“Stop screwing around!” Chuck called over the connection.
Logan straightened his plane, and flew after LK.
“How much longer is the flight?” He asked.
“The flight length from the Base to the bank is ten minutes total. We are passing over the city now, slow your jet down and lower altitude.” LK said.
Leah tilted the throttle back more, and pointed the nose of her jet down.
“I feel really tingly!” She said.
“That’s normal. Aim for the bank’s footsteps.” LK called.
“Hey, how do we land?” Logan called.
There was a crack as Leah felt her construct suddenly expand and smash out of the jet. She landed on the footsteps of the bank and crashed into Logan.
They both fell in a heap.
Logan pushed her off. “Watch it! If you did that to me outside the armor, I would be flat!”
“Are you calling me fat?” Leah quipped.
“No, I’m calling you strong enough to flatten a house.”
Connor tumbled out of the air, and bowled into Leah.
Logan burst into laughter. “Karma!”
Connor rolled off of her. “Whoops. Sorry.”
Logan and Leah lunged off of the steps as Abby landed gracefully where they were.
Leah stuck her tongue out at her. “That didn’t look cool. Doing a crash landing is the way to go.”
“Way to die, more like it.” Abby replied.
“Commanders! I respectfully request you stop talking and get here double time!” A Centurion called from the bank.
They pushed the door open and ran inside.
Connor shut it behind them.
There were hundreds of fighters in the bank.
Leah easily spotted Alyosha at the front of one of the legions talking to his soldiers.
A massive construct was next to him.
The large construct turned to them.
“Ah, you’re here! Hurry over. We have to assign you to a unit.” Chuck said.
“Ch…” Logan began.
“Tank! Do not use your real names here. You don’t know who is listening in. We aren’t supposed to be here, and the Guardians may tell us to stop of they know.” Alyosha barked.
Logan nodded. “Sorry, it just sounds stupid.”
“Better stupid than dead. Brain, you’ll stay here and use your ability to give us all commands.”
Logan nodded. “I can do that.”
“Good. Slayer, you will lead an assault team. Go where Brain sends you and wipe out the demons. Control, you will lead rescue missions. Find the humans, kill the demons, and get back here as fast as you can.” Alyosha said.
Connor nodded. “I assume I am Control?”
“Yes. Life, you will be coordinating the scout groups. That includes going with them when they enter a dangerous area. I’ll give you all a map that marks the areas with the most demons.
Abby nodded. “Right.”
The door flew open, and twenty or so constructs ran in. “Demons incoming! We have ten humans with us!”
The rough circle parted to reveal several people. A few of them held guns.
The room snapped into action.
A large soldier stomped up to a vault door, and swung the massive wheel on it. It screeched open, and the people ran inside.
“You will be transferred to suitable quarters very soon. Be patient.” He said, and slammed the vault door shut. It spun the wheel, locking it into place.
“Slayer! Take unit one and go remove the threat!” Logan called.
Fifty soldiers ran up to Leah and stared at her expectantly.
She gulped. “Ah…let’s go!”
She turned around, and shifted.
Two constructs at the door nodded at her, and pulled the doors open.
They ran out, and immediately locked onto a crowd of zombies fighting a few constructs.
Leah ran forward, and slammed her clawed fist into the first demon she reached.
It doubled over, and her fist tore right through it. She continued on, and the demon fell to the ground in two pieces.
Behind her, the soldiers opened fire with what weapons they had.
A mounted knight rushed past her and swept a sword across a demon’s chest.
Leah stepped forward, and brought her claws across the things throat to finish the job.
A demon jumped at the knight, and pulled him off his horse.
The horse reared up, and kicked the a demon in front of it across the street into a house.
The knight slammed a dagger into the demon’s chest and pushed it off. He jumped back on his horse and rode back to the crowd of soldiers.
A seemingly dead demon lunged up, and tore the back legs off his horse. It toppled forward, and smashed into pieces on the ground. He jumped off of it, and killed it with a slash.
He turned back towards the rest of the horde, and waited behind Leah.
“How many more mounted fighters do we have?” She asked.
About ten fighters stepped forward.
“Ok, you rush forward on your horses. Right before you get to the demons, turn to a side. Then, the long ranged troops will open fire. Go!”
The mounted men charged forward, and the gunmen and archers took aim at their backs.
The charge broke apart, and projectiles ripped into the demons.
“Finish them off!” A Centurion called from her unit.
He hurled a spear at a demon, and jumped onto it. He yanked the spear out, and engaged the next demon.
The rest of the legion attacked with him.
“Did you terminate them?” Alyosha asked over the mic.
“We’re wiping off the dregs out now.” She replied.
