Lucifer brought up his arm as August's fist dug into the limb, breaking it effectively, another arm chaotically moved right out his shoulder to slap August right at his cheek. Knowing that just a simple touch imbued with Takyr could wipe him out entirely, he jumped back so Azazel could take care of this, running right ahead, one arm flailing behind while another branded the sword gliding along the ground barely above it. Scratching at the trident Lucifer now bore, the impact sent them both back momentarily before they collided yet again, the clash sending sparks flying. Digging their weapons close to one another, Azazel's mouth was covered by the mask, only the psychotic wide-eyed look evident to a probable sadistic smirk over his lips, opposite to Morningstar's appearance. Stretched-out wide smile revealing his fanged teeth bordering on tearing open his mouth, four eyes are shown to hold a pentagram within the center of them both, August was seen soaring right overhead. Jumping up from behind Karlo's head, fist rode with Life energy, he slammed his knuckles right down to the crater of where he formerly stood.
Wings allowing him to gently glide along the rubbled ground slowly piecing apart, Lucifer spun around his demonic trident, beckoning them closer as he licked his lips, awaiting his turn to slaughter them both.
Azazel calming his breaths, one eye red, the other blue, he assumed a swordsman stance, splitting apart his legs to be spread from one another; August punched his fist into his open palm cracking all his knuckles at once. There was no telling what future laid ahead for both of them, so he had to cut through every barrier he could, those vaults locked behind his mind, containing the limit of his very power. But this was the end, the eventual inevitability of the demise of the World laid bare at his hands, so why not burst open that vault- shatter your limits! Go Beyond... and what laid out now was something that always should've been. August's potential during the battle against the Aether of 2036 was that of the base he was now, but those were still chains. Simultaneously using Peace of Mind with Living Technique: Eternal; two light tendrils broke out from under his suit wriggling around the air from out his shoulders, while two swirled out from his lower back, Divergence with Convergence powering up so the white planetary pattern would shift to blackened- he cracked all his knuckles as he slammed his fist right into his spread-open hand,
"Peace of Mind..."
Living Technique-
"UNLIMITED POTENTIAL!!!" Roared August with all his might, all the embers of his soul-infused within his voice, he cried to the skies, now surging with unlimited power... he smiled in anticipation.
Lucifer didn't say anything, he didn't have the same wide smirk anymore that not only edged out his lips to the ends of his face, instead, it was also more of an impressed look over his mouths. Azazel stood still, still postured into that one stance, one hand over the whitened sheath he suddenly contained the Blackend Blade into while August took but One. Step. Forward. Declaring with everything he had, his last final breath before the end,
"Let's end this..."
Lucifer nodded, he unfurrowed his brows, and instead, just looked ahead with admiration in his eyes, aiming the trident's prongs ahead, he exhaled gently, controlling his breathing the same as Azazel just so he could say,
"I couldn't agree more,"
They charged ahead, August leaped, Demon Prince staying idle at the end to his run, raising his trident so the kick could be absorbed into the lance, the Reaper flipped back. Sending out his extended tendrils to stab into Morningstar, he slashed both of them to the side, slicing both the tips off before they could thrust against his skin. Spinning around the tendril after doing so, he widened his pupils feeling a shadow tendril wrap around his throat, August still in the air, he stabilized his flipping-back body and pulled himself closer so he could punch Lucifer square in his face. Rolling to the side of the Demon Prince, Morningstar rubbed at his jaw, one hand available, the other occupied with the trident, August used this crouching position he was in after the blow to send out his leg.
Drunkenly disoriented from the attack, Lucifer turned toward August stumbling to the left, his gut succumbed to another blow, and Morningstar couldn't help but hold his stomach spitting out saliva. Effectively dropping his trident after the blow, he lost his grip, unable to maintain it after such a powerful hit. Messy strands grabbed by his hand then slammed into his knee so his nostrils could split in two, the Demon Prince shook his head, sticking out his hand for the trident on the pebbled ground. But right before it could reach into his fingers, they were all sliced off by one light tendril, leading Lucifer to wince once more, hatefully glaring at the Reaper, August anticipated weak punch attacks. Some to the face, others to his gut, even a sidekick coming from his head's side, to which Rivera easily predicted. Convergence glistening as he twisted his head to the side to leave a signature reddened trail in its sway, a shadow tendril grabbed at Lucifer's foot before it could connect right with August's skull.
