This is Rated R for blood, violance and similar themes. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Do Angels Fear the Reaper? CHAPTER 7 "Hey, Yuri, you doing ok?" Kei walked into the room and closed the door behind her. She had a bag of groceries in one arm. She had gained a bit of weight which came with age, but also stayed true to a regimen of exercise and martial arts. She meant to stay in shape for all the right reasons and for the sake of habit. "Yeah, thanks, Kei," Yuri had gained quite a bit of weight as well, such as what came with a new baby on the way. The honeymoon wasn't fully interrupted it seemed. Her hair had grown back as well much to her delight. She always loved her long hair. On her last birthday, Kei bought her a new brush. Life had been quiet and peaceful long enough for the two to get used to it, well three. Robert was off at work having long since recovered from his burns. He had to undergo multiple procedures, but it all paid off. "I'll put the news on," Kei walked into Yuri's room and grabbed the remote. The news came on at once. She then walked out of the room and put the groceries into the fridge and cabinets. The apartment was small with a few rooms. The TV was in Yuri and Robert's room while Kei had the guest room next door. There was also a kitchen and a bathroom. They would get their own house, but this was a city much like old Tokyo, very crowded and this apartment did not come cheap. "Here's the latest news on the new Dirty Pair," a newscaster adjusted some papers infront of him and continued, "A space station has undergone decompression and faces a complete loss of life, the United Galactica have sent troops to secure and save all life they can. No word yet on the conditions of the Dirty Pair at that incident, now here's Joan with the weather." "Heheh, I laugh every time. I also feel sorry for them, having our reputation and all," Yuri smiled. She was lying in bed with a bunch of pillows to support her. "Cruel irony indeed, I almost laughed the moment I called them that. Eh well, it's not so good for the universe. To think the next set of Angels could have been better than us. They seem much the same," Kei spoke from the room next door. "Well, we weren't all that bad. Say, Kei. You miss those days?" Yuri asked. She adjusted some pillows. "Frankly, yes. All the exploring of countless cities, space stations, planets, new food where ever I go, new men where ever I go. All the action I could desire, now all I have left are the memories of my training, well our training. Say Yuri, you going to get back on the training anytime soon?" Kei finished putting the groceries away and walked back to the doorway. "I'm a little busy now," Yuri lowered her eyelids at her good friend. "Heh, well I'll get you back into that training in due time then." "Allright." -- "Riza what the hell did you do!?" Jade yelled at the top of her lungs through the comlink. She was sounding completely afraid. At this time the decompression started. A massive explosion had shaken the station. Jade was trembling a bit. She had never been in a situation like this before and nothing could prepare her for this. They have fought pirates, convicts, and terrorists, but at this time they were only following up on a complaint. It was going to be a small sight seeing mission. Now the station sounded as if it was going to suffer a meltdown. "It wasn't me!" Riza yelled back. She ran down the corridor as shutters lowered overhead. She was trying to get to the source of the explosion to see what happened. "I'm on my way to the site, meet you there!" Jade added. They both ran from their respective locations. Already people were fleeing in escape pods and alarms were sounding off all over. The dark hallways flashed with red lights. "Already there!" Riza answered back. She tried to sound confident in this mission. No matter what hell would face them, they always came out of it with few injuries and a massive casualty count, they even joked that they would do missions to overshadow the original Dirty Pair. Take a few more thousand lives, save a few thousand more, whatever the case may be. They even had the latest in technology to help them. They equipped themselves with space suits especially designed for maximum mobility and combat. They were newly issued to investigative agents such as themselves. From out of nowhere a voice shot through the dead of space from within the massive area of ground zero, only two words were heard, "Dirty Pair," A chill went down Riza's back at the sound of it for more than the obvious reasons. She never heard this voice before. It was as if it sounded from within her body. Some sort of psychic force perhaps. Jade appeared with a laser sword in hand which lit up the room. Now the carnage could be seen a bit easier. Every thing had been sucked