Bee-beep.
Oh God no.
Bee-beep.
Five more minutes, please. I'll do anything you want, you stupid watch. Dark took over Kyo's form and pushed the infernal object away from himself but the beeping continued, becoming more distressed as he tried to go back to sleep. The hellhound's breathing was deep and even against his side and he could feel someone slumped up against his shoulder. He wasn't sure wither it was Krad or Kiryu though so he didn't move. Whoever it was their hands were curled up underneath their chin and their head pressed heavily into his shoulder. He brought the watch back up close to his head with a sigh and turned it off, turning his head so he could get a better look at who was using him for a pillow.
It was Kiryu and he patted the boys head once, trying to keep his shoulder still. The tamer had been through so much the least he could do was let him get a bit more sleep than himself. In a way Kiryu somehow reminded him of Daisuke. It was probably just his attitude towards the blonde, treating him like an older brother. Either that or the somewhat helpless vibe he gave off, a complete contradiction to the artwork asleep in his genes. Either way he truly enjoyed the young man's company and wished that he could have protected him from everything that had transpired the day before. He closed his eyes for a half second and felt Kiryu stirring awake and rubbing his eyes. "Nnn… Dark?" He smiled a bit but it was more of a grimace than anything. The kid looked completely wiped out. "Hey. About yesterday… I can't reverse a transformation halfway through. It would've been worse for you. I'm sorry, kid. I blew it." It took a moment for Kiryu to realize what he was talking about.
"Oh, that… that's okay." He sat up straighter and startled as the hound moved and its wings brushed the top of his head. He pulled his legs up and tapped his chest with a finger once. "He's awake too. I um…" He looked away for a moment and explained quietly, "I feel like I understand him better now. It's not exactly… the way I wanted to find out about all of that but…that's okay." He swallowed. "I didn't see much of his memories, but what I did see- how could people do that?" Kiryu shuddered. "It's so horrible."
Dark put a hand on his shoulder and murmured, "Best if you don't dwell on it, Kiryu. At all." The boy put a hand on his chest again and sighed, "He wants out again." then let out a small laugh. "So impatient. I'm sorry he hurt you." As he summoned up a picture of his crush in his mind Dark shrugged it off with, "Eh. He apologized- and he fixed my arm up pretty good." He rotated it a bit- still not one hundred percent but that could hardly be expected. Krad stretched and shivered, burying his side into the hellhound's black fur.
"Is this… what a hangover feels like?" He groaned and covered his eyes and Dark chuckled. "Nope. It's worse."
Krad snorted, his eyes still firmly shielded from the sun's rays. "Must we…leave now?" Dark reached up over the enormous hound to grab the map. "Yep. I-" The blonde suddenly jerked, his hand digging into the hellhounds hide so tight the animal growled. Krad hissed back, his hair beginning to bristle and the hellhound glanced at Dark, who shook his head. "What's going on."
Krad grit his teeth. Is this… no, but it can't be… But he'd felt this before.
The pressure of Aisoku's magic was increasing at a steady rate. If it continues like this he will- "Never mind. We have to hurry." The three of them piled out of the car and the two halves called their familiars- no sense in making their already spend bodies even more exhausted. Dark took a second to say goodbye to the hound and Krad watched in interest as the animal dissolved into nothing but his discarded wing and then to bones. "Is that…normal?" Dark shrugged and spread his black wings, fanning and stretching them.
"I don't know. I've never summoned one of those before."
They took off and Krad noted happily that it was overcast- they would be able to fly lower without being noticed. Not we really need to worry about that. He added. Nothing seemed to live out here. Not even trees. "Where are we headed?" He asked the thief who had pulled out the map and was studying it. "We follow this fer about forty minutes and then another road off to the left for about twenty. It's right outside a tiny little town." Dew coated Krad's wings and as they flew the primary feathers on his wings brushed Dark's. The thief let out a sound that was almost a giggle and raked his wing backwards across Krad's ruffling the feathers.
"Awe, is your wing making a pass at mine?" Krad leaned towards the thief with his wings and snapped the left one out, smacking him across the head with it. "Of course not!"
