Retribute the Wicked Wings

"ARRRGHHH!" Reed leaped onto Raphael. He'd decided; it was now or never, that he'd put an end to his suffering. Reed could only do so, by killing the Overseer who'd tormented with him for too long.

He'd landed on Raphael, pushing him down against the cold floor. Reed instantaneously followed up with his hands to Raphael's neck, and began choking him out.

"S-St-op…" Raphael coughed. But Reed only squeezed harder.

Close by, Matthew stood still, unknowing of what to do. His mind had gone into a paralyzed, panicked state in which he could not make any decisions out of fear. This fear, was invoked by the visible wrath in Reed's eyes which could only be described as a window to hell—a fiery blaze that set flame to all those who he laid his sight upon.

"You won't hurt me anymore…" Reed shuddered; "I'm ending you RIGHT NOW!!!" And he gripped with all his might, attempting to crush Raphael's windpipes. The Overseer grabbed at Reed's wrists with struggle, trying to remove them from his neck. But it was no use; Reed had latched his palms around Raphael's neck with enough strength to crush even a molecule.

But it still wasn't enough.

"W-Why won't your neck COLLAPSE!?" Reed squeezed harder.

Raphael's face was a deep red. "I-I've pr-pared f-for someth-thing like th-is," he struggled to say. Then, his body suddenly arched up towards Reed, flinging him off. Reed was abruptly launched upwards, and Raphael took the opportunity to gasp for air, taking in all the oxygen he'd been stripped of for the past minute. "I'd never let you kill me that easily."

"What was that?" Reed coughed. He'd landed heavily on the other side of the room near Matthew. "How'd you just… throw me off of you?"

Raphael removed his lab coat. He turned it around to show Reed its back-side. There were two large ripped holes found side-by-side in the center of the upper-half.

Raphael laughed faintly. "You made me ruin my favorite lab coat…" He threw it aside. Raphael then ripped off his undershirt, revealing an unexpectedly built physique. "You gave me no choice but to use these to save myself," he lifted his arms. Behind him, grew two enlarged mechanical wings that stretched past his wingspan. He smiled, "If it's gonna take force to get you back under my control, then so be IT!" He leaped forward, his wings successively opening. He zoomed towards Reed in a straight glide; a wide, maniacal smile forming across his face.

"FUCK—!" Reed leaped aside, as Raphael rammed into the wall next to him. Debris flew everywhere, followed by a dusty smog that engulfed the area. Within this, laughter was heard erupting.

Reed steadied himself. "Where is this fucker…" All that surrounded him was a gray fog.

Suddenly a figure zoomed past his eyesight. "Huh—?" Brutal pain struck his face. He was pummeled straight into the ground. Lifting his head, Reed felt that his face had been smashed inwards; various parts of his face, broken. But in quick response, his face reformed to its original state.

"Regeneration…" It'd been a while since Reed felt the odd sensation of self-healing. "I still have it."

"But will it be enough?" Raphael stepped forward, unexpectedly revealing himself. "You can heal all you want, but I'll kill you if I have to." He kicked forwards, aimed at Reed's chin. Reed swayed out of the way, regathering himself with some distance from Raphael.

"You already know it, don't you Mr. Regardius? I will not hesitate to kill you, because I can bring you back just as easily as I'd put you down."

Reed gritted his teeth. The statement triggered him. "The one going down's going to be YOU RAPHAEL!" He leapt from his spot.

Approaching Raphael, Reed ran while mustering up strength for a fatal blow to the face. Raphael though, had no different of a mindset. The two threw strikes in each other's directions, connecting upon fists. The impact grounded the two, initiating a gust of air to release from their contact.

"Urg—!" Reed grunted.

Raphael smiled. "It's as if you're still in your old body!"

Reed was reminded of his situation. The thought provoked him, knowing that at this point he'd even had his own body stripped of him. The ever-growing manifestation of anger fumed from his undying soul, and this rage—this wrath, fueled him to push forth with even more attacks.

Punch after kick and kick after punch, Reed continued to throw as many as he could in Raphael's direction. Some hits landed, but the majority of these were blocked. Reading his now traceable pattern, Raphael blocked an incoming strike, and followed up with an arm-breaking technique. Reed's arm snapped brutally.

