Last Chapter:
The redhead looked upward. Satoshi's blue eyes followed. Two hawk-like forms were flying in the air above them.
And they were beating the hell out of each other. Satoshi flinched as a rush of wind brought a body crashing into the floor next to them. The ground shook with the impact, chips of glass rattling on the tile. Vivid gold eyes caught his for just an instant, sun meeting sky, as white feathers darted around them. Then he was gone again, launching back up to return the attack.
"Satoshi…is that really…?" Daisuke stared.
The bluenette squinted at the silhouettes fighting above them. Dread and the oddest combination of other, less predictable emotions were mixing in his sore chest like a bad cocktail.
"Yeah."
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Part 36 - Imposter
"That's seriously Krad?" the redhead gasped, staring above them. He moved his hands away from his friend's shoulders as Satoshi sat up on his own.
Satoshi squinted upward at the two forms harshly silhouetted by the midday sun. His pulse pounded in his ears and reverberated through his aching chest.
"How did he get here?" Daisuke breathed.
"The same way Dark got here," Satoshi muttered. Now that he'd finally reunited with his friend, he was finding it difficult not to be irritated with him. Or maybe it was just the nerve-fraying effect of the ache in his ribs and the sight of the two winged forms tangling ruthlessly above them.
"We can't fight them both," Daisuke realized out loud.
Satoshi shook his head. "I don't think we'll have to." He straightened his glasses with an unsteady hand and stared at the battle above them, trying to decide who was winning.
"We need to get Risa out of that chamber," the redhead said. He was trying to push to his feet, but he was starting to shake. His eyes looked clouded as he stared at his stolen counterpart, because knew that Dark hadn't really been stolen. He'd given him away. Or thrown him away.
("No, you didn't mean to say it. But you still meant it.")
The red head pressed his knuckles against his forehead and tried not to panic.
Satoshi glanced at Daisuke and forced his nerves not to be impatient with his friend. He couldn't afford to be mad at Daisuke right now, any more than he could let himself wonder why Krad had come after all. Any emotion seemed dangerous at the moment. "I'll get her. Take cover." He stood up slowly. His ribs screamed at him, but he knew it was just pain. They were no more broken than they were before. He could walk. He let adrenaline drown it all out and paced stiffly toward the chamber where Risa was locked. He checked the skies every couple of steps, watching for gold.
Above them, the white angel threw another burst of power at his other half. Dark's form swerved out of its way and threw a strong airborne kick into his stomach. Krad sank back a few feet in the air, growling. He glared at his counterpart as he regained his bearings. There was a distinct contrast of mood between the two angels. Gorudo was watching the white angel in fascination as Krad rounded up a new blast of energy.
Krad didn't hesitate to throw the new spell point-blank into the other angel's chest. Dark's body jolted with the force, but his recovery was quick. Almost instant. The angel shook off the attack like it hadn't even landed on him and then returned the blast with a beam of violet power. The spell caught Krad in the shoulder, jerking him sideways.
Gorudo gathered energy for another spell, all while staring at Krad like he was some kind of… exhibit.
Krad rolled his shoulder and narrowed his eyes on the black angel. Something was off about his rival's calm exchange of attacks. "None of your obnoxious taunting today, Dark?"
The violet-haired angel considered this, and smiled. His eyes dug into Krad's. "Oh, you must have missed the memo. Dark doesn't live here anymore." He threw a punch at the blonde's head. Krad caught the angel's fist in his palm and wrestled with him in the air. "To explore a more interesting topic," Gorudo leaned toward the angel, "Who exactly are you? Wait," he paused and looked thoughtful, as if combing through a dictionary chained up in his mind. "You must be Krad."
Krad gripped his enemy's fist harder, trapping it. "So you are Gorudo. You actually managed to stick yourself in his soul," he mused, a dark glint coming to his eyes. "Like a child masquerading in a soldier's armor. You barely know how to move under the weight, yet you pretend at strength."
"Amusing," Gorudo said, "But I seem to be moving just fine." He used his other hand to strike the angel in the chest and break contact. He flew above the blonde, drew his hands over his head, and produced a massive black sphere of energy. With both arms, he hurled the power downward.
Krad cursed and threw up a defensive shield as the energy bowled into him. Violet sparks showered around him. He felt the tug of his spell pulling for too much power. Defensive magic was draining. Then Gorudo's spell won out and fired him back to the ground. Krad hit the floor with a resounding crack and skidded into the wall. The marble around him crumbled along with his concentration.
The room faded in and out dangerously. Krad stretched his wings, the only things he could think about moving at the moment. They twitched and folded out, arching around the rest of his body. Violet energy smeared the air surrounding him, as if daring him to get back up.
"Krad!"
