The Storm Strikes

I called up Tony and let him know what the situation was. He gave me the address of the Panopticon's base and we agreed to meet there as soon as possible. I had just hung up with him when Red Daniel returned. He had cleaned all the blood off of himself, and was now fully clothes, wearing a black t-shirt with the word RED scrawled across it in red lettering, and a pair of black pants with a familiar veiny pattern on them.

“Wait a sec,” I said. “Are you wearing Reout's pants?”

“They look better on me,” he replied. “So, any idea where we're going?”

I told him the address Tony had given me.

“Good,” he said. “I figured out where we are, and that's not far.”

“All right,” I said.

I texted Tony to let him know it wouldn't take us long.

“So, shall we then?” Red asked.

“Yeah,” I said, turning to Kyle. “You up for this?”

Kyle flex his formerly wounded arm and nodded. I'm still pretty pissed about the High Blood infecting him. But I have the admit, the healing factor he gained from it came in handy.

“Do we have a ride?” I asked Red Daniel.

“Your car's just outside,” he replied. “My guys moved it here after they... you know... kidnapped you.”

“Wonderful,” I muttered. “Let's go.”

We left the room and walked through a hallway to the front door of whatever building we were in.

“Red,” I said, as we walked.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Once we're done with this, I want you to get out of Kyle's body,” I said.

“Can't,” he said.

“Why the fuck not?” I demanded.

“I don't know if you've realized this yet, but I'm kind of new at the whole 'being a borderline God' thing,” he said. “I don't know how to un-infect people. I don't even know if that's a thing I can do. As far as I know, the Red Cap has never left a host willingly.”

“Willingly?” I asked.

“There's been cases of people getting her out of their blood-stream via transfusions, but it's a risky procedure,” he said. “And even if they do that, they're only getting rid of the physical part of her. There'd still be something left, in the depth of their subconscious.”

“Well then, figure something out,” I said.

“Not likely,” he said. “But if it helps you sleep, I'll stay out of his head. Unless he's watching porn, in which case I might join him.”

“You're sick,” I said.

“I'm the Fear of lust, Danny Boy,” he replied, drawing my keys from his pocket. “Mind if I drive?”

“Where did you get my keys?” I demanded, checking my pockets.

“Reout took 'em before I blew her up,” he said. “There's the car. Make up your mind, which of us gets to drive?”

“Do you even have a license?” I asked.

“Do you?” he replied.

“Whatever,” I sighed. “You drive. I don't care. Just get us there.”

“Sweet!” he said.

We all got in the car and started going. After about twenty minutes of driving, Red Daniel seemed to become uncomfortable.

“Does tall, dark, and out-of-focus need to tag along?” he asked, glancing up at the rear-view mirror.

I followed his gaze to the mirror, seeing the pair of burning red eyes in the back seat, next to Kyle.

“Oh, hey Burner,” I said, before turning to Red Daniel. “You can see him?

“Yeah,” he replied. “He's kinda freaking me out.”

“Well, deal with it,” I said.

He sighed, and kept driving. After a while, he glanced at the clock on the radio and smiles.

“Happy birthday, Danny Bo,” he said.

I followed his gaze. It was a few minutes after midnight.

“Happy birthday, Red,” I muttered. Due to the circumstances, I didn't feel much like celebrating.

We found Tony waiting for us a couple blocks from our destination. Red Daniel parked, and we all got out to meet him. Tony gave Red Daniel an annoyed glance before addressing me.

“What's the plan of attack here?” he asked me.

“The plan is to attack,” I said. “Red, you can access the Godsway now, right?”

“Let me check,” he said, vanishing briefly. He reappeared a few seconds later, stumbling a little bit. “What a trip!” he said.

“Okay, good,” I said. “We need to go in there, and figure out where Seraph is. Once we know, I want you to use the Godsway to get close to her, and protect her. The rest of us will create a diversion so you can get her out of there. WITHOUT trying anything funny. Understood?”

“That's not a bad plan,” Red said. “But might I suggest we save it as a backup.”

“What?” I asked.

“Diplomacy, Danny Boy,” he said. “Diplomacy.”

