She enjoyed the glare that was given to her, as the bullets ripped through him. She enjoyed that he still fought against her even though he was in pain. She admired that fighting spirit within his being and it was a shame that he had been on Raziel's side. He probably could have been disciplined enough to be one of them but then again a man like him could never be like them. It truly was a shame that he had been led done that path of life. She watched in satisfaction when his body hit the ground. She was finally that this would be put to an end, that he would finally be erased from this planet.<br/><br/>The gun fell out of her grasp and she let out a moan of exhaustion. Perhaps it was the words that her ally had spoken to her that caused her body to feel this way. She was trying her best to stay standing but her legs trembled so violently that she was sure that he knee cap would break from the force. It wasn't like her to feel so weak but both of her shoulders had been bitten into and flesh was torn off. Her mind kept in and out focusing on something then nothing. She wondered if she would survive the way to the medical base. She also was amazed that she hadn't passed out from the agony her body was feeling. Her head fell forward as it became harder to control her body. Now that her fight was over, she would rest like she was told to do.<br/><br/>That's all she needed to do.<br/><br/>Her colleagues gathered the Cannibal's corpse had placed it into a black bag. Zipping up the body, they tossed it into the trunk of their car. "We'll take this somewhere and dispose of it. You should take them to medical bay or something like that," the driver said, motioning towards Lucian and the barely conscious woman. "We'll see you back at the other base." The two that took care of the body while another continued to make the alleyway seem like there was a typical bar fight. Things seemed to be on their side, as God would not let their leader guide them down the wrong path.<br/><br/>---------<br/><br/>This is what dying felt like, right? Her chest clenched painful and her body felt as if it were going to combust at any given time. Her mind was spinning and her body was floating. She was sure that someone was carrying her at this point but she felt so numb. It was hard to grasp anything anymore. She could vaguely hear people shouting and then there was her name. She recognized it was Azrai, a small smile touching her lips. So, he was still alive then she had made it right? He would live through this ordeal right? Shizu let out a pain filled groan as her head lolled back against the arms holding her. Would she survive this ordeal, too?<br/><br/>Through barely opened eyes, she stared up at the woman holding her. She smiled as the woman spoke but she couldn't hear or make sense of anything. The sun filtered through the chaos touching her face gently. The warmth felt nice against her cool cheek, it was almost as if Kami-sama was touching her. It felt so nice. She felt her body shake lightly and her eyes opened a little more, straining to look at the woman carrying her. "Stay awake, please," the woman muttered in a gentle tone. "Just please....stay with us. We're getting you help." Shizu nodded her head to the best of her ability, wanting to reply but she felt too weak to do so. Her fingers gripped the shirt that the woman worn as a sign that she understood. She had to keep fighting; her battle for freedom was not over yet.<br/><br/>The poison was attacking her system like the plague, not allowing her body to properly heal itself. She had been warned long ago to not been injured by this poison for it would kill her, her mother had told her before she passed on. Now she understood why her mother had been so fearful of it. Thinking of her mother, she could only remember her eyes, her smile, and the smell of jasmine that surrounded her. A slight hum of happiness left her, remembering that smile that was just for her. Her hand loosened on the woman's shirt, her mind slipping into the depths of unconsciousness. A curse left the woman as she immediately checked for a pulse, a relieved wave came over her as the Oni woman was still alive. She didn't understand why Shizu was so important but if their leader had gone through these drastic measures to keep her alive, then she had proven to be worth saving.<br/><br/>"Elias, I need cures for poisons, especially those coming from Japan," Ivan said into the earpiece as he led his group through the corridors of an old building. He had been surprised that Azrai had stirred so soon, which was not a good thing. He knew that Maverick was struggling to keep going but they were close, just a little further and it would all be taken care of. He noted that Azrai would probably struggle and that would mean they would have to sedate him, which would not make him happy. Damn, this war hadn't turned out the way he had expected then again God had a reason for doing things a certain way.<br/><br/>It was in His hands.<br/><br/>"Sure thing, I'm assuming a cure for poisons against Oni, right?" Elias replied.<br/><br/>"That would be most helpful," Ivan grumbled through gritted teeth, his foot slamming into a rusty door. The door gave way after the third kick, creaking upon impact. The stairway leading down to the medical base was poorly lit but it would be enough for them to make it there. "Be careful with them going down the stairs," he ordered. He shifted Azrai's limp body slightly for better mobility. It was tough enough trying to deal with his heavy ass while he was unconscious. The fact that he was coming around meant that Ivan and his group needed to hurry up. If Azrai saw how Shizu looked right now, Ivan knew that it would be hard to separate them for treatment. Not to mention that Azrai would fall into a state of self-loathing for allowing her to get this way, if hadn't already begun doing so.