Part 43: Cracks

"The Black Wings… is that even possible?" Daisuke choked out. Like the rest of them, he was awestruck by the powerful elegance of the winged being that had just taken form in front of them.

Satoshi shook his head no, even as his lips formed the word "Yes." The bluenette's legs locked stubbornly beneath him as the newly formed angel turned piercing silver-pupiled eyes down on them. He wanted to scream. He wanted to hate the creature in front of them that both was and wasn't Krad. "Our families originally ripped the Black Wings in half," his shaking voice murmured. "Now that those two pieces have—"

He couldn't say it. He couldn't bring himself to use the word "died". "Now that they have nothing left to bind to...it looks like they've melded together again."

Daisuke's red pupils shrank to small dots as he met the stranger's eyes above him. "This isn't right, Satoshi. This can't be right."

"He's coming," Hattori warned as the ethereal form banked toward them. Watching the balletic perfection of the angel's landing was enough to make even the most graceful dancer ashamed. Agile wings curved like the wind itself behind his back while his silver hair whipped around him. Even making landfall didn't change the impression that he was somehow floating as he walked toward them.

"…Dark?" Risa was the first to try to speak. "Dark, please say that you're in there." The hope aching in her red-rimmed eyes mirrored the devastated expressions of the others.

The angel's clear gaze was so immense and indifferent that Risa thought it might suck her apart. "The one you call Dark is not here. He is not anywhere," he said, his voice glowing like the sun. He touched his chest with two graceful fingers. "If you mean his memories, they are here. They belong to me, now."

Satoshi took a protective step closer to Risa. "Then you remember us?" he asked. An unkind tone lay beneath his composed words.

The Black Wings cast an appraising stare over Satoshi and the rest of the group. "Satoshi Hikari, the late Krad's twelfth wing host. Pathologically distrustful, defiant of your role as wing host, and the only individual to survive Krad's pathetic lack of reserve in battle. Risa Harada, supposed love interest of the Hikari wing host. Or perhaps more accurately, the object of the late Dark's shaky emotional attention. How strange, for such an absurd and vapid girl to be pinned between the affections of such utterly unavailable men." He leaned down and looked into her eyes, neither cruel nor gentle in the way he sized her up. "I cannot understand their fascination."

His attention shifted to Daisuke. "Daisuke Niwa. Dark's twelfth wing host. Sixteen years old, and still so terrified by the idea of responsibility that you completely discarded it, only to thrash about pathetically when it was taken away from you. For some reason, Dark's affection for you outweighed your betrayal."

Daisuke's expression was suitably mortified as the words cut deep. They were too true to deny, and something about this being's cold directness made it impossible to hide from the truth that he'd abandoned Dark to the hell that had just gotten him killed. Satoshi's stone-faced scowl and Risa's stunned stare proved the sharp words had hit home all around. It left Daisuke with absolutely nothing to say to the creature in front of him.

"If you know so much about us, then you must still feel something for us, as well. How can you be so cold?" Risa demanded.

"Incorrect." He was beginning to look bored with the lot of them. "The beings you know as Dark and Krad were fundamentally flawed. They were half-human mistakes. Fragments. Their personalities and emotions were just negative side effects."

"So you're saying your emotions are somehow superior to theirs?" Daisuke challenged, heat joining the misery in his voice. "Angels that lived for hundreds of years, and you dismiss all they learned and cared about just like that?"

The Black Wings straightened up. "Yes."

Daisuke lurched forward, looking ready to take a swing at the angel. Power began to glow instantly at the Black Wings' fingertips. Satoshi caught his friend's shoulder and tugged him back. "Don't," the bluenette warned. His eyes swung up to the Black Wings. "Now that you're here, what do you want?"

"I do not want. I simply am." His tone made it very clear that he knew what he was: surreally perfect in form and movement. The ultimate living work of art, superior to them in every way. How could he need or want anything from a bunch of humans?

A bullhorn projected at full volume, making Daisuke jump and Satoshi's hand tighten on his shoulder. "THIS IS THE NATIONAL DEFENSE. WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED. ARMS OVER YOUR HEADS, NOW."

