I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God's wrath is completed. –Revelations 15:1 Part Seven: Twilight of the Gods Zodiac Dead Thunder-Claw glared at Alia. They circled each other for a few minutes, staring at one another like hungry jackals, each one ready to kill. Alia leaped out first, singing brilliantly, and struck TC in the face, scarring his forehead—but that was her mistake. No sooner did his blood start to drip down did Thunder-Claw power up for a fatal blow. Alia was suddenly struck with a sphere of lightning, point-blank range, directly in the ribcage. The blast instantly caused her heart to explode, along with most of her chest, and sent her hurling backwards as she screamed one last dirge and was gone at last. ...... Rays of spirit power shot out like meteors as it exploded, pocking the ground, several Crimson Blades and animals, and even a few allies (poor Lurker got hit in the arm and wailed). Yan was thrown back from the explosion, and had to twist his body through the air to avoid the shooting rays. "Over here!" He yelled in surprise as a voice challenged him, and gawked as he saw G-Force hovering next to him. There was no time to act; she kicked him hard, sending him crashing to the ground, where an enraged BK Power tackled him and pinned him to the ground. "Bastard!" she spat, punching him hard in the jaw. "What did you do to Beeg?!" He giggled weakly and blew a wad of saliva and blood at her. That was the last straw: with a roar, BK Power clutched onto his head as he laughed and pulled with all her might, yanking it clean off with her bare hands. ...... By that time, G-Force had witnessed the gruesome spectacle of Yan's beheading, and was frankly sick from it. Being one of the few people not currently engaged in a fight, she knew it would be up to her to tip the scales. She had already proven herself against Yan; now it was time to fight Valmont. As the young boy was occupying himself with his army, she hovered in the air, lightened from a lack of gravity, and positioned herself directly over the enemy. Swarms of locusts and bats tried stopping her, but she blew them all away with an increase or decrease in gravity, and sailed on. When she was directly overhead, she threw her g-force into reverse, pulling as much of it behind her as she could, thus making her descent more like a rocket. With such power behind her, she fell through the sky towards Valmont, who only had a second to react (by yelling) before she stomped on him, crushing his spine like an accordion. ...... The shadow of the man in green armor hovered over her like doom. He raised his blade, and announced, "So ends my hunt, and your life. Consider the debt your father owed us...paid off!!!" He thrust the terrible Blade with all his might—Rin was too frightened to even scream—and the mighty Ronin braced herself for her second journey to the afterlife. The fatal blow never came. Sashuo was frozen in place. "What...is this?" he whispered faintly. He jerked and shouted again, "What is this? No, stop. Stop it! Get off...get off of me! Get them off!" He danced wildly, swatting his body with his hands, trying to jerk off invisible attackers. Rin watched in amazement, but soon got goosebumps of horror as Sashuo screamed and flopped on the ground like a madman. "AAAHH!! Get them off! They're all over me! Get them off!! Somebody, please! I beg of you! Get...them...AAAAAHHH!!!!!" Roaring loudly, the man writhed in pain and fear, smothered by some indescribable force. As he stood to run in panic, an explosion ripped apart his haunting shrieks, and he stopped dead in his tracks, his throat suddenly bright red from blood. He slumped to the ground, dead, leaving only a cloud of dust and an army as his legacy. ...... Looking from high above, G-Force noticed a throbbing mass of purple gelatin amongst the broken stones that resembled a heart. She cringed in disgust, but did as she was told. As the Spoon Man was launched into the air, he produced his largest, heaviest spoon, and came crashing down upon Titus' frail heart, smashing it like an egg with his weapon. Everyone could hear the monster let out a death-groan, and stood in a shock as the pieces of broken stone and rock melted back into the earth, never to assemble again into the evil machine it once was. Of course, some people used this time to cut off Indira's arms. The monster let out a yelp as all its remaining limbs were hacked off, and stumbled backwards in surprise. It stood petrified before its enemies, but soon glared in contempt. It then opened its mouth and spewed fire! "Why won't this thing die?!" screamed Bloodbane. She thrust a crimson spear into its gut, slowing it down but not killing it. The beast looked at her and roared, ready to spew fire until it died; she roared back, created a large axe from her own blood, and with a mighty scream, cleaved the monster in two from head to bottom. ...... I stood up as