Fiend Hunt I: Highway to Hell

Bastion nodded at Monet, smiling slightly despite the dire circumstances. For the first time, he and another Vanguard were actually working together, synchronizing and cooperating as teammates should. It was... refreshing.

"Right. I'll handle it. But first..."

As Archangel reached his side, Bastion nodded to him.

"Wicked Bane!" Archangel cried, holding out his sword and placing his palm against its blade. It glowed with a heavenly light, and Bastion and his allies could feel their power rising.

With his buff cast, Archangel and Bastion hurried away from Monet and her oni.

"Archangel, take to the air and strike from above," he ordered. "I'll attack him from here. Make sure we time up our attacks together."

He turned and noticed Asher watching him, studying him. The other man would probably never say so aloud, but was he planning to time his attacks to match with theirs as well?

"Go!" Bastion said, turning his attention back to Archangel.

The demon took to the air with a sweep of wings and circled around, charging his sword with light.

"Justice!" he cried, sending a slicing arc of light down on the Fiend. At the same time, Bastion rolled to dodge a gust of flames and came up onto his knees, spear braced.

"Holy Horn!" he said, shooting off a piercing burst of light at his Biker.

Sure enough, from the other side, Asher leaped onto the highway rail and raced along it, firing off Stinger blast after blast. Hell Biker growled and backed away his bike, raising his arm to block off the Stinger shots harassing him. Bastion's Holy Horn then struck him in the side, causing him to cry out in pain, before Archangel's Justice came down from above. Hell Biker swung around, but too late as the light smashed into his motorcycle, damaging it.

"You scum!" he roared, grabbing hold of the handle bars and swinging his bike around. "Hell Spin!"

The funnel knocked back Bastion and Asher, the latter smacking hard into the railing. Hell Biker turned his attention to the older man, his mouth opening wide to reveal black fire from within his throat.

"Hell's Angel!" he bellowed, sending the ball of flames hurtling toward Asher. Eyes flying open in surprise, Asher grabbed onto the railing and pushed off it in desperation, plunging down out of sight as the black flames tore through the metal railing and disintegrated it.

"Now..." Hell Biker murmured, turning to face Bastion as blame flames began to boil up from inside his throat. "Who's next?"

"Transform." Monet whispered, as she pulled out Goki's frost enchanted club that van frost had blessed from the prior mission shifting back into the form of a normal pipe that she quickly exchanged with Goki.  Monet slipping the normal pipe back into her bag.

"Siren's song!" Monet angelically, as she rose her hands into the air as a gust of toxic fumes were funneled towards hell biker the fumes colliding into him, however the dizziness was only a distraction as Goki was weaving in and out of cars using the noise from the song to silence his movements.

Right before Goki was able to get close Bastion and Asher were suddenly knocked aside, as Monet recoiled from the crazed display.  Her voice being silenced as the smog seemed to be purified from the raging flames erupted form the eyes of hell biker.  However, his outburst was just the distraction Goki needed...

Goki slipped behind the raging biker, as he simply tapped the back of the engine. With the damage done to it by the archangel and the permafrost of friendship fighting against the roaring hell fire of the engine the motorcycle began to stall for just a single moment.

"You bastard!  You're the one who's next! Bastion fire now!" Monet yelled as she waved her other hand in the air and yelled with all her might, "Holy Flash!"

A roar of blinding light erupted towards hell biker, as Goki was already scrambling away with his flight or fight spell causing only his after image to be seen as the dust cloud left by Goki seemed to whisk away into some nearby cars.

Hell Biker cackled madly as he prepared to fire off his blast when his bike stalled and began to tremble. In the distraction, Monet fired off her blast, and Bastion did as well. The synchronized attack blasted into Hell Biker and his ride, detonating in a terrible explosion.

"Did we get him?" Bastion gasped, hurrying over to Monet's side. They peered through the flaming wreckage, trying to get a glimpse.

Something dark appeared within the flames, and Bastion gasped as the ball of black fire shot through the air directly toward him. The next moment, in a flurry of white wings, Archangel had thrown himself between Bastion and the attack, wrapping his wings around his body like a shield.

"Void Dark!" he cried, but the attack was too strong. Archangel was blasted back to the ground, dazed.

