The man quickly raced down the halls and corridors of the tall palace. The man’s appearance was simple, wearing a very sleek black business suit and a red tie with a white dress shirt under it. However there was few key differences that should be noted. The first was the fact the man had three sets of large black wings, and not to mention the man’s name was Satan, the Fallen Angel and overseer of Hell.

But it wasn’t a usual day in Hell for Satan, something was very wrong. Hell had become filled with light, the souls of the dead had began to leave Hell having the gates to Hell being destroyed. Satan was experiencing a ‘hostile takeover’.

::Blasted Angels! I can’t believe this is happening! Heaven is trying to take control of my domain! Those power drunken Angels have become more power hungry then I am! Those fools have destroyed the balance of good and evil and for once it’s not one of my doings that’s fouling the balance up!:: Satan stopped thinking for a moment and paused leaning against one of the walls to his palace in Hell. He looked out and squinted, even on the lowest level of Hell he dwelled in had became flooded with light. Satan growled lowly his wings tensing up.

::With the Angels running amok on Earth they must be trying to go back to where it all began, Destiny’s Gate. They want to try and change it so Heaven would control all, to...Unite the world. And with how the mortals have been raised no one would question the intentions of the Heavens, if I actively tried to do something I would be met with nothing but resistance from the humans. Simply because I rule over Hell doesn’t mean I ended up like this by choice. Well it doesn’t matter, I can’t leave Hell in the state its in now! I need to find someone to help and rectify the situation on the Earth, to stop those power hungry Angels and send them back to Heaven. All of my men are searching for the person I request, and so far I’ve found someone that can help me…:: Satan mused to himself for a moment and then continued running, he needed to venture to the very deepest corner of Hell, a place he hardly visited, it was where sinners that were more damned then him would end up in the afterlife. As Satan approached closer to region of Hell he took note that the blinding light in his domain suddenly began to diminish slightly, he mused to himself at that thought, there was even a part of Hell that was so evil light itself had trouble to fill the space.

As Satan approached he took note of two large rough looking demons who were on guard carrying massive weapons, whoever it was merited enough attention to be guarded lest they be let loose on Hell. The demons quickly moved out of the Fallen Angel’s way and let him see the man for himself.

The man had his arms tied up to a rock that hung over a chasm full of flames that would leap up high enough to scorch the man as well occasionally a jagged rock would be launched up from the chasm at the man. The system wasn’t meant to torture the man but simply restrain him. The man was covered in scorch marks and lacerations from staying up on the rock for however long he had been dead. The man’s black hair was no longer neat and tidy, it had been damaged from the flames and rocks, but despite the pain he was experiencing the same evil glint remained in his red and blue eyes, it would take much more then simple torture to break Dimitri’s composure.

“I take it you must be the legendary Fallen Angel, source of all evil and all that? My, my, I expected someone more...Like me...” Dimitri scoffed, this caused one of the large demon guards to raise their weapon against Dimitri. Satan raised his hand up, the demon backed down and resumed standing on guard.

“Hmph, I remember you now. Dimitri, wasn’t it?” Satan said with a smooth tone of voice that was cold as ice.

“Yes that’s right, I’m Dimitri,” he responded casually, as if being visited by the overlord of Hell was a daily occurrence.

“Then you must know of the person that killed you, the one that stopped you and the Darkness,” Satan inquired, this caused Dimitri to flinch, a flash of anger crossing his face before it returned to normal and he began to laugh quietly.

“You mean Airaxen? Hah, I still can’t believe that one of my own creations would be my undoing,” Dimitri commented quietly, the undertone of malice in his voice.

“Where is he?” Satan asked simply.

“Airaxen? Well how would I know? I’d have to assume he went to Heaven when he died!” Dimitri growled back, anger starting to take the best of him.

“He couldn’t have went to Heaven, because of the Darkness living in his soul he would never be allowed into Heaven despite saving the world from you. Having acted as Destiny’s Warrior and stopping you he wouldn’t go to Hell either, he would still be higher up then that,” Satan explained.

“And how do you expect me to know where Airaxen would end up in the afterlife?” Dimitri mused.

“Simple, you created him with part of your essence, you would know where he would have ended up even in the afterlife,” Satan said as he began to narrow his eyes, he was beginning to get annoyed.

“And why would you be looking for the savior of the world? Unless you needed him for something...I did notice that Hell got a lot...Brighter recently,” Dimitri smirked as he witnessed Satan’s eyes narrow further. “You must have something against the Heavens right now and need to enlist Airaxen’s help to fight them, so you plan on resurrecting him...” Dimitri chuckled quietly, in an instant Satan had covered the distance between the two and grabbed Dimitri by the neck.

“I’m tired of your stupid mind games, where is he?” Satan demanded, a slight hint of impatience in his voice.

“Fine, I assume you could travel to all of the planes of existence except for Heaven, correct?” Dimitri chocked out quickly. Satan let go of Dimitri and landed back on the ground in front of the chasm.

“Where is he?” Satan demanded.

“He’s in limbo, stuck between Heaven and Hell having no way of going to either realm he stays in a middle ground, A void,” Dimitri explained casually. Satan turned away from Dimitri and began to leave.

“You do know,” Dimitri began, causing Satan to pause for a moment. “That if you revived Airaxen then I could just take him over...”

“I’m desperate, I need to take the chance,” Satan explained. “Besides, Airaxen beat you before, he can do it again,” with that said he left Dimitri who laughed quietly to himself, he the chance for revenge he was waiting for.

* * *

Satan arrived at the place he was looking for, having arranged a portal to be opened for him to find Airaxen. He now found himself drifting in a massive void, the surroundings were a mass of purple and black swirled together, slowly moving across the horizon. Satan glanced from side to side, it was empty, totally empty. Satan began to look around until a voice from off to the side called to him.

“What do you want?” The voice said in a misty tone. Satan turned to look in the direction of the voice and approached it.

“Are you Airaxen?” Satan asked.

“I am,” the voice responded.

“Where are you?” Satan asked again, glancing around to find the source of the voice. In front of Satan a mass of small lights converged and gathered and created a body, the body belonged to none other then Airaxen. His features had never changed throughout the years, even his armor remained, and his face was still as emotionless as it always was.

“Well, I’ve had no visitors since I arrived here when I died, if you’re here then I’d have to assume it was important?” Airaxen said in his usual tone of voice.

“You guessed correctly. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Satan, ruler of Hell as well as being the angel of many interesting properties. But to the point, I have come here to find you and offer you a deal,” Satan explained, casually flicking his wrist and producing a contract in his hand.

“Hah, flashy resume. So what exactly is this deal?” Airaxen questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“A second chance,” Satan began. “You see there is a problem with Heaven right now, the Angels have become drunk on their power and are trying to ‘unite’ the world. They’ve disrupted the balance of good and evil, they want to create only good, and destroy all evil from the world.”

“Hah, why should I help? If there were nothing but good then wouldn’t that be a utopia on the Earth?” Airaxen responded. Satan shook his head and chuckled.

“If there is nothing BUT good in the world, well think about that. It would be impossible! The only way to achieve that would be if there was no more free thought or free will, it would be absolute control. With such an imbalance of two very important factors of the universe well, what is there to replace ‘evil’? By that logic I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire world were to be sent spiraling into its own destruction, it is like creating a program without half of the code, it simply will not work. And of course, to first achieve such a state of imbalance would mean destroying my realm first. Despite what you might think I was appointed here only because there required to be a Hell, the opposite to Heaven there needs to be balance to the universe. I don’t have to be evil or enjoy my job, doesn’t that sound familiar, Airaxen?” Satan said quietly, shooting a glance at Airaxen.

“So you want me to fight back against the Heaven itself?” Airaxen questioned skeptically.

“An Angel, or a Demon has no real body, their spirit needs to find a body to attach to. You would have to defeat the Angels’ body and send the spirit back to Heaven before they become to powerful,” Satan explained, as well as producing a pen in his other hand.

“Well, I have no body, what can I do?” Airaxen asked.

“I told you, I’m also one of the Angels of creation, I could quite easily create you a new body, of course it would come at a price...” Satan said with a sly undertone.