Something in the angel's mind switched back on. His gold eyes scanned for the source of the familiar voice. He found the boy standing about twenty feet away. Satoshi was standing before a huge capsule in which Risa Harada appeared to be trapped. The boy seemed frozen mid-step and was looking straight at him. He'd heard panic in the bluenette's voice, and he found himself searching blearily to figure out what was provoking the boy.
"Move!" the bluenette shouted. He waved his arm sharply.
A warning…? Krad stared at the boy uncertainly as a shadow blocked the light above him. He turned his attention upward to find Gorudo looming over him. The black angel didn't appear to have a scratch on him.
That was impossible.
Krad had to acknowledge that he'd just taken a major hit, but he'd gotten some serious attacks in on Dark as well. Moreover, the spell Dark had just used was no minor incantation. There was no way he could be fresh as a daisy after using that much power, not to mention all the smaller spells he'd cast.
The blonde gathered his concentration and pushed himself back to his feet, leaning on the wall more than he wanted to. The ground had barely stopped spinning around him when a tanned fist launched in at his face. Krad knocked the punch wide and formed a golden spear in his other hand, heaving it into Gorudo's side.
The black angel didn't even blink. He sneered into Krad's astonished face and pulled the dagger loose with an empowered laugh. Without hesitation, he raised the still-glowing spell to return the favor. Krad grabbed his wrist before Gorudo could stab him with his own weapon. The golden spear flickered and dispersed. Krad stared at Dark's form. The hole in Gorudo's suit where Krad had just wounded him was dry and clean. "Why aren't you taking damage?" he growled as he wrestled with the billionaire. He gripped the dark angel's wrist tighter and ignited a scalding light between his hand and Gorudo's skin.
There was no reaction to the attack. Instead of laying off, Gorudo formed his own spear of energy and pressed harder, shoving the weapon toward Krad's neck. The angel hissed as he fought the angel muscle against muscle. The spear pricked into the skin near his collarbone, searching for the chance to go farther. He threw all the strength he had into pushing Dark the other way, until his muscles burned. Krad had a variety of advantages over Dark's skills, but if this was going to come down to an arm wrestling match, the day wouldn't end well for the blonde.
Krad gave up ground until he was pounded backward against a wall with the force of Gorudo's weight still driving in on him. Then something flew from the sidelines and clocked Gorudo hard in the side of the head. A metal pocketknife clattered to the floor. The black angel paused his attack to turn his annoyed attention toward Satoshi. The boy had left his post by Risa and was now joined by the redhead.
The billionaire again had that look, like he was poring through someone else's notes. "Interesting that you, of all people, would try to save this one. Amusing. But stupid," Gorudo scoffed. He drew a white feather from the air and aimed it at the two former wing hosts.
Krad launched from the wall and tackled him sideways, taking the fight to the floor. The feather dropped harmlessly as the two angels grappled for dominance.
"A little protective, aren't we?" Gorudo chuckled as the angel fought to pin him down.
The blonde ignored his comment. "I didn't come to fight some pathetic narcissist," Krad huffed. "Stop masquerading. Show me Dark."
Gorudo just laughed, almost hysterically, and threw himself over the blonde. His wings stretched out like jaws. "I told you, blondie. Dark doesn't live here anymore," he hissed, power lighting up his violet eyes. "And unfortunately for you, this world has no need for two immortal beings."
"On that, I can agree," Krad said, tugging his arm free and pressing his hand to the angel's chest. All the light in the room seemed to suck into one place. There was a flicker of blackness before a wall of power hurled the black-winged angel across the room and chained him to the floor. Gorudo thrashed against the binding light, but the spell wouldn't let him up. Krad sprawled to his feet, gripping his own chest to adjust to the tremendous power he'd just drained.
Daisuke burst toward the prone violet-haired man. "Dark!"
"Daisuke," Satoshi broke his gaze away from Krad and jerked his friend back sternly. "It's not Dark."
"But he's in there," the redhead nearly screamed, hauling against his friend's grip.
"And he wants you to stay back," Satoshi insisted. He held his friend away from the writhing black-winged form. "He's okay, Daisuke. It's a restraining spell."
"He's not okay!" Daisuke's voice crumbled apart. Tears rolled down the redhead's cheeks, taking Satoshi by surprise. The bluenette loosened his rough grip on his friend. Daisuke stopped pulling, but looking at the redhead's expression was worse than fighting him. "You know as well as I do," Daisuke barely breathed, "That damage is going somewhere."
There was a pause between them. "I know," Satoshi said quietly. He'd hoped Daisuke wouldn't notice. But the whole point of this was to get them out alive. "If you want to help Dark, get Risa out of that chamber." He pointed the boy's shoulders toward Risa and gave him a meaningful push. As soon as he was sure the redhead was doing as he asked, his attention snapped back to Krad.
The angel was a few yards away, pale, but standing. His gold eyes caught on Satoshi's as the younger man approached. The details of the fight they'd had earlier blurred into the present, mixing with the scene around them like blood in water. There seemed to be a lot of important questions that neither was willing to ask, so they stood in a silent truce instead. Krad's gaze drifted back to Gorudo. Satoshi's did the same. "How much strength do you have?" Satoshi asked quietly.
