling son.  "Watch out!  Baby!"
	He grumbled and stopped.  
	"Heheh." Andrea chuckled evilly.
	"Heheh." Her son mimicked.
	"I love this kid." She smiled happily.
	"Uh..." Chris smiled.  "So have you and Demeter decided on a 
name?"
	"I want to wait until we know for sure if he's going to be all 
spooky and powerful." Andrea explained.  "But if he's just going to be 
a normal kid, I'll name him like Brodie or Seth or something.  If he's 
going to have wings, I'll give him something more traditional from this 
place."
	"Ooh!  I vote for Michael!"
	Andrea punched him in the shoulder again.
	"Ooow!  That hurt!" Michael grumbled.  

	They finally reached the bottom of the walkway, finding the Pool 
of Angels in much better shape than it was last time.  Not only was it 
full of crystal blue water, but it was up past the deeper hole, spread 
out along the entire upper basin.  
	It was so calm and serene, like an indoor swimming pool.  Chris 
looked visibly relived.  "At least we won't have to see if he can fly."
	Hooze knelt down and smiled at her kid.  "Okay, honey.  Just swim 
around for a moment, okay?"
	The kid blinked, suddenly realizing she wanted him to go into the 
water.  
	"Here ya go..." she gently edged him closer.  
	"WAHH!" he gasped, then began to struggle.  
	"I don't think he likes water." Demeter observed.  
	"Grr!  HEY!" Andrea struggled to ease him in carefully.  "Come 
on!  Just...HEY!  OW!  Don't bite me!!  THERE!"  

	SPLASH!  FAPAFPAPAPAPAFPFPPAPFPFPAPFPAAAP!

	Her son began to frantically paddle around, making quite a wake 
behind him as went around in a little circle.  "EEP!" 
	Chris and Michael started laughing, watching Andrea now try to 
retrieve her son.  "Wow...he's quite wily, isn't he?" SkitZ grinned.
	"Yes.  I'll have to give him lots of sugar." Chris nodded. "Heh."
 
	Andrea FINALLY managed to wrangle her son back in, who gratefully 
accepted her arms and the waiting towel.  "Well," she coughed out the 
water he had shaken onto her.  "At least he doesn't have wings." She 
smiled, looking up at Michael and Chris.

	Michael and Chris, however, were looking down at her son like he 
had just sprouted a new head. 
	She looked down at him.  He still only had one.  "What is it??"
	"Raziel!" Michael gasped.
	"Bless you." Andrea smiled, but then turned to Chris, who also 
looked rather serious.  "What?"
	Little Raziel smiled and sneezed.
	"That's his name." Chris explained.  "The Pool...uh...I don't 
know..."
	Andrea blinked, then took another look at Raziel's back.  
"I...don't see any wings..."
	"He's not like that..." Michael smiled.  "The Pool has blessed 
your son, though."
	"Raziel means Secret of God." Chris explained.  "The keeper of 
the secrets of the Universe.  Even secrets that other angels don't 
know."
	"Really?" Andrea looked down with a smile.  Raziel smiled 
brightly up at his mom, forgiving that she threw him into the water.  
"That's a great name!" she held him up.  "What do you think?"
	Raziel tilted his head to the side, blinked, then smiled, mouth 
wide open and gurgling.  
	They started the trek back up the side of the indent as Andrea 
hugged her son.  "You're goinna be a smart little bastard, aren't ya.  
He he.  That's right." She paused.  "Oh, yeah.  Heh.  I guess you ARE a 
bastard!  Hehe."  
	"The most adorable little bastard I've ever seen!" Demeter said 
happily.  
	Michael and Chris blinked as the Hooze/Demeter/Raziel family all 
hugged.  "Heh.  Bastard." Mike grinned.









	

	A few days later, back at the City, it was early morning.  Not 
just any morning, either.

	Today, the Senshi would go back home.  

