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A nightly run, this is all it was supposed to be. A quick lookout to make sure the city remained calm during the late hours. But Mysterion was dragged in something way bigger than he had ever expected.
This was not something he had ever seen coming. How could he ever have.
Climbing an abandoned warehouse to better use it as a vantage point, the hero had caught a glimpse of lights inside. There wasn't supposed to be anyone in there… The warehouse was a hazard to even stand in.
Wanting to make sure no teenagers had decided to urban explore, Mysterion made his way inside. The dusty and rust eaten interior gave a foul smell of mold and old chemicals, yet something felt off about the place. It felt empty… Too empty, like someone had recently moved out all the old machinery.
Mysterion inspected the concrete floor, finding all the spaces where machinery had been bolted down. From the accumulation of dust, the move truly had been recent. This warehouse had not been bought out as far as he knew. Who was making space… And for what?
As he stood back up, a noise echoed within the depths of the empty warehouse. A frigid, aggressive noise that attacked his ears. It was like someone was dragging a knife against metal, making sure to press hard enough so that you could hear it. As the noise got closer, the hero couldn't help but place his hands over his ears, it was unbearable.
"Who's there??"
He yelled out over the noise, making it stop. Moving his hands from his ears tentatively, he gave a scan around. Still nothing. What the hell-
A heavy metal bar slammed against his back, sending him rolling onto the dust. Laying flat on his stomach, he pushed himself back up with a few coughs. He barely had the time to recover before the same gigantic metal bar aimed straight for him, its intentions very clear of crushing him where he layed.
Rolling to the side, his cape narrowly escaped the slam of the bar, a loud metallic thud resonating in the confines of the warehouse.
Kicking himself up into a jump, he was back on his feet, fists at the ready.
"Show yourself coward!"
He yelled into the empty. A reply never came, not a vocal one that is. All of the metal support beams around him, no matter how rusted, snapped and curled towards him, lifting from the ground as if they had gained a mind of their own. Before they could all gather to slam Mysterion down, the netherborn took a powerful jump upwards, turning into a dark slithering smoke that slipped through the beams, landing safely on the other side of the impact zone.
This was starting to become… Familiar.
Why was it so familiar?
The beams curled and twisted between themselves, forming an amalgamation of metal, all lunging forward. They acted more like tentacles than metal rods now, all attacking Mysterion with their own movements, he was starting to get overwhelmed. No matter how much he avoided, two came back striking. It felt like minutes of him dodging and attempting to break the beams, but in the end, it got the better of him, a beam striking him violently in the chest, pushing him against a wall.
Tinier metal rods came flying from apparently nowhere, pinning his wrists into the wall as they tightly constricted around them. Mysterion hissed, about to force himself into smoke to leave the restraints. His green glare caught a shining shape among the amalgamate of beams, making him stop whatever he was doing.
A red glow scanned him up and down, the shape walking forward into the light. His helmet first caught the first rays of moonlight, reflecting it over its slick metallic surface. Blond hair puffed at the opening atop his head.
Mysterion felt his heart stop, everything had just stopped existing. Nothing could rip his eyes away from him. The one he thought he had lost long ago.
"Leo-"
A clawed hand violently grabbed at his throat, slamming his head against the brick wall as he grunted. He was choking him just enough for Mysterion to gasp for air, but not enough to make it life threatening. A single blue eye reflected his desperate green ones. His left eye had been lost, a large scar adorning where it used to be, a new, shining metal one emitted a red light as he stared down Mysterion. Even through all of the damage, pain and anger in his face, it was still him. He was okay. He was alive .
"Hello, Kenneth."
The voice he had known for so many years, he had yearned to hear again, graced his ears. God, he wanted to cry. He wanted to hold him so tightly. But he could tell. He could tell his Leo was not the same. That he had flipped the game over its head.
He was the enemy now.
"Leo…"
His throat was dry, he couldn't manage any other words from the lack of air. The pain in Leo's face seemed to grow, but a different emotion seemed to overtake him. Mischief. A grin growing upon his lips, a clawed hand raised to caress his cheek with the tip of his claws. They barely dug into the skin, dragging down along his cheek until finally, they cut skin, allowing blood to leak and stain the metal. Mysterion huffed, carefully moving his head away, but Leo kept with the movement, his claws remaining on his pale skin at all times.
God, did he miss him. Leo's stained claws lifted to push away the purple hood, revealing his dirty blond hair. A look of longing seemed to glimmer in his lost lover's eyes. Though the spark died quickly, his hand around his neck squeezed tighter.
"... Oh, why did you leave me Kenneth."
He whispered to his ear, the question startling him. Leave him?? Never would he have. He thought he had died! He tried to express it, but Leo tightened his grip yet again.
"You left me to die. After all those promises. All the love. You left me to die. "
His tone was venomous. Hate filled. He hated his guts . His lip raised in a snarl, the pumped up anger and desire for revenge finally peaking.
"WHY DID YOU DO IT KENNY!!??"
