(Grey Side)
After the Freelancers had eaten their breakfast (Grey ate cereal for the first time. It was pretty good), the TV's image changed from a video game to that of a strange man.
"Hello, is this the Freelance Seven?" the man asked.
Ash ran over to the TV.
"Yes, this is the Freelance Seven, though now we are eight and not seven. What is your trouble?"
"Please, we need your help! Two unidentified intruders are in our base. They harmed my partner, and they're tearing through our defenses as if they were confetti!" the man shouted frantically.
"Where is this trouble occurring?" asked Ash.
"The forbidden weapon facility on the city outskirts. Please come quickly!"
The image shifted back to the video game.
"Ok, who's going to take this one?" Ash asked as he turned back to the other members.
"I'll go," Cedric replied, "And I'll take Grey w/ me."
Everyone, including Grey, gave him either a confused look or one of disbelief.
"Uh, puta, I get that you have a hard-on for the guy, but he's never been on a mission before, and he doesn't know how to fight!" said Cherry.
"For once, I have to agree on w/ Cherry," Benjamin chimed in, "and you KNOW it's bad when I, of all people, say that."
The others, except for Grey, murmured in agreement.
"Yeah, well, I can teach him. Plus, if he's going to live here, he has to go on missions just like the rest of us. Those are rules that we all go by," Cedric said matter-of-factly.
Ash pondered for a moment.
"Ok fine, you can take him. But you are responsible for him," he said.
"Don't worry, he's in good hands," Cedric replied.
Cedric then quickly ate the rest of his breakfast (which was a sandwich) and stood up.
"Grey, let's go."
Grey, having finished his breakfast a while ago, stood and went to Cedric.
"Our client said the forbidden weapon facility on the outskirts of the city, right?"
Ash nodded.
"Hold on, let me get my guitar first."
Cedric ran over to his and Grey's room. After a few seconds, he came back w/ his guitar strapped on his torso.
"Ok, Grey hold my hand," Cedric said as he held his clawed hand out.
Grey awkwardly grabbed it.
"Ok. You might feel quite disoriented at first when I do this," Cedric explained, "Cherry and I do w/ all of the others all the time, and some are still not used to it.
Benjamin, Ash, and Vicky all shuddered a bit.
"Will you go already?" asked Pete.
Cedric closed his eyes. His tail twitched, and then something unbelievable and scary happened. Grey was standing in the base one moment, and then the next, it was as if something was pulling him through a long, narrow passage at high speed! When the pulling stopped, Grey and Cedric were in a much more barren area. Cedric had been right. Grey was incredibly disoriented!
"Like my teleportation power?" Cedric asked.
After a moment of Grey reorientating himself, he responded.
<i>Teleportation?</i>
"It's the power go from one place to another instantly. Cherry and I use this power to get ourselves and the others to different mission spots quickly," Cedric explained.
He then looked in a different direction and pointed.
"There's our mission spot," Cedric said, "I can also make out our client as well. Come on."
Grey and Cedric walked over to the mission spot. When their client noticed them, he waved them over frantically.
"Oh good, you're finally here!" he said.
"What's the situation right now?" Cedric asked.
"The intruders have nearly torn their way to the innermost of the compound. They're being held up right now by our best security bot, but it won't be able to hold out much longer!"
The facility itself was a giant, squarish building w/ a metal wall in the front. The metal wall had a big hole blown through it.
"Got it. Grey, get ready. We're going in," Cedric said.
The client then moved out of the way. Cedric dashed through the hole, and Grey followed suit.



...


(Az. and As. Side)
As Azrael ran through the streets and alleys, he began to get impatient.
"Asmodeus, this is taking too long," Azrael told Asmodeus.
He then got an idea.
"Is your teleportation power strong enough yet?"
"I don't know. Let's see," Asmodeus replied.
Azrael went through a tight tunnel at light speed. The teleportation didn't bother him, of course, because he had experienced it countless times before. When they reached the other side, Azrael and Asmodeus were in a much more barren area. In the distance, Azrael spotted a giant compound.