	The script was already being drawn nearby with the help of the 
Mages and Uriel, who offered to lend a helping hand.  Beavis and Miharu 
sat on the shore, looking out over the water and the City.  
	"I'm going to miss this place." Miharu sighed, stretching her 
back.  
	"I agree." Beavis smiled.  "It was a nice getaway...except for 
the almost dying parts."
	"Well, yeah.  Those I could have done without." Miharu smiled.  
"But it was fun.  I hope we can visit."
	"Sure we will." Beavis promised.  "I hear that Dave is going to 
try and set-up a permanent portal between the two Universes.  Andrea 
will probably want to show Raziel around when he's old enough to enjoy 
it." The little hedgehog yawned.  "And it's probably going to be a lot 
calmer when we come back."
	"I heard SkitZ was going to take off for some kind of training 
mission, and was going to let Cassiel and Gabriel run his House." 
Miharu shrugged.  "No more war.  It will be nice."
	The two lay there for a moment, enjoying the cool spring breeze.  
The red clouds were already floating back up to the higher altitudes 
they stayed at during the summer.  
	Suddenly, they heard a sound.  A frantic buzzing noise of fast-
paced wings.  Miharu sat up with a smile.  "Hey, Beavis.  I'll see you 
back at the City, okay?"
	Beavis got the subtle hint and nodded.  "Don't be late.  We'll be 
gone in an hour." He winked, then floated off across the water.
	She turned and smiled as she saw Cupid land a few meters away in 
the grass.  "Ohayo gozaimasu!!"
	Cupid blinked, then giggled happily.  "Hehe.  G'mornin." He 
managed to say in a nice voice.  He really did seem like a normal guy 
when he learned how to relax.  "Uh...mechaw?"
	She nodded, having learned his style of speech over the last two 
months.  "I wanted to give you something before we had to part." She 
said, arms behind her back.  
	"Whoosh?" 
	Miharu smiled sweetly and knelt down so she could get into her 
backpack.  After only a second, she found the right object and pulled 
it out.  "Here." She smiled, handing it to him.
	Cupid looked at the cloth-wrapped parcel with wide eyes as she 
passed it over to him.  It was long and slightly curved.  He quickly 
opened it to find a wakizashi sword and scabbard inside.  It wasn't 
very fancy, in fact, the scabbard was nothing more than a sanded piece 
of wood, and the handle was the same, though crisscrossed with leather.  
A small hand guard, however, was red, and in the shape of a heart.
	He looked up with shimmering eyes.  "T...th...ank...you...!"
	She bowed.  "It was no trouble." She said.  "I...figured in case 
you ever got tired of the bow and arrows..." she blushed slightly.  
"And in case you're bored, it's something to remember me by."
	Cupid was shivering in excitement, having never gotten such a 
wonderful gift in his entire existence.  He looked up at her with one 
of the biggest, brightest smiles she had ever seen.  "HOOWYAAAH!"
	Miharu laughed, then smiled.  "I guess you like it then."
	Cupid nodded frantically.  
	There was a short pause as they stood there.  A light wind blew 
the grass at their feet.  "Well, I guess I have to go..." Miharu said 
softly.
	Cupid nodded, his mood dropping slightly, but he seemed to 
understand.  "Bawbaw."
	Miharu then leaned forward, catching Cupid off guard, and planted 
a small kiss on his lips.  She stood, blushing, but smiled at the look 
on his face.  She ran off with a final wave.

	Cupid blinked.

	Cupid then smiled.  Then, his little wings went into hyper drive, 
and he slingshot into the sky at mach speed.  "WHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO 
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"



















Death makes angels of us all & gives us wings
Where we had shoulders smooth as raven's claws
No more money, no more fancy dress
This other Kingdom seems by far the best
Until its other jaw reveals incest
& loose obedience to a vegetable law
I will not go
Prefer a Feast of Friends 
To the Giant Family.

				-Jim Morrison









**********************************************************************
**********************************************************************


There will be no more crazy talk.  No more Jolt induced insanity.
No more heroes and villains with plots ranging from everything to 
everything else.  No more.  I'm tired of writing.  Consider this my 
final work.  This is it.  The last...



