Julio and Janice saw each other as they entered the 'tunnel' hallway that lead
to the common room of the recruits. Julio was back in his traveling clothes and
Janice/Tabra was still in her simplistic dress. "You look more alive when I last
saw you." Julio said simply, back in his human form looking and feeling more
recharged than he had since setting foot in that desert above them.
"Same to you." The angel fox nodded.
Julio noted the grace in their steps. He wondered what had happened. His
brain was suddenly filled with mental images of masturbation and quickly set
them on fire and threw away the ashes. 'Well, there was no way that was it.'
Julio told himself. No matter what it was though, Julio could tell that the angel
fox besides him was indeed more at peace with herself.
"I don't suppose I'm speaking to one entity now." Julio shot in the dark.
"Sorry no, there's still two of us in here." She said in a formal well paced tone
of voice that Julio had come to recognize as Tabra's.
"I take it the war is over?" Julio asked.
"There are just some things I realized." The angel fox said in another tone, this
one less refined than the first and easier flowing.
"Like what?"
"Private." She said in a firm tone.
Julio accepted that, he was going to have enough on his mind as it was.
None of the three were prepared for what they saw when they entered the
common room.
"Not again." Julio pleaded covering his eyes.
The angel fox looked at him with a look that almost implied pity. "Will you stop
being a whiner and enjoy the view."
"Easy for you to say."
"There is no such thing as 'boy you' and 'girl you' you can stop making a fuss
over it." Though Julio -knew- it had to be Tabra who said that, there was none
of his normal 'hammer it into place' motif behind the words.
Of course, the fact the four recruits were in nothing but their fur again was
hardly what was fantastic about the scene.
The four recruits were in a semi-circle, some on their stomachs, another sitting
up with her knees on her chest, and another just laying in a pose of a
sculpture one hand on a knee another on the sandy floor. Their wings were
arched rather than just laying against their bodies. Their tails slowly swayed
back and forth, making patterns in the sand around them.
None of them was odd, it was what they were -doing- that was the heart
stopper! They were -chatting-. Like a couple of ladies, or teenage girls, talking
much about nothing.
Everyone had a slight smile on their faces with emotionally lit up eyes. They
would have looked right at home at a slumber party.
And they hadn't looked more alive since Karther had kidnapped and
brainwashed each of them.
The senior angel fox put one hand to her face and actually made a small
chuckle. 'They've adapted to the gender change at least.' Tabra thought.
'Tabra, it's funny, I feel like sitting down and joining them.'
'Nothing to be ashamed of Janice, nothing at all.'
Julio clapped his hands, "Okay boys! Break time's over! Clothes back on!
Stand up straight! Front and center!"
The four newbie angels all started and broke up their discussions and in a
hurry summoned the loose fitting sparring clothes they had been wearing
before, then having to make some very quick adjustment a couple having
forgotten about their tail and wings, creating a slightly comical sight.
"I'm not going to berate you this one time." Said the senior fox's calm voice.
"Because I know very much that this was something every last one of you -
needed-." The fox's voice changed tones for a moment. "Like I needed." Then
continued. "But add this to your list of things to remember, for what we're
going to be doing, and where we're going back to, keeping your wits about is
a must."
"How did this even get started?" Julio asked incredulously.
"Well." Viki scratched the side of head. "I figured it was best that since we're all
sisters, it was only right we knew more about each other from -before- Karther
turned us into his slaves."
Lisa picked up, "So she asked me what I did for a living before Karther
kidnapped me. She said it was only fair since we all knew what Viki did for a
living. I realized she was right so I began talking, only I realized how easy it
was for me to just keep going, and how Viki was willing to listen to
everything."
"After that." Viki said, "With me and Lisa having shared, we thought that Erica
and Luna should too."
"I didn't want to at first." Erica carried on. "I really wanted those things to
remain private, I mean, we all used to be -guys-, -human- guys! I was worried
that it might just screw with our heads to know that sort of stuff."
"And I wanted to for us to practice more while waiting for you and Janice."
Luna said.
Viki smiled, "But we got them to crack eventually, Erica broke first. We only
had to ask her five times, and violate her breathing space from two different
locations!" Viki laughed.
