Alter Ego

The air bursted as a heavy coalescence of energy-filled air was beamed in Chamuel's direction.

"DIE!!!" Venus yelled.

Chamuel smirked.

The hall's floors and walls ruptured, fissures crackling across its entirety. The power released was so immense it'd crept into gas lines found under the floors and above the ceilings, resulting in numerous ear-piercing explosions to scatter the corridor.

Fire, flames, smoke, and dust.

Coughing now echoed; it was Midas and Venus. They watched as smoke engulfed the entire area.

"Holy shit Venus… What the hell was that?" Midas continued to cough.

"Tsk… I told you I'd show you. I'm the strongest one here, whether on the surface, or in this facility. Among all us subjects, I'm the strongest. Among all the Angels, I'm the strongest. Among all the Overseers, I'm the strongest." He pointed towards the caved-in debris that had fallen on top of Chamuel's place. "Even Chamuel was no match for me. I'm telling you… nothing will ever top me." Venus now marched heavily towards Midas, who sat wiping off dust. He grabbed Midas by the collar; "Don't ever offer me help again. You can't support my power, you're just a lowly imbecile who—"

The pile crumbled. The sound interrupted his speech.

"Huh?" Both turned towards its direction. From the top, debris began to fall as an undesired being lifted itself from the depths of the destruction.

Laughing was emitted. "You've really done it now… Venus."

It was Chamuel.

His face was scratched up, and his suit was deteriorated. He raised his arms, and disproportionate wings followed in pursuit.

"How wonderful… HOW OUTSTANDINGLY WONDERFUL!" Chamuel laughed hysterically. "I've sought your development for all this time, but I never would have guessed for you to push that far… It's truly wonderful." The Overseer began stepping forward.

"Chamuel?" Midas was astonished. "He managed to survive that?"

Venus on the other hand, didn't say anything. He simply watched in shock.

He felt paralyzed, as if his legs were stuck. But vanity struck, and his legs were suddenly nimble. His mindful worries were subconsciously overwritten by a self-esteem that drove him forwards, and unexpectedly, towards Chamuel.

"Even after seeing that your strongest attack couldn't kill me, you still dare to run towards me?"

Venus didn't answer. His mind was too occupied by a battle of opposition. To fight, or not to fight. To do, or to die. He had to choose.

Before Venus could rightfully make up his mind, an alter ego kicked in; it told him he was the strongest, and that no one could defeat him. It told him of his absolute superiority in comparison to everyone and anyone he came across.

It told him that no one deserved his efforts more than himself.

"Venus! Don't—!" Midas tried to call out. But it was useless. Venus continued to run.

Midas' words of worry were completely tuned out, and so were Chamuel's words of intimidation. To Venus, the world now maneuvered around him and his desires. His desire to be at the top, because it was there, that all his efforts could properly go noticed. A place atop where his strength and superiority could never be overshadowed.

That's what Venus wanted—to be understood as the best possible thing to exist.

It was this end goal that drove him to justify the never-ending pride. And it was this never-ending pride that drove him to run towards Chamuel, to prove himself once again—

—That he is superior.

"I'LL KILL YOU AGAIN!" He yelled.

"You've never been wise Venus." Chamuel stretched his wings. "Because clearly, you're running towards your demise."

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!" Venus jolted forwards. He threw his hands forward while throwing himself at Chamuel. The goal; to plant both his hands on the Overseer, and initiate a fatal blast.

"That could do it," he told himself. "That's what I'm gonna do, and then I can finally kill him."

Soaring towards Chamuel, Venus began to engage his ability. He started charging up a threshold to unleash once he got his hands on the man.

"There—!" Venus reached forwards. His goal was within his sights.

Thump!

Suddenly the goal was miles away.

Venus was brutally launched backwards by an onset of Chamuel's wings, that bashed him with ruthless strength. While still airborne, Venus was suddenly grabbed by the neck by Chamuel, who had dashed after him in an immediate pursuit. With control of the situation, Chamuel drove Venus into the ground.

Still holding his neck, Chamuel began bashing Venus back and forth, across walls, into the floor, and up into the ceiling.

The hallway was his deathbed.

"Still holding onto life Venus? You're that prideful?" Chamuel continued to throw him around.

Venus had been periodically falling in and out of consciousness, as he was continuously bashed around.

"Urrghargr…" Blood spilt from his mouth. He could barely speak.

The sight brought an oddly satisfying feeling to Chamuel. "I'm starting to understand how Raphael feels…"

Caught-up in the pleasurable experience of putting someone in their place, Chamuel couldn't come to notice the presence lurking behind him.

"LET GO OF HIM!!!" Midas smashed a chunk of debris over his head. The impact completely dazed Chamuel, making his body loosen for a quick moment. It was in this moment that Venus' neck was finally un-grasped and Midas swooped in, pulling Venus away from the danger.

Further away, he sat Venus against a wall. "Fuck sake Venus, you're on the verge of death here." Midas pulled out a needle and quickly injected it into Venus' arm. "Luckily I looted the infirmary before we left.. .These are the strongest painkillers I could find. Just hang in there until the pain suppresses, don't go dying on me now."

Midas turned away, looking back at Chamuel who slowly regathered himself from the surprise attack.

