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Kyosu nearly screamed as he began to realize that suddenly, without warning, his powers were gone. He fell to his knees, knowing now he was truly at the mercy of Jacques, and right now the gangster was incredibly pissed off.
He wandered the room's walls, finding a corner far from the door and sitting down, hoping that Jacques would come back in while he was awake. But as he waited, his eyelids grew heavy.
Consciousness slipped in and out of Kyosu's mind, the darkness replaced by spans of time infinitely small and colossal at once.
He sat there, his mind wandering. He'd die after some time. How long it had been now he had no idea, as the door opened. He had fallen in and out of slumber, his body aching and stomach growling.
“Get up,” a voice snarled, and Kyosu looked up. At least a day or so had passed, since he had lost his powers. He saw Jacques in different clothes, his hand bandaged and wrapped tightly. The bleeding had stopped even, and Kyosu scrambled to his feet.
“What are you going to do with me?” he asked, his movements not betraying him despite the overwhelming fear coursing through his body.
“I'm going to force you to give me that angel,” Jacques said with a laugh. “And then cut you into pieces. Alive.”
“No, you really don't need to, I didn't mean to cut your hand off...”
Kyosu would have fought back but he'd been two days without food or drink, and now he was to barely able to even walk. Jacques grabbed him by his sleeves and drug him behind him as he approached the door, the black man clearly having been well-fed and extremely in shape still, even with that injury. It barely slowed him down, but Kyosu could tell that the handicap of being able to only use one hand at a time was irking him.
The door opened as a gang member held it for Jacques, who just glowered at the man. He clearly knew that he was being helped, but he loathed that he was dependent on anyone now.
He threw Jacques into a chair, as the lights in the room shone down on the boy. “Now, tell me where your angel is.”
“She's not here anymore...” Kyosu said, and as the words left his lips he realized that somehow, Celestia had abandoned him. She wasn't giving him her powers, she had just left him to die. How could she? He saved her, at the risk of his own life. She couldn't have died – no, it couldn't be that. Angels are immortal aren't they? He didn't know, but he felt that she couldn't have died.
Jacques backhanded Kyosu hard, and spit and blood both came out of the boy's mouth from the impact. He nearly fell out of his chair, but two of Jacques' lapdogs grabbed him and pushed him back into his seat. “I know that, bitch. Now where is she?”
“I don' know! She left me, I can't even use my powers now!” Kyosu yelled, and Jacques paused. “I really don't know, I sent her to my apartment and then I lost my powers!” Kyosu said, as he started to fight against the men holding him to the chair. Jacques scowled.
“Leroy, get Abaddon's ass in here!” he barked at one of his men, who nodded quickly, the lighting in the room dying out slowly.
A shadowy figure formed in the shadows, slowly stepping forward. Heat radiated from his body in smoke, red lines forming and glowing faintly along his figure of pure shade. “What is it, mortals?”
“Can Angels abandon their hosts like that?” Jacques snapped, the angel's face impossible to be perceived by those in the room. Any moment they looked at it, their minds replaced it with darkness that made the night sky look bright.
“They can. An angel can leave its host at any time it wants.”
“Wa- wait, what? You told me the host and angel both have to consent!” Jacques responded, as he turned at the angel. “Leave Leroy for me, Abaddon. Your power in my body, think of what we can accomplish!”
“Think of what I have with Leroy. A stable host. Who provides me with constant food.” His tone was emotionless and he had no change in his stance or attitude.
“F-food?” Kyosu asked, and Jacques almost bust out laughing despite the tension.
“You feed the angel with emotions, boy! They don't just give you stuff!” Jacques laughed, and sighed. “Alright, Abaddon, and why can't I do the same?”
“I don't think that you would understand... I don't want a human with much will.”
Leroy simply backed down as Abaddon glared at him, and Jacques shrugged. “How about if he dies, you switch over to me?”
“And what do you offer me?” Abaddon asked, his tone still emotionless.
“I offer you power. Half of all I have, and on my death, all of it.”
“At your death, I will have to change hosts. But.. I can accept those terms.”
Jacques smiled, and looked towards one of the men holding Kyosu down, before looking at Leroy. “What powers will I get?” His eyes met Leroy's but the question was clearly were for Abaddon.
“Fire. And, if you need, perhaps more.”
Jacques' smile turned sinister and his hand quickly darted toward his hip, and he pulled a gun out of his pants. Leroy shouted something as the trigger was pulled, a bullet roaring to life in the chamber. In a flash, the man's head was a fountain of blood, bone, and gray matter. Jacques put the gun back in, it fitting perfectly into his jeans, and smiled.
“Well, Kyosu. I think you'll make a great practice for my new angel's powers,” he said as Abaddon nodded slowly.
“I am bonded with you now. I feed from your emotions, and you now can have my strengths. Just as I said.”
Jacques laughed and snapped his finger, a flame roaring to life in it. “Tell me, Kyosu. Do you have any regrets now?”