“Hate to say it, but Red has a point,” I said. I turned to Tony and added “Why don't you do the talking?”

“You think I can reason with them?” Tony asked.

“It's worth a shot,” I said. “Besides, you spoke with a Daemon Lord without getting flay alive. The Panopticon should be a cakewalk compared to that.”

“Right,” Tony said. “So we'll talk to them. Try and work something out. See if they'll let her go willingly.”

“And if they don't?” Kyle asked.

“Then we go back to the original plan,” Red Daniel said, smiling.

“Kyle,” I said. “I know this won't sound good, but if it does come to that, you may need to tap into that new power of yours.”

Kyle winced.

“Right,” he said. “I don't think that's a good idea, but if it comes to that...”

“Don't worry,” Red Daniel replied. “The first time's not as bad as you'd think.”

“Can you not?” Kyle said, shooting a death glare in Red's direction.

“Oh, come now,” Red said. “I'm just trying to lighten the mood.”

“And doing a horrible job of it,” Kyle replied.

“Whatever,” Red Daniel said. “If things get dicey, just let the Redness take hold.”

“Fine,” Kyle said. “But I swear, you had better not turn me into one of those... things!”

“I'll be gentle,” Red Daniel said softly.

Kyle continued glaring at him.

“Red, that's inappropriate,” I said.

“I agree,” Red Daniel said. “His reactions to my sex jokes are completely inappropriate.”

“You should problem keep your mouth shut while we're in there,” I told him.

“Whatever,” Red replied. “So is that gonna be a problem?”

He was pointing up at the sky, where the dark storm was looming overhead.

“I don't think so,” I said. “That storm's been following us for a while now. I'm kind of used to it by now.”

“Really?” Red asked, raising an eyebrow. “You're used to the giant mass of Eldritch power floating overhead?”

“Eldritch power?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “You mean you can't feel that?”

“No,” I said. “You're aware that I've lost my powers, aren't you?”

“Yeah,” he said. “But I figured you of all people would... you know what, never mind. We're wasting time out here. Let's go save your girlfriend.”

We approached the doors to the building and entered. The front room was empty, aside from a desk with large double doors behind it. As we stepped inside, a voice came on over a loudspeaker.

“Daniel Ferris,” it said. “Would you and your associates please wait in the next room? Dr. Monde will be down to speak with you shortly.”

Tony and I shot each other a glance. We approached the door and walked through. We were now in a much larger room. It was about the size of two high school gyms, and had a high ceiling, probably two or three stories up. There were about a half dozen wide catwalks stretched out above us. The place looked like it might have been a factory at some point, but any machines and assembly lines that might have been there before had been cleared out. Instead, the walls were lines with desks, occupied by Panopticon employees, and the center of the room was left clear. Everyone there glanced nervously at us as we entered.

“Where's Monde!?” I called out. “We need to talk.”

No one answered. After a minute of waiting, some men entered the room from the other side. Angst them was Monde.

“Mr. Ferris,” he said, putting on a smile that I assume was fake. It looked fake. “And Mr. Helioson. And...”

He locked eyes with Red Daniel, and frowned.

“The High Blood...,” he said.

“Sup,” Red Daniel replied.

“Um, I'm here too,” Kyle said awkwardly.

Monde just kinda gave him a bored look.

“Right,” Kyle said. “I'll just... shut up...”

“Where's Seraph,” I asked.

“I assure you, the girl is safe,” Monde said, lighting a cigarette. “And, should you cooperate, I am willing to negotiate her return.”

“You're up,” I whispered to Tony.

“What did you have in mind?” Tony asked.

“Simple,” he said. “I wish for Mr. Ferris to remain here for a while. The rest of you may leave with the girl.”

“And what will you do with Daniel once we're gone?” Tony asked.

“I won't harm him,” Monde said. “I will alter his memories to exclude the Fears and everything related to them.”

He gave Red Daniel a look.

“And perhaps convince him he has a brother,” he added.

Red Daniel smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder. Suddenly, my vision became tinged with blue, and a weird feeling rushed through my head.

Don't panic, Red Daniel's voice sounded in my head. Just play it cool.

Are we... communicating telepathically? I thought.