The angel frowned, watching Gorudo struggle fiercely against the binding spell. He really wasn't an expert yet on reading his own fuel tank. "Some."
"Show me."
Krad glanced at the boy and slowly lowered his mental shielding, exposing Satoshi to the throbbing, overexposed sensation that was tugging at the back of his brain. The feeling was a warning, but not a critical one. Not yet.
Satoshi shook off the memories that came with that sensation, as well as the wave of concern that followed. "How much power does Dark still have?"
"Less. Probably."
Neither Krad nor Satoshi attempted to draw comfort from the idea. A game of 'burnout chicken' was not on top of the preferred plans list. The consequences of running till the tank ran dry were a lot worse than just agony and delirium. When there was no strength left to call forth, the magic would draw upon its master's life force. That approach would become deadly very quickly. They both looked up as another helicopter passed over, closer than the last. This time, it was no news rig. A federal police helicopter hovered just outside the building. The news aircraft hung in the background, no doubt with cameras rolling. A megaphone was blaring something down at them, but the quality of the noise mixed with the adrenaline-filled echo chamber they were standing in made the idea of responding to police direction feel ridiculous.
The black-winged form on the ground finally began making progress against the golden chains holding it down. Gorudo broke his arms free and thrashed to loosen his legs, looking as energetic and deadly as he had from the start. Only now, he was visibly furious.
Krad grimaced. "Get your friends. Go to the wall and wait."
Satoshi nodded his agreement as he felt Krad's consciousness drop back out of his mind. "Krad… try not to-"
"When I kill him, it will be face to face," Krad confirmed without facing him. He beat his wings and lifted back into the air as Gorudo tore free.
Satoshi cringed as the two angels crashed in the air. Krad tackled Gorudo's form and they slammed as a unit into the wall. A violent flash of energy exchanged between them. Then Krad broke away from the other angel, clutching a shoulder as he beat his wings to gain some distance.
Satoshi knew he couldn't afford to watch, but it was impossible to ignore. He kept an eye on the blonde as he jogged back to where Daisuke was trying to pry open the chamber. The redhead seemed to have shifted his emotion toward a more practical goal as he tugged with all his strength at a weak spot on the latch. Satoshi took hold just above where Daisuke was tugging and heaved at it. His concentration splintered a little as his chest threatened against the movement, but the effort paid off. Both boys staggered as the door finally jerked open.
"Risa!" Daisuke burst in toward the unconscious girl. He cradled her head as Satoshi knelt in front of her.
"Daisuke?" she murmured dizzily, opening her eyes to stare up at her friend. "You're okay." Her expression sank as she visibly recalled what was going on.
"Are you hurt?" Satoshi asked her, trying to judge by her gaze if she had a concussion.
She wrinkled her nose as she thought that one through. Her body stretched carefully, testing itself out. "I think I'm fine," she murmured.
"Can you stand?"
She nodded and squirmed to her feet with the help of both men. A flash of violet drew her anxious gaze toward the ceiling.
"Don't look up," Satoshi advised. He steadied her and pulled her forward. Daisuke lagged a few steps back, trying to follow the fight above them as they made their way toward the relative safety of the wall.
It seemed to take hours to get them all to the edge of the room. Risa and Daisuke immediately threw their attention to the sky, while Satoshi leaned into the wall.
"Are you alright, Sato?" Risa managed to tear her attention from the feuding angels to look at him.
"It should be fine," the boy acknowledged, barely audible over the roar of the helicopters. His heart was pounding so hard it nearly cut off his breath, and he didn't know if it was because of his injuries or the violence taking place above him. He wanted to watch. He had to watch. Yet his body resisted it until his breath shook.
A heavy pounding came at the door from the hallway outside. Risa and Daisuke glanced at the bolted door.
"Think that's the police, or Gorudo's men?"
"Doesn't matter. Whoever it is, they'll shoot at the angels if we let them in," Satoshi muttered.
There was consensus among the humans as all three stayed put, none of them willing to take the risk.
Above them, Krad grabbed Gorudo's throat with both hands and forced him back into the wall. Plaster showered down over them. The black angel slugged the blonde in the stomach, forcing Krad to draw back. Gorudo smirked and used the break to kick him in the chest. The white angel cried out and grabbed a fistful of violet hair to keep himself from being thrown backward. He tugged his weight back toward Gorudo and threw a knee into his stomach.
Risa clasped her hands to her chest, too astonished to breathe. Satoshi put a hand on her shoulder and fought his own rushing emotions.
"I've seen them fight so many times before, but…this is different," Risa breathed.
Satoshi took a grim breath and nodded. "They're not holding back." Usually the two angels had a sort of elegance in their battle. This time, it was ugly.
