Spain: Crumbling Towers

'Great.' the restrained brunet thought. 'I am in the clutches of a level three akuma. In front of not one but two Noah without my innocence.' He struggled some to try to break free from the akuma's clutches but it's arms didn't even move. 'Yup. I'm dead. Well, might as well have a little fun before I'm viciously murdered right?'

"Bonjour." he said as greetings to the new Noah. "I can't say it's nice to meet you again miss lady from the train." he said defiantly. "Would you be so kind as to return my ring? It is very important to me."

She smiled at the captive male's request, finding it ridiculously funny. She leaned over in front of the the restrained boy. "What ring? Oh...." she trailed off and reached into her expansive amount of cleavage to pull out the ring. "You mean this ring? Hm....I dun think so. Not now anyway" she stated and returned the accessory back to it's temporary home. She was about to turn and walk back to Alys when she remembered something. "Oh! Almost forgot!" she exclaimed then turned to bite into Collin's shoulder harshly, breaking the flesh before parting and licking her lips. "Collin Rivenbark, age: 19, Blood Type: AB-, Equipment innocence user, Fighting style: Offensive, Strongest body part: Upper arms, Weakest: Back and lower legs, Synchronization Rate: 70%, Current Emotional Status: Fear, Current Physical Status: Stressed" she stated out like a computer providing data. She smiled down at the boy. "You should relax. Stress makes torture 10x worse"

~~~

The three level 2 Akuma brothers covered the land looking for the other two exorcists. They came upon Candy and her Puppet first, quickly heading toward her, garnering her attention with a blast of dark flames toward her.

He winced at the sharp and sudden pain in his shoulder as the girl's teeth sank deep into his shoulder and then gawked with wide eyes as the Noah listed facts about the exorcist, some of which even he didn't know himself.

"T-torture?" Collin said nervously, "tch! oh boy can't wait!" he added sarcastically through clenched teeth. "Why not just kill me?"

"Tch, what the heck kinda attack is this?" Candy giggled as Ureshii slammed the two akuma into the ground, "I'll beat these akuma to a pulp!" She said with a grin.

"Aw Baby-san, let me have some fun!" Alys said as she walked toward the distressed exorcist. Her electricity circled the exorcist as she looked him over, "Weak and defensless... need I say more?" She turned to Babylon and winked at her as she shocked the exorcist with the green electricity.

"GC-K!!H-HELP! S-So-Some...body..." White gasped, vision slowly fading. All that haunted her ears was that snake's psychotic laughing. "Candy...Collin...Grey..." White whimpered, her strength finally leaving her.

NO, WHITE!! YOU CAN MAKE IT!!

Foolish exorcist...can't you use me properly?

"Champion?" White mumbled before a blinding light came from her body. The snake screeched and slithered away, leaving White to collapse on her knees. Her coat was now nothing but pure silver armor, spikes jutting down her spine. Her gauntlets also carried the same spine motif, and the armor around her upper torso looked like tree branches coiled around her. White looked stunned, "What just happened?"

She heard a scream in the backgroud and stood up quickly. "CANDY, COLLIN, I'M COMING!" She yelled, running off in the direction of the scream.

The male's entire body was convulsing violently from the huge amount of electricity passing through it. Collin wanted to scream but his vocal cords were paralyzed and he couldn't draw a single breath. All he could hear was the deafening buzz of electric current.

The shock left Collin sweating and gasping for breath. He slumped over in the level three's grasp.

"CANDY!!" White shouted as she ran towards the exorcist. "ARE YOU OKAY!!?" For the armor's bulky look, it was surprisingly light. White held her arms up just in time to block an akuma attack.

"Don't worry about me!" Candy said with a smirk as Ureshii threw an akuma out of the way, "help Collin! He's in real trouble with those noah!" Kanashii blocked an akuma from trampling White then threw it over to Ureshii, who dropped kicked it into a wall.

"R-right!" White said, running off in the direction Candy had indicated. She dodged another akuma attack and dived to avoid another.

"There's too many!" She thought desperately. She managed to deflect another attack back and continued running.

"Ugh!" Candy grimaced as she tightened Kanashii's strings. It was getting harder and harder to control her puppets as more akuma came running toward her. Candy stepped back as an akuma slammed into Kanashii, candy fell onto her butt, yet she held her strings firmly. "Come back after you get Collin and his innocence! I'm gonna need lotsa help here!" She yelled after White as five more level one's slammed into kanashii.