HAHAHAHA!  No more crazy talk?  No more Jolt?  You've GOT to be 
kidding!  I'll write until I'm 104 years old so long my fingers don't 
explode from the constant typing!  

  Darn tootin!  And when 
that happens, we have other...'appendages' we can type with!  

  Exactly!





Anyway, on to the important stuff!  Yes, this fic is slightly late.  
You want to know why?  CAUSE IT'S 150 PAGES LONG!  ARE YOU BLOODY WELL 
SATISFIED?  I know I am.  ^_^  Anyway, that also is the longest 
epilogue I have ever written.  I hope nobody minds me cutting the story 
off where I did.  (Make sure you read TO THE VERY END OF THIS FIC, 
though...HINT HINT, NUDGE NUDGE!!)  I will probably write a shorter fic 
very soon, detailing the return to Earth.

Soooo, lessee...Revelations.  Ahh yes.  So, now, the Angel universe is 
happy and recovering from the many battles over the last few years.  It 
will come back into the picture occasionally for sure.  I love making 
my own universe.  Hehe.  Makes me feel all godly.  

Fact:  Besides angels, I'm an atheist.  Strange, huh?  

Anyway, I hope this wasn't too strange for anyone's belief system out 
there.  One of the great thing about angels are the classic stories 
involving them.  Call me kooky, but I thought it was more than worth 
it.  Believe in yourself above anything else and your life will be 
wonderful, whatever else you believe in.  ^_^  Sailor Strike Fiss Says!  
Heheh.  Oh, unless you worship the Telletubbies.  Then you need an
exorcism.  Boo.

HOW TO CONTACT ME:  Comments and Criticism are ALWAYS lovely.  Even 
flames.  They make me laugh.  Heh.  Send if you know what's good for 
you.  Grr.  ^_^

EMAIL:  strikef@bigfoot.com

WEBSITE ARCHIVE:  "Crystal Canada" has been up for years, and will 
probably never move, thanks to the lovely people at Geocities, who even 
after Yahoo's takeover, survived intact to give me free web-space.  
This site will be expanding into other areas of fan fiction too, so 
keep an eye out!

WEBSITE:  http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9110



And so, it is with impacted fingers but a smile on my face that I bid 
you all "Ima no mosura no kazaritsuke niwa kando shimashita."

Uh...no...that means: "I am struck by the Mothra decor of your living 
room"

Uh, let's just say Farewell for now.  ^_^  






So, STAY TUNED for the NEXT spine-tingling, ass-kicking, spleen-
slicing, nougat-laced, caffeine accelerated installment of Ninja 
Crowbotics Fan-Fiction!  The ONLY stories that need this disclaimer at 
the end:


WARNING!  Drawing in the Sand may cause serious side-effects, such as 
insanity, zombies and/or mummers, nausea, loss of appetite, time-
travel, blindness, dimension-leaping, fallen angels, flying lobsters, 
foot-itch, crotch-itch, the creation of the Twilight Zone, first-
degree-frostbite, a strange craving for pickled beets, and the ability 
to stay up for days on end so you can read Strike Fiss' stories.  

You have been warned.  ^_^

***********************************************************************








	Dave held his head as he walked down the hallway of the apartment 
buildings.  He had almost maxed out his credit card (Omega Express, 
never leave quasispace without it!) to pay for the rent, but 
considering what the Senshi had done for him, and indeed, the entire 
universe, it was more than worth it.
	Angry as hell that he hadn't called sooner, the Omega Web 
promised to get very mad at him later...after they had finished 
analyzing the data from the two laptops.

	At least that would be a few years, Dave smiled.  

	In the meantime, William had told him to get some sleep.  It just 
didn't seem right to ditch the Senshi so soon after such a trip, and he 
had decided to come and see how they were getting settled in their new 
accommodations. 
	Not surprisingly, the first thing he heard when Miharu opened the 
door, was Maury, Yamato, Andrea and Michael fighting for who's turn it 
would be to use the shower next.

