Chapter 28 – The Final Fray

While Michael and Lucifer are going at it, Gabriel tends to Vincent. He opens the cork of the bottle of the morning dew, and slowly turns Vincent around. Blood is now leaking through his armor. There’s not much time. He pours half of the bottle too quickly that Vincent almost chokes from the flow. The elixir does its magic, and soon the blood stops flowing and the wounds begin to close.

He takes out the two Manna Crystals. Jenna holds her hand over them “I don’t think he can take the explosions from the crystals.”

Gabriel gives an understanding smile. “I know a better way. Trust me”

He places both of the crystals in his hand, and closes his eyes. He concentrates hard and tightens both of his palms. Jenna can hear the sound of crushing crystals. When Gabriel opens his palms, the crystals have become a pile of blue crystal dust. “This will be easier to digest.” He mixes the dust into the remaining of the elixir, and gives it to Vincent, and he steps back. Vincent’s body slowly glows bright, until it finally shines like the sun. He levitates horizontally, and gradually stands up. He sprouts two specks of feather on his back, and in a split second become full sized wings. He’s clothed in all white long leather armor. He is now officially Zuriel.

Vincent looks as fierce as he can ever be. Gabriel looks truly satisfied with his plan. Michael plays his part distracting Lucifer while Gabriel heals Vincent. They bet on the hatred that Lucifer has for Michael, that he will completely forgot about Vincent, and it works perfectly.

Lucifer slowly steps back. The odd is totally against him. It’s 2 against 1 now, and they are not just ordinary angels. Fighting Michael alone is hard on equal term, but now he has to face the revived Zuriel, one of the strongest angels in the legions. Zuriel flies to Michael and lands next to him while his eyes keep watching Lucifer. “It’s been a while that we fight together in a battle.” Michael pats him on the shoulder.

“Oh, give and take a millennium. It’s not that bad.”

“So how do you want to do this?”

“Tag team, or 2 against 1, I don’t care. Let’s just finish him here.” Zuriel’s aura intensifies, his wings harden like steel. Battle mode is switched on.

“I’ll go high, you go low.” Michael readies his sword and shield. “Bare knuckles as always?”

“Ow yeah.” Zuriel raises both of his fists in a fighting pose. “Let’s go!!!”

Michael charges first with his sword. Lucifer was taken aback, that he only sways back to avoid the slash. It barely misses Lucifer’s head by millimeters. His instinct makes him duck; Zuriel is already below him. Oh $#&*

Zuriel jumps while throwing a heavy uppercut. Lucifer is hit cleanly on the jaw, but he manages to stand even after such heavy blow. Michael doesn’t waste his time. He dashes and hit Lucifer with the back of his shield. It takes a lot of strength to daze Lucifer. But Michael’s combined strength with the holy artifact is a powerhouse. Zuriel kicks both of Lucifers knee caps and hits him hard in the groin. Instead of feeling the pain, Lucifer becomes so angry; he roars and releases a devastating dark explosion. The sound wave explodes through the hall and destroys everything in its path. Gabriel immediately hugs Jenna and encloses both of them with his wings to protect her from Lucifer’s attack. Michael and Zuriel are blown away from the blast. Fortunately, they wrap themselves in their wings just like Gabriel. Obviously it’s an instant defense mechanism of the angels. Nevertheless, the powerful blast still affects them. Michael is the first to get up, followed by Zuriel. “He’s strong. It seems he has evolved from the last time we met.”

“Yes. I am really out of shape from the 1000 years slumber.” Zuriel spits out blood from the corner of his lips.

Lucifer remains still. He is hurting. The blast took away some of his power reserves, and he needs every second to recharge.

“He damages himself from the blast.” Michael notices that Lucifer staggers and leans on his sword.

“We need more power to execute routine 28.”

 “28? This early on the battle?”

“Yeah. I want to finish this quick, Mike.” Only Zuriel can casually address the archangel by his nickname.

“Alright. I was saving this for Armageddon. Oh well.”