"Aooww…"
"Oi, Krad?" The angel tracked a herd of caribou underneath them with his eyes. "Hmm?" Dark tapped his shoulder. "How come these bandages aren't all stained up and ruined? I'm sure I was still bleeding yesterday." Krad answered quietly, "They aren't normal bandages- they absorb blood and keep the wounds sterilized until you remove them."
The thief seemed surprised. "Huh. I don't think I can do that. Where did you learn that?"
The blonde shrugged and murmured, "I suppose … I learned a lot about healing being with the Hikari's." The thief got quiet and turned his attention back to the snaking road underneath them. The last thing he wanted to do was remind Krad of that again. His shoulder pulsed painfully and he winced. Despite how helpful the bandages were his shoulder still stung like hell and he hoped it wouldn't affect his thieving skills too badly.
Aisoku thought he was doing pretty well, all things considering. So far he hadn't given Lenka the satisfaction of any attacks he hadn't already seen, but he wasn't sure how long that was going to last.
The barrier the man had created seemed invulnerable to any of the attacks he's assaulted it with. Luckily the cameras weren't but he hadn't managed to knock either of them down yet. He was quickly reaching his breaking point and as another wave of electric pain washed over him he hoped that he would pass out. He didn't. Lenka sighed and fiddled with the controller, passing it from one hand to the other then back again as he spoke.
" Aisoku… How long will you continue defending yourself? I have no doubts you can produce much more than what you've been showing."
He didn't bother to reply and dug his nail into one of the cracks in the collar but he knew it was useless. Aisoku didn't have any of his equipment on him and his nails weren't near long or hard enough to loosen the metal links underneath. The tips of his fingers itched and burned from hours of scraping against it. "Please …stop." It wasn't more than a dry whisper and he touched his raw neck, he felt a trickle of either sweat or blood. He licked his cracked lips and the coppery taste of blood lingered in the back of his throat.
Thankfully the floor was blissfully cool and the one chunk of rubble that had fallen off the wall when he'd hit it wasn't digging into his side too badly. Every bone ached but aside from that, his joints were feeling strangely loose and hot. He heard Lenka laugh.
"I'm afraid I can't, Aisoku, so the only thing left for me to do is keep increasing these shocks until you finally produce some results."
God he hated that man's voice.
He pushed back a sudden wave of anger, a little startled. It wasn't like him to lose his cool- and he had to admit he was a little afraid of what might happen. As he curled up and prepared himself for another shock a woman observing the two of them turned away from the window in the door. Inessa couldn't believe he'd finally gone this far. Even though he didn't know it- or maybe he did, which was an even worse thought-he was pushing Aisoku to whatever 'true form' the Black Wings had. And if that was the case, she needed to get everyone out of the building now.
She swiped her card at the staircase and began winding her way up to her main office. She'd been allowed to tap into Lenka's phone for when he was too busy to give more important announcements and pressed nine and three to tap into it once more, pausing for a moment to think of a good reason to get everyone out of the building fast. Luckily because it was so late there were far less people.
"Hello. It has come to our attention that there may be a carbon monoxide leak in the lower vicinities of our building. We have hired a team of professionals to take care of this problem but would appreciate it if all employees would file out to their cars and head home. We will start calls out tomorrow morning to inform you of the latest developments on this problem. Thank you."
She sat down and opened the blind on the window in her office. What she really wanted to be doing was helping the poor boy in the basement but first she had to make sure the parking lot was completely empty aside from her and Lenka's cars. And the cars of those two 'assistants'.
As she waited her finger tapped and her leg twitched impatiently. It seemed like the lot was taking forever to empty. But she'd be damned if she was going to let anyone else get hurt because of what her crazed boss was doing. She ran her hands through her blonde hair and covered her face.
As much as she wanted to go and help Aisoku… she couldn't. If she did anything Lenka would make sure it was impossible for her to get a job anywhere else and without that income her sister wouldn't be able to afford kidney replacement surgery. Not to mention that both of her parents also relied on her.