quickly as I could, and grabbed the evil man by the neck as he wrestled with my savior. I wrapped my fingers around his throat and squeezed as hard as I could, still flushed from my lack of clothing and the recent struggle. Jane took some time to recover and focused her glare on Darred, but I kept her away with my words. "No! This one is mine! I owe him for humiliating me!" She understood, and allowed me to wrestle with the man. He struggled, trying desperately to keep his windpipe from smothering under my claw grip. He lurched and wriggled like a stubborn carp in my hands; I had to fight just to keep him still. It was then that I felt the dreadful foul aura of his, the one he used to bend people's minds. "You......will......release me..." he rasped. Under any other circumstances, I would have been swayed, but this time, I would not allow myself to simply comply. I summoned up the full force of my skill, countering any effect he had with its superior power. "No... I... will... not!!" "Aura!" he wheezed, feeling my overwhelming power take control. "You...no!!" With a powerful twist, I used every shred of determination and anger to crush his throat, and didn't let go until I felt his breath die and his pulse fade to nothing. ...... "Aura...I have two last things I want to tell you. First, look to those mountains, over there." She pointed clumsily, and I saw the peaks. They looked like prongs on a fork. "You are supposed to go there if you want to escape. Pass through their valley and you'll see a port town. You'll find passage back south, across the seas. I...overheard that route...from those that have taken it. It's the only way out that I know of." "I...I see." What else could I say? All I could do was understand. "Thank you. Are there boats there?" "I don't know," she managed weakly, squirming in pain. I clutched her paw and hung on as her pulse slowed. Damnation, I was powerless. "What's the other thing you wanted to say?" I whispered. She glowed with happiness. "I...wish that you would return my kiss...even if it makes you uncomfortable. It's my only request of you." I looked down at her, helpless and quickly slipping, and sighed. "Right now, it does not make me uncomfortable." It did not. "Thank you...Aura..." Jane smiled at me again, and in that frozen middle of nowhere, I lost a good friend. ...... As Ezekiel clutched his bleeding hand, Mora sat up, grabbed him and squeezed, then thrust with all her might. He didn't fall, but instead flew across the bird's wingspan, tumbling to a stop. The Cobra forced herself to stand and stumble over, duck under the bloody blow, and plow into him. She shoved like the world depended on it, getting struck terribly in the process, but at last got him near the edge. He suddenly slapped her, getting the upper hand, and had pinned her again. This time she was prepared, and thrust her legs out at his chest, rocketing him into the sky. Ezekiel sailed right over the bird's body, and let out a blood-curdling roar as he plummeted a countless distance to the ground. ...... "If there's anything to this whole 'Zodiac' thing," Sally Redinger said lamely, "then that means there are only three left. Aura, you were in their base for awhile. Would you know anything about them?" "Nothing more than a name and a description," said Lady Luck, hugging herself with a cloak. The team had marched through the ruined city until they could not take another step, and rested only for the night before moving on. Everyone was achy and exhausted, some were fatigued with hunger and thirst, and there were enough wounded to fill in a whole hospital. Yet the urgency of this new emergency sent them trodding onward, directly through the city where their last great battle took place. Of course, since everyone was so beaten-up, only an emergency of the highest magnitude could force them to go on, and having Yohko's secret collection of experiments and data falling into the wrong hands justified their journey. "I only got one real name," Aura resumed: "I think it was Yubami the Great-Bow or something. I heard it was said she was a great sniper who used ballistae and crossbows. I think the other two may be women, but I don't know." "It's a start. So now the gimmick is crossbows, eh? Think you could handle that, Merry?" "What, you kidding?" said the tall woman with a perky smile. "Arrows mean nothing to me; they bounce right off. And if what Aura said about that old guy Cobra fought was true, then we've seen the worst of what they can throw at us. How bad could three women be, especially against a team this size?" "Don't forget," Mora said bitterly, "all of us are in bad shape. We haven't slept much, we're all wounded, and I dare say I haven't had anything better to eat since power bars all this time. We'll be limping into this one, my friend, and they will have the advantage. And if worst comes to worst, they'll unleash all of our dear doctor's little toys on