This is it, the apocalypse 1x1

[ROUX]

"I disagree," Gabriel countered, letting lazy grin cross over his face at the words, quite pleased with the reactions he was getting in some way or another. He was about to add something else, when the ground nearly threw him off of his feet. His wings shot out, saving him from face planting into the ground. The shaking didn't stop, and he took to the air in an effort to not to fall again. He scanned the area, trying to figure out what was going on, and oddly enough, the silhouettes seemed affected by it, and not in a good way.

 

[BlueJae]

Aiden blinked, ground shaking...Not good. He scrambled off his rack, taking his backpack with him. He knew it was a terrible idea to stay out here for so long, god he really did, why hadn't he walked away when he got the chance. The shaking was violent and staying on his feet was almost impossible. He gave up, hit the ground, and crawled to the nearest cover, which in fact happened to be the now sideways building he'd kicked over. He'd managed to get in one of the broken windows, into a now sideways room, and sat there- watching. He had two ideas of what could be causing the shaking and one was much better than the other. He prayed it was that one.

 

[ROUX]

Gabriel caught sighed of Aiden running to cover in the fallen building out of the corner of his eye, while the Fallen searched for the source of the earthquake. What he saw nearly made him forget to beat his wings. It was huge - like a demonic version of an overgrown, upright stegosaurus. Oh, and that was not including the pair of huge black, scaly wings that were folded upon it's back, somehow against it's spiked exterior. It was horrifying - and it wasn't even heading for him...it was coming near the toppled building that he'd seen Aiden crawl into.

 

[BlueJae]

Under the desk, past the chair, kick some walls in, over some glass and scattered papers and out the other side. Aiden wasted no time. He hated these things he really did. They were stuck up, or he thought they were. Their thoughts were the easiest to read, it was like they wanted everyone to hear what they were thinking- which was constantly ordering around other silhouettes, yelling at them, or calling them all disgusting...Looked like it and Gabriel had something in common. He'd mostly gotten to his feet but it was hard to stay on them. Very hard. He rolled into an alley way, pressing himself against the wall while everyone else panicked.

 

[ROUX]

Gabriel spun his scythe, ready to hold the beast off as it advanced. The sensible thing to do would be to run - or fly, whatever it be that was needed to get as far away as possible. Five angels, let alone one couldn't topple one of these monstrosities, but this Fallen had other plans. Just seeing the creature again brought back the memories of the war, and how many angels were dead because of it, not to mention the humans and other supernaturals fighting alongside them. He made a beeline for the creature, seemingly straight at it but veering to the side at the last possible second, letting the blade of his weapon tear a gash in it's throat. It roared, and he brought the weapon back up and moved himself out of range, preparing for his next attack now that he'd gotten it's attention.

 

[BlueJae]

Aiden peered around the corner, oh there was no way. One man could not take down that thing, but, if he had a death wish who was Aiden not to watch him fight for whatever morals he had? The hybrid was crouched in an alley, watching up at the two in childish way, you know, like those kids who were watching their favorite super hero fight on T.V. He just wanted to see how it ended, but when he looked down into the streets, he could see the silhouettes running away. The Muto was like a giant mother, and when a mother got pissed you just got out of the way- it was simple concept. Most of them had the smarts to understand that, Aiden, more or less. Gabriel, probably not, the winged one didn't look like he was backing down too easily at the moment no matter the circumstance.

 

[ROUX]

The demon looked quite frustrated that it's throat was in the process of healing, but Gabriel wasn't trying to be burned alive by Monsieur firebreath over there. He had taken the time to whip out a small dagger with a seraph blade. He held up the palm of his other hand and dragged the point across his skin, ignoring the pain. Dark blue blood dripped from the symbol after he was done with the rune, and he then wrapped that hand around the staff of the scythe - who's blade was literally burning with angelfyre. He dove back toward the creature as it reared up at him, and he barely managed to dodge a swipe from it's claws as he swung his own weapon to catch it's left flank with the burning white fire.