"Ungh, that took more energy than I thought it would," Asmodeus said in a disgusted tone (Azrael found that tone a little intimidating), "And it looks like my power still isn't up to snuff yet."
Azrael stared at the compound.
"This is good enough. While your power is still incomplete, you did get us close enough to our destination."
"Hmph. I should've been able to get us to our exact destination. Unacceptable," Asmodeus said.
Azrael sighed. He'd forgotten about Asmodeus' inferiority complex. He then proceeded to run over to the facility. Two guards were standing in front of the compound. When they saw Azrael, they pointed their guns at him.
"Halt! Who goes there?" the left guard said.
"Do not be alarmed! I am only here to collect something that belongs to me," Azrael said as he kept walking over to them.
The guards exchanged a look of angry disbelief. When they looked back, Azrael was dangerously close to the entrance.
"Stop, don't get any closer, or we'll shoot!" said the right guard.
<i>Shoot? Asmodeus thought, his anger bringing out a bit of his berserk side. SHOOT?!</i>
Asmodeus tore himself off of Azrael. The guards looked at him in horror.
"If you attempt to harm my partner. I. WILL. END. YOU," Asmodeus said threateningly.
The right guard could do nothing but stand frozen in fear. The other guard, who was far more foolish, shot at Azrael. W/ lightning-fast reflexes, Asmodeus plucked the bullet out of the air, moved it through his fingers for a split second, and used a small portion of his power to send it right back to the guard at double the speed it had initially gone. The bullet pierced the side of the left guard's chest. He stood for two seconds, then he dropped to his knees and fell. The left guard immediately rushed over to him, shouting his name. Asmodeus then made a big, dark ball appear in his hand, and he threw it at the metal shutter door. It ended up destroying a good chunk of the door.
"Come, Azrael. We can pass now," Asmodeus said in an eerily serene tone as he floated over to the ruined metal shutter door.
Azrael, horrified by what Asmodeus had done, shakily walked over to him. They passed through the hole and made their way inside of the facility.
"Don't you think that that might have been overkill?" Azrael asked, still in shock at what happened.
Asmodeus gave him an eerie, eyeless, and toothless smile.
"I gave him a fair warning. It's not my fault he chose to ignore it," Asmodeus said coldly.
"Yeah, but that didn't give you the right to-" Azrael started.
"Don't," Asmodeus interrupted, "You should know how I function at this point. I give people one warning, and if they don't adhere to it, then I have no reason to withhold their comeuppance from them."
"But-"
"Shh!" Asmodeus said as he put one ghastly finger to Azrael's lips, "Get ready, we have company."
Azrael, slightly incensed at being silenced like that, looked to where Asmodeus was looking. There were a whole bunch of strange, deadly looking things heading towards them.
Azrael got his dark arm blade ready. Asmodeus studied it.
"No, that won't do."
Azrael, confused, was about to ask Asmodeus what he meant when Asmodeus' body twisted and contorted itself and slid into Azrael's hands. Azrael, flabbergasted, could do nothing but watch as Asmodeus reshaped his body again. When he finished, Azrael held a long, wicked-looking scythe in his hands. The staff was normal-looking and deep black, while the blade was deep black as well. The blade itself had Asmodeus' empty eye sockets on each side as well as blood staining its top. The entire scythe also radiated a sinister aura.
"What the-?!"
"Your dull blade will not suffice. In its stead, I will be your weapon, and you shall be my meister," Asmodeus said seriously.
MISSION... START!
(Song: The Chattering Lack of Common Sense)
Azrael dashed forward to their opposition.
"You remember the basics, such as jumping, dashing, wall jumping, crouching, etc., right?"
Azrael nodded.
"Good. Now you need to learn how to wield me. Our enemies should be the perfect practice," Asmodeus said as metal enemies approached them, "Press the attack button (y, X, square, or A) to strike."
(Press y, X, square, or A to strike)
Azrael swung the scythe hard. The enemy was cleaved in half and crumbled.
"Excellent. Now let's try three slashes on that big enemy."
Azrael dashed forward over to the enemy in question. The metallic enemy fired off some bullets that made small explosions at Azrael. He stepped back to avoid them, and when the enemy needed to reload, he quickly dashed over to it and slashed at it three times. The enemy fell apart and lay as scrap metal before the duo.