Gorudo caught Krad's leg and twisted it. The angel gasped and let the pressure turn him sideways.
"Getting tired, there, Krad?"
Krad bristled at the stranger's casual use of his name. "Unlike you, I'm fighting with my own skills and strength," he snarled. He wound his hand into a fist and threw it at the black angel's chest.
Gorudo caught his punch and sneered. "The Black Wings' skills are my skills. Including everything it knows about you, Krad Hikari." He threw a glowing palm to Krad's breastbone and the blonde went rigid. Power wove through his muscles like static, burrowing toward his heart. Gorudo didn't relent, and Krad couldn't move through the paralyzing shock in his chest. The black angel sneered at the startled pain in his "other half's" expression. He caught Krad by the neck as the angel started to fall and tugged him in close so his mouth almost brushed his ear. "I know exactly what you are, and it changes nothing. With you dead, the Black Wings will exist in me alone, as I intended. I know how you fight. I know what you hate. I know every weakness that Dark Mousy never dared to exploit. He's never had the guts to finish you off. But I do."
Krad's anger won over the pain. He slowly clenched Gorudo's forearm with both hands to ease the pressure in his neck. "Your power is not unlimited, you fool," he rasped. "You will exhaust it. Your wing host will die. And then I will tear your pathetic human body into shreds."
"Tough words for one who has so much to lose."
The words came in and out of focus. "What are you babbling on about now?" the blonde barely gasped. He clawed at the dark angel's arm, growing disoriented from lack of air.
Gorudo smirked at him ruthlessly and threw the blonde's body against the wall, sending debris down on the humans below. His tireless grip continued to crush the angel's throat against the plaster, wrenching a groan from the blonde. "Tell me, Krad," his grin spread like a rash, "Did you really come here to fight your nemesis? Or are you here to protect your wing host?"
Krad's gold eyes lit up fiercely. Anger temporarily cleared the spots in his vision as he realized what the rich bastard was asking. "You mean to tell me you can pluck anything you want to know from Dark's mind, and you still have the gall to ask me that question?"
Gorudo began to smile, but stopped as a hard object struck him in the shoulder. The wrench that had been thrown wasn't enough to hurt him, but it did attract his attention. Satoshi was staring straight at him from the ground, challenging him. "What do you know? The ants are squirming," he scoffed. He used his free hand to send a shot downward at the boy and his friends. Satoshi dove to one side, and Daisuke and Risa dodged the other way. The spell left a crumbling hole in the wall between them.
Krad twisted his neck to see what was happening below.
"A little distracted, are we?" Gorudo teased, tightening his grip on Krad.
The enraged angel stopped wrestling against the man and just focused on piecing together his own spell. A blast of reckless white power blew Dark's frame backward. Gorudo lost his balance in the air and spun backwards. Even with all of Dark's fighting skills at his beck and call, airborne battle required a certain amount of personal experience.
The blonde took his opponent's fumble as a much-needed opportunity to catch his breath. He eased away from the damaged wall and watched his counterpart's form tumble to the ground. The black angel almost brought his descent back under control, but not enough to save him from a good hard landing.
As soon as his head cleared enough to see straight, Krad followed Gorudo to the ground and landed a few feet away from him.
"Not so fast," Gorudo snarled as he staggered to his feet. It was the first sign he'd given yet of tiring at all. The black angel's hand rose to hold Krad at bay with a flickering orb of dark magic.
"Just keep using it up. I can outlast you," Krad said, his sore voice venomous as he stepped toward him.
"A war of attrition?" Gorudo sneered at him. "That sounds awfully dull. Shall we spice things up a bit?" His other hand went to his waist and pulled something from near his belt. A metallic rattle, followed by a click, paused the room. Gorudo's arm extended quite casually to his right and trained a pistol straight on Satoshi's head. The bluenette, backed against the wall near his friends, stiffened with the sudden recognition of absolute danger. Beside him, the others froze and stared at the weapon.
"Gun. Did not expect that," Satoshi murmured shakily.
"Now then, Hikari," Gorudo proclaimed, "Let's see if we can find a real answer to my question."
"What do you think you're doing?" the angel seethed. He kept his eyes on Gorudo, but didn't move.
"Just a little experiment," Gorudo smirked, refining his aim. "You said you're here to fight me, didn't you? So you won't complain if I take care of some business on the side." He stared Krad down as he calmly pulled the trigger.
Krad didn't even hear the gun go off, nor did he perceive anything else that happened in the split second it took Gorudo to relax his finger, for the shell to discharge from the back of the pistol, for Satoshi to flatten himself a little harder against the wall. The angel exploded into a sprint, augmented by magic. He threw all his nerves into focus for a shielding spell and skidded to a stop in front of his wing host just as the magical threads wove tight. The bullet slammed into an invisible wall that flashed as a gold crescent in front of them. Krad held his arms out in a rigid stance as three more bullets sent gold sparks arcing around them. Risa grabbed Daisuke's hand and tugged him a little closer to Satoshi as the angel defended them.