 

[BlueJae]

Aiden blinked, was that a cloud? No, no that was not a cloud, that was a building. He looked up, seeing it start to come down on him. It would be smart to move wouldn't it? Probably. He jumped up and started running, one could be amazed at how fast the small one could move. He barely missed the top of the building. Skidding to a halt he looked back, god down town was going to be a mess. Who screws with a Muto? Why would anyone mess with a Muto? He'd hand it to Gabriel, the angel was brave...Or stupid, too many things that ended up the same. He'd go with stupid, just from his own judgement.

 

[ROUX]

This was not going well...


For the first few minutes, Gabriel had managed to evade most of the creature's attacks. That was before it regained it's ability to breathe fire. He'd been so focused on avoiding the obvious fire that he didn't see the thing's tail swing around towards is body, effectively impaling him on one of it's spikes. He couldn't exactly scream with that thing sticking out of his chest, but the strangled cry he did give off was just as painful to make. It burned, not only because of the raw, expected pain, but it also had the same effect that angelfyre had on a demon's skin. Hell worked both ways, apparently. He was just about sure he was going to die, when it just...disappeared. Into thin air. Vanished.


That also left him falling through the air until he smacked into the ground below on top of one of his wings, sending an audible crack through the air.

 

[BlueJae]

Aiden made a face, oh that did not sound good. He blinked, the ground shaking had stopped however, and there wasn't anymore ruckus. He hit his tiptoes, trying to look over the crushed building but it was too tall for that. He'd take the longer way around, down the street and take the corner. He pushed through the crowd of still upset silhouettes. They were now upset, disturbed, and confused. He didn't pay any of them mind as he took the corner, trying to make his way back to where he'd been, what if he dropped a nail? He needed that. There was also the off chance that that crack was Gabriel, in which he mused about. Could've been his spine, neck, arm, leg, or you know one of his wings but Aiden didn't think about that. To be honest he'd never really thought about wings having bones. They looked so flexible...How odd.

 

[ROUX]

Gabriel spit blood out of his mouth before rolling off of his now crooked wing. He'd been knocked out for a good sixty seconds while the smoldering hole in his chest closed and he knitted his organs back together. He'd avoided healing his wing at the moment because he didn't want to heal it the wrong way, or he'd never fly again. He groaned in pain as he managed to roll onto his front, bringing his knee up in an effort to raise himself. His arms trembled as he did so, and he ended up back where he had started - with a facefull of dirt. He could see where his blood had stained the earth, and his body still felt like death, but he struggled to stand again anyway.

 

[BlueJae]

"How graceful." Aiden said, sticking a nail between his teeth while grabbing for more. Must've been those he dropped out of his open backpack when he made a run for it. Maybe the other wouldn't have been in such a condition if he'd run too, but, maybe he had more pride than Aiden. The male returned his attention to the fist full of nails, shoving them into his backpack before zipping it back up. He'd like to think this was a bit of karma. Aiden had been a pain in the neck to the other so he dumped dirt and rubble on him, now it was coming back around, thus, it was the other's turn to get a face full of dirt and whatever else had been scattered across the ground.

 

[ROUX]

The levels were shifting, overlapping...it was the only explanation for what he'd just encountered. Level's one and three had become one for a second, allowing the muto to pass through like a portal. He had seen it happen. Gabriel leaned over, hands on his knees as he breathed heavily. It wasn't even the muto that had his mind racing at the moment...when the thing had passed through, level three had become clear to him. He had seen the gate...or what had been left of it...and as much as he wished he didn't have to, going there was the only way out.


Problem was, he had no clue how to get to level three. everything was scrambled after the war, and his siblings would never tell him. They'd much rather go through themselves and leave him on earth to rot. Thankfully, there was one soul that might know, and their shared interest would be key. Gabriel doubted Aiden wanted to spend the rest of his life in one place with no purpose. Not when Gabriel could offer him a much greater reward for his assistance. He stumbled over the ground, ignoring the blood flowing down and under his armor as he looked for the man.


"Aiden? Aiden!"

