the last request

chapter 11

Where the hell is that Innocence! The sensor said it was around here somewhere around here, but I don't… Oh, where is that damn thing!" Lenalee cried in frustration, searching around in all her pockets, not really remembering where she had placed it. Finally, she found it, and pulled it out, switching it on, and tuning it in to near mode, at which point, it began to beep feverishly, and the compass on it to point directly in front of her. She ran after the arrow, and after a few bumps and bruises from hitting her head on low ceilings, she made it into a huge chamber in the back of the cave with antediluvian markings all over the walls, and a pedestal from which mist was pouring copiously, and a diluted source of bright white light was shining that seemed to light up all of the fog directly on the pedestal that was in turn on a small flight of stairs, causing the fog to move down in a cascading motion. Before she could get to the pedestal, though, she was confronted by another sight, that of a human standing before her.

"Hello, Lenalee Lee." The woman said quietly, her sunglasses obscuring her blue eyes and her long honey blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. "We meet again." She said calmly, pulling on a pair of feminine white gloves so that her hands were no longer exposed to the cold, and damp, which was biting, even so very deep in this cave.

"Yes, but I don't have time to exchange pleasantries right now. I have to return to Allen-kun to make sure he's alright."

"You needn't worry about your partner. He will be dealt with in short order. Some of my comrades are seeking him out as we speak, assuming that the Akuma that he is fighting is not enough to destroy him. You should worry instead about yourself." Lulubell said, snapping her fingers, and stepping back as two level 4s rose out of the mist, leering wickedly at Lenalee, and moving forward, their movement obscured by the thick fog. Lenalee was faster, though, and she activated her Dark Boots, and jumped into the air, landing behind the first level 4, and kicking it in the back, sending it flying hard into the wall. The other level four turned around and sneered at Lenalee, swiping at her with its claws, giving Lenalee a minor laceration on her arm as she reached up to defend herself. She gasped in pain, but continued fighting, jumping and doing a dropkick at the second level four, which jumped out of the way just in time, and shouted, causing shockwaves of sound to reverberate all around the walls, echoing and turning into a massive, cacophonous din that grated severely on Lenalee's ears. She gritted her teeth against this ruckus, though, and continued to fight. By then, though, the two Akuma had already disappeared back into the mist, and she couldn't find them. She looked around suspiciously, seeing that Lulubell had also pulled a Houdini on her, and was nowhere to be seen. Soon, though, one of the tiny, mockingly cherubic monsters flew out of the mist and grabbed Lenalee tightly, holding her fast while the other one jumped up and kicked her in the stomach, driving the wind out of her lungs before they dropped her, leaving her to fall to the floor, several ribs now cracked.

Last time she had tried to fight a level 4, she had Allen with her. Now, though, she was all alone, fighting two of these obscenely powerful monsters. She turned around and grabbed one, throwing it into the air as best she could, but it used its wings to reverse its momentum and instead hover above her, grinning evilly, and flying down, grabbing her and driving her back into the cave wall, where she collapsed, gasping once more before her vision began to go blurry, and she felt her consciousness slipping away.

She could see the two Akuma advancing on her, but could also hear footsteps in the distance. Lulubell's? Was she going to destroy her Innocence? Of course she was. What a stupid question. She could feel the end coming, and see the Akuma who were to bring it, but before they could deliver final death unto her, they were blasted back by a white explosion emanating from a tall black and red shape standing above her. The shape looked down at her and grinned cockily, before turning around and gathering black energy around its hand and rushing forward to fight the Akuma,. He drove his hand straight through the first Akuma, and then, turned around and kicked the second one sending it flying, flourished his hand and appeared behind the monster and caught it with the same black light that he got the first one with. He then turned to Lulubell, who had indeed been walking toward her, and started speaking to her. Lenalee couldn't hear him exactly. His voice sounded quiet and distant, but he spoke and then advanced toward her, and she seemed to think it wasn't worth fighting him, because next thing, she disappeared in a splash of water.