The barrage stopped, and Krad dropped the shield. Satoshi could only stare at the angel's back and the huge wings that fanned toward him. Krad's shoulders were shaking as he fought to take in more air and recover from the highly taxing spell.
"Do you really think you can fight me and protect them at the same time? Awfully arrogant, Krad," Gorudo chided.
"Krad…" Satoshi whispered, urging and warning at the same time.
Krad's muscles wound tight with adrenaline. Why? Why should he protect them? Why should he be in this position at all? This handicap was usually Dark's to shoulder. Not his. He was just here to fight, not to ally with them. Yet Satoshi's pleading voice riled him up, held him to his spot. "I don't like this," he breathed.
Gorudo smiled as if he'd made his point. "That was a nice show, Krad. Let's see an encore." He calmly aimed the weapon and fired.
The shield wasn't quite as complete this time. The leftover shock from the bullet shoved the powerful angel backward toward Satoshi. Krad crossed his wrists in front of him and physically pushed against the impact until his magic finally defused it. As the shield dispersed, his vision blurred.
He didn't register that there were arms around him until several seconds later.
"Krad? Krad!" Satoshi was asking him, straining to hold the angel upright. A wide-eyed Risa and Daisuke hung back against the wall behind him.
The blonde found his own legs and pried his weight off the boy. Gorudo was laughing. Krad's blurry eyes scanned the room for his enemy. Reality was going faster than he could keep up.
"Still think you can 'outlast' me, Krad Hikari?" Dark's voice was gloating. God, he hated that voice.
"You're out of bullets, you coward," the angel returned sourly. Satoshi released his grip on him as Krad took a hostile step forward. "Now fight properly."
"Oh, but I'm having so much fun," Gorudo sneered, raising a hand and summoning a row of black magical shards. They hovered in the air, gleaming like obsidian. "And look, you're finally getting to bond with your wing host!" With a heave of his arm, he launched the dark spears at Satoshi's chest.
Satoshi stared at the incoming spell and then wheeled on Risa and Daisuke, pulling them between him and the wall. He clenched his eyes firmly and waited.
And waited.
A shadow fell across him, and he heard a sharp intake of breath. From the startled expressions on Risa and Daisuke's faces, they apparently grasped the situation before Satoshi did. The boy slowly opened his eyes and thought about why nothing had hit him. Then he noticed the pale hands leaning against the wall on either side of him.
Satoshi released his grip on his friends and spun around to find himself inches away from his protector's body. The warmth of Krad's chest radiated close to his face. Satoshi's eyes shot wide and looked up. No…this wasn't really happening. The angel was leaning over him against the wall, too close for Satoshi to see his face. "Krad?" He reached around behind the angel's back like he was disarming a bomb, knowing that the attack had connected.
"Don't touch them," the angel's voice splintered along with his breathing. "It's just a trick. Just pain."
"What are you talking about?" Satoshi snapped. He felt along the angel's back for the magical spikes. "There's no blood," he murmured. But the attack had connected, all right. When his hand brushed against one of protruding spears, it throbbed straight to the bone. The boy sucked in a breath and tugged his arm back. When he stared down at his hand, he found no sign of injury whatsoever.
Gorudo had taken a shortcut. The spell wasn't able to cause physical damage. Its only purpose was pain. The idea turned Satoshi's stomach. He was really starting to miss Dark.
Daisuke and Risa didn't have Satoshi's rational composure about the situation. They fanned out on the wall behind him, staring at the wounded angel. Risa looked especially stricken. She couldn't take her eyes off Krad's agonized expression. Her voice was barely a whisper. "Sato, he's…"
"I know," the boy said, shaking out his aching wrist. The nerves were there in his voice, even if they weren't showing on his face. He ignored the angel's order and reached to Krad's back again with both hands. There was no way Krad could fight with those things inside him. The angel offered no additional protest as his former wing host took hold of two of the spears and tugged them out swiftly. They scalded Satoshi's hands into a burning ache, but as soon as they disconnected from Krad's skin, they dispersed into frayed feathers. Krad hissed at him and sagged forward dizzily.
Satoshi didn't drag the process out. He could tell the angel's composure was near a limit. He clenched and unclenched his throbbing hands before going for the next set of spears. Krad's fingers twisted into tight balls against the wall. His breath went ragged, but he remained painfully still as the boy ripped the remaining weapons free. The last spear wrenched a cut-off groan from the blonde that made Satoshi's hair stand on end. The angel sank a little further against the wall, gasping.
Satoshi managed to glance around Krad's too-close form and regain sight of Gorudo. "We can't afford to be a single target. You two, run," he ordered Risa and Daisuke. "Hide by the machines."