 

[BlueJae]

"Quit yelling, you're making my ears bleed." The hybrid looked over at him, he'd been watching him for a while, to be honest he assumed he was dead the way he'd been lying there. Apparently he was over that, as he was getting up looking like a drunkard. Aiden still had the nail between his teeth, much like one would have a toothpick. He still had that usual unamused face on as he gnawed absentmindedly on the nail as he swung his feet. More rubble had come out of the muto's thrashing and now he was sitting on one more higher up- just in case the angel came up with the lasting will to fight, scythe in hand. Didn't seem to be going that way, so maybe he'd been staying out of the way for nothing but oh well. He cocked his head, still confused as to what he was doing.

 

[ROUX]

"I need your help," he said, speaking the words through his teeth. Angels used to be known for their unyielding pride, and the Fallen were no exeption. It wasn't like him to ask anyone for assistance with anything...but if he wanted out, if he wanted a chance to redeem himself, he was going to need a 'partner in crime.'


"Something I saw, up in the air when the muto appeared - " he was cut off by a cough that wracked his body, blood spraying out of his mouth as he did so. The last of it too, thank god. The measured he had to go to to heal that idiotic wound...Gabriel wiped his mouth, hissing when his wing brushed the ground. He'd have to tend to that too, but he was more focused on getting out of the hellhole.

 

[BlueJae]

Aiden pulled the nail out of his mouth, his head stayed cocked "Right, right, and what exactly do you need my help with?" He asked, half-way amused half-way curious. He wondered why the other seemed so displeased to ask for his help...Could be the mutual wariness, could be his pride, could be the that high class dignity yelling at him for asking someone like himself for help. He perked up when he said something about seeing something, Aiden thought about it, there wasn't too much interesting in this city...Now, there were a few things, but he'd never found too many things interesting about them himself. Maybe this one found more value in the rubble that he lived in rather than the hybrid himself did. He went over the sites over and over, trying to think about which one could've possibly gathered the other's attention.

 

[ROUX]

"I need to get to the third level. I've been there before, but...I was more distracted by the almost imminent death of the entire Legion, so I can't exactly remember how to find it. But there is a gate, a gate between this realm and the next. It was how the angels were able to call upon the power of the heavens, and to go if they were summoned. This gate was destroyed within the war...but the ruins were hidden from us, and are protected by monsters like the ones we just saw," He explained. "We don't have much time if the levels are overlapping...he's getting impatient," Gabriel muttered the last part to himself before looking back at Aiden. "If you show me the way, I can get you out, but only an archangel can open the gateway."

 

[BlueJae]

Aiden squinted at him "A gate?" Gate, gate, gate, he blinked "Oh you're joking. That thing?" There was only one gate, or something that was close to a gate, and Aiden assumed that was what the other was talking about. It was dirty, dingy, and had the weirdest location. Really, who built a gate in the middle of town? It was whatever, it wasn't far from here, so Aiden could easily get them there "For the record," he said, jumping down from the rubble, watching the other for a second before starting North "I'm not doing this to get out." It seemed like such a plain reply, so flat. Aiden had never thought about leaving, the thought...Scared him a bit. He'd never been anywhere but here, he didn't know what the outside was like. Survival here was easy, he knew it like the back of his hand. Going somewhere foreign was dangerous to him. More dangerous than facing a Muto. A Muto he could escape, the outside he could not.

 

[ROUX]

"You're not?" Gabriel asked, surprised. he'd figured anyone still living would want to find the fastest way out of here to anywhere else. "Than...why are you doing this? Let me guess - to be rid of me," he snickered, already playing out the other man's response in his head. Gabriel couldn't blame Aiden for his sarcasm. If he'd had no one to talk to for that long, he wouldn't mind taking it out on someone else either. Especially if that someone had tried to kill him already. He followed after him, rotating his wing in front of his body painfully until he could see where the break was. Gripping the bone with two hands, he wrenched it with another loud crack, setting it back into place so it could heal.

 

[BlueJae]

I'm doing this, because unlike some people," He said, pointing at Gabriel over his shoulder "I'm not completely rude." He said, not much caring for what the other's reply would be- so long as it wasn't along the lines of 'why don't you want out?'. He wasn't ready to admit his irrational fear, it made him sound like a child, never wanting to leave home, living in their parent's basement at thirty six...This was one Hell of a basement. It didn't matter, either way, though it was a bit disappointing getting rid of one of the first people close enough to being human to him. Made him question which was more important, life forms or your own comfort zone. He took a turn, looking over the rubble and to the far end of the streeet, two intersections down, the middle of the city. The gate. He knew it wasn't far.

