"God has died. His death was the life of the universe. Yours will be too."
It was as unfamiliar as it was familiar to him. It stood in the hallway, pieces of concrete and dust fell to the ground. Mwene noticed that it's flames weren't hot. He was burning yet didn't burn anything around him. It was just like him. The flames gradually began to die down revealing more of its humanoid form. It was the same height as Mwene although he couldn't figure out anything else as there was no other defining characteristics to its figure. It was as if he wore a black body suit from head to toe.
Mwene put one foot in front of the other, clenched his fists and raised them to face, covering the bottom half of it up to his nose. The figure tilted his head. Mwene braced himself to take the first punch. Just as he was prepared to take the first step towards it, Anan whipped him in front of him effortlessly with her gun out and aimed. One, two, three shots were fired in quick succession. All bullets hitting the abdomen. Four, five, six; right at the chest. Seven, eight, nine; right on its forehead. It's head whipped back. Anan stopped and watched.
It's head slowly and menacingly moved back into position. She fired six shots and they all hit him but nothing. Anan began to reload. Just as she aimed her gun back at it the boy jumped on its back and with his skinny arms tried to wrap them around its neck. The boy tried with all he had to choke it, but it stood indifferent. He grabbed the child by the scruff of his neck and looked at it.
"Shit, I don't have a clear…..." Anan felt Mwene speed past him and make a beeline to it. Mwene landed a clean punch on its chin. Mwene heard a pop in his fist followed but a dull pain in his hand. It didn't react at all until it kneed Mwene square in the gut. Mwene collapsed onto one knee and gasped for air. The figure raised his leg straight up like a guillotine poised to cut.
Ayla fired more rounds at it as she ran towards it. Just as she emptied her clip, its arms hit her across the face like a whip. She tumbled out of the hole through which it crashed through. "Nooooooo!" shouted Mwene as he expelled all the air he had in his lungs. The medallion began to warm up. It's leg shot straight down and slammed Mwene from his needs to his face on the unforgiving grey floor. He looked up and saw the boy struggle in its hands. Tears rolled down its eyes.
Mwene could not move. It's foot was slowly applying pressure. The medallion began to fume but he didn't notice. Mwene reached out at the boy's foot in a feeble attempt to comfort it. He was merely inches away from touching it's dusty small feet when with a swift effortless twist of its thumb the boy went limp. A whimper escaped his mouth. Mwene saw it all, but it didn't click until moments later but when it did something in him snapped. He violently combusted like an engine at its limit. Black flames wrapped around him like a silk blanket. His eyes burnt white with the flames of vengeance.
Nothing but rage consumed him. It coursed through his veins like disease as he explosively got up, using. He knocked it off his feet as he fell back, letting go of the boy. Without thought or hesitation, Mwene hit it with a wild uppercut that struck it on his back mid-air. The shockwave shattered nearby windows on buildings and cars before launching it through the ceilings of all the floors and into the sky. He caught the boy he landed on the ground in both of his arms. His watery eyes were a rich royal blue and as wide as ever locked onto Mwene's burning eyes.
Anan hung on to dear life on a piece of metal that was impaled to the wall just below the hole which it created when he crashed through the building. Blood oozed from her head down the left side of her face as some glass shrapnel cut her. She tried to lift herself up, but her ribs ached. A brief glance below revealed she was a short fall away from an unholy bed of nails, metal, and rubble. Red began to tint her left eye which began to make her situation more perilous. Her other hand still held the gun. She tried to latch it back to her holster on her waist, but the effort was too great, and she slipped.
She shut her eyes expecting the worst but felt a hand grab her wrist. She opened them to reveal Mwene, still burning, holding her. His other arm grabbed the wall and with it lifted her back into the hallway.
"Is…. that you?" she thought as she was gently placed back into the hallway. On the floor was the boy on his back, motionless, still crying. She rushed to him and tried to attend to him. His eyes were now a steel grey, matching the floor.
"He snapped its neck. Before I could do anything." Mwene looked at his hands. The sensation was weird. He felt fitter than ever despite the flames. His heart was racing. His smell and hearing were sharper. Ayla looked at the hole through the ceiling and saw the extent of the damage. She saw proof of miracles, proof of the duality of reality. She focused back on the kid and wiped away his tears with her thumb.
"We need to get to Nike." She stated as she pressed the earpiece in her ear activating it. She paused for a moment before she would press it again. This happened a couple of times before she turned back to Mwene. "Static."
A crash rocked the building. Mwene looked outside and saw a ball of dust across the street. He watched it and saw a figure appear from the dust. It stood there, waiting for him.
"Don't be stupid." Anan cautioned him.
Mwene turned back and said calmly, "Being stupid is all I know.". He jumped down onto the street. Any dust that was in the air around him immediately settled. A flaming car no more than a couple of metres away went off instantly. He raised his arms to his face, covering the lower half and tentatively moved forward. His fear was merely an afterthought.