Daisuke, Satoshi, and the others slowly raised their hands, their eyes still glued to the Black Wings. Shira hesitated, but finally followed suit. The angel crossed his arms and studied the armed soldiers who were now visible at the perimeter of the field where they stood. The rat-tat-tat of a helicopter began approaching overhead. Shit, this wasn't just the police. It was the military.

"I REPEAT. YOU ARE SURROUNDED. SUBMIT IMMEDIATELY, OR THE TROOPS WILL FIRE."

The Black Wings made no move to comply. If anything, he looked a little bored. Daisuke glared at him. "If you just stand there, you're going to get us all shot," he snapped.

The angel smirked. "Interesting."

Shit. "Everyone, kneel down slowly and lie on your stomachs with your arms over your heads," Satoshi ordered.

The others followed his instructions, lowering themselves to the ground. At least that would make them smaller targets, unless the troops decided to shoot from the air.

"FINAL WARNING! OPENING FIRE."

The Black Wings did not even flinch as a barrage of bullets pelted toward him. He extended one hand, and the projectiles were blown in the opposite direction like paper confetti. The soldiers ducked behind their shields, while the captain called for another round of fire.

The silver-haired angel frowned at the human onslaught. "Impetuous garbage," he muttered, his eyes hardening with disdain. He raised his hand over his head and summoned a wave of energy—the type that would have taken Dark or Krad half their life-force to create. It formed like a giant smoke ring above his head, and then blasted outward in a vicious pulse. The blast knocked the soldiers back like a bomb had just gone off in their faces. Satoshi squinted through the blinding light to see the damage, but he was almost certain the men closest to them were all dead. If he and the others hadn't been at the eye of the storm, they would be too.

"Oh my God," Riku murmured as she raised her eyes to look at the damage. They were definitely not dealing with Dark or Krad. This was something far stronger, and far more reckless.

A loud blast sounded from just beyond the trees. An instant later, a huge artillery shell slammed into the Black Wings' left shoulder and knocked him a step backwards.

"That was a tank cannon," Satoshi realized. They were serious about this. Well, that shouldn't surprise him. The local police had already been taken out. Something like this was bound to get the military's attention. He blinked at the carnage, reminding himself those had been people. Reminding himself to give a shit. He knew he needed to stay focused and practical if they were going to get through this. The truth was, though, he barely had the will to bother moving himself to safety.

The angel frowned at the mangled hole where the shell had ruined his perfect flesh. He placed a hand over the wound. When he lowered his fingers a moment later, the skin was perfect again. His mood, however, was not. "Impudent wretches. You dare strike out against me? You are unfit to even look upon me," he snarled, drawing a feather from his wing in an elegant arc above his head.

"Don't!" Daisuke shouted, scrambling to his feet and latching onto the angel's arm. "Please, if there's any of Dark left in you, just wait! Those are living people!"

"Do you deliberate before crushing mosquitoes when they bite your flesh?" the angel said, throwing the boy off in disgust. "Let me be clear, wing host. The creature you knew as Dark was a pathetic shadow of my correct form. An emotional idealist too afraid of his own power to use it properly. They were both flawed. Broken.

Daisuke landed hard in the dirt and glared up at the angel. "So you're the worst of both worlds, then."

"You misspeak. I am the master copy, not a sum of their parts."

"Look, whatever you are, you can't just keep killing people. Besides, if you keep using magic, you'll burn yourself out," Daisuke warned. "Let us help you."

The angel just smiled fiercely and put a hand out to either side, gathering up a huge, glowing swarm of magic around him. "I am whole now. There are no such limitations on my magic, and no reasons to tolerate the impudence of human garbage." He leapt to the side easily as another round of artillery fire came through the trees. His eyes found Daisuke's. "Approach me again, and I will destroy all of you." With that, he bolted upward in a storm of feathers.

They heard, more than saw, the explosion that resulted as the Black Wings located the tank that had fired on him.

"…Unlimited magic?" Daisuke breathed, as they all stared in the direction the angel had disappeared.

"Satoshi, he's going toward the city. He's going to kill a whole lot of people if something doesn't happen quick," Hattori warned.

Shira stared at the cloud of smoke rising above the trees. If she'd known two days ago that the unassuming prisoner she'd been guarding had the potential to turn into this…

She'd have what? Slit his throat? "Perhaps the military can take him," she grimaced.