us. Considering how deep she delved into this godless madness, we're gonna be up shit creek without even a boat." "Thanks for the encouragement," Merry muttered. Despite not having the time to spare, everyone decided to take another rest. Ferret had the brilliant idea of sending a small team of healthier people into the fray while letting the others recuperate, and she volunteered to set an example. Rin and Kailin quickly followed, with Setsuka and Kathy along—the whole Ronin team gathered together. Everyone else stayed behind and volunteered to help speed up the recovery process, and so after saying their farewells, the team set off, their pace considerably quicker. "You two ought to stay in front," Joanna said to Setsuka and Kathy. "We'll be able to see the enemy easier and anticipate any kind of attack. Hopefully I can be of some service to this mission." "Having all these great ideas has already helped us, friend," Setsuka said, smiling warmly as she placed her arm on Joanna's shoulder. The Ferret blushed and shied away. The headquarters of the MERCS wasn't very far away from the city, but without Rin's bike, the journey seemed longer. "Too bad I lost the stupid thing when that woman killed us," she muttered. "It would've came in handy during that last battle. Hey Setsie, what say we go out and buy a few after all this crap's over with? I figure we could afford one or two if we're paid well enough!" Setsuka attempted to smile, but she was too focused on the mission to make a good impression. Suddenly she stopped, barring everyone else with her arm. "I sense something," she whispered. "A very distant presence. The wind carries the scent of bloodlust. I do not know how far..." "Get down!!" Everyone ran for cover as Kathy shouted out; Kailin erected a wall of fire to protect them. A shower of arrows fell from the bleak sky above them, so many that they could not be counted. Kailin focused the wall of fire to shoot up and engulf the projectiles, but there were so many of them that even she became weak and faltered. Rin dashed in and pulled her friend to safety just before the wall evaporated and the arrows smashed down. "Holy crap!" spat the young Inferno, her pulse hammering with the dread of a near escape. "Where did that come from? You guys think it was that Yu-whatsis woman Aura mentioned?" "I have no doubts," said the Guardian Angel, focusing her powerful eyes in the general direction of the arrows. "If what Lady Luck said is true, then nobody else could have fired that volley from such a distance." "Do you see anything?" Ferret whispered. After a few more seconds, Angel quieted her powers and breathed deep. "She is very far away. Even my sight was barely able to catch her. The woman stands perched atop a great hill beyond the headquarters. I could not see her weapon, but my guess would fall on a ballista. We must be careful; she can reach us easily, even from this distance. Kailin, are you able to construct more walls of fire?" "Y-yeah," managed the young woman, shakily coming to her feet. "I just need to rest a bit. You're expecting another volley, right?" "As many as conceivably possible. I don't think they will come for awhile—she needs to reload—so now's the time to make a run for it. Hopefully we can find some way of getting all the way up there and stopping her." "Right." The team sprinted as fast as they could, emerging from the city's limit and into the wild, just a few miles left to go before they reached their destination. At about every five-minute interval they stopped, erected the blazing shield, and waited for the arrows to cease. Guardian Angel and Snowblood could pinpoint the shower with good precision; it was then left up to Inferno (and sometimes Rin, who didn't want to be left out) to protect the team. They did this the entire time: run and defend, run and defend, their journey coming to a crawl. Yet every minute brought them closer... ...... They reached the headquarters an hour after they first started, and aside from a few cuts from stray arrows (and one minor burn spot), they were ready to rumble. The large building they had all came to know and love still looked a little disheveled, but was otherwise in one piece, a strong survivor of the war. Nobody was there to greet them—not yet at least. "Hello," sang a piercing woman's voice. Kailin felt herself being kicked in the solar plexus, and wheezed in pain as she bowled over. Joanna and Kathy were disposed of as well, but Rin shouted out before she was overtaken. "Show yourself, you bitch! Are you that Yubami woman?" "Good heavens, no," came the voice, and with it, the woman. Rin rubbed her eyes, making sure they were working properly. Did she just...appear right out of thin air? "My name is Emily the Vanisher," said the woman, her voice seductive. She looked like an Amazon warrior, but her skin was a bright blue, deep and clear as the sky. Perhaps a distant relative of Sally's? "My partner