“I... I do... not killing you when I had the chance,” Kyosu said, knowing that within mere moments, he'd be burned by the gangster. He had no solace. His angel had left him, abandoned him. He saved her, and she repaid him like this. A burst of anger fueled him as he scowled. “And that I saved my angel.”
Jacques' face turned to surprise at that. “You really were backstabbed by that bitch, weren't you?”
Kyosu snapped his neck and lowered his head. “Just do it.”
Jacques' flame shrunk, and finally vanished. “You know, Kyosu, you don't have to just accept this. Bitches deserve to be treated as such. And I have a sense that, if I gave you the chance, you'd like to make that angel of yours pay.”
Kyosu said nothing, his body trembling in rage. He didn't even know what he was mad at now, or who. Was he mad at the man in front of him for using him and keeping him locked up, or was he mad at Celestia for abandoning him? But what if she couldn't help him...
He nodded, and Jacques just laughed. Kyosu didn't know what he'd do, but one way or another, he was going to get to the bottom of this.
~&~&~
Bellona turned the hourglasses on her necklace in frustration, time not changing its flow at all as she did so. “What happened to our powers? Where did the angels go?” she asked no one in particular, because no one around her could have an answer, not even Adele.
“I don't know, but this is frightening... why is the TV not working? The Internet is out and my phone isn't getting signal either...”
“Do you think that Celestia went nuclear and somehow we didn't die?” Bellona asked, as she gave up and threw the hourglass back onto her chest.
“I doubt it... but this is really weird,” Adele said, as she snapped her fingers again, no reaction or spark. She sighed, checking her phone for signal. None was available.
“So, what even happened?” Bellona wondered as she walked to the window and looked out it, cars rolling by, some people walking on the streets. If they knew radios and cell phones weren't working, they didn't really suggest it much.
“I'm... not sure,” Adele said as she sat down on the couch they had hid from the strange light the angels had been emitting. “Just... I don't get it. How did the Angels die like that?”
Bellona said nothing as she walked back over to the couch, sitting next to Adele. She sighed. “We might want to not be in Kyosu's apartment all that long... I'm worried about him though.”
Adele moved closer to Bellona and nodded, lowering her head onto the younger girl's shoulder. Bellona raised an eyebrow in questioning and looked at her, but Adele didn't seem to think anything about it was that weird.
She sighed softly, as a sharp buzzing noise entered her ears. She shook her head, and the noise persisted. Adele gave no sign of hearing it herself, and so Bellona shrugged it off.
~&~&~
Ariel and Micheal stood in the living room of Ariel's house as the sound of a jet roared overhead, Alison's hand rubbing her forehead in disbelief. “You're telling me this guy's an angel, and that he's been giving you magic powers... dear god, Ariel, this is a lot to take in.”
“I know it is,” Ariel said to her friend. “But I don't really see what else it could be, when I can control shadows at will.”
Alison nodded, and Micheal gave a sigh as he stood there, Ariel sitting on the couch's armrest, next to her friend. “I didn't even want you to know, but with the turn of events...”
“What happened anyways?” Ariel asked immediately, and Micheal paused. “I have a right to know, and so does Alison.”
“An angel has died.”
The silence that followed that announcement lasted almost a minute before Micheal choose to continue. “At least, that is what it feels and looks like. The angel went nuclear, we run off of fusion powered by the emotions of a host.”
“A host?” This time it was Alison asking the question, Ariel not catching the word host being used to describe her.
“It's not the most accurate term, but... it's a mutual relationship. A partnership more of. I give Ariel powers and get fuel for my body from her emotions.”
“You said something about fusion, nuclear- you're telling us that you're nuclear?” Alison asked, Ariel silently thinking over what Micheal had said. She wasn't usually this quiet, but it was somewhat confusing to now hear all of this.
“How can emotions fuel nuclear reactions?” Ariel asked after a moment's silence, before Micheal could answer Alison.
“It's... somewhat complicated, and a bit more than that. But yes, we are nuclear. Our bodies pull in emotions and fuel ourselves, but we can only feed off one being's emotions or we can go nuclear.”
“So... but you have emotions, don't you?” asked Ariel as she got up from the couch's arm rest.
“Yes and no – we can feel emotions, but not in the sense I mean. Ours are base, whereas the emotion of other species are raw. It's hard to explain, and right now it's not that important. What is, though, is that something was able to kill an angel, and that we're all at risk.”
“What could kill an angel?” asked Ariel, as Alison shifted nervously. “I guess I took you as a Biblical angel more than anything else.”
“Only certain things can kill my people. Certain metals cancel out our body's natural healing, and we are vulnerable to electromagnetism. Most things that are here on Earth though... not much here can hurt us.”
Ariel nodded and Micheal turned. “I'm going to see if I can find out what happened,” Micheal said as he left slowly. “You two keep an eye out for anything weird.”
