The three of us wasted no time in jumping down the hole. We were on a tight schedule, after all. Maybe even a countdown if we're unlucky. No matter the case, the only Color we saw was a frenzied Red, barely even capable of waiting for the Two Gods to enter our field of view from the dark abyss below.
"Sheep, don't let me go splat!" I instructed him.
"Aye!" He yelled back, catching me halfway down the descent to allow us a more graceful landing.
Of course, we were all Heavenly Beings who completely lacked any gilded parts, so it's not like we'd get hurt if he didn't catch us. Still, it looked cooler this way, so I think it was pretty necessary.
"Hmph, good to see you again in the flesh." Selz chuckled.
"You're really gonna beat us up for something we haven't even done yet...?" Pry sulked next to him.
"Those whimpering Eyes mean nothing to us, so you can just cut the crap right off the bat." I shot back, "You know, just promise you won't go through with your plan once we achieve our happy ending, and we won't even lay a finger on you."
"Nah, speak for yourself." Energy interjected, "In my opinion, threatening is half the job. Plus I really wanna punch these guys in the face."
"You're the one guy here who physically can't do that, though..." Sheep sighed.
Meh, I'm actually on Energy's side here. These Two have been the ones behind all of our troubles for the longest time now. They deserve at least a flick on their foreheads for it, I'd wager. Yeah, ever since I got into Heaven 2.0, I've been blaming myself for all the issues we've been facing, when in reality it was their plotting from the sidelines. They're so dead...!
"I feel rage welling up within you all." Pry still tried to call it off, "Look, maybe Selz is used to dealing with physical pain, but I'm a full-on pacifist! If you hit me, it'll be like kicking a toddler."
Energy replied, "I kick toddlers for breakfast!"
"That's... You're still the least plausible person to be saying that stuff." Sheep added, "No legs, remember?"
"So? The same could be said for you!" Energy fussed, "Buncha' Eyes and wings looking ass..."
Hey now, no use getting into a fight between each other when the real opponents are right across from us. Just release those frustrations on them instead. Speaking of, I can understand Pry not doing anything, but why is Selz also stationary?
"Hm? Go on, get it over with." Selz noticed me staring curiously, "I won't fight back either."
"What?" Sheep was taken aback, "Not even gonna try and dodge?"
"Why should I? A human can't even fully comprehend staring directly at an archangel without their mind going numb, much less keep up with one in a fight." He explained, "Apart from that, it's a 3-on-2 battle, and my teammate already forfeited before the match even started. What good could I possibly accomplish?"
"That's...? Wait, he's not wrong." I turned to the other two, "So what now? We beat them to death?"
"Ah, we can't actually do that." Energy recalled, albeit a tad too late, "Who knows what's gonna happen to this place if its creators and administrators just up and die. We can't risk it."
Wait up a sec, did we just make a mistake? I mean, it's not substantial or anything, but we did kind of end up looking dumb with this. Are our two only options really to beat up two helpless morons who don't wanna fight back or let them be? That's kind of anticlimactic.
"I mean, I still wanna hit 'em." Energy figured, "We could beat them to an inch of their lives."
"But that's wrong, though." Sheep reasoned.
Energy grunted, "And? Abusing their Godly powers is also wrong."
"We have no morals, you see." Selz explained, "Those are made for humans to make them feel better about themselves when they follow their own self-imposed rulesets."
"Again, that's kinda whack, but we'll get back to that." I huddled up close to Sheep and Energy for an emergency meeting, "We're going back up, aren't we?"
"Oh come on. At least chuck me at one of them." Energy protested.
"And what if they capture you after that?" I frowned, "We won't be able to get you back if that happens."
"Actually, I could." Sheep politely raised a wing.
"..."
"....."
We turned back around to see the Gods patiently wait for us.
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"You came to a conclusion?" Pry asked.
"U-Uh, yeah." I nodded, "We're gonna go back up now."
"Though I already know the answer, I believe it's fair of me to ask if we could accompany you." The deadpanned Selz asked.
"..."
"Well?"
"Brain attack!"
I tossed Energy straight into the Knowledge God's face, hitting him right between the Eyes. Man, I'm a really good pitcher! Immediately afterwards, Sheep rebounded the brain before grabbing me as well and taking us back up, all within the span of milliseconds. Back up at the surface, my Eyes were still having trouble adjusting to the Sun's rays. Only after a few seconds could I finally see around me.
"Everyone okay?" Sheep asked to make sure.
Energy replied all cheery, "Woo! Thank you both, that felt great!"
"Heh, it was kinda funny." I chuckled as well, "But it was pretty risky. I'm still kind of in disbelief that they didn't actually somehow predict this."
We exited Sheep's winged embrace, touching down safely on the cloudy ground below. I went to turn around and inspect the hole one more time, as if to just make sure we truly made it without any problems. What greeted me, however, was a familiar White Flash of light, accompanied by an ear piercing high pitched sound that immediately made my consciousness slip away.