"Got it!" White shouted. She closed her eyes and opened them. Grey was there, ready to fight. The armor disappeared but he pulled out the rag. The spear came forth, but it seemed to have grown larger, the blad more wicked.

"A great lance, Champion?" Grey purred. "Didn't know you had it in you." He twirled it once above his head and then slammed it into a level two.

"Oh god, another exorcist." Alys said with anger as her electricity turned to a raging fire, which burned the exoricist in the akuma's hands. "We'll just have to teach him a lesson eh.... Collin is it?" The response she got from the exorcist was a howl of pain, which made Alys even more angry. She scowled at the exorcist in pain as she sent her fire to the exorcist running toward the building they were now standing on, which seemed to be the only building still standing.

Grey yelped, backing away from the fire just in time to avoid being singed. "Hey, lady, anybody ever taught you not to mess with fire?" Grey shouted, obviously miffed. He continued running, diving towards the ground to avoid another burst of fire.

As alys's mood changed, her fire turned into the gewy(sp?) orange stuff she materialized when she was happy. She sent the orange substance toward the exorcist diving to dodge her attack and when it hit, it hardened around her body and formed a cement that was not unbreakable, but very hard to get out of. Alys turned her hand around as she stared at the orange substance that was weaving through her fingertips, "What an interesting discovery." She marveled as she sent more orange stuff toward the exorcist that was struggling to get out of the hardened clutches of her power.

Ew, ew, ew!! DISGUSTING!! White screeched as the gooey materialy hardened. Grey struggled, "Don't complain, and switch!" Soon, the armor came back and most of the goop shattered. White started running again, wisely watching the attacking Noahs.

"This is just our luck," She mumbled. "COLLIN, CAN YOU HEAR ME!?" She dodged more of the orange substance.

Babylon watched proudly as her sister succeeded in torturing the exorcist. She only dissaproved when the boy's screams seemed to be silenced after his vocal chords had been paralyzed but other than that was very happy with Alys' treatment. She noticed as Alys became occupied with the exorcist's friends who seemed to be having alot of trouble with her baby Akuma.

"we can play with them now Alys-chan. There's no use in playing with our toy until he can make noise again" she stated in a sadistc tone. She walked over to Collin wile Alys "played" and let a hand shift through his hair. "So I see you've experienced being burned thoroughly well but tell me exorcist. Have you ever been burned by pure darkness? It has the same bite as original fire but accompanied by the pain of a thousand tortured souls" she explained and smiled sweetly despite the morbid explanation. She then leaned in and placed a kiss to the exorcist's lips. But this kiss wasn't like the one on the train that was used as a distraction. This kiss transfered her personal black fire straight into the exorcist's body. She didn't give him enough dark energy to kill him but enough for his whole body to burn. 

After the kiss was parted she watched as the exorcist's fought her akuma. She was about to join when she realized the building she stood on was the last" Hm...innocence must be in here. Better blow it up. Akuma babies! " she called and immediatly the 3 level 2s abandoned their fights and flew over to Babylon. "Feu-kun, hold Collin away so he doesn't die. Babies, spread yourselves throughout the building" she ordered and waited till they did as told. She jumped off the building while stating " Akuma self destruction in 5...4...3...2...1" as she finished her countdown and landed on the ground the building behind her exploded.

"Feu-kun you can let him go now" The level 3 nodded before dropping the internally burned exorcist onto the sand.

The ground rocked, throwing White off balance. She pitched forward, tumbling unto she landed at the foot of one of the level 2s. "Oh..shit," White mumbled. Grey quickly came in, great lance twirling, and with an upward thrust, cut the level 2 in half.

"Just our day," he mumbled, trembling slightly.

I think we're bleeding, was the only thing White said.

The instant the Noah's lips touched his, Collin felt a terrifying heat enter his mouth and quickly spread throughout his body. 'Wha? What is this!?!?' He screamed in his head. It felt like every cell in his body had been thrown into an iron furnace. He writhed in the akuma's grip as black flames scorched every fiber of his insides.

'If only I had my innocence.' he thought fleetingly between convulsions of pain. 'I need it.. to save candy and white!'

Collin opened his eyes made completely black from the Noah's flames and found himself on the ground. He didn't know when he got there because he couldn't feel anything through the surging pain caused by the black fire. He saw Babylon standing a few yards away and struggled to get to much feet. 'Damn. I can't help anyone in this condition. I can hardly keep myself on my feet.'

