The mob boss entered the infirmary, he saw Abel sitting on the bed with his legs over the edge. The angel had another coughing spree.
"You alright? How are things going around here?"; the demon asked as he sat next to the angel on the bed. As Abel stopped coughing, he looked at the mob boss sitting next to him, he could read the worries on Benicio's face.
The angel cleared his throat; "I'm sorry for the way I behaved back there, I shouldn't have lost my temper as i did, that was unprofessional of me".
"OH MY GOD! HE APOLOGISED... HE'S SICK ALRIGHT, HE'S DELUSIONAL!"; the mafia leader joked.
Abel smiled as he playfully hit Benicio on the arm, the devil playfully rubbed his arm as a response.
Benicio grinned; "I don't know what that doctor guy was talking about, your blow actually hurt me!"
The cartoon angel slowly shook his head in amusement as he started coughing again. Deeralyn came over with a glass of water and the same pill Abel had taken earlier.
"Here you go mister Abel, it will help with the cough"; The nurse offered the medication.
The angel took the medicine without protest this time as Luna joined the group; "And...found something out?"
The demon sighed, he looked at Abel who was at his turn staring back at him. The mafia leader explained everything the human had said. From their organization to the location from their vaccine. After the explanation, there was a moment of silence.
"Shit...i really am dying"; the rebel angel stated with a shaky voice.
Benicio didn't dare to look at the angel, a tear ran down the devil's cheek; "I'm sorry...i'm so sorry Abel...If I just would have listened to you, this wouldn't have happened. You're dying because of me".
Abel shook his head; "It ain't your fault, chief, I could've refused to go on that heist with you but I didn't. Besides, I let those humans get the jump on me, I got no one to blame but myself".
"I promise, on my honor, I will get that vaccine before it'll be too late. Diana's scouting the forest as we speak".
"Not without me, you don't"; The rebel angel demanded.
Luna looked full unbelieve at the angel; "Are you loco? You're not going anywhere in your condition".
Abel got off the bed and walked until he stood just in front of the cartoon wolf, staring in her eye with a cold glare; "Now listen here doc, I appreciate what you and your lovely nurse have done for me so far, words can't start to describe how grateful I am... but if you think I will let someone else put himself in danger, to safe my sorry ass? You're even more loco than I am… Besides, what do I've got left to lose? Without the vaccine, I'm as good as dead anyway".
The cartoon wolf sighed; "Well then, no arguing with that I suppose... Fine, you can go, but only if the boss agrees and you let him take care of you".
The duo looked at the mob boss, Benicio scratched his head; "I couldn't stop that rebel angel if I would send my entire army of the damned after him. I guess he can come".
Luna bowed her head again; "As you wish boss, although, please keep in mind that the angel is your responsibility from the moment you leave headquarters with him, I can assure you that he will have a second attack, which will only slow down the mission, all I can do is give you some supplies to get the angel trough the attack".
"Sounds good to me"; The mob boss looked at Abel and winked. The cartoon angel smiled.
Luna grabbed a bag and some supplies from the supply closet and prepared the bag for the mission.
Deeralyn walked up to the cartoon angel; "I wish you the best of luck mister Abel sir".
The angel nodded while the doctor came back with the bag and gave it to her boss, Benicio accepted the bag and gave the wolf what appeared to be a radio in return.
"What is this?"; Luna asked not knowing what the device was for.
Benicio explained; "It's one of my Two-way radio communication devices, I traded this with a police officer for some ink once, I have the other one, see?" The mob boss showed his radio; "With this, we can talk to each other, even when we're not in the same place".
"Why are you giving me this?"
The cartoon devil glanced at the cartoon angel; "Well, as you might have noticed, I'm not really a doctor, I don't know the first thing about healing. My point being, I don't mind treating the angel when he gets his second attack but I'm going to need some guidance."
"Consider it done, boss"; Luna replied.
Diana returned from her scouting mission; "All clear boss, his story checks out, the boys are already bringing that doctor guy to the edge of New York".
"Okay thanks, good work, sparkle wings"; the devil thanked her. The fairy blushes as she flew off for a well deserved break.
Benicio looked at the angel; "And...You up for it?"