"ARGG—!" Reed screamed. Pain surged from his shattered elbow and he held his arm as it shook. But just as quickly as expected, the arm quickly reformed into its original state; the bone matrix reorganizing its cells. Before Reed could even realize it'd fully healed, he was mercilessly kneed in the stomach. The impact was so hard, it brought Reed to regurgitate blood, spitting it across the floor.

"JUST DIE!!!" Raphael now screamed. "There's no point in resisting Reed. You're destined to be dominated no matter what you do. This is your hell; your atonement of sin. YOU'VE BROUGHT THIS UPON YOURSELF. ATONE FOR YOUR SINS!" Raphael laughed aggressively.

Reed regarded his past actions, completely self-justifying its causes. "Why should I need to atone when I was the one brought to suffer?... The ones who need to atone—" Reed recalled his tormentors; his classmates, his teachers, his parents. "—ARE THOSE WHO'VE SINNED AGAINST ME!"

Reed threw a wide punch, slamming into Raphael's face.

Crack.

The strike had been so powerful it snapped Raphael's neck to the right.

"Shit…" Reed's hand tensed. "Did I... kill him?"

He didn't. The Overseer's hands suddenly reached up to grab his jaw.

Crrrrack.

He snapped his neck back into place.

This infuriated Reed. "Why… WHY CAN'T YOU JUST DIE?"

Raphael chuckled. "Have you ever stopped to consider that I'm just as inhuman as you are, if not, even more?" His wings stretched out. "My kind is superior to yours Reed. A mere human like you can't simply kill the likes of me, or any of the other Overseers."

Still trembling in the same room, Matthew heard this. "My kind?..."

Reed scoffed. "You're talking as if you're some god or something. Just shut up."

Raphael shook his head. "By the time you understand, it'll be too late."

But Reed wasted no time. He dashed towards the Overseer in pursuit of his head.

"No patience huh?" Raphael smirked. He immediately kicked a leg out, brutally pounding Reed in the stomach. The impact should've thrown him back, but Reed consecutively grabbed Raphael's leg in the moment.

"What the—"

Reed snapped the leg, breaking it inwards. It now bent the opposite way.

"URGH!" Raphael tried initiating his regeneration as quick as possible. But Reed followed up with a strike down onto his knee, further breaking the leg. With now self-seeping rage, Raphael flapped his wings to gain some distance into the air.

"COWARD!" Reed yelled.

Raphael laughed. "No matter what you do, it'll still be useless," he rotated his wrist. He looked down at a bronze watch that wrapped around the joint. Pressing it once, he let his broken leg hang loose in the air, finally giving it room to regenerate and reform back to normal.

"Huh?" Reed observed the action. "That watch… does that enable his healing ability?" He thought to himself. Suddenly, Reed now had a goal in mind; to get the watch.

He turned around, and began bolting in the other direction.

"How hypocritical to be calling me a coward," Raphael watched.

Reed was running towards the part of the wall that Raphael had already rammed into earlier. There, was a pile a debris. Reed went over, grabbing a large chunk of cement that had popped out of the wall.

"Take THIS!" He hurled the rubble. It soared towards the airborne Raphael, who simply swerved to the right, dodging it. He looked over his shoulder at the missed shot, "It's gonna take more than that to bring me down," he looked back towards Reed. Another piece unexpectedly came flying his way, which he instinctively dodged. Followed up with this, Raphael noticed that many more rocks were heading his direction, repeatedly thrown by Abel.

The Overseer swerved left, right, flew up, ducked down, and dodged one after the other. So many were thrown, his entire view was made up of an accumulation of debris. Finally, when the bombardment cleared, Raphael noticed Reed wasn't where he'd last seen him.

"Oh you…" He turned around, and there, was Reed propelling towards him after having jumped from the wall. As quick as he could turn, Raphael waved his wing over to shield the impact. But Reed came at such an exponentially rapid speed that he'd struck Raphael head-on before he could do anything. The initial collision dazed the Overseer, causing him to let loose his control over both his wings and body for just a moment. It was during this stun that Reed quickly reached for Raphael's watch, found on his right wrist.