“My soul, right?” Airaxen replied sarcastically.

“No actually. It would do no good to take your soul from you, Hell’s souls are leaving because the Angels have destroyed the Gates of Hell, they’re now gathering on Earth and manifesting themselves into creatures. So I have no interest in taking your soul from you,” Satan explained while twirling around the pen.

“So what is the price for a new body and being able to live again?” Airaxen asked, mind racing at the prospect that he could return to Earth and see her again, the thought even made him consider smiling.

“I simply want you to rid me of the problem with the Angels, if you can do that I have no problems with letting you stay on the Earth and live your life out, I might be the devil, but I am a fair man,” Satan pointed out, a thin smile crossing his face.

“Well, Airaxen. Do you agree? I’ve even made sure to prepare you a new body to your suit your older one. A Hybrid of machine and technology, combined with not only human materials but parts of demons. This is a very lucrative deal for both you and me.” The devil pointed the pen towards Airaxen. Airaxen looked at Satan and then at the pen and contract he held out to him.

::This guy seems a bit too...Relaxed about the situation...Should I trust him?:: Airaxen pondered.

“You again, huh? Well what do we have to lose?”

“I really need more company then just you in my head anyway...”

Airaxen hesitated but eventually he finally took the pen out of Satan’s hand and then signed his name on the bottom of the contract. As he finished signing his name the contract disappeared in flames and Satan smiled a bit more now.

“I’m sorry, Airaxen. But I wasn’t entirely truthful...” Satan began. Airaxen backed away, his eyes widening at what he could’ve just done.

“What do you mean?!” Airaxen demanded.

“If you’re thinking that I enlisted you as a personal slave, no nothing of the sort, you will be sent to Earth to send the Angels back, but there IS a price you must pay. Like there is a balance of good and evil, there needs to be equal trade, and normally I would’ve taken your soul but like I said there is no point,” Satan began to explain, Airaxen clenching his fists tightly.

“I thought you said the only price I had to pay was to defeat the Angels!” Airaxen shouted angrily.

“That is the price to keep your body and to have your second chance. The price to create a new body for you however, was never mentioned,” Satan explained while fixing his tie up. Airaxen used all of his restraint to not try and strike down Satan, but it wouldn’t be a good idea considering he was the ruler of Hell and the Angel of Death.

“The price you must pay is to give me something you value, and I think taking a fair number of your memories is enough...” Satan informed, Airaxen’s eyes widened more as what was about to happen. Satan sighed and shrugged.

“I need to make sure Hell isn’t lost forever, and I’m afraid that required me to deceive you. Since you most likely won’t remember your name, I believe you require a new one, I don’t think you need unwanted attention from the humans wondering how a dead man is walking among them,” Satan began to think quietly leaving Airaxen to think for a moment.

::I can’t believe this! I’ve been tricked! And now I’ll forget about...No...DAMNIT!:: Airaxen determined angrily.

“Yes, I have it now, Seraph. That will be your new name,” Satan declared, Airaxen then looked at the seraphim. “Ironically fitting, isn’t it? Well then Seraph, it’s time for you to start a new life,” Satan waved his right hand, from Airaxen’s head a stream of red energy emerged from it. Airaxen watched as his own memories of the past left his mind, all of the battles he had fought, the friends he made, the memories of her, all of it, was now forgotten.

“Alright Seraph, time to head to Earth and raise some Hell,” Satan grinned and waved his hand again, Airaxen-Seraph was incased by a mass of flames which vanished a second later along with Seraph.

* * *

::Damnit...I can’t sleep again…:: Tikai thought to herself plainly, lately she wasn’t able to sleep very well and found herself staying up the night instead. Tikai decided to give up on trying to get some sleep that night, she really didn’t need it.

It had been ten years since Airaxen past away and her life had changed a fair amount during the time span. She looked somewhat older, not too much however. Tikai decided to cut her waist long hair, now it only went down to her shoulders. She also had gotten a bit taller, she was now only a bit shorter then Sonaris was, despite him being able to tower over most people.

Tikai now lived inside of a large mechanic shop that specialized in all sorts of mechanized creations, Sonaris opened it soon after the ordeal with Airaxen to bring in some money, and instantly hired her on the spot . Over the years she had developed her mechanical skills and could create most kinds of automations, her skill could nearly match Sonaris’s. The job was enjoyable, she learned she had a taste for working with steel and not to mention the weapons of mass destruction that Sonaris kept in a private storeroom which was only meant for employee use.

The shop had the main work area which covered a whole 50 feet so as to feet mostly all sorts of things to be brought in, the lake was behind it incase something bigger then the shop needed to be brought in. There was a second level which served as living quarters, Sonaris was sick of living in a hotel room for countless years. Now Sonaris, Maria and herself stayed at the shop for the last few years, all in all things were well.

Tikai looked around her room, it was messy, clothes all over the floor along with countless machine parts. She looked around to find where she left her mechanic’s uniform, it was essentially random articles of clothing thrown together, but it worked for her. In a few more minutes she had changed into her uniform which had a set of baggy light brown pants with a tool belt that held it up, no tools on it currently except for a large wrench. She had a new shirt that was light blue and had two sets of symbols one on each arm. As well as a dark brown vest that looked like it used to belong to pilot, with a set of dark goggles around her neck which were meant for welding.

Tikai stretched and began to leave her room until she noticed the calendar. Tomorrow would make exactly 10 years since that day. She approached the dresser and picked up the Marimatsu sword that rested on the dresser, next to it was the clear diamond that used to be the 9 separate crystals of each element.

::Should I have taken these from him...?:: She pondered.

Tikai placed the weapon back down and shook her head before leaving the room. The hallways were still dark, it was about 2 AM and everyone else was probably still asleep. There were a few small appliances that were brought in recently that needed to be repaired so she decided to go and repair them to pass the time.
However one of the rooms wasn’t unoccupied, the light to the dining room was on and someone was in it. Tikai walked into the room, Sonaris sat at the table with a bottle of red wine and a glass that was still half full.

Sonaris had changed over the years as well. The ponytail of hair had grown and now was nearly down to his waist, but still had the spiked appearance to it. He also had slight sideburns now along with more bangs of hair then before, two of them also had a silver streak on them. On his actual face he had two scars, one going across his nose and one on the left side of his forehead. Sonaris’s face now shown the signs of wisdom he had acquired throughout the years, but still looked fresh and not worn down. Currently he was also in his working uniform that was similar to Tikai’s. He had on a set of green slacks and a military style jacket that looked similar to Tikai’s, as well as having a black shirt under it since he never bothered to zip up the jacket.

Sonaris looked over at Tikai and then back at his drink.

“Can’t sleep again?” He asked in the same old deep voice he always had. Tikai shook her head and took a glass from off the counter and poured some of the wine from the bottle.

“Nope. But why are you up? You normally actually sleep these days,” Tikai pointed out. Sonaris shrugged and took a sip from his glass.

“I couldn’t sleep tonight either, and when did you start drinking?” Sonaris asked back. Tikai shrugged and swallowed down a fair bit of the drink in one go.

“When my life got stressful,” Tikai answered, to which Sonaris chuckled quietly.

“Alright, fair enough,” Sonaris affirmed. Tikai then noticed something in front of Sonaris on the table, a picture.

“Hey, is that-?” Tikai began, Sonaris nodded and then passed it towards her. Tikai picked up the picture and then looked at it. It was a photo of everyone, at least everyone except Airaxen.

“I still remember the day it was taken...” Tikai said quietly.

“Yes, well...Tomorrow makes ten whole years, and I found this on my dresser, it makes me think sometimes...” Sonaris said just as quietly, the tone of sadness slightly in his voice.

“Yeah, I understand where you’re coming from...We didn’t always all get along, but we all were still close, one of those unspoken things,” Tikai reminisced quietly to herself, that day seemed so distant to her.

“It’s been 10 years and we still haven’t heard from them, sorta weird, eh?” Tikai pointed out and took another drink of her wine.

