Black Cat, White Moon

Chapter Ten
The Beast Falls

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He who makes a beast out of himself
Gets rid of the pain of being a man....

In the city of wonder
Ain't gonna play nice
Watch out
You might just go under....

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The Beast raged and snarled as Its jaws clamped down on Dreaming Nero's throat. Hot stinging blood like acid gushed forth into Its mouth, burning Its muzzle and tongue, but the Beast did not release its prey. It would not release its prey until the Prince of the Dream Demons lay dying in his own fluids upon the floor.

The she-kitten snarled and shrieked, baring her small but needle-sharp teeth at Nero as well. With a yowling cry, she stabbed at the Interloper with her cold magic long-tooth - a sword, part of It vaguely remembered, a sword forged of silver and hidden by demon magic - that was held tight in her slender paw. But Dreaming Nero rolled his body, his mouth still firmly wrapped around the Beast's throat, and kicked out with one heavily muscled back leg, slamming his great paw - the size of an average desk chair - into Razielle's already bruised chest, smashing into her ribcage with nearly crushing force and driving her back so that she hit the glass window. Her head collided with the window pane with a solid thunk! She cried out, her eyes rolled up in her head, and the huntress slid unconscious to the floor.

"Razielle!"

That was Reid, one of the Beast's Pack. He was the one whose scent carried the taste of the growing season and life, and something more than mortality. The young genius crawled and dragged himself to the side of the oblivious assassin. Garcia, who had held Reid while he convulsed and sweated, now sat hunched against the far wall. She kept her hands clapped over her mouth. Tears streaked her cheeks. Reid, ignoring the computer whiz and even the battle between the roaring behemoths, struggled to get Razielle in his arms. One he had her, he cradled her as close to her chest as he could, whispering her name.

She did not move.

The Beast first glimpsed the girl lying in Reid's arms, and then a haze of vicious red descended over Its eyes. With a bellowing bull of a roar, the ancient monster swiped with one great, clawed fist at the Interloper's jaw, trying to shatter the bone and stop his crushing bite. Dreaming Nero leapt upon his enemy and slammed the Beast into the ground, tried to bite, sink his teeth into Its throat.

BANG!!

Nero roared in agony as the bullet ripped through his flank, but did not turn to stare at the creature - not a human, not by that smell, the smell of wind and sunlight and mountain air and cold mountain lakes. He could not turn away from the snarling jaws of his foe, or his throat would be ripped out in a fountain of gushing crimson. He snarled and yanked and tore, shredding fur and belly flesh with his hind claws, gnawing and biting with his sharp teeth. The Beast within his jaws roared with pain.

BANG!!

The Beast snarled in fierce satisfaction as the Interloper roared again. Another bullet found his chest. Why did the winged one not shoot Dreaming Nero directly in the head? The little tooth that bit with flame and death could burrow into the Interloper's brain and finish him off before he managed to get his claws too deeply in the Beast's heart.

Ah, but this was ritual combat, a challenge. No, not a challenge, but a Challenge. Death could not be administered by anyone except the Beast Itself. Pain, yes, from one who had the authority, but not death.

Tasting acid blood on Its tongue, Its own and the Interloper's, the Beast suddenly snapped Its teeth, changing Its grip, and clamped Its jaws around Nero's lower jaw, and jerked Its head back, ripping through flesh and muscle and sinew and bone, so that blood sprayed, drenching Its muzzle just as something sharp and burning pierced Its side.

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A disease of the mind
It can control you
I feel like a monster

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The Beast heard a shriek, and rolled one gimlet eye to see the she-kitten struggling to her feet as she cried, "Caligula! Dreaming Caligula, oath-breaker, monster!" She grabbed the shimmering sharp thing where it had dropped to the floor when she'd fallen, and the daughter of demons snarled, baring teeth that even as the others watched, lengthened and sharpened until they resembled the teeth of a wild cat.

"The Beast is mine!"

Ah, the voice of Dreaming Caligula. It was his arrow in the Beast's side, allowing hot, scarlet life to pour forth from Its flank. The second-eldest Dream Prince snarled and panted, anxious to lap up that blood. But he kept his eye on Shekinah's daughter as well, at her bared teeth and sharp claws. Those teeth, deceptively small, could rip out his throat if she managed to get close enough.

"Over my dead body!"

Razielle snarled, lips peeled back in a grimace, and she darted forward like a pouncing kitten, eyes burning with fury, claws popped. The huntress wrenched her jaws wide to bite.

She darted past the Beast. The ancient creature that had once been trapped in a seemingly mortal form felt Its attention pulled towards the huntress. It would have paid more attention to the she-kitten, but at just that moment, It felt the Interloper's bottom jaw purposely loosen and the demonic monster's huge hind feet impact the Beast's broad chest with enough fury and force to crack Its ribs.

The Beast that was once the BAU agent known as Jason Gideon hit the floor with bone crunching force, and before It could even think of rising to Its feet, Dreaming Nero was upon It, ravaging with tooth and claw and poisoned spittle.

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The fire of my soul rejects my wisdom
'Cause all you do in life comes back to you...
I can feel it...
Tired, trembling
I am descending....

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Razielle lifted her blade - for blade it was - and darted into the middle of the battle between her uncle and Dreaming Nero and the interfering Dreaming Caligula.

How many of the Four Dreamers were against them? Did the homicidally mad Dreaming Tiberius race to do battle with them as well? They could never fight the three mad sons of Morpheus, and to kill all of the insane princes would surely bring the Demon Prince, Claudius, to investigate - and Claudius, though just and sane, was still a dangerous enemy to have, and to kill all three of his male siblings would make him anyone's enemy. And even the daughter of the Marquis de Carabas and Shekinah, daughter of the Hunter King, would die in a battle against even one Dream Prince.