out into the dead of space. People, boxes, entire rooms had been gutted. This side of the space station was beyond repair. The extent of the explosion had ruptured walls nearby and it looked as if more would rupture in time. Any counter measure set to prevent this explosion had failed horrifically. "Dirty Pair," the voice spoke again from all around. Its intensity and foreboding nature was no weaker or stronger than before. It felt a lot stronger to the two agents though. -- "Hey, I'm home early," a voice spoke from the door way of the apartment. Robert had let himself in. He had a bouquet of flowers in his hands and a big smile on his face. "For me?" Kei put her hands together and faked a blush along with a goofy smile. She grabbed the flowers from him at once. His happy demeanor dropped a bit at the sight of Kei putting the flowers in a vase nearby. "Kei," he said softly. "What?" "Fine, I'll just give this to Yuri then," he shrugged and walked past her for the bedroom. "Ok," Kei got a glass of water from the sink for the flowers. They were bright purple lilies, very rare and quite pretty. "Hey, honey, I've a present for you," he walked into Yuri's room. "Ah you shouldn't have!" "Eh don't say that, hehe," he scratched his head with a feint smile. It had cost him a week's paycheck to get it, but he'd be ok in the long run. Yuri took the package and opened it to find a hand gun. "What?" "Heh, Kei stole the flowers from me, her loss," he tried not to laugh. He was lucky he ever got into this situation, men never stayed long in the lives of the infamous dirty pair. Some got shot, others arrested, and others just vanished for whatever reason. "Heh, she thought she was funny eh?" Yuri smiled. "I'll just keep this then, thank you," she got up a bit and kissed him on the cheek. "Heh? What you get Yuri?" Kei asked from the door way. "Nothing, hehe," "Ha, Robby, you cheapskate!" Kei teased. "This just in, the decompression of the space station has gotten worse, the United Galactica forces may not make it in time. We have a drone camera watching the incident live. I'll be giving a commentary," the newscaster spoke. The picture changed to a long range view of the entire space station, half of it was completely destroyed. The camera zoomed in closer to the wreckage. "I see fighting in the middle of the screen there, looks as if whatever caused this explosion was quite powerful and continues to launch whatever arsenal it has. I would assume it was some sort of rogue battle mech or a group of well armed terrorists. No word yet on the condition of the agents sent in there. This just in, the 3WA will not say for sure who it is sent there and will neither deny nor confirm the existence of the dirty pair being there and that we should call them the Lovely Angels." "Dang, they never did that for us!" Kei clenched her teeth together at the remark and shrugged. "I'm going to get off to work. You take care of her now!" Kei grabbed a coat and left the room. "Yes, Ma'am!" Robert replied. He then took a seat next to Yuri's bed and grabbed the remote. "Leave it on, it's ok," Yuri said meekly. She was getting a bit tired. "Heh, ok," he pulled the blanket over her better. -- "Jade, are you there?!" Riza yelled through the comlink. She received no reply, only static. "Jade, damn it! Where hell are you, girl!?" she was starting to get worried. This would sometime happen on a stark mission, but it never ceased to scare her. It was the feeling of dread that she hated the most. She then scanned the structure best she could with her onboard controls. Missiles flew over head along with barrages of plasma blasts which continued to shred the station. She did all she could do to hide in the rubble from them. Options were running out. Time wasn't helping either. "Damn it, Jade, don't do this to me!" "Dirty Pair," the voice spoke again. "Who the hell are you?!" Riza yelled out of frustration. "Hehehehehehe," the laughter filled the entire room, a sick twisted laughter that meant to drive Riza insane. -- "Hey, Phil," Kei said as she walked into the bar. Phil was an old friend of hers. He came by here often just to chat with her. "Hello, Kei, guess I beat you here this time," he turned a bit from his barstool and watched her make her way behind the counter. "Yeah, say, you want the usual?" Kei grabbed a clean mug from the back wall. "Sure." "Alright, one double espresso for the taxi driver," Kei smiled. Life wasn't so bad after all. -- "Shut the hell up!" Riza fought her own building emotions and flung her self out into the clearing. She fired off shots from her rocket launcher hoping to take the bastard/s out. Entire sections exploded all around her as she spun, but the perpetrator/s was nowhere to be seen. She could sense nothing but the dead of space, not even her partner came up on the scanner. "That