Rotten Apples

Chapter 12: The Escape

Flame looks up to the sky. In 12 hours everything there will be destroyed. He calls Diamond.

"Hello?" She picked up.

"Did you get through anything?"

"I'm not sure. She seemed to consider it."

"What did you tell her?"

"I asked her if she's happy with the way things currently are."

"What did she say?"

"I left her to answer for herself." She said and bit down on her sandwich.

"Her hair dye is gone."

"Yeah I noticed that too." She said as a massive truck rolled by "Maybe she bleached it?"

"I guess. I'll keep in touch." He said and hung up. Diamond crossed the street. Her thin hands grabbed hold of her bag as she entered the CCG.

"Presenting." She said and saluted. Arima turned to her.

"Take Celestia to training." He said. The pink haired girl looked down. Dia took her hand and walked out of the conference room. As they were walking, Diamond noticed her unusual attitude.

"Are you nervous?" She asked.

"She's been trying to talk to me.."

"You mean..."

"Kriemhild."

"What did she tell you?"

"She'll start destroying everything exactly this time tomorrow."

Dia looked at the time. 11:31 AM.

"Let's go and do some training." Dia said. In the training room, Celestia was handed a white/pink mechanical bow.

"Diamond your duty is to block the projectiles." Arima said as he put his hand on Celestia's back.

"Will it hurt when I shoot the big one?" She asked.

"I don't know." Arima said and left the room. Celestia took a deep breath as Diamond drew her blade. She looked into her eyes. She saw uncertainty. As the girl drew an arrow, Diamond picked up her fighting stance. Celestia fired a thin laserbeam. Diamond barely managed to break through it. Her shimmering blade flew effortlessly in the air as she did her best to dodge.

"Remember, your opponent won't move this drastically but it's best for you to learn how to draw the bow properly." He said as he dimmed the lights a bit. Celestia drew a branched arrow and shot it at the ceiling, where it broke apart and fell to the ground as a rain.

"Don't use that move. It's a waste of RC cells." He said as Celestia grunted. As she was about to draw a massive arrow, Diamond whipped her blade forward with the edge facing inward. As the arrow fired, she deflected it, shooting it through the observation glass and scattering it into a million pieces, incapacitating Arima and everyone else in the control room. Celestia looked up as Diamond grabbed her arm and shattered the door with her sword. Arima drew IXA. He blocked their exit. He stood with a piercing gaze. Diamond held her hand out, signalling Celestia to stay back. Arima dashed forth, clashing with Diamond. She got carried backwards at least 10 feet.

I should've thought all of this through!!

Arima ended his jolt by doing an uppercut with his blade. Dia supported herself on the ceiling and boosted off of it. Arima dodged and her blade forcefully struck the ground, breaking a CRC gas pipe. A massive gas cloud exploded from beneath, giving Diamond time to escape with Celestia. She grabbed her tiny hand and rushed over Arima, giving him a slight cut to his abdomen with the blade. Arima kneeled down and watched them disappear. Celestia gave him one last look of utter dismay as he phoned some officers in.