"Outstanding! Can you fly in this form?" asked Asmodeus.
Azrael jumped up and concentrated hard on flying. He managed to float off the ground, which made him ecstatic. This feeling was short-lived, however, because Azrael immediately started slowly descending back towards the ground. He desperately flapped his arms in an attempt to ascend but to no avail.
"Hm, looks like you can only hover," Asmodeus said as Azrael's feet touched the ground.
"Dammit," Azrael said dejectedly.
Asmodeus then thought hard about this discovery.
"Wait, this might work to our advantage!" Asmodeus exclaimed.
"Huh, how?" Azrael asked, confused.
"Do a dash in midair."
Azrael looked at the Asmodeus-scythe like it was on something (which, in Asmodeus' case, wasn't hard to believe at all).
"Just do it," Asmodeus said impatiently.
Azrael sighed and jumped up.
(Press dash button.)
Asmodeus dissolved again and went to Azrael's feet and attached himself to the soles of his shoes. He then blasted backward, and Azrael got propelled forward at high speed.
"WAUGH!" Azrael shouted as he rocketed past two metal enemies.
After a few seconds, the dash stopped, Asmodeus immediately morphed back into a scythe, and Azrael quickly activated his hover so that he wouldn't fall.
"ASMODEUS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Azrael shouted furiously at his scythe.
"Sorry for startling you. I thought of that on the spot. W/ this trick, you can move through the air swiftly in any direction w/o your flight ability. A warning, though, this ability is limited," Asmodeus explained.
"How so?" Azrael said as his feet touched the floor again.
"The aerial dashes aren't unlimited, and when my energy for that depletes, you must stomp onto the floor or power up w/ me by double-tapping down so that my ability will replenish."
(Double-tap the down button.)
Azrael charged up his power.
"Ah, that's it," Asmodeus said dreamily, "Now, let's try dashing into an enemy."
"Ok, did you get drunk when I wasn't looking?" asked Azrael.
"Just do it!" Asmodeus shouted, his berserk side barely held back.
Azrael, jumping a little at that, obliged and dashed into a small enemy. A weak force pushed him back a bit into the air, and he noticed some dark swirls around that enemy.
"Quickly, either mash the attack button or press the EX button."
(Press a, B, circle, or T to use EX skill or mash the attack button)
Azrael did both. From his fingers, he fired out thin, dark purple blasts rapidly. Asmodeus, at the same time, flew out of his hands, became several dark spheres, and each sphere exploded. The enemy stood no chance.
"You know, I think I'm starting to enjoy this," Azrael said gleefully.
Asmodeus chuckled.
"Good to hear, old friend. Before we continue, though, my EX skill is limited, just like my dash skill. In this case, however, it has a meter, and the meter can refill itself on its own, and, thankfully, it doesn't take too long."





...


The duo tore through a good chunk of the facility. On either side of them, there were always different objects that no doubt belonged to other people. The duo had no interest in these. The opponents, no matter how big or tough they were, were no match for the fallen angels. At one point, they found a thin passage in a wall of one of the lower floors. Asmodeus, sensing something in the wall, made himself into a thin line and squeezed into the passageway. On the other side, there were a few boxes and one glowing, dark purple sphere. Asmodeus grabbed the item, put it in his body, and squeezed back through the thin passage. When Asmodeus went back out to Azrael, the sphere flew out of his body and phased into Azrael.
"Oh, that feels nice," he said dreamily.
"What was that?" Asmodeus asked.
"I don't know, but it feels great!"
They then resumed their trek through the compound. Eventually, the duo reached a giant, metallic wall enemy.
"Looks like we've hit a roadblock. Be prepared because I fear this one won't go down as easily as the other ones did," Asmodeus explained.
(Giant health bar appears) (Song: Crash IV from Megaman Zero 4)
The wall sprouted three turrets, and the non-mobile wall sprouted three ledges. It then opened fire on the ghastly duo.
"Jump!"
