Shit! Ruto thought irritably. I need to distance myself from them so I can call Azazel. The others were preparing to leave for the church via portal when Ruto stopped them momentarily.
"Uh, you guys go on without me for now, I uh… gotta take a dump." he said quickly. It was of little surprise that they were all caught off guard by that.
"Did I just hear that?" Rias asked incredulously.
"Can't you just hold it in til they're done?" Rossweisse said uncomfortably. Ruto shook his head rapidly.
"Nope, I'm human so when nature calls, I gotta answer." he rushed off upstairs before anyone could add any further awkwardness to this already ridiculous scenario. He got into the bathroom and slammed the door and locked it. After taking out his phone and quickly dialling a number, he heard the ringing.
"Y'ello?" came the calm and collected voice of Azazel, Chief Governor of the Fallen Angels.
"Yo, Azazel, long time. Say, would you happen to know about any of the activities of your little group going on in the old church?" Ruto asked.
"Oh, hey Ruto. Straight to business I see. Anyway, no. Is there anything suspicious I should be aware of?" Azazel asked as his interest was piqued.
"I don't know just yet, but I get the feeling that some ritual in a basement is going on. Just a gut feeling but I just needed to check. Keeping a close reign on Kokabiel like I suggested?"
"Kokabiel's strictly under my command. You don't suppose he's working behind the scenes on his own do you?" Azazel's tone became intrigued but icy.
"I wouldn't put it past him honestly. Surely you haven't actually put any trust in him." Ruto said deadpan.
"Ah ha, come now Ruto, I know I'm ancient but I'm not stupid. No, I haven't entrusted him with anything of any considerable value or that could tip the balance of power between the factions. I'm trying to avoid war you see." Azazel explained.
"And right there, that's the major factor here. You want to prevent war, while Kokabiel has always coveted it." Ruto said seriously. There was silence on both sides for several seconds.
"Dammit you're right. Given his position in Grigori and with him being a Leader class, it'd be easy for him to rally troops. But I've made it very clear that Grigori only follows orders from... Oh son of a bitch!" Azazel snapped sharply.
Ruto merely nodded to himself. "Yup, he's issuing orders to some of your most loyal followers under the pretence that they're from you. And because they're so loyal, they won't question a damn thing. Anything you want me to do about this? Name it and I'll do it, for a price of course." Ruto said with a sly tone.
"Well it seems my hands are tied at the moment. Fine, I want you to head over to that church and keep an eye on things. I also want you to keep my troops alive, so no direct intervention unless you really have to get involved. Diffuse the situation or just take out the attackers, that's all." Azazel ordered.
"And my payment?" Ruto said with a grin.
"Ugh… Oh, I know, how about I let you have a Sacred Gear I've been studying. It's not exactly as flashy as your Divine Dividing, but it should be quite the addition to your arsenal. It's called Codex Machina." Azazel offered, sounding pained.
"Interesting, what does it do?" Ruto asked, quite interested. He loved driving a hard bargain when it came to his services.
"Well, we both know you like using you really rare and dangerous, self destructive magic right? So the Codex Machina will come in handy as it takes a load of the mana damage off of you and converts the would be dangerous mana into, for lack of a word, fuel for you and your abilities. If you keep pumping out mana, it'll use that energy to amplify your magic, keep your mana reserves topped up, and heighten your regenerative abilities to about thrice their original rate."
"Oh now that does sound useful. So it'll allow me more leeway when fighting 'higher' beings without my armour. I like it, you got yourself a deal."
"Alright, now get going. You make sure my Fallen stay alive and I'll have your Gear ready for you by the end of the week." and with that, Azazel hung up. Ruto grinned as he left the bathroom, only to lose it when he saw Rossweisse standing there with quite the angry expression.
"Uh… I can explain." He started.
"I don't wanna hear it. Go and do your 'business' and then you can try and explain yourself to me." Rossweisse said, no humour or warmth in her voice. Damn she was pissed.
I don't have time for this. Ruto thought, so without further delays he left for the church.