Michael and Zuriel clasp each other’s palm. Seconds later, their hair starts rising; they are combining their strength. Their wings hardened like steel, their leather armors become platinum armor. Both are glowing white and gold. “Time to end this. Let’s soften him up first.”

Zuriel storms fist first like an arrow. Too fast to avoid, Lucifer takes the punch directly in the nose and his head is thrown back, but he still holds on to the sword. Michael continues with a kick to Lucifer’s left temple, so hard that Lucifer loses his grip on the sword. He stumbles to the right and Zuriel greets him with fast and heavy blows. A myriad of punches connect to every part of Lucifer’s body in less than a minute. Zuriel notices that Lucifer almost lost his consciousness, and flies back to Michael. “NOW !!!”

Michael grabs Zuriel’s hand, and then swings Zuriel’s body like with him as the center. The swing gets faster and faster until they form a cyclone that emits lightning. Lucifer, who faints from Zuriel’s punches, is slowly waking up. He notices an electrical swirl from above, and tries to figure it out. He remembers something horrible from the vision, but it’s all too late. At the top speed of the tornado, Michael lets go of Zuriel straight to Lucifer. Lucifer wants to move, but his feet won’t move. He sees the blinding light and closes his eyes. Zuriel zooms like a guided missile, and hits Lucifer straight in his face. He staggers back, but Zuriel is not finished yet. Using the momentum from the throw, Zuriel bounces from the wall and hits Lucifer again, and again, and again. It’s so fast, that the trails that emanate from Zuriel form a spider web of light with Lucifer trapped in the middle. Zuriel deals the final body blow, and jumps back to catch his breath. The spider web of light is slowly dissolving, Lucifer falls to his knees. Only the white of his eyes can be seen. Finally, he slumps face first to the ground.

“Do we beat him?” Michael descends to Zuriel.

“I hope so. If he survives routine 28, then I don’t know what else can take him down.”

Gabriel slowly closes in and checks on Lucifer. “He’s out cold for now. Let’s lock him up in the Pit before he wakes up.”

Michael opens up a dimensional gate at the bottom of the floor. It is a dark, bottomless pit, with no light and no means to escape. He and Zuriel throw Lucifer down the pit and close the dimension door.

“Isn’t this going to cause the demons to rebel when they find out about this?” This situation makes Gabriel a little bit restless.

“We’ll deal with that later.” After locking up Lucifer, Michael assumes his normal form.

Jenna slowly approaches them. Zuriel catches her eyes, and smiles. Gabriel sees this, and taps Michael’s shoulder. “I think they might need some time alone.” Gabriel and Michael walk toward the gate, when Gabriel looks back “You have 2 minutes.”

Jenna faces Zuriel awkwardly, and she doesn’t know what to say. “I...”

Zuriel leans forward and hugs her tightly. “I wish things were different. I wish I am human. I’m…sorry…”

Jenna can’t do anything but cry. She knows this is the end, and this might be the last time she can ever see him. “Will I ever see you again?”

Zuriel lets go of his hug, and touches Jenna’s cheek. “I don’t know…You might not be able to see me anymore…But I will always be there when you need me.”

Gabriel shouts “Sorry, I hate to break it, but it’s time to go.” Zuriel puts the Medal of Styx around Jenna’s neck, and kiss her on her forehead. “Goodbye.” She closes her eyes. She sees a blinding light, and faints.

Epilogue

Jenna wakes up at 3 in the morning. Her breath is short from shock. She looks around, and finds out that she is in her bedroom of her apartment building. “Was that all a dream?” She lays back again trying to sleep, but unable to do so. At dawn, the sun rises and lights up the whole room. Jenna looks at the window, and notices something on the window. She gets out of her blanket, and walks toward the glass. She stares at it for a moment, and then speaks to herself. “It wasn’t a dream after all.” She walks back singing and smiling. In the window, written over the dew.

“Till we meet again.

Vincent”

~Ω~