“Well, they have their own lives to live, like we do. I just hope they’re doing alright,” Sonaris commented. Tikai looked closer at the photo, despite what happened that day, they were all genuinely smiling and happy in the picture. Sonaris had actually cracked a smile for the occasion. Ethernial put himself between the two females so as to give them both bunny ears in the picture, grinning largely. Yasosume let out what was the closest to a smile all of them had ever seen, which was simply a more sincere looking grin. Tikai was even smiling sincerely in the picture, her smile radiating a warm feeling.

Tikai passed the photo back to Sonaris who looked at it closer and then glanced over at Tikai.

“What?” Tikai inquired. Sonaris put the photo back down and paused for a moment.

“When I first saw you, Tikai, you radiated an aura of innocence, your face was gentle in appearance, even if you did dawn a suit of armor and join in the fighting you never lose that innocence. However over the years I noticed you’ve lost that innocence to your appearance. Now your face holds the scars of battle, toughened over the years and no longer as gentle. It is...An interesting thing to witness,” Sonaris mused as he took another sip of his wine. Tikai looked a bit undignified at Sonaris’s comment but sighed and shook her head soon after.

“Well, it is to be expected you know. Even after Dimitri was stopped there wasn’t any peace or anything! We were still fighting off someone trying to get the city under their control, or some idiot wanting a little fame for taking one of our heads!” Tikai growled angrily her hands clenched into fists. Sonaris nodded solemnly and put a hand to his face, a finger to each scar on his face. Tikai took a long drink from her glass and then sighed again. She looked over at Sonaris who seemed to be thinking again, hand still on his face.

“Hey, Sonaris. How did you get those two scars?” Tikai asked. Sonaris removed his hand from his face and took a sip of wine before speaking.

“You don’t remember?” Sonaris questioned a bit confused. Tikai shook her head which caused Sonaris to turn to the side slightly. He glanced at Tikai then motioned towards her arm which was on the table.

“How is your body holding up?” Sonaris asked. Tikai looked at her arm and moved it slowly.

“Not bad, it’s been 5 years and I’m still not used to this...It’s weird, knowing you’re no longer human and have machinery in your body. I mean I feel a lot stronger and faster and all that, but it’s still something I need to get used to,” Tikai expressed.

“You see,” Sonaris began, now turning back to face Tikai. “I got my two scars 5 years ago, on the same night you stopped being a human and became a hybrid like myself.”

“And as you know...I was able to restore your body. I removed the things that scientist did haphazardly and fortunately I kept salvaged Myreison components because I thought I might need them if I required to reconstruct portions of myself if they ever became crucially damaged. However I used them to repair your body, the regenerative parts I used were able to combine with your DNA and restore whatever portions of your body you lost in that...Operation. In the end I played god and...I hope you can forgive me for what I did...I simply couldn’t bare to have to lose another friend,” Sonaris explained quietly, swirling around the contents of his glass gently. Tikai shivered in the memory of that day, and hugged herself.

“I kept the two scars on my face so I would be reminded of the two people I had to look after. I swore from that day on I wouldn’t let any harm befall anyone I cared about. As sentimental as I have become it isn’t all bad. It gives me more purpose in my life...” Sonaris mused and took another sip of wine. Tikai looked at Sonaris, his face looked deeply troubled, he probably didn’t feel too much better either.

“I see...Well why wouldn’t I forgive you for saving my life?” Tikai inquired.

“I don’t know, perhaps it was fate for you to pass away that day, and I simply intervened where I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t be playing god, being Dimitri...Was the last thing I wanted to become...” Sonaris shook his head and this time took a longer drink from his glass.

“You didn’t do anything wrong so don’t worry. I’m glad I’m still alive, and I’m healthier then I ever was! I don’t even have to sleep and can eat all I want without any problems, or even age for that matter, I’ve looked the same for over 5 years now. Besides, if you didn’t do that then you’d have one less mechanic around here,” Tikai pointed out, a smile on her face. Sonaris looked over and chuckled to himself.

“Point, I suppose that if you don’t mind, then I won’t either,” Sonaris declared before finishing off his drink. He poured himself another glass and then sighed quietly.

“It’s good to see you still smile,” Sonaris commented. Tikai snickered and finished her drink off and placed the glass to the side.

“So much has happened, and I’m still trying to keep up! However life these days isn’t horrible. Even if we’re short one member of our team I guess I don’t mind too much. Life goes on and...Yeah...” Tikai trailed off, looking away for a moment before deciding to pour herself a new glass.

“I take it you still care for him?” Sonaris asked. Tikai nodded slowly and looked away, a slight blush on her face.

“I know it’s probably a bit silly for me to still love a dead man. But...I can’t really let go that easily. Well I think I’m still more sentimental then you are, Sonaris,” Tikai pointed out before taking a long drink. Sonaris shrugged.

“I suppose I can understand that,” Sonaris obliged and looked to the side to take a look at the time.

“Hey, Sonaris,” Tikai began. Sonaris looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Yes?”

“What do you think happened to that group, E.L.I.T.E? We haven’t heard from them recently and it sort of worries me,” Tikai expressed.

“I don’t know. I would feel better if the others would come back to Lutenia, or at the very least contact us, but Yasosume and Ethernial can take care of themselves,” Sonaris pointed out.

“True enough. I’m glad we have some peace for once, it’s great to just sit back, relax and work with weapons of mass destruction so you can use them when someone messes up your peace,” Tikai stated with a little bit more cheeriness then Sonaris was used to.

“I swear, you’ve become more violent over these years as well!” Sonaris teased. Tikai stuck her tongue out at him and looked out the window, the sun was beginning to rise.

“We’ve been talking for about 3 hours now,” Sonaris commented. “Where does the time go...” He mused. Tikai nodded and downed the last of her drink. She reached for the bottle and smirked.

“Looks like I’ve finished your wine off,” she commented. Sonaris shook his head and took a sip from his own glass.

“I believe I’ll have to keep my wine away from you, or else you’ll drink it all before I do.”

“Notice we never have the time to actually be lazy and talk about stuff with absolutely no point?” Tikai mentioned. Sonaris shrugged and let out another yawn.

“Between all of the things we have to repair and the occasional call to duty, time for ourselves is nearly unheard of,” Sonaris replied. Tikai nodded slowly and sighed.

“And I don’t even have the time to take me and my good looks to some club or anything! I just don’t have any time for it!” Tikai complained, Sonaris who was taking a sip of his drink began to sputter and cough at the comment.

“Don’t do that when I’m trying to enjoy my drink!” Sonaris snapped, however Tikai looked closer to snapping then he did. Sonaris laughed and went right back to enjoying his moment of peace, at least before Tikai decided to try and strangle him.

Maria had woken up at about 5 in the morning, she had a shift at the hospital in about an hour.

::What kind of person goes and gets themselves hurt before 10 AM anyway? Argh, I hate having to work the early morning shifts…:: Maria grumbled mentally. She left her room and headed to the washroom to tidy up before entering the dinning room for some nourishment, only to find a strange spectacle. Sonaris was seated at the table, turned to the side and in his right hand a wine glass, from which he was drinking from it slowly and in sips. While doing this he had his left hand up and out, hand on Tikai’s forehead while she was trying to rip Sonaris’s head off, arms flailing madly.

“What...Are you doing?” Maria asked, rather intrigued by the sight. Tikai stopped with her attempts to try and maim Sonaris and looked over at Maria.

“Nothing, just trying to kill Sonaris,” Tikai replied before going back to trying to get at him from across the table. Sonaris finished the wine in his glass and then shoved Tikai back into her seat, putting the glass back on the table.

“With that aside, I assume you have to work another morning shift?” Sonaris inquired, Maria nodded slowly as she browsed the contents of the fridge. Tikai finally gave up on trying to get back Sonaris, she figured she’d just smack him with her wrench later in the day when he was working on something.

“So why are all of you awake at this hour?” Maria asked as she pulled out some leftover oatmeal from the other day.

“Both of us couldn’t sleep, stayed up drinking and talking about the past,” Sonaris replied as he wondered if he should get a new bottle of wine.