“Good. We need you to go with Control’s group as soon as you can. One of our scouts found a party of people in an apocalypse bunker. The Demons are going to smash through the fortifications soon.” Alyosha said.
“Right. We’re ready.” Leah said after the last demon was decapitated.
There was a buzz as several huge buglike things flew down and grabbed the dead bodies before flying away.
They left about one half of the bodies where they were. A moment later, a few of them sat up.
“They turned back to human?” Leah asked.
“The Skyfire does it. It purifies the demons. The wounds inflicted by it stay with the demons and it doesn’t harm mortals.” Chuck said.
A troop of soldiers exited the bank with Connor at the front.
“Come on! We don’t have much time!” He gasped.
Leah rallied her unit, and they ran after Connor.
“How far away are they?”
“The scouts told me the bunker was next to a Kmart.”
“That Kmart?” Leah asked, pointing to a large cement building.
“That one.” Connor confirmed.
Leah spotted a large crowd out of the corner of her eye.
“There it is!”
“Right. I’ll freeze the uglies, you go in and grab the humans. Our units will kill and purify them while I hold them. Go!”
He held his hands up like he was trying to balance himself, and closed his eyes. The crowd of demons stopped moving around. The soldiers surged forward, and began massacring the demons.
Leah ran past the demons and into the bunker. She punched the head off of one Demon that Connor had missed, and quickly descended down the steps. She came to a thick steel door.
“Open the door! I’m a friend!” Leah called.
“How do we know you aren’t a zombie?” A young man called back.
“They can’t speak! Hurry, while they can’t move!” Leah yelled.
“You’re a lunatic! They’ll tear us to shreds!”
“No they won’t! They can’t move!” Leah yelled.
The door opened slightly, and an eye peered out. When no demons revealed themselves, it opened more.
“You’re one of them! The man screamed, and tried to sl
am the door shut.
Leah put her hand in the way, and it slammed shut on her.
“Ouch. Stop it! I’m not a demon.” She said.
Leah pulled the door open, and stood in front of them.
“I would have killed you already if I was. Now we have to hurry back to a safe spot. Nobody is going to hurt you…”
A man laughed darkly behind her.
Leah turned around and found herself face to face with Baal.
“Hello, little mortal.”
He reached past her stunned form, and tore the steel door from its hinges. He slammed it down over her head, and tossed it behind him.
“We’re going to have so much fun!” He grinned darkly.
Leah snapped out of her surprise and threw a punch at him.
He allowed it to smash into his face. He didn’t even rock back.
“You should learn to respect your betters.”
He slammed his fist into her stomach, and she doubled over. He grabbed her hair, and lifted her into the air.
“You should learn not to annoy a demon lord.” He whispered.
“Your…breath smells like salt.” Leah wheezed.
Baal bared his teeth at her. “You should learn when to shut up.”
He pulled the sword Alyosha had made him out of its sheathe, and tapped her lightly on the stomach with it.
Leah gasped in pain.
Baal grinned. “I’ll kill you quickly.”
He brought his sword back, and slammed it into her stomach up to the hilt.
Or he would have, but Alyosha brought his scythe down over the hand holding her, cutting it off, and pushed her out of the way with his shoulder.
The sword buried itself inside Alyosha, and he stumbled backwards.
Leah hit her head against the wall so hard she dented it, and slid to the floor. Baal waved his hand towards her, and she felt an impossibly heavy weight settle over her.
She pried her eyes open with a huge amount of effort and watched helplessly.
Baal strode over to Alyosha.
“Ah, how the tides have turned. Was it not just some time ago when our positions were reversed?
Alyosha spat at Baal.
Alyosha’s staff tumbled from his fingers and clanged against the floor.
“You have no energy left, stupid mortal. Your sword was made well.”
Baal lifted Alyosha to his feet.
“Are you prepared to face death, mortal?”
Alyosha let out a shuddering breath. “Are you?”
A piece of his construct shattered, and the whole thing began to crash downwards.
Baal hissed something, and Alyosha’s real body suddenly materialized. The sword was still in him.
“You cannot escape me, mortal.”
A gold line made its way down Alyosha’s skin.
“What are you doing?” Baal hissed.
More gold lines covered his body. There was a loud roar, and golden energy blasted out from Alyosha.
He shone a deep gold, and flames danced up and down him. Every once and a while, a pulse of deep black would appear on his body.
Alyosha roared again, and the golden flames suddenly wrapped around Baal.
The sword slid through the flames, and clattered to the floor.
Pulses of black came from the flames around Baal, and they constricted.
“You are…breaking the rules!” Baal screeched from inside the cocoon of flame.
“Damn the rules! I’ll send you to oblivion!” Alyosha roared.