Morningstar then suffered a single palm strike to the chest from this, another blackened tendril ensnaring his throat as the Demon Prince struggled to breathe, Lucifer clawed at the tentacle around his throat in desperation for his soul. Corrupted and hatefully filled, Augustus Rivera, Reaper of Life, had no regard for such a horrible being. Right then before he could snap this thing's neck simply, a left blast of Hellfire fired out his rightmost two eyes, simply aiming to destroy the Reaper's head.
The Deathly Crow zoomed right out his stance, entering just at the right moment so he could rip out the Blackened Blade of Death from its white sheath; it drove right into all two of Lucifer's right eyes. August indifferent to the whole thing, unraveled his shadow tendril as he jumped back, Azazel doing the same motion but flipping back as he tore his sword right out to cover it back the second his feet stabilized against the floor,
"Did you notice anything... about the way he acts whenever he gets hit?" Asked Azazel softly of his best friend beside him, to which August nodded gently, still with his tendrils wriggling around like octopus tentacles,
"Every attack we make on him is filled with negative intent. No matter what Omni, Requiem, or Life I pour into my attacks, his negative Takyr is too much for me to destroy. He's just going to regenerate..." That was until August had discovered something, a simple plan that needn't any further explaining.
Looking one another in their eyes then nodding in sync with each other, the Reaper of Life and the Deathly Crow, uncaring to the muffled screams of Lucifer as he held his eye in agony- sped ahead with the intent to kill. Karlo jumping in the air to slice at his left arm, Lucifer easily weaved to the right blasting Azazel back with a bolting pulse of Takyr. August coming right first with another punch to the gut, Morningstar's form shifted through August's body so the white-haired Reaper could phase right through him. Reassembling his molecules at light speed, he grabbed at the Reaper's hair- just then, his light tendrils sliced away at his hand before he could grab Rivera. Lucifer holding his wrist after the cleave, Azazel came soaring right ahead, feet barely gliding amongst the ground with one wing awakened, he aimed right overhead to cut Lucifer right down the middle changing his trajectory right in mid-air.
Left two eyes glistening hatefully so the trident could be summoned with distinct audio accompanying it, Lucifer's Demonic Trident and Azazel's Deathly Blackened Blade collided once again. Wisping through the air as a single flap of his wing gave way to his ascension, August's fist made a thunderous contact with the trident blocking Morningstar's gut. Rejuvenating his skeletal fingers over his right hand, he held the trident so he could at least have some stabilization while fighting, spotting the Reaper come right back at him from the former shockwave that sent him back. Just then before he could throw another punch at him, August stopped right in his tracks in astonishment as the spear of the Demon Prince split apart as if to mimic four individual spikes. And from the final one, just a simple staff appeared, to which August had been disoriented by the abrupt appearance of this weapon, the Reaper of Life sustained a slap to the face from the butt of the stick.
Weaving back to dodge the thrusting spike hovering behind Lucifer's head slamming to where his footing previously stood, the Reaper of Life kept moving, staying directly at the defense all while moving; unable to throw another offensive blow. Sideways slashing using the blunt end of the pole, August predictably ducked under it, then widening his eyes, he soared into the air so the spike aiming for his head's crown could, once again, enter the Earth. The Reaper sticking out his hand to likely charge up some Life energy, Lucifer closed the distance by punching at the air and sending his spear right ahead targeted in between Augustus's eyes. Raising a singular arm reinforced by Requiem, the polarity had led to the staff hitting against his wrist, soaring off to the side- the danger seemingly over. However, just as he was about to charge right ahead and throw more attacks, a sharpened spike came right for him; picoseconds away from stabbing into his skull and destroying his brain. Slamming right down so his feet could obliterate the ground he descended onto, August searched around, analyzing every detail through this dark-grey smoke- before gasping right at the last second.
He'd emerged from the outer layer, but right before the blunt front of the staff could charge into his chest and stab into his heart, it connected with the Blackened Blade. Azazel glaring out the corner of his eye, simply angled his hands and sliced the pole right up the middle so both ends could go flying back. Lucifer stumbling back in awe of what had just occurred, he stepped back even further, a bystander as Karlo ran even closer, spinning in the middle of the air as if a tornado rapidly turning before going for a hammer kick- blade turned so the metallic sharpness could be pointed toward the ground. His foot smashing into the ground so rubble could enter the air, Karlo stood up spinning the blade back into its correct position. Lucifer seen floating backward with one wing emerged out his back, all he had to do was crouch down, planting himself onto an ascending chunk of the Earth; he touched his hand against it. Takyr surging through his two left eyes, bolts of the demonic Takyr aimed right ahead to blast at August and Azazel bound to the Earth.
