"I'm gonna do the thing," The young man laughed into his earpiece, tucking his wings and flying faster- he could see them on the horizon, three helicopters low over the trees- and he knew they weren't his.
"Oh my gods, Aerendyl, don't do the thing," The voice in his ear called back, and Aerendyl snorted, laughed freely, wiggling his eyebrows as if she could see him.
"Oh, I am SO doing the thing, the news choppers aren't here anyway so relax," Aerendyl, the angel was called. He laughed, flaring his wings, beating them, hard, gaining altitude quickly now… and then he tucked them in and lowered his head, hurtling forward and down.
"Aerendyl be good, don't go in with theatrics!!"
"I'M DOING THE THING!!!" He shouted gleefully, and there was a deafening crack that ripped through the air, trees leaning away from him for miles around as he tucked his head even further, laughing… colliding with the first helicopter head on, boring a hole straight through the steel and flaring his wings, catching the breeze, circling around.
"Oops," He laughed- the voice in his ear was gone, as was the earpiece. Now that he looked, his clothes were pretty scratched up too… but as the first helicopter was reaching the ground, he saw the second prepping its under-mounted weapons, guns spinning- and then, he was a mile away, in the opposite direction, laughing and pushing metal debris out of his hair as another helicopter fell.
"Aw, look, that one's trying to run," He laughed, gritting his teeth, taking off once more with heavy beats of his wings.
"Hey, buddy!!" He screamed, to be heard, as he appeared hovering in front of the last bird, sinking his hand slowly into the nose cone, halting its progress. He could see the pilot's eyes- and he was definitely pissing himself, Aerendyl noticed with a smirk. "So good to see you- where are you going?! Burgers on the way home?!" Reaching up, he smiled as the helicopter blades broke, one by one, swinging into his arm and falling off into the trees around them. Still, he held the bird up, grinning wolfishly.
"I'm sorry please don't kill me please I'M SORRY-"
"Relax, I won't kill you!!" Aerendyl grinned, then winked, shaking the metal container he now held, almost tipping the pilot out. "Uh oh, it's shaking, scary~"
"Please, I'm gonna throw up, gods-"
"Fine, fine, I'll quit the shaking. You're no fun," Aerendyl pouted, tossing the helicopter up, flying higher, grabbing the pilot out of it on his ascent, stopping not-too-far up and watching the vehicle wreck below him.
"Was anybody else in there?"
"Two soldiers."
"Shame, really," the angel shrugged, smiling. "So, I'll tell you what. I won't kill you- if you help me clear that hospital of your friends. Deal?"
"Deal, I'll do anything," The soldier begged, and Aerendyl smiled slowly.
"Have you ever seen those funny superhero movies, where the hero flies away so fast he's a speck in the distant sky within a moment?"
"Yeah-?"
"Wanna try it?"
"What- WAIT-" The soldier begged as Aerendyl turned, winding up his arm, and hurled the soldier with everything he had, trying to ignore the blood on his hand when the soldier instantly vanished.
"Great," Aerendyl smiled again as the scenery around him shifted. "Now that that's sorted," He laughed, leaning back- he was in the hospital's lobby now, and a few bullets went wild when he leaned back, grabbing the gun's barrel and frowning sternly at the soldier who'd fired on him. "That's not very nice, you know??" Ripping the gun away from its owner, Aerendyl paused, thinking. There were four soldiers around him, but three were hesitating, rather than shooting. "Hm, taking things that don't belong to me… my momma said that's not nice. Have this back," He shrugged, raising the gun and bashing it into the unarmed soldier's face, then swinging it round like a club and caving in the skull of the second soldier. The other two were shooting now, but he snapped his wing open, catching the bullets, waiting…
When they ran out of bullets, one tried to run, and the other hastened to reload.
"See, your friend was smart," Aerendyl laughed, flaring his wing and smacking one of them into the wall with it- the only one left. Laughing, he walked forward, kneeling, then sitting on his ankles between the man's legs. "May I borrow this?" He asked, gingerly, and took the man's sidearm from his shaking hands, aiming it sideways and pulling the trigger. The fleeing soldier, already trying not to slip on blood, went down, choking and clutching his neck.
