Chapter Text
"Dialogue"
'Thought'
<Great Sage>
<<Voice Of The World>>
[Skills]
*Headcanon
TREACHERY///ACT 3 CLIMAX
... THE ENDS OF THE WORLD
Angel versus Machine
God's Will versus Child of Man
The Archangel "Gabriel", Judge of Hell, Apostate of Hate, and the Fallen Angel versus V1, The Supreme Machine, The Machine to End All Wars, The Creature of Steel.
May the ice be tainted by their bloodshed.
Let this battlefield run red
With a final bullet, the angel is felled, his body crashing onto the thin ice beneath them.
"Ugh.." Gabriel groaned, then, he began chuckling. "It's been fun, machine..." He clutched his dented helmet, blood covering it's entire surface, and he looks to his rival.
The machine stood over his soon-to-be corpse, looking indifferent. Not that the machine was able to show emotions in the first place. It's eight wings glow ominously under the dark red sky of Treachery.
"Heheheh.." the angel chuckled once more. He forced himself to sit before the machine, blood dripping from the many holes and cuts his body sustained during their fight. "Go on.. finish me.." The angel sighed, voice strained.
And yet..
It just stood there, almost as if it's sparing him. Letting him continue living what little time he has left. To cherish what he has not yet cherished.
"Very well.." Gabriel muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. With the remaining energy he had left, he manifested his wings and floats slightly above the ground. "May we meet again.. in another life.. or this same one.."
With a flash of light, Gabriel dissapears, leaving the blood-covered creature of steel standing on the thin ice lake. The lake's blood waters gently circulating beneath. Red snow slowly drifted from the skies above.
V1 stood there, motionless. Then, a Hellevator (Hell Elevator) opens on a nearby mound, the yellow lights shining on it's red doors. The machine moves to the door, Gabriel's voice echoing in the back of it's mind.
" May your woes be many.."
"And your days few.."
Satoru Mikami was just another 37-year-old loner nobody in this world. He graduated from college, landed a job at a sort-of-big general contractor outfit, and with his older brother taking care of their parents for him, he's just enjoying all the myriad benefits of the bachelor-paid life.
As for his lack of a significant other, he wasn’t exactly short or frumpy or hideous or anything, it's just that he didn't really have much to offer to the other gender. He did make efforts to get himself a girlfriend, with varying degrees of dedication, but after the third rejection, something fizzled out within him. He just gave up.
Besides, at this age, It was kinda past the point where a girlfriend needed to be his main focus. His work kept him busy enough. Plus,
'It wasn’t like I was gonna die without one.' He thought.
"Oh, hello, sir! Sorry we’re late!"
There he was, walking toward Satoru, bursting with all that youthful energy of his. He and the beautiful woman next to him.
His name was Tamura, one of the juniors who worked under him, and she was Sawatari, the front-desk lady and pretty much the "it" girl around the office.
These two asked to see him because they were getting married and they wanted his advice. His. In other words,
this meeting was pretty the whole reason he was brooding over why he was such a failure at personal relationships...
He leaned against a telephone pole at the intersection where they'd agreed to meet after work.
"Nah." I nodded a greeting at Sawatari and asked, "What’d you want to talk about?"
"Oh, good to meet you. My name’s Miho Sawatari. I’ve seen you at work a lot, but…um, I guess this is the first time I’ve spoken to you, huh? It makes me kind of nervous, somehow."
'I’m the one who should be nervous, lady!' his mind griped itself, 'It’s not like I’m any good at speaking to women. How about a little sympathy here??'
In any way you looked at it, he was the wrong person to ask. He knew close to nothing about love. Not sure if they asked him out of spite or what, but Satoru was sure it was.. at least I think?
"Oh, there’s nothing to be nervous about," Satoru replied.
"Satoru Mikami." He introduced himself, "It’s good to meet you, Ms. Sawatari.. although you’re famous enough around the office that you hardly need to even introduce yourself, huh? Tamura and I went to the same college, and we kinda hit it off during his training period, so that’s how we know each other."
"Famous??" Miho asked warily. "Not famous in a weird way, right?"
"Oh, y’know. I hear stories about you dating Kameyama or messin’ around with Mr. Kihara in management…" Satoru teased.