Risa's bloodshot eyes narrowed. "Whoah. Wait a sec. Dark is in there. We can't just kill him."

"He's already dead, Risa, like it or not," the bluenette said. "And that thing is going to do whatever it wants until we destroy it." The words silenced her, but the color drained from her skin until he wished he hadn't said anything. His chest wrenched hopelessly as he caught the emptiness in her expression. He wasn't wrong. "We're following him. Come on."

Risa was the last to slowly stand up and follow Satoshi toward the city streets. Her chest felt frantic and full of pressure. He was gone. He was gone. She expected to want to cry, but her eyes were clear. This feeling was much worse. The pressure was unbearable, like a vacuum was collapsing her from the inside out.

"Satoshi, I know you're upset right now, but don't you think you're being a bit cold? She's hurting as much as you are," Riku caught up to the bluenette as they walked.

"Who says I'm hurting?" the boy frowned at her, warning her to back off.

"Well, Krad-"

"You're mistaken," he said sourly.

"Hey, it's okay to be upset…" she cocked her head at him.

"I'm upset that there's a malevolent statue attacking the city with limitless magic. If you'd rather focus on taking care of Risa, be my guest."

The words hung in the air like poison, and the bluenette made no move to take them back. Riku just shook her head at him. "You're being an ass. Or are you okay with losing your friends, too?"

He didn't respond as she fell back to walk with her sister.

"Satoshi, up ahead," Shira chimed in, pretending she hadn't just heard his conversation.

The bluenette lifted his gaze up ahead. As they neared the border of the park, the city streets in front of them looked more like a military zone than downtown Azumano. Squadcars and police were everywhere, attempting to hold back a huge crowd of gawking civilians. The tank that had fired through the trees was a burning mess in the middle of the road, but another one was rolling in to take its place. The army wasn't taking this lightly.

Just as the approaching reinforcements brought new hope to the men on the ground, a fierce beam of energy crashed down into the second tank. Satoshi and the others had just enough time to look skyward at the angel who had summoned the attack, before the explosion knocked them all flat. Chunks of shrapnel crunched across the asphalt, sending even the toughest-looking men on the scene temporarily ducking for cover.

The Harada sisters were left huddling together next to a damaged lamp post. "Risa… Did the Black Wings just blow up a tank in one shot?" Riku murmured, staring between her fingers at the fiery heap at the center of the road.

"I believe he did," Risa whispered. Her arms were wrapped protectively around her sister. She forced herself not to look up as every weapon within five blocks pointed skyward and fired on the angel. The deafening chorus of weaponry left her huddled into herself on the ground.

"It's ok," Riku raised a reassuring look to her shaking sister. "I don't think they even scratched him."

Risa nodded meagerly, still not sure she wanted to look up. She felt relieved at her sister's words, but why? What was that monster up there, to her? What could he be? "Maybe it would be better if they took him down," she whispered. "He's hurting a lot of people."

"Would you be okay with that?" Riku asked, leaning down to make eye contact with her sister. She believed Risa's words were correct, but she wasn't so sure the girl really meant them.

Risa grimaced while more explosions sounded ahead of them. The smoke in the air was thick and sour. She could hear Daisuke and Satoshi somewhere nearby shouting over the din, discussing what to do about this disaster. Police and military were barking orders, trying to regroup and avoid more casualties. She raised her eyes carefully and made herself see the disaster taking place around them. "I don't need to be okay," she trembled. "The city is in trouble, and Dark…isn't here. We need to concentrate on taking that thing down however we can." She peered through the smoky air into her sister's worried eyes. It seemed like flames and noise were creeping in on them in all directions. "Let's get to someplace safe," she said, reaching for Riku's hand.

Their fingers met for just an instant. A chunk of one of the squadcars caught Riku square in the back and knocked her to the ground. Risa's voice failed her as she opened her mouth to scream. She hated the helpless feeling it gave her. She took a step toward her fallen sister, but a harsh squeal of metal brought her eyes upward. The streetlamp was falling straight toward them. Her eyes flew wide as the heavy metal beam approached. Another assault. Another tragedy. Another stupid, cruel joke. Her legs were scared. They wanted to run.

Her arms had other ideas. Her arms were pissed. She threw her hands up toward the falling post, and her voice didn't fail her this time. A scream of unmitigated, defiant anger burst from her throat as she bent her knees and grabbed the falling metal with all the strength she had in her small body.