“Sounded like fun, should I be worried that you two are doing different things, hmm?” Maria teased, causing Sonaris to blush and look away, now finally able to pick up on sexual innuendo.

“Enough of that!” Sonaris declared. He stood up and grumbled to himself as he went about putting away the two glasses all the while Tikai snickered to herself. Maria took her food from the microwave and took it to the table and started eating it grudgingly.

“Ugh, this stuff tastes like cardboard, why is it we never have anything to eat?” Maria complained while swirling her spoon around in the oatmeal.

“Simple,” Tikai began. “Two of us don’t have to eat, so we kinda forget that food is something that should be lying around here.”

“Well, you two could be more considerate!” Maria grumbled and gulped down some more oatmeal.

“I swear! One of these days I’ll make a note or something...” Sonaris declared, however he walked right past the note he left on the table that stated for him to go and buy food.

“Well, I’m going to head out for a few hours, at least before the shop opens up,” Tikai said as she left the room. She ventured down the stares and across the gigantic work area of the shop. Tikai stepped out into the cool morning air and took in a deep breath, it had been a long time since she saw the sunrise. She began to walk down the street taking in the sights the lake had to offer with the light of the sun reflecting off of it. However she paused as she noticed ripples in the water, and it didn’t appear to be from a rock being thrown in. As she glanced around for the source of the rippling and quickly noticed a massive shadow being cast over her and the area within about 10 city blocks. Tikai looked up at the sky and was greeted with a sight she hadn’t seen for what seemed like an eternity, Chaos’s green Airship. She blinked and headed back to the shop to notify Sonaris and Maria of what was happening, the timing couldn’t be anymore coincidental.

Sonaris and Maria were gathered at the back entrance of the shop when Tikai got back, they were both watching as the massive ship began to maneuver itself down to touch down on the lake.

“You don’t think it’s...?” Maria began, however someone had suddenly taken the massive craft into a small nosedive in order to create a miniature tidal wave that shot forward at the three innocent bystanders. Sonaris’s hair had flopped down on his face and now covered his eyes, thankfully for him it covered up his angry demeanor.

“Yes, I do,” Sonaris replied dryly. Tikai growled angrily severely tempted to take her wrench out and hurtle it at one of the ship’s engines. The only thing that stopped her was the fact her hair now blocked her vision.

The massive airship finally touched down on the lake’s surface, the three on shore had also tidied themselves up after the tidal wave. The door to the ship opened and lowered down to act as a platform to connect the ship to the shore. They all looked up as the passengers descended, and it was indeed their old friends from years ago.

Yasosume filed off the ship first, still fairly the same in appearance from when she first left. Her hair had become more untidy and now had to by tied together with a ponytail at the back. She still had the same black pants and red tank top, but had ditched all of her armor and took to a hefty looking laser rifle on her back.

Next to her was Ethernial, and unlike all the others he didn’t seem to change at all over a decade, same hair, same white jump suit and same goofy smile.

“Hey guys! Uh...Sorry about the tidal wave thing, Yaso stole the controls from me...” Ethernial explained sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head. Yasosume had taken to looking innocent at the moment, and this time Tikai required someone to restrain her from maiming her, this time it was Maria that took to the charge. Yasosume smirked at the blond and stuck her tongue out at her. Tikai grabbed for her wrench but this time Sonaris had to do something and took it away from her first.

“With that aside, someone get me some tranquilizers for Tikai, then we’ll go inside and catch up,” Sonaris suggested while tossing the wrench up and down casually.

* * *

After some more yelling, death threats, and negotiating everyone had calmed down and gathered on the main floor of the shop and took a seat on the hull of a medium sized craft that was brought in during their fighting.

Tikai had opened up part of the engine and was fiercely at work to repair it, however from the way she was working Sonaris was wondering how much it would cost for actual repairs to be done after Tikai was finished. Ethernial glanced around the inside of the shop and let out a low whistle. Ethernial and Yasosume sat across from where Tikai and Sonaris were.

“This is a sweet setup you guys got here,” Ethernial commented, Yasosume snorted and muttered something under her breath about having more room on her ship. Tikai growled under her breath however she still continued with the job, Sonaris next to where she was working incase something was about to explode, mainly Tikai. Ethernial shook his head and sighed.

“Aye, aye, aye, didn’t you say you two could get along one of these days, Tikai?” Ethernial asked a bit stressed out.

“That was only because she was leaving!” Tikai shouted back, still grumbling and growling. Yasosume nearly leapt up at Tikai had it not been Ethernial grabbing her tail and stopping her.

“Maybe it’s for the best that some things just never change, makes things seem familiar,” Ethernial said before Yasosume smacked him upside the head causing him to let out a quiet “ow”.

“And sometimes it’s not a good thing that things don’t change...” He muttered. Sonaris cleared his throat and then began to speak again.

“So why did you two return to Lutenia? After ten years without getting any notice from you and then suddenly you’re back?” Sonaris inquired. Yasosume snorted and pointed a finger at Sonaris.

“We assumed you still lived at that hotel, we didn’t know you had opened this place up. We were wondering why you guys weren’t returning any letters or anything. Only found this place because we saw a flyer posted around the hotel last night that had on it the address to your shop,” Yasosume explained, a thin smirk appearing as Sonaris realized the mistake he made.

“...Ah...That would be a good reason actually...I knew I forgot to do something when this place was built...” Sonaris mused, a sheepish grin on his face.

“Well,” Yasosume began. “We came back because we had some news on new occurrences...” At this Tikai stopped with working on the engine and looked over at the fox girl, her expression dead serious.

“Don’t tell me, is this about a group that called itself E.L.I.T.E?!” She demanded. Yasosume blinked and shook her head.

“No, why? What is this group?” Yasosume asked. Tikai looked away, a look of serious discomfort crossed her face at the memory of the pain of that day.

“Yasosume, please,” Sonaris started, having noticed Tikai’s reaction. “A lot has happened in 10 years, for now please leave it at that,” Sonaris also cringed at the memory of that day, what he saw...It still could unnerve him, the fact that someone could be so deranged was disturbing, and what had happened to his friend...Sonaris quickly shook his head free from the thoughts and focused his attention back to his other companions.

“Well, what is this group you mentioned anyway?” Ethernial inquired. Sonaris opened his mouth but Tikai had recollected herself and beat Sonaris to it.

“They’re like bounty hunters, they’re trying to kill the four of us, to make themselves a name by taking out the world’s past heroes,” Tikai informed. Yasosume growled and looked away, Ethernial shook his head and sighed.

“All for the sake of one’s pride, nothing but ego! It’s sad really, these days the world is falling apart, everyone for themselves!” Ethernial exclaimed, the undertone of anger in his voice. Yasosume glanced over at the two across from her. Even if she didn’t like Tikai she still probably didn’t deserve whatever happened...Entirely.

“So what did that group do to you guys?” Yasosume asked. Sonaris glanced towards Tikai and shook his head.

“I don’t think that-”

“No. That was 5 years ago, you can stop protecting me from it. I need to get over it anyway, besides I’m still alive!” Tikai declared, even thou it was a bit shakily. Sonaris nodded and shrugged his shoulders.

“You can tell them whatever you wish then,” Sonaris announced.

Ethernial raised an eyebrow, he could tell there was something wrong in the air whenever that group was mentioned but he made sure not to venture into anyone’s head unless he was given their consent. Tikai sighed quietly and then took a proper seat on the hull of the ship next to everyone else.

“I’m going to keep it as short as possible. Lets see, we encountered them 5 years back, its when they started to actively come out I guess. I was called in to some address, had to tone up some of the equipment. I arrived...And well it was a trap. And...” Tikai trailed off for a moment but cleared her throat and continued regardless. “One of E.L.I.T.E’s more deranged members decided to try out some experiment on me...I was restrained, I had no weapons with me so I couldn’t fight back. I was rigged up to a few machines, and well...” Tikai was starting to lose her composure at that point, those memories brought back a lot of pain, both physically and mentally. She could still remember it, the pain, the feel of the cold steel that had cut her open, the feel of having someone literally take her apart. She sighed and pulled herself back together, her face going blank like normal.