By the time he arrived, Uzumaki Ruto, the human UAV was soaring above the church watching the skirmishes inside and out of the church. As he needed to keep the Fallen Angels alive, he spotted Rias and Akeno battling three Fallen Angels, namely Dohnaseek, Kalawarner and Mittelt.
"Well, guess I'd better say hi." Ruto muttered before nosediving towards them.
For the Fallen Angels, the battle between them and the Gremory heiress and her Queen was going terribly. Mittelt was down, Dohnaseek was injured and Kalawarner was getting to be more scared of death than she'd been for centuries. She'd tried mustering all the courage and bravado that she could, but it all fell flat against the power of the Crimson Ruin Princess and the Priestess of Thunder.
For several brief moments, silence reigned over their battle until a distinct distant whistling came from above them. It drew closer and closer, making the active combatants look up to see a figure in mid air with large glowing blue wings.
"Hello friends." the figure said in an overly cheery tone as they landed in front of the Fallen Angels, spreading his wings as if to defend them.
"Ruto? Where have you been, and why are you just standing there like that?" Rias questioned in surprise.
Kalawarner's eyes widened as she recognised him too, as did Dohnaseek's. "Ruto!? Is that actually you?" Kalawarner called out. He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled.
"Been a while Kally, how's it goin'?" he greeted.
"Ruto stepped away from them. I'm not sure what you're up to but get away from them." Rias ordered as crimson energy pulsed and crackled around her hands.
"Am I detecting a subtle threat there, Rias?" Ruto responded, his voice becoming slightly hostile. "You seem to have forgotten that I'm not one of you. I'm not in league with you, I don't obey you and as much as I'm sure you'd like to believe, I don't respect you." His comment on not respecting her stung. "But if you feel like you can take me on, you're more than welcome to." he continued, conveying his own threat.
"Why are you protecting them Ruto? They're Fallen Angels, corrupted mockeries of the real thing. They're also responsible for why we're even here." Rias retorted.
"They're operating under false orders. Their leader Azazel never ordered them to come here and conduct whatever it is they're doing." Ruto turned to Kalawarner. "Kokabiel's been playing Raynare and all of you for idiots." he said putting it bluntly.
"What do you mean? He's been using our loyalty to Azazel to manipulate us?" Dohnaseek asked. Ruto was surprised that he'd got it right just like that.
"Well… yes actually. Well done." Ruto said with subtle mockery. Kalawarner grit her teeth in anger.
"As shocked as I should be, I'm not at all surprised that asshole would pull something like this. Plus, Azazel doesn't resort to methods like this to get Sacred Gears, he normally just waits until the possessor dies, then takes it." Kalawarner said.
"Wait, you said something about taking Sacred Gears. Kalawarner, tell me what's going on here." Ruto said quickly.
"Raynare's in the church basement performing a Gear extraction ritual—ah shit! We gotta tell her to stop." Kalawarner said alarmed.
"You four stay out here and make nice, I'll go in and defuse this whole thing." He said flying over the high walls of the church. He stood on the high wall and looked into the church to see Raynare standing before Haru knelt in a small puddle of his own blood.
Damn. Raynare really does know how to exercise the whole "evil bitch" persona. Ruto thought. That coupled with that outfit though… that's actually pretty hot.
Ahem, less tent pitching and more saving Haru's ass. Thank you.Albion said.
Shit, sorry. Ruto replied with embarrassment. He continued to watch as Haru stood as immense pain coursed through him. Ruto felt what he knew was Haru's power rising with every second that passed. He threw three charged punches at Raynare, who dodged with insulting ease.
Ruto, what are you doing? At any moment she could kill him. Again. So do be kind enough to explain why you haven't got your ass moving yet. Albion said growing quite irritated with Ruto's inaction.
Just watch. Haru's about to have a breakthrough with Boosted Gear. Can't you feel it? Ruto replied.
After a moment or two Albion spoke. You're right, I can feel Ddraig's power starting to increase its influence over Haru's. I can only imagine his feelings are similar to yours when you first achieved my true form. Albion said with nostalgia.