"After that." Erica continued. "I didn't see what the big deal was before. I mean,
we're -all- in the same boat here. We all want the same thing. We all made the
same choice to stay. We -should- get to know each other better."
"I felt like I was in invasion of the body snatchers." Luna explained, "I mean,
Erica -wanted- to spare with me! Then Viki and Lisa had to go and steal my
sparring partner."
"Finding herself surrounded on all sides." Viki added, "Luna finally began to
crack, it wasn't until we started to make good on our threat of tickle torture that
she finally caved."
"I still say that was cheating." Luna returned.
"All's fair in love and war." Viki quoted.
"After that," Erica jumped in, "We moved onto topics that we were all
interested in, it was kinda nice actually, to actually -do- something that wasn't
about sex, life or death."
"I suppose."
"What do you mean supposed?" Erica looked at Luna. "Admit it, you were
having as much fun as us."
"You shall never get me to say that." Luna said in a matter of fact tone.
The three other newly born angels looked at each other and began to make
ready to begin another tickle torture session on poor Luna.
"Okay!" Tabra broke in. "That's enough! I think we all get the idea now. Now
let's get back to teaching you the trick of trade to keep yourselves from getting
killed or blowing yourselves up. But before we begin. I'm going to go over
some final reminders and disclaimers. I don't want any of you saying I didn't
warn you. Then, Julio and I are going to show you what 'boot camp' actually
means! You're going to learn these things in time to fight Tamthis and
Karther's force even if it kills you."
"Excuse me." Luna said in a polite voice raising her hand. "Before we do that.
Can I make one -quick- run at getting a hit on Julio?"
"The bet's already over." Julio pointed out.
"I know, I just want to try." Luna said in a strangely polite voice that screamed
she was up to something.
The three other lesser angels took a step back from her.
"All right fine. But you get -one- shot. Then we move on, okay?"
"Works for me." Luna said in a voice that said she didn't plan on losing.
Julio got in a fighting stance, ready for whatever attack Luna thought of.
"You want unorthodox right?" In a flash she willed her cloth garment back into
the proto-matter it was made from, showing herself off to the world. This
completely startled Julio for two whole seconds and received a solid kick in
the gut and ended up leaning over.
Every single other female jaw in the place dropped and hit the floor. If all of
them, Luna had been the last the other thought would resort to that tactic.
"And I could have aimed lower, believe me I've had the fantasy of doing it to
the prince bastard ever since we got here."
"You DO realize," Julio said in the most fantastically calm voice ever, "There's
no way that trick would work on the monsters or the real pervert and insane
fox queen? And that's there no way that trick would catch me off guard twice?"
'I am so going to get her for that.' Julio thought.
Tabra said nothing, not wanting to say he had put that move in reserve in
case Julio turned on them.
'Oh no you didn't!'
'Oh yes I did. If it works, it work! Besides, I heard you thinking of whacking our
head against a wall until I fell unconscious next time you wanted to be alone
when we first got here.'
'Granted.'
"Yeah, maybe, " Luna amazingly conceded to the point. "But I did something
that worked for the situation didn't I?"
"Yeah, maybe." Julio said, at least she was trying to be creative. Luna
recreated her attire before Julio could order her to put it back on.
'They should be glade Mike isn't their instructor.' Tabra thought, 'he always
means well, but he INVENTED the hard knocks method, and clowns have the
jokes squeezed out of them fast.'
'Does it work?'
'I'm still alive aren't I?' "All right, now that we have the carnival side show out
of the way. Let's begin." 'Janice, you take notes too.'
'Right.'
Tabra cleared her voice and spoke, "Remember the key about this power is
this... restraint."
"Restraint?" Luna asked confused.
"You are now something surrounded by a mortal shell that isn't technically
supposed to be on this plane of reality. It is -very- easy to do collateral
damage with this power, so remember, you must exercise restraint."
"And if we don't?" Viki asked, wondering about the worst case scenario.
"Hiroshima." The senior fox angel said calmly. "And you'd be in very deep
sewage when you met the rest of OUR race."
"You have GOT to be kidding!" Erica said, "There's no way we're -that-
powerful! Or you're -that- powerful! You could have taken down Karther when
you first showed up easy peesy!"
Lisa eyed her sisters with her pools of blood before speaking, "It does kind of
seem a lot like those cheesy Kung-Fu cartoons where all the heroes can blow
up a planet."