"You weren't as smart- you tried to reload. Now why would you do that? My wing ate thirty some rounds and you just thought, hmmmmmmmm, round forty should do it, I can feel it in my bones! Is that it?"
"I-I-I'm so sorry, please don't kill me, I'll do anything-"
"Sure. Go ahead," Aerendyl smiled and stood up. "Do you have any friends in the building?"
"No, I was the only one left-"
"Ah see, you shouldn't have told me that. I had this really cool plan, I was going to like, go and clear the rest of the building, then find you in the woods screaming for help and kill you anyway." Aerendyl stood, rolling his eyes, and lifted his foot. "Oh well," He sighed, slamming it back down.
-
"Get ready," Cecil whispered, drawing back the slide on his pistol and lurking beside the door as footsteps came from in the hallway- silent, Aurelia rushed over, tail thrashing, and Haru shrunk further back, listening…
"Clear! This door is jammed!!" came a voice, and the door rattled. "Charges detonating in 3… 2…" Cecil and Aurelia were rapidly backing away…
"One!! Haha, I got you guys good, didn't I?!" There was a laugh, and the noise of metal rending… when Haru opened her eyes, a young blonde man stood in the center of the room with wings easily bigger than his torso folded behind his back.
"Is this our trump card?" Fox piped up, and Aurelia burst out laughing, tears in her eyes.
"Aerendyl, I hate you."
"You know you love me, Aurelia. It's good to see you again, how long has it been??" He grabbed her forearms, laughing, leaning close like a grandfather admiring how much his descendants had grown.
"Oh it's been years, it's so good to see you again. I was hoping we wouldn't have to call you, but at the same time…"
"You're a good girl. Give me that radio," He laughed, taking it off her belt and raising it to his lips. "Aerendyl here. The passengers are secured, can you send the bird to the army hospital? I think it's safe to say they won't be coming back- and if they do, I'll take care of them. Over."
"Heard. Chopper circling back. Over."
"Perfect," Aerendyl smiled, looking around. "Cecil, my man!" He held out a hand, and Cecil warily fist bumped the angel, if that's what he was. Haru watched, eyes narrowed, and slowly stood up, guided to do so by Fox.
"So you… killed all the soldiers?" Haru asked, raising an eyebrow. "To, help us?"
"Yeah, no thanks necessary ma'am," The angel- Aerendyl? - smirked, striking a silly pose like some sort of horse-riding gunslinger from the movies. "Unless, of course, you'd like to let me treat a pretty lil thing like you to dinner? You can be my dee-sert, y'hear?" Even before he'd finished speaking, he was snorting, putting his hands on his knees and laughing.
"I'm so lost-"
"Haru is MINE." Fox huffed, stepping in front of her, and Haru blinked rapidly, suddenly even more lost.
"Don't worry. All jokes, I'm happily taken," Aerendyl laughed, straightening up. "My girlfriend is the most beautiful woman in the world- no offense to any of you," He added, stretching. "So, my name is Aerendyl, it's great to meet you all. I live in Ravenwood, that's a ways away, but I'm friends with Aurelia, we've got a history. So, you know, I turned up for her. Besides, Starria is full of horrible people- and if that wasn't enough reason to leave town, I've not had any vacation time in a while," He added, chuckling lazily.
"Well, thank you," Haru spoke, blinking slowly, attentively.
"Agreed. Thank you very much for coming to the rescue." Alexander agreed.
"Can't thank you enough," Cecil affirmed.
"Yeah, you're pretty great," Fox allowed, rolling her eyes.
"So, can you tell us- why we are, the way we are?" Haru asked abruptly. "Sorry- to be aggressive, or forward, but, but what are we? Something feels, wrong," She asked, and for a moment her head swam, thoughts clouding, vision blurring.
"You alright?" Fox asked quietly, leaning into her to support her weight.
"Feel, wrong," She, Haru, admitted, shaking her head. "It's, fine. Let me just, steady myself."
"You're not demons." Aerendyl began. "Not exactly. At least, not the way they're formed in this world- but I suppose it depends what world you were pulled from."