Vlad was in the parking lot putting away the last few pieces of equipment when he noticed an unusual amount of people leaving. He went up to one of the coworkers that had actually warmed up to him and nudged him with an elbow. "Hey, what's going on?" The man, a twenty-something year old with dark brown eyes that reminded Vlad of a lovesick puppy answered, "Not sure. They said something about their being a leak of carbon monoxide somewhere in the basement and that everyone had to leave." Immediately his eyes narrowed. Load of bull if you ask me…. I'll bet that damn Lenka's up to something…
"Weird. I'm gonna make sure Inessa gets out okay? Her car's still here, after all." He gestured to the white Honda Accord near the front doors. "Aww…" The man patted him on the shoulder and gave him a seductive look.
"You got a crush on her eh? I guess she is pretty-" Vlad snorted and wrinkled his nose, interrupting, "Hardly. I'll see you later okay?" before heading off towards the entrance. He didn't have time for women who couldn't stand up for themselves. But she probably knew what was actually going on here, and he wasn't going to leave that kid at Lenka's mercy. He'd pretended that his two flights had been cancelled because of bad weather to buy him enough time to see the kid escape. But when he'd discreetly asked Inessa if he had, it was obvious that she was lying just to get him out of the building and Lenka's hair. He headed up to her office, two stairs at a time, and opened her door without bothering to knock. "Inessa." Her eyes were red and he paused at the doorway before saying, "So what's really going on?" She sighed shakily. "What do you think you can do against their power, Vlad? You're only human."
His grip on the door frame tightened. "I don't know … but I'm going to try. Unlike you."
She stood up and her fists clenched as she spat, "Don't presume you know everything about me! Just…" She walked over to the door. As she brushed past him she slipped two cards into his front pocket and whispered, "Third level, third door on the right. Use the white card first." She squeezed his wrist gently and after she let go the skin felt colder than before.
"Good luck..."
Despite himself he found that he said, "Thanks." just before he headed down the stairwell and cursed himself quietly.
As they flew Krad had an odd sense that they were approaching some kind of a barrier and slowed down, letting himself drop back behind the thief. "Eh? What are you doing?" Dark turned to look at him and as he did, his body impacted and bounced off of what seemed to be some kind of invisible curve. "Oof!" He spiraled down for a moment and snapped his wings out angrily.
"What the Hell?"
Krad was having a hard time staying aloft because he was laughing so hard.
The thief had just… looked so ridiculous, impacting on nothing and bouncing off like a kid on a trampoline. Finally he gave up and landed, holding his ribs and clapping a hand over his mouth to try and stifle the noise.
Dark's face was flushed as he landed too and demanded, "Hey! Did you do that? Because it wasn't funny!"
Krad sucked in enough air to manage, "Nu-no, it was there before….pfft…" and finally got himself back under control, save for the flush in his cheeks and the grin in one corner of his mouth. "Well you're the barrier expert- you try going through it!" He shoved the blonde into the barrier and Krad caught himself against it. His hands crackled with yellow magic and around it a dull outline of light blue. He ran a hand along the curve and sensed that this barrier was indeed, Aisoku's magic. However, wether he had placed it here willingly… unlikely. The strongest spells were made from the strongest emotions, and if Aisoku's blood was taken against his will, Krad should be able to create a barrier that could cloak the presence of one person enough to get through. But that was the problem- only one. One of them would have to stay behind.
He stepped away from the barrier, plucked four feathers from his wings, two from each, and admitted to himself that there was only one logical conclusion. Despite the fact he wasn't in top condition, Dark would have to go. Krad gritted his teeth and Dark noticed the tightening of the tendon's in the blonde's neck. "What's up, Casper?"
He put his hand on Dark's shoulders and ordered, "Stand over here, like so. This should only take a minute." directing the thief a few feet away from him. "May I ask what you're doing?" Dark said with a huff. He didn't much like being ordered around either. Krad was muttering seals under his breath and he placed one of the feathers on the inside of the thief's wrist; after a moment it tightened against the skin and felt like warm velvet. Krad's magic irritated his own like rubbing a cat's fur the wrong way.
"I'm placing a seal around your body with these. Aisoku's barrier's too strong for the both of us to enter it at the same time. We wouldn't be able to retrieve him successfully." Dark ran a hand along the barrier and snorted.
"You serious?"
