Part 34: Lost Souls
It was just work. Work. His hand pulled at the collar of his gray shirt as he marched swiftly down the long corridor.
This was work. And it was more than he signed on for.
He halted his progress as he noticed four forms turn the corner ahead of him and come toward him. "President Gorudo," he addressed the suited man as they reached each other. He ignored the two bodyguards and whoever was behind them. "Sir, I have a few things to discuss with you."
"With me?" the man asked incredulously, looking him over like he was inspecting a suit from the cleaners. "From what I'm being told, you've been negotiating with our prisoners behind my back. What could you possibly need to discuss with me?"
Trap frowned at the slightly shorter man. "Before we go through with this, I need assurance that the boy will enter my custody. There is no reason to waste his life."
"Oh? Is my pet genius making demands of me?"
"I didn't sign up for murder, sir."
"No one's asking you to kill the boy," Gorudo snapped, leaning upward to stare straight into his eyes. "Just stop. Asking. Questions."
"It affects my research, so I'm going to ask questions. Why are you obsessed with going through with this? What's the point in joining with this creature?"
"Again, Trap." The man shook his head with a smirk. "Questions are dangerous things."
The stone-faced scientist didn't look impressed by the threat. "Tell me what you're trying to do, if you want my help."
"I don't need your help," Gorudo smiled, waving forward the shorter figure standing behind them. "Let me introduce you to your understudy. This is Jack Wong. Wong is here on a work visa from China. He's very ambitious. He's read your research. Every page of it. Just in case. Since you're just not feeling up to it today, he'll be overseeing the procedure in your place."
"He'll what?" Trap demanded. "There is no way an outsider to this project can be as prepared for the possible complications as I am. You're putting yourself in danger."
"Don't try to manipulate me, Trap. I see right through it. Thanks for your hard work. It may just win Jack here a Nobel Prize in a few years."
Trap stiffened as Gorudo's bodyguards moved forward and took him by the arms. As they pulled him forward past the CEO, Gorudo leaned over and whispered in his ear, close enough for the breath to blow down Trap's neck. The words were eager, almost lustful. "You want answers, Trap? The Black Wings exists outside of time. It lives on and on, unchanging. That body is a living, breathing holy grail. And soon it will be my own. Well worth killing for, wouldn't you say?"
"You expect this to make you immortal?" Trap whispered at him, not necessarily disagreeing. "Sir, this is obsessive and reckless."
"You're too close to this project, Trap. I'll let you watch the videotape afterward," Gorudo smirked, leaving him behind as he continued toward the procedure room with Wong.
His thoughts blurred into a chaotic frenzy of plots and strategies as he was literally dragged away from the project he'd spent his whole career building up to. He grabbed his access key from the clip on his belt and gripped it firmly, fighting for his next step. He couldn't take down Gorudo's guards. He wasn't built to fight. He was built to think. He needed to think.
They passed the corner and entered the elevator. It stopped at the 12th floor. The most secure floor. His floor. No windows. He proceeded grudgingly as the men pulled him forward into the sterile halogen-lit corridor. His pulse raced, and every detail of his surroundings became trapped in time as he took one step after another. A single light flickering on the ceiling in the long, too-bright hall. A "restricted area" sign hanging crooked as they passed. A pushcart left standing by the wall.
A pair of janitors passing them carrying a mop and bucket.
Familiar brown eyes catching his as they passed.
The briefest flicker of confusion as she recognized him.
He stiffened for just a second, letting the guards drag him forward.
The blue-haired man walking next to her showed no reaction to him at all, just a testing glance. They were in. They could get there. Trap's breath froze. The decision came like an unexpected instinct.
His fingers loosened. The key pass dropped to the tile behind him.
Gorudo's men took him away.
-ooo- O O O -ooo-
*Daisuke. Daisuke!*
The redhead just stared at the captive form in the chamber in front of him. Seeing Dark's wings bound up raised a jab of nausea in his throat. He'd… He'd really…
'Your place is here, with the people that created you.'
'I can't pay for their mistake for the rest of my life. This is my chance to set things right.'
He'd put him here. He'd actually put him here.
"Oh my God," Daisuke breathed.
*Daisuke. Get a grip,* the angel's voice snapped in his mind, cold and firm.
Daisuke couldn't quite find his real voice, let alone his psychic one. It had been so long since he'd used it. When he managed to form thoughts, only one spilled from his mind, raw and frantic. *Didn'tmeanit Ididn'tmeananyofit!*
Dark's expression softened slightly, but he didn't look any less grim. *No, you didn't mean to say it. But you still meant it.*
*Dark! Please, just—*
*There's no time for this. Can you slip your cuffs?*
*Just let me explain,* Daisuke pleaded dizzily.