He shook him, slamming the back of his head repeatedly against the bricks. Kenny was beginning to see stars from both the concussion and the lack of air. Yet the brightest one he could see was him.
Tears pooled in his eyes, managing to whisper an airy "I missed you-".
Like Mysterion had just become the grossest substance on earth, Leo removed his hands from him, disgust plastered all over his face. Kenny gasped for air, coughing as he tasted the blood that had leaked all the way from his cheek.
"Missed me??? Ha! Hahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
His laughter grew hysterical, demented as he seemed to lose himself in his despair.
"You MISSED me?? When you made the choice to leave me behind! How could you miss me dear?? TELL ME!"
His claws plunged into his shoulder, Mysterion had known worse pain, but that shit stung. He let out a loud groan, teeth gritting as the claws pushed deeper at a snail's pace, Leo's eyes laser focused on him.
"Do you have any idea how it feels? To wait in darkness, unable to move, your arm and legs crushed by rubble, calling out the name of the person you THOUGHT would come to save you. Only to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait-"
With each 'wait', Leo would dig deeper into the flesh, blood now gushing from the wound, tainting Mysterion's suit with crimson. He remained stoic for the pain, but his heart fluttered. He had no idea… He didn't know. Coon had told him he saw Leo die… Why did he believe him? Why…
"And wait and wait and WAIT. FOR HELP. THAT NEVER CAME."
he screamed to his face.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT FEELS, KENNETH?? DO YOU KNOW? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I MISSED YOU IN THAT MOMENT?"
Leo dug his other hand's claws into Kenny's other shoulder, pushing quickly to be at the same depth that his other hand had reached. This time Kenny couldn't help the scream of pain.
"I missed you. So. So much… But you never came."
Leo cried, his single eye becoming glossy as tears slipped on his cheek.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry."
was all that Mysterion managed to whisper. He had no excuse. He could have gone beyond that fat asshole's words and looked for him in the rubble. But he didn't. He didn't and now, he'd have to live with it.
He closed his eyes. He was heartbroken, he could feel the pain of his wounds, the pain of his heart. But most of all, the pain of knowing, he had to fight back. No matter how he felt like he deserved the punishment, needed that punishment from him. He had to fight back. Fight back for all the lives Leo could now take…
"Forgive me."
He begged, before raising his legs and kicking his lover in the stomach hard enough to push him away, his claws slipping out of his skin in a flow of blood. No time to think of injuries. No time to think of love. He let himself melt with the darkness as he escaped the makeshift cuffs, flowing along with the current until he let himself take a normal shape once more, standing above the now lifeless melt of iron beams.
"You want to fight? Alright then. Let's fight. "
Leo snarled, raising his hands as he motion towards Mysterion. Instantly, the mess of beams came back to life, swinging him off and up into the air. Now that he knew where his target stood, the netherborn casted upon the help of shadows again, creating an appendage from his arm and tightly gripping around Leo's waist, pulling him up along with.
Leo was prepared, turning on himself to better kick Mysterion mid air, pushing him onto the rusted catwalk above. Gripping the handlebars, Mysterion knew he was timed. The catwalk was entirely metallic, at the mercy of Leo. He jumped off quickly enough before the chains snapped, the catwalk slamming closed together like a mousetrap. Landing near his lost lover, the netherborn leaped forward with a charged shadow punch. Leo blocked his hit with the resistance of a metal arm, a prosthetic. Fuck.
Mysterion dodged the claw slashes that Leo attempted to land in retaliation, using the shadows to shield himself and push the other back. Mysterion had the advantage for a short second, going in for a strike right between the ribs. Though it was short lived, Leo had quicker reflexes. He had brought his hand forward then pulled it back.
A disgusting sound echoed in Kenny's ears, halting his movement altogether. It was wet, gushing, even. Looking down in shock, he discovered a pointy iron rod had just speared through his chest.
"F-Fuck."
He spat out blood, Feeling hot pain flaming through his chest at an alarming rate. Leo… He had gone for the killing blow. Without even hesitating.
"L… Leo."
His eyebrows knitted, falling to his knees, losing his energy to even stand. The blond stood triumphant in front of him, fists clenched. He grinned.
"You precious Leo's gone now, Mysterion. From now on. There's nothing but Chaos ."
Chaos's arms raised to the air, head falling back. The gentle giggles Kenny knew had morphed into a maniacal laughter, his voice carried by the emptiness of the warehouse.
"My revenge has begun!! And it all starts with you ."
He looked down to Kenny, his hand twisting, the rod mimicking his motion, twisting painfully in his chest. Then, he pulled it forward and out, a copious amount of blood released from his wound, staining the ground below.
Mysterion's vision grew blurry, coughing out blood as it decorated his lips in a gorgeous red. Before he could fall face first, Chaos gripped his chin. As his consciousness slipped into the sweet grasp of death, he could feel warm lips press against his own. The kiss tasted like blood. Like death. So bittersweet.
As they lingered, his eyes glossed over, allowing Chaos to kiss out his final breath…