"You bet, I am"; Abel grinned
"Okay then, let's do this"
The duo made their way to the garage. As they entered the garage, they saw all the henchmen there, they wished their boss and Abel good luck and a safe journey. The cartoon angel saw how Fonzy was cleaning up blood of the floor as he and the devil got in the car, when the fox was finished with the clean up job, he opened the gate. The mafia leader gently drove the car outside and they made their way to the secret laboratory.
"I must say, it's nice to sit in the car with you when you drive like this"; Abel admitted with a smile.
Benicio grinned; "yeah well, don't get used to it. I'm just doing this because you're sick. Once you're better again, I'm going to put the pedal to the metal"
"You mean...if... I get better"
Benicio glanced at him; "Hey, don't you dare to talk like that, I promise that everything will be alright okay".
"Whatever you say, horn head", Abel coughed again.
They were silent for a big part of the way, the mob boss had turned on the car radio.
All of a sudden, the cartoon angel realized something; "OH MY GOD, MERCY, WHERE ARE THEY?! Last time I saw them, those humans got the jump on me".
Benicio was in such a shock from the angel's sudden outburst that he hit the brakes.
"sheesh, give someone else a heart attack, would ya? I thought you were having your third attack. Don't worry, you dropped them on the floor when you were unconscious, I know how much you like them, so I picked them up before I followed those guys. They're on the back seat." The cartoon angel felt a wave of relief as he saw his beloved Mercy on the back seat.
The rebel angel faces the cartoon devil with a smile; "Thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me".
"I think I have a pretty good idea"; The mob boss replied petting the gun that was still strapped in between his belt.
The car drove again but as they neared their destination, Benicio noticed that Abel was breathing heavily again, the cartoon angel also cringed once in a while.
"Angel face? How're you holding up?"; The mafia leader asked with a worried tone.
"To be honest, I've been better. It's hard to breathe and sometimes I feel a sting in my chest but I'll manage".
They reached the little house again on the open field where the cartoon angel got infected. Benicio stopped the car and placed his hand on the angel's forehead.
The devil sighed, slowly shaking his head; "You're burning up again, Abel".
"So? I'm still not screaming in pain".
The mob boss took his two-way radio; "Luna are you there? Can you hear me".
There was static on the radio; "Boss? It's Luna, can I help you?"
"Abel is burning up again, he has stings in his chest and he's breathing heavy again though he doesn't appear to be in pain like before...What should we do?"
"Those could be indications that the third attack's on the way, it's best you find some shelter for him boss".
Benicio looked at the cartoon angel, "Welp, you heard the lady".
"You can't be serious... We're not even inside the laboratory yet and I'm already slowing us down?"
"To be fair, halo head, I rather want you to have the attack now than inside enemy territory. Imagine you screaming in pain as guards walk by. This is actually perfect timing".
The cartoon angel rolled his eyes and got out of the car, struggling to stand on his feet because they were running out of strength. Abel was about to fall when Benicio caught him just in time and slowly helped the angel sit on the floor, leaning his back on the car.
"See? This is why we listen to the doctor, alright?"; The mob boss fretted.
The rebel angel didn't respond, he just leaned his head against the car and watched how the cartoon devil grabbed the bag he got from Luna out of the car. The mob boss walked up to Abel, placed the angel's arm around his shoulders and helped his companion to stand up. The duo walked to the little house on the open field.
Benicio looked through the window to see if the coast was clear, as he saw it was safe, he helped the cartoon angel inside. The room looked exactly the same as they had left it.
"Seems like nobody has been here since they injected you"; the devil informed.
"Looks that way"; The angel replied before coughing.
Abel had covered his mouth when he did but when he lowered his hand, he kept staring at it with wide eyes, his hand started to shake.
Benicio noticed this, he became worried and took the hand of the angel; "What's wrong?"
The cartoon devil stared at it in shock, as he found ink splatter in the palm of the angel's hand.
"A-Abel? You're coughing up ink".
"Thanks for the info, captain obvious..."
"Go lie on the stretcher"; Benicio ordered.
The rebel angel was too tired to argue with the cartoon devil so he lies down just like when he first became infected. The mob boss took a cloth out of his bag and made it wet, he placed the wet cloth on the angel's forehead. Abel started to moan as the stinging in his chest became more intense, on top of that he had a stomach ache. The mob boss started pacing while drowned in thought.