Daisuke glanced from Satoshi to Krad. "Satoshi, I'm not sure we should leave you with him."
It was Risa who took charge. "Dai, if he says go, then go!" she said, staring at the wounded angel as she sidestepped his wings. She dragged the redhead up to his feet and broke for the other side of the room.
The bluenette returned his attention to Krad's tense form braced over him. The telltale crackle of gathering magic caught his attention. He peered under the angel's shoulder at Gorudo. There wasn't time to let Krad recover. He grabbed the blonde by the waist and hauled him sideways as a bolt of energy struck the wall behind them. The two crashed sideways on the ground. Gorudo walked casually toward them. Satoshi winced up at the approaching angel, struggling with the renewed pierce in his ribs. Krad didn't seem able to move. "Krad!" he pleaded with the disoriented blonde. Satoshi grabbed a feather off the ground and shoved it into his hand. "Spell, now!" Gorudo grew closer.
Satoshi threw his inner shields aside and gave the dazed angel a quick shot of the pain in his ribs. The twitch in the angel's already staggered expression made him want to regret it. *Krad, he's coming!* He took Krad's arm and raised it in Gorudo's direction.
The angel's pale hand twitched and stiffly clenched around the feather. Gold eyes spun toward the approaching angel and flickered to life. He sought power, and it obeyed him, transforming the feather into a white blade of energy. In the same moment, he thrust the spell at Gorudo's form. The attack lodged firmly below the black angel's shoulder. The lunatic's eyes brightened with shock as he staggered backward and clutched at Krad's spear. It took several fierce tugs to rip the weapon loose. He threw it to the side.
The wound quickly closed up. However, it was clear from Gorudo's frustrated expression that even if he wasn't taking the brunt of the damage, he was finally reaching the point where he was at least partially conscious of the burnout he was causing. He reached out a hand to fire on the blonde before he could rise, but the spell didn't flicker to life quickly enough.
Krad launched to his feet, leaving Satoshi on the ground. He tapped into his reserves to cast a holding spell around Gorudo, trapping the angel in place.
"Release me!" Gorudo snarled, wrestling against Krad's power as the magic pinned him. "You aren't worthy! I'm immortal!"
Krad approached the man. His body was still moving stiffly with the residual ache of Gorudo's attack. "Immortal?" A mirthless laugh rose from his throat. "You're just a coward hiding inside a masterpiece."
"Stay back!" Gorudo's hands clenched tightly and magic gathered around them. However, before he could finish the attack, the power fizzled out suddenly. His violet eyes glared up at Krad.
The angel smiled icily. "Your wing host is at his limit. If you call any more power, his soul with tear itself apart."
The billionaire stared at Krad. "You're trying to fool me."
Krad walked straight up to the black-winged angel and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "I'm saying you can either stop channeling him, or say goodbye to your precious immortality."
Gorudo searched Krad's cold gaze for some sign that the angel was kidding. "What do you mean, channeling?"
"You may have rewired this little system to your own preference, but the basic rules are still the same. His life force is supporting yours. You can let it implode on itself from the burden, or you can let him out. Give him control."
"You must think I'm stupid," Gorudo scoffed.
"I do," Krad acknowledged, hoisting the angel a little further off the ground. "Also, it matters very little to me what you choose. You see, I've waited a very, very long time to destroy that body you're parading in as if it were your mother's makeup." He raised his left hand, and a feather between his fingers transformed into a raging sphere of power. His merciless glare burned into Gorudo's uneasy violet eyes.
"You see, no matter what you choose…I win." The angel's expression held no shadow of hesitation as he completed the spell and hoisted it toward Gorudo's chest.
"Krad, no!" Risa screamed, jumping up from where she and Daisuke were hiding, as if she could possibly get there in time. Daisuke stared with a dry throat, unable to make a sound.
For Krad, the instant passed in microscopic detail. As soon as he thrust his spell forward, the man he was collaring transformed. The wings dispersed, purple hair melted into Gorudo's thin brown ponytail, and that perfectly annoying face shifted back to that of a sharp middle-aged businessman. The only thing that didn't change was the eyes. Dark's eyes. The instant the transformation completed, the man's expression twisted in agony.
Krad's senses screeched to a halt. He narrowed his eyes and dispersed the attack he was throwing into a shower of defused sparks. His hand stopped just short of his opponent's chest. The air hung heavy and still between them. "Dark," he addressed Gorudo's form quietly. He slowly released the man's collar.
The angel's counterpart met his eyes and slowly recognized him. His cheeks were wet and his skin pale. "Krad..." The thief's expression twitched with effort as he spoke, his irises expanding in and out of focus. "I heard…you call…me a masterpiece." His shaking voice didn't match his teasing words.
"Don't get cocky about it," Krad warned.
Dark offered the blonde a defiant look and collapsed to his knees. He clutched his left shoulder with one arm and gripped the other firmly across his chest. He didn't have enough hands to hold everything that was hurting him right now, and it showed. "Lousy fight," he strained.
