Chapter Two: Maximum Black

Within a flurry of shadows, he appeared. The black dissipated like smoke, furled at his sides like wings. In the dark, deserted quiet of the alleyway, it went unnoticed by the bustling city. Violet eyes cast up upon the tower of concrete. Glowing glass stared back.

He moved, though no footsteps echoed in the close of the alleyway. Like a shadow itself, he slipped silently to a small maintenance entrance. Pale, slender fingers brushed against the cold of a handle, and the lock clicked. A sweep of the hand, the door swung open. A garbage sorting room.

Workers within turned to stare at the intruder. Shadows shifted around him. Danced, swirled. The laborers looked away.

He stalked deeper into the building. Sudden haze washed over him, and, though he sensed it, he remained unaffected. Though he had little doubt before, it was undeniable now. The Eye. He could sense the others, Pegasus' pawns, how they bunched amd swarmed, ready to advance, like harried little wasps. They knew he was here.

A blinking eye would have missed the motion when he appeared through the next doorway. The edges of his form wavered softly, and he melted into the dim gray shadows about him. Five guards turned the corner and dashed down the hall. He phased back into solidity.

The haze of the Eye grew. The creeping vines of its power entrenched themselves deeply into the very air. Violet eyes narrowed. Fleet-footed, silent, he slipped into the closing maw of the elevator the guards had ridden down. Even he swayed on his feet as it dipped before it ascended to the highest floor.

Humans and their contraptions. Although it was faster than the stairs.

Less than minutes later, the door dinged. Luckily for him, it was Pegasus' personal elevator, as it opened right into his office.

The man in question was crouched beastially upon his desk, his garish red suit rucked and disheveled, his stinger-tongue latched onto some mortal's throat.

The intruder's nose wrinkled. "Grotesque."

Pegasus' eye rolled up, dilated, the sclera darkened with black, pulsing veins, the iris sulfurous. It widened upon landing on his newest guest. The guards leapt upon the trespasser.

Shadows coalesced, cloaked, garbed, became the strident figure that so easily crept into the private of office. A silhouette, black raging fire. Red glowing irises, the Third Eye gleaming from his forehead. With sable talons, so long and sharp, he rent his attackers. Soft as butter, their flesh split so easily beneath his retaliation. Sable blood splattered onto the wall in gruesome arcs. The copper tang hung heavily on the air. One fell, shredded, dead, to the stained floor. The other made a last lunge, and the clawed hand gripped him by his throat. The black melted away and left behind a pale face spattered with blood.

The intruder's lips drew back. Fangs glinted in the light, crimson eyes faded to purple. He hissed menacingly. The sound reverberated throughout the room, and even the shadows rippled in its wake. The man in his grasp whimpered. The intruder let him go, and the guard collapsed into a wet, bloodied pile. Heedless of the dark liquid slicking his skin, the intruder turned and faced the man he came to see.

"Pegasus," he regarded, voice deep, still, placid and dark like some fathomless abyss.

"Y-Yami," Pegasus stuttered, shrinking back into his seat. A little red blood stained his chin from when his tongue withdrew back into his mouth.

"You had the chance to call them off. Yet you didn't," Yami said. "You let them die." One was not quite dead yet, but it was only a matter of time. A Strigoi of his caliber was unlikely to survive such wounds. "By instinct, they should have known better than to accost one such as me."

Pegasus gulped, nervously tucked his hair behind his right ear. "I wasn't expecting you."

"They never are," Yami replied. He strode closer to the desk. The mortal in the chair was ashen. His heart was tensing and fluttering, close to death. Violet eyes imperceptibly widened upon seeing the man's face. "I apologize for interrupting your feeding. Though I hope for your sake that you do not plan on turning him." Yami's gaze narrowed again, sharp as his claws. "I've exterminated enough of the spawns that you loose upon the world unguided."

Pegasus chuckled, but the sound was shaky rather than confident. "PaniK was a loose cannon, not to be controlled. His disposal was understandable."

"Yet you still saw fit to turn him. His actions and their consequences reflect upon your poor judgement. Any more like transgressions and you will pay dearly for them." Yami dismissively waved a hand. "But… that is not why I am here."

Pegasus brushed aside his hair again. His falsely tanned fingers trembled. "Enlighten me."

Yami leaned his hip against the desk, his arms casually crossed. But he seemed to loom above the other man. "I am not an idiot, Pegasus. I sense the movements. The underground is shifting. And you are the fulcrum." Violet deepened to crimson. "You personally know I do not take insurrection lightly."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Yami-boy."

Yami slammed a palm onto the desk, and something wooden snapped, though both were too preoccupied to figure out what. "Do not play coy with me. If not from you, I will figure out what," he growled darkly the thinly veiled threat.

Maximillion Pegasus bared his needle-like teeth. "Your presence among us is a nuisance. Your meddling is ceaseless and infuriating. There are many who would prefer you gone."

"You speak as if I do not know this."

"Your ideals are lofty and impossible. We are tired of breaking our necks trying to meet your expectations."

"What I ask is simple. It is not my fault if your avarice stands in the way." Yami lifted his hand from the wooden surface. A wet black handprint was left behind.

Pegasus hissed in response. His tongue flickered menacingly behind his teeth. "What you ask is foolish, Yami-boy."

Crimson smoldered hot. "Do not forget to whom you are speaking, Strigoi. You call me boy but I walked this earth millennia before you, and I shall do so millennia after."

"Don't be so sure. That arrogance will be what finally kills you." In what Pegasus himself will later reflect upon as a moment of foolish impulse, his tongue lashed out at his uninvited guest.

Yami easily caught the stinger in his fist. The four small fangs and the throat-like orifice undulated and flared. His nostril curled. "Disgusting." With a twist, he wrapped the appendage around his wrist, and the long muscle eagerly constricted like a snake. Yami smirked, and tugged threateningly on the tongue.

Pegasus choked, lurched forward. His hands scrambled across his desk.

"Since you don't seem so keen on answering my questions, I suppose you don't need this tongue of yours so much." The sickening tearing of flesh echoed through the room as Yami's arm yanked back. Pegasus screamed. Black blood poured from his maw when it followed the ripped flesh. The long muscle twitched and writhed like a snake in its death throes. Yami casted it aside with a grimace. "Perhaps next time you will be more cooperative, Pegasus. If not, a missing tongue will not be the only repercussion." He languidly waved a hand in farewell and turned to depart.

'Mokuba…'

The weak whisper echoed through his mind. He paused. The mortal was still alive.

'Mokuba… I won't… not… not like this…'

To be on the verge of death but still projecting so strongly… Yami focussed in on that dwindling thread. Big lavender eyes flashed. A large hand ruffling a small boy's raven hair.

'I promised… I promised…'

Yami closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He turned.

The mortal's eyes fluttered weakly. His chest barely moved with each shallow breath. Blood trickled steadily from the wound at his neck. The anti-coagulant was serving its purpose. Yami ignored Pegasus' whimpers and sobs and knelt down beside the chair.

His brows furrowed into a knot. He gently scooped the mortal forward, cradled the much taller man in his arms.

There was still time.

He leaned forward, nuzzled into that pale, bloodied throat. Then, he bit down. His fangs pierced so easily.

He drank until he could no longer feel a pulse fluttering against his teeth.

END PART

I wanted to get both of the beginning chapters out so you guys actually have something to latch onto. The first chapter on its own just didn't seem like enough.