From the flames, Hell Biker staggered out, eyes aflame.

"You've taken my ride, and my strength," he said. "But I'm taking you with me! Hell's Angel!"

His mouth opened wide, the black fire forming once more, when-

"Freikugel!"

A golden bullet shot up into the air from the ground below like a shooting star, then arced downward and crashed right through the back of Hell Biker's skull. The flame went out, and he pitched forward onto his knees, eyes rolling up toward the hole in his skull.

"You think you can conquer death?" he gasped. "Death serves... no man..."

His body faded in wisps of darkness, leaving behind a black stone hovering in midair. Just then, a hand grasped the rail, and Asher swung himself up onto the highway.

Bastion barely noticed him, however. His eyes were fixed on the black stone, his heart pounding.

"A Deathstone," he said. "That's it. That's what I-"

But he cut himself off of Asher charged for it. Bastion took off, racing to reach it, throwing out his hand to grasp it-

-only to close over Asher's fist, firmly clenching the stone.

"Give that to me," Bastion growled.

"To the victor goes the spoils," Asher replied, eyes narrowed. "I did deal the killing blow, after all."

"After we did all the work!" Bastion snapped.

Asher wrenched his hand free, pointing his gun at Bastion's head as the Vanguard tried to move forward.

"It's over," Asher said.

Yes! Their plan had worked, but still hell biker keep pushing forward. How was this bastard so durable, and so strong.

Monet began to panic, as the spell of dark fire erupted at Bastion and his archangel as her mind began to flash back to when sister Charlotte had killed him. Despair, panic, it all overtook her emotions as she quickly ran to Bastion, trying to save him before Asher put a bullet into the skeleton's head.

A strange stone of death appeared, it was like death solidified into physical form. It was almost intoxicating in a way, such chaotic energy felt like it could pull her in... but no she needed to give it to the council. They would be very interested in it... but.... she was exhausted, their hand played.

"Calm down Bastion" Monet responded, as she placed her hands on his shoulders and pulled him away from the gun and confrontation with him and Asher. She hadn't noticed but apparently she began to cry, as tear tried to stream down her face that she quickly caught with her left hand quickly wiping it away. Though, she still felt the cold sweat and needles in the back of her neck, almost like death was waiting to collect Bastion again.

"You almost died! The important thing is we stopped that monster!" Monet uttered trying to stop Bastion from getting himself killed again, as she began to lower her voice into a whisper "Besides... there's probably more of those stones on other demons, and Asher will be targeting them."

Monet turned a stern solid gaze towards Asher, meeting the man's eyes for what seemed like an eternity.

"You see, we are were strong enough to handle it. You can have the stone, but you wouldn't of killed him by yourself and you'll get way over your head if you don't act a bit more cooperative, just remember that." Monet stated with a spiteful snide, as she turned her gaze towards Bastion realizing her hands were still on his shoulders, as she nervously let go and stepped away abruptly shifting her gaze towards the ruins in the distance.

Bastion and Asher stared off, their gazes so intent Bastion lost track of everything around him, including the other Vanguard until Monet placed her hands on his shoulders and pulled him back.

The spell seemed to be broken as Bastion turned away, taking in Monet's tear-stained face.

"You almost died! The important thing is we stopped that monster!" Monet uttered.

Died. His mind flashed to Mother Harlot, to the feeling of being impaled, and all the fight went out of him.

Monet lowered her voice into a whisper. "Besides... there's probably more of those stones on other demons, and Asher will be targeting them."

"Right..." he said, nodding absently.

He continued to stare off into the distance as Monet turned to face Asher, lobbing scathing words at him for underestimating them and overestimating himself.

Asher's eyes narrowed at Monet, but a flicker of something almost like grudging respect appeared on his face before he turned and leaped over the rail from sight.

As Monet abruptly removed her hands from his shoulders, Bastion tore himself as hastily away from his thoughts and looked at her.

"I'm sorry," he said, leaning against the rail as his shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I shouldn't have put you in danger like that."

He stared down at his hands, swallowing as he debated how much to tell her. Could she be trusted? He wanted to trust her.

"On my last mission, I encountered an angel," he said. "He called himself Asra."