Eventually, he walked up to the rebel angel and started to take off his blouse.
The angel was confused; "W-What...are y-ou doing?"
"I'm gonna take off your blouse, the electrocardiograph next to you measured your heart rate the very first time you got an attack, I figured it can do that again." Benicio placed the electrode back on the angel's chest.
"I-I'm cold".
"Probably because of the fever, I'll see what I can do".
The mafia leader ransacked the entire house until he found a sheet from an old hospital bed. He made his way towards the rebel angel with it and covered the angel up. At this point, Abel was gasping for air, he really had difficulty breathing and his entire body was vibrating. All Benicio could do for now was hold the angel's hand.
Suddenly the grip on the cartoon demon's hand got stronger, Abel screamed for a few minutes as a shot of pain went through his body. It felt like someone repeatedly stabbed him with a knife all over his body. The mafia leader looked at the electrocardiograph, the readings on the device were skyrocketing again. He started to panic, as he pried his hand from the angel's grip to grab his radio and called Luna again.
"It's happening again, he started coughing up ink and his heart is beating too fast. Now he's in intense pain...i-i don't know what to do."
Luna replied; "First of all stay calm, look in the bag, there should be a vial and a syringe in there..."
Benicio looked in the bag and found the stuff that Luna described .
"What's inside the vial?"; The demon asked as he sucked the content into the syringe.
"Morphine! It's a type of painkiller and also functions as a cough suppressant".
The mob boss was hesitant but placed the needle of the syringe in Abel's arm and injected the content. The angel was moaning and gasping for air.
He opened his eyes a bit, they became watery; "I-It h...urts. Make it...s..top. Please!"
"Shh, I know pal, I know, I already gave you some morphine. just give it some time to work, stay strong, okay?"
The cartoon angel gritted his teeth and the tears ran down his face as another jolt of pain went through his body. This went on until the angel's vision became blurry, eventually, it turned black in front of his eyes and his body went limp.
*** seventeen minutes later***
The cartoon angel moaned, he heard a voice, it sounded distant though;"...el! A...el ...se! A...el pl...e w...k...p!"
All of a sudden the voice cleared up.
"ABEL! PLEASE! WAKE UP!"; Benicio screamed in a complete panic as tears ran down his cheek. He was shaking the angel in an attempt to wake him.
The rebel angel opened slowly and partially his eyes, panting.
"OH GOD! Y-you're awake! Don't s-scare me like that, i-i thought we lost you!"; the mafia leader shivered as he held the upper body from the cartoon angel in his arms.
"Y...ou're...n-ot...g..ett...ing rid of me. That... e-easy"; the rebel angel wheezed.
Benicio lays Abel back on the stretcher; "Shh, don't talk".
The mafia leader made the cloth on the angel's forehead wet again and then took his radio.
"L-Luna he's awake again... h-he's alive..."; the devil burst into tears.
"B-Boss? You're in shock, please calm down. Breathe".
Benicio closed his eyes as he inhaled and exhaled a few times until he calmed down. He wiped the tears off his face and restored his composure; "Right, sorry about that".
"No worries. What happened to Abel?"
The mob boss looked at the weakened angel; "He went limp and lost consciousness, he's been out for fifteen minutes. His fever went down but his breathing is still labored, he's really weak. I also hooked him to an electrocardiograph, the readings went through the roof. Right now his heart is stable again but still beating fast".
"Okay boss? Listen closely, there should be a second vial, a blue one, and a second syringe. I placed it in a separate compartment in the bag, can you find it?"
"I've got it... Now what?"
"Listen very carefully 'cause this is really important. When Abel's heart beats normal again and ONLY when it beats normal again, you can inject him with that stuff".
"What is it?"
"Well, I figured that if the angel would have gotten his third attack, he would be weakened even more, so I gave you some adrenaline to help him get going again but you can only administer it when his heart is beating normally, even then it's a risk. Normally adrenaline is given to people with a weakened heartbeat, if Abels heartbeat is too high you can NOT give it to him, otherwise he's going to have a heart attack. Do you understand?"
"I think I do, in that case, we'll need to wait a bit, his heart rate is still too high, besides he could use some time to recuperate".
"True but don't take too long. I'm gonna be honest with you, boss, I don't think Abel's gonna survive another attack. You need to get that vaccine asap".