*I don't want you to explain. Can you slip them?* Dark cast a glance at the guards that were watching them like hawks.
Daisuke fought down the heavy lump in his throat and tried to pay attention to the cool metal around his wrists. He stretched his wrist and felt for the lock mechanism on his opposite hand. *I can't. These aren't toys, and I have no picks.*
*We're running out of time. After this little operation is finished, I need you ready to run, in case Trap breaks his word.*
*Dark, you can't do the procedure.*
*That option has already passed, Dai. You're under a magnifying glass right now. Your best chance of escape will be after Gorudo gets what he wants.
A restless wave of nausea funneled through the boy's chest. Dark didn't know what he was saying. *He wants to merge with you, Dark. This isn't just about separating our link. It's about forming a new one, with Gorudo.*
The angel stiffened against the glass inside the chamber that held him. Daisuke watched him carefully push the tension out of his shoulders, absorbing this new injury.
*Dark, I'm sorry… There's no way I'll let them finish this. I swear.*
Violet eyes shot to his across the silent room. *Yes you will. This is already decided. You'll stay put until it's time.*
A protest formed in the redhead's eyes, but the angel flattened it with a cold wave of frustration. *You'll listen to me, this time, or I'll be the one you need protection from. I will handle Gorudo. He's just one more wing host.*
*But you're strangers. He doesn't know you, or care about you. He's just going to use you!* He thought of Satoshi and what being linked to Krad had done to him. He couldn't even imagine Dark that way. The angel was about to let himself be permanently chained to that monster's soul. And it was all his fault Dark had been pushed this far.
Dark offered no response to Daisuke's protest. His mental voice was steady and measured. *Get out of those cuffs and hide your hands until it's safe to run.*
The redhead looked down at his lap, trying to think like Dark for a few seconds. *If I dislocate my thumb…*
*…Do it,* Dark confirmed, turning in the chamber to face away from him. He didn't need the visual of Daisuke in pain right now, and he couldn't afford for the guards to see it either. It was time for a diversion. He took a deep breath and cast a smirk at his guard outside. With a sudden burst of power, he pounded his fist on the glass, sending thunder resonating through the chamber. The reinforced walls didn't so much as splinter, but it was still quite a show. Dark pointed his hand up at the steel ceiling of the chamber and fired a burst of magic at it. It rebounded in a fierce shower of sparks around him until it was too bright to see anything.
Sure enough, both his and Daisuke's guards came rushing toward the chamber, guns trained on him. Dark raised his hand for one more fireworks display, when a sudden snap of pain arced down his forearm. He caught his breath and tugged his hand back against his chest, throwing up the other arm instead. He lit up the tube with light while he and Daisuke both dealt with the sensation.
The guards were shouting, but they certainly couldn't shoot him through the thick walls. Dark finally stopped firing and met their eyes in a challenge.
"That's right, you settle down," one guard sneered before returning to keep an eye on Daisuke. Dark glanced back to the boy, who looked a little paler, but composed.
The door to the hall hissed open. Gorudo walked in, with another man wearing a lab coat following behind him. "What's all this noise about? I can hear you idiots from halfway down the hall," Gorudo said, strolling up to the chamber and looking his prized angel up and down.
Dark came to the edge of the chamber and put a hand to the glass, studying Gorudo with renewed interest while the man studied him. He looked for some sign of emotion or personality in the billionaire's eyes, but all he could find was a strange, possessive avarice. Maybe he would be easier to get to know from the inside.
"What's the matter, Black Wings? You don't have the same spark you did a few hours ago," Gorudo smirked.
"I'll show you sparks later," the angel warned, his shock-weary throat still making him sound hoarse.
"How intimate," Gorudo scoffed almost lustfully.
That was offputting. Dark raised an eyebrow at him and stepped back into the center of the chamber. Maybe he wasn't thrilled about his blind date soulmate, but he didn't have a lot of options. "Get this over with."
On cue, Wong walked over to Daisuke and began working with the machines next to the boy's cot. They whirred to life, filling the room with an ominous mechanical purr.
"Where is Trap?" Daisuke demanded.
"His personal opinions were no longer in the best interest of his work," Gorudo smiled, pointing his gaze straight at Dark. "I removed him from the project."
Shit. "I'm not doing this," the boy growled. "And you can't do it without me." He sat up, glaring at his captors.
"Oh, but we can," Gorudo said. Two guns trained on Daisuke within an instant. The redhead glanced between the guards tensely.
*Don't you dare. Stay still.*
*Who's going to protect you if I don't?*
*You're not protecting anyone, you're committing suicide!* Dark snarled.
