The Angel of Death

"As in Azrael, Angel of Death, pleasure to meet you properly Jane Cooper," The angel would say twirling his blade around. A blade created from celestial gold, one of the strongest materials in the universe, said to even have the power to kill God himself should you get close enough. Azrael smiled as he looked past Gabriel to Jane. Gabriel would grit his teeth, and stare down his brother. "Azrael, I beg of you. Do not do this." His voice would be deadly serious, although Gabriel was truly afraid. All angels had heard the stories of Azrael. An angel who stepped between the boundaries of the universe with ease, the only one capable of cutting open the web of reality and entering Purgatory itself. He could not be reasoned with, he could not be stopped. Once a beings life was over, Azrael would come and take their soul to its destination.

The Angel of Death would sigh, "You saved her life, when it was her time, rejoice brother, let her enter fathers light." His voice would be colder now, darker, almost deadpanned as he turned his gaze lazily to Gabriel. The fallen angel doubled back, like Myers, Azrael's true eyes were an empty void, only his devoid off any light. As Gabriel stared into the bottomless void he shuddered, he felt cold. Yet he stood his ground, he didn't know what made him do it but something inside of him prevented him from leaving Jane to die. "Gabriel, you are but a broken soldier within the cog of life, do not make me go through you." Tutted Azrael walking towards the pair now, his dagger held in a reversed grip at his side. As he got to Gabriel he stopped looking directly at him.

𝘈𝘴 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘈𝘻𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘢𝘸 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘻𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳. "𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳." 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦. 𝘈𝘻𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮. "𝘛𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭-" 𝘈𝘻𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘻𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳. "𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭!" 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳. "𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦." 𝘈𝘻𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

Three words. Myers said three simple words that convinced Gabriel to step aside. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱. As he stood there in that moment Gabriel realised he had no other choice. He couldn't beat Azrael, nothing could. Nothing that should exist. As he stepped aside he dared not look at Jane, he just concentrated on the presence of Myers, waiting for him to appear, to stop time. To do anything. As Azrael began speaking Gabriel felt a sudden urge to go for his gun, which he did aiming it at the Angel of Death and firing a shot. It did nothing of course, he knew it wouldn't, all that happened was Azrael getting pissed off. The punch that hit him came at such speed that in his state Gabriel could barely comprehend it, and just like that he was flying across the room. Hitting the marble pillar he blacked out for a moment.

When he came to, he was in the same place, Azrael was striding towards him, his dagger held properly now. He knelt beside Gabriel, who could barely move, the pain was unbearable, but he knew that the vessel had held together. Whether it was Myers, or whether it wasn't a fast enough impact to break it, he didn't know. As Azrael dropped beside him, he blinked, reverting his eyes to their pale blue colour. "It didn't have to be this way, father told me you'd be difficult but this...she's a human Gabriel. Have some class," his eyes emotionless, "I've seen your leaf you know, your lifeline. It's in disarray, your future is so unclear. You could've died eons in the future...or right now." Azrael would say sadly now, readying his dagger. That's when Gabriel saw him, standing just a few feet behind Azrael. 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. His voice would say, yet he stood motionless. With only Jane in mind Gabriel nodded, "I'll do anything" He would say, as the Angel of Death frowned and looked behind him. That's when he'd raise an eyebrow. "Surely not."

The figure of Myers would fade and Gabriel felt himself charge up through, suddenly it felt like he was an angel again. With Azrael looking behind himself, Gabriel regained the vessels strength and threw a punch at Azrael who was blindsided and thrown a few metres back. He would regain control and land squarely on his feet. "Do you know what kinds of things you're playing with?" Azrael would say angrily, twirling his dagger around, readying it, He'd lunge then with a downward swing of the dagger aiming for the head of Gabriel, who would sidestep quite easily hitting another punch to Azrael's back. This would cause a small stumble but the Angel of Death would proceed with several swings of his dagger, each time narrowly missing the fallen angel, who was expertly dodging the swipes. One final swipe would slash across him across the chest causing blood to seep out. "You are messing with forces beyond your control!" Azrael would say. Gabriel would ignore the pain and kick his brother in the chest, throwing him against the same pillar he lay against moments ago. Azrael grunted, and his breathing got heavier as he unsheathed his black wings, tipped with red. "Fine."

Gabriel felt the same deep rage within him as he did in Samuel's barn. Only this time, the rage was concentrated, it felt like a part of him. It wasn't an outside force, it was him. It was his rage, his pain, his suffering. As he stared down Azrael he felt his own wings unsheathe, and he felt intense heat. Even the Angel of Death took a step back and as Gabriel turned back he witnessed his silver and gold wings, engulfed in a raging fire. One that was confined to around his wings. This was the fire of the fallen, the fire of the wronged. "Deus meus" The Angel of Death would utter as the same fire that had cut Gabriel from his family, was now his source of power...and it felt good. Gabriel ran forwards, dodging several attempts by his brother to kill him and finally managed to catch his arm as he thrust it downwards. What ensued was an immense strength contest as both parties pushed against each other. "Brother...cut.him.off." Azrael would beg but Gabriel smashed one of his fists into his brothers face causing him to drop the dagger. As Azrael staggered backwards Gabriel only got angrier, moving forward and hitting him again and again. When Azrael finally dropped to the ground from the force, Gabriel didn't stop. He couldn't stop. He was in a frenzy and as he hit and hit. All sound around him disappeared. Complete silence as he kept thinking how Jane could've died. The combined power of his emotion, and Myers' boost led to the Angel of Death bleeding celestial blood. The vessel he controlled lay motionless on the floor, and the pale blue eyes showing just a hint of fear.