"We'll do our best".
Benicio put his radio away, grabbed a stool that stood in the corner of the room and placed it next to the stretcher. He sat down and kept an eye on the cartoon angel and the electrocardiograph.
Abel looked at the devil from the corner of his eyes; "B-Boss?"
Benicio looked at the angel.
"T-Thank y...ou... F...or...e-every...thing".
The mob boss smiled; "Hey, no problem. What kind of boss would I be if I wouldn't even take care of my own men? We're a family after all".
The rebel angel had a soft smile on his face; "Y-You...aren't bad...y-your...self. May...be we...can...h-have...a drink...at E-Elymas's...bar, wh...en this...i-is all over".
The cartoon devil smile grew wider; "Sure, why not".
The mob boss looked at the electrocardiograph again and noticed that Abel's heart was beating normal.
He sighed as he filled up the syringe with the adrenaline. The cartoon devil faced the angel; "You ready, Abel?"
"R...eady...as I'll...e..ver...be"; the angel wheezed.
Benicio was hesitant, he looked at the angel on the stretcher. When he saw Abel nodding softly, he put the needle into the angel's arm and injected the adrenaline. Abel's eyes went wide and his body tensed up as he felt the second wave of energy fill his body. In a sudden movement, the cartoon angel sat up straight on the stretcher.
The mafia leader was surprised by the angel's sudden movement and gently pushed on Abel's chest and shoulder to lie him back down; "Whoa, easy, halo head, don't sit up yet, that's way too early. Let the adrenaline first settle in your body, when there are no side effects, you can slowly start to move again ".
Abel's head was spinning from sitting up so fast and was glad, the cartoon demon had laid him down again. He was still breathing heavy but at least it went better than before. Benicio looked at the electrocardiograph again, just like before Abel's heartrate became faster, but to the demon's relief it didn't go too fast, it stayed stable.
"Great, it seems you're not gonna have a heart attack. How are you holding up"; the mob boss asked.
Abel grinned; "I feel a whole lot better than I did a few minutes ago".
"Maybe we can go get the vaccine then, you think you're up for it?"
The rebel angel stared at Benicio; "To be honest, even if I weren't ready, you heard what the doc said. We can't waste too much time. So ready or not, I'm going".
The mob boss nodded, he helped Abel to sit up, slowly this time. When he noticed his companion was okay, he removed the electrode from the angel's chest and helped him to put on his blouse again. Abel removed the old hospital sheet from his legs and slowly got off the stretcher. The mafia leader grabbed his bag and went to his companion's side to support him.
Though the cartoon angel had newfound energy, he still was a little on the weak side, making the cartoon demon wonder how the angel would have been without the adrenaline. The duo made their way out of the little house and into the woods. It didn't take them long until they found the cave that the human had talked about. The cave was very small and it looked like a giant rock that had been hollowed out to look like a cave.
As they entered the cave, they reached a dead end.
"So...now what?"; the rebel angel asked.
Benicio didn't have an answer. They stood there for a while when all of a sudden they felt the ground tremble. Without any warning the floor started to move downward, it appeared the cave floor was actually a big elevator platform going underground. The duo looked in awe as the platform stopped and they found themselves at the beginning of a hallway, the hallway's floor was black and white tiled and the walls were painted completely white.
The angel became nervous; "jeez, I thought you told me we were going to a secret lab. This looks more like a secret hospital".
"Hey, I was told this was a laboratory, I can't help it that humans have a terrible taste as far as decorating goes"; The mob boss replied, he felt uneasy as well.
The duo followed the hallway until they reached an intersection. They heard some people getting closer.
Benicio whispered; "Shit...now what? If they spot us, they are going to sound the alarm and then we can kiss that vaccine goodbye and you are in no condition to put up a fight, or even to run away".
The cartoon demon looked around him as he saw a door ajar. He guided Abel to the door and peered inside, it was a utility closet. It was just big enough for one of them to hide in. As the voices came closer and closer, the duo was running out of time.
Abel looked at the mob boss and it was as if he could read his mind; "Oh no, don't you even dare think about locking me in there, while you have to deal with those humans".
However, it was too late, as people were about to see them. In a fit of desperation, Benicio pushed Abel into the closet and closed the door.