The weight was too much for her, but she dug in against it like she was fighting off every nightmare that had ever tormented her. "Grrrah!" she howled as she twisted her weight and heaved the overpowering mass sideways, away from her sister. It landed a few feet to their right with a resounding gong. One more harsh instrument in the destructive orchestra blaring around them.

Risa breathed stiffly as she straightened up, her now-shaking hands lowering to her sides. It took a few moments to overcome the disbelief that she'd really caught and redirected such a huge object. Maybe she was braver than she thought? She turned and scanned the area for Satoshi or Daisuke, but she couldn't spot either of them through the smoke and noise. Anyone who hadn't taken cover by now would have to be insane. "Riku," she called to her sister, half-falling to her knees next to her twin. The adrenaline was wearing off and leaving her heavy as a wet blanket. Her sister was breathing, but unconscious. "Come on, there's no way I'll be able to carry you like this," Risa whined. She took her sister's hand and held it protectively to her forehead. "Come on, stay strong, girl," she ordered herself. "You're not leaving her here."

She flinched as a stray bullet flew into a tree trunk near them. "Shoot, shoot, shoot," she muttered, flattening herself to the ground and crawling in close to her sister. "Just have to stay low. Nothing's going to attack us if we stay low. No problem!" She squinted out into the mess. It was horrifying that she couldn't even see the winged creature that was causing all this damage. From the sound of the ongoing gunfire and explosions, neither side was giving in so far. What would happen if nothing could stop the Black Wings? She closed her eyes against the idea. What if his power really was unlimited? How many people were going to die?

She huddled close to her sister, her hopes draining by the minute. Lying on the hard ground finally drew her attention to an object digging into her hip. She dug into her pocket and her fingers closed around the amulet Dark had given her. Its shape was familiar by now, and feeling it in her grasp brought back the memory of Dark's voice. She pulled it loose and held it in front of her. The polished marble reflected the dismal scene surrounding them. "Not much good now, are you?" she murmured.

Her brown eyes flickered to the ground, burning like acid.

"I love you too."

The ache inside her chest seemed to draw her in on herself. "Idiot," she barely whispered. "You weren't supposed to get yourself killed."

She held the stone out in front of her and studied it. Krad had said the stone was bonded to Dark's soul. She supposed it was probably worthless, now that Dark's soul was part of the Black Wings, if it even existed at all.

Krad's words came back to her. "Talk. He'll hear. Just think of your target, and speak."

A crazy thought came to her. The spell on this stone held a very specific link to Dark's soul. If she called out to it hard enough…was there any way the part of the Black Wings that had been Dark might respond? Her thoughts went to Trap's machine, designed to separate souls by isolating their mental signatures. Couldn't it be possible….even a little bit possible, maybe… that her stone could perform the same task?

She was crazy. She was alone, and scared, and making things up in her head to comfort herself. She knew that perfectly well. She leaned into her unconscious sister's shoulder and frowned at the object in her hand. "Sometimes being crazy hurts less than being honest," she murmured. She pressed the stone to her heart. It didn't take any effort to let her thoughts go to the angel. "Dark," she pleaded. "Please, come back. Don't leave us here without you."

She lay still and listened to the sounds of battle and shouting surrounding her. "Of course not…" she muttered, dropping the stone to the ground. "Of course not." No longer in the mood for wishful thinking, she climbed to her feet and hauled her sister up over her shoulder. She had to get them out of here. It was too dangerous, and there was nothing they could do to help. Not anymore.

She kept a tight grip on her sister and made her way along the border of the park, trying to stay away from the street where bolts of angelic magic kept blasting down at the struggling vehicles and humans. The debris and smoke in the air made it hard to catch her breath, but she threw her focus into running for the end of the block where there was less fighting.

The hand that grabbed her sleeve caught her so off guard that it almost sent her swinging. She whirled on a tense Daisuke, who had to jump back out of the way to avoid Riku's swinging legs. "Dai," she gasped as she recognized him and the bluenette standing just behind him. Sato looked distracted, staring up above them. She looked at Daisuke instead. The redhead's eyes looked urgent, and she expected him to ask her about Riku.