In a manner of speaking, He replied. We've both got a metaphorical foot in the Red Cap's domain. We're still in the normal world physically, but we're mentally connected to the Vice World, and thus each other.

“Daniel's knowledge of the Fears is the only weapon he has against them,” Tony said. “If they come for him, and they will, then he needs to know what he's up against. Otherwise, he's a sitting duck.”

“He has all of you, doesn't he?” Monde said. “How is that defenseless?”

I've got Blood Vessels staking out this building from all sides, Red Daniel continued. I've got a pretty good idea of the layout of this place.

A door not far from the men became engulfed in blue-ness.

That door leads to an alleyway, He said.

Another door, the one the men came out of, was also surrounded by blueness.

They've got Seraph right through there, He said. They're gonna bring her out once you agree to their terms.

“You're suggesting that the rest of us keep him safe?” Tony asked.

“If it comes to that, I know you could accomplish it,” Monde said. “Lord knows, he has plenty of guardian angels on his side. Besides, part of what attracts the Fears to him is the knowledge he has of them. Take that away, and they'd be less inclined to target him.”

“Even so, he'd still be in danger,” Tony said.

“It's his decision,” Monde said, looking at me. “Will you accept these terms?”

So if I get him to bring Seraph out, you can get her out through the alleyway? I asked.

Yes, Red Daniel answered. And then I'll signal the Vessels to barge in here and back you guys up.

Good enough for me.

“Alright,” I  said to Monde. “But I wanna see her first.”

“Very well,” he said, nodding to one of the men beside him.

Wait til I give to the signal, I thought.

Got it, Red Daniel replied, releasing my shoulder.

The man opened the door and said something. Another man walked in, leading Seraph, with her arms bound, over to Monde.

“Here she is,” Monde said.

“Don't do it!” Seraph shouted at me. “You can't take his offer!”

I didn't plan to.

“I'm sorry, Seraph,” I said.

“No,” she said. “You can't!”

I turned my attention to Monde.

“Alright,” I said. It was now or never. I turned to Red Daniel. “Red-”

I stopped short. I couldn't finish the order I was about to give. The sight of Slender Man, standing tall behind Red Daniel, stunned me into silence. Though he couldn't see him, Red Daniel must have noticed him there, as his expression became shocked.

“There's a tall faceless guy behind me, isn't there?” he asked.

Tentacles extended from Slender Man's body and encircled Red Daniel.

“Oooooo, Tentacles,” Red Daniel said, smiling.

The Tentacled suddenly constricted around Red Daniel's body, Binding him in place.

“Oh crap!” Red Daniel choked out. “Tentacles!”

They both vanished into thin air, leaving the rest of us stunned. Monde was the first to speak.

“Well, that was unexpected,” he said.

Shit. This wasn't good. There was no backing out now. With Red Daniel gone, my only option was to go along with his offer, and have my memories erased. But this was my girlfriend we were talking about. I'd do anything to keep her safe. Anything.

“Alright,” I said, turning back to Monde. “Let's do this.”

Monde grinned smugly at me, before turning to his men.

“Hold onto her,” he said. “And seal the doors.”

“What!?” I demanded. “We had a deal!”

“A deal which you were about to break,” Monde said, beginning to remove his gloves.

I could see his hands now. The right one was flesh and bone. Although it was hard to make out from this distance, I could see that his left hand was some kind of pale, mostly plastic prosthetic.

“You were about to order your counterpart to break through and take her away from us,” He said. “I don't take betrayal well, Daniel.”

“I'm done playing around!” I snapped at him, drawing my gun from my coat. “Let her go! Now!”

He reached forward with his fake hand, and shot some kind of static wave at me. My body convulsed briefly. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to make me drop my gun. As I regained my balance, he swiftly drew a gun from within his coat and took aim at Seraph's head.

“No!” I shouted.

I don't think he heard me. I doubt if he could, over the sound of the gunshot. The bullet passed through her skull, spraying blood as it went. He body began to collapse, but he reached out with his false hand and caught her by the hair before she went down. He holstered his gun again and gave me a cruel smile.

“You want her back?” he asked. “Here.”