"He's already worn-out… I can win this..." Something suddenly grabbed Midas' arm. It was Venus. He shook his head, as if disapproving of Midas to fight.

"You're still gonna act like that? Look at you, you've been demolished. If you'd just agreed to working with me earlier maybe this wouldn't have happened."

The statement angered Venus. "Shut up..."

Midas stood up. "It's my turn now Venus."

"NO!" Venus yelled. "I… told you that this is my fight… My fight with Chamuel, not yours…"

Midas sighed. He knelt back down at the Venus who sat, and slapped him in the face.

"YOU—!"

"SHUT UP VENUS!" His shout roared. "YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN TO STOP! EVEN WHEN THINGS AREN'T LOOKING GOOD YOU STILL DECIDE TO HOLD ONTO THAT DAMNED PRIDE OF YOURS!" It was now Midas who held Venus by the collar. "I don't know why you're like this, whether you've been brought up this way, or if something happened… But you need to know when to let that pride go. There's moments where that pride can shine, but there's moments like these, where it won't carry you to the end." He leaned in towards Venus; "If you keep acting that way you're only gonna get us KILLED!"

Midas now stood back up. He properly faced Chamuel, who was now standing likewise.

Venus, still sitting, rubbed his cheek. The slap was unexpected, and so too were Midas' words.

"But… I'm the strongest… He has no right to say that…" He looked at his hands. Then he looked at his arms and legs. He noticed all of them were wounded, impaled, scratched-up, and bleeding. He took a deep breath. Suddenly, he felt a piercing pain in his lung. He began to contemplate at the possible broken bones and ruptured organs inside his body.

This brought him to realize the true amount of damage he'd sustained.

"Am I strong?..." Venus now asked himself. For the first time, in a long time, he genuinely questioned his strength. He was now led to question his faith; that 'damned' overly-confident faith in himself that one would call pride. He questioned it.

Venus questioned everything.

"Why am I like this?"

He looked at his palms once more. They were stained by blood, and now overwritten with blood anew.

The sight was somewhat familiar.

"Who am I?..." Suddenly Venus wanted to find himself. He recalled the entire reason they were doing this; to escape to the surface—a free world outside where they weren't captivated.

"Freedom…"

But before he could achieve that, there was a large hurdle to surpass, currently standing across him and Midas.

"I'm ending the both of you here, and once you both reawaken, it'll be as if nothing ever happened."

Midas found distaste in the act Chamuel proposed. "You're wrong. We'll be leaving to the surface once we're done with you."

"Done with me?" Chamuel scoffed. "Look at Venus, I've killed his pride. Your firepower is gone. All that's left is you, and you're not nearly as strong as Venus."

Venus listened to all of this. Blood slowly trickled, as his pride slowly drained away. But suddenly, light shone onto his place;

"Venus, I need your help."

This took him by surprise? "Huh?... But… I'm injured, and I couldn't do anything against Chamuel in the first place…"

There was an odd silence. Midas looked at him with disgust. "Who are you?"

The question confused Venus. "Who am I?"

"I'm asking because the usual Venus would never admit defeat like that. So I'm asking again, who the hell are you?"

Venus didn't know what to say. Any words wished to omit were only of self-pity.

"Get that shit out of here," Midas said. "I never told you to throw away that pride. All I said was that there's moments when you need to let it go, because it's in those moments that it'll get the best of you. That pride personifies you, so if you throw it away, you're gonna throw away yourself entirely. I never asked you to do that. I just wanted you to ease it up enough to let me support you."

Midas walked over. "You're the most powerful I know Venus. Do you see how much damage you've done to Chamuel? He's an Overseer for god's sake, and you were nearly on-par with him. Good job." Midas smiled.

"I need your strength to help me out, because without it I don't think I've got a chance here," he reached out his hand.

Venus saw the hand, and his mind wavered. Unknowing regrets gnawed at his spirit, but they were now beginning to wither. What he saw before him was someone that recognized him. Someone that recognized his strength, his power, but most importantly; his efforts.

Venus appreciated that.

"You need... my help?—"

"Of course I need your help. You're Venus! The strongest subject in this entire facility. Now throw away that pitiable attitude and come back to your prideful senses. If that's what's gonna help us win, then I want it." Midas reached his hand out further.

Watching the helpful hand before him, Venus' mind began to spin. He recalled all the experiments he's gone through, and with that, all the power he's garnered. He realized the amount of improvement he's made on his ability over the months of preparation, and so he recognized the amount of effort he'd put in.

"Effort…" Venus told himself. It was a sign that he now truly recognized his own efforts.

The realization bestowed will onto him, and his spirit was suddenly invigorated, revitalized, and completely thrown up into the sky like a glowing ball of light.

"The sun…" Venus wanted to see it. To do that, he'd return to the surface.

Midas nudged his hand towards Venus', indicating to help pull him up. But he slapped Midas' hand aside.

"I can get up myself," Venus said. He stood up, back on his feet.

"Huh?" Midas was surprised.

"What? You think I'd let an imbecile like you help me up?" Venus scoffed. "Think again."

A feeling of ease was brought to Midas. "That's the Venus I know."

Venus smiled. "I'd still never let you help me, my pride would never allow that." He paused;

"But if you're the one needing help, then I'm willing to support an imbecile like you."