Krad grimaced at the apologetic tone. "Yes."
"That spell…I didn't-"
"Shut up. I know that already."
Dark winced his eyes shut and shook his head as if Krad's voice was literally piercing his brain.
"Is that really Dark?"
Krad followed the voice over his shoulder to see Daisuke and Risa moving cautiously toward them from their spot by the machines.
Before they could approach further, a deafening crash of metal resounded through the room. The door to the hall slammed open, dropping straight from its hinges. A crowd of Gorudo's Special Ops forces swarmed into the room. "He's here," one of them shouted, waving the others in.
Daisuke and Risa pulled their arms up defensively. Satoshi threw himself lower against the floor.
The soldiers assumed offensive positions and trained their weapons at Krad and the others. "Protect Mister Gorudo. Get rid of the rest!"
The men took aim, but didn't fire. A violet aura surrounded the squad members, holding them at bay. Krad's attention shot to Dark. "What the hell are you doing?" he whispered, "You don't have the strength to-"
"I know." Dark raised his head to look at Krad. His eyes were so deeply ablaze that it was difficult to read any expression off his face. His entire body was shaking. "Get them out." His nose began to bleed. "…Please."
That last word, spoken so desperately, made the blonde's gut go cold.
"Dark!" Risa gasped. Both she and Daisuke lost focus on the soldiers and burst forward to close the distance between them and the angels. They were almost to the phantom thief's side when Krad rose and turned toward them. The blonde leveled his gaze on them as they approached. He reached out and clotheslined them roughly across the waists. The impact halted their momentum, knocking the wind out of them. The two humans had to fight to catch their breath as the angel hauled them off the ground, one under each arm, and carried them in the opposite direction.
"Krad, put me down!" Daisuke was the first to find his voice. "I have to stay with him. Put me down!" The redhead fought with the angel's iron grip desperately. "Let go. Damn it, Let go!" Tears streamed down his face as Dark grew further and further away.
"Krad, please! He's hurt!" Risa wrestled with the angel's arm. Her eyes were frozen on Dark's bent form.
Satoshi pushed himself up on one elbow as Krad passed with his friends in tow. The angel didn't break pace. Dai and Risa exchanged a startled look with their friend as they passed him. They didn't know whether they were being rescued or attacked, but apparently the angel was leaving Satoshi behind.
Krad beat his wings and lifted off, flying his struggling cargo up through the hole in the ceiling. He circled in the air and came nose to nose with the police helicopter. The side doors were open, and the men inside were getting ready to drop down into the room. Instead, they wound up scrambling backwards to draw their weapons as the white-winged version of Dark swooped inside. The men hesitated when Krad dropped his two humans unceremoniously on the floor of the aircraft. The angel sized them up and turned to leave.
"Not so fast!" One of the men shouted, cocking his weapon. "You aren't going anywhere."
Krad looked over his shoulder at the cops. "There's still one left." He said it coldly, as if it would simply be a nuisance to leave the thing unfinished, but his eyes glinted with restless energy. It was a convincing look. Maybe that was why the men held their fire as he dove back out of the hovering vehicle.
"Hold our position!" someone shouted to the pilot as others pulled the disoriented civilians further away from the open door. Risa and Daisuke ignored the questions of the crew as they stared at the open door and waited. It seemed to be taking far too long.
Below, Krad darted back through the ceiling and into the giant ballroom. The soldiers were still frozen in place. The angel spotted Satoshi kneeling in front of Dark. He seemed uninjured. Krad pushed his wings a little faster as he approached and dropped next to the boy.
Satoshi was so caught up in watching Dark that he didn't notice the angel land. Dark was the one whose determined eyes first rose to acknowledge the blonde, though he was too focused on his spell to speak. The nosebleed was pouring down his too-pale throat and into the collar of Gorudo's expensively tailored suit.
Satoshi slowly followed Dark's gaze to the angel next to him. The tension in the boy's shoulders shifted like he'd just woken from a nightmare. "You came back."
Krad hesitated, taken back by the hurt in Satoshi's expression. "Three at once is too much," he trailed off. "We're going." He held out his hand.
Satoshi rose to face the angel without a word, avoiding his eyes. As he took Krad's hand, the blonde pulled him in securely and drew him up off the ground.
Krad looked down at his nemesis. Dark met his eyes firmly. The phantom thief was barely alert under the crushing expense of his spell, but it was clear he intended to hold Gorudo and his men off until they were out safely…if he could.
The blonde offered his counterpart a short nod, and then burst upward with Satoshi toward the safety of the skies. He could hear bullets whizzing past them as they cleared the ceiling, but the men were too late to stop them. He turned in the air and beat his wings to get them back to the helicopter. Things blurred a little as he gave the extra effort to align himself with the open flank of the aircraft and land inside. That made two days in a row that he was too burned out to fly properly. The thought didn't please him.