"That's where the 'restraint' part comes in. And when I say Hiroshima. I mean
you, at the blast center, in the role of Fat Man and Little Boy. Only there's likely
to be less of you after the blast."
Erica's eyes were wide. "Now I -know- you're kidding!"
"I wish. You are right, you aren't that powerful, -yet-! You don't have that kind
of power. -Yet-! But you will! And you need to start practicing control while you
still have a huge margin for error on stupid newbie mistakes. I opened up my
real wings for only a split second, and well, you weren't there to witness it, but
I'm sure you felt the castle shake. Oh, and about those heroes who can blow
up a planet? You could possibly do that, if your wings were fully matured.
Fully charged. Had about a century worth of experience. And you were full of
reckless abandon. You could do that -easily-, but you'd also totally destroy
your mortal body in the process, there wouldn't even be -atoms- of it left. And
you could possibly damage reality too. And plus, when you end up at the
gates, you'll go there automatically, those who charge will not be very happy
with you at all, and you don't want them to be unhappy with you."
Viki summed it up. "Remember we're constantly in a urban environment with
bazookas."
Tabra let it sink in the rest of the recruits before continuing,
"Moving on. They'll be infinite and diversity and power, brains and skill. But
there are three base types of opponents you'll run into on the mortal plane."
"Grass, Fire, and water?" Erica suggested, thinking of her nephew's pokemon
game.
Tabra shook her head. "Living, Construct, and Spirit. Living, as in a human
being, dragon, whale, house plant, they can be taken down with spiritual and
material attacks, but often the smartest and most rounded. Constructs:
machines, golems, zombies, they don't have a soul, are not self aware, aren't
alive, and most never were alive. They're normally mindless, but sentient
ones do exist. Whose lack of a existence after this one makes them reckless
or extremely careful. Spiritual attacks don't work on them -at all- unless they're
animated by magic. So stick to physical attacks. Finally, Spirit, you can guess
this one. Spirits without bodies, or magic given an animated form without a
material container. Material attacks can NOT hurt them, but some can cheat
and use material attacks anyway, use spiritual attacks, and remember they
are NOT restrained by such pesky things like gravity, and solid objects like
you are inside a living body."
Lisa pepped up. "Still a little funny to think of my body as separate from me,
just a shell. But at the same time... it just feels normal."
"You get used to it." Tabra promised honestly.
"Forgive me asking the obvious question," Luna did, "But what ARE spiritual
and psychical attacks?!"
"Isn't that obvious then?" Erica said with a smile on her face. "It's like in an
RPG! Magic attacks and sword and club attacks."
"No." Tabra said simply.
"Huh?" Erica blinked.
"I said 'no' as in your are incorrect. A sword or club you summon could be a
spiritual attack, and magic could be a material one. It isn't the source of the
attack itself that matters. It's WHAT it effects! If it effects the material universe,
it's a material technique, if it effects the spiritual world that exists over the
material one, then it's spiritual. If I, just for example, had my sword cut through
your arm, then you could possibly heal it over and eventually regenerate it. If
my sword cut through the part of your SOUL in your arm... your arm would die,
instantly, and so would any arm you attempted to regenerate onto your
shoulder, even a replacement limb wouldn't function, since there's nothing to
grab onto it and animate it. Of course, souls are ultimately formless, and have
no true size, shape, or density, so that kind of damage, -with the right
knowledge- would be temporary at best, it it is knowledge you do not posses,
nor do most living entities."
This time -all- the recruits just stared at him mouths open, eye blank.
"You're losing-'em 'T'." Julio said calmly from his leaning spot on the wall
where he was waiting Tabra's 'class' out.
'if I help, I actually got all that.' Janice said honestly.
Tabra sighed, "Never mind, just remember that this isn't a video game, and
the rules I just gave you do not mean you'll cause bonus damage with big red
numbers appearing above the enemy's head."
"I can understand that much." Viki said.
"Good for you." Tabra spoke. "Now that I failed miserably to get you to
understand the base underlying nature of the relationship between the living
and the spiritual plane of reality, I'll move onto some things you had -better-
remember or you're a lot more likely to end up dead."
He had their full attention.
