Chapter 40: Epilogue

The alarms became louder and more urgent as the dust settled. Booted feet landed in the debris immediately hastening through the corpses and rubble, heading directly to the two prone brothers.

Another set of boots landed nearby, following suit.

"Hurry, Raphael." Azrael's voice was urgent as she dashed to Michael's body. Carefully, she lifted his wings as Raphael crouched down by Gabriel and turned him over. The bloodied body and broken wings moved where they shouldn't.

Azrael glared at the crouched archangel. "Leave him. Help me with Michael."

Raphael hesitated. Despite everything, Gabriel was still his brother.

The flutter of more wings announced Noma as she landed in the center of the clearing. She searched the clearing, eagerly hoping for a glimpse of blonde hair as she rubbed her hand subconsciously.

"He's gone." Noma's throat tightened as she attempted to remain calm.

Raguel hung in the air above her, scanning the surroundings. "It was a possibility," she stated, nodding slightly as she moved over the area, searching for anyone else that may be alive. "We need to hurry though. The acolytes succeeded. They enriched the plant."

Nodding, Noma took to the air again and rushed over to the others. Landing nearby, she watched as Azrael hissed at the hesitant Raphael. "Leave him!"

Raphael carefully lifted Gabriel's arm and placed it over his shoulder. "We save both, Azrael."

Another crash off in the distance, and the alarms continued to echo. And then Raguel swept in. "We need to go now! HURRY!" she urged as she flew up, leaving Raphael to follow closely after, clutching Gabriel's body against him.

Azrael immediately wrapped her arms around Michael's torso and took to the air. Noma flew after them, quickly grabbing his legs and staying in time with Azrael.

Several other angels followed behind them as they left the settlement and headed north. A few angels carried the remaining humans who had been under their protection. Jackson held tightly to one angel's hands as he dangled in the air. And Dutch squeezed his eyes shut and cringed as they flew at full speed.

Moments later, the world grew brighter. Everything imploded and then mushroomed up into the sky. The whole of Vega blew outwards, dust and debris and radiation spewed its way across the desert. Clouds billowed upwards and the color of the sky rippled as the nuclear disturbance tore through the air.

Just barely out of the blast zone, the angels shifted higher as they zoomed away to safety, risking their own lives and the humans they carried. At top speeds, they aimed north and east, searching the sands below...

Further off in the desert, far past the radiation zone and safely on their way to a new life, the train of trucks filled with the evacuated citizens sped on.

Vega was behind them now, as they raced forward towards their future. The uncertain future…

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The Chosen One has chosen…

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~~~**Author's Note**~~~

And that concludes my version of the second season. (Just in time for the show's actual second season!) I hope you enjoyed this crazy journey as much as I did. It was definitely a labor of love and it became more epic than I first intended when I started writing it. In the end, I had to plot out the last half of it – which is why I didn't post for so long (even though I was still working on it). I've been writing this since September! Holy hell! (I'll be going back to my novel now…)

I hope you'll let me know your thoughts and/or any questions you may have. Or just drop me a line to let me know someone out there is reading this crazy thing…

Enjoy the return of the real second season! Cheers!