“The man then cut me open and began to remove my organs, replacing them with machine components. What made it worse was the fact that I was being kept alive during the process, so I could experience the entire operation,” Tikai paused at that part and looked at those around her. Ethernial was staring at her, simply staring in shock. Yasosume looked away, disgusted by what she was hearing. Sonaris had simply closed his eyes, he seemed to be thinking back to that day as well.

“Well, Sonaris was able to find me thankfully, he took care of that madman and got me out of there. I don’t know what happened between then and when I woke up, I assumed I was dead and Sonaris saved me by turning me into a hybrid like all of you. I’m sorry, that wasn’t supposed to be taking so much time, I guess that memory is the one that sticks out when I think of that group,” Tikai explained quietly. Everyone nodded solemnly, over the years they all had seen harsh things in the world.

“Well,” Yasosume spoke up. “I hope you see why I hate all humans,”

“Explains why I’ve been getting a different feel around you, Tikai,” Ethernial pointed out.

“Oh? How so?” Tikai asked.

“Simply, a darker feel. And it shows on your face, you’re starting to look like how Airaxen used too!” Ethernial suddenly realized what he had just said and slapped himself on the forehead, Yasosume nudging him in the ribs and growling at him.

“It’s fine, really. Besides, I need to learn to get over all of these things,” Tikai reassured. Sonaris reopened his eyes and then cleared his throat again.

“Well back to the point. What is it you two wanted to tell us about? I’d have to assume it was very important if you returned here,” Sonaris said with his usual air of brooding.

“It seems that in the south, well...” Ethernial began and then stopped, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s very strange, there have been ‘monsters’ running about. At first we thought someone was pulling a Dimitri, you know making unholy creations, uh, no offense Sonaris...Or me...” Ethernial explained slowly. He paused again, trying to find the right words.

“So for the last year we spent looking for the source of these monsters, and we couldn’t find anything. It seems they’re not being made by anyone, it’s more like they’re...Forming naturally,” Ethernial concluded.

“That’s one thing we wanted to tell you all about, however we have something else,” Yasosume then began. “We haven’t seen this for ourselves, but we’ve heard rumors of Angels walking on the Earth who are trying to unite all of us and eradicate all evil for the rest of eternity. Obviously the masses of humans are flocking to them. However, this next part is what bothers me...” Yasosume then looked right at Tikai, this time it wasn’t a look of hate, or malice, or anything of the sort, it was of worry.

“It’s rumored that the leader of these Angels...Is well, Airaxen,” Yasosume finished, this caused Tikai to flinch severely, as well as Sonaris to look straight at Yasosume, dead serious and looking for more answers.

“What did you just say?!” Tikai leapt up and nearly tackled Yasosume to the ground but she was able to control herself.

“It’s a rumor we heard, we tried to look into it but couldn’t find anything I’m afraid...” Ethernial explained.

“Want my opinion?” Yasosume suddenly asked.

“Depends, you going to call me stupid for believing he could still be alive? Or an imbecile for loving him in the first place?” Tikai hissed. Yasosume shook her head, she had no intent in making jokes at the moment.

“To use a body of someone is different from it being the real person that the body belonged to. Just be careful, I never did trust stuff like angels,” Yasosume warned. Tikai blinked and was genuinely amazed.

“You’re actually being insightful and nice to me? Wow, you have changed,” Tikai teased, Yasosume simply flipped her off and stuck her tongue out. Sonaris cracked a small smile to himself, he was glad to see that some of the old mirth had returned, he missed the days when he could still find himself able to laugh freely. After that all that was said had been said and now all that was left to fill time was a somewhat awkward silence, it was just Tikai making some noise as she went back to repairing the craft’s engines.

“You know, what I just noticed?” Ethernial suddenly said. “Yasosume and I, who were on that trip don’t look too different. On the other hand you two look stressed and all that, especially you Tikai. And Sonaris, I just noticed those scars on your face! Wow I just realized how long we’ve really been gone...” Ethernial trailed off, Yasosume looked at the red head and shook her head.

“And what was the point of that?” She asked.

“Just to make conversation. But what have we missed?” Ethernial asked Sonaris.

“Just the occasional attempts at hostile takeovers from a terrorist group wanting the city, or our very unpleasant run-ins with the group E.L.I.T.E. Basically that...Memory is the only thing that is noteworthy.” Sonaris explained. Ethernial nodded and thought for a moment.

“Even if it’s probably barely 7 am who wants to go and get something to eat?” Ethernial suggested. Everyone agreed, it wasn’t that bad of an idea.

They all left the large mechanic shop, Sonaris put a sign on the front door to make sure no one else came for business, the craft in the shop could be repaired a little later anyway.

“Hey is the Black Lagoon still around?” Yasosume asked. Sonaris shrugged.

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t know, not very much time to myself unless I decide I want to stay up the night,” Sonaris said while stifling a yawn.

“I really should visit the place, haven’t had anything to drink in way too long...” Yasosume mused quietly.

“I don’t think they serve drinks at this hour however,” Ethernial pointed out, Yasosume sighed, her ears drooping down slightly. After that the conversation that occurred was mostly about random topics that they could throw at each other, it was for once nothing more then simple things being done for the sole purpose of passing the time, something warmly welcomed by Tikai after the previous conversation. But even if the atmosphere was much lighter then it usually was she still felt like something was wrong.

::I’m probably just too edgy these days, I guess I have enough reason to be. It had better not be one of those stupid foreboding feelings like they usually are!:: Tikai thought angrily, she didn’t want anything to ruin the only day to memory that was stress-relieving.

* * *

“So those are the targets?” One of the men asked over his comlink with the other mass of mecha pilots in the facility.

“Yes they’re the target. Don’t underestimate any of them, they’re all ‘heroes’ for a reason. If you want to take any of their heads you’ll have to be smart in how you fight,” another one of the men advised.

“Well lets get them! They’re unarmed right now!” Someone else shouted, his cheer being followed by those of all the remaining pilots.

“E.L.I.T.E will become famous, and this time we will take all of them out in one attack and become feared for our power!” Yet another one of the pilots cried out before they all leapt out from hiding.

From under the lake, the rooftops, dark alleyways and nearly any other sort of hiding space a flood of mechas came pouring out at the four, surrounding them on all sides. Each mecha was generally the exact same in design, painted in black and gold. The mechas had 4 legs each, most likely to give stability along with speed to the mechas. The torso was simple, streamlined and smooth to reduce drag for high speed movement. The arms were large and bulky, the reason being was because of the sheer amount of armaments on each limb. Each mecha had some sort of large weapon in the right arm anything from a rifle to rocket launchers, howitzers, machine guns and even lasers in some cases, each weapon was at least bigger then any person would be measuring at 10 feet long in some cases. In the left arm there was occasionally another weapon, or a shield or occasionally what appeared to be a beam saber. On the shoulders of the mechas were also more weapons, most of them appeared to be varying numbers of rocket launchers. To add to the sheer amount of firepower on the back of the mechas they carried either one or two sets of weapons. The arsenals on the back showed a huge variety of the sheer number of weapons the group had access to. Some chose to use rocket pods, there were a large number of the different kinds it would appear. Others took a machine gun, or some sort of projectile weapon like a rocket launcher. A smaller number chose to use large beam cannons that rivaled the size of the ones in the right hand. However some of the back armaments were so large it took the entire back. These weapons didn’t show as much variety but they most likely provided more power. More rocket pods along with massive grenade launchers, and very rarely some chose to use something as radical as a 4 smaller laser cannons or the equally as a rare massive singular beam cannon set up, the other attachment was a power supply for the weapon. Each head to the mechas were different however, they were most likely allowed to chose their own style of head as a ‘decoration’ for their masterpiece of mass destruction. Each mecha however wasn’t too tall, only twice the size of an average person but it didn’t mean that each one wasn’t deadly.

“Ok, who was the one that jinxed it this time?!” Yasosume barked, taking her weapon off of her back and arming it.

“No idea! But I take it these guys are E.L.I.T.E?” Ethernial asked. Sonaris nodded, green gridlines forming around him.