Instead, the first thing out of his mouth was "Are you seeing this?"

"Seeing…what…?" Risa murmured as her eyes followed Daisuke's to the sky.

The Black Wings, in all his white glory, was still hovering in the sky above the human defenses and city buildings. However, a second set of wings had fanned out behind him, black as midnight against the bright summer sky. "What the..." Risa blinked at the changed appearance. Was the Black Wings powering up even stronger? Or… no, it couldn't possibly be Dark.

The angel above them crossed his arms over his chest, as if building up some unseen force inside him. If that was an attack, they were directly in harm's way. "We have to get out of here!" she gasped, tugging on Daisuke's sleeve even as her feet refused to budge. All of them were frozen in suspense, watching their attacker.

A burst of light blurred out their view for an instant, but a figure clearly burst away from the Black Wings' form, straightening up as if literally rising from its body.

Bright. Everything was so bright, even the suffocating power in his chest. He squinted his eyes to make out the blinding form…his own form, looking back at him.

No. That wasn't him, anymore. He was… who was he? He had to close his eyes against the brightness of reality. It felt like it had been dark for a very, very long time. Why?

"You should not exist," a voice – his voice – growled. He blinked and squinted at the white-haired figure in front of him. White eyes full of cold anger were staring nose to nose with him. "Disappear." A fist shot forward. Perfect, long fingers gripped his forearm. He was pulled off balance – no, he was in the air – and heard the crackling of magical energy above his head. Before he could think, his head splintered apart in agony. The blast tore into him and hurled him downward to the broken asphalt below. He crashed across the rough pavement and lay in shock. He managed to raise a bleeding arm to his throbbing skull. That wasn't him. He wasn't himself.

"Dark!"

"Risa, wait!" Daisuke called after the brunette as she launched toward the figure that had just crashed to the ground next to them. "Be careful!"

The girl ignored his warning, bolting to the violet-haired man's side. The angel was twisted over, drawing painful gasps. He braced his wrists under him and pushed to his feet. He was hurt, but he didn't seem very aware of it. Risa shifted her sister's weight on her shoulder and jumped forward to block him from moving. "Hold still, Dark. Don't move anything," she warned.

He touched his head and groaned, more openly than she'd ever known him to do in front of an audience. He didn't even look at her. "Dark, is it really you?" she pleaded. She grabbed for his wrist, only to pass right through it.

No. That wasn't possible.

She was still telling that to herself as the angel started forward and walked directly through her body. It made her nerves squirm. She whirled to keep an eye on him, her stomach rolling. He looked just like Dark. Was she imagining him? Maybe she was losing her mind? Hope and dread swarmed together in her chest.

"How is he doing this?" Satoshi asked aloud as he and Daisuke made it to her side. Their eyes followed the angel closely.

"You see him, right? He's really alive?" Risa's head spun.

"He's not quite alive, exactly," the bluenette murmured. "Perhaps holding himself together on a parallel plane, at least for now. But he's more real than he ought to be after what happened. Once he rejoined the Black Wings, there should have been nothing left to distinguish him. Assuming that's even Dark, what could be giving him form like this?"

Risa stiffened. "No way. The stone!" She threw Riku into Daisuke's arms and bolted for where she'd been lying before. Her fingers shook as she rummaged through the grass. Why had she thrown it away? She ignored the others' confused looks when they caught up to her. When her fingers closed around the cool, smooth object, she pulled it to her chest along with the grass around it and squeezed it for dear life. It looked dusty, and a long crack had formed through it. She had a moment to ponder the erosion in the perfect marble.

"Dark!" she shouted. The angel was walking through the police barricades and soldiers like they didn't exist, but they certainly saw him. She could hear them arguing about whether to divert fire from the angel in the air to this new force on the ground, but this specter that looked like Dark Mousy didn't appear to be hurting anyone. He did, however, freeze and look around at the sound of a female voice.

"Dark, it's me. Please, you need to do something. Help us stop him! He's going to kill everyone."

*He's going to kill everyone!* the voice rang in his head, distantly familiar. Who was she? Who was 'everyone'? He was the only one here. He and…himself. He raised his eyes to the white-haired angel above him, all silver and beauty.