Somehow, he decided that picking on her would be a good idea. He just meant it as a passing joke, but that little tease made Sawatari’s face turn a bright shade of red, her eyes watering up a bit. It was cute, in a way.
I guess he does have a shitty personality..
Tamura took that chance to intervene, giving Sawatari a pat on the shoulder.
'Dammit, Tamura! So blessed with the natural charm you need to live a decent life... I wish people like you would just explode!' Story thought, obviously jealous he didn't get a girlie but his junior got one.
"Aw, stop being mean to her," he admonished with an effortless smile. "And don’t worry, Miho, he’s just having a little fun with you."
Cool, refreshing, and completely guideless, Tamura was basically impossible to hate. He was still just 28, quite a bit younger than Mikami, but they got on well nonetheless. He probably owed Tamura at least a few congratulations...
"Hah, sorry," Satoru apologized, figuring there was really no reason to let his jealousy devour him. "I can’t help but needle people like that sometimes. But no point standing here on the sidewalk. Wanna get something to eat while we talk?"
The two nod, and they start walking.
MARCH 9TH, 1945
6:43 AM
TOKYO, JAPAN
Bombs rained down like meteors, setting the city ablaze. Civilians scatter to bomb shelters as the whistling continued. Among the crowd running to the shelters was a mother and her 8-year-old daughter.
The child, Shizue Izawa, gripped her mother's hands lightly as they made their way past the burning homes and premises. Explosions shook the ground similarly to an earthquake. Buildings collapsed and burned as the two hurried past the charred debri.
All of a sudden, a burning support pillar fell between the mother and Shizue, separating them. Soon enough, the flames grew bigger, completely blocking out the girl from crossing past.
The girl, Shizue, knew well that this was her end.
She had always known that she didn't really have any relatives to rely on. She had been the only child, and her parents didn't have any relatives. Her dad was drafted into the war a few years earlier. So much time had passed that she couldn't even remember his face.
And now, she was separated from her mother.
She really was gonna die here all alone.
"Do you want to live? If you want to live, heed my voice!"
A voice was heard echoing through the streets. She jumped, then looked around for anyone. Then, she thought of the offering.
'Do you want to live?'
Considering her surroundings at the moment, it was only logical to answer 'yes' to such an offering. And so, the litter girl accepted the offer.
Suddenly, the flames around her grew bigger and brighter. They began to circle the little girl like vultures. The wind knocked her off her feet and lifted her upwards. The flaming tornado grew tighter, slowly consuming her.
She could weep at what's to come.
And just as quickly as the fire grew, it dissipated. The girl disappeared with the flames, her fate unknown.
The bombs continue to rain down from above, and the city continued to burn.
"AAAAHHH!!"
Screams. Chaos.
'What's going on??' Satoru thought.
"Move! I’ll kill you!!"
The three turned around to find a man sprinting towards them, a backpack in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other. Shrieking can be heard all around them.
The man was coming straight at them. The blade aimed ahead, right at Sawatari.
Tamura, thinking quickly, pushed his girlfriend out of the way. Unknowingly putting himself in the direct path of the blade.
"TAMURA!"
Satoru jumped at Tamura and pushed him off. Right as he did, a burning pain shot through his back. He immediately collapsed to the ground, the knife dropping beside him.
"Get the hell outta my way!" the man shouted as he ran off. Satoru watched him go and then checked to see how his companions were doing. The suddenness of it all had reduced Tamura to a stupor, but he was unhurt, which was good.
But still, the pain...
'What’s up with that?' Satoru thought, before groaning in pain. 'It’s too hot... Gimme a break.'
<<Confirmed. [Heat Resistance] successfully acquired.>>
A feminine, robotic voice echoes in his mind.
'Did I… Did I just get stabbed?' Satoru coughed, his body balled up. 'Am I really gonna die to a stab? Holy crap...'
The voice spoke once more.
<<Confirmed. [Piercing Attack Resistance] successfully acquired. Continuing, [Physical Attack Resistance] successfully acquired.>>
Tamura approached the man, fear etched on his face. "M-Mr. Mikami, you’re bleeding... You won’t stop bleeding!"
Satoru couldn't quite make out what he was saying. Also that robotic voice, he couldn't figure out what it was. If that was Tamura, then so be it.