You wanna live forever? Razielle asked herself, quoting her favorite movie, and launched herself at Dreaming Caligula as heat and rage pounded through her body.

"I'm going to kill you, little kitten, daughter of the Hunter's Heir," Dreaming Caligula whispered. His eyes were hollows of black madness. Razielle felt ice steal through her body and tried to fight it off. The Prince continued, "Yes, kill you. You and your tom cat over there, the little Fae lordling."

The words dipped in frigid hate stopped the frantically struggling huntress cold for a very long moment, and she whispered, shocked, "What?"

"I thought as much," Caligula hissed. Where his spittle touched her face, Razielle's skin went numb. Fear began creeping up her spin, but she could do nothing, pinned by the Dream Demon's weight, words, and the heavy, black gaze that held so many secrets and haunted whispers and dreams. The huntress's heart began to pound. "So Dragon was right," the demon continued, eyes boring into Razielle. "You really don't know what he is." He cackled, and the assassin resisted the urge to look into his gaping maw, down his throat into the well of darkness waiting there. "Well," he said. "No matter. You'll both be dead soon enough. The poison in your romejul will surely slow you down, for your bond is so strong. It will be child's play to kill you. But first," and before she could react, the deranged Dream Demon tossed back his mane of wild, black hair and lifted his crossbow, firing a quarrel right past her ear, so that the fletching drew a drop of blood before the bolt sank into the flank of the Beast, who roared in agony.

"Coward!"

She hissed like an angry cat, practically spitting the insult, and launched herself at him with a shrieking battle cry, snarling and slashing with claw and blade. If she were lucky, and Hotchner were smart, then the others - Reid included - would all be able to get out of the burning building before it all went up in flames. Already the red dancers that devoured everything were licking up the sides of the concrete walls, and thick smoke was filling the room.

Caligula shot her in the chest, a bolt straight through her heart, but it wasn't silver, and it didn't stop or slow her. She fell upon him with claws unsheathed, raking her claws down his face as he screamed.

The sound of shattering glass and crumbling concrete made her turn her head, as something black and sleek and shining plowed through the large window she'd been leaning against not even twenty minutes ago.

Mistress!

The winded Night Child struggled to get back up, but Dreaming Caligula grabbed her thick, long hair and hauled at it hard, making the huntress scream, yanking her back down. Her face smacked into the hot tile. Stars danced with the spots across her vision. She was fighting to wrench her hair from the Dream Prince's grip when suddenly-

BANG!

She looked up and blinked in surprise as the grip on her hair relaxed and fell away. Spencer half-lay, half-knelt, there on the hot linoleum, his gun drawn, his entire body shaking in pain and with fatigue. His hands shook violently, and the leg he held himself up with tried to buckle, but he didn't fall and didn't relax his grip on his weapon.

Razielle got to her feet, and as one they turned and watched the battle between the Beast and Dreaming Nero.

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Angels on the sidelines baffled and confused....
Monkey killing monkey killing monkey....

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It was almost terrifying in the furious heat of battle. The Beast groaned and snarled, the world swimming in swirls of gray before Its eyes, as Its grip began to loosen. Nero's venom-slick needle teeth were plunged deep into the meat of the Beast's shoulder and did not slip free. The Beast's hyena-strong jaws were clamped as tight as It could get them around the Interloper's wet, matted throat. Blood poured from ragged bites, from deep scratches and gaping cuts, and from the numerous wounds in their sides from bullets and crossbow bolts.

For one moment, the Beast considered giving up on the brutal. It was an old, ancient creature, tired and gray in Its soul, Its will exhausted from living for countless centuries and suffering countless sorrows. The pain ripping through Its huge, furred body was great. For just a moment, It considered letting it all go… and then the cry of the she-kitten caught Its attention.

"Don't give up, Uncle Jason! Fight! Fight him! Fight!"

Is that all you have, pathetic creature? You, the Broken Halo, King of the Ratchet-Upon-the-Sand? Is this all? Is this all that you can give me? Well? Is it?!

Something snapped within the ancient creature of legend, and the once-human Beast roared in vicious, dark fury and suddenly sank Its shark-like teeth deep into flesh and wrenched Its head back, ripping out the jugular in a spurting gush of dark blood. Dreaming Nero, of the Four Princes of the Dream Demons, gurgled in the mess of his throat and fell to the ground.

He did not get up again.

The Car - which has slammed through the nearly ceiling height, bullet-proof window to the wind-chime tinkling of jagged, broken glass - revved its hellish engine to catch the Beast's attention, but the great Beast did not move for a very, very long moment. Finally, all It did was sink to Its belly upon the ground, gasping and panting for breath. With a weary sigh, It lowered Its massive head to rest upon gargantuan paws, and It did not move.

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Bright eyes, burning like fire
Bright eyes, how can they close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes....

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Author's Note: so this chapter is also in the 2000+ range. I tried to make the fight breathtaking and edge-of-your-seat. Did it work? Oh, and cyber cookie for anyone who can figure out who the heck the Winged One is, the person that shot Nero.

Copyright Info:

First section, lines 1-2: Avenged Sevenfold

Section 1, remaining lines, and section 2: Disturbia, by Rihanna

Section 3: Karma, by Kamelot

The quote Razielle makes is from Conan the Barbarian; Valeria says it

Section 4: Right in 2 by Tool

Last section: Bright Eyes, by Simon and Garfunkel