A Warm Welcome

As the fire within the chamber unleashes, a spark is lit into the pile of lifeless bodies below to send the Ikari into furious flames that climb over the surface of the club with hunger for more. Above the ash, Kyani stands with two elites behind her, a hidden, greedful smile brewing under her helm.

She looks up to the black glass that runs just below the ceiling, a small stretch of glossed symmetrical perfection in a demolished club, and hears the gunshot above that didn't come from her comrades. As the last of the Ikari scream and climb like flies for their survival, the glass above shatters with the body of Ryker following the shards to the performance platform. Ryker rolls in pain, gripping the surface as soon as he lands, and turns to find Amber looking out from the spiked hole above.

Blood rushes from her shoulder as a bullet lies within the wound under her outfit. With little pain displayed from the young girl, Ryker growls at Amber's tolerance. She never looked to be someone who could dodge a bullet and swiftly defend herself when a threat arrived at her front doors. She knew he'd be here. She is the reason the Reapers are here.

She's the one who gets a thankful nod from below when the Reapers stand before Ryker in hopes of giving him the same fate as his family.

"Yeah, Nero's friend, sure. What'd you do, give him a good time under the table?" Ryker scoffs under his breath. He rises to the Reapers now ready to beat him down with a fistful of bullets. With little time to spare, the Ikari survivor raises his weapon to the DJ stand on the platform and fires at the panel that controls the movements of the lights.

In an instant, the elites begin to fire at the stand Ryker ducks behind, stepping forward with each round denting into the steel. As their bullets pierce swirls into the air, the damaged lights flicker and disorient the vision of those who still have an opportunity to see the next dawn. The elites tower up to the stand, and Ryker holds his stance with patience. Unsure of what to do with half of the Kaiyo team around the corner, he hears the hysterical laughs of Amber above as she analyzes that her club is blanketed in ash and gore. She shakes her head violently as her hands hold her hair, and she dances to the music with little sanity left to help her survive what she witnesses. Ryker slides his back against the stand and the screech of metal on metal roars a realization: the contained wings from the previous fight still remain attached to his trenchcoat.

As the muzzles of the Reaper's weapons near their target, Ryker understands he has little time to act. He rises unexpectedly over the neon rows of buttons and knobs to fire at Kyani, who watches the bullet land over the blue diamond on her uniform and shatter without a dent in sight. She looks up, finding Ryker's eyes, and covering her sight with that of her gun.

Ryker drops his body to the floor as the bullet soars past, and with the slam of his body activating his metal wings, a purple trail of dust smears the platform as he flies horizontally into the glass of the wall behind it. He rolls over, kneels above broken shards, and grips the metal behind him. With little effort needed to move the wings as they push themselves in the direction they're held, Ryker sends the set flying back through the wall. From the dark of what lies before them, the elites meet with a rogue pair of wings that speed straight for their heads.

Ryker starts to run in the opposite direction as the metal feathers make contact with Kyani's helm and slice a thin crack into the glass. She falls and rolls back to let the wings crash into the flames behind her. With Amber falling to her knees after letting insanity weigh her down, the club begins to crumble to the power of the Kaiyo.

Kyani sends a growl to fade with the fire and walks toward the room where Ryker faded into the shadows. She raises her weapon, signals the other elites to follow her, and cautiously steps into the darkness. As they pass the shattered wall broken by mistakes, the outlines of their uniforms begin to shine a bright blue to spread to the corners of the room. They scan every inch for their enemy, watching any movement that runs from the stretched flames covering every surface. The elites find nothing in the room and kick down the backdoor with ease.

Finding an empty field and a dark horizon ahead, Kyani looks out to the road outlining the lifeless space and the white pulses of a motorcycle speeding out of sight. With a few finger gestures and a fist full of rage, Kyani sends the two elites to run and fly toward the direction of their target.

She gazes at the vehicle as it encloses into nothing but a speck of light. Her rage brews under her uniform with enough heat to spark new flames alone. Her loyalty to her work has always come first, and she will never take her helm off until justice is handed to those who need it in a heavy fist of steel and smoke. She will be the boom to the firework that everyone is forced to hear. When she is unleashed, everyone will watch as she flies above all that lives and roars to the stars.

A ruthless call of awakening to those who believe that power doesn't walk without sorrow to trail behind.