	Michael?  

	"Oh COME ON!" he pleaded.  "I wanna try the vertical squirt bath 
next!"
	Miharu laughed.  "He decided to stay for a while after we showed 
him the scrambled porno channels.  For some reason, he seems to be able 
to like them just as much as a non-scrambled channel."
	"Great." Dave smiled.  "Well, at least he's an easy man to 
please." He yawned, then smiled.  "Oh, where's your dad?  I want to 
give him his new laptop."
	"Mmm," Miharu blinked.  "I think he's sleeping."
	"Sleeping?" Dave blinked.  "I would have thought he'd be driving 
around in Nacho until midnight." He followed the younger girl down the 
hall.  
	It was a huge condo, actually.  An entire floor with separate 
rooms for each of the families that were developing.  Michael and Maury 
were going to bunk, mainly because of their taste in porno-channels and 
their ability to drink everyone else into the ground.  Yamato was 
staying in one of the guest rooms until he got used to Life on Earth 
again, and started up his old shop.  With the younger body he had been 
blessed with in the confusion, he still had many decades of sword-
smithing left in him.  
	It took them a moment to get to the right room.  They passed 
Demeter, who was looking after Raziel, showing him how to eat glass.  
Oddly enough, the only non-human aspect about him seemed to be his 
hair, and he occasionally had to sprinkle ground up glass onto his head 
to keep him happy.  Maybe only once a week.  Not a bad side-effect to 
the amazing cross-species relationship.  
	Raziel noticed Dave and Miharu walk by and quickly waved happily.  
Dave waved back, getting an even bigger smile from the little boy.  "He 
certainly is a happy little guy." He laughed.
	Miharu poked her head in.  "You know where Chris and Rei are?"
	Demeter nodded.  "Yeah, they looked pretty tired, so I think 
they're in the spare bedroom.  It's already got it's bed set-up and 
they crashed there."
	"Thanks, Demeter." The two continued down the hall.  "We're 
almost moved in now." She continued.  "Next week there's a whole bunch 
of stuff at the parliament building, so we have to relax while we can."
	"How about Sailor Moon?" Dave asked.  "I didn't get much of a 
chance to catch up when I dropped by the Web."
	"Rei's going back on Monday." She sighed.  "I'm probably going to 
go to.  I have some friends back at the Temple I'd like to see."
	
	They finally came to the guest room.  Dave knocked softly.  No 
answer, so he quietly poked his head through.  

	Chris and Rei lay on the bed, right in the sunlight, curled 
around each other.  Dave smiled to himself, then reached into his 
pocket.  Inside was a small, palm-top computer that he laid down next 
to the lamp.  "Sweet dreams, you two."
	
	The door closed softly behind him and Miharu, leaving the two 
alone.
	Fiss smiled in his sleep as Rei snuggled against his chest.  The 
sunlight was warm.  Though his wings were tucked away, they were still 
with him now.  His sword lay in the corner, letting little specks of 
bright dust play off of it's shiny scabbard.  
	Most importantly, Rei was in his arms, and his dreams.  

	Rei could feel his heartbeat through her back as she slept.  It 
comforted her.  Reassured her that she was not alone like in some of 
her worst nightmares.  It was a heart that reminded her of everyone she 
loved.  Miharu. Grandpa.  Even a ditzy young woman who was now Neo-
Queen Serenity.  
	Most importantly, this was real.  Her dreams told her so.  

	They slept the day away like that.  The sun traced a lazy, 
window-shaped pattern on their bodies, gently moving across them.  
Tomorrow, there would be time for everything else.  There would be new 
adventures and challenges.  There would be new things to fight for and 
protect.  New games to play both deadly and for fun.  New opponents to 
size up and beat down.

	But, for now, they needed nothing more.  Thoughts of chessboards 
and pawns the last things on their minds.







	The End.











Strike Fiss, Ninja Crowbotics, 1999.  Khattam-Shud, EOF.

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/9110/txt

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