"When you fight Karther, Tamthis, or any of their creations, remember this.
Their magic is based totally on sand. If you can lure them into an air born fight,
do it, the sand won't be able to react as fast to the mana they send through it
with the extra mana they'll have to force through it to reach them up in the air.
If this isn't an option, try to fight on any body of water. Now now, they're mostly
still living things and need water to live as much as you. As I was saying, if
drawing them into an air fight isn't an option, draw them to water and freeze it
solid if you can. The sand is completely helpless if trapped within ice. Finally,
if none of these are options, use heat based techniques if you can manage
them, the mana that Karther's magic and thus Tamthis and his creations use is
tailored made to go through sand, NOT glass.
Remember this warning too, just cause you smash something made of sand
doesn't mean it'll stay smashed, since it's just sand, unless it's base structure
is changed, such as say, melted into glass, it can be reanimated and reformed
with a fresh does of mana from the enemy.
With that said, also remember your divine energies and Karther's sand magic
do not function on the same principles. But you both still have your limits and
reserves, even Tamthis' mana levels are NOT unlimited. Since as you'll
remember when you were Karther's slaves that you were still able to function
as independent entities, Karther wasn't able to constantly feed you new magic
through the castle, in other words, just cause your enemy pulls itself back
together after you scatter them across the landscape, -doesn't- mean they
didn't feel it, nor does it mean they can do it an unlimited number of times."
Tabra stopped speaking for a moment before looking at his 'students' with a
smile and fake expectation before speaking again.
"Now then... how many of you can actually -repeat- what I just said?"
Three of the recruits looked taken off guard, Viki spoke in a calm voice.
"You said sir, lead the enemy in air to air combat first, water combat second,
or lastly transmute any sand we encounter into glass. Remember the enemy
can regenerate, but can -not- do it an unlimited number of times. Is that correct
sir?"
Tabra was impressed. "Good Viki. That was on the money."
"It's nothing. You don't have time to ask your buddies to repeat themselves
usually in my line of work."
"Be careful." Lisa said out of the blue, not looking at Viki directly, her voice just
loud enough to be heard. "Remember what Natalie said, she was a solider,
you're a cop."
Viki looked at her understandingly. "And soldiers are trained to kill while cops
are trained to keep the peace I know Lisa, thanks for the reminder thou."
"We all have that now don't we?" Luna pointed out. "Thanks to the bastard
prince."
"No!" Tabra took over. "Implanted knowledge and skill never have been, and
never will be, a substitute for actual experience, something nearly all of you
lack. While Julio overstated his case, that is ultimately what he was trying to
show you."
"Okay." Lisa got out.
Viki nodded, "Don't worry, I won't forget."
Luna moaned. "Got it."
"Ditto." Erica copied.
"And don't forget." Tabra said, "You all had that fighting skill when you were all
together and Karther sic you on me. And I was holding back because you
were innocent victims. Do -not- think of your hands on combat and your new
talents as separate. That was your mistake when fighting Julio. Erica, you
totally forgot the rest of your abilities when Julio dodged your kick like martial
arts were all you could do. Luna, there were at least seven different ways you
could have knocked Julio him off balance when he grabbed you. Lisa... you
did the smart thing by standing by and OBSERVING the situation before
making your decision. Viki, the female form we're all stuck with is more limber,
quicker, and more angle than it's counterpart, but it -also- has a few extra
vulnerable spots you must always be aware of. As Julio pointed out, he beat
you basically because he knows how inexperienced you are and how to
exploit it."
"But we'll be wearing body armor when we fight for real." Erica pointed out.
"It's not like he can gromp us through it."
"Don't expect that to be a safe all, protect all solution, you will find yourself in
situations when you're vulnerable. And -finally- Julio's trick shouldn't have
held you for more than a few seconds, tops! When trapped in a pain field like
that, your best solution is blow your own fuses, blow out your own circuit
breakers and your motor functions should automatically reset. In particular
since Julio was distracted by his transformation and couldn't have
compensated."
"HEY!" Luna protested. "We're just learning here!"
"EXACTLY! I've bent the rules enough by changing you into my race. That
power that's now a part of you isn't a child's toy, you need to -learn- how to
use it. Remember my fight with Karther, I was able to catch him off guard with
a revolver, a non-magical mundane weapon. Remember that if nothing else.