He flung her lifeless body clear across the room, where it collided with me. I fell down to my knees, wrapping my arms around her. I gazed at her face. She had been beautiful before. A perfect visage. Her smile. Her cheeks. The look in her eyes when we would speak.

It was gone now. Those beautiful eyes of hers had rolled back into her skull. At the center of her forehead was a gaping hole, trickling blood down her face. Her mouth hung open limply. Her beauty had been destroyed. She had been killed.

I tore my gaze from her lifeless bdy and glared at Monde. The smug bastard was standing there, smiling. Revelling in my grief. I laid her down and stood to face him.

“You son of a bitch,” I growled.

“Are you upset?” he asked me.

“Upset doesn't even begin to cover it!” I said.

He laughed and turned around.

“Kill them all,” he said to his men.

When it comes to anger, there's multiple tiers. I don't know what they all are, and I never new what the top tier of anger was, and I'm sure I had never experienced it.

Until that moment.

He had murdered the woman I loved, more than anything, before my very eyes. He mocked my grief over her. And now, he planned to have Kyle and Tony killed too.

My head pounded painfully. I clutched at it and roar in a mixture of rage and agony. The men raised their firearms, prepared to gun us down. The employees at their desks watched on with fear and curiosity.

Before any triggers could be pulled, something happened that nobody there expected. The doors and windows were blasted in, and the black stormclouds from outside flooded into the room. The men all dropped their guns in panic. The employees screamed and fled. The clouds rushed right at me, surrounded my body and soaking into my skin. It burned. Pain filled me as more and more of the clouds were absorbed into my skin, my muscles, and my bones. All the way down to my marrow, feeling as if I was aflame. It hurt. But the power I felt was familiar. I finally understood what that storm was.

The last of the clouds entered my body, and the pain began to fade. The energy inside of me responded to my anger, and accumulated into my right hand, where it expanded and solidified into a large sword, composed of black light. I gazed at it for a moment before turning my eyes back to Monde. He was watching me, a look of alarm upon his face. I locked eyes with the bastard and stood up straight.

“Meilleur Monde!” I snarled. “You are a dead man!”

And with that, I dived into the Godsway. The pain returned. Makes sense. Human's aren't built for the Godsway, and even though my powers gave me some resistance to it, I hadn't been there for yers, so my tolerance had faded for the most part. I didn't care though. I returned to the normal world, directly before Monde, and swung the black sword at him. He had already drawn a weapon to block it with. He held in his hand some kind of collapsible short staff, which stopped my blade before it could cut through him. My eyes drifted to his weapon, which seemed to be encased in some kind of cylindrical force field, protecting it from my energy blade.

“The Sentinal was right,” he gasped. “You can summon it.”

“Shut up!” I demanded, swinging at him again.

He parried my attacks and managed to break away from me. He reached out with his prosthetic hand, which disconnected on some kind of cord and fired off like a goddamn grappling hook, grasping one of the catwalks and dragging him up to it. I looked down at the energy sword. Last time I had wielded it, it had faded away, taking my powers with it. I wouldn't let that happen this time. I concentrated, and pulled all of that power back into my body. It hurt again, but I ignored it and focused back on Monde, I raised a hand, and sparks danced along my fingertips. I harnessed that power, and fired it at him as a bolt of lighting. He raised his fake hand and shot some kind of magnetic wave at my lightning bolt, causing the power to disperse before it could hit him. I vanished into the Godsway once more, reappearing on the catwalk beside him. I summoned Burner to me and slashed at him. He parried with his weapon again. We continued clashing. He managed to break away again and leap to the next catwalk. He is surprisingly athletic. I focused all my power on the catwalk he was on. It broke free of the walls, bending to my will, and began folding in on itself. He leapt onto the next catwalk after that. I crumpled the catwalk I was already controlling into a ball and launched it at him. He jumped off the catwalk he was on, falling to the ground before he could get hit. He landed on his feet and ran in my direction. As he ran beneath the catwalk I was standing on, he fired his grappling arm, grabbing the catwalk. He used the momentum of his run to swing up behind me. He retracted his arm as he fell upon me, swinging his weapon downward. I tapped into the Red Cap's power, allowing my blood to harden, and I caught his weapon in my free hand. Though I still felt the impact of it, my blood absorbed most of it, and a tingle of pleasure flowed through my body in response to the pain, invigorating me. I used my new strength to fling him to the end of the catwalk, disarming him as I did. I let go of the Red Cap's power ans he drew his gun and took aim. He fired, but before his bullet could hit me, I was surrounded by a dome of spiraling flower petals, which the bullet collided with harmlessly. I focused on Monde and sent the petals flying at him. They were like razors, scratching his flesh as they sped by.. Though they didn't deal any mortal injuries to him, he still screamed from the pain they caused him. I raised my free hand toward him, and the petals vanished. Strings shot out of my fingers, drawing blood. I winced a little and shrugged off the pain as I send the strings flying at him. They entangled his body, binding him up and lifting him into the air. I threw him down to the ground floor as hard as I could. He cried out in pain as he collided with the floor. I released my strings and used them to lower myself down there. As I did, he managed to rise to his feet, having taken a lot less damage then I had hoped he would. He tried to turn and run from me, but I shot a strong fireball at him. The force of the blast sent him flying into the wall. Though his clothes and hair were singed, his body was mostly unharmed from the fire, having only some slight burning, and I could see blisters beginning to form. That could have been a lot worse for him. I sent a wave of coldness at him from below, causing ice to form over his feet, locking him in place. Could see the panic in his expression as I approached him.