Baylon looked over the pile of rubble caused by the level two's sacrafices. She noticed the exorcist that was in pain and shrugged, knowing that soon the burns would gradually begin to fade. She again focused on the broken building, closing her eyes to try and pin point the location of the innocence.

After a moment she walked over and picked up what looked to be a corner stone of the building. She broke it in half and found the innocence. She smirked when she thought of an idea for mental torture. Her back had been turned to Collin and he had probley been preoccupied with the pain.

She made the motion that she had pulled the exorcist's ring out of her cleavage when she had actually just hidden the town's innocence in her hand. She walked over and knelt down infront of Collin, holding out her hand holding "his" innocence before him. "Goodness your so weak. Why does the black order even deal with you? I think I'll just save them the trouble and get rid of what little power you have" she stated harshly and with a clench of her fist, crushed the innocence. Keeping silent to let Collin's realization that his precious innocence had been destroyed wash over him.

Grey watched, stunned, as the Noah crushed the innocence in her palm. A vicious scream ripped from his throat, his great lance rending the last level two akuma near him. In his head, Champion was throbbing in pain.

She didn't! White gasped. A vicious battle yell escaped from Grey's mouth and he vaulted towards the Noah, the intent to kill clear in his eyes. He was stopped, however, when another akuma rammed into him. It was a grappling fight, Grey struggling with the akuma.

"YOU MURDERER!" Grey shouted. "HOW COULD YOU!!?" In "their" head, Champion cried.

HOW COULD YOU! HOW COULD YOU KILL ONE OF US!!?

Collin's darkened eyes widened in shock as "his" innocence was crushed before his very eyes. His voice cracked and then he let out a shrill scream from the mental and physical anguish dealt to him by this Noah. He collapsed to his knees and clutched his head between his hands.

"No, no, NO! this can't be happening! Glutton! GLUTTOOONN!!" He yelled. Something started to glow from within Babylon's cleavage. A bright light emerged and shot toward the mourning exorcist. The light stopped on the ground between the exorcist's knees. He stared wide eyed at it. The sight of it flooded him with hope, which seemed to alleviate the pain from Babylon's flames.

He grabbed it quickly yelling "INNOCENCE! ACTIVATE!" With a flash of light the small glimmering ring grew to the size of a softball. "Dine!" Babylon's black flames flowed from the exorcist's body into gluttony's silver form taking most of the pain with it. Gluttony grew a long handle and quadrupled in size. Spikes, knives, and studs protruded from the glowing holes on it's surface.

Collin grabbed the handle with both hands. "Your kisses pack a real punch, baby." he said hoarsely, "Judging from how big Glutton got you must have given me a lot of dark energy."

All around them the sand littering the street was shivering and piling up to form buildings again. "I'm thinking that the innocence you crushed was the one we were sent to retrieve from the looks of it. What a shame. What a waste. That innocence could have done so much good for the world." he said bowing his head slightly.

The Noah of passion couldn't hold back a satisfied smile as her trick not only worked on her intended target but on a rather sensitive exorcist friend of his. "Pathetic...they're just weapons. You've only given those innocence personalitys to satisfy your own lonely appetites. It's practically mad you know" she stated as she began to walk away toward her sister.

She stopped though when she heard Collin activate his innocence and for the first time showed him a slightly shocked expression after seeing the size. "Oh...so it feeds off dark matter?.....Well atleast this will be more fun" her shock easily turned to excitement as black flames began twirling around her body. The flames seemed to flare up  when he mentioned that the destroyed innocence could have "done so much good for the world". She scoffed at the notion. " Oh please, "so much good" " she mocked before stepping closer "This world will never be good. It'll only get darker till God must restart it again as he did with Noah. You exorcists and the Earl are both idiots. If the Earl's wishes come true and the world is clensed once again it will just get dirty again and the process will have to repeat in another thousand years. If the exorcists win and "save" the world then it will just cause another endless cycle. The world will continue to get filthy and soon another Earl wannabe will come to challenge you. There will always be an equal amount of destroyers to the world as there are saviors. And both's attempts are futile" by the time her rant was over her whole body seemed to be inflamed.  

