Cherri gritted her teeth as she helped the angels hide behind the building. "Stay here," she commanded, feeling restless to get back to the fight. "The battle won't come here."
Molly crossed her arms and Cherri set her face into a neutral state. She still wasn't sure what to think about Angel having a twin sister. He had mentioned having a sister a few times, but Cherri had always assumed that she was in Hell and they had a bad relationship. After all, that was the situation with his brother and father.
"I can fight too," Molly said defensively. It would've been convincing if she hadn't been fiddling with the bag on her side. And the gold blood that was staining her clothes where the bullet had grazed her. "I was literally in the mafia!"
Cherri raised a brow. "Maybe while you were alive, but you must not have done anything if you got into Heaven."
She flushed, her eyes practically shooting daggers. "I can still hold myself in battle. I know how to shoot a gun, string a bow, and how to throw a spear but I'll take the gun."
She's gutsy. I'll give her that. "No can do. We don't have extra angelic weapons just lying around." It was a complete lie. Of course they had extras, and even if they didn't, it wasn't like the dead cannibals were using their weapons.
The other angel was silent until now, her big blue eyes warily studying the scenes around her. But now her eyes met Cherri's. "Is Charlie okay?"
The question surprised Cherri and she paused for a second to think. The way the angel said Charlie's name made it sound like they knew each other, but not that well.
"Do you know her?" She asked carefully.
The angel swallowed, forcing a small smile. "I was there in Heaven when she came to plead her case for redemption. We didn't know about the exterminations before then, and I was also there when Sir Pentious was redeemed."
Cherri let out a breath at Sir Pentious's name. "Well, Charlie's still not doing too well, so stay out of trouble." She shot Molly a warning look and began sprinting back to the battle. Molly could've fought, but Angel had already lost too much and Cherri wasn't going to let him lose his twin sister again.
She could at least do that much.
When Cherri made herself back to the battle, she hid behind the column first, where Husk was fighting from before he got injured and had to step out. She could see part of the battle, but not enough. Rubbing her hands together to create friction for her fingerless gloves, she began painstakingly climbing up the marble. It would've been hard to find footholds earlier, but the column was so tattered, it was almost like climbing a rock wall.
At the top, there was a large piece blown out and Cherri crouched in it, exhaling as she took in the sight of the whole battle. Lucifer was in an ongoing fight with several demons, his forehead beaded with sweat as he tried not to kill them, but also not let them kill him. Cherri wondered how the demons could still fight Lucifer knowing he was the king of Hell, but then she remembered that they were contracted and they had no choice.
Valentino was watching from a pink tinted windy force field safely in the air, his eyes unfocused. With a burst of satisfaction, Cherri noticed that part of his upper arm was burnt painfully in shades of red and black, probably a result of a well timed bomb. She didn't even remember throwing it, something that happened often when she got lost in the chaos of fighting.
Niffty was finishing off the sinners who hadn't been killed completely, almost in an act of mercy. Husk was still perched near the railings on the second floor, and Cherri couldn't see Angel but she assumed he was hidden nearby where Valentino couldn't exert his hold.
Vaggie on the other hand, looked more and more like a bloodthirsty demon with every step and slash. Her forehead was shining with sweat and her hair was covered in blood, but her hands didn't quiver as she cut through 3 demons at once. Cherri grinned at the sight, but then it faded into a frown as she noticed another set of contracted, terrified-looking demons appear. How many do they have?
There were already so many fighting and probably about a hundred were corpses. Despite herself, Cherri grudgingly admired the mental capacity of the Vees to be able to control so many people at once.
Focus, she reminded herself, paying attention to the battle again. She wasn't used to being on a team bigger than two, but now that she was, she had to be careful when aiming her bombs. And as much as Cherri wished she was, she wasn't as good of a hand-to-hand combat fighter as she was an arsonist.
The battle seemed to be going well, but it was clear that the cannibals were starting to get overwhelmed. Cherri wiped away some sweat that was dripping into her eyes from the heat and averted her eyes from a cannibal who was being ambushed by several shaking sinners.
Suddenly, there was a slight flash of red and gold and a tall woman adorned in long, graceful robes stepped out of a swirling portal, her blond hair softly billowing in the wind behind her. Lucifer dropped his weapon, staring in the direction with his mouth slightly open. The queen?
Cherri didn't have enough time to dwell on that as she noticed Vox pushing Sir Pentious into a corner. From her distance, she could make out what he was saying, his electronic mouth spelling out words that made her blood boil. This time, you won't go to Heaven.
Anger coursed through her until her hands were shaking, even more so when she noticed the cobra-angel breathing heavily, a gash on his forehead dripping gold. The Egg Boi was by his side, cowering behind him.
Barely thinking before acting, Cherri pulled out a grappling hook and shot it to the railing right above Vox. She would've usually adjusted her grip, but this time she swung straight away, perching on the wall on top of them. Sir Pentious was holding his own, but she could tell he wouldn't last long. He knew it too, with the way he glanced up, relief flooding his expression.
That split second of distraction from the fight was enough for Vox to slash a dagger, aiming for the chest, but Sir Pentious barely dodged it and caught the wound in his arm. He hissed as his arm began bleeding gold.
Rage choked Cherri. Not this time.
Without thinking, she tore a piece of drywall and threw it at Vox, hitting his screen, where it passed through as Vox teleported a few feet to the left.
Surprised, Vox stepped back, looking around, and that was long enough for Cherri to throw a dagger at his chest, anger aiming it perfectly. The world seemed to slow down around them and a blur of purple and red pushed Vox out of the way with astonishing speed, saving the TV head. There was still the Thwuck! of the dagger hitting something. Cherri jumped down, slumping against the wall as she saw who she had hit instead. Valentino.