"The power you use...It..will kill you" The sound of the voice would be quiet and ragged. Gabriel would be breathing extremely deeply, his hands beginning to shake as he saw the blood of his brother covering them. He'd drop to his knees a few steps away and look up slowly. "What is he" Gabriel would say, his voice shaking, as he met the eyes of Azrael. "He...is..." The Angel of Death would stop, his eyes widening slightly as he looked past Gabriel. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳. A voice would say, as Gabriel looked behind him he'd see Myers looking down on the Angel of Death with a sadistic smile. He'd be different now, no longer resembling Gabriel as much as before, looking more like his own person. A black leather jacket covering a clear top, and his eyes would be green. "𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥" Myers would finish, stepping past Gabriel and kneeling beside his brother. His hand extending and grabbing Azrael by the neck. "𝘔𝘰 𝘥𝘢 ọ 𝘱𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘴ọ𝘥ọ Ọ𝘭ọ𝘳𝘶𝘯." Spoke Myers, in a language that even Gabriel couldn't comprehend, but the effect of the words was simple to see. Within moments Azrael's mouth and eyes were filled with golden light, which seeped from him and flew into the sky.

The fallen angel, quickly stood up. Fear on his face, as he frantically picked up the gun and aimed it at Myers. It was a move of desperation, a move of fear. Emotions that were still new to Gabriel and thus had total control over him. "𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭...𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵." Myers would say without moving. Gabriel wouldn't listen however, firing several shots towards him. Suddenly fire engulfed him and Myers disappeared, the bullets flying into the empty vessel of Azrael. The Fallen Angel's laboured breaths were the only sound as the sound of the gun finished echoing. He'd turn his head to the storage cupboard and begin walking towards it. His limbs weak, and pained. Any power Myers had given him was gone and Gabriel felt every nerve in his body on fire. Just before he made it to the doors, they opened and Gabriel fell to his knees in front of Jane. Who after taking in the sight ran over to him and hugged him. "Hey...hey Gabe...are you okay" She would say worriedly as she took his face into her hands. He glanced up at her, a reassuring smile on his face. "Yeah..."

As he begin speaking he had a sudden realisation. "All the police outside...should they not have breached due to the sound?" As he said this Jane opened her mouth slightly, helping him up. "Yeah...come on" She would say calmly, despite this she knew that something was wrong, and that scared her. Possibly more then facing down an Angel of Death, or even seeing the damage upon Gabriel's body. Gabriel would let her hold him up, honestly thankful for it, as the cuts on his body, and possible fractures made it very hard for him to walk on his own. He reached out past the bank to no avail, the previous fight making him forget he wasn't an angel. As they pushed open the doors Jane gasped. Everyone outside was frozen in place. The police chief with his radio to his mouth. The officers, and S.W.A.T preparing their gear. Dowling seemingly arguing with one of the tactical commanders. As they searched for the source their eyes would settle on a presence. One seemingly watching them. It hovered above them in the sky, two eyes within a silhouette. "What the hell are you?" Gabriel would say looking up, with which the filled with confusion. As if they didn't expect them to be able to see them.

Suddenly they vanished and time unfroze. Roaring noise filled the ears of Jane and Gabriel. The sound of New York. Sirens, shouting, and the sound of talking. "All I know is, I don't for one second trust that suit wearin-" Dowling could be heard saying before he looked over at the two. "Nevermind." Dowling would run over to the pair, grabbing hold of Gabriel from the other side, "What the hell happened? That FBI prick told us to not enter no matter what and then we heard what sounded like a bomb," He'd continue as he helped carry Gabriel to an ambulance on site. "Agent Burke is DOA, one of the robbers shot him. They had some sort of explosive rigged but we managed to minimise impact. S.W.A.T can mobilise." Jane would say taking charge, at which the teams would push into the bank quickly. Gabriel stayed silent, his thoughts dwelling on how he brutalised Azrael, and those words of power Myers had used to do what he did.

Jane watched him carefully as a paramedic attended to him, her face horrified as she unbuttoned his shirt, the cut on his chest dragged across most of his chest and abdomen. His whole front was soaked with blood. Jane clenched her jaw as the paramedic quickly stopped the blood flow. The fallen angel was unfazed, simply sitting there. "Dude...you should be dead" Dowling would say as he cringed slightly at the amount of blood. Gabriel lazily looked up at him. "Yeah...you have no idea." He'd say as they pulled him onto the ambulance. "He needs to go to the hospital. I did what I could but he needs x-rays, and MRI's. Stat." The paramedic would say to Dowling and Jane as she got in with him. At that moment Jane was called over by the Chief of Police and she looked between Gabriel and him, a frown on her face. Clearly she didn't want to disobey the order, nor leave Gabriel. "I'll ride with him, you can meet us there when you're done Captain." Dowling would say patting her on the shoulder as he jumped into the ambulance. The Paramedic nodded hopping out and going to the front of the ambulance. Jane smiled at Gabriel and gave Dowling a nod. "Make sure he stays awake Detective." She'd say before giving Gabriel a final look and walking off.

"Don't worry..." Dowling would say, as Gabriel watched him close the doors. As he turned Gabriel noticed a slight smile on the side of his face, "We have plenty to talk about...starting with," Dowling would say sitting opposite him. Their eyes meeting for the moment. "What the hell you are Myers."