“Yes they are, however they’ve never sent an attack force like this!” Sonaris explained.

“It makes sense, we haven’t seen them in so long they probably were just building up their numbers!” Tikai pointed out, green gridlines forming around her.

Sonaris’s armor formed quickly enough, however now it was much more advanced then his first suit of armor. His armor was still mostly just blue and silver highlights but now his armor was much heavier looking, stronger and covered in plates of metal. The general shape of his original armor was kept only now his gauntlets were thicker looking and he lacked the wolf head cannon on his right arm. Over the years his armor had evolved and now when Sonaris wore it he looked like a moving tank.

Tikai’s armor was similar in design to Sonaris’s, however the armor was rounder in design and much lighter with less armor. On her back she had on two thin red wings that barely looked more then long spikes, underneath them was another set of shorter red spike wings. Tikai’s armor appeared to only be made to move around at a high speed. Both of the twos’ armors however lacked any visible weapons, however no one doubted them to be harmless.

“Tch, showoff,” Yasosume muttered. Tikai smirked back at her and flexed her right hand.

“The benefits for working at the shop are marvelous,” Tikai replied.

“Alright!” One of the mecha pilots shouted. “The one who kills them gets a promotion!” He shouted, a thunderous uproar soon followed it.

“Who suddenly feels like they’re on the wrong side of the food chain?” Ethernial commented, his hands glowing dark purple.

“It’s been way too long since I got in a good fight!” Yasosume said with a grin on. All of the mechas around them began to move in and open fire, bullets being fired in all directions, rockets launching into the air and soaring through the air, multicolored blasts of light streaking towards the four. Everyone moved close to Ethernial who put his hands out, a clear dome forming around all of them.

“Mirror Wall!” Ethernial shouted, the first wave of attacks being launched at them being sent hurtling straight back at wherever they came from. Most of the attacks had struck the mecha it was shot from, the more unfortunate pilots who had shot rockets or lasers were now blasted apart and most likely just dead. Others who were more skilled evaded their own attacks by dashing to the side or shooting into the air, or simply weren’t unconvinced by the tactic having only shot bullets.

After the first attack from both sides the four scattered away from each other. Yasosume darted off to the side in her right hand her large rifle armed and firing off large red blasts of energy, her left hand emitting a massive jet of flames that caused all the mechas hit by it to crumble from their systems being overheated. With nothing but speed and flames she was able to stop all the mechas that targeted her from attacking by either blasting the head of the mecha off or by simply igniting them in flames, instantly overheating any energy weapon or causing the weapons to malfunction.

Sonaris charged straight forward at the closest mecha and simply grabbed the leg and with little effort snapped the leg off causing the mecha to crumble on the leg, Sonaris then smashing his arm through the core of the mecha and disabling it. He took note that three mechas had converged on him and formed his weapons.

“Dual weapon mode, double machine guns,” Sonaris stated under his breath, two large wolf head cannons forming on his gauntlets. From the mouths of the wolves a cannon barrel shot out with 5 smaller barrels built into each. Sonaris then threw both his arms out and began to open fire, a hail of blue lasers shooting out and pummeling the three mechas in his path with ease. Sonaris smirked to himself and then took to take out whatever else dared get in his path.

Ethernial had left the ground when the real fight started and drifted in the air mostly providing support to the others. He put both of his hands out and released wave after wave of Psychic Blasts that sent any unfortunate mecha in its path tumbling along the ground which in turn caused the heavy automations to damage their own equipment. Behind Ethernial’s position five mechas gathered, one of them sporting a set of dual vertical rocket launchers. The sound of the mecha firing a set of 3 missiles into the air alerted Ethernial of their position. He looked up at the air as the missiles came down on him and he simply raised a hand to release another wave of his psychic energy that sent the missiles tumbling off course and having them simply crashing into the ground. The mechas began to open fire with a wide variety of machine gun based weapons. Ethernial scoffed at them and released another psychic blast back down at the mechas that sent any bullet shooting at Ethernial to hurtle to the side, when his attack struck a mecha it caused it to instead shoot into the air and come crashing down on two of its allies. Ethernial shot straight down, spiraling through the air while his hands became two bright blue beams. He simply shot between the two mechas as he spun and destroyed the sides of the mechas causing them to breakdown on the spot.

“Still as easy as it always was!” Ethernial exclaimed, arms returning to normal.

Tikai glanced around at the number of mechas that were around her, there were more then usual most likely just for the fact they remembered her tactics from previous run-ins. She growled lowly and turned on her skates, she still kept them from her previous armor for speed. The mechas that closed in on Tikai didn’t sport machine guns and instead used rocket launchers for the explosion the projectile provided, it would make the target a bit easier to strike. Tikai headed straight for one of the mechas assuming they’d be hesitant to fire but that wasn’t the case, the other mechas simply bombarded her position full of rockets regardless of their own teammate being in the blast area. This didn’t bother her too much however, the twin boosters on her back flared to life and she shot straight into the air with the help of her skates, the speed she achieved made her look like a blur of blue, none of the pilots expected that much speed. Tikai sneered at her opposition, it would take much more then brute force to hit her. She formed two large green orbs of energy in both hands and hurtled each into the ground at the mechas, the orbs striking a mecha each causing it to explode in a haze of flames. Tikai darted through the air, forming small charges of energy in her hands and throwing them down at the mechas to take them all out, the sheer speed at which she accomplished the task was what caught the pilots off guard, they couldn’t hope to match it with any weapon they had on hand. Tikai grinned to herself, even if they were outnumbered the four of them were simply better in combat, quality over quantity.

The four gathered themselves again, the numbers of mechas was still high, but there was less then half of them still remaining, the general area was now covered in the scars of battle, if anything else there were no buildings around to be involved.

“Well that wasn’t too hard!” Yasosume nearly whined. Sonaris chuckled to himself and shook his head.

“You try fighting them on your own and tell me how hard it was,” he challenged. Yasosume laughed and then rearmed her weapon.

“I hope you two didn’t get soft without fighting for so long!” Tikai teased while cracking her knuckles.

“Whoever can collect the most mecha heads wins!” Yasosume shouted, all of the remaining pilots however backed away slightly as she grinned. Tikai slammed her metallic fist into the open palm of her other hand and smirked to herself. Sonaris formed his two new katana swords and twirled them around casually. Ethernial raised his right fist up which was glowing purple flames the light from it cast a sinister shadow over his face. The mecha pilots began to wonder how smart of an idea it was to pick a fight with such strong fighters but now their fate had been sealed.

* * *

“My head...Ugh...It’s killing me!” Growled the smooth icy voice of a man. “Where am I? For that matter who am I?”

“What the hell? Who’s there?!” The voice growled again.

“And who are you?”

“Well then, now to do something about the other questions on my mind...” Suddenly something came to the man, a memory of some sort.

In it he was being told to...Stop the angels by a man in a suit with 3 sets of wings. However after that the memory cut off into another one of him being told a name; Seraph.

::Seraph? I guess that’s my name...And what’s this thing with angels?:: Seraph wondered.

“But aren’t angels supposed to be good...?”

“Fine, that’s a good point anyway.”

Seraph looked around at his surroundings and caught a glimpse of his reflection in a shard of glass.

He had on a dark blue jacket with long sleeves and high collars that covered most of his neck from sight. To keep the jacket together he had a silver clip right below the collarbone area. On his shoulders he had a circular shoulder pad with the center cut out, on the bottom of the shoulder pad it would dip down and connect onto the jacket’s side in a flame design. The small piece of armor was silver like the collar part. On his arms he had on two small silver gauntlets that were in the shape of a V and had two ‘horns’ that arched back. Connected to his jacket were two flaps that arched down to nearly touch the ground, the two were also dark blue to match the jacket. He had on a set of black pants that were elegant in design, sleek and slender to fit Seraph’s thin body.

Seraph possessed a very tall and slender build, a slight bit of muscle on his limbs. His skin was also fairly pale in comparison to most people. His face looked fairly human however there were some differences that had to be noted. His eyes were thin and resembled cat eyes, his pupils colored a bright violet hue. His ears weren’t human and instead were long and thin, sticking out of his head and pointing to the sides. Above them however were what appeared to be a set of horns that were angled slightly higher then his ears. On the right side of his face he had a strange dark blue mark which was a V on its side and a small triangle inside of it. His hair was short in the back but very long in the front and unruly, bangs of navy blue hair everywhere.