*You're giving up.*
*I don't "give up." Remember who you're talking to. If I could get us both out of this, I would say so. Now sit still and let them give you your ever-precious "freedom" from your curse.*
Daisuke paled. *You're not a curse.* He knew the words were powerless, because he'd already said as much to the angel. He wouldn't be able to take it back. Some mistakes went beyond healing. He sat back hopelessly against the scratchy fabric of the cot.
"Wise choice, boy," Gorudo said as Wong hooked up the machines.
The scientist consulted his clipboard several times to be sure everything was set properly. "It is ready, Sir."
The door to the hall hissed open again, and two janitors entered the room. They looked around at the strange combination of equipment and people, and made their way in.
"What do you think you're doing?" Gorudo demanded.
"Doing? Our jobs, sir. The ballroom is scheduled to be mopped this afternoon."
Dark turned stiffly at the familiar female voice.
"All access to this room has been blocked today. How did you get in?" the CEO pressed.
"Just my normal key card, Sir," the female janitor said, lifting up an orange plastic tag to show him. "…Sir…what in the world is that?" she murmured, staring at the angel locked inside the glass cylinder.
"Some imbecile in Security must have loused up the access permissions," one of the guards muttered.
"Are we in some kind of trouble?" the girl asked nervously.
Gorudo pondered the two janitors for a moment. "No. Since you're here, you can make yourselves useful. You, go hard-lock the door. We don't need any more interruptions.
Satoshi walked across the room, glancing at Daisuke as he locked the door. His friend looked startled. "Where would you like us, Sir?" he asked.
"We can use some extra hands. You stand by the boy there, and you," he gestured to Risa, "Help him by the tank. Do not talk to the creature inside."
Satoshi walked over to Daisuke, keeping his janitor's cap carefully over his face as he passed Gorudo. He and his friend exchanged a glance as Wong continued checking measurements on the machines against his clipboard.
Risa walked slowly up to stand beside the guard next to Dark's glass cell. She glanced at the gun firmly held in the man's hands and then turned her attention to Dark. It was hard to look at his wings. The way they were braced back against themselves made her stomach turn. His eyes, on the other hand, burned into hers with reassuring strength. She wanted to reach out and touch the glass, but she knew better. She tried desperately to think of a way to get him out of this situation, but his gaze told her to keep calm and take one step at a time.
"Activate the sequence," Gorudo said to Wong.
Wong nodded and pressed a button on the monitor he was working on. The brainwave patterns washing across the screen fluctuated, at first slightly, and then dramatically. Daisuke stiffened as he felt the static of machines playing around with his thoughts. Risa rushed a half-step toward Dark and forced herself to stop. It couldn't be happening already. Was she too late? She threw her gaze to Dark's and found him looking pale, but staring straight at her.
The angel caught his breath as he felt something pulling away from inside of him. His pulse jumped up and pounded at his brain. It took a few dazed moments for him to realize it was done. It had only taken a second to rip apart his reality. He didn't need to call to Daisuke to know he was gone. It was nothing like he'd anticipated. It wasn't pain. It was absence. Absence of what was supposed to be there. Something so permanent and so integral to his existence that he couldn't have imagined it missing until it suddenly was, leaving him different and unwhole. He felt false. He choked on the emptiness and leaned forward against the glass. The strength left his legs. He found the focus to wonder if he was dying or if the emptiness would simply dissolve him, break him into cells and atoms and leave him floating in this room forever. Was he losing his mind? It wasn't supposed to be this bad…
Risa rushed to the glass, touching her fingers to his across the thick material. She ignored the protests of the guard behind her. The angel looked shocked and pale, like he couldn't even see her. "Dark, focus on me. It's going to be okay. We'll fix this, just hang on a little longer," she said through the glass.
He knew she was trying to guide him, but she couldn't possibly understand that he was alone. He was so impossibly, excruciatingly alone. It had to seem crazy. He tried to grin at her. "I guess I'm really not human. I can't-" his voice broke. He forced himself to stay standing, but the tears came, blinding and unconscious, as his long-protected composure collapsed on itself like a pile of cinders.
Daisuke was gone.
He winced and twisted his gaze away from her as the spark in his eyes flickered out. His whole body dimmed and flickered.
"Dark!" Risa shouted.
"Dark! No!" Daisuke gasped, shooting forward on his cot. Satoshi caught him by the shoulders and kept him steady.
"Stay where you are," Satoshi whispered. He remembered what Krad had said about separating Dark, that the angels' souls weren't enough to survive alone. Had that been the truth? Was this killing him?
"What's happening to him? Reverse it!" the redhead screamed, fighting Satoshi's hands.