all you got?" the sinister voice spoke from within her own head once again. "Damn you!" Riza pulled out her blaster and started firing all over. The station continued to fall apart as sections burst from decompression. One shot sent light out into the dead of space. The illumination made her fear even more. What couldn't be stared her in the face. A limp space suit floated eerily off in the distance. It was not the basic model for personnel of this station. Riza looked around and scanned with her helmet controls once again, hoping the coast was clear enough to move. She flung herself over to it ignoring her fear. She ignored all judgment. -- "Kei," Pete walked in from the back room seeing that she started her shift. "Yeah?" "I've been thinking about retiring, you know. Move off this planet to some resort town. Do some fishing, some golfing, work as a life guard at some beach." "Sounds great, well, for a guy." "Thing is, you think you would be able to take over for me? I could hand over the bar if you feel you can handle it." "Heh get back to me in a month or so, I'm still enjoying the free time," Kei laughed and poured another beer for a sappy customer. "I'll see you around," Phil slid a tip over the counter and got up to leave. "Sure thing, Phil, take care," "I will, you watch your back now, Angel," it was the only flirt he'd ever allow himself to pass her. He had his share of love lives over the years and had no real intention having another. It was more than enough just stopping by now and then. "Heh," Kei just laughed the remark off. The first time he used it, it took her off guard, now it was just a pleasantry between them. --- Another huge explosion shook the station and the dead of night for a brief moment lit up clearly. Riza looked on at the limp space suit before her. Her fears were true. The face mask had filled with blood. Injuries caused by massive blade cuts and decompression. She shook the body gently without much thought. No response could be given back. Jade wouldn't annoy her again. Riza's eyes went wide and she fell into a rage far past the power of her adrenalin from the combat. She turned to face what's left of the station. "Dirty Pair," the voice spoke again. "Pair!? You killed my partner you bastard!" she rocketed off into the clearing again. The area was only getting larger as the station threatened complete destruction. Before her stood something that was camouflaged by the darkness. The veil of night wavered as if some sort of wind caressed it. Slowly the veil became shredded and blades appeared in the aftermath. This veil then surrounded her. "Dirty Pair," it spoke again. "Die!" Riza fired off shots all over the place until she ran out of rockets. Entire walls exploded. This being took none of it. Metal spikes shot through her arms, legs, chest and abdomen all at once completely ripping her apart. Limbs were pulled from their sockets and liquid blood became bubbles. They flooded the area around her. She strained in her last moments to see who the hell was doing this to her. No face can be seen, whatever it was, it wasn't human. Blood poured out her eyes, ears and mouth and everything became a blur. Riza's body floated limply as her partners. The blades had retracted into nothingness. "Dirty Pair," the voice spoke again. -- A few hours later Yuri woke up to the sound of her husband's rare events of 'freaking out'. She had first seen it when the techshifting demon completely destroyed their lodge on the paradise planet. He had saved her from the initial destruction. Yuri had to drag his butt out of there afterwards. "What is it?" Yuri yawned. She placed a hand upon her abdomen. Only a few months were left now. He could only point to the television. The newscaster looked as if he were sweating bullets. "The space station has been completely destroyed in a fiery inferno. Rescue workers were taken in the blast. A second team has been sent to pick up the pieces. Speculation has it that the two agents sent there did not survive the assault. I will get back to everyone with further information on the situation." "That's terrible," Yuri blurted out. "They trying to out do our bad reputation or what?" Yuri couldn't help but see similarities between them. "I don't know, dear, sorry for waking you though." "It's ok." A few hours passed by dryly. Some bad sitcom begging for an audience followed by some anime that made absolutely no sense whatsoever carried the time. The news came on once again. "Two bodies were found amidst the wreckage. 3WA agents have confirmed our speculation. The Lovely Angels have been brutally slaughtered in the incident. More info after the break, anyone have a glass of water?" the screen quickly changed to an advertisement for anti alcohol pills. "Holy shit," was all Yuri could say. She couldn't believe her ears.