Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Tenshi Trail: Shin Heart ❯ Vol. Two, Chapter Twenty-Four: Tenshi Fighter ( Chapter 24 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The Angel Administrators couldn’t take it anymore. Sakura had to be stopped. Her shin heart put her at the top of the high risk list. They had to kill her before she became fallen. Three administrators decided to take matters into their own hands. Time for some back-up.


The angels broke into Amadeus’ old lab. Only one of the administrators knew where it was. After all, he and Amadeus were once friends. He even got them the keys from the janitor.


“I can’t believe I still have the keys to that place,” he chuckled. “I really need to lose some of these old keys.”


“Not yet,” the leader told him. “Thank you for that. The janitor handed them the key with a smile on his face.


“Anything to help,” he replied. The leader took the key and nodded at him. The three administrators headed down the hall. The doorway was as big as an open mouth. But as they kept walking down it, the walls began to shrink inwards. Amadeus’ former friend led the way. He remembered where the old lab was after all of these years. The angels had to walk in behind one another in a straight line to get to the abandoned lab. They came to large steel doors. The other two angels looked at the former friend.


“You sure this is the place?” the leader asked. The former friend nodded.


“This is the exact spot he did his experiments,” he said. “That was the only thing predictable about him.” The other angels didn’t have to say it; their faces told him something different. This was true that Amadeus was an unpredictable angel. He could have been lying about the location of his hidden lab as well. The former friend, Caleb, nodded.


“Go with me on this one,” he said. “I know I’m right.” His companions still didn’t speak. Caleb drew in a breath.


“Okay then,” he said. Then, he turned to the door and slipped the key into the aging lock. The flat plastic card got sucked inside and vanished. The small box came on with a low hum. A washed blue screen flipped on.


“Identify yourself,” it read. Caleb waved his right hand over the machine. The lock shut off all power systems leading to it. The narrow space got darker and the heavy, iron doors slid open. The angels walked inside. Amadeus’ lab hadn’t been used since after Sakura’s birth. It was so dark that the angels had to use their own lights to see what was going on. They threw them up into the air and the lights fused into one.


There wasn’t much in this laboratory. Just books and some tools left behind. Years ago, all of the angels cleaned this place out after Amadeus died in battle. Well, almost everything. Towards the back-end sat heavy machinery. The biggest one looked like a closed-over life support machine. The angels slowly approached it. Their back-up lied comatose in here. Amadeus made her himself as prototype. Unhappy with the results, he put her in a coma-like sleep and sealed her away. Caleb walked up with the key and unlocked the lid. He turned to the other two angels.


“Come over here and help!” he said. They walked over to either side of him and grabbed onto the lid.


“On my count,” Caleb told them. “One. Two. Three!” They all pushed the lid off inch by inch. Took them a minute, but it was off now. The angels looked inside. A tenshi-chi lied asleep inside. She wasn’t just any tenshi-chi. This was one of the soldier tenshi-chi that is made during the autumn every year. They are made the same way the normal tenshi-chi are, only they took longer and have two shin hearts to help them survive in battle. She looked like a normal fifteen-year-old girl in red, navy, and gold battle robes. Caleb lightly stroked her on the cheek.


“Frankie,” he whispered. “It’s been so long.” The lead administrator looked disappointed.


“Is that it?” she asked. “It’s not even active. It’s just a soulless, sleeping doll! How is this going to help us stop Sakura?” Caleb turned and looked at her.


“Patience, woman,” he said. The leader pulled back and closed her mouth. Caleb turned back to the creation that he helped Amadeus make. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a newer second shin heart and some of the missing elements in a bag. The angel also reached into his belt and pulled out a knife. He handed the missing elements to the other angel.


“Here, hold this,” he said. The angel did as he was told without question. Caleb turned back to Frankie and slowly cut open her chest with the knife. He then pushed the cut wide open. Caleb held out his hand to his assistant. The angel handed the bag back to him.


“Thanks,” the co-creator replied. He untied the bag and arranged every element piece by piece in the correct place inside of Frankie’s body. Finally, he placed the second shin heart in her heart. Caleb healed the cut closed with one hand. The lead administrator still didn’t look impressed.


“Well?” she pushed. The co-creator held up his hand.


“Give her a second,” he replied. Then, the tenshi-chi yanked her eyes open and took in her first breath in so long. The three angels watched on as she sat up and looked around.


“Where the hell am I?” she asked aloud. Caleb took a step closer.


“Do you remember me?” he asked. Frankie looked at him and squinted her eyes at him. At first, it looked like she was going to draw a blank. But then, something dimly crept in. Frankie shook her head.


“Barely…” she mumbled.


“We’ll talk about that later,” he said. “There is something that we need you to do.”