But above all I want you all to remember, once you take part of this war
against Karther's intent. That won't be the end. No, it'll be only the beginning
for you, for you won't be just part of this war. But you'll ultimately be recruited
The War, between Loyalist and Rebel angels: demons. You won't be able to
escape it no matter how hard you try now. But I can still give you all a chance
to walk away from this right now. Not all of our kind are sentenced to fight,
some of us got off easy. While you've already closed the door behind you on -
what- you are, there is no changing your spirits back into what they were
anymore than a man can walk backwards into the ocean to become a fish,
you still don't need to be soldiers. There are purposes beyond an Angel's
existence well beyond fighting. Me, or one of the senior members of our kind
can help you find your purpose. But once you have taken up a weapon, and
do battle now, not a practice fight, not a skirmish, but engage a -true- life or
death fight with something to lose and something to gain. You won't be able to
use the excuse 'it's not my nature' or 'I can't do it' or 'I couldn't bring myself to'
with them, believe me, I tried myself once."
"If we're angels, how can we die?" Erica asked.
"You are alive in every sense of the word, just like Julio, Tamthis, myself, your
grandma's house plants, and your uncle's goldfish. But you are also a super
natural entity, inside a flesh and blood shell. But like I told you, that won't
make death, any more pleasant, or any easier."
"We might die if we win anyway.. right?" Lisa asked with sad, scared eyes.
Tabra felt pity. She let Lisa continue. "I mean, you keep saying that Angels, -
us-, we aren't normally supposed to -have- bodies, that.... that's... that's a
human trait."
Tabra SO wished that she didn't need to explain this.
"THIS is why converting living entities into angel is -not- supposed to be done
unless you've got everything at stake. You all had lives to live before Karther
kidnapped you. You still had lives to live when you were rescued and brought
here. But Lisa is right, bodies are a human trait, and you, are no longer
human in any sense of the word,"
Lisa let out a few tears, Viki comforted her feeling a few tears of her own. Luna
just kicked the sand. Erica, just shuddered.
Tabra was stunned, Janice had taken a page from Tabra's memory and said it
herself.
'My act of kindness to you.' Janice said calmly.
"But like I keep telling you, only because I want you to remember." Tabra said.
"Getting killed, won't be pleasant. And it's not a video game, you will NOT
magically get a new replacement body that'll pop into existence when your
current one dies. It doesn't work like that. AND!"
Tabra's voice was so booming with that one word it echoed through the cave.
"Just because the body you have is just a shell, doesn't mean it more than
shell when you were human! The body you have was -never- you. Your are
yourself, your memories, your decisions, your emotions, your -soul-! And
there is one other important thing to remember. You have no idea when you'd
be 'reassigned' a new body, or 'taken off the streets' you could have your
venue changed as soon as your sisters are freed, or you could be given male
bodies a century after living in your current ones, or you could have muzzles
and boobs on Judgment Day!"
"Heh..." Luna said, then burst out laughing. "Just like when we were... -
human-." Luna looked at Erica. "We have no clue when we'll die! We have no
clue what'll become of us when we die! We just have to do our best with
whatever time we have!"
Luna was laughing so hard that her gut hurt. Finally she calmed down and
breathed out, "Sorry, it's just too funny." She said in totally good humor.
Lisa injected lightly, "I think the words you're looking for are 'Divine Comedy.'"
'Who would have thought Luna would take it the best?' Janice thought.
'Her apparently.'
Thankfully Luna's laugh managed to reduce some of the tension in the room.
So Tabra was able to pop the question.
"My offer is still open. The door isn't closed yet." Tabra said, "You can still
chose not to fight and find another place in this new existence you've asked
for yourselves. -But- this'll be your last chance. Once you've made your
decision now, your fate will be sealed to ultimately fight Karther and Tamthis'
forces. I won't lie to you. What I want to happen, what you want to happen, is
to free everyone still a mind controlled slave to Karther's cause, but even with
all the training I can give you, all the preparations you can make, you might
still find yourself backed into a corner were you will have to kill or be killed
and thus cut our chances of saving everyone else. . . . I'd normally give you a
lot longer to think about this, but the sooner we teach you the ropes the better.
