After Dark

Part XVIII

By Mieren

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Pain was the only thing that existed for Duo. There was no light, no sound, and no physical form to even draw breath to scream. It was too hot and too cold at the same time. Duo felt as if he should be sweating while he tried to quell the shaking of limbs that he could no longer sense or move. He wanted the agony to end. He wanted death.

No, he thought blearily. I don't want death. I AM Death.

He tried to open his eyes before he remembered that wherever he was, he didn't have any. The darkness was absolute. Even with the vampire eyes he'd had before he collapsed, there was nothing to see. Duo scowled at the darkness, more of a mental curse than an actual expression.

I am death, he repeated, bracing his mind and nerves. I am Shinigami. Death is mine to control.

He reached out with his consciousness, seeking blindly for some semblance of life or even existence. More than anything, he wanted to lash out in vengeance for being forced into a corner. He could only curse his own weakness and the demon that had driven him to take his own life.

NO! I am not dead yet! Duo said to himself in a continuous mantra. Death was meant for Xellos! He will die! He MUST die! I will not go out alone! I'll take him with me!

Violet light burst through the blackness, curling around the edges of Duo's body as it existed in his consciousness. It was the same color as his eyes. As Xellos's eyes.

Duo lashed out at the light, trying to dismiss the amethyst luminescence that seemed to connect him to the demon. He wanted to back away from it, to run, but could not escape it any more than he could his own skin. The only way to brush it away was to burn it with a more powerful essence. The only human presence that could banish that kind of evil force was that of a warlock.

Quatre.

Lost in his own mind, Duo began to search frantically, trying to find his friend in the blackness. There were no shapes in the vast nothingness where his consciousness was trapped, so he decided to forgo looking for his friend by sight. He looked for a color. Both his and Xellos's eyes were violet, like the light that surrounded his so-called form. Quatre had aquamarine eyes. Duo swept out a phantom of his arm, violet wisps following the imagined movement. After the fourth searching attempt, his fingertips seemed to catch onto an azure source of light hidden in the blackness. Duo slowly retracted his hand, watching intently as the sea blue light wrapped around the amethyst, creating a more solid image of his arm.

The aquamarine tendrils of light began to trace patterns down his arm, solidify the image of his body in the darkness. Duo let the light merge with his own, a smile appearing on a face that was taking on a physical presence. Warmth spread through the spectral image of his body, igniting nerves that he had feared lost to the violet agony. Rational thought flooded his mind as the pain entrapping his very essence began to fade.

Quatre is here, Duo said to himself firmly, creating a new focal point for his thoughts. The biohazard. I am the new biohazard. I reached the new level. If Quatre is here, then the others are too. All but Heero.

Heero had been left out of the melee. Duo had no need of another vampire presence in the violent mess he had made of himself. Quatre had been brought in to hopefully help him maintain his mental faculties. He had almost lost that part of the battle in the chaos of his own making. But now that he had his friend's presence working for him, he could remember what he had intended from the start.

Quatre had been chosen to save his mind.

Trowa's blood allowed him to alter his body in the most extreme possible way to counter a vampire's form. Duo reached out into the darkness again, watching the gossamer tendrils of light sweeping from the translucent form of his arm. He tried to imagine his friend as a wolf. Emerald light trailed from his fingertips, slowly moving up his arm. Though he still didn't have a physical presence of his own, Duo could feel the strain on his nonexistent body. He jumped to the next part of his plan, desperate to finish what he had started before the specifics of his intentions were no longer possible. He had to stabilize his body.

Wufei and the selected feline blood to throw his physical form into what he needed, not a wolf and not a cat. He had to be strong, even if not entirely human. Pain washed through his very soul as he searched in vain. He kept blindly seeking a way back to his body and his friends, refusing to give up when he had come so far. Opal and gold light tipped his nails before falling back into nothingness. The two forms he sought were not the magical, mystical forms of incredible power. The demon, warlock and werewolf influences were too strong for the last two sets of DNA to conquer. He had to do it on his own.

Baring his monstrous and mortifying teeth at the blackness, he grabbed at the white and gold lights together, fighting to bring what he needed for the final steps of his terrifying transformation. The pure whiteness of the first light he was able to catch, he could feel his shifting awareness of his body stabilize. He could feel his bones stop creaking as he forced Wufei's human essence to stop the werewolf from taking his physical form. He could not allow the wolf to dictate his form. Since Trowa was so intent on killing his brethren, he was fairly certain that most werewolves had absolutely no control of their transformations. If he was to fight, he needed that control. At the same time, a human form was weak and he had to press his advantage. Strength spread through his muscles, wiry but powerful, more than a match for the power of a lupine form.