The image of the floating spiral of angels, of the soothing yet overpowering sensation Asra himself returned to Bastion, powerful and vivid.

"He told me the only way to defeat Mother Harlot was with those Deathstones. I have to collect them, no matter what," he told Monet, looking up into her eyes.

One was already lost to Asher. It would have to be reclaimed eventually. But in the meantime, there were other Fiends, and he now knew it wouldn't be enough to just kill them. He'd have to race to reach them first.

"I can't ask for you to help me with this," he said. "But... I hope we get a chance to work again. I think we make a good team."

He smiled. Ever since taking the Mark of Mastery, he'd hoped to form a bond like this with his fellow Vanguards, to actually move as a cohesive whole instead of several disparate parts messily tied together. They'd only just met, but they just... worked together.

Monet simply placed her hand on her head, stressed, it was a lot to take in..... and she was honestly baffled at how rashly Bastion had acted this mission.  It was a far cry and almost felt like she was interacting with a different person, however because of the fact he 'thinks' she's someone else... well it was sort of refreshing in a way from his old gloomy self.

"So that's why you risked your life like that?  You should of told me!" Monet stated with a worried look, as she turned towards where Asher had just jumped over the railing.  Her eyes narrowing at the death stone before it vanished over the railing.

"No, you will ask me for help again, as far as I'm concerned we're a team on this.  I need to make sure you stay safe... I won't be able to go on every mission but I'll keep my eyes and ears open for you!" Monet stated with a big smile on her face, as she held out her hand for Bastion to take before she pointed to one of the broken down cars besides her, "Oh, and it was also fun talking to you about the ruins too!"

Monet was honestly surprised about how passionate she was, it almost felt like there was nothing holding back her conversation anymore, like she could talk freely.  She could...

"Don't forget me, baby!" 'Kintoki' suddenly and cool said stepping between the two of them, as he did a simple and 'sexy' biker nod at Bastion.  He placed his hand on top of Monet's hand, as the handshake suddenly turned into a team hand-stack.

"And Archangel of course.." Monet stated with a nod.

Bastion blinked in surprise, taken aback by her declaration. This wasn’t her burden, but... she was willing to receive it to help him.

“Thank you...” he said softly.

When she extended her hand, mentioning about their conversation about the ruins, he took it with a smile. “Yes, it was nice. I’ll have to share some of my books on the Old World with you sometime. I-if you’re interested, of course.”

His face heated slightly when he realized they were still holding hands. But before he could pull his hand away, Monet’s lesser oni made a... questionable pose and added his hand to theirs for a team-stack. Strange as it was, Bastion couldn’t help but smile.

Monet attempted to include Archangel, who appeared that moment and hovered near Bastion’s shoulder. But when she addressed him, he remained silent and vanished into Bastion’s gauntlet a moment later.

“Sorry,” Bastion murmured. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll warm up to you. In the meantime, though, we should get back.”

Reluctantly pulling his hand away, he looked around the long route back to the ramp from which they’d ascended. He hesitated, then grinned at Monet.

“Any chance of getting another bike ride back to Chaldea?”

—————————————————————————

When they dismounted back at Chaldea, Bastion breathed in the fresh night air and smiled. Turning back to Monet, he raised his hand as she prepared to continue on her way.

“I’ll see you around,” he said.

After they’d said their goodbyes, he watched her depart, his hand slowly lowering to his side. At that moment, Archangel reappeared beside him, staring after Monet as well.

“You don’t have a problem with her too, do you?” Bastion asked, thinking of his guardian’s response to Cleo.

“No,” he said. “I think she’s a fine companion for you.”

Companion? Bastion’s cheek went slightly pink. “Well...”

“Just be certain not to misplace your trust,” Archangel went on. “This task - and you - are too important for any lapses in judgment. Or in ability...”

He gazed at the ground, troubled. Was the demon upset because he thought he hadn’t sufficiently protected him from Hell Biker? Before Bastion could question him further, Archangel vanished back into his gauntlet.

Well... Bastion believed Archangel was wrong on both counts. He was a good guardian... and Monet could be trusted. He was sure of that.