Azrael quickly hopped between the ledges and nimbly dodged the shots. He then proceeded to dash into the turrets and used his main attack along w/ Asmodeus' EX Skill, and they were scrap metal in a few moments. W/ the turrets out of the way, Azrael rushed over to the now exposed interior of the wall enemy so that he could slash it. Before he even got close, however, sparks flew from the interior, and he had to jump back. Suddenly, a ball-shaped enemy w/ one large red eye tore itself out of the wall along w/ two smaller balls! It looked around for a second until it noticed Azrael and its pupil dilated.
"This fucker..." said Asmodeus in a quietly angry tone.
(Health bar refills)
The smaller balls fired off powerful energy beams. Azrael dashed forward, jumped up, and air dashed into the floating enemy. As he unleashed his attacks on the obstruction, the giant ball moved around and fired off multiple beams. Azrael quickly rushed to avoid the oncoming blasts while simultaneously sending his finger blasts and Asmodeus at the enemy. Once or twice, a stray attack hit Azrael, and his health ended up going down to 85% as a result. Eventually, though, the enemy could no longer take any more damage, and it began to falter down to the floor.
"Finally!" Azrael shouted triumphantly.
The mid-boss, having one last trick up its sleeve, sent two final blasts at Azrael before it finally crashed onto the floor.
"AAAAH!" he shouted as he fell. His health dropped down to 45%!
Asmodeus, beside himself w/ manic fury at this, rushed over to the fallen mid-boss. He immediately covered the enemy and wormed his way into every crevice and hole he could find. A few seconds later, the enemy exploded in a dark plume. None of the mid-boss' parts hit Azrael because Asmodeus held them back and violently threw them into the walls and ceiling. After that, Asmodeus reformed himself and immediately rushed over to Azrael.
"Are you ok?!" Asmodeus shouted worriedly.
Azrael shakily started to get up. Asmodeus supported him.
"Hold on. Let me just," Asmodeus said as he placed a hand on Azrael's chest.
He scrunched his eyeless sockets shut and concentrated hard. Black mist swirled around Azrael. Azrael, at first, looked down in surprise, but then he relaxed as the fumes invigorated him and made him feel better.
"Better?"
"Better," Azrael replied.
He then noticed the mid-boss' parts violently scattered around the room.
"Uh, Asmodeus, what did you do to the enemy?" Azrael asked in a slightly frightened tone.
"After this wretched thing harmed you the way it did, I went into it and forced it to explode," Asmodeus replied bluntly, "Pay it no mind and let's go."
As the duo moved forward, Azrael suddenly got a horrifying thought.
What would Asmodeus have done if that enemy had been a human?
Azrael couldn't help but shudder.
"What's the matter?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry, it's nothing."
After they had been going for a bit, Asmodeus suddenly quivered in Azrael's hand.
"What's wrong? Do you sense something?" Azrael asked.
"I'm sensing two people in the facility that are rapidly moving toward us. One is sending off powerful energy while the other is sending off weaker but still potent energy. Be ready if they happen to catch up to us."
"Are they more of those metal enemies?"
"No, I can sense life from them," Asmodeus said.
Asmodeus then shifted back to his bound form.
"Azrael, it's here."
"Really?"
"Look at where we are," Asmodeus said as he swept his arm towards the room.
Azrael looked. In this room, there were a bunch of different objects. Some were deadly-looking, others looked deceptively innocent or plain, but none of that mattered because on the other side of the room, there it was. The spellbook was on a pedestal, covered by a glass dome. Azrael and Asmodeus slowly made their way over to it. When they got to it, they looked at it in wonder. There, in front of them, was the book that had started it all for them. Azrael tried to remove the dome, but it seemed that it was part of the pedestal.
"Hold on, let me handle this," Asmodeus said.
He placed his shackled hands on the dome. After taking a slow breath, he spread his hands wide and then quickly slammed his hands on the glass. It instantly shattered, and Asmodeus swiped the book.
"Ah, finally," Asmodeus said w/ a dreamy smile as he opened the book, "Now, let's see how I can get out of these damn shackles."
Asmodeus quickly flipped through the spellbook's pages, fondly remembering each of the pages. Eventually, he found something.
