"Things will never be the same again."
Gneiss Underwood never thought that he could have a shot of a normal life.
Growing up in an environment where everything defied sanity, guns and loneliness were his normal companions, if not danger and Death h...
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"Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions."
Number Twenty-Five
Ivan's wry smile faded from his lips as soon as he saw Arashi enter the scene. His momentary distraction allowed 01 to twist his arm off his throat, to kick him in the gut and put distance between them. He easily deflected the thick knife that 01 threw his way, but it did make him pause to catch his balance.
A flicker of a gaze was all it took for Arashi to jump into action. He knew that ordinary weapons were ineffective against Ivan. He didn't want to, but as situation forced him, he snapped his fingers and set the corpses on the floor on fire. Blue flames engulfed the bodies, creating a high, impenetrable wall between Gneiss and Ivan.
Unfortunately, Ivan foresaw this. As Equations, 02 and 04 were evenly matched in terms of situation analysis and stimuli response. The blond Russian was his trainer, and unluckily, they both knew each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Before anyone could get out of the room, Ivan reversed the polarity of his hand, and used his power on the heavy metal door, shutting it close, effectively locking everyone in the room.
"Open the door."
"04," Ivan said slowly, his face serious for once. "I don't want to fight you, but you can't leave as my enemy."
Midnight black eyes glared back at him, and Arashi's normally inflectionless voice cracked as he shook his head. "Evil for evil then. I have to eliminate you."
Narrowing his multi-hued eyes, Ivan took a step forward, daring the other to react brusquely. As intimidating as he was, Arashi didn't take the bait. He knew the man, knew him well. Ivan may be smart and dangerous, but Arashi could predict his train of thoughts.
"Evil? Ah, you must mean my awesomeness. Is it a sin to be one gorgeous hunk?" Ivan asked as his trademark grin, the wolfish sort, bloomed on his mischievous face. "Is it evil that I'm more popular to the girls than you?"
"Bullshit."
Despite the dancing flames between them, Ivan took another bold step, and Arashi stepped back in return. Gneiss was watching them cautiously at the sidelines, the unconscious Filipino boy already by his side. 01 being here was expected, but Ivan didn't understand why the newbie was here. It didn't matter.
Ivan sighed, dropping his hands at the sides. "I don't fucking care what your Master ordered you to do, but I'm not the enemy. Creed is." He gave a slight pause, measuring their reactions. "Kreuz taught us to clean the world of filth. I'm doing it just as he said. I'm taking out Creed. The Light will prevail especially if you join us, Arashi. I want to recruit you. I need you. The world needs you."