Not quite human, Duo thought. He could feel his muscles begin to awaken, tingling uncomfortably and stretched taught. Not an animal or a demon, either. He tried to stretch, but nothing obeyed his mind. He couldn't even breathe, his chest burning. A shooting pain blossomed through his chest, crushing and unsteady. Air began to fill his lungs in a different rhythm than his attempts, baffling him for a moment. A pattern began to emerge and he stopped fighting it, waiting as he felt the sharp pains resume. Light began to filter into his eyes, a virtual kaleidoscope of colors and power, echoing clearly from his friends as he became further in tune with them, control and abilities harmonizing with the other pilots. Several images overlapped in his mind, views from distant eyes. There were five distinct views, four of them coming from above, looking down at a still form. He chose an image that was flickering in and out at an angle from the floor looking up through barely cracked eyelids from his body's unfocused gaze. The chill of the floor resonated through his mind as he became one with his physical form once more. A sudden burning pain flared through his heart, liquid fire threatening to overwhelm him.

One last thought flickered through his mind as the agony became absolute.

Shinigami lives.

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"He's dead."

"Allah, no. Are you sure?" Quatre asked in shock, unable to continue. He reached out his hand to the still body but stopped short, not daring to near the longhaired pilot for fear of infection. Trowa was nowhere near as reserved. The green-eyed pilot lifted Duo's head gently from Heero's frozen hands, scenting the air with a few careful sniffs. His nose wrinkled and eyes squinted at whatever he could determine from the stale basement air. He patted the other teen's cheek a few times as though he were merely drowsing.

"Duo, are you okay?" Trowa asked, burying his nose in his sleeve. Whatever he could smell, he didn't seem to approve of it. His expression, what little he showed in his one visible green eye, revealed a mixture of disdain, unease and utter disbelief. Cinnamon lashes fluttered weakly, responding to the question. Blank violet eyes remained mostly closed, a mere slit visible behind mostly closed lids, unfocused and unmoving from the blank stare into nothingness. Trowa cursed and bounced Duo's shoulders against the cement floor roughly, trying to force him to move if he wanted to avoid bruises along his shoulders and back. After a moment, he slammed the longhaired brunette into the floor again.

"Trowa!" Quatre protested at the rough treatment.

"He's not breathing," the lupine pilot responded tersely. He laid his ear against the braided teen's chest. "His heart isn't beating." Before anyone could respond, he curled his back, hands balled together in the air, and slammed his fists into the still chest beneath him. Before anyone could move, he grabbed Duo's nose and hauled his head back, ready to inflate his friend's lungs. He pulled short, his mouth hovering just beyond Duo's lips. Growling angrily, he cupped both hands around Duo's face and jaw, trying to create a seal to allow him to breathe for the still pilot without actually touching him. After three awkward breaths that barely delivered any air to the still form, he started to unfold his hands to reach for the still chest.

Heero crashed into his side, shoving him back toward Duo's face while he placed his hands over the American's heart. He began pumping firmly, the force of his arms causing Duo's ribs to creak in protest. Given the time to prepare, Trowa quickly found a more effective way to create an airtight cup around the chilled face. Knowing what Duo had done to himself, Trowa was the only one willing to provide artificial respiration. He knew that he was the only one that would have even a chance of surviving if exposed to the biological nightmare that the hyperactive psycho had created for himself.

Unable to do much else, Quatre focused his mind, trying to feel out Duo's thoughts. If possible, he wanted to know if the downed brunette knew what to do to bring himself back to life. Wufei just looked at the group of them for a moment and vanished up the stairs. He returned after a minute and change, holding two important items. The first, he handed over to Trowa, a CPR face shield. The werewolf flipped it open and across Duo's face expertly, perfectly ready to resume breathing the moment Heero stopped his round of chest compressions.

Heero paused, Trowa breathed, and Wufei stepped into the mess, shoving Heero onto his butt. The Japanese pilot looked apoplectic, trying to scramble back into position, but he was shocked senseless when Wufei leaned over the still form, slamming a large needle into his chest.

"Wufei? What…" Quatre stammered. The Chinese pilot smirked.

"Epinephrine," the raven-haired teen explained. "We don't have a defibrillator."

"That may not work on him," Heero groused, ready to resume his half of CPR.