The flames flared up, and hundreds of long, thin black lines began to form around Alyosha. They hovered in the air for a moment, and then shot towards Baal’s cocoon.
They slammed into every single spot of open fire, and emerged the opposite side. They did this until the whole thing was a deep black.
Alyosha roared a final time, and there was a muffled explosion from the cocoon. The black spears instantly disintegrated, and nothing remained where Baal had once stood.
“Damn you, son of Raphael!” Baal’s voice roared, and disappeared forever.
The flame flickered out, and Alyosha toppled forward.
A hand suddenly appeared, and grabbed Alyosha before he could crash to the ground.
Chuck, Logan, Connor, and Abby ran down the stairs, and froze at the sight. A man with wings made of pure white light stood in the middle of the room, with Alyosha laying in his arms. Leah pulled herself up using the wall.
The man looked over them, and shook his head sadly.
“What happened here?” Connor broke the silence.
“Baal came. Then Alyosha…I don’t know what he did.” Leah said.
“Who are you?” Chuck asked the man.
The man ignored him.
“Son, you know what happens when you break the Rules.” He said sadly.
Alyosha let out a pained grunt.
“I did…what I had to do. I was…given a final request.”
“Who gave you the request?” the man asked.
“A man…in my group.”
The man looked up at them for the first time. “Who gave my son their dying request?”
Connor gulped. “Uh…That might have been me. My legion got destroyed by Baal, and he gutted me. I called Alyosha for backup. I thought I was dying at the moment, but then I remembered I could force my blood to circulate.”
He pointed at a gash across his throat.
The man sighed. “You asked him to…”
“Save Leah and the humans.”
The man looked at Leah. “He succeeded, apparently.”
“Who are you anyways?” Logan asked.
“I am Raphael.” He replied.
“Like the archangel?” Abby asked.
“I am the archangel.”
They took a step back.
“Ok, you can go now. We can take care of Alyosha.” Chuck said.
“You could. But, you will not. My son has broken a Rule. He destroyed the demon lord Baal. He will never regenerate in hell again, for he is nothing. No more. Gone.”
“He was evil!” Leah protested.
“You are a mortal, you could never understand. The Lord loves us all, and it brings him great pain for one of us to go into Oblivion.”
“But…”
“There will be no discussion. You will all leave now. Alyosha will return with me to Heaven’s council to face judgment for his actions. He may one day return, he may not.”
“You can’t do that!” Abby stepped forward.
Raphael waved his hand, and a wall of pure light separated them.
“The council is just. He will have a fair sentence. You have problems of your own to worry about. I will keep the demons away for a while. You have a duty to the Guardians. I will make sure they are not too angry at you. I will give you a final piece of advice. Beware the Legion. They are coming for those who stand in their way. Now sleep, little children.”
A soft golden light washed over them. The last thing they all saw was Raphael beat his wings once, and a pillar of light slam down on him. Alyosha straightened up slightly, and winked at them. Then he was gone, and they all fell into a helpless sleep.
Epilogue
Alyosha’s memory slammed back into his head like a raging bull. They had returned the moment Baal’s sword entered his body, and he was still reeling from them. He sat in the middle of a large room, while a bunch of angels discussed his fate. His father was in the middle of a heated discussion with an older angel.
“You cannot blame him! His memories were stolen!” Raphael roared.
The other angel grimaced. “Brother, you know the law. If he was weak enough to loose them to Baal-”
“Baal was a demon lord. Alyosha isn’t even of age! Besides, he was carrying out a human’s last request!”
Several of the council members nodded, but the majority remained silent.
“Do I have a say this?” Alyosha asked weakly.
Both his father and the other angel st
ared at him.
“No.” They chorused.
Alyosha sighed.
The great marble doors behind them suddenly blew open, and an angel stumbled in.
“The Guardian’s council wants to speak. Raphael’s son apparently made a mob of soldiers, and they’re decimating everything in sight demanding for him to return. They’ve also wiped out nearly a fourth of the Plague Demons.”
A small grin flickered across Alyosha’s face.
The angel that was arguing with Raphael sighed.
“If the Guardian council wants him that badly, we should not stand in their way. Balance must be maintained. Send him back.”
Raphael grinned, and turned to Alyosha.
“It looks like you get off this time, kid.”
His smile slipped off his face.
“But don’t pull anything like that again. You owe heaven a favor, and you may not want to cash it in when the time comes.”
Alyosha chuckled. “Let’s go. I have an army to command.”
Raphael stepped forward, and a beam of light shone down on them.
The old angel stepped up to them, stalling their departure.
“Before you go, there is a custom that must be observed. All who enter heaven and leave it are to depart with a gift. What is it you would like?”
Alyosha’s face split into a massive grin.
“Have any vodka?”
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