Haru choked, held helplessly in the air by Lif for a moment before she arched her back and rammed her knee into his chin with all the force she could, springing off of his chest and landing neatly on her feet, watching him stagger back. When he rushed forward again, Haru ducked the first punch, deflected the second, spun and- choked, as a fist sent her sailing backward and collapsing onto the mats, seeing stars. "Ugh…"
"You did very well!" Lif cheered, walking forward and helping Haru to her feet. "You are learning quickly- becoming good fighter. I am proud."
"Thanks, but you and Aurelia both still whoop my butt by the end…" The snow-haired girl stood, swallowing.
"We do, but you are growing, and that is important, lesser demon," Lif smiled and glanced back as his phone rang out. Darting over and picking it up faster than Haru could track, he answered.
"Mhm…? Okay. I vill them."
-
"Alright men, I'll keep it brief!!" The captain addressed his men, and Alexander swallowed nervously, clutching his rifle to his chest. "Starria has unleashed a chemical attack on three of our eastern cities and they've been deemed lost. The chemicals induce madness and unrelenting aggression. Over the past week, we've subdued and experimented on the people there, trying to reverse the effects. We've been unsuccessful; Starria is waging war."
Alexander grit his teeth, looking down; this is because of us. We're the straw that broke the camel's back, aren't we?
"It's unfortunate," The commander continued. "It's ugly. We're not going in to save the people. Any survivors are to be evacuated, any infected killed. We have a team of specialists on the way to help us, but their primary target will be the Starrian military encampment set up to the far east; we're going to clear the way. Any questions?!"
"I don't want to kill our own people- is this really the only way?" A voice rang out, from somewhere in the barracks.
"It is, and you're doing them a favor," The commander barked, nodding. "Our testing suggests that they're under mental duress during this; cortisol spiking, pain signals off the charts. The people they were? Gone, or on the way out. "
"So," Alexander spoke up, mouth twisting into a snarl. "Starrians just dropped some gas bomb on our people?"
"Yes. Records indicate that the virus in question is manmade; there are traces of an old floral strain that grows in Starria in their blood, and we think that the virus is plant-based. However, our nature mages have had no luck in controlling or reversing its effects. We will, however, be receiving support from the elven legion." There was silence when those words left his mouth, so thick Alexander might have broken through it if he leaned forward.
"For those among us who are unfamiliar," The commander added, staring at Alexander. "Elves are humans who managed to use magic despite their lack of demon or angel forms. Receiving their blessing is a boon, as all of them possess powerful magics that will help us. They've sent four healers for us, and I daresay the battle is good as won, with them arriving in point seven five. Any questions? No? Good, then let's load up and get moving."
Alexander obeyed.
-
An hour later, he was in the back of a truck with six other men and the elf. She-
"Why are you staring at me?" The elf glared, narrowing her eyes. She was gorgeous, albeit a bit stereotypical, with pointed ears, long, honeycomb hair and eyes like sapphires.
"I apologize," Alexander offered, sitting forward a bit and smiling. "I was brought here from another world, and there were no elves where I'm from."
"Stop staring at me, pervert," She muttered, looking away and gritting her teeth. Chuckling, Alexander leaned back, making a point to look toward the front of the truck now. "Sorry about that."
-
"Alright, get ready soldiers!!" The commander barked out again, and Alex fell in with the rest, looking around. They were about a half mile from the first city itself, in the hopes that their vehicles wouldn't draw unwanted attention. "This shouldn't be hard on you- they're aggressive and nothing but, so putting them down… don't feel bad. Those of you with magic have authorization to use it, so long as you pose no risk of harming your allies. Your firearms are enhanced with Pixie-Steel… let's get this done and put these people out of their misery. Then, with any luck, we can be in the first groups taking the fight to Starria!" There was a cheer, from most assembled, but Alex frowned and looked down, steeling his nerves. This… this is a far cry from what I'm used to. Putting people out of their misery and taking the fight to the bastards who'd do this, though… that's something I can get behind. Let's go.
"Good. Now we march!!" Turning on a dime, the commander started forward, and hundreds of footsteps squelched through the mud behind him, a light rain beginning to fall.
-
"Right." Aurelia nodded. "So Starria itself has created an intelligence center and commandeered a town they slaughtered, by and large. The Queen wants us to swoop in there and wipe out their soldiers. The zombies- well, they're not dead, but our name for them for the moment is zombies because it fits well enough. Point is that they're predictable and simple; so they're being left to the standard CA army. They want us dealing with the people playing recon though, because they're thinking we may need to execute them with more finesse. An army coming could alert them- they might run, yeah?"
"Got it," Haru nodded. "Do you… think that I'm ready for my first mission though? I mean if I'm going to hold you back-"
"No worries." Aurelia shook her head. "You can fire a gun, you can fight, and you're still strong enough to punch through concrete. You're not going to win any battles by putting yourself down. We'll leave at o' two, so try and get some rest."