Whatever Wufei had intended to say was cut off when Duo drew a harsh rasping gasp of air through pale lips. He forced it back out with a weak, dry cough. With very slow, stiff movements, he reached out with one hand, fingernails curling against the floor. The tiny scraping noise, completely inaudible in normal circumstances, seemed to screech in the silence. His muscles jerked convulsively beneath his skin, the meager actions apparently draining every ounce of strength left in his abused body. Every fraction of an inch seemed to take immense concentration and energy, like he was trying to pull a butterfly's wing through drying clay without tearing it. Violet eyes closed, the meager action causing a muscle in his cheek to spasm. When his cheek stopped jerking, he opened his eyes again. This time, the violet orbs were brighter. His pupils suddenly stretched into vertical slits, the amethyst tint flared into a fiery glow.

The sudden light in his eyes heralded an immediate, violent change from his prior motionless state. Duo rolled into a position that would alarm even a contortionist, his shoulders and sternum pressed against the floor, his stomach facing a wall and his rump and feet still braced firmly on the concrete. Bringing his palms up to place beside his shoulders. Duo slowly pushed his upper body into the air, stretching his back into a tight arc, his hips and legs pulling into alignment. Drawing his feet beneath him, he started to rise, staggering briefly only to be caught by Heero and Trowa both. He stretched while he still had their support, yawning deeply. The action caused him to flash wicked fangs as he inflated his lungs for the first time since his collapse. His tongue lolled out over his teeth, causing the longhaired teen to pause briefly. When a quick sweep of his tongue didn't give him the information that he was seeking, he ran his fingers across his teeth, noting that the canines were still elongated like a vampire's, but now his bicuspids were longer and pointed as well. He accidentally nicked one finger, jerking his hand back to stare at the small drop of blood beading on his fingertip. He ran his tongue across his skin, clearing away the blood with one rasping sweep to see how badly the digit had been torn. The wound had already stopped bleeding, the faint scar fading away even as he watched. Ignoring the instantly healing flesh, he stuck out his tongue a bit and flicked the end with his fingers. He winced a bit at the sharp tips on his nails, but persisted until he confirmed that his tongue was a bit different. It was longer, flatter and rougher. A cat's tongue.

"Weird," Duo said in a slightly odd cadence, working out his voice around the altered muscles in both his tongue and throat. He wrinkled his nose when he realized that he could have easily skewered his tongue while messing with it. Luckily, his tongue hadn't been torn the same way his fingers had. His teeth and nails were both sharper than scalpels and had passed through his calloused fingertips easier than a blowtorch through melted butter. "This will take some getting used to."

"You shouldn't have done anything that you'd have to get 'used to' in the first place," Heero snapped, bypassing the fact that Duo had only been referring to his a few cosmetic changes while blatantly ignoring the fact that he had almost died.

"I knew it would work," Duo chuckled in a slightly deeper voice. Hearing the hints of baritone rumbling in his throat, he couldn't help grinning widely around his vicious fangs. It sounded somewhat evil, which suited him just fine. It was somewhat befitting for his nickname of Shinigami. He received four glares in return.

"You expect us to believe that?" the Japanese pilot snarled. "You stopped breathing!"

"I knew you guys would help me. After all, I'm cute."

"This isn't a fucking joke!" Heero bellowed. "You could have killed yourself!"

"I tested it," Duo grinned, seeming to take great pleasure in causing his friend's blood pressure to shoot into the stratosphere.

"How do you even test something like this?" Wufei asked, deliberately cutting in before Heero completely lost his temper.

"Human analogues," Duo said, elaborating when his answer received several disbelieving looks. "Pigs. Their protein structure is similar to humans."

"Wait, wait," Trowa cut in, stopping Heero's incipient rampage. "Are you telling us that you were creating were-pigs?"

"Of course," Duo snickered, eyes glittering wickedly. "The rats kept exploding." This time, no one was able to stop Heero from going off the deep end.

"YOU USED SOMETHING ON YOURSELF THAT CAUSED LAB RATS TO EXPLODE?"

"In my defense, the pigs didn't explode," Duo quipped. "Well, not on their own, anyways. I had to blow them up myself with rather intense and entirely unstable compounds with enough force to cause them to detonate areas up to a half mile radius." Heero looked ready to either throttle him or explode himself. Duo couldn't help himself. He just had to nettle the Japanese pilot a bit further. "After all, they were technically demons by that point."