"Hm, an interesting gadget indeed." Selz inspected the Flasher I had previously dropped down the hole earlier, "Still don't like it. Maybe because of having it done to me before, but I'm very averse to the barbaric notion of temporarily blinding and deafening your opponent so easily."
"You can say that again." Pry nodded behind him, cupping his ears with a pained expression.
"So you agree?"
"No, literally, I meant say it again." He then promptly shoved a finger in his ear, "I didn't hear anything you said after the Flash."
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***
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I can't see a thing. I can't hear it either. Matter of fact, what even is the thing I'm looking for? Urgh, my head is screaming right now... What the Hell just happened? I'm so confused.
"...igu! Migu!" Energy snapped me out of it, "Wake up, they got Sheep!"
"Whuh?" I blinked once or twice, "What do you mean...? Who did?"
"The Gods, dammit! They took him away, I sensed everything in realtime!" He yelled back in a panic, "Dammit, they must have somehow hitched a ride while he was taking us back up the hole!"
I knew it, they were bluffing the entire time. "Just humans"... Tch, my ass they are. So when they said they were no match for Sheep's hyperspeed, Selz was just saying that to trick us into a false sense of security. Him failing to dodge me chucking Energy at him also served its purpose of doing just that. We've been duped.
"So they kept my Flasher hidden on them the entire time?" I rubbed my sore head, dusting myself off a bit before picking Energy up, "That felt horrible, how are you holding up?"
"I'm fine, my mind doesn't have Eyes nor ears to feel its effects." He replied, "But Sheep is different. I saw it all, they're constantly Flashing him point blank to keep him from waking up."
Oh geez, that's horrible. Any normal person would go blind and deaf from that a long time ago. Hell, a normal person would have died before that could even happen. Just one Flash was enough to knock me unconscious, so I can only imagine what Sheep's going through.
"Then we gotta save him." I nodded decidedly, "Where'd they go?"
"Right where you're looking at, that street with the dome-shaped house." He exasperatedly explained, "I don't know what they're planning to do with him, but it's a fact that we let them out of the hole prematurely. Elegy's plan might be in danger."
"I get it, you don't have to rub it in..." I looked down, "Darn it, we messed up again...!"
I'm seething to my very core right now. I broke off into a mad dash down the street, but I'm not sure how far until we catch up to them. On one hand, they're carrying someone as heavy as an archangel, but on the other hand, who knows how much of a headstart they had gotten.
"Hey, how long was I asleep?" I glanced down with my Eyes.
"A few minutes." He replied, "Not long, but enough for them to turn as many corners as they want to shake us off."
"Don't jinx it."
Using Energy's sensing ability to locate Sheep's location, I was very worried to find out that we were headed straight towards the Gods' Abode in G District. If that's the case, then that can only mean one thing—they want to meet up with the cherubim. Who knows what that'll entail...
"Just up ahead, you got it." Energy navigated me through it.
"Tch, as I thought..." I grinded my teeth at the grand sight, "The gates to the Abode's yard."
Just as cold, metallic and spiky as I remember them. Despite not being that tall, at least in comparison to the rest of the plot's size, it still carries this air of unwelcoming to it. That being said, there was one key difference to it that wasn't there before.
"They shut the gates and locked us out!" I yelled, my Eyes lividly staring down the giant mansion in the distance, "Let me in! You hear me!? Let me innnn~!"
"Climbing over it is gonna be too difficult for you to accomplish because of the pointed tips." Energy worried, "Maybe leave me here? The lessened burden will allow you to-"
"No, are you crazy?" I frowned at him next, "We're doing this together, I need your help to find them."
"Hrm... In that case, you're gonna have to find a way to get past this gate."
Despite me calling them metallic bars, it's not like I can squeeze in between them or anything. The bars go both vertically and horizontally, creating a sort of square design which makes even fitting a fist through the holes pretty tough. Still, the metal is so thick and tough, it's impossible to bend.
"What now?" I looked at him for help.
"What else?" He replied halfheartedly, "Look around the perimeter. Find a weak spot we can abuse to get over or under it. Apart from that... Pray we find one, I guess."
In the distance, constant bright Flashes could be seen emerging from the windows. A clear sign that they were in there, torturing Sheep so that he couldn't wake up and fight back. Urgh, how cowardly! And after we offered them a peaceful alternative...! Those bastards deserve no mercy for what they're doing to Sheep!
"Ouch!" I stepped on something sharp, "The Hell...?"
"You alright? Careful, the bars are sharp on the bottom as well." Energy comforted me.
"It's not that..." I looked down at the blood Red color spewing out onto the otherwise White clouds I stood on, "I-I'm bleeding..."
"It'll heal quickly." He hurried me to get a move on, "Come on, we don't have time to worry about that. Our bodies can handle a prick or two just fine."
"No, you don't understand." I carefully put him down on the ground.
"Migu...!"
"Don't worry, I think I know what to do." I smiled back at him confidently, "I need to dig!"