Krad sighed. "If you should like to try it without my help- go ahead." With that he took the phantom's shoulders and forced him inside the barrier. With a yelp he was smashed headfirst into the snow. The barrier's pressure was crushing him like he was underwater and as he struggled Krad grabbed his ankles and pulled him back out. "Understand?" Dark sighed and held out his other wrist. "So should I do the same to you or what?"
Krad shook his head, "Too much of a bother. He set it up specifically to keep us out-So I had to decode it and write a counter-spell. Bit irritating really." and secured the other feather on his thick wrist. As he did golden liquid seemed to leak out of the first feather and began snaking up his arm. Dark jerked in surprise and his magic flared up. The blonde saw him flinch and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Relax. It's supposed to do that. It won't work properly if you don't calm down."
Dark was still twitching as it made its way up his shoulder, across his collarbone and made a lazy 'v' shape before crossing to the other side of his chest.
"I could not be… more relaxed… than I am right now."
Krad was busy placing a seal on the other feather but could still hear Dark's magic conflicting with the sealing spell. "Mm hmm." He crouched down next to the phantom's foot and placed another feather around his ankle, then finished the job with one last feather around Dark's right ankle. "There." The gold was racing across the thief's clothing now, down his ribs and hips and the outside of his thighs, the design reminding Dark of a blackberry bush growing- branching out from the main stem, then the largest second and third, and so on until he was almost completely covered. It seemed to imitate the shape of armor and he ran a hand over it and winced as it buzzed unpleasantly. It had even branched out over his wings. "You can get it to stop glowing right? I mean it's not exactly subtle if l try to bust in sparking like this. But since I don't know exactly where he is…"
Krad waved a hand in a flippant way and the gold light went out. "I will direct you. I will be able to sense his proximity as long as you allow me to stay connected with you for a while. Happy now?" Dark checked to make sure the spell wasn't restricting his movements in any way and when he was satisfied chirped, "Yep. You okay without parental supervision for a bit while I get him out of there?" Krad snorted and said, "Is that your discreet way of asking me not to kill anyone while you're gone?"
"Yep."
Krad's eyes narrowed. "I have… dealings with one of the humans leaving this place. But it won't interfere with our leaving." The phantom sighed and felt extremely sorry for the poor bastard who was getting the business end of Krad's aggression.
"Can I ask who, then?" Krad's eyes turned a dangerous shade of yellow and he spat, "The one who took him from us and lived." All traces of humor left the phantom's face and he swallowed, suddenly looking tired. "I'll be back in a little while."
"You'd best hurry. He's on the verge of transforming." Dark almost smacked him and his wings flared out as he snarked.
"Why the Hell didn't you tell me that sooner?" He took off through the barrier, his wings rowing a little harder than normal to carry him through the crushing power of his son's magic. As he did Krad walked back towards the road and leaned on one of the remaining trees. It wasn't like a man with an enormous scar of five claws raked across his face would be hard to recognize. He'd wait. And when he did finally show Krad would make sure he'd understand that the decision to participate in the kidnapping that night was the worst decision that stupid human had ever made.
Vlad flicked his card through the first card swipe and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when it flashed green and opened.
Third floor… I've never even been on the third floor down here… He thought as he headed down the hallway, wondering why no one had even bothered to attempt decorating the place. There were no pictures, no carpets or rugs, just a row of glaring halogen bulbs in the ceiling, the cords connecting them thick with spider webs. It also smelled strange this far down. Not like dirt at all, but solid rock, stale and cloying.
This part of the tunnel/hallway had obviously been created with blasts of tnt- the corners of it were uneven, cracked, and buckled in and back at random intervals. As he reached the door all the lights in the hallway suddenly flashed out, as if there had been a power surge.
Vlad put a hand against the door and as he did, felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice say, "Move along sonny. I don't want any trouble."
Every similar scenario in every horror movie he had ever seen flashed through his mind and he turned slowly.
Dark's eyes glowed dully in otherwise total darkness like tiny purple orbs lit from within. Vlad managed to surpress what was most definitely going to be a very girlish scream and asked, "Uh… turn off the headlights first? You're creeping me out." Dark blinked and they went out. He maneuvered around the doctor, slipping the card out of Vlad's pocket and sliding it into the card reader. The light flashed green.