 

[ROUX]

Gabriel walked in silence for a few minutes, mulling over the words before replying. "I...apologize for trying to kill you. I had been hunting your demon for quite a long time, and to be told by some strange creature that I couldn't finish what i'd started...I was angry," he said, folding his wings again now that they were healed. He didn't mention that most of that anger wasn't directed at Aiden himself at all, but rather something far more sinister. He felt the gate, felt it's power. Though it was in ruins, he could feel his own energy calling to it, the connection was never completely severed, and his eyes and runes began to glow again as they neared it. He hoped Aiden would change his mind, and allow Gabriel to pay him back for the assistance. Even beyond the urge to fulfill the debt, Gabriel knew that the earth would be destroyed soon - very soon. And with the shifting of the levels, the mutos would trample everything in their path before then.

 

[BlueJae]

Aiden didn't notice the changes in the other "Doesn't much matter." He said as they closed in on the gate, whatever had happened in the past was back then and not now. Now, they were on ok terms, they weren't at each other's thraot and that was all that mattered. Besides, Aiden was too busy focusing on other things. It'd be a lie to say that he'd never wondered what went past this, the city that was. He'd never traveled far outside the barriers, always a feeling of dread keeping him back. As if- if he walked any further than he would certainly be killed. That's where the childish feeling came in, not wanting to risk something when he knew he could avoid it by never leaving. Of course he didn't know what was to come, he'd never heard about the different levels shifting, he'd never a Muto that close up either. These were things that were easily warnings to him but he was too distracted by his own fears and clotted thoughts to put it together.

 

[ROUX]

"You're afraid," the Fallen stated curiously, now walking alongside the shorter man. He'd said it because it was odd. usually all the former angel could sense was a constant stream of annoyance radiating from the other man, which unsurprisingly grew more noticeable when Gabriel was around. But this was new. Fear was a rather distinct emotion after all. It hung over people like a cloud. Gabriel often only noticed these things, these emotions when they were fairly prevalent. And both mentioned before were...as well as something else that he just couldn't figure out. Perhaps it was because Aiden couldn't figure out how he felt about whatever it was either, clouding the emotion. "Why are you afraid?"

 

[BlueJae]

Aiden shot a bit of a cold glare, he didn't need it to be pointed out "I'm not." It was an evident lie, the both of them knew that much, but it made him feel better if he said it aloud. It was better than admitting it, or at least he thought so. He liked it that way anyway. Sticking his hands in his pockets he straightened up when they reached the gate. He didn't know how the other did this or what he planned to do but it wasn't any of his business anyways. He leaned against a lamp post eyeing the crappy looking 'gate'. It was undeniably one but it was just as terrible looking as the rest of this city. If that wasn't it he didn't know what was, but he was guessing by the way the markings were glowing on Gabriel that this was it.

 

[ROUX]

Digging his scythe into the ground so that the blade was upright, he knelt down on one knee next to it, chanting something in an ancient language under his breath as he held the staff in the ground in front of the gate. Suddenly the dull metal of the massive black gate in front of him began to shake, as runes appeared to be carved into the poles, matching the ones on his skin - all but one. The rune for angelic power had made itself known beneath his feet, and he stood while chanting to draw the dagger from earlier. Holding the hilt of the blade, he pointed it at the ground where the glowing symbol had formed, before reaching out with his other hand and closing his fingers around the sharp blade itself in a fist, watching as his blue blood dripped onto the light earth below. He stepped forward, only for the ground to shake once again beneath his feet. The shifting was happening again. probably caused by the energy around the very site the muto's were supposed to guard.


Gabriel spun around, sheathing the dagger and confirming his suspicions as he made out all three shapes moving towards them. Fast. He looked at Aiden, then at the gate, before making his decision. "Aiden, come with me. You'll die if you stay!" he wrapped one hand firmly around the handle of the gate and pulled, opening it. He held his other hand out to the other man, knowing he wouldn't be able to pass without it.