"I don't mind, I made a great friend today after all, I'd call that progress." Monet responded with a smile and a light nod to the archangel.

"Of course!  Let's go in style shall we?  I say this one in an old book!"  Monet stated, as Goki became to slight squeal in excitement.  With a bit of maga, an old fashioned tiny car out of some only 1900s show appeared before them with Monet hopping on with Goki quickly calling shotgun and hopping in the side seat.

---

Monet stood before the council a solemn look on her face, as she was writing on the same notepad that she had showed her sketch of the city to Bastion.  She glanced over the image for a moment as she was flipping through the pages, her eyes looking a bit reluctant... but it's her job.

"And, it seems he trusts me quite a bit.  Overall, I think we learned a lot" Monet stated to the council, holding up a sketch of the deathstone, hell rider, and asher.  She made sure to go into every ounce of information in excruciating detail, and point heavy emphasis on the angel Asra and how he had encountered him during the mission he died.

"Still, I think Bastion's motives are pure, he's just trying to stop Mother Harlot.  However, I'm worried about what that angel might do." Monet stated with concern, as she turned her gaze towards Goki who looked almost troubled and guilty.

"Are you really going to rat Bastion out, he's our partner!"

Goki's words echoed in Monet's mind, but she didn't care, this was for Bastion's health and safety, if anything the council will help him.  Though, Goki's eye stung, and almost like in defense of his judgment he shifted back in Samael, his face going from the light Monet to the stoic and serious expression that everyone was used to.

"So, what do you think about all this?" Samael asked curiously to the three members of the council.

Malak and Caius looked deep in thought at Monet’s report. Talia’s seat was noticeably vacant, though the other two did not bother to elaborate on her absence.

“Troubling... but not entirely unexpected,” Malak sighed. “Bastion’s resurrection and the emerge of the angels indicated there must be a patron angel watching over him. Asra, though... you think-?”

He glanced at Caius, who had closed his eyes, deep in thought.

“We don’t know much about this Asher or his intentions,” Caius said after a moment. “Thus, we cannot allow any more of these Deathstones to fall into his hands. When another Fiend emerges, it will be a top priority to find and destroy it before Asher can.”

Malak nodded. “If the Deathstones really are the key to defeating Mother Harlot, then it’s essential we collect them regardless.” Then he added. “And Bastion?”

Caius fixed his eyes on Monet - now Samael - and frowned. “Preventing him from pursuing the Fiends would be a fruitless endeavor. Based on Monet’s report, his revelations will lead him to them, regardless. We might as well allow that for now and continue to monitor the situation.”

They nodded to Samael in dismissal, but as Samael reached the door, Malak called out to him.

“Samael, do tread carefully. Trust, when broken, can do more damage than any weapon or demon.”

Samael solemnly nodded in response Malak, as far as he was concerned he was Samael now.  He didn't have any trust with Bastion that the more passionate and naive Monet had, he had maintained the illusion for so long that he wasn't going to slip up now.

When Samael walked outside the council Goki tapped his foot, looking up at him with a curious gaze as the demon eyes still had a look of shame, shame in his superior for betraying his vanguard friend.

"How could you betray Bastion, Monet?" Goki said with a sheepish look as Samael gave him a look of annoyance.  How could he mention his name when he was Samael?  He knew better than that, he trained him better than that.  Samael was about to speak up when Goki simply raised his hand, taking a step back away from the vanguard.

"Stop being Samael, be Monet, the council and Komori will help you switch." Goki stated, as he looked up at Samael with pleading eyes, "You helped me so now I'm helping you, switch or... I won't help fight anymore... but...."

The silence consumed the two, as Samael simply stared blankly at Goki for a while.  The oni however held a firm and solid gaze, he was serious about this, and he was so far off from the timid oni that had been with him before.  However, he couldn't be Monet, she was a human and Samael was basically a demon who turned and looked away from the suffering of others.

"Then, this is goodbye."  Samael responded, as he tapped his gauntlet and freed Goki.  The demon had a look of rejection, pain, as he reluctantly wandered off into the crowd away from Samael.  Samael looked down at his gauntlet with a pained expression, a feeling of emptiness overtook him... and he felt alone.

"Trust... hu?" Samael muttered.