Seeing that his mistress was about to attack Feu flew infront of Babylon and blocked the distance between her and Collin. "Pardon my intrusion Mistress Babylon but wouldn't it be better to see if this exorcist can take on a level three Akuma? If he cannot defeat me then there is no use in you wasting any energy over him" At the level 3's suggestion Babylon's flames seemed to die down a bit and she nodded. "Sounds reasonable. Ok go ahead and have fun Feu-kun." her Akuma bowed before facing Collin to begin to battle.

Babylon took her place beside her sister and draped her arm around the girl's shoulder in a playful manner. "So Alys-chan do u wanna take the little girl or the bipolar one? Or do you not need my help?" 

Candy was surprised when the akuma fled from her fight, but she was not going to rest just yet. She ran up to the quarrel that was happening between her friends and the two noahs just in time to see the smaller noah crush the innocence that she and the others were sent to retreive. Candy gasped when she felt a strong tingling in her fingers. "The innocence is not yet destroyed." Kanashii and Ureshii said in unison. A strong light formed around her body as her outfit was destroyed, instead of her usual black a red jester uniform, Candy was wearing a black suit that clung to her small body. On her head was a Large top hat which supported a small playing card with a silouette of a joker painted on it. The hat covered her eyes and hid her short hair, which turned black in the transformation. "I have fully taken over your body 'Candy'" Kanashii spoke out of her mouth in a mocking tone. Candy lifted her hands to her eyes and screamed in pain as a red cross formed on her right hand and a black cross formed on her left. She was left kneeling on the ground with her hands covering her eyes, when she looked up, everything was dark. Candy a voice called her name from a distance. Ureshii? Candy wondered as she stood up into the darkness, Yep! That's me! The voice said in a cheery voice, Just touch your left hand and you'll be free from here k? Ureshii said in a comforting voice. Candy stroked her left hand and suddenly she was in madrid again. She was still wearing the weird suit yet instead of it being all black, it was striped with red. She tried to call for her innocence but instead of the two puppets, a black and red cane formed in her hand, attached to the cane were five strings that materialized from her fingers. "Well..." She said as she ran her fingers along her cane, "Time to put on a show." She jumped into the air and landed on the akuma that was standing beside it's master. When her cane met the akuma's head, a large sun formed on it's face. She looked at the akuma in surprise as she jumped off the level three. "What happens nex..." her sentance was interuppted from a large explosion that came from where her cane met with the akuma's face. "Oh."

Rage was bubbling through Grey's veins, Champion's throbbing forming a headache so intense it took all of his will power to not drop His great lance ripped through the offending akuma. Grey collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily.

"Damn..." he mumbled, falling forward and catching himself. "So tired..." He closed his eyes and he was in a familiar place. The darkened realm with which he usually talked with Champion. White stood next to him.

"What's going to happen now?" White asked. Grey shrugged. Both looked when they felt tiny hands clutch their own. There was Champion, holding both their hands in each of his.

Are you as mad as me? he asked. Do you want to avenge my brethren as much as I do? Both nodded their head. Champion smiled. Then...let us fight...

When White came to, she looked around panicked. Something wasn't right...she stood up slowly, and then everything became clear. Her look had changed. One eye was the vicious red that signaled Grey, the other her own dull brown. Her armor had expanded itself once more, the branch like metal wrapping around her legs. Her coat had grown longer, one half white and the other black. Silver gauntlets with spines coming out adorned her lower arms, and spiked shoulder guards rested upon her shoulders. A thick belt wound itself around her waist, and a billowing cape of pitch black with white tree decorations completed her ensemble. In all, she was reminiscent of a medieval knight.

"This is..." she mumbled, and it was a mixture of her voice and Grey's. In her hand, she held the great lance, which had a decorative dragon snaking around the shaft, the blade looking deadlier.

100% synchronization, Champion said. Be lucky...It will rarely happen... White nodded, rushing forward and stabbing an akuma. With mighty strength, she swung it around to slam it into one of the newly formed buildings. She spun around quickly, parrying a blow from another level two. She quickly stabbed that one in the face and used it to vault over another. A quick jab backwards and the end of the great lance slammed into another akuma. She did a quick sweep to knock the winded akuma off its feet and then rammed one of her armguards into its abdomen. The spikes penetrated and it shrieked. She brought great lance back, and then slammed it into the akuma's weak point. When it died, she rushed towards Collin.

"HOLD ON!!" She shouted in that weird combination of her voice. "COLLIN, JUST HOLD ON!!" She paused when she saw the showdown, unsure of what to do.