"YES!" he shouted.
"You found the spell you need?" Azrael asked.
"Yes, I did. To remove someone from cursed imprisonment, you must collect seven reverse SOULs to free them."
"Wait, reverse SOULs? That sounds like a horrible time waiting to happen," Azrael said, "Are you sure that's the only method?"
"Mmm yep," Asmodeus said after flipping through the rest of the book, "That's it. Let's try and find at least one reverse SOUL before the day finishes."
"There you are. We've finally caught up to you two," said a voice behind the duo.
Azrael and Asmodeus paused. They then slowly turned to meet their opposition.





...


(Grey Side)
MISSION...START!
(Song: Destiny from Megaman ZX Advent ZX Tunes ver.)
Grey and Cedric dashed into the facility to find a bunch of metal-looking things strewn all over the floor.
"Oh jeez, whoever these guys are, they don't fuck around," Cedric said w/ a somewhat worried expression.
He then turned to Grey.
"Ok, you take the lead while I follow behind."
<i>Wait, you're not going to lead?</i> Grey wrote.
"No, but I will be w/ you as a backup just in case, bud. Now, let's go."
Grey and Cedric dashed forward while blazing past ruined pieces of metal. After a bit, one of the metal things shakily rose, sparking and creaking.
"Ok, now's finally the time to teach you how to attack," Cedric said, "Pull out your cleaver."
Grey, confused at first, quickly realized what Cedric was referring to, and he attempted to pull his weapon out of his SOUL. It took him a bit, but the cleaver appeared again in his right hand after a couple of seconds.
"Excellent. Now, press the attack button three times to swing your weapon," Cedric tutored.
(Press y, X, square, or A to strike)
Grey swung his blade three times at the crackling enemy. It quickly crumbled.
"Good! Now, try concentrating your power into your next swing."
(Hold the attack button down for a bit and release)
Grey concentrated his power into his next swing. After a bit, he swung the cleaver down hard. Three thin energy beams flew up for a second when Grey did this.
"Good. You can also swing your blade rapidly while running as well as swing it in the air," Cedric explained, "Now that you finally know how to attack, let's make our way to our opposition, 'k babe?"
Grey didn't know why, but that 'babe' comment got him blushing hard.






...


There was little to no opposition as only a select few metal things managed to pick themselves up and couldn't do anything more than spark pathetically. At one point, Cedric stopped them.
<i>What's wrong?</i> Grey asked.
"I can feel something in the wall. Switch to me," Cedric explained.
(Press x, Y, triangle, or H to switch to Cedric)
Grey switched over to Cedric. Cedric immediately dashed over to the wall and jumped up on it.
(Mash the attack button while on the wall)
Cedric pulled off his guitar and strummed his guitar hard repeatedly. The part of the wall he on broke apart. Cedric jumped inside. There were a few forbidden items, and in the center, there was a floating grey heart. When Cedric grabbed the heart, it disappeared. Cedric dashed back over to the hole and jumped out.
<i>What was in there?</i> Grey asked.
"Honestly, I have no idea what the point of going in there was," Cedric replied.
They then resumed their trek through the neutered facility. After a while, they came across a room that had seen better days. Some forbidden objects were lying on the floor, damaged, and the walls, floor, and ceiling had sharp pieces of metal embedded in them, and two metal balls laid motionless on the ground.
"Holy shit," Cedric said in awe, "I knew our opposition would be tough, but I didn't know they'd be this hardcore!"
<i>What could've happened here?</i> Grey wrote.
"I wish I fucking knew, Grey. I wish I knew," Cedric replied w/ a sigh, "C'mon, I think they're close."
After a little bit more walking, Grey and Cedric finally made it to their opposition. In a room filled w/ different forbidden objects, two individuals were standing w/ their backs turned on the other side of the room. One appeared human, while the other appeared to be floating and made of something that looked soft and plumy.
<i>Interesting,</i> Cedric and Grey thought simultaneously.
"There you are. We've finally caught up to you two," Cedric said.
The strange duo on the other side of the room jumped a bit. Slowly, the pair turned.