"Sounds good!" Fox nodded, standing up. "Still, what kind of terrible people are Starria- what triggered this?! We didn't do something shady, right?"
"What do you mean?" Aurelia angled her head.
"Well," Fox began. "What if like, the Queen dropped this bomb herself and blamed Starria, to give an excuse for us to start war. Didn't you tell me she's the shrewd type, in the castle? Maybe she would see it as a net positive," Fox reasoned, crossing her arms, but Aurelia shook her head, laughing.
"No. I get your point, but above all else, she values life and integrity. She'd probably let Mir fall before she'd take an underhanded win."
"Hm…" Fox nodded, and Haru narrowed her eyes, wondering privately if that was true, or if Aurelia was seeing the queen through rose-tinted lenses. Powerful and respected leaders, after all, rarely struggled with making difficult decisions… but, Starria doing this… there was no reason to doubt it, was there?
"Alright, come on Haru, let's rest!!" Fox wiggled and bolted from the office suddenly. Laughing tiredly, Haru slowly stood up and looked down at Aurelia, swallowing.
"You, okay?" The succubus-fairy looked up, angling her head curiously, and Haru nodded, eyes flicking over Aurelia's features slowly, thoughtful.
"Yeah. Just afraid of holding you back."
"Don't. I believe in you, so if you don't believe in yourself, fine. Do you trust me though?"
"Yeah-"
"Good, I trust you, and I'm always right. Go get some rest, Haru. Try and sleep."
"Alright…"
-
"Let's do this," Alex muttered quietly to himself, falling into step as the first homes came into view, built throughout clearings, in the trees themselves; there were even sheds that seemed to imply underground homes with an upward entrance. Things were eerily silent, for the moment, but all of them, collectively, held their breath as though expecting the worse.
"Hey!!" A voice from above, and with a puff of smoke, a man who looked to be human, but couldn't have been, landed in the center of the clearing, or what might have been a plaza of sorts on their way out of the city. Over sixty weapons readied as the man clapped his hands together with a laugh; he wore an elegant top hat, under which brunette hair was neatly tied back into a bun. His face, however, was obscured by a shadowy jester's mask with an enormous smile painted on. With a red tailcoat and fine wear, he might have belonged in a noble's court, if not for the mask.
"Identify yourself," Alexander's commander barked, and the gentleman laughed, raising his arms in surrender.
"I'm nobody important, you guys!!! I just wanted to ask why you're here!"
"TO CLEANSE THE INFECTED- IDENTIFY YOURSELF."
"So rude, how about you take a time out?" The top-hat-wearing gentleman had a frown in his voice as he flicked his wrist- and at first, Alexander didn't even understand what had happened. There was a strange squelch… and then soldiers were staggering back, yelping and clawing at their clothes. Alexander's eyes widened as he saw it; his commander's lower half slowly slumping to the ground, upper body reduced to mist. "Now let's try that again; WHY-" the gentleman was cut off by a barrage of gunfire. Dust kicked up, grass shredded, and the man twitched, groaned, gasped, screamed… and at last, when the firing weapons had emptied, the man laughed and straightened his coat; unmarked, bloody.
"Alright gents, well I'll do you a big favor and give you a second chance," He laughed, as the soldiers staggered backward in fear, stepping forward and brandishing a polished black cane, waving to them as if they were an audience there to watch his performance. "After all, I did kill your commander! Anger… it's valid. Tell me, why are you here? In full- ah, don't try that again, I did just warn you," He sighed, and flicked his wrist again. Alex's neck snapped to the left in time to see one of the elven mages, having been readying a spell, turn to mist. That was all it took for everybody to turn and run, screaming, for the hills; and he, whoever he was, he let them go, chuckling softly. Alexander walked forward, toward him, though, nostrils flaring, anger bleeding through his steps as he stopped, chest to chest with the masked fool, glaring down at him. An elf had stayed, along with a few soldiers who crowded nervously behind him by ten or twelve paces, watching with visceral horror.
"A reasonable gentleman!!" The masked fool laughed, turning his face up to Alexander. "A bit close for my tastes, but hey- you're angry, I can see it in your eyes. Yet, you do nothing to harm me- maybe you know you can't? Maybe you really want to talk? Maybe you're afraid."
"I'm not afraid," Alexander gritted out, drawing a slow breath. "You'll kill me or you won't, I can't control that- but why did you kill them?"
"Disrespect, and the elf tried to attack me when I only wanted to talk. Quite rude, wouldn't you say?"
"Why are you here?"
"Well, Alexander, that isn't very polite, come now, brute," He purred, sliding a hand up Alex's arm, and the man jerked back, disgust twisting in his gut. "Ah, shame. Well, I asked first. Why are you here? In full, kindly."
The man took a slow breath, listening to the panicked sounds of fleeing in the woods behind him, and spoke.