“It's over,” I growled at him.

“Stop!” Tony's voice rang out.

He darted between the two of us, with his bokken in hand, and turned to face me.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“Stop,” he said to me. “Don't do this.”

“He deserves everything that's about to happen to him!” I said, taking a couple more steps forward.

“I know your mad, but you need to calm down,” Tony said.

“Get out of the way,” I said, continuing my forward motion.

“Killing him won't fix this!” Tony pleaded with me.

I stopped walking. We were face to face now, only a couple feet separating us.

“No, it won't,” I said. “But it'll make me feel a lot better.”

“Don't do this, man,” Tony begged.

“Enough!” I snapped. “Get out of my way!”

He looked terrified for a fraction of a second, before he choked it back and met my eyes defiantly. He drew his right leg back and raised his wooden sword, taking a stance against me.

“No,” he said simply.

I growled at him and swung Burner at him. He swung his bokken, and the two weapons collided with each other. My flaming sword sliced through his wooded one, splitting it into two pieces. Tony drew back his hand from the heat, dropping the piece of the sword he was holding as he did. The fear had returned to his expression.

“Don't make me say it again,” I said. “Get out of my way.”

He shook his head and straightened up, meeting my outraged gaze his his defiant one.

“I won't,” he said.

“Damn it!” I shouted. “Why are you protecting him!?”

I saw the faintest hint of doubt on his face as he considered my question, but it faded as it was replaced with determination.

“Because its the right thing to do,” he said.

Without warning, Burner vanished from my hand. A second later, it appeared in Tony's hand, startling us both.

“Burner!” I shouted. “What is this!?”

Burner materialized behind Tony. I could see him clearly now. Hovering there, in pitch black armor. Most of his head was encased in an intricate helmet, with two long horns coming out of the sides and reaching into the air. The sin of his face was the color of the night sky, with an ashen gray goaty surrounded his fanged mouth. He met my gaze with his fiery red eyes, and spoke softly to me.

“You're last order to me,” he said, “Was to protect Tony Helioson.”

His naginata materialized in his hand.

“And that's exactly what I will do,” he finished.

It finally sank in what was happening. What I was doing. I had raised my sword against my best friend. My anger had blinded me. I had lost control of myself. The rage was still there, but it was now becoming overshadowed by regret.

“Tony,” I said, taking a step back. “i... I'm sorry.”

“It's okay,” he said, allowing the sword to fall to the ground.

I looked back up to him and took a gulp.

“He killed her,” I whispered.

“I know,” Tony said, taking a step forward.

“Shes gone,” I said.

“I know,” Tony said, pulling me toward him and hugging me.

“She's dead,” I whispered.

“I know,” he whispered back.

I closed my eyes and hugged him back. Tears were beginning to fall.