*Dark!* The voice screamed again. He raised his hands slowly to the sides of his head. He was... was he Dark? And there was something about that voice. It felt like he should know something extremely important. *Dark, if you can hear me, then please! You need to stop the Black Wings! I know you can't see us, but he's hurting everyone.*

He looked upward and observed the being in the sky firing down at the ground. As hard as he tried, nothing struck him as familiar. Supposedly, he was Dark. And the creature floating in the air above him… for some reason, that was him, too. Dark scanned the area around him, and could make out spectral forms moving like shadows on the street. They seemed to be fleeing something. He blinked as one of them passed straight through him. He took another look at the white-haired angel. Who were they, and why was he attacking them? *Who are you? What's happening?* he demanded of the voice in his head.

The answer was drowned out in a hail of explosions. Hurting people… Those shadowy forms were people?

"Hey!" he shouted up at the white-haired being. He launched into the air and beat his wings firmly to reach the man's position in the air. "Stop this. You're hurting people…somehow…down there," he warned, frowning at the other's careless expression.

"Those humans mean nothing. They are flawed. As are you," the Black Wings said, casting a disgusted look over his fragment. "Disappear." He threw a hand out and fired a blast of light at the angel.

Dark jerked sideways, barely missing the blow. Memories were slowly beginning to return to him, as if he'd been sleepwalking in someone else's mind. Anger started up in his veins. "Is that how it is? Well, I suppose we have a breakdown of negotiations," he sneered at the Black Wings.

"He figured it out! He's fighting back." Daisuke clenched his hands to his chest as his tense expression followed the two figures above them.

"He's distracted!" shouted one of the officers nearby, urging his troops from their cover. "Regroup and fire with all you've got!"

They were too far off for Risa and the others to see details, but it was obvious that Dark and the Black Wings were trading blows. It was also, unfortunately, clear that for every attack successfully launched by the violet-haired angel, his opponent was able to connect at least three.

Risa glanced down at the stone. The edges were laced with hairline cracks, and the whole thing had faded to a dull gray.

"He's not going to last long by himself," Satoshi noted. "The military needs to get itself in gear."

"It looks like they're more organized now, but it sure doesn't look like anything's connecting," Daisuke worried. "The only thing that seems to be able to really hit him is Dark."

"Risa?" Satoshi asked, noticing that she'd turned away and crouched down next to the road. "What happened?"

She hunched over, her fingers folded tightly in prayer around the stone. "I can't watch. I just can't, if he's killed again. I can't!" she croaked out shamefully. "I'm so pathetic."

*Ha. What would be the fun in getting myself killed?*

Her head shot up. *Dark?*

*No fun, that's what. Sit tight. I'm going to recruit some help.*

"Help?" she murmured, looking over her shoulder at the sky.

Dark spread his arms out and cast a web of purple magic over his opponent. The Black Wings glared at the net around him in annoyance. It was meant to keep him from moving, but such an attack was like throwing a butterfly net over a falcon. Dark ignored the other angel's rage and used the distraction to his best advantage. He closed his eyes and joined his hands in front of him. Chanting an incantation, he built up the image he wanted in his mind, focusing on it with all he had.

The net did not hold the Black Wings for long at all. He was able to rip it in half, sending tattered strands of power flying all around him. His glare went straight to Dark, and he darted forward to take a crushing swing at the thief's face.

Dark threw himself just barely enough to the side and grabbed onto the man's wrist with both hands, trapping it. He whispered a few focused words, and pulled. The arm he was holding separated from the Black Wings' arm, leaving the silver-haired angel wide-eyed. Dark held onto the pale hand he was now grasping for dear life and hauled back. A new form split from the Black Wings' body. It was phantomlike and not quite real, just like Dark's form.

Dark caught the other man against him as the blonde faltered in the air. The weight was boneless and heavy. Dark embraced him carefully. For a moment, he wondered if he'd made a critical error when drawing him out.

Then the eyes opened, alert and raging like a maelstrom of gold.

-o0o0oOOOo0o0o-

To be continued!

Thank you all so much for reading! I'm so sorry for the long update time. I hope everyone has a wonderful new year and that the coming year brings you closer to all your goals, creative or otherwise. If you have a few seconds, please leave me a review! In all likelihood, the next chapter will be the last (though I may succumb to the temptation to do an epilogue).

Love,

Kat