in crime is Yubami the Great-Bow," said Emily, gesturing to an area behind her. "And the third of our party is my sweetheart, the love of my life, Naoma the Healer." "Just what we needed," growled Joanna as she stood. "Strange women and even stranger names. You're not the only one who can disappear and reappear, you know." Joanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and for awhile Emily looked confused. She then felt a blow to her side—not a strong blow, necessarily—and jerked to counter it. Ferret came to after a few seconds, wheezing mightily. She didn't expect that fighting in her ghost form would take so much from her! "That was mildly impressive, but it seems like you can't do it without wearing yourself out," Emily teased. "I, however, can slip in and out for as long as I wish. And there's no use trying to cut me down with those swords, see, because I shall always have my precious Naoma at my side." At the mention of her name, a very plain-looking woman wearing an elaborate cleric's robe stepped up and nodded shyly. "Big deal," Rin drawled with a yawn. "It doesn't matter if there's three or three-hundred, we'll cut you all down!" She took a swing at Emily and slashed a terrible scar across the woman's torso, drawing sheets of blood. Emily just smiled, cooed a little, and fell to the ground. All of a sudden, a hailstorm of arrows came out of the sky, driving the others back as Naoma stepped forth and worked her magic. The wound was sealed up in seconds, and the two exchanged a sigh. "Showoff," Naoma whispered. Emily giggled and kissed her. Kailin nearly screamed. "Hey, I recognize you now! You were that woman at the Iron Arena Games tournament, the one who healed the fighters in between rounds!" "Your memory serves you correct," Naoma stated. "I was she. Everyone needs a job, right? Mine is just always in demand. The world is full of wounded." "What a weirdo," Joanna murmured. "So every time we try and attack you two..." "Yes, that's right, I'll just fix us up again. And with Yubami watching our backs, so loyal, there's no way we could lose. Ever." Rin groused as she made a nasty face. "Right. Okay, Hsu and Setsie, you two stay here with the Ferret. Angel, you and I will go after that other chick. No way you could lose?! What a bunch of arrogant bull!" Ronin and the Guardian Angel were off before they could be stopped, driving themselves into a terrible hailstorm of arrows. Thanks to Angel's eyes and Rin's sword, the arrows did little but glance their skin, leaving the other two women to sneer. "If that's the way it's going to be," Emily shouted, "then let me show you the full might of the three beautiful warriors!!" She disappeared again, leaving Kailin and Joanna to raise their guard. Inferno erected small walls of fire to protect her, but she couldn't see through them to Joanna, who was the first to feel Emily's wrath. She opened the fire like a curtain and sent spheres of heat after what she hoped was the enemy, but instead nearly roasted Joanna. "Watch it!" she shouted, "You nearly killed me!" "I...I'm sorry!" Kailin was suddenly struck from behind—Emily again! Joanna tried to follow her in her ghost form, but it was no use: it was as if Emily had vanished from all sensors. Kailin didn't want to burn the whole place apart just to find her, but neither did she want to simply stand there and be attacked by an enemy she couldn't even see. Adding onto that was Naoma, who kept to the sidelines and watched carefully, waiting for her lover to be injured. If even one of the women approached her, a volley of arrows shot out of the air to discourage her. "Time to end this farce," snarled Setsuka as she swatted the missiles away. She drew in a deep breath and concentrated, using her senses to feel for the invisible woman. Amidst the fighting and the whistling of arrows, she could hear feet beating against the ground, the jiggling of Amazonian armor, the intake of a foreign woman's breath. Her nose flared as she found Emily's scent...and then her true power blossomed as she identified Emily's unique aura. Lady Snowblood drew her sword and dove in to swing at the air—but everyone soon caught on that she was, in fact, fighting Emily—and doing a good job of it as well! Despite not being able to see their opponent, Kailin and Ferret could tell that the Vanisher was having problems. Snowblood was fierce and quick, unrelenting in her attack. Since she had gone up against Rin several times and walked away from each battle, this fight was nothing but a scrap to her, not even worth perspiring over. At last, Snowblood threw Emily back with a terrible kick-and-slash combo, shedding very visible red blood. Emily's form returned. She was bruised all over, and she had several small cuts from where Snowblood had hit her with her sword. As Naoma rushed out to help her, guarded by the volley of arrows, Ferret quickly ghosted and bulldozed into the other woman, dropping