"You, over by her, now. I don't know who the hell you are, but you aren't janitors. We'll deal with you later." the guard next to Satoshi said, training his gun on the bluenette's head.
Satoshi slowly released Daisuke's shoulders and walked over toward Dark's tank and Risa. The other guard was pulling Risa backward, away from the glass. Satoshi followed and stood next to her as the guard assumed a defensible distance and trained his gun on them both, leaving his partner free to watch Daisuke like a hawk.
"Focus on the procedure. Wong!"
The scientist nodded at Gorudo's instruction and began readjusting the controls on the machine. "Take the young man's place on the cot, please," Wong directed.
Daisuke's guard ripped the neural detectors off his skin and pulled him up to his feet. The boy staggered for balance as he walked on his healing leg. "Dark!" He stared over his shoulder, unable to take his eyes off the bent, flickering shape of his former soulmate. What had he done? What the hell had he done to him?
Gorudo stretched out comfortably on the cot, watching Dark like he was an exciting film playing out live before him. "Quickly, I want the body undamaged."
Wong set about attaching the sensors to Gorudo's forehead and neck.
"Don't forget the adjustments we discussed."
"Yes, Sir. Activating the chamber." Wong flipped a switch, and the space enclosing Dark began to glow a soft, luminous blue. Wong looked back to the monitor in front of him, and a new set of lines took form on the bottom of the screen below Gorudo's. "The Black Wings' subconscious is reading properly, but it's somewhat unstable. We must commence immediately. Sir, please relax your body and close your eyes."
The CEO complied, smirking as he heard Wong type in a code on the machine.
Dark clasped his chest, wide-eyed, and leaned against the glass as a new force invaded his chaotic mind and shredded it apart. A purple glow surrounded him, glowing sharper and brighter by the second. A door opened like a beacon, sucking the broken pieces toward it. He was in no position to fight it. *Yeah, I get it. I'm coming,* he managed. He cast one more look at Risa's passionately worried gaze before folding into the new force.
His body flashed and then vanished in a dance of violet sparks.
The room went silent. Wong reached down and switched the chamber's power off. All eyes slowly shifted from Dark's missing form to Gorudo's.
A faint glow formed around the middle-aged man, pulsing as if it carried its own power and life. Gorudo cringed as his limbs stretched, his face shifted, his hair blended and grew to a deep violet. It took several long seconds for the transformation to stabilize, and then purple eyes opened to the huge glass ceiling above him.
"Dark?" Daisuke asked, pulling forward in the guard's grip for a better look.
The purple-haired form slowly sat up and stretched his fingers, looking down at his hands. He threw his legs over the side of the cot, glancing around at his audience. A glint of excitement formed in his eyes. He stood and took a few easy steps forward. The body moved perfectly, easily. He closed his eyes, focused, and a pair of huge black wings burst from his suit jacket. Risa, Satoshi, Daisuke, Wong, and his guards stared at him questioningly. Feathers drifted to rest all around them.
The angel's lips raised in a slow, fierce smile. "It's mine." He reached out a palm and formed a ball of violet-black flames in his cupped fingers.
"The Black Wings is mine!"
To be Continued…
-0O0-ooO-(==)-Ooo-0O0-
Sooo….that happened. –sweats- Thank you everybody for reading and thank you guys especially who took the time to leave me feedback! It keeps my gears turning!
Some shout outs:
Natsuki Chere – Thank you as always for your review! It made my day. I am very glad that Satoshi and Krad are coming through as characters! NOW YOU WRITE TOO! –grin-
Endra1 – I loved your feedback on the scene with Krad's journal so much that I got an idea that I much preferred to the original. So, I cheated a little and actually changed it. Thanks for reading and for the straightforward input! Please keep it coming!
Yuki Hikari – Your review is also awesome~! It's actually great to hear what someone thought of Daisuke's thoughts, since he's a character I find harder to get into than some of the others. Thanks for reading!
Fireflower19 – YAAAAAAAAAAAY! Your reviews are so much fun and so detailed, they always give me confidence for the next chapter : ) Thank you for reading! And for your input on the journal scene.
Kathyann – Wow, awesome! I am very glad you're reading!
Seylin – Thank you! I hope you keep reading!
Intelligenceisstupid – Yay, thank you for reviewing! I'll include more about what Krad does with himself in the next chapter. It's nice to be able to bring Daisuke back, though he still has some explaining to do.
Kris Phantom – Good point about Emiko! I'm going with the assumption that she's out of town, because I have very little love for her character and didn't end up spending time writing her into the story –eep-. All such awesome questions/observations! I'm afraid of spoilers, so I'll just hold mum for now. I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for reading!