Wings Of Fire As Humans ~ 4 ~ {MOONBLI}

[11] Reminisce

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^Moon^

I quietly unlocked the front door to a tired Swordtail and Luna. Luna was rubbing her eyes, yawning as she rested her head on Swordtail's shoulder. She was clearly only half awake.

"Qibli said this had something to do with the missing women?" Swordtail asked, mid-yawn. "Why so early in the morning? And why did I need to wake Luna?"

"It's Leopard," I blurted.

That woke them up.

"You mean the creep you told us about?" Luna gasped, stepping forward and grabbing Moon's shoulders. "The one who murders in his free time and stalks when he's busy?"

"Well, where is he?" Swordtail demanded. "I didn't bring any weapons but I'm still skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Releasing him from prison was a mista—woah." He stopped short when he peered inside the house and saw a hole gouged into the floor on the other side of the kitchen.

"Bomb," I explained with a wave of my hands. "I was held at gunpoint a few moments before I called you two. He's here for one thing—getting back with his ex. So, me. Qibli wanted me to call you guys in hopes that you'd know what we should do with him. After all, no one else knows about the sensitive information you two know about. Magic, and all that jazz."

"There was a bomb?" Swordtail asked in horror.

"H-Held at gunpoint?" Luna fretted. "J-just how dangerous is he?"

"I'll lead you to him," I said quickly. "Come on, we have no time to waste! Qibli's upstairs with him now but I'm not sure how long he can hold out. Leopard's pretty damn unpredictable."

"Wait!" Swordtail stopped Luna from continuing after me. "Who's to say he doesn't have a bomb on him up there? Maybe he plans to drag as many people in the room with him before setting it off. If so, we'll all die." He turned to his wife. "So you wait in the car."

He has a point, I realized, glancing at Luna, who completely seemed against the idea.

"Stay in the car? Are you serious?" She flailed her arms about. "What if you die then? Leopard's dangerous!"

"I'm trained for this stuff, and so is Qibli," he reminded her, pushing her backward. "You aren't, you got that?"

"So you're suddenly trained to withstand bombs, huh?" she scoffed mockingly. "Wow, made of steel, now, are we?"

"Luna, this is serious."

"I am serious!" She pushed Swordtail's arm off and marched up to Moon. "Either way, him having a bomb on his person is just speculation. You could be wrong. Moon, take me to him. I want to see the bastard who held my best friend at gunpoint."

"Weren't you just talking about how you'd trust me with your life?" Swordtail muttered aloud but he followed us anyway.

It wasn't long before I pushed through the door and led them all in. Qibli was in the same position he had been, gun pointing straight for a relaxed Leopard. The man in question lifted his gaze lazily to eye the newcomers.

"This is the guy?" Swordtail asked, walking up to Qibli. I looked over my shoulder and realized Luna's eyes widened considerably, as well as Leopard's.

Leopard smirked. "Luna. Good to see you after all these years."

"Leopard is... Cyclone?" Luna gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

What? I thought, looking between the two. But Cyclone is... isn't he the intern? Is "Leopard" just an alias? Hold on, what?

"You two know each other?" Qibli made a face. "How?"

"H-he's my totally crazy ex!" Luna cried, taking a step back. "Babe, the one I told you about! He left razors under my sheets, remember? All because I said no when he asked me out to Prom?"

Razors? I stared in horror. Why type of lunatic—

"Are you sure?" Swordtail asked, fists clenching at his sides. "It's been a while since you've seen him, so maybe your memory is just..."

"Oh, no, we definitely know each other." Leopard gave us all an innocent smile. "The name 'Leopard' is an alias, or if you want, my alter ego. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out."

"So that's how you found out where we lived!" I shouted. "That shady intern at my job! He works for you!"

The white-haired freak ginned. "Bingo. I'll stop at nothing, don't you see? But with you and Luna in the same room... Well, this is just gold! Who should I pick? I have so many options!" Now he seemed giddy. It was disgusting.

"Get any ideas and I'll personally see to your death," Swordtail threatened dangerously. Qibli shook his head.

"No, not yet." The gun didn't waver in his hand. "He knows a way to somehow control people. This intern Moon speaks of could very much be under his control. We'll need to get him to reveal his secrets before taking any drastic measures."

"Drastic measures?" Swordtail echoed incredulously. "He stalked and harmed both of our wives and you want to keep him alive just to get answers?"

"Qibli's right," I spoke up. "I'm willing to bet the other Cyclone isn't the only one under Leopard's control. We need to find an antidote, and for that, we need to keep this bastard alive."

Leopard slyly smirked. "Bold of you to assume you can kill me. But, no worries. I'll let you entertain that idea if it helps put your mind at ease."

I clenched my fists, trying to piece it all together. If what he says is true, his real name is Cyclone, and "Leopard" is just an alias. That means the Cyclone at my workplace isn't his actual name and he instead took Leopard's name in hopes of fulfilling his duty. We need Leopard alive, but our safety is in jeopardy if we don't kill him.

He's got us cornered.

I took a deep breath. "Well. There's only one thing to do now." I propped a hand on my hip as I narrowed my eyes. "Let's torture him."

"Yes!" Luna cried happily. "Cut off all his limbs and watch him bleed!"

"Or we can rip off all of his nails!" I added.

Qibli and Swordtail exchanged concerned looks. Finally, Qibli sighed as he tilted his head. "I'm not a fan of resorting to torture to get information, but... it doesn't really look like we have much of a choice. If the serum used to control people is still under work, making Deathbringer, Lynx, Winter, and the other Cyclone merely test subjects, then the finished product can prove to be much more catastrophic. He may be able to control whole militias."

That doesn't sound good. Still, despite the chance of torture at Leopard's door, his smile didn't falter for a second. He chuckled softly. "In any case, I wouldn't resort to that. It's not worth my time." He suddenly rose from our bed, cautiously walking towards the window. "I'm only here for Moon. Give me that and I might spare your lives."

"Stop moving!" Swordtail shouted as Qibli yelled, "Stay still!"

Leopard laughed again. "Jeez, don't be such a pushover. Look, I've only wanted the same thing for the past twenty years or so. Why would I give up now after coming this far? It doesn't make sense." He beamed in my particular direction. "The only time where I will ever leave you alone is if I... if someone gives me a reason to. Helps me see the light. I'm crazy, I know that, but I've embraced that fact. You should, too."

With that, he turned around and allowed himself to fall backward out of the opened window.

We all gasped in unison as Qibli lowered his gun. I was the first to run over to the windowsill with everyone else right behind me. I looked over with wide eyes and froze.

He was completely gone.

<3