Surno raised his hand, palm facing up. Rain phased through his hand. "Can you feel the rain, Greg? Can you?" he called out. Greg raised his hand in the same manner.
Rain dropped through his palm and fingers. Greg stared down at it. "No. What are you trying to say?"
Surno closed his hand, letting it drop to his side. He turned to his angels, nodding once. They dispersed immediately, flying off in different directions. After a few minutes, only Surno still remained. He stared at Greg from behind his theater mask. Greg turned to Lily, who was standing at his side. She touched his hand gently.
"Tell Tracy to return to the city once he's done. I will allow him one day. One."
Andrew rolled his shoulder. "I hate that guy. How did we ever put up with him for so long?"
Heather pulled on one of her orange pig tails that hung off the side of her head. "He was nicer, back then. I don't know what happened." Andrew shrugged.
"Whatever. Hey, Greg - what's got ya down?" Greg hung his head. Lily was stroking his hair, whispering softly into his ear. "Greg?" Andrew started to approach them. Heather pulled him back.
She pointed at the two. "We'll leave them alone for now. Come on, let's find a place to hide. They'll find us." Andrew nodded. He shouted to the other Soul Angels - they left immediately. Lily watched them leave.
"Greg. Please, tell me what's wrong. Greg?" Lily rested her head on his. "Are you having another vision?" She was right. Greg opened his eyes, raising his head to face her. He was crying orange blood.
"Yeah. It's worse than I thought," Greg said. "And it's not getting any better." Greg wiped the fluid from his face. "We got lucky this time. They're spreading out to other places in the world now, though - we'll have to fight on a global scale. I'm willing to trust the angels Surno sent, but the others... I'm not so sure. There's also one little 'detail' that will screw us over in the long run." Greg shut his eyes again.
"What? What is it?" Lily shook him gently. "Don't hide things from me! Please." Greg sighed.
"Michael."
Lily frowned. She pressed her forehead against Greg's. Thunder boomed overhead, and a strong breeze blew. "Is he 'dead' again? He was 'killed' last time. He's alive still - right? Right?" Lily sounded desperate.
"He's fine. He's absolutely fine. There's nothing to worry about." Greg pulled her close. "Trust me." Greg's voice didn't sound so reassuring. Lily, though, believed him. That was all that mattered.
Surno turned to leave, flying up into the sky. The Lunar Passage opened before him. He disappeared into it. Greg shut his eyes.
---
Missy dropped to her knees. She was breathing heavily. "Good fight, good fight! I'm so sorry about ripping you to pieces, though." Missy giggled. She was speaking to the shredded remains of Two. The body parts faded from existence. "Let's go find our little hero and give him a big smooch! We beat one of the generals of Danny-boy. I'm sure he'll give us, hmm, 'compensation.' Hehe!" She giggled again.
"No. We have to stay here until Michael finds us. No matter how long it takes, we have to stay here." Macie sighed. "Just sit down under that tree over there. He'll be here."
Missy obeyed her orders. She sat with her legs crossed at the base of a tree. "The sky's clearing. Ooh! I want to see the pretty-witty sun smiling at me." Missy smiled. "What's wrong, Macie? You're not very talkative. In fact, we haven't had a good conversation since Salotinni's lab. Tell lil' Missy about your problems, 'kay?" She giggled.
"Well... Have you ever been in love, Missy?"
"Of course! I fall in love with every cutie I see!"
"Oh. How does it feel?"
Missy giggled. She flexed her claws. "For me, it's an insatiable lust. I have a desire to just rip every person I 'love' to bits. I'm a killer, Macie - do you think I really know how it feels to love?" She laughed loudly. "When I'm in 'love,' every bit of my body aches for blood. I need to feel the warmth provided by death running through my claws. That is how I feel when I'm in 'love' - how do you feel?" She snickered.
Missy inhaled sharply. She suddenly switched out to Macie. Macie hugged her knees close to her chest, staring down at her white sandals. She wiped a tear that ran down her cheek. "No. Love can't be like that. Love is... it's beautiful. I - I don't know." She sighed heavily. "I don't know what love is, then. I know that whenever I'm near Michael, though, I just - I feel weak. I feel safe. I feel like I'm home." She hugged her knees tighter. Macie pressed her head against her legs.
Michael twitched. His hands felt different. He no longer felt the cool metal on his shoulders, on his shins, or on his head. The shield attached to his arm had left, as well as the mace in his grasp. Also, he couldn't see any colors except for black, gray, and white.
"Mornin', sunshine!" Mickey cried. Michael let out a sigh of relief.
"What happened? I thought I was gone, for sure."
Mickey laughed. He touched the spot where the hole in his chest had been. "Aren't ya glad to have me, Michael? Aha-haha! If I didn't step in ya woulda been dead, kid!" Mickey snickered. "The town's gonna be a lot more empty, now. The angels have already left to defend other places in the world."
"Hmm. I guess that's not my problem, anyway."
"Not your problem, eh?" Mickey smiled wickedly. "How 'bout Daniel? Don'tcha wanna kill him? How 'bout Eight? He's still around. You're lucky I can see through that guy's illusions!"
Michael hummed. "You can see through illusions? Then why didn't you tell me that it was all fake?"
"Relax. I didn't know it was an illusion until that Surno guy started to wail on ya. The flame on his hand wasn't the same. I'm smart, ya know? Smah-art. Smart." He tapped his head. "You're lucky I switched out with ya, or you would have died. Aha-haha! Now that wouldn't be good if you're plannin' to bang that one chick, am-I-right?" He snickered.
Michael grumbled. "Don't talk that way about her. Taylor is... oh no, Taylor! I need to visit her - it's her father's birthday today! Oh man. Come on, let's go!" Michael was shouting loudly. Mickey covered his ears, but to no avail.
"Damn, damn! Shut up, will ya!? Fine, we'll go. I want to greet her first, though." He smiled devilishly. "I swear to ya that I won't do anything bad."
"Promise?"
"Promise." Mickey spread his wings and started to fly towards the city. "Just point to where her house is, will ya?"
"Mickey." Michael lost all emotion in his voice.
"What's got ya down, emo-kid?"
"I just want to say thanks. So, uh. Thank you." Michael's voice trailed off into silence.
Mickey smirked. "Oh? Thanking me, eh? You know what I really want as a reward? I don't want your freakin' gratitude. Naw. That's worthless. You know what I want?" Mickey snickered. "Do ya know?"
"No."
"I want to die, Michael!" He sounded shameless. "Death is the only reward I seek from here on out. I want to go out with a bang! Let my death bring even more satisfaction to the pessimists around me; let them fall with me! You can die with me too, Michael, if that's what ya want. But I'm guessing no. Help me split our bodies - then I can finally get what I want! Aha-haha!" Mickey was practically crying with hysteria.
"Aha-hahaha; death! Oh, how sweet that sounds to me! Are ya gonna help me, Michael? Maybe I'll let you kill me. How's that sound? You don't need to say 'Thank you' or 'Thanks' whenever I save ya now. Just repay me with death once this is all over! Aha-haha!"
Michael sighed. "If that's how you feel, then sure. Let's find a way to break this fusion. I'm counting on you."
"I'm countin' on ya, too, buddy! Aha-haha ha!" Mickey's laughter echoed in the sky.
No comments:
Post a Comment