"We're here to clear the infected out and clear a path to the Starrian encampment before Reinforcements arrive. Would you… please, be so kind, as to explain why you're here, and why you killed my allies?" I don't know the commander or that elf, but still, to kill so easily…
"I told you- they were rude," He chuckled, twirling his cane and stabbing it into the grass beside him. "I'm a gatekeeper of sorts, shall we say? More importantly, you want conflict, yes?"
"No." Alexander frowned, shoulders instinctively rolling, teeth gnashing. "We're here, to cleanse, the infected. Will you stop us?"
"No, no, I'm but an observer," The masked fool laughed.
"Yeah? You have nothing to do with this?"
"Oh, I have something to do with it alright; I just, have so much respect for the way humans and demons and angels scrabble for survival, dominion… in the old stories, they said that angels were perfect, you know? Without greed? Nah, all this… I love it, it's fascinating. All anybody wants is to be right, you know? It's ego."
"Ego?" Alexander frowned still deeper, swallowing. Don't tell him he sounds like he's on drugs. Don't do it…
"Well yes," The circus freak chuckled and turned around, pacing away a few steps. "We all want to be right. Starria wants demons and angels to be scum, and Mir says that humans are racist cowards. So, we fight, and we fight, and we fight- it's quite entertaining really. So yes, I am but an observer; and so, what if I was asked for a little help? I'm a talented scientist, or something… well, I'd best take my leave. You wanted to kill the infected, yes? Good luck!" Turning around, extending one arm, he offered Alexander a deep bow… and vanished, once more in a cloud of smoke, as a shed burst open, a man surging through, mouth foaming, screaming. Another house, another- an infected woman dropping from a tree branch, hair matted with blood. Footsteps pounded over damp earth as they charged through the rain; Alexander fell back to stand with what soldiers were left, gritting his teeth and readying his weapon.
"They're coming- no clear way out- what do we do!!" One of the men behind him shouted, fear in his voice.
"Don't go down!!" The elf shouted, and slammed her staff into the mud, eyes narrowed and angrier than hell. From the piece of wood, a golden light shone and then spread, encasing them, spreading more, forming a dome that sent the infected falling back. "Your bullets will pass through, we're going to be okay, as long as my magic holds out!!"
"How long do we have?!" Already pushing the trigger inward, Alexander shouted between bursts, watching the infected slam into the golden dome with rattling force. They looked human and not, at once, bio-luminescent veins bulging their skin, hexagonal crystals reflecting in their eyes…
"We're out of our depth!! If they keep coming like this, we won't have the ammunition!!"
"After our allies regroup, they'll return for us!!" Alexander snarled. Before them, one of the infected managed to hook their fingers into the dome, cracks spiderwebbing outward, and Alex shot the hand, then head, sending the body back as the hole repaired itself.
"Reloading!!"
"WE NEED HELP!!" Alex shouted into his radio, reloading. "The masked jackass is gone, get back here!!! We're going to be overrun!!"
"Oh, Alexander, silly boy, there's no signal here," A familiar brunette's voice chuckled through the radio. "I want to watch a struggle, I can't make it too easy for you, can I?" Click, the radio shut off, and Alex snarled, ramming the butt of his weapon into another hand that breached.
"This won't work!!" The elf, behind him. "I'm going to detonate the dome and send them all flying, then we run!!"
"Where?!"
"That church, there!!!" The elf pointed toward one such building; boarded up and battered, but with an open bell spire. "I can enhance our ability to jump, and we go in through the belltower!!"
"Alright! On three!!!" Alex shouted, reloading again. "ONE, TWO, THREE!!"
The dome shattered like glass, and there were countless roars of pain as the humanoid infected flew backward. Trusting, Alex bent his knees and leapt; the world spun around him, and he caught the flagpole at the top of the church, fingers burning from the cold and almost sliding off the wet metal. Gripping like a vice, he swung himself down into the belltower, yelping as his back bounced agonizingly off the wood, and fell gracelessly, listening to the sounds of his companions climbing into the tower above him and then hitting the bottom. The moment his head smacked off the ground, all went dark.
-
"Why not just call in Aerendyl again, I wonder," Haru yawned lightly, curling up on her side. Fox, sitting at her desk and poring over some book, cheek on hand, hummed thoughtfully.
"I imagine it's politics."
"What do you mean," Haru huffed, rolling over and peering curiously.
"Plenty of reasons…" Half asleep, Fox continued. "Making the world think Mir can't function on its own, or triggering a war between Starria and Ravenwood… or maybe Aerendyl is just busy… or maybe we don't need him. Sides, he isn't the only arch angel in the world, and certainly not the only one we could find help from. I mean, if we're the queen's agents, then, aren't we practically the highest authority in the land? At the least, she is-"
"Jeez…" Haru muttered, yawning.
"What?"
"You actually sound kind of smart, for a vertically challenged brat with anger issues…"
"I'LL KILL YOU?!"
"Yeah, yeah… I'm going to take a nap before we go…" Haru whispered, closing her eyes and yawning.
"Ugh, whatever," Fox muttered, returning to her book… but, a small smirk tugged at her lips. "Let's go… save the world, or whatever."