Disclaimer: I don't own Noblesse.
Author's note: Sorry for the long, long wait. But since I was moving, it couldn't be helped. So here's the dramatic conclusion. Enjoy!
Chapter 56: All he deserves
Crombel ran towards the end of the corridor where a lift welcomed him with open doors. Inside, he pressed a button and turned to face his pursuer, giving a triumphant sneer. The doors began to close.
With a deep growl, M-21 launched himself through the gap and collided with Crombel, hurling him against the wall from the impact. Steel slid in place behind him and the lift began to rise.
Metal screeched as M-21 ripped his claws through the control panel. They came to a shaky halt.
A flicker of doubt passed over Crombel's face as he stared into two eyes glowing with an amber fire. Yet he stood tall and regained his aloof confidence when M-21 drew back slightly at the power he was emanating.
The small room was filled with so much light, that it seemed shadowless, almost two-dimensional.
Blood splattered the walls and M-21 roared with pain. His head hit the door with crushing force.
But the amber light did not cease to glow. Not heeding Crombel's attacks, he leaped at him, his fangs closing over flesh, piercing it to the bone.
Crombel managed to get his arm free and hurled the younger man across the room.
Swiftly, his healthy hand dived into the pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a vial and flipped the cap off. But the plastic slipped from his fingers, as M-21's shoulder collided with his wrist. The sound of cracking plastic was heard.
A red liquid seeped out from underneath M-21's shoe. He grinned. His lips were sprinkled with blood. He licked them.
"Not so fast", he whispered darkly, eyes flashing.
Crombel slid slowly down the wall, shaking, cradling his still bleeding arm.
"Such a...beautiful monster I have...created", choked the scientist. "Turgo must have been...proud."
"Yap as much as you want", said M-21, crouching down in front of him. "I'll watch you die, Crombel. In the end you perish like the beast you are."
"You'll never...be free of this", whispered Crombel. "Dying,...I'll stain you...eternally."
"If anyone ever deserved to die, it's you, Crombel", M-21 whispered back, smiling.
"And here...they thought...you'd changed", coughed the scientist. His gaze lingered on the younger man's face, watching, waiting for his reaction.
The gray eyes blazed golden again.
"I won't fall for your cheap tricks!", snarled M-21, standing up. He looked over to the control panel. The lift was stuck one floor beneath ground floor.
"Only...the truth...doth sting so deep", breathed Crombel.
M-21 stared down on his fallen foe. His blood roared in his ears, but his mind was clear again.
He transformed his arms and cut through the steel doors. With a deafening rumble, two large pieces fell to the floor.
The corridor beyond was empty.
"Five minutes until self-destruction."
M-21 grabbed Crombel's left ankle and and dragged him with him to the next door. He cut it open and saw that it led to a large laboratory.
"What...are you...planning?", choked Crombel when he was unceremoniously flung onto an examination table. Steel cuffs clicked shut. He craned his neck to see what the other man was doing. He could only hear him rummaging around.
"You made a mistake", said M-21 from behind his head. Crombel noticed a soft gurgling sound.
"You underestimated Edward Turgo", continued M-21. "He managed not only to give us information about the pox virus, but a lot of other things, too. The whole of his research."
He paused to rip a long wound into his forearm. The blood dripped on Crombel's face.
"Swallow", ordered M-21 uncaring. "It's your second chance."
He rolled a drip stand over. A small brown bottle jingled in its holder, a line already attached.
While Crombel watched with fascination how the wound on his arm healed, he barely felt the prick of a needle in his other arm. But notice he did.
"What are you doing?", he asked, pulling at the cuffs.
"Giving you a second chance", replied M-21, smiling benevolently. "Turgo had become a specialist for artificial amnesia. He developed a mixture for complete, permanent memory-removal without harm to daily living activities and social interaction. It was never tested, though. You are a pioneer, Doctor Crombel. Are you not proud to experience such a new development first-hand?"
"One minute until self-destruction."
"No!", cried Crombel. "I can't lose all those findings! No, don't..." His voice dwindled away as he lost consciousness.
M-21 shook the bottle to get the last few drops out then ripped open the cuffs, threw Crombel over his shoulder and ran for his life.
Hyun Ae and Cruor were crouching under cover of a thicket of thorny shrubbery, watching the building empty like a formicary that someone had stirred up. Heavily armed guards tried to bring some order into the swarms of scientist milling about with blowing white coats, desperately clutching their most important documents.
While they still watched, the staff was consigned into an armada of trucks and inconspicuous vans. They drove away with screeching wheels.
"Thirty seconds until self-destruction", was blown over to them by the wind, nearly inaudible.
"Perhaps he got out in the back?", asked Hyun Ae, worriedly, peering over to the facility.
Cruor shook his head.
"He's still inside", he said. "His scent would be much stronger, otherwise. They must be fighting. Crombel's helicopter isn't gone yet."
Hyun Ae followed his look and saw the black vehicle hovering on the roof like a giant firefly, beating its dark wings.
"Ten seconds until self-destruction."
A shudder went through the helicopter and it slowly began to ascend. The pilot had determined that he had waited long enough.
"8...7...6."
"What if he can't get out?", shouted Hyun Ae over the helicopter's noise. Her hair was momentarily whipped across her eyes, blinding her.
"4...3..."
"I would be pretty disappointed", replied Cruor, standing up, sniffing. "He's coming. But he's not alone."
"2...now initiating self-destruction."
A shadow crashed through a window, immediately followed by a firestorm.
Hyun Ae cried out and sprinted towards the building, but Cruor was faster than her.
He bowed over a fallen body, but his expression was one of utter amazement.
He looked around and spotted something a little way off.
"Pack leader!", he shouted.
Hyun Ae stared down at the person to her feet with confusion. The tuft of gray hair had fooled her. Her eyes widened. She knelt and turned the unconscious body around. The man was still breathing, albeit shallowly.
"Crombel?", she whispered. "Why is he still alive?"
Her face changed from shock to cold fury. A wave of hatred welled up inside her. Her hands closed around the man's neck.
"You should not be alive", she muttered.
Stertorous breathing rang in her ears. Her heart pounded slow and heavy. A pulse fluttered weakly against her strangling fingers. From far away, someone was shouting. She stared down into that accursed face. The glasses were askew and smeared with dried blood. The skin began to turn purple.
"What joy", whispered Hyun Ae. "To kill you with my own hands."
She did not know which part of her was speaking. Whether it was Pandora, the forced experiment, whether it was Priscilla Leila d'Opacus, bitter and desperate, or whether it was her very own self, Doctor Hyun Ae Choi, thirsting to rid the world from a monster in human form.
Suddenly, her arms were gripped and she was pulled back with force. Her hands slipped from Crombel's throat.
"NO!", she screeched. "DON'T STOP ME!"
"I'm doing this for your sake", said Cruor's voice in her ear, gentle and comforting. "You owe it to M-21 to honor his decision."
A storm arose. Hyun Ae looked up and thought for a moment Crombel's pilot had come back to pick him up.
But leaning from the cockpit a familiar face stared down onto them, his long hair slashing and whipping in the wind.
"It's Takeo", Hyun Ae said tonelessly, nearly inaudible against the roaring wind. "Why now?"
As if it had taken so long to sink in, she suddenly jumped to her feet, shaking Cruor's hands off.
"Where's M-21?", she screamed at him.
The werewolf threw her a strange look.
"Thought you'd never ask", he shouted back and pointed behind him.
Note: I hope this was both a bit unexpected and an acceptable solution. Do give me your opinion. And there's still one more chapter to go, which will be up around the end of next week.
