Chapter 14: The Angel Of Death

The loud roar of the warehouse explosion quickly overwhelms the sound of Michael and Alex's boots cluttering against the cold icy cement. The entrance to the subway is in eyes reach, and with no Antigen Forces in sight, gives Michael and Alex the first and second piece of good news all night.
"I can't believe we just did that," Alex says, nearly choking on his breath as they run through the street
"Stop."
"We just left him there, we didn't even try to fight it."
"I SAID STOP, OKAY?!" Michael cracks at Alex, stopping, still feeling the depression and exhaustion Matthew was feeling as they left. "I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, GET THAT IN YOUR FUCKING HEAD!"
Michael and Alex stand there for a moment, staring at one another for a solid minute, in complete silence, Alex death-staring Michael for the first time since they met.
"I'm sorry, Alex, I- I don't know what got to me-"
"Don't be, just remember we both lost a friend, okay?" Alex explains. "He did have a point though."
"How do you mean?" Michael questions, wiping the blood from the side of his head.
"Fighting beside you has been an honour, and it always will be."
"The honour has been mine, Alex. Why does it sound like you're going to leave?"
"Me?! Leave?!" Alex scoffs. "Let's get to the Subway, we need to contact Kassie, she's needed you, Michael; she told me you're like her father."
"And she is like a second daughter of mine," Michael explains. "I hope that one day she gets to meet Eve and Selene, and if they're both comfortable with it, Kassie can become a part of the family. Fuck, let's go, I have to see if she's okay."

Alex and Michael enter the Subway, Alex being slightly behind his over-confident Hybrid friend. Alex has taken the Subway hundreds of times, but this time, something seems wrong, terribly wrong, he can feel it.
"Michael?! Stop!" Alex yells, catching Michael's attention straight away.
"What is it?"
"There's something wrong- this place, we shouldn't be he-"
Alex is silenced when a familiar, curved blade of a sickle pierces violently through Alex's chest, his darkening eyes widening as his blood drips from the smoking, warm blade.
"Michael?" Alex gasps as the blade tips upwards, sending him down the stairs, the blade still clamped into his chest.
"NOOOOOO!" Michael screams as he bends down to his friend's aid, staring up at a figure; the silhouette of the figure covered in damaged armour; Angel's armour. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
"Bartholomew is dead, Michael, Alex is dying, and at last, I'm left with you and only you."
"WHO ARE YOU?! WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH?!" Michael commands answers, his hands desperately trying to stop Alex from bleeding. "I'm going to have to remove the blade, Alex, stay with me, okay?"
"You have no idea who I, do you?" Alex chuckles as he kicks Michael away from Alex, watching as his Hybrid nemesis is slammed into the wall. "I'm what you should've been, I'M YOUR SUCCESSOR!"
Michael impacts the wall at an excessive force, his body tearing chunks of cement and dust down with him. He wheezes for breath, his lungs desperately trying to heal from the impact. Angel places his boot directly onto Alex's stomach, and by the noises Alex makes, he's pressing down, and hard.
"You really wanna know who I am, Michael?! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?!" Angel screams, one dark blue eye staring through his mask; a mask damaged beyond repair. "THEN I'LL FUCKING SHOW YOU!"

Angel moves his left hand to the jugular part of his mask, pressing a button and making the locks clip off the rest of the neck, allowing Angel to finally take off his helmet and reveal who he really is. As Michael stares at the unmasking Angel, his eyes widen, and his face turns white in disbelief.
"Impossible."
Michael stares directly at a man; shaved dirty blonde hair, dark blue eyes similar to his own, pale skin and a thin, but muscular build. Michael stares at a man who looks exactly like him, or, exactly like the man he used to look like.
"That's right, Michael, I'm you, well, as I said, I'm the creature you were destined to become," Angel smirks. "But of course, you were arrogant and gave up that power, all of that ambition. You could have been the god of this world; the world Krasper plans on creating,
"I can't believe this," Michael gasps, his face drained completely to a white colour. "You're me?! But how?! How is this possible?!"
"You didn't think you could escape Antigen without them having your DNA, did you? It's the first thing Quint and Jacob Lane did, and it's the reason they became what they did, I mean before your daughter and wife slaughtered them. But they were weak, Julius Krasper; an Immortal, a leader, an idealist, he wanted to create more of you, or, better yet, make his 'experiments' better, stronger, faster, than even you. I am his first and only success, I am his successor, his equal, bred for a single purpose; to kill you and then, your family," Angel explains as he drops his helmet, his other hand gripping onto the curved blade sticking outside Alex's chest. "We're both Hybrids, you and I, but me? I went through the same experimentation as the Death-Squads, further enhancing my abilities. And what can you do besides get your friends killed?!"
"NO!" Michael screams, watching helplessly as Angel tears the blade from Alex's chest, ending Alex's life completely.
"THIS IS THE DAY YOU DIE, CORVIN! I WILL PROVE TO KRASPER I'M NOT JUST ANOTHER FAILED EXPERIMENT! I WILL REMOVE YOUR HEAD, AND THEN, I WILL DO THE HONOURS OF TEARING SELENE, YOUR DAUGHTER, DAVID, LENA, AND YOUR UNBORN CHILD TO FUCKING PIECES!"

