The Angel's Best

I sat in my room, meditating. It wasn't long before I received an unwanted guest.
“Is this a bad time?” asked a cocky, malevolent voice from the other side of the room.
“With you, Jack,” I said, opening my eyes, “It's always a bad time. The fuck do you want.
“Wish HELLFIRE was here,” he said softly. “Anyway, would you like to know something of the flare your other self ignited?”
“What spark?” I asked.
“A group of individuals, who up til recently have remained hidden from the public,” Jack said. “A covert legion which has been forced to play their hand.”
“Who are we talking about here?” I asked.
“The Angel's best,” Jack said. “You might wanna go find the other you. They're about to kill him.”
“Where?” I demanded.
“Not telling,” he said, grinning like the smug asshole he is.
“You know, in my timeline, you die,” I said.
That got a small frown out of him.
“Can't wait to see it happen again,” I said, before vanishing into the Godsway.

I arrived in Murrieta, next to Kyle's house. Daniel wasn't there, and neither were Kyle, Abdalin, and Seraph. I tried my parent's house. Or, Daniel's parent's house. Whatever... Weren't there either. Tried the place Daniel used to rent a room from, and Tony's mom's house, and Daniel's hideout. Not at any of those places. At a loss for anywhere else to check, I went to the church. Going there gives me a chill. A lot has happened to Daniel there. A lot more is still to happen. I remember. Things go worse here. That destiny is unlikely to change.
No one was there. I stood in silence for a while, before I heard something. The sound of a clip being loaded into a machine gun.
I turned just in time to see a man holding a sub-machine gun taking aim in my direction. I vanished before he started firing and reappeared behind him. He turned right as I appeared and opened fire. I vanished again, appearing inside the church. 
I hadn't been quick enough. 3 bullets had tore through me, and I was bleeding. I sucked it up. They hadn't hit anything important. I could live. I just had to close the wounds. I slipped off my coat, then I tapped into the Bride's power, setting my hand on fire. I grabbed at the bullet wounds, burning them shut. Hurt like all hell, but they wouldn't bleed out. The man with the machine gun stepped through the door, and I was read for him. I shot the largest burst of flames I could conjure right at him. But he was ready too, apparently. An inky blackness slithered over his skin as the flames hit, and they did nothing to him. He slumped down a little, as if tired, but his body was completely unharmed. He rose his gun again and squeezed the trigger. I teleported above his head, but before I had stepped into the Godsway, he had already drawn a sidearm and turned a bit. As I appeared, he aimed the pistol and fired, hitting me in the shoulder. The impact threw me off, and I hit the ground next to him. He turned and aimed the machine gun. I teleported beneath us, into the cavern's below the church. There was a bit on light coming from a trapdoor a distance away from me leading up to the church stage. The remnants of an alter, which had been slashed in two with a sword, stood a ways away from me. I cauterized my newest bullet wound and stood up. I was suddenly standing face to face with another man. He grabbed me by the throat and dragged me into a world of blackness. We weren't there long, as we soon ended up back outside the church. The man holding me released me as the man with the guns took aim. The man from the caverns raised a hand to stop him.
“I'll take it from here, Joseph,” he said.
“Whatever,” the other man, Joseph, said, putting his guns away.
“Who are you people?” I demanded, raising my sword.
“Well, I'm Nick Wells,” the man from the cavern said. “That there is Joey Krell. We're here to kill you till you're dead.”
“Kinda guessed that,” I said.
He swung his weapon at me. It wasn't a normal weapon. It was some kind of circular blade, fixed to a golden chain. Sort of like a whip. Now, whips aren't that easy to use as weapons. It's not as easy as Indiana Jones makes it look. You need a LOT of practice to work with them. This guy must have practice a ton. He used his weapon expertly. He cut through my left bicep with his first swing, embedded it in my gut with his second swing, then yanked it out and lassoed me around the throat the third time. As the circular item at the end wizzed by my face, I caught a glimpse of what was on it. It was the twin triangles. Shit. These were the people Jack mentioned. The Archangel's best. 
I was in pain, but I fought through it and focused. I was surrounded by a swarm of razor edged petals, that cut through the chain like it was silk, and I yanked off what was still around my neck. I thrust my sword at him, but he caught it in his hand and wrenched my arm to the side, striking me in the gut, where his weapon had hit before. I went down.
He picked up the pieces of his chain, and an orb of glowing light engulfed them. When it faded, the chain was whole again. Weird, but I tried not to let it distract me. I lifted my hand and fired a burst of flames at him. He ducked his head into his coat as I did, and he was swept off his feet by the blast. He landed and got back to his feet, brushing the fire off his coat like it was nothing.
“Fire proof clothes,” he said. “We know all of your tricks.”
His chain coiled around my sword arm as he dragged me toward him and kicked me in the gut.
“That's why Joseph could predict your moves,” he said.
He smacked me in the face, knocking me down.
“We are the Apostle's,” he said. “We're ready for whatever gets thrown at us.”
I vanished. Going through the Godsway with that many injuries is painful, but I had few options. I appeared out of range of his chain and focused on a chunk of the churches broken wall, lifting it into the air with my mind.
“You ready for this!?” I snarled, preparing to hurl it at him.
I was silenced when a bullet tore through my chest. Joseph had drawn his sidearm and shot me. I fell down, and let the stone fall. It hadn't been a kill shot. It had hit me right below the heart. I would bleed to death. Slowly.
“I had that,” Nick said, annoyed.
“Saw a shot,” Joseph replied. “I took it.”
“Well, at least he's still alive,” Nick said. He approached me and grabbed my hand. “I can have some fun while he bleeds out.”
He broke my fingers. All of them on my right hand. Fuck. At that point I decided screw this, I'm out. I slipped into the Godsway, painfully, and returned to my room. I could barely move. Both my hands were next to useless, but I tried using them anyway. I reached under my mattress and grabbed my Medicine. I bit the cap off the syringe, with some effort. I tapped into the Red Cap's power, making my pain somewhat bearable. Then I plunged the syringe into my leg and injected the Medicine into my bloodstream.
My entire body began burning. All I could feel was pain, and no amount of Masochism could save me. I didn't pass out fast enough. I stuck in screaming agony for a few seconds that felt like an eternity before I was finally caressed by sweet comatose.
I awoke several hours later, still in pain. The first thing I did was call Daniel, to see if he was safe from the Apostles. They're unlike anything I've fought before. Cold. Skilled. Efficient. Deadly. I can't believe I'm saying this about humans, but they scare me. 
Daniel didn't answer. And he complains that I don't answer his calls... I'm gonna go out and look for him once the Medicine finishes its work. It'll take a while before I'm back to full strength. Until then, all I can do is hope he's all right.
Another thing I feel I should mention. When I woke up, I found my discarded sword and coat folded on my mattress, with a note saying Don't leave things lying around. You may need these later. The note was signed with two words. The Backer. I don't know who that is, but I have a feeling it's not gonna be good.