"How do demons… what…?" Haru asked quietly, confused. "How are demons, formed?"
"I'll make it short and sweet, okay?" Aerendyl smiled brightly, lopsidedly. "You die, and you were a nobody and you know it, and now you're gone. The end. What if you didn't believe that though? If you weren't ready to die, you return, as a demon or an angel, your body reformed by the soul inside. You'll wake up in hell and, maybe, with time, find your way back here. Then there's the risen."
"The wha huh wha who?" Alexander queried, raising an eyebrow.
"Imagine this," Aerendyl quipped. "You're shot in the head, but you can't die. You can't- if you do, everybody is going to die- not only do you have to live, but your entire world hinges on you overcoming all odds, now. Well, your soul, with enough desperation, will burn away your mortal body and reform you as a demon on the spot, giving you the strength to achieve the impossible. Scary, right? You stab somebody in the head, and they grab you, throw you, while burning from the inside out."
"Spooky, yeah," Haru agreed, sighing. "So we're in the clear now."
"Yep, the helicopters are coming, we're going to head to Mir. Try and catch a breath- you won't want to sleep in the air, I think. Loud up there- what do you think, Aurelia? I could use a good nap!"
"Like hell you could," Alexander spoke gruffly, straightening up. "I want answers, angel boy. Who are you, and why are we to trust you? We heard the noise, who knows how many people up there you killed? You're not here to bail us out, are you. You're here to contain us, trap us, make sure we can't run."
"Eh?" For a moment, the blonde blinked as if he was genuinely stunned into silence. "No, you've got it all wrong, man. The place you're headed? I'm not even from there."
"Then why help us? Just because you can kill us doesn't mean I'm going to bow my head and kiss your feet for saving us- if you can even call it that when you're feeding us from one cage into another," Alexander added, brow narrowing. Aerendyl, for his part, smiled and raised his hands as if to surrender.
"The answer is simple, really. I came here as a favor to an old friend. An old friend with a vested interest in making sure that you guys don't die. Is that so wrong?"
"Right, a favor, out of the goodness of your heart." Alexander angled his head, scowling. "What's the truth? It ain't that and we both know it." Haru, quiet, found herself agreeing- but what else could she do, really? She wasn't in any position to, say, fight Aerendyl and run away.
"That is the truth," Aerendyl insisted quietly, but his smile was changing- lopsided and smug- more like a mask, now, than a real smile. "If you really want something else though- if I have to have a stake in it for you to trust me, it makes me feel better about myself. Okay?"
"Ugh…" Alexander shook his head, turning away and walking to the wall, sitting unceremoniously.
"What if I were to try to run?" Haru asked, raising an eyebrow and yawning. "Just hypothetically, what if? Would you let me? I'd be an ass, and be wasting the effort used to save my life if that's really what you're doing- but, what if, Aerendyl?"
"I'd let you," He shrugged. "I came here to save you, but to use your friend's pun- you don't save somebody by shoving them from an electrified cage to gilded one. If I believe in one thing, it's the freedom to choose. For what it's worth, though, I can help, and I wouldn't feel good sitting idly by. My friend reaches out to me, lets me know some innocents are going to die, at this rate. Would you just let that happen, since it's not your problem?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, dropping his hands to his sides. "If you saw a person about to be hit by a car, Haru. You can push them away, and you won't be hit. Or you can let them die. Wouldn't you save them?"
"Of course," She nodded, and Fox, still resting against her side, curled her lips into a slow, knowing smile.
"Exactly. I had the strength to push you away from the car, and somebody told me the car was coming, so here I am. There doesn't have to be more to it than that. Now let's hold off on overloading you, more, and get you to safety. I'll go and wait outside, so that you guys can breathe more easily." Turning, Aerendyl smiled and walked away, pushing through the wrecked double doors.
"I'll come with you." It was Aurelia, who spoke, hurrying to follow the angel as Cecil sat down where he was, in the middle of the room or so, yawning.
"I could actually use that nap. It's turned into quite a long day," Cecil added with a quiet smile, closing his eyes. "You guys are safe here. Aerendyl's… he's something special."