'I’m bleeding? Well, duh. I’m only human. If you stab me, I’ll probably bleed all over you, yes.' Satoru thought, 'Damn, this was starting to hurt, though…'
The voice spoke again.
<<Confirmed. [Pain Nullification] successfully acquired.>>
Satoru spoke up with a strained voice, "T-Tamura.. Shut up. It.. It’s nothing big, all right? Quit worrying..."
"Mr. Mikami, you’re.. The blood..." Tamura tried to hold his senior up, his face drained of color and looking about ready to break into sobs.
'So much for that bravado from two minutes ago..' Satoru chuckled inward.
He tried to see how Sawatari was doing, but his worsening vision was getting too fogged up to manage it.
Now the burning feeling on his back was starting to fizzle out. Instead, an intense, frigid cold was attacking him from head to toe.
'That.. That’s probably bad... People die once they bleed too much, don’t they?'
The voice spoke.
<<Confirmed. Constructing a blood-free body… Successful.>>
'Hey, what’re you talking about? I can’t hear you too well...' Satoru wondered. He tried to speak, to address the voice, but failed.
'Shit. I think this might really be it...' Satoru thought.
The pain and heat was already gone. Now it was just cold. So cold that he felt like he was freezing in place.
'Who knew dying could keep you so damn busy?' Satoru thought.
The voice responded,
<<Confirmed. [Cold Resistance] successfully acquired. Combined with the previously acquired [Heat Resistance], the skill has progressed to [Temperature Fluctuation Resistance].>>
Just then, what remained of Satoru's increasingly oxygen-deprived brain cells chanced upon a flash of brilliance.
'Oh crap.. the files on my hard drive!'
He summoned up the remaining wells of his strength, striving to relay the final regret he had left in life.
"Tamura! If.. If anything bad happens to me.." Satoru coughed, reaching out to Tamura. "Take my computer, okay? Put it in the bathtub, turn it on, and just fry everything on the disk for me, man…"
<<Confirmed. Electricity-based deletion of data.. cannot be executed. More information required. Substituting with [Electrical Current Resistance].. successfully acquired.>>
It took a moment for his plea to register with Tamura. Even with his eyes clouded by his tears, he snickered. "That’s just like you, isn’t it?"
Hey, even if it was just a snicker, it beat having to depart this plane of existence with a grown man blubbering on top of him. He could take that.
"All I wanted was to show Sawatari off to you, too.." he continued.
"Pfft..."
'Hah. I knew it. That bastard.' Satoru chuckled inward.
He spoke up with what little energy he had left. A faint smile across his face, "It’s fine, okay? Make her a happy woman."
He wrings out the last bit of strength his body had to offer.
"Just kill my PC for me…"
It was just your typical kind of life. He graduated from college, landed a job at a sort-of-big general contractor outfit, and with hus older brother taking care of their parents for him, he was currently enjoying all the myriad benefits of the bachelor-pad life.
And he was a virgin.
Now imagine that. Floating off to meet his maker in completely unused condition...
'If there’s such a thing as reincarnation, I’m gonna go on the attack next time... I promise.' Satoru thought. 'I’ll hit up everyone I see, stalking my prey before I go in for the kill... Okay, not like that, but...'
<<Confirmed. Unique skill [Predator] successfully acquired.>>
'I mean, here I was, lookin’ at forty without ever losing my virginity. Like an old sage meditating in the mountains.' He thought. 'Another few years, and I probably could’ve been the great sage of celibacy. Not the road I wanted to take in life, but there you go.'
<<Confirmed. Extra skill [Sage] successfully acquired. Evolving extra skill [Sage] into unique skill [Great Sage]... Successful.>>
Weird how death’s nowhere near as lonely as he thought.
HEAVEN//THE GARDENS OF EDEN
Gabriel sat before a campfire. The same campfire that he had sat infront of after being defeated by V1 a second time and before murdering the Council of Heaven and returning back to Hell Itself.
He stared into it's slowly deteriorating embers, the fire slowly dying down. Just like himself.
He picked up his two rapiers, Justice and Splendor, and gave a weak chuckle.
"Much fun we've been through, ey?"
And so, his body fades into nothing and his armor, aswell as the two rapiers fell onto the dirt. The fire simultaneously dies down, marking the end of God's Will as a whole.
Illustration: V1 standing before Gabriel, "sparing" him.