Seraph looked at his surroundings, he was currently in a dark alley, convenient for him since he had a feeling that most people wouldn’t approve of his appearance. It appeared to be sometime during the day, before the afternoon because he could still feel the cool morning air lingering. Seraph glanced around for something to cover up with, luckily lying on the ground was a large piece of white cloth. He picked it up and threw it over himself, making sure to cover his head from sight. He left the alleyway and looked from side to side, so far the streets were still mostly barren. Seraph frowned to himself, he had no idea where to go even if he had a general idea of his purpose.

But then something caught his eye, a small blue light off in the distance near some people, around them a mass of destroyed mechas. Small fires raged around the site, and above the destroyed automations small blue lights began to gather in the air. Seraph knew what the lights meant, he didn’t know how but he knew what they were, spirits of the dead. And from the way they were gathering the sheer amount of hate each spirit possessed was starting to become so strong that the spirits could most likely manifest themselves into a physical form. Seraph muttered something under his breath about careless humans.

* * *

“I got 8 heads,” Sonaris stated, pointing to his pile of mecha heads he had collected. Everyone groaned, Sonaris had beaten them by decapitating the most mechas for the duration of the fight.

“It’s only because you have swords! You just slice them right off!” Ethernial protested, he only collected 5. Sonaris simply grinned and let his two swords dematerialize.

“It’s not my problem if I’m the only one that has enough knowledge to use a sword,” Sonaris declared, a smug smirk on his face.

“I would’ve had more if I didn’t blow up most of the heads...” Yasosume mumbled ears lying flat, she collected 4, the rest were either scrap metal or melted beyond recognition. Tikai snapped her fingers and sighed, she had only collected one head, she was too busy destroying as many mechas as possible to remember to gather more.

“Well at least I got more then the blond,” Yasosume stated, putting her weapon on her back again.

“Shut up, I destroyed more of them then all of you combined!” Tikai growled back.

“You always do, Tikai,” Sonaris commented, while he wiped his forehead clean of sweat.

“Well they always target me for these raids, either think I’m the weakest or I’m the easiest target,” Tikai muttered annoyed. She sighed and shook her head.

“Why is it I always have such a hard time with life?” She wondered out loud. Tikai let her armor dematerialize, Sonaris following suit, the fight was done with and now it was time to do something new.

“GET OUT OF HERE!”

Shouted an icy voice. Everyone looked at who it came from, a man in a white cloak of some sort had given them the warning. It made no sense thou, all the members of E.L.I.T.E had been dealt with and there appeared to be no one left to attack. However whoever the person was he began to charge forward at the four fighters, they all prepared their weapons it looked like the man was about to attack all of them.

“I SAID GET AWAY! IT’S COMING!” The man shouted again, but instead of keeping to the charge he leapt up straight into the air, his white cloak coming off and showing to the world his demonic appearance.

Ethernial looked up at the sky, and now he saw what the man was talking about, a mass of dead souls had gathered during their battle that were all from the pilots they killed. The mass of souls began to take shape. First a long thin head formed that resembled a dead bird. Then a set of arms with skeletal bat wings on the limbs. After that the lower body formed, however the lower body was strangely grotesque with only a portion of a body formed, the remainder was simply a mass of unconnected organs which were contained inside a rip cage, that was all there was to the deformed beast.

The man had timed his attack to be at the same height of the monster as it finished materializing and before it could react he had delivered a drop kick to the head of the beast and sent it straight down to the ground.

“I can’t believe it...” Yasosume muttered in awe. Sonaris looked over at her with an eyebrow raised.

“What?” He inquired.

“The monsters are appearing here now!” Ethernial informed. Tikai however wasn’t looking at the creature and instead at the man-demon that attacked it.

::Who the hell is that?:: She wondered in a partial daze.

The man landed on the ground in front of the fighters, face blank and void of emotion. He looked around at the wreckages of mechas then back at the fighters.

“All of you killed the pilots to those mecha suits, didn’t you?” He asked and with his tone of voice they were unsure if he was angry with them or simply sounded like that all the time.

“Yeah, why?” Yasosume answered, the fur on her tail on end. The man turned away and shook his head before looking back at the creature, it was recovering from the attack and taking back to the air.

“Because of the way the pilots died their souls are full of hate and vengeance, so much so that they can’t leave this plane and will gather and manifest themselves into a living entity. And then this entity will kill and create chaos,” the man explained casually, raising his right hand a small circular gem on it appearing, the gem itself was clear and colorless. The man paused as if in thought or like he was recalling upon a memory, then continued.

“Because the Gates of Hell have been damaged their souls will not venture there, and all you can do is simply destroy the monster and hope a new one won’t form for some time,” the man finished, his right hand glowing white.

“Uh...We’re sorry?” Ethernial offered as a reply, the man simply looked at him from the corner of his eye.

“Piercing Lights,” the man stated under his breath, a barrage of white beams shooting out of his hand and firing right through the monster, reducing it to nothing more then bones, splattered organs and gore. Yasosume blinked and thought to herself for a moment, trying to recall something.

::I’ve seen that attack before...But where was it...?:: She wondered. Sonaris moved forward analyzing the man’s appearance.

“Who are you?” Sonaris asked.

“My name is Seraph. Now don’t cause any-” Seraph stopped suddenly, a loud ringing started to fill his head.

A strange voice began to speak in his head, this time it wasn’t the one from before but a much darker and evil sounding one. The voice also seemed to be much more of a voice, someone was starting to move his body and it wasn’t by his own will. Seraph began to clutch his head, the others began to back away, something was very wrong.

“Get out of my head...” Seraph growled weakly, his hands left his head and were slowly beginning to close into fists.

“Wait...Stop, I don’t want too attack...” He muttered quietly, however Yasosume’s ears perked up slightly, she was able to hear what he just said.

“Everyone get back and prepare to fight! He’s going to attack!” She shouted. The others looked at her for a moment before nodding and leaping away, Tikai and Sonaris reforming their armors, Ethernial and Yasosume preparing their weaponry.

“Man, doesn’t anyone cut us any slack?!” Tikai shouted angrily.

“Just like in the old days!” Ethernial laughed.

“Did I ever mention how stressful the old days were to me?” Sonaris grumbled, he was getting tired of the day and it was just barely 7 in the morning.

“Ok, whoever gets his head wins this time!” Yasosume sneered arming her rifle again.

Sonaris charged forward at Seraph, he too had a set of hover skates so he could make up for the speed he sacrificed for using such a heavy-duty armor. He wound up and threw a crushing punch at Seraph before he was fully prepared to attack, a low attack but they didn’t need him getting in an attack if it were possible. But Seraph had recovered from whatever was distracting him and caught Sonaris’s attack with his left hand. Sonaris didn’t think Seraph could stop his attack so easily, he didn’t look it but the demon was very strong. Seraph in turn raised his fist to attack but suddenly he flinched.

::Wait...Don’t I know this man...?:: Seraph thought for a moment, however the thought seemed to be smashed apart in his head, the force was back in control of his body and he was rendered unable to stop himself again.

Sonaris didn’t wait to see why Seraph stopped his attack and kicked off his chest to break out of his grip. Ethernial now had a clear shot and took advantage of it, putting his hand out and using his signature attack; Psychic Blast. Ethernial’s attack struck Seraph in the chest and sent him hurtling back along the ground, now Yasosume and Tikai opened fire on the demon. Yasosume locked on and opened fire with her weapon. Tikai formed medium sized charges of green energy and launched them at Seraph, the duo attacks collided with him and exploded violently, a strangled cry being heard from inside the explosion.

“Think he’s dead?” Tikai asked.

“Of course not, life would be good if that was enough to kill him!” Yasosume responded, rearming her weapon. The smoke cleared and Seraph was indeed still standing and worst of all was the fact that he was totally unharmed by the duo attacks.