The negative energy demonized by the devilish DNA of the opposite of the Angels, in contrast to that of Omni, both of them moved at a speed akin to that of light. They should be dead, but because of that Dark Determination flaring inside the quartet of their eyes, they glanced at one another, and cried,
"BROTHER!!" Strongly staring at one another, August grabbed the Blackened Blade snatching it out of his friend's hand- before he zoomed right off the ground.
Covering his ears as the sound barrier snapped in half, the Reaper charged forward, hand gliding over the Blackened Blade so the metal could be infused with Requiem energy. It was right in front of his face; but with a simple motion, all he did was slash at it so it could cleave apart, fissuring it into nothingness, August didn't stop there, for Lucifer to whisper under his breath,
"That's... impossible! You can't cut something that's not real! AGAIN! AGAIN, GODDAMMITTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" As Lucifer's scream widened out into the Earth, he ripped his heart right out his chest and giggled giddily as he stared to the skies with all four of his now-healed eyes.
Blood dripping off the claws that'd stabbed into his center, he began to whisper soothingly for a final spell; one that would bring about the end of the Reaper of Life once and for all. Or so he thought, at least. Cutting and slicing at such a rapid rate, the grip on the handle began to bleed, August grunting in the middle of cutting-
~This Deathly aura... incompatible with my Life energy. I have to end this quick-!~ Thought August before his train of thought was interrupted, and he was switched with Azazel's position.
Unlike the Reaper had assumed, the Deathly Crow had been perched on yet another ascending Earth chunk, simply crouching stealthily as if he were an ancient shinobi. In the middle of the air, wing-flapping gradually every few seconds, he held the sheath of the Deathly Blackened Blade in but one hand. Out of nowhere, summoned from the Abyss of Hell, an abundance of weapons manifested all around him; and just then, he was surrounded. With no way out and no hope visible, the weaponry reflected in his darkened eyes, the Crow mask over his lips revealing his pink lips as it tore apart from black bolts of lightning; darkened cloak moving with the wind, he smirked back at August just before his other hand grabbed at the white handle of the Blackened Blade.
The Reaper of Life spreading open his eyes, he warped right at the right time; as the Crow of Death began to invoke as he ripped his Blackened Blade right out from its whitened hide,
"Spatial Fissure; Purge of Demons,"
What happened next was a single line slicing through space, cracks forming in the air, a straight stream of Takyr left behind, and all Azazel had to do now; as he stood behind Lucifer's body, was push the grip right into the sheath to conceal the tint of the Darkened Katana. Gently exhaling, he turned around, and August stood over the sliced body of the Demon Prince, final words inaudible as Lucifer's Morningstar's soul was crushed between the gloved, exposed fingers of the Reaper of Life. Flashes of the past came crawling back into the Crow's mind, remembering a time where things were simpler when they were gradually walking along a prolonged path of chaos toward a threat none of them knew. A Golden Dream to gain back revenge for the mother he lost, to avenge the mother he lost; and yet, when those paths culminated in that battle in Japan, he was given a hand.
He wasn't killed when the Day of Fates arrived, he was given a present... a coat that he wore always in memory of his fallen brother. But now, staring upon him now, those words rang out to him more than ever, those of the past. For a brief moment in this raging war, as the Black Moon absorbed them on those floating rocks closer, Azazel smiled and thought to himself for a moment,
"Day dreaming, huh?" Asked the Reaper with one hand on his hip, to which the Crow smirked at the question, nodding his head, he brought his cloak right over his arms to cover his exposed muscles,
"Somethin' like that-" Softly commented Azazel in response, locking his sword into the sheath strapped over his chest beneath the shroud, his eyes widened, grabbed by the back of the neck by his friend,
"Can't wait for the baby! It's gonna be so weird, you and I actually related! Maybe not in the way you or I hoped but- ya know, I think you're my brother anyway! Heh!" Near the end of August's admission, he turned to Azzy and cracked open his lips to reveal a wide-toothed grin, eyes closed, white hair moving with the wind... related.