At the same time, Raphael snapped back into reality, realizing what Reed was trying to do.

"HEY!" He tried moving his arm away, but Reed had snatched onto it.

With short-termed panic, Raphael heavily flapped his wings and began flying around. This was with aim to shake Reed off of him. But just as he'd held his neck earlier, Reed latched onto Raphael's arm with all his unbearable strength.

"I'M NOT LETTING GO!" Reed yelled, as his body violently flailed while Raphael flew around.

"YOU—!" Raphael was irritated. He began to feel his own wrath kick in.

With this he flew around faster and faster, adding all the more struggle to Reed's grip. Reed tried grabbing at the watch, but held back, as he doubted his ability to keep holding on with only one arm.

"Fuck!" He didn't know what to do.

Still in the room, and on the ground, Matthew watched with continual fear as the two battled in the air.

"This is bad… Reed Regardius is loose, and now they're sending all the Angel Units here?" He thought back to five months prior, "It's going to be the Reed Incident all over again…" The idea made him shudder. "Worse yet, Raphael's lost his temper again. He himself might even kill Reed, and then…" Matthew paused. He thought back on all the work and effort made just to bring Reed back to life, and now all of that was beginning to crash back on itself right in front of his eyes. "We're going to have to get another vessel, and then…" His head pierced. He realized he was under too much stress.

Matthew's eyes shot back up towards the fight ensuing between subject and Overseer.

"Raphael…" He lowly said. Matthew had only noticed now that there was a feeling of frustration and anger he harbored towards Raphael. Irritation came with the irresponsibility he could visibly sense in the Overseer. Hatred came at the wrong-doings he'd performed on the pitiable subjects at his disposal. Guilt came at the fact that he'd been aiding this psychopath of a person since the start.

"The start…?" Matthew held his head. His eyes shot open with shock at a realization, which was gradually overcome by tears.

"H-Huh?" Matthew wiped his eyes. He couldn't tell if they were of sadness or of happiness.

"But why should I be happy?" He disregarded any happy reasons. "Am I… sad?" He continued to wipe the tears that flowed down his eyes.

"Oh…" He'd realized the realization;

He himself didn't know his past.

"And to think… I'd been helping wipe the subject's memories all this time now…" Matthew scoffed, "And I never came to realize that my very own were wiped too, huh…" His eyes closed faintly; slight giggles emitted his mouth.

"Fuck…" He gritted his teeth. "Why am I… Why have I been helping A.X.A. all this time?" He looked at his hands. "I don't know, because I don't remember. I don't remember, probably because I'm not supposed to." Matthew came to a familiar conclusion; "It was probably against my will."

His own vengeful fury now overlapped the anxiety that had circulated his mind. Resentment was formed towards this organization he'd been so grand of; A.X.A. He looked back up at the Reed Regardius he'd pitied for so long, and the maniacal Overseer who he'd relate to the devil.

The view then brought about familiar words spoken to him a while ago; "There's such thing as taking initiative, you know? Look what happened, the subject is dead. Now we have to use a Trinity Gem to resurrect him. We're wasting resources Matthew. If you haven't been instructed, then I instruct you now to take initiative when the time is right…" It echoed into his head.

They were Overseer Ariel's words, told to him during an event similar to the one currently occurring.

"Take initiative when the time is right, huh…" He stared at Raphael still flying around.

With a quick impulse, Matthew turned around and ran out of the room. He made his way to a security-kept storage elsewhere in the Garden.

Upon coming to, two Cherubim stood guarding outside.

"Matthew Hugh, reporter for Overseer Raphael," he showed his I.D.

The Cherubim looked at him, "What do you need from inside?"

"I need the DZ3E, let me in—" He barged past the Cherubim.

Inside, he searched frantically for this 'DZ3E' weapon.

"There it is," he grabbed the steel-framed gun.

"Hey!" A Cherubim called in. "Isn't that only used for disabling wings? Why do you need it?"

Matthew came up with a quick excuse, "Reed Regardius is loose and wrecking havoc right now, didn't you hear?" The reporter quickly dashed out of the storage, making his way back towards the ability-inducting room where the combat took place.