Tamthis is -not- just sitting on her tails waiting for you to come, she is making
preparations. So please, I ask you, if you want to walk away, you're free to go."
"You think after everything so far I'm gonna quit now? Get real!" Luna stepped
foreword.
"In for a penny, in for a pound." Erica stepped foreword.
"I wouldn't be much of a older sister to all of you or our sisters still Karther's
slaves if I turned tail NOW!" Viki stepped foreword.
"I'm with all of you to the end!" Lisa built up and stepped foreword
determination in her pools of blood.
"All right then!" Janice cheered for her sisters. "Then let's begin." Tabra finish,
a few particles of sand blew upwards in a momentary upward spiral of wind.
"Creation." Julio ordered. Matter and energy from nowhere shaped and
formed into a fencing sword in Julio's hand. The light glinted off his actor's
glasses and brown hair.
Tabra/Janice formed a hand scythe out of glowing white proto-matter and
grabbed their hair in their other hand. In one swift motion she chopped the
greater mass of hair from her skull, leaving her with dark red hair that ended
on her neck. The long mass of hair hit the sandy ground.
"What?" Lisa gasped slightly.
"We're going into -battle-." Tabra reminded them. "That means minor vanities
have to go. And that means long hair, since you all used to be males, I
assume that's no problem?"
The four recruits looked at each other, then all took little steps back.
"Want me to hold them down?" Julio asked.
"You stay out of this." Janice said.
What stunned Janice was how much she was missing her own long hair
already, she guessed she had gotten used to it.
Her sense of duty kicking in, Viki decided to set an example for her younger
sisters and stepped closer to her senior with stern look on her face. "Let me
do it myself." She said firmly. trustingly, Tabra handed over the hand scythe.
With only a moment's hesitation Viki took her brown hair and cut off the
excess leaving her with a hair cut much like Tabra's/Janice's now. She then
looked at the other three recruits. "Want me to do it for you, or can you do it
yourselves?"
Luna, never one to be pegged as a 'little girl' stomped up to Viki, without a
'please' snatched the scythe from her hands and did the job, though what
remained of her white hair stood up more than Viki's.
Lisa and Erica looked at each other. Erica pushed Lisa ever so gently
foreword.
"Thank you for volunteering to be next Erica." Tabra said sternly.
Erica started, realized her mistake, almost tried to make a break for it, but Viki
blocked her escape while Luna came up behind her with the scythe. "Don't
worry little sister, won't hurt a bit." Luna said and not even asking Erica to
stand still loped the back length hair off the silver fox with the speed of an
executioner's axe, nicking one millimeter of fur off the back of her neck in the
process.
Erica felt the back of her neck, found it lacking, and glared at Luna. "Hey be
careful!"
"I was. Otherwise you wouldn't be complaining." It took a few seconds for the
meaning of Luna's words to settle in.
Viki politely took the scythe from Luna and looked at her smaller sibling.
"Lisa? It's your turn." She said politely and not forcefully.
Lisa stood there for a moment, then walked foreword, held her hand out. Viki
gave her the scythe. Hand shaking ever so slightly, Lisa pulled her sandy
beige hair taunt, and cut it short so it was like the others.
Tabra/Janice said. "Julio."
"Yes?"
"Clean the mess up."
Julio glared at Janice/Tabra but did as he was asked.
"Line up, faces foreword." Tabra said, the recruits complied. She willed the
scythe back into her hands and reformed it spiked double ended staff. "Let's
get down to business." Tabra did a fighting demonstration shift weapons once
every minute or so. "Just as humans are not broken down into biological
classes like ants are, every angel contains within themselves the potential for
all abilities and elements. We are NOT the Greek pantheon, we are
messengers. What kind of message you carry depends on how your talents
and skill develop. Normally you'd go through a long process of finding what
you're best suited for, but instead I'm going to put you through the meat
grinder and teach you all universal elements to defending yourself, keeping
yourself and team mates alive, as of course the fine art of inflicting non-fatal
and fatal injury. And sorry Luna, we won't be getting to the destructo-blasts
until near the end when I'm sure you won't blow yourselves up. First lesson of
today." Tabra stopped her expo on a chained-mace and spoke darkly, "Armor
creation."
'Oh no.' Janice said nearly out loud.