<br/><br/>The sound of feet moving quickly down concrete steps echoed in the small stairway. It was a bit difficult to move them around as the space was a bit tight. The air was hot with the amount of people that were crammed into the area. There was this ragged, desperate noise in the air and soon Ivan realized it was the heavy breaths that he was taking. His heart was pounding in his ears, knowing that they were cutting things close. There were too many lives on the line, all because of that bastard Raziel. Landing on solid ground, the hallway opened up a little more, allowing some breathing room for his group. The corridor had flood lights on both sides of the wall, allowing ample light for them. He could see the fluorescent lights from the bay just ahead. He hoped that they were well equipped or else he would have failed everyone. He had a feeling that they would need most if not all the inventory the stations had.<br/><br/>"Ivan," the woman carrying Shizu warned in a low tine.<br/><br/>"I know. Damnit, I know," he muttered not daring to look back. He could already feel the anger in his veins boiling. Here, he had though the plan was to capture Shizu, not kill her. It was obvious that Raziel wasn't willing to let her live if she wasn't on his side. It sounded tragically romantic but it was more psychotic than anything else. "We're nearing the base; there should be enough stations for everyone to receive proper attention." Ivan grunted slight feeling his wounds ache. No, he wouldn't seek aide until he knew that everyone was stable. He needed to secure their lives first. "I want Maverick at station one, Azrai at two, and Shizu at three. Should complications arise, notify me and I shall handle it. Are we all clear?"<br/><br/>There was a collective 'Yes sir,' which made him blow out a breath of relief. He was glad that they were a cooperative group or else this would have been a day in hell and back. Once they reached the bay, he shouted a few orders before taking Azrai into station two. "Elias, please give me some good news," Ivan panted into the earpiece. They lifted Azrai onto the medical table, pulling of his damaged clothes. There had been a few other people from the organization in the base and he thanked God for that. He knew a thing or two about medical procedures but not enough to operate. He stood back a bit, watching as the medics began to hook his dear friend to machines and IVs. He felt helpless at this point but there really wasn't much that he could do expect for keeping an eye on everyone.<br/><br/>"Ivan, are you there? I have a cure," Elias said though his voice was a bit unsure. "You need milk thistle, bark, dragon bone, ginger, ginseng, and they all need to be in a liquid form. Mix it all together and inject it into them, you'll need about one milliliter each..."<br/><br/>"Anything else," Ivan asked as he began to dig through all the cabinets in the room. He found a few of the items and frowned when he couldn't find the others.<br/><br/>"It's...It's not guaranteed to work..." Elias said frantically, he shifted slightly. "Is everything alright," he asked a worried tone in his voice.<br/><br/>Ivan stopped, wondering if he should tell Elias the severity of the situation. The poor boy was in the dark right now and all he knew was that there were a lot of people hurt. "Azrai and Shizu have both been poisoned....We reached the bay but nothing is guaranteed either." He rubbed his face as a headache grew in between his eyes. "Nonetheless, we will save them both."<br/><br/>"R-Right..." Elias fell silent for a moment, as if processing the news he just received. "I'll be here if you need anything else."<br/><br/>"Yeah...I know." Ivan sighed slightly as he quickly moved out of Azrai's room as the medics tended to his injuries. He walked towards the main area that the medics worked in when they weren't operating. He began to look through the cabinets, before he found what he was looking for. He sat down at a desk, opening up the bottles and pouring them into one container. He tried to make sure that he didn't spill any of the extracts, knowing that he would need all of it. His hands trembled as he stirred the mixture up, knowing that the future was currently uncertain. He looked around for a few syringes, his heart was pounding. He filled the syringes to the point that Elias had instructed him to before looking at them in his hand. If this didn't work then...<br/><br/>"Ivan!!!"<br/><br/>He was brought out of his thoughts, his feet carrying him to Shizu's room. The monitor she had been hooked up to was beeping rapidly; her stripped body was turning grey. He could clearly see the veins in her body; she was on the brink of death. He rushed to her side, pushing away the medics, his eyes searching for a place to inject her. "Go put this into Azrai, now!" His voice boomed as he handed the other syringe to a soldier and they quickly ran off. He ordered a medic to aide him as he asked for an alcohol wipe. Ripping the package open, her wiped Shizu's hip and taking the cap off of the syringe. Sliding the needle into the ventrogluteal muscle, he pressed down on the plunger, watching the liquid disappear. He carefully took the needle out and stared down at the dying woman.