It was one moment stretched into a thousand, he felt like he was moving so fast, his hands had still been in the same place, he felt he looked everywhere but there was nothing to it; instead, he was still staring at his tanned face. 'You and I related!' Isn't that what he wished for? In the final seconds before the end, Azazel looked to the ground, the both of them gradually moving further and further toward the planetoid gathering the Earth below. What laid ahead was the unknown road, and so, he asked something he'd been dying to ask ever since that fateful day in January 2037,
"Why did you... give me that coat back then?" Questioned Azazel quizzically, to which August opened his eyes, and thought soundly,
"Heh, that's easy! Back then, you hated me, ya know? And we had the same trench coat, and I liked my coat so... heh, you're not gonna buy that, are you..?" Rhetorically inquired August, then stepping back, the both of them mirrored each other's movements, just to sit across from one another at each edge of the rising Earth chunk,
"If you're asking why I gave it to you, it's because I... I thought you'd look good in it," August responded with one hand on his head,
"What exactly does that mean? You just found it somewhere? Gen or Emma found it out of nowhere, thought it suited me; and you just gave it to me out of pity?" Assumed Karlo to his white-haired rival, but at the end of the world, August nervously chuckled, shaking his head to answer that,
"Heh, you really think I pitied you-?"
"Just answer me, Aug... Rivera. Please," Begged the Detective, eyes wide, azure orbs visible in the center of his eyeballs glistening against the newly-colored skies,
"The truth is- I felt for you. When you showed me you were the Crow, I couldn't think of anything more than defeating you, I guess I was too naive to understand. Or rather, I didn't care about your circumstances, because, all I wanted was to avenge Celine. But, when you offered me that ultimatum, beat you, we both beat him, I understood. We were both controlled and toyed with more than we deserved. We were desperate for connections to others, but you were scared. You thought that, because one human ostracized you from the world, everyone else would be the same. Because the closer we come, the more deeply we hurt each other. That's what I thought too after she died, I closed myself off because if I allowed anyone to come as close to me as her, they'd just turn out the way. But the more time I spent after her I realized I wasn't alone, I was doing it to myself... and they'd be fine because they were their people. They were happy. That's me, but I knew nothing they did could do anything to you, Azazel. I wanted to help you, too-" Admitted August, eyes darting around swiftly just to search rapidly before his voice came in,
"But why? Why did you want to help me? I caused you so much pain, I framed you, I hurt your sister! I killed so many people, so what made you think that I deserved to be 'helped?'" Helplessly cried Azazel in a confused tone... tears appearing in the corner of his eyes, August smiled, looking down as his lips parted,
"Well, that's easy... because we're soulmates. You thought you were alone, that's why you were envious of me because you saw someone who held everything, love, attention, while you didn't have anything. I think what I'm trying to say is; I did what I did, I helped you because... I wanted you to feel the same warmth as I. Because-
You looked like... you needed saving," Closing his eyes, he opened his mouth, revealing the inner workings of his mouth, teeth bearing to reveal that widened grin.
Azazel was alone in this Void, ostracized from this world, in the darkness, forever, an outcast, the same as his deadbeat father. In front of him, there was nothing but the silhouettes of the shadow world, just nothing else but hollow shells of blackness. Time went on, more of those shells were filled. Kuno. The Ringleader. Lucifer. The Superior. The Children of God. Almighty. Satan. Moriah. Rahab. And in the light to his back, there remained no one. A poor soul enveloped by the evil of the world had been riddled with claw marks over his skin, scars unable to be healed, adrift forever in this perpetual darkness. No one- would come to see him. So he joined that dark side, he hated everyone, those fortunate enough to be blessed, facing right ahead, there they poured onto the scene. Mei. Johnson. Beau. Emma. Gen. Ben. Madi. Uraku. Jason. Henry. Matt. Alex. Hazel. Ed. Lynn. Whitney. Arabella. Blaire. Ryder. Rose. Ella... August.
All facing forward, just together with one another with warm looks on their faces. With one another, they were granted the luxury of companionship, of love. Was he forced to look upon this any further? Was there any point in staring endlessly at this blinding light...?
Seconds passed. His eyes adjusted. There was a darkness at the front beside the so-called Reaper... and there it was. Detective Azazel Karlo. One arm over his neck from the left originating from August, a cybernetic hand on top of his hair ruffling it from Ryder with another normal one from his mother, and finally, from his sister. In the end, he was more than a tool, he moved from the darkness to be engulfed in the light. Azazel was never alone...
"Heh. I guess you were right about that.. brother."
To Be Continued.