Michael screams violently as he rips his jacket from his body, his skin already in the process of changing to the dark Hybrid colour. His claws retract as his Hybrid teeth form within seconds, his dark Hybrid eyes staring Angel down as he completes his bone-breaking transformation.
"YOUR ANIMALISTIC HAVE NOTHING AGAINST MY FOCUS! NOW IT'S MY TURN!"
Angel grips onto the large armour plate on his chest, ripping it off and those on my arms before Michael can blink. Michael stares at Angel's hands, spotting the large, talon-like claws that have torn from his finger-nails. Angel's eyes fade out of colour completely, changing into a thick and completely white shade, like he has no eyes at all. His Hybrid teeth are the same shape as Michael's except for a few, which remain human overall.
"YOU THINK YOU'RE ANYTHING AGAINST ME?!" Angel growls, the skin around his eyes fading to a dark red colour. "THEN PROVE IT! ONLY ONE OF US WALKS AWAY FROM THIS!"
Michael roars violently at Angel, the frequency of his roar defeaning his foe, giving him the green light for an attack. Michael leaps at Angel, using his Hybrid speed and strength to turn his body into a rock as he tackles his nemesis into the stairs, feeling the cement crack under the pressure of their weight. Angel growls as he slams his claws into Michael's side, aiming for the kidney and stomach, but Michael is so caught in his rage, he doesn't seem to be affected by the pain. Michael slices at his Hybrid foe's chest, creating large, deep claw marks on Angel's chest before jamming the claws on his left hand into the side of Angel's neck.

"ENOUGH!" Angel's monstrous voice screams as he kicks Michael away, watching as Michael's claws slide against the tiles of the Subway.
"IT'S FUNNY, ACTUALLY," Angel chuckles as he gets up from the ground. "This is where it began; this is the place you first saw Selene, where you were brought into this war, it ends where it began. If only you took another Subway, none of this would have happened."
Angel speeds towards Michael, gripping onto Michael's arms before pelting him to the ground, the force creating a crater in the tile.
"PATHETIC," Angel growls, gripping onto Michael's hair as a train arrives at the location. "GET UP, CORVIN, YOU HAVE AN AUDIENCE NOW! RATHER NOT- DISAPPOINT THEM!"
Angel throws Michael into the door of the train, sending him straight through it and into the wall of the train, bending the metal and breaking the glass at the impact of his body. The people on the train begin to panic, screaming as they try to move onto another carriage.
"SOMEBODY CALL ANTIGEN!" One of the passengers scream.
"I AM ANTIGEN, FOOLS!" Angel roars as he moves closer to Michael. "DO NOT FEAR, I'LL HANDLE THIS FILTH PROPERLY."
Michael attempts to claw at Angel but is stopped when Angel grabs his hand, breaking it and ripping the bone from the wrist. Angel grips onto Michael's throat, picking him up before throwing outside of the train and into a pillar, the force shattering it instantly.
"I EXPECTED MORE FROM YOU, CORVIN! SO MUCH POWER, BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO USE IT!" Angel cracks, leaving the train right before it leaves.
Angel watches as a human-formed Michael crawls on the ground, blood spurting from the bone that sticks from his wrist. He kicks Michael in the side, sending Michael onto his back where Angel stares at his eyes; the skin around his eyes dark red, similar to his own, and the thick scar on his eye staring back.
"I've seen that look before, I've felt the rage your feeling, it's a rare sight indeed; so much rage that your eyes change. You used to be something, Michael, but what are you now?! WHO ARE YOU NOW?!"
"I'm- a father- a husband- a caregiver- a brother- I am better- than you will- ever be."
"Not anymore," Angel hisses, raising his claw upwards as he holds Michael down with his boot. "You can't survive without a head. Goodbye, Michael Corvin."

Angel shutters as a rain of bullets fire against the chest, the bullets coming from the stairs. Michael's eyes change fade back to a Hybrid black shade, his iris glowing red as he claws at Angel's legs, sending him to the ground. Michael enters a cluster of rage, swinging his claws violently, tearing Angel's chest near apart. Michael jams both his claws into each side of Angel's neck, making him choke on his own blood.
"YOU- THINK YOU CAN- KILL ME?"
Michael yanks the claws from Angel's throat before moving to Matthew's sickle, gripping onto it before Angel can blink. Michael, taking small steps, moves slowly towards Angel, the sickle glued to his hand.
"You can't survive without a head," Michael growls before slicing the sickle across Angel's face, cutting his head from the bottom of his top jaw.
Michael watches happily as Angel's head falls from the rest of his body, roaring in celebration, like an animal. Michael's wounds get the better of him; his energy has been completely drained from the fight, and the night he's had.
"Michael?" A voice calls from the stairs, making Michael turn around. "Michael Corvin?"
"Who are you?!" Michael growls. "I don't have a problem with taking another life today."
"Chill out, drop your weapons, boys," the voice says, dropping his weapon, four more weapons being dropped after. "I'm a friend, Kassie sent me, well- she's the second person that sent me."
"Come into the light, now."
The figures do exactly as he says, revealing five men, one a thinly built man wearing light armour; afro-black hair, dark brown eyes and dark coloured skin. "I'm a friend of Selene's, Sebastian, she tell you about me?"
"The detective that helped her rescue my daughter and wipe out the first Antigen owner's, I know who you are, although I don't know I why you're here. Who are your friends?"
"Members of the revolution you created; what remains of a small Coven of Vampires, they've joined Kassie and the Lycan colony. Speaking of Kassie, she sent me to rescue you and two others, I guess I'm too late for the other-"
"It's just me, sadly," Michael sighs, staring over at Alex's lifeless corpse. "Guide me to the safe-haven, I will carry him."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Michael, really I am, but there's no way for us to even cremate him. Leave him for his father to find, make him know how much of a failure he is."
"So much death, so much suffering, and for what?" Michael questions, a tear rolling down his face.
"I have a plan, Michael, but we're going to have to move now if we're going to make it to the Haven."
"We better move then," Michael sighs.
"It won't take us long, Kassie needs you, so let's go."