Alison nodded, Ariel nodding as well as her angel left. “That... that was the weirdest thing I've ever had happen to me.”
Ariel just laughed and sat back down. “Same here. I didn't even know half of what he just told us... I don't know why I trust him automatically, he just... he feels honest.”
“He hid things though,” Alison pointed out, and Ariel shrugged. “You don't usually think anyone's honest. Remember when you thought I was a liar anytime I told you a boy liked you?”
“You are!” Ariel said back in protest, the two laughing. “I know, though. It's weird though... I want to know more, but the fact I have powers from him is amazing enough as it is. I don't know how much I can take.”
~&~&~
When Nihilium had ended up staying with Raelyn, the last thing he was expecting was to be staying for more than a day or two. He hadn't been here for more than two nights, but as the door closed he knew he wasn't going to be leaving soon, as he lay on the couch.
He felt something for her, even if he didn't see the point in it. He smiled, sitting up and starting to turn to see Raelyn. Instead, he heard the click of a gun.
“Put your hands up.”
Nihilium did so, and he immediately felt his vision blurring.
He then saw himself, the time in the future a bit. The person with the gun to his head was a strange looking man in all black, his face covered with a ski-mask. The gun trigger wasn't pulled though, before the door opened again, the man turning...
Nihilium snapped back to the present, putting faith in that happening. “Who are you?” he asked, the man just laughing.
“You mean you aren't going to use your vision? Oh, right... you don't remember who you are. Or, for that matter, who I am.” the man said with a chuckle.
“You know who I am?” Nihilium asked his interest spiking for a moment before the reality of this being a man holding a gun to his head hit him, and then moments later he began asking if it even mattered. He'd like to know but in the end... it wouldn't change. Whoever he was before, he wasn't anymore.
“I know all about you. And there are some people who've paid me handsomely – very handsomely – to make sure you don't get in their way.”
“B-but I don't want to get in their way, I don't want to know who I was! Whoever I was, I'm not anymore!” Nihilium yelled, almost turning, reminding himself to not change his course. He didn't know how far in the future he had looked, or what would happen if he tried to change things now.
“I really should just kill you here and now, but I really like to intimidate. Don't get involved this time, Sean.”
“I won't, I don't even know what you're talking about.”
Nihilium heard the door squeak, and the man began to turn.
“Wh-what is going on!?” Raelyn's voice yelled, Nihilium quickly turning but it was already moments too late. A blast went off, Nihilium's ears rang as a flash of light blinded him, but he could hear screaming as his hands dropped.
There was another gunshot and he slid down the couch, hoping to not be seen. Already he was sure that Raelyn was dead as yet another shot went off, his hands covering his ears automatically.
Moments passed, his body still, before a silence fell upon the house, only the ringing in his ears left.
“Nihilium,” a voice said softly, and Nihilium opened his eyes and looked up. Raelyn was propped against the couch, her face showing pain. “Help please?”
He quickly stood up, and nodded. “What do you need?”
“He hit my leg, I-I can't w-walk o-n it...”
Nihilium nodded, holding Raelyn as she stumbled a bit, helping her lay down on the couch. “G-get my F-first Aid K-kit...” she stammered, trying to hold in a scream of pain.
Nihilium nodded, hurrying past the body on the floor to the bathroom and opening the closet, grabbing the white case with a red cross on it. He rushed to the living room, passing the cadaver a second time as he did so.
“I'll call the cops, report the break in...” she said, and he nodded, getting onto one knee as he held the first aid kit for her. “Thank... you... wh-who was he?”
“I don't know, but he knew something about me...” Nihilium said as he shook his head. “Doesn't matter much. If I can think of anything I'll tell you.”
Raelyn smiled and nodded, and paused as she held a bandage wrap in her hand, looking at Nihilium. The two looked at each other for a moment, before she leaned towards him. “Thank you.”
He smiled and leaned in, feeling her lips brush against hers. She kissed him gently and he nodded.
~&~&~
The man in the white suit sat in his chair, the two guards standing perfectly still with their guns on either side of him, their faces emotionless.
He gave a smile as the door opened, a small man in a white suit came in, a black bowler's hat on his head as he hurried to the desk the man in the white suit sat in.
“Sir?” he asked, and the man in the white suit looked down at him slowly. “We've lost contact with our man in the radiation zone.”
“Then send in another man.”
The small man nodded as the man in the white suit rolled his eyes. “You can't get anything done without sending in another man these days can you?”
“N-no sir! You certainly can't!” the small man agreed, and the man in the white suit laughed.
“Get out.”
The small man hurried out, and the man in the white suit pulled out a phone, pressing the nine on it.
It rang, the soldiers standing there emotionlessly. “Hello, doctor. Has the second AA been prepared?”
The phone made a noise, and the man in the white suit smiled. “Excellent. When will it be launched?”
His smile grew, and the man in the white suit said good bye as he hung up.
Things were going as planned.
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