<br/><br/>He stood there watching her for twenty minutes, praying to God that she made it through. The medics around him were frantically trying to keep her alive while he could only bet on this antidote. The beeping machine slowly stabilized, her heart producing a better beat. He nearly collapsed from the position he had been standing in, realizing that it was slowly working. However, she would still need plenty time to recover. He was soon ushered out of the room as the medics continued to work on patching up her injuries. Ivan stood outside of the room, trying to feel some sort of emotion other than worry. He still worried that the antidote wouldn't be enough...but they could only do so much. It was all in God's hands now.<br/><br/>He trekked down the hallway, peering into the Azrai's room, watching the monitors and watching his chest rise and fall. They would pull through this, all their hard works hadn't been for nothing, right? He moved down to station one, checking up on Maverick. He walked into the room, sitting down in a chair as exhaustion took hold of him. Had they really made it in time or was he in a dream? The dull ache of his wounds bothered him, maybe reminding him that he was awake. For now, he just needed to sit and wait, wait until one of them came around and Zachariah arrived. They needed to figure out what they would do with Azrai and Shizu once this war was over. Ivan rubbed his face, not ready to think about it, his eyes idly watching the medics run around trying to fix everyone up. He waved a few of them away, knowing that they still weren't in the clear.<br/><br/>"Power...Power is everything," Raziel muttered slowly. It had to be true, power was what made people listen. He glared as Zachariah still laid on the ground, not sure what the man was cooking up in his mind. "I don't need anything else to make my strong," he growled out. "I have proven that my power has made me worthy of leadership, have I not? Has God not given me this power to eradicate the world of its imperfections?" Raziel hated how Zachariah was able to play with his mind, as he always hand. Was he beginning to doubt that God was on his side? Was he beginning to see the flaws in his plans? He let out an enraged snarl, knowing that Zachariah was simply playing mind games and those games he hated the most.<br/><br/>He would show him that power controlled everything.<br/><br/>As Zachariah spoke, he rose to his feet and Raziel was pleased. At least he intended to not stall this battle any longer. He had been waiting patiently for his revenge from five years ago. Of course, he would have struck Zachariah continued to lie down, his temper was very short at this point. Not only was his body wearing and burning but he had lost the opportunity to gain the Oni woman. The reason why he had wanted Zachariah to stand in order to fight was because he wanted Zachariah to acknowledge him as an equal for once. He wanted Zachariah to acknowledge him as a rival of some sort. However, he was sure that that would never happen and it enraged him. He had worked hard of his friend to finally see his ideals and plans, only to be scorned. He would no longer deal with that painful feeling.<br/><br/>It was satisfying to see that Zachariah was determined; it gave him a newfound strength. Cracking his knuckles, he stood a little straighter, even though his leg was shaking from the bullet in his leg. He would not allow that to him hinder him in this final showdown. When the punch landed on his jaw, he was a bit shocked. The pain that exploded caused him to stumble back and wince slightly. A low growl left him as he noticed where Zachariah was heading to and he pursued. Another bullet went through his body but he pushed on, not allowing himself the crumble in pain. He no longer had time for things like that. An inhuman roar left him as he continued to move towards Zachariah, though it seemed like there was more than just one of the man.<br/><br/>His eyes narrowed as he lifted his legs to kick one copy, only to have his leg hit a boulder. Chips of rock fell from the impact but Raziel continued in pursuit of blood. He growled turning around to see Zachariah and he lunged at the man, his hand coming around his neck, clamping down as best as he could. His grip wasn't as strong as it should've been thanks to the acid in his body. It pissed him off that throughout all the injections that he had researched and taken, Zachariah had come up with something that could counter it. Was his hard work for nothing? Had God been mocking him this entire time? Out of anguish and anger, he threw Zachariah into the ground, his body jumping after the male. His fist was ready to strike however he managed to miss the punch, intended to smash Zachariah's face.<br/><br/>His hand wrapped around his neck again. "I should choke the life out of you, I should enjoy the face you make as you die," he growled out, gripping tighter around his neck. However, he could barely keep the grip as strong as he would have liked to. His breathing was so heavy that he was practically gasping for air; the images around him were spinning. Anger caused the veins on his temples to bulge and he shook Zachariah slightly. "Why? Why is it always you?" The past coming up as fuel for Raziel's anger. "Why can I never surpass you?! I should kill you now, and then it would all be settled! I will be the one that God loves, it shall be only me." He raised his fist to deliver the blow that would render him unrecognizable.<br/><br/>"I will be the one that God favors!"