Back in the room of commotion, Raphael continued to fling Reed around as he held on for his life.

Matthew had returned with a weapon developed long ago within the Garden; the DZ3E, and he held it tightly, aiming up towards the flying bunch.

"'To use against the other Overseers in the rare case that they go rogue,' you told me…" Matthew smiled. "But look who it's conclusively come to be used on…" He pointed the weapon at Raphael; "One of your very own creations—" Matthew looked at Reed. He smiled even wider; "—No. Two of your very own creations, will be the very result of your downfall, Raphael."

He fired the weapon.

Magnetic impulses were shot and released in the direction aimed; right towards the airborne pair.

"H-Huh?" Raphael suddenly panicked. He felt the cybernetic wings linked to his back begin to deactivate. They fell stiff, and he could flap no more. "HUH???"

The two began to fall, with no support from the wings to keep them afloat. Reed recognized the opportunity and swiftly reached for Raphael's watch, who was too surprised in the moment to realize.

"How did…?" He looked at his falling wings. "Why have they stopped working?..." For a brief moment while falling, Raphael took a glimpse in Matthew's direction; there he stood, wielding the DZ3E.

"YOU—!" The two crashed into the ground.

Smoke blazed across the grounds, completely engulfing the area. Coughs echoed throughout, reverberating towards Matthew who stood outside the perimeter. His hands jittered, and he dropped the weapon.

Clang!

Fear re-resonated within him. "I really… did that…" The possible consequences instilled terror into Matthew. Yet, he felt no regret. "I've done what I've done, and there's no going back."

Within the smoke, was a clearing between two individuals.

Reed pushed off the ground, feeling his skin and joints regenerate throughout various parts in his body. With grunts, he brought himself to stand. But with a sense of accomplishment, he noticed the intended goal right in his hand; the bronze watch.

"I got it…" Though his achievement was short-lived; interrupted by the sound of hurling nearby.

He walked in its direction, and was greeted by a familiar face, with a not-so-familiar body.

It was Raphael, who's ligaments were snapped and bent completely out of proportion. In front of his face, was a pile of vomit he'd spewed—most likely due to pain and terror, to which he implausibly had no control over.

"WHY?!" Raphael screamed. "WHY WON'T IT REGENERATE??" He proceeded to hurl more in pain.

Reed from a distance, looked down at his hand; the bronze watch glimmered in the room's bright white lights.

"Heheh," Reed giggled. This grew into an uproaring laughter. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND MY PAIN NOW RAPHAEL? HAHAHAHAH!"

Reed walked forward, presenting the watch in front of Raphael's face. "This induced your regenerative abilities, didn't it?" He thought back on all the un-killable moments he'd encountered. "It induced all that physical endurance and strength of yours too, didn't it?"

Raphael watched with awe. "Hey… g-give that back to me."

Reed scoffed. "From what I can tell, this must be your ultimate power source."

"Give it back…"

"I realize that the abilities this gives you are similar to mine. Were my abilities based off this item? Is this watch the very foundation of my abilities?" Reed questioned the disproportionate Raphael.

"J-Just give it back…"

"No." Reed looked at the watch. It was somehow still intact, even through the grounded impact. "This must be really important to you, huh Raphael?"

"Just give it BACK!" He now yelled.

Reed smirked. "Look at you, begging at your own subject's feet," he kicked Raphael's chin upwards.

"URCH—!" His head snapped back.

"And this right here," he showed the bronze watch. "Is practically your only remaining lifeline, to restore you back to normal," he looked at the deformed Raphael.

Reed grabbed both ends of the watch, and pulled with immense strength.

Snap.

The watch was now completely dislocated, and visibly dysfunctional. It had broken, and so did Raphael's spirit.

"NOOOOOOO!" He screamed in terror. Overseer Raphael was now officially doomed.

Reed walked over, seeing that his tormenter was finally beneath him.

"It's my turn Raphael," he cracked his knuckles.

And down Reed went, consumed by satisfying rage and vengeance, brought onto the embodiment of his own personal hatred; Raphael, whom he brutally beat to a satisfying death, as the sounds of blood gushing and bones breaking could be heard echoes away.