“I'm sorry,” he said, but there was a sceond voice mingling with his. A very, very British voice.

“I'm so sorry.”

I opened my eyes. It was no longer the building that I was standing in, and it was no longer Tony I was hugging. I was at the edge of that cliff again, and Ben was standing there, holding me.

“I couldn't see everything,” he said. “I knew you would be hurt, but I didn't see this!”

“It's not your fault,” I said, patting him on the back in a “there, there” gesture.

“It feels like it is,” he said. “I pushed you to bring back Red Daniel, and now Sera is dead...”

“I know,” I said, repeating Tony's words of comfort. “It's not your fault.”

Then I was back in the room, hugging Tony again.

Monde met my eyes, with a sickened look on his face. He was fiddling with the wrist on his prosthetic.

“Well, this is all very sweet,” he said. “But I'm afraid I must bid you adieu.”

Sparks of white light began flashing from his hand, and in a blinding explosion of light, he vanished. His clothes and hand, which were left behind, fell to the ground where he had been stuck.

“He got away,” I muttered, releasing Tony.

He turned to where Monde had been and sighed.

“I'm not sure how much he deserved,” Tony said. “But he should've answered for this.”

“I know,” I said.

We both turned to Seraph's body. Kyle was kneeling over it, looking depressed. I picked up Burner and we approached him.

“This is wrng,” Kyle said. “This shouldn't have gone down like this.”

“I know,” I said, taking a seat beside him. “We'll get him.”

We all sat there, looking over her. The Panopticon had all fled after I regained my powers, leaving us all alone with the dead body of my girlfriend.

“So how long til the Panopticon frames us for this?” Kyle asked.

“Probably immediately,” I replied.

“Damn it,” Kyle said. “We should get moving, huh?”

“Yeah,” Tony replied.

“Running from the Fears is one thing,” I said. “But cops... damn it. This is gonna suck.”

At that moment, Red Daniel appeared, stumbling a bit, obviously still unused to the Godsway.

“So I think like, eight Fears want me dead now,” he said. “And I think-”

He shut himself up as his eyes found Seraph lying there before us.

“Oh...,” he whispered. “Oh no...”

Sadness lingered on his face fr several seconds before anger- mostly at himself- eclipsed it.

“I should have done something!” he snapped. “I should have avoided those tentacles and saved her!”

“It's not your fault,” I said, but I don't think he was listening.

“Fucking Slender Cunt!” H shouted. “Coming in here and fucking everything up! I oughta-”

“Red!” I shouted at him, silencing him. “It's not your fault. Monde did this. He's the one to blame for all this.”

Red Daniel stood in silence, several emotions fluttering across his face.

“Ugh!” he said, ruffling his hair. “If Slender Man hadn't shown up, we could have pulled it off!”

“Maybe we could have,” I said. “But it's too late now. There's no point in dwelling on how it could have been avoided. The fact of the matter is, it happened. It's done, and we can't change that.”

Red Daniel looked at me for a moment before his eyes widened.

“You've got your powers back,” he whispered. “You could... hr soul... You...”

“No,” I said. “It's too late for that. Her soul is long gone. And with no Archangel to claim it, there's no telling where it might have gone, or even if it still exists.”

“Then... she...,” Red muttered. “That's... we...”

He growled in frustration and grabbed his head with both hands. Then, with a sharp twist, he snapped his own neck and collapsed to the ground.

“Dude,” I said. “What the hell?”

“Sorry,” Red Daniel coughed. “I needed to break something and my head was the only thing within reach.”

I got back to my feet and looked down at him.

“We need to go,” I said. “Can you pull yourself together?”

“One sec,” he said, dragging himself back to his feet and snapping his head back into place. Lucky bastard, with his healing factor and such.

Kyle and Tony rose as well. I knelt down and picked up Seraph's body. It wasn't easy. Now that the adrenaline was gone, I was back to being a scrawny weakling. Kyle stepped forward to help me. I nodded over to where Monde's clothes were.

“Get his hand,” I said.

“You sure?” Tony asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

Tony went to retrieve it and then we all left, intent on getting as far from the scene as we could.

Happy fucking birthday.