her to the floor. Kailin burnt the arrows away and put a high wall of flame between the two lovers, separating them. The blue-skinned Emily, now left to fight alone, glowered at Setsuka. "I don't understand! How is it you can see me?!" "See you? Why I can't see anything." Emily gasped in shock as she realized—Setsuka was blind! Of course she would do well in a battle against her: being invisible meant nothing to Lady Snowblood at all! Emily's life suddenly flashed before her eyes as she stood there, shocked. "Oh, dear..." And in a single blurred motion, Snowblood sliced her abdomen, inflicting a mortal wound. Naoma screamed helplessly as her lover fell to the floor, and struggled in vain as the life of the woman slipped away, and died. ......... Splitting up to fight the three women was the best idea yet. Yubami was now divided between protecting her allies and fighting her enemies, and so far she wasn't doing a good job of either. Rin and Kathy had ran through much of the gauntlet since dividing from their friends, but with Setsuka and the others fighting Emily, there weren't enough arrows to go around. Even a woman like Yubami couldn't keep up with the demand, despite all her efforts. The two ronin made it to the top of the hill with very few incidents, barely a scratch on their bodies. They found Yubami at the helm of a ballista, which really wasn't more than an oversized crossbow on wheels. Yubami gawked in surprise as she met her foes, and whirled the large weapon around for one futile shot. The machine was fast, but not fast enough: Rin cleaved right through it in a single swipe, destroying the weapon. Yubami jerked back in surprise and pulled a crossbow out from a strap on her back, but Angel kicked this away. The Great-Bow was now cornered and defenseless. She slouched in defeat, and pulled a knife from her belt. "Watch it," hissed Rin—but there was no need to stand on guard. Having failed her allies and now herself, Yubami had nothing left but to take her own life, and drove the knife deep into her chest. Rin Takamatsu and Kathryn O'Hare were left to stare somberly as their enemy fell to the ground, never to rise again. ...... "Let me go, let me go, let me go!" Naoma wrestled furiously with Joanna and Kailin, who had to restrain the woman before she got up to heal the dying Emily. She fought harder than a cornered fox, and raved the entire time until her voice was hoarse: "Let me go now! I have to help her! I have to save her! Please, I beg of you, let me go—NOW!!!" Ferret and Inferno hardened their hearts and kept their enemy at bay. Naoma screamed out in sorrow as she watched her Emily, her love, finally slip away into death. Several cries of anguish came over her, but still she fought, even if it was now useless. "Let me go, I beg of you!" she wailed. "She's dead, she's already dead! Just let me go!" Setsuka had heard enough. It was one thing to keep an enemy from reviving, but it was another to keep two lovers apart like this. It would be cruel to taunt her with victory now on their shoulders, so she asked Joanna and Hsu to let her go—please. They obeyed with reluctance, and Naoma squirmed to Emily's side, holding the cold woman in her arms, weeping as if the world was gone. "You fiends," she moaned, rocking helplessly. "You horrible, horrible fiends. How could you do this? Don't you understand? Emily and I loved each other, with a bond so strong and true that it could not be described. I always thought that being plain, average, uninspiring, and dull-looking would be my curse, and that nobody would ever love me. But Emily...she was the only one who saw something beautiful inside of me, and took me into her heart. I didn't care if she was just using me; I would have happily done it all over again. But she really did—she really did love me, with all her wonderful heart. She loved me for what I was. And now look at her! Dead—at your hands!!!" She glared at Setsuka, who said nothing, and continued weeping. Even Kailin felt a little sorry for what they did, but Joanna was downright crestfallen. She, more than anyone else she knew, understood what it was like to be the outcast, the one doomed to lovelessness, the so-called freak and black sheep. Yet Aura seemed to love her anyway in spite of her deformities. Joanna wondered if she would react the same way if Aura was stolen from her. Yes, without a doubt, the exact same way. "I...I'm sorry," she managed, but it was too late. Naoma spat in her face and plunged a knife right into her heart, shrieking in misery. Somehow she managed to tumble over the body of her beloved, and clasped her hand one last time before she joined her in the eternal state of death. That was it, then: the Zodiac were all gone. But the end was not in sight, not just yet. To be continued... Epilogue He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. –Revelations 3:5
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