The humans stood in front of the mob boss, there were two of them and they appeared to be guards.
"Hey what is a cartoon doing here? INTRUDER!"; one of the guards yelled.
"Oh boy, here we go again, COME ON, YOU LAZY BASTARDS, COME AND GET ME! "; the mob boss yelled as he turned around and hit his own ass while shaking it at the security.
The guards started to chase him, as Benicio led them away from the closet Abel was hiding in. The cartoon angel listened at the door to know what happened outside as it became quiet, the rebel angel slowly placed the door ajar to make sure the coast was clear. Since nobody was in sight he slowly got out of his hiding spot.
"Be careful, boss man. If something happens to ya, I swear to God, i'll beat the living hell out of you myself"; the angel muttered to himself.
Abel used the wall to support himself, he slowly walked through the hallway in search of his missing companion.
*Meanwhile at Benicio*
The mob boss was starting to get tired from all the running he just did but he did manage to create some distance between him and the guards. He found himself in a hallway with stacked up crates that were neatly placed against the wall. He hid behind the crates and made himself small as he heard a guard approach.
"Huh? Where did he go?"; One of them asked.
The other replied; "He probably ran the other way, come on, if they find out we let a toon run around the facility, they are going to have our heads".
The two guards ran in the opposite direction. Benicio peered at them from behind the crates when he suddenly felt a sting in his arm and everything turned black in front of his eyes. The mob boss fell unconscious to the floor.
A mysterious figure emerged from the shadows as he spoke into the radio; "We have him, prepare the room...".
The mysterious person put his radio away and grabbed the mafia leader by the collar of his shirt, dragging the cartoon demon behind him.
* back to Abel *
The rebel angel was leaning against the wall as he was gasping for breath and held a hand on his chest.
"No...not now damn it. The adrenaline is wearing off, we need to hurry".
Abel continued to slowly walk when all of a sudden, voices could be heard up ahead.
"Shit, shit, shit, why can't things ever go our way?"; he whispered and looked around to find a hiding place. The angel found a room and upon seeing nobody was inside it, he entered it and closed the door. The room was filled with notes on the wall and in the middle of it, was a table, on the table lied a big blue piece of paper. The angel took a look at it.
"blueprints for a small device that emits electricity".
There were two notes attached to the blueprint. The first one read: Device has design flaw, will short circuit at high sound waves. The second one read: Proceed project CC.
"Project CC? What does that even mean?"
Abel heard the humans walking past the room. He stayed quiet, as the sound of voices and footsteps went away. Once the angel saw it was safe to come out, he left the room and continued his search for his boss.
*back with Benicio*
Some time had passed as the cartoon devil moaned and slowly opened his eyes; "yeow, my head...either I've been thinking too hard or I need a good stiff drink. What happened?"
The mob boss noticed he was lying behind the crates he was hiding behind earlier, he slowly got to his feet as the two security guards from before found him.
"THERE HE IS!"; one of them yelled.
Benicio groaned while rubbing his temples; "Jeesh, can you yell a little louder? Why don't you hold a drill to my head while you're at it?"
The guards charged towards him as the mafia leader gently dodged them.
"You guys don't give up, do you"; the demon stated.
As the two men got to their feet again, they made a second attempt to catch the cartoon demon. Again, Benicio had no problem to dodge them, making the guards fly against the crates against the wall. The crates fell to the floor making a lot of noise.
"OH, COME ON! NOW YOU GUY'S ARE DOING IT ON PURPOSE"; the devil got annoyed and was holding his head.
Just like before, the guards got to their feet and ran towards the cartoon demon. Benicio rolled his eyes and started to run until he finally reached a dead end. The two guards were closing in on him when suddenly two thuds could be heard. The guards fell to the ground revealing an out of breath Abel, holding a now broken broomstick.
The cartoon devil grinned; "Angel face! Perfect timing...".
The rebel angel walked up to his boss and stared the devil straight in the eyes; "If you dump me like that one more time, HEADS ARE GONNA ROLL!".
"shush...Seriously, is it "Make the Devil's Head Explode" day today?"
"Wait, are you having a headache? What happened?"; The angel was now worried.