That did it. Heero lunged at the braided lunatic, intent on ending the idiot's life now that he was no longer in danger of actually dieing. Duo easily danced out of his reach, his long hair flying everywhere now that it was completely loose from his usual braid. The pilot of Wing Zero made a grab for the chestnut strands to secure his grip on the hyperactive madman, missing just as badly as he had before. Even Duo's hair seemed able to evade his grasp. When his fingers actually locked around something substantial, Heero found only a piece of cloth, Duo having used his torn jacket and shirt as projectile fodder. All attempts to catch the half-dressed pilot failed as the spastic fruitcake consistently moved out of his destructive range, incredibly fast considering that he had barely come back to life. He preempted the next attempt on his life by merely leaping half way across the basement, landing lightly on the balls of his feet, the muscles in his calves rippling quite visibly through his pants. Green eyes locked onto the powerful limbs instantly.

"Oh, God" Trowa said with a curled lip, his earlier suspicions confirmed. He had forced himself to remain calm earlier when even he had smelled what Duo had done to himself, not wanting to admit even to himself what he scented. Now that the longhaired pilot was showing every sign of surviving his own insanity, Trowa allowed his temper to show. This time he was the one to shove the moronic pseudo-scientist against the wall, succeeding only because Duo's attention was still fixed entirely on Heero. "Are you out of your mind?" he yelled. "You CAN'T mix vampire blood with werewolf!"

"Don't forget demon," Duo quipped, easily slipping out of his grasp. He carefully watched Heero and Trowa both to see who was going to try to remove his head this time.

"And warlock," Quatre muttered, momentarily forgetting to stay out of the argument. Luckily, the three brunette pilots were too ready to start a small war to worry about him for more than a split second.

"One more," Duo said, winking at the blond before he had to dodge Heero yet again.

"And Family Felidae," Trowa finished, repeating a previous bit of information offered up by the lunatic, eyes narrowing. "Panthera leo?" he asked, suspicious of the particular genus and species the maniac had chosen. A loud guffaw answered his question in lieu of words. Rather than explain, the longhaired maniac uttered one name.

"Catherine," Duo confirmed with a wink.

"Lion," Trowa elaborated for the others. "Family Felidae. Feline. Panthera leo. Lion. He added a lion's blood to the mixture after mine, then Xellos's. Probably to replace canine with feline." Duo nodded to verify the theory. "Catherine must have given it to him. I knew I recognized that particular scent."

"Poor pooch," Duo taunted, his tongue flicking off of the tip of his teeth. "Don't like the pretty kitty?"

Green eyes narrowed slightly at the teasing, but Trowa was expertly cut off before he could offer an irate response.

"Please tell me you aren't going to start marking your territory," Wufei grumbled, deliberately using a volume that all of the other pilots could hear him, but ultimately aiming the insult at the two lycanthropes. Trowa gave him a frosty look. Duo looked ready to call him out over the comment when the Chinese pilot continued, this time targeting the American specifically. "And don't puff up at me. You'll get lost in your hair and you'll never be seen again." He received a dirty look for his efforts.

Trowa chuckled suddenly, shaking his head with just enough force to cause his bangs to shift over his other eye. "I shouldn't have growled," he said softly, looking anywhere but at Duo. "It's just…"

"The feline thing?" Duo asked, returning the sheepish grin. The new scent must have riled his friend, and he hadn't even bothered to warn him. "Same here. Sorry, man."

Trowa glanced up sheepishly. "This is new to you, not to me."

"Can we just both admit to being idiots and drop it?" Duo offered.

"Milo. Otis. Drop it," Wufei cut in.

"Milo and Otis?" Duo asked, arching one eyebrow at the Chinese pilot.

"Would you prefer Garfield and Odie?" Quatre offered with a look that was almost innocent.

"Would you like to become a scratching post?" Duo countered, completely unable to hide his borderline evil smirk. "And now I really have to wonder… Exactly what TV shows have you two been watching?" The poor blond barely managed to duck his head before his cheeks could begin to flush. Wufei gave him a dirty look.

"We should consider teaming up to attack," Trowa suggested, deliberately cutting off the impending tirade before it could truly become a dog and cat fight. Duo just snorted loudly, not even noticing when he ran his newly flattened tongue over an eyetooth.

"I'm Shinigami," the longhaired brunette said solemnly, violet eyes hidden behind his bangs. "Xellos knows what he started with me. Therefore… we should find something else and blow his ass into the stratosphere." He took a deep breath, tilting his head back, eyes and mouth open to the heavens. "Death shall not kneel to it's own name."

I am Shinigami. I am still alive.

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To Be Continued…

And, yes, I am evil.