The airdrop team was everywhere, asking questions and corralling him further inside the cabin. Krad was too tired to make sense of their fussing, and too stubborn to release his possessive grip on his blue-haired cargo.
"Holy crap…. Commander Hiwatari?" one of the men finally placed Satoshi. "We've been trying to reach you all day!"
"My phone…got lost yesterday," Satoshi said from the angel's arms. Probably best not to tell them just yet that it actually went off a cliff into the ocean, along with his car.
"Sir…do you know this….this?" another uniform demanded, regarding the blonde uncertainly.
"Yes. He's with me," Satoshi said. It was awkwardly accurate right now, while the angel was gripping him like a flotation device. Not that he was really up to standing on his own at the moment. "I'm sorry I didn't get you involved sooner. We got a lead on Mousy, and we had to move.
"You vandalized a police vehicle?"
"It was the fastest way to get you here," the angel dismissed.
The attention went back to the blonde. "That was you? But didn't you say you were going to steal Dark?"
"Pft. I am not a thief," Krad said in disgust.
"But… your note-"
"Got your attention. We couldn't trust the local police," Satoshi cut in before the feds managed to rekindle Krad's violent side.
"And these two?" The cop gestured to Daisuke and Risa, who were looking shell-shocked on a bench at the rear of the cabin.
"Wrong place and wrong time," Satoshi said. "I promise to make a full report, but several of us are injured, and a bunch of dirty corporate goons are still down there."
"Sir…Look, we can't just send you home."
"You mean you won't send him home," Satoshi pointed out sharply, gesturing at the white angel whose wingspan was forcing the men to give them a wide berth in the confined space.
"Well, yes. We have no evidence to detain you, but he's obviously another…whatever Mousy is. And we all saw two shapes using powers down there, not just one."
Satoshi narrowed his eyes. From their wording, it sounded like the cops hadn't gotten a full view of everything that happened, which meant they might not know everything.
"I told you, he's with me. I can explain it all later. Look, Dark is escaping as we speak, and you have Gorudo and a whole room full of conspirators down there who might be able to tell you where he's headed and why he was here in the first place."
There was silence in the cabin.
"He's right," one of the men finally said. "We need to focus on apprehending Dark." Satoshi let out a breath of relief. They didn't know about Gorudo.
"Alright," the head of the unit sighed, rubbing his forehead with his thumbs. "Joe, tell the men on the ground that Dark has been sighted inside the building, and they have warrant to search the premises. These folks need medical attention, and we can do all the interviews we want after we lose Dark's trail. Commander, we'll let you lot off on the ground so we can get back to the operation. But the angel goes under house arrest. We'll need to interview all of you in the morning. Until then, he doesn't leave your sight. That work for you, commander?" he asked Satoshi.
"Yes," the bluenette confirmed. Krad was silent.
"Alright," the man told the pilot. "Take 'er down." He looked back to Risa and Daisuke. "I'll call you lot an ambulance."
"We'll take care of it ourselves. You have enough to do," Satoshi stopped him.
It was an awkward five minutes as the copter circled around and touched down on an open field next to the skyscraper.
"Krad…you can put me down," Satoshi said quietly.
The angel released him without a word and waited as the copter eased about a foot off the ground. Daisuke and Risa jumped off first, followed by Satoshi and, finally, Krad. Then the aircraft was off again in a blast of wind. "…What about Dark?" Risa barely murmured as they were left alone on the roof.
"His men think he's Gorudo. Once things settle down, they'll probably put him in a hospital," Satoshi said.
"Will that even help him?"
"…Probably."
The girl swallowed and looked down for a moment, composing herself. When she looked back up, it was toward Krad. "Do you need a hospital?" she asked him quietly.
The angel's gaze jerked to meet hers. "No." He looked a little unnerved by her concern.
She glanced at his bleeding shoulder, but didn't press the issue. "Thank you…for protecting Satoshi."
Krad's expression darkened. "I didn't-" ("If you keep saying things like that to him, he'll believe you.") Jirou's presumptuous words itched at his mind. He didn't finish his sentence, though they were all staring at him. The angel's anger dissolved into nervous frustration.
Risa raised an eyebrow at the angel's mercurial behavior and the way Satoshi was just staring at him. "What happens now?"
Satoshi looked out at the helicopters circling Gorudo Corp and the sea of blue and red lights gridlocking the street outside of it. He took the deepest breath his ribs would allow.
"For now…we go home."
-oOoO—000—OoOo- oOoO—000—OoOo -oOoO—000—OoOo-
To be continued!
MUAHAHAHA!
Thank you all so much for the warm wishes! I'm settling in now and getting back to writing. I think this is the longest chapter so far. Whee violence! I'm out of practice with fight scenes, so I hope the pacing came out alright! Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!
Love,
Kat