"Honestly, I don't know. Last thing I know is that I was hiding behind some crates and then everything went black from there. After that, those security guards you so gently knocked out, thanks for that by the way, found me behind the crates and chased me. As to answer your question about my headache, let me put it this way, being hit with a hammer in my head would be ten times more enjoyable then what I feel now".
"Wait... you've been sitting behind some crates all this time?"
"What do you mean, all this time?"
"You do realize I've been looking for you, like, for the past two hours, right?"
The demon didn't answer, he was in shock. Did he really have a blackout for more than two hours?
The mob boss shook his head; "That doesn't matter right now. We need to find that vaccine, time is running out".
"Yeah, I know but where is it? I've done my fair share of rooms in here and so far, I found nothing"
"The doctor said, they kept it in a vault".
"Oh, in that case, I do know where it is. I found a vault when I was searching for you. It's just around the corner".
Abel guided the devil to the room with the vault.
"So, what's the vault's combination?"; the angel asked.
Benicio shrugged his shoulders; "I don't know".
The rebel angel's eye was twitching; "What do you mean you don't know. You mean you've never bothered to ask for the vault's combination?"
"I don't need it"; the mob boss grinned as he took a bundle of dynamite out of his bag.
"ARE YOU CRAZY? THEY'RE GONNA HEAR THAT!"
"That's just it, halo head. They're going to come check what the ruckus is all about but by the time they're here, we'll have the vaccine and are on our way out. By the time they realize what happened, we're long gone. And could you please keep it down? Your voice sounds like I just ran with my head against the wall".
"Sorry...headache...got it"; the angel whispered.
Abel took something out of his pocket and gave it to the mafia leader; "Here, maybe this will help".
"What is it?"
"Duh, it's a painkiller. Luna gave it to me after I had my second attack. I didn't want to take it back then, so I slipped it in my pocket, without Luna and Deeralyn seeing"; the angel explained with a cheesy grin.
Benicio just shook his head at the angel in disappointment and then swallowed the painkiller dry.
"What? You know I hate being pampered like a baby".
The devil raised an eyebrow; "Giving medication because you're in pain is not pampering someone. It's called health care, Einstein".
Abel wanted to protest but started to cough instead. The mob boss stared at him with a worried expression.
The angel noticed it, he justified himself; "No worries, the adrenaline and morphine are wearing off is all, I'm not having an attack".
You could see the relief appear on the devil's face. Benicio placed the bundle of dynamite against the vault door, grabbed a lighter out of his bag and lit the wick. He dashed away, grabbing Abel's arm in the progress to drag him to safety. They waited just outside the room as the dynamite went off. In a fraction of a second Benicio had sprinted into the burning room and came back outside with a small glass bottle filled with a green liquid.
The duo ran as fast as they could, till they were one hallway further. They quickly entered a room, where they would hide until people were going to check out the chaos.
As they waited for the humans to pass by, they noticed they were standing in what appeared to be an operating room, it looked as if the room had been used not so long ago. There was a black fluid on the surgical tools and the operating table.
Abel was disturbed as he looked at the scene; "Is...Is that ink?"
Before the cartoon devil could react, they could hear how people were running past their door. The duo waited patiently for the sound to dye down.
The noise outside their door disappeared and the cartoons got outside the room, dashing for the elevator platform. Just when they were going through the last hallway, an alarm was going off and red flashing lights hanging from the ceiling, colored the white hallways red.
"HERE THEY ARE! THEY'RE GOING TO THE ELEVATOR!"
The angel and demon made one final sprint as the humans were shooting at them. Fortunately for them, the humans had bad aim, they were just shooting all over the place, completely missing them. The duo reached the elevator and got on the platform. They watched the humans getting closer as the platform was already making its way towards the exit.
They reached the cave and the mob boss and rebel angel went outside to the woods as fast as they could but Abel was slowing down, Benicio knew his companion was weakening again.
"Abel, may I please help you get to the car? You're slowing down".
"N-No, I ….can... run... I don't... n-need...help".
They could hear barking in the distance, the humans had sent dogs to hunt them.
Abel rolled his eyes; "F...INE!"
The demon turned around and sat on one knee, bent over in front of the angel; "Climb on!"
The rebel angel sat on the back of the mafia leader, they continued to run till they were outside the woods and over the open field. The duo finally reached the car, they got inside the vehicle as fast as they could and drove off.