As it did one of the hall lights struggled back on, giving off a feeble light and he was able to see the thief better. "If you'll excuse me." As he walked around him Vlad put an arm across the doorway. "You're not the only one who cares about Aisoku, you know. And who are you anyway?" Dark smirked and tapped his temple, indicating his eyes. "What, these don't look familiar?" Vlad blinked and his mouth opened in recognition.
"Oh...oh!" He moved out of the way and as he did Dark suddenly stopped. There was a blue light emanating from the room and Vlad thought he heard a strange noise- like the cracking of bones.
And something like growling- He took a step closer and Dark suddenly shoved him in the chest so hard he almost fell. "Get out of here now."
"What-But he-"
"Go!" He snapped over his shoulder, his eyes lighting up with power again, and the wings against his back flaring. Vlad swallowed and before he could so much as draw another breath, the door snapped shut.
Aisoku's mind was stretched beyond thought.
The pain was everywhere, black red and smothering. He was on the ground, twisting and writing like the damn animal this pain brought out in him. He had his teeth clenched so he wouldn't bite his own tongue in half. His wings were slapping and flexing of their own will, the feathers dull from chafing on the cement floor. It felt like his bones were on fire. The anger was back again and he tried to push it away but this time it grew instead of faded. He wanted to kill Lenka. And something… something terrible in the deepest part of his brain, primitive and reptilian… was egging him on. Encouraging him to just –what? Lose himself.
That was what.
The pain stopped and he lay completely still, smoking slightly. Black lighting stabbed across his brain.
Lenka was saying something again but Aisoku only caught the 's' and 't's because something rather peculiar was happening to him. He brought a suddenly throbbing hand up close to his face to find out why it was aching so badly.
The tips of his fingers were strangely swollen and it looked like a thin bone was just underneath the skin. He curled his fingers in and saw the bones break through the surface, realizing they were actually claws. He could see it all happening and knew it must be painful but he didn't feel anything except for his heart thundering away in his chest. It felt like it was going to explode. But he didn't want to die like this. He wanted to live!
He saw an odd scaly pattern start at his fingers and spread up his arms, the larger plates on his joints and the widest flat areas of his arm.
It tingled like pins and needles but still no pain. His eyesight was getting better- he could see every hair on Lenka's head, the sheen of sweat on his face. Aisoku's started to hear an odd popping and cracking and saw the joint on his arm moving up… and the bend in his knee too. Was he shrinking?
Even as he thought it the metallic collar around his neck started straining and popping, the sections actually clattering away from him.
… I'm growing…
He could feel his body stretching like someone had grabbed him at the head and ankles, the gross popping and grinding of gristle and tearing of his clothes. The scaling was covering his body and the sides of both his temples pounded horribly. His ears twisted up and back
…aah…
and he closed his eyes tightly. His nose and jaw were stretching out- for one terrifying moment he couldn't breathe as the cartilage in his nose crunched down and out; his teeth and tongue stretched to form some kind of a muzzle. It was happening faster now.
He startled as his back rubbed up against the ceiling- he crouched down. From each vertebra on his back a spike sprouted- the last thing he remembered lucidly was the look on Lenka's face as he turned to face him.
Then, he let the beast loose on the scientist.
Krad glanced at each car as it passed and was occasionally rewarded by the driver of the car swerving, obviously not used to a yellow-eyed man standing and observing the passing traffic. As what must have been the fifth passed he winced and held his chest. He could feel the transformation pushing at him, forcing his canines down and his fingertips to ache. Quickly he loosened his bond with Aisoku.
...So he was not able to make it in time. He thought and his eyebrows met in concern. He wanted to go assist in any way he could but as long as that barrier was up it was taking almost all he had just to keep the thief safe from it's crushing weight. As his mind wandered he was suddenly broiught back to the present as he recognized a familiar scar. A scar he had carved, on the face of a man in a red Toyota. From a good thirty feet behind he made the motion of picking the car up. The red Toyota suddenly left the ground. His next motion mimicked the car being thrown into the nearby ditch with so much force that it rolled three or four times before coming to a smouldering stop.
Krad ran a hand through his hair with a sigh and left the area, going back to the main side of the barrier.