Yeah... Ruto trailed off as he narrowed his eyes at the memory.
Though from what I remember it wasn't anything like this. Not even close.
Can you not? Ruto said with a mental sigh.
Alright fine, but you know it was funny.
Before Ruto could make any sort of reply, he was distracted when he saw Raynare starting to make a frightened retreat.
And here's where I step in.
Haru was abuzz with power. He'd finally unlocked Boosted Gear in its true base form and was murderous. Asia was dead, and the one responsible was right in front of him. Not only had she trampled on his feelings, killed him and caused him nothing but trouble, but he didn't care. He could take all of that. But what he couldn't accept was that she'd killed Asia, all for a Sacred Gear.
He'd grabbed Raynare's arm as she tried to escape with dread filling her being. He cocked his armoured fist back.
"You're an Angel, fucking fly!" he yelled as he launched his fist forward. However the blow Raynare awaited never came. She was both startled and amazed by what she saw. For one, she was amazed just by the fact that Ruto was there, but also by the way he'd just spared her taking a heavy hit like the one she was about to receive. He'd grabbed Haru's fist, taking the full brunt of the blow through his right hand.
The ground at their feet was cracking as their two opposing powers clashed in their still image of a battle. It was a battle of wills, pure and simple.
"Let go Ruto!" Haru roared with fury. His face was one of pure anger and determination while Ruto's was one of complete calm. It was eerie, just how he could remain completely composed when facing down someone who had hate and rage fuelling them.
"Sorry, but I can't allow you to kill her." he said before manipulating time to grab Raynare and put her down on the altar. To Haru, it was as if they'd simply vanished as time returned to normal. He turned to face Ruto and looked at him with anger and curiosity.
"Why did you stop me!? She killed Asia, so why would you save her!" he questioned, saying "her" with venom.
Ruto looked over at the pew at the front of the row and saw the blonde haired girl lying with a white sheet covering her up to her stomach. No feelings of sympathy or sadness came to him, just irritation at Raynare's rash actions.
"None of what happened here is Raynare's fault. For the most part anyway. You see, the Fallen Angels here were all used by one of their superiors. If you really want someone to blame, find a Fallen Angel called Kokabiel. He's the one behind all of this." Ruto explained.
"Not her fault? How can you possibly say it's not her fault!?" Haru yelled. The raw emotions roaring inside him caused him to push his power even further. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to listen to Ruto, he hadn't steered him wrong yet but he wanted to avenge Asia. He wanted to be Asia's friend, and introduce her to the others in the ORC and have her become friends with them, but because of Raynare, he couldn't do any of that.
"Haru, let me ask you this. Do you remember what Raynare did that led to you becoming a Devil?" Ruto asked.
Haru was silent as he mulled over the events of that night. She'd flat out killed him. But why would that be relevant? He then had a brief moment of enlightenment. It must have shown on his face because Ruto smirked.
"You get it now? She doesn't have to stay dead Haru. She can be brought back as a Devil, and she can have friends. Seriously Haru, you should try remembering these things before flying off the handles." Ruto then lost his smirk and turned to Raynare.
"Raynare… we've talked about this." he said.
"Who cares about that. What did you mean when you were talking about Kokabiel?" Raynare said as the feeling of guilt crawled into her stomach. Despite the way she acted, she was only acting on orders and got carried away with it. It was by Ruto's order that she took up the heartless persona, not just to perform better but to separate who she really was from what she was doing. In truth as far as Fallen Angels go, she's one of the nicer ones.
"Azazel never gave out orders to extract that girl's Sacred Gear. This was all devised by Kokabiel. You know what he's like, would you really doubt he'd do this?" Ruto asked rhetorically.
Just then the others from outside, as well as Koneko and Kiba entered the main church.
"He's right, Ray. I just got off the phone with Azazel to confirm it. Kokabiel set all of this up." Kalawarner said.
The night stretched on after the battle. Asia was made into a Devil, the Fallen Angels were pardoned, and they all separated for the night.