Two-Faced Gremlin Oneshots

Confrontation (2)

TW: Blood, death

It had been a long time since Ryan stood face-to-face with the traitor. Ryan could sense the man's frustration when Ryan did not go down as easily as the others, his apprehension when Ryan proved himself to be on equal footing, and his alarm when Ryan started overpowering him.

Allen backed away, clutching the injured arm Ryan had slashed open. Ryan immediately closed the distance, refusing to let him escape. Allen had outrun the consequences of his actions for long enough.

Slash. Parry. Dodge. Regain footing. Slash again. Feint to the left. Dodge. Slash again. And again. And again.

Blood coated his blade, dripping down the hilt. The handle somehow grew both slippery and sticky at the same time and Ryan couldn't be sure if that made his grip slack or tighten. Perhaps neither. Perhaps both.

Ryan had never taken a human life. Never, ever . Not even when his job asked it of him, not even when the weight of his family's expectations had fallen on his shoulders. He had refused to let that part of his humanity go.

Which is why, when he finally landed a fatal blow, Ryan was surprised at how satisfying it was. To watch his sworn enemy go down, to finally realize the goal he had been working towards since that fated day. To watch Allen's golden eyes (golden?) grow darker with the realization that his life was slipping through his fingers, darker and darker until they were nearly red, nearly the colour of his own blood-

Ryan hadn't realized how abnormal Allen's eyes had looked until their natural colour came seeping back into them.

One moment Allen had been looking at him with contempt, disgust, fury, and a myriad of different emotions Ryan hadn't cared to figure out (he had, however, seen the firm, decisive frown on Allen's face). Now Allen just looked confused. Confused, terrified, and in pain.

"Ryan...?" Allen whispered hoarsely.

("Who the fuck are you?" Allen had asked him the first time Ryan had confronted him in battle.

Back then, Ryan hadn't paid much attention to how much of the question had seemed genuine.)

Ryan stood transfixed. Something was not adding up. (It had to do with the eyes. Why had Allen's eyes been golden?)

"Ryan..." Allen sounded like he hadn't used his voice for a very long time.

No, that didn't seem right.

Allen sounded like he had forgotten how to use his voice.

"Oh, don't go looking for pity now that I've finally caught you," Ryan said coldly. It only served to confuse Allen further.

A dangerous question nagged at the back of Ryan's head: What if Allen had been possessed by a demon?