Seraph growled at the two females allowing them a view of his fangs now. On his back a set of wings shot out, in doing so emitting a spine tingling crack and gurgling noise. Seraph now sported one pair of long thin bat-like wings, above them a much smaller set of wings, below them a duplicate set. On each of them was a silver lining that went along with his entire color scheme.

He flew up into the air with a powerful flap from his wings at a blinding speed, however Tikai was still able to follow his movements having moved at faster speeds herself.

“Up there, keep firing!” She ordered, everyone didn’t argue with her since Seraph was charging at them for an attack. Ethernial formed a green orb in his hand and launched it at Seraph, he easily avoided the attack but at that instant the orb broke apart into smaller beams that chased Seraph down and attacked from the side. Seraph growled at the surprise tactic and literally did a flip forward in the air to go over the beams. Sonaris had targeted Seraph with his reformed machine guns, filling the sky with beams of blue light. Yasosume abandoned her weapon and released two jets of fire into the air along with Sonaris’s attack. Seraph demonstrated the sheer speed he had once more and flapped his wings again to shoot to the sides and zigzag out of the way of the attacks.

Tikai had prepared an attack but didn’t bother to launch the green orb. The erratic movements he implemented made it virtually impossible to hit him. She had a plan in mind but sighed, she would have to wait and let the others be put in danger before she could carry out her plan.

Seraph’s gauntlets glowed and began to change shape. The horns on his gauntlets thinned out, a second set of horns also appeared that went out to the side slightly before pointing up like the others. Two red gems then formed on the sides of his gauntlet. The gauntlet itself began to change color turning black, the new horns that formed turned gold as well as a small triangular bit at the front that covered the top of the hand. The two sets of horns on the outer sides of both gauntlets disappeared and were replaced by a long crimson scythe blade that was about an entire meter long, perfect for slicing apart large things.

The four fighters on the ground threw another wave of attacks at Seraph but he simply increased his speed and flew forward and under the attacks that were being sent at him and before they knew it Seraph was within striking distance. He had picked Ethernial to be the unlucky victim of what would most likely be a vicious attack, however Tikai took the chance to throw her attack at Seraph at that moment. The green orb of energy wasn’t noticed until it was too late, Seraph was struck by the attack and blasted back, along with Ethernial but he understood what could’ve happened if Tikai hadn’t have done that.

Tikai narrowed her eyes and blasted straight at Seraph before he could fully recover, using the momentum gained from her speed to give Seraph a surprisingly powerful punch to his stomach. The attack had such force that the wind was knocked right out of him, Tikai was still charging forward, Seraph still stuck to her fist. Seraph growled angrily and began to raise his arm to slice Tikai’s head clean off, however she wouldn’t allow it and simply stopped, Seraph however was still moving and traveling on momentum from Tikai’s assault. She glanced around at her surroundings, her attack had carried both of them away from the others a fair distance, they were currently just trying to catch up to the two fighters now.

Seraph quickly stopped his progress by flapping his wings the other direction and landed on the ground gently in front of Tikai. He turned his head to the side and spat something out of his mouth; blood. Seraph then looked back at Tikai angrily and ran forward at her. Tikai raised her fists as if to fight him head on, but at the last second she leapt to the side and swung at his head. Seraph hoped she would do that and the second she moved he ducked down and did a sliding kick to avoid Tikai’s attack and swept a leg around to trip Tikai and knock her down, the move catching her off guard. She couldn’t recover in time and before she was fully aware, had hit the ground and was looking right up at Seraph. He smirked down at her and prepared his arm blade to slash her apart, but like before something stopped him.

::WAIT! Something isn’t right here!:: He shouted in his head, however that same force from before tried to shatter the memory from his mind, but this time it didn’t work. Seraph stopped and lowered his arm, gauntlets returning to normal and wings furling together.

“I...Know you...” Seraph muttered, Tikai blinked and sat up, a green orb forming in the hand she put behind her back. Seraph blinked a few times and closed his eyes in thought.

::I remember something now...A face, yes, that girl’s face...It looks different then this girl however...Younger and more lively...I don’t want to attack her, for that matter I don’t want to attack any of those others...I feel like I know them somehow, but...Who is this girl in particular...?:: Seraph wondered, however the ringing from before returned, only this time it was much louder.

The same voice entered Seraph’s head like last time but now he had no intention of letting it get control again. He fought and wrestled with the force in his head that wanted to use his body. His arms were starting to move on his own free of his own command, however he found something that could answer some of his questions, he wasn’t going to let it be killed before he got the answers he wanted at.

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Seraph roared with nothing but sheer determination he gained back his body from the unknown force, the ringing in his ears left him and now he was finally back in control of his body.

Tikai had gotten back onto her feet by then. She eyed Seraph carefully, he appeared to have calmed down and not about to attack, but looks could be deceiving. Tikai moved towards Seraph slowly, hand still behind her back incase of a sneak attack. Seraph recollected himself and glanced up at Tikai before he straightened up and stood at full height. He was now slightly taller then Tikai was but still most likely shorter then Sonaris. Tikai stopped moving towards him and stood at the ready for what could happen next.

Seraph took a step forward, expression lost and confused, looking at the woman in front of him for answers.

“Who are you to me...? Why do I know you? How do I know your name is Tikai...?” Seraph asked of her. Tikai blinked confused, but didn’t respond to any of the questions, she had never seen him before but something in her gut told her that he was slightly familiar. By then the remaining three fighters caught up with Tikai and Seraph, however they were perplexed at the fact that there hadn’t been any fighting since Tikai was knocked down.

“...Why aren’t we kicking his ass?” Yasosume asked, everyone simply shrugged in return. Seraph took a step towards them, everyone suddenly raised their weapons or fists instinctively. He wanted to say something, to ask if they knew something about him, if they knew him for that matter, however his instincts told him not to.

“You’re right, I have something to finish, after that’s done with I can worry about my past.”

Seraph closed his eyes and unfurled his wings, this time shooting straight up into the air and out of sight in a few short moments.

“That was strange...” Sonaris commented, this time hesitant to dematerialize his armor considering how the day was starting. Tikai let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, the energy attack she was holding onto dissipated into the air soon after.

“How did he know my name?” Tikai asked no one in particular.

“I also saw one of the attacks he used, the one against the bird thing. I just wish I remembered when I saw it first used...” Yasosume pondered. Ethernial shrugged and tided up his hair after the blast from Tikai’s attack.

“Personally, I don’t want to think about it just yet. I mean Yasosume and I just got back from vacation and we get welcomed by a small armoured battalion and then a dead bird, then a demon! I mean, seriously!” Ethernial protested annoyed. Sonaris shrugged wearily, he mostly wanted to go back to the shop and worry about the ship that needed to be repaired instead of all the new occurrences.

“I had hoped all of my fighting days were coming to an end, but that doesn’t appear to be the case...” Sonaris muttered, armor leaving him in a small burst of lights.

“It’s a nice dream, but fighting is inevitable. E.L.I.T.E does it just to get fame and fortune, most people do, don’t you think?” Ethernial spoke causing a silence afterwards.

“You’re right, Ethernial,” Tikai mumbled, her own armor leaving her body as well. “So for now we’ll just have to keep fighting.” Everyone nodded solemnly at Tikai’s statement. They all didn’t feel too much for fighting after Airaxen passed away, even Yasosume wasn’t entirely for it anymore.

“For now lets try and relax a bit until things become more complicated. My instincts tell me things will become much more...Stressful in the near future,” Sonaris said exasperatedly. Again, everyone nodded, worrying about monsters, mechas and devious plots could wait.

* * *

Dimitri sighed, anger was about to overcome him but he had to bare with things at the moment, hard as it might have been being stuck in hell.

::Airaxen...Seraph fought my control off, hmph. He’s now on guard for me to try again, but I don’t think it’ll be a big problem in the end. It won’t take very long for me to gain full control of my new puppet, then I will be able to create a summoning to allow myself to be resurrected! After that I will take great pleasure in exacting my revenge...Oh yes, this looks very promising, I will be patient, this is after all just the beginning…::