Into the Abyss

Utter, complete, darkness.

Reed couldn't make out anything with his eyes, as if shadows had completely engulfed his sights.

Just previously, he'd ran through the large opened circular gate, from the bay in which alarms blared about. He could still hear them ringing behind him. But ahead of him was nothing but black, with no noise to contain.

"Is this the way out?" Reed questioned. There was only one way to find out, and so he continued to run.

As he ran through the darkness, unaware of his surroundings, his other senses were amplified due to the absence in sight. This was specifically scent, of which was a peculiar one that could be smelt from everywhere. Reed wanted to describe it as peculiar, due to its oddly familiar smell, but in reality it was horrendous.

Suddenly, Reed felt his spine shiver, followed by a gradual warmth that grew on his back. Within a matter of seconds, this warmth grew into a blistering heat that Reed rather felt approaching his back. He turned around; a vertical line of flames had come face-to-face with him. Its fury enveloped his entire head, spilling down his shoulders onto the rest of his body. This left Reed to be completely engulfed in a hell-burning fire that blazed away every inch of his skin. The blood revealed underneath bubbled and evaporated into the air as the smoldering heat crept further and further into Reed's disintegrating body.

He screamed in agony.

Reed felt as if he'd been sent to hell to burn in atonement of his sins. But the effect was contradictory, and instead grew an increasing wrath from his depths. Regardius would drop to floor and roll around frantically to extinguish the flames, no matter how much pain was induced from his missing layers of skin to come into contact with the floor. Eventually, the flame fury was put out, and Reed laid on the floor. He found himself aching on the verge of death by arson.

But to die that way, was not possible for Reed Regardius.

From the few strips of skin that was left hanging from his bones, they extended and stretched, reaching out to one another to mend entire missing patches back together. Parts of his bones that were left burnt and powdered regathered into singularities that reformed solidified segments. Liters of his missing blood was replaced by the rapid duplication of blood cells that still remained in his system. Soon enough, Reed was back on his feet due to his outstanding regeneration abilities. His clothes were devastated, but his body looked untouched.

"What was that…?" Reed turned around to where the flame strike had come from. It was quite a distance away, but he could see a bright white circle. It was the gate opening he'd ran through a while ago. Right in the center of its aperture, the silhouette of a large bulky male could be made out. The figure seemed to be holding something long and wide in his hands, of which the figure brought up, and struck downwards. Following this movement, a bright orange light quickly emitted from the action. This orange light gradually grew in size, slowly making itself out to be a large vertical line of blazing flames. In that moment, Reed had only just realized it was approaching him.

As it approached, its vertical length grew in size, and so too did the anger of its flames. Reed felt his body fall to low temperatures, only to be reheated within a matter of seconds. It were as if this force of fire that approached him gathered any form of heat from its surroundings, in order to fuel its essence. This would result in its widening and lengthening, eventually maximizing at a vertical length of about 2 meters.

In a panicked sway of movements, Reed swerved aside and nearly missed its connection with his face, saving himself the pain and hassle of undergoing his previous fate.

"Is that…?" Reed squinted his eyes. "Michael…?"

Numerous miles away, Overseer Michael swerved his broadsword aside. The air blew against it, extinguishing its imposing eternal flame. "Hmph." He crossed his arms. "Even my sword's Grand Act of Fury isn't enough to take you down, permanently…"

Michael sheathed his broadsword behind his back. "Raphael, you have created too big a monster. And soon, this monster may be unleashed on the world above."

Looking ahead, the Overseer could now see Reed continuing to run up the slanted tunnel that led to the surface. Michael understood that due to his build and weight of armor, he would not be able to catch up to Reed's speed as he ran. There was also the fact that unlike the other six Overseers, he did not bear wings. "I've sacrificed the opportunity for wings by choosing to wield the Blade of Retribution, a choice I do not regret. But this is the one time I'll ever regret that choice…" He sighed while looking back over his shoulder. "Azrael could catch up to that boy within a matter of seconds… His speed with the wings is unparalleled. But he's out of the fight, and so too is Ariel and Jophiel…"

Before arriving to the bay, Michael came across a blinded Gabriel in the communications office, the decapitated body of Chamuel in a demolished hallway, and most recently the blood-soaked bodies of Ariel and Jophiel that spilled along the bay floor. He noted only one to be dead—Jophiel, while Ariel seemed simply unconscious.

Every general option to induce a chase with wings was unavailable, and the only other unheard option—Raphael—was nowhere to be found. "I still need to find that maniac…" Michael muttered to himself. He grunted with frustration at the canditable super solider that gradually ran further and further. But Michael suddenly recalled an important piece of information he'd read from one of Raphael's older documents regarding Reed Regardius.

"White Syndrome…" The Overseer giggled at the realization. The giggle slowly grew into a roar of laughter, one filled with anger that rumbled the floor beneath him. He looked through the exit gate, into the dark tunnel that led out to an unproposed freedom.

"It's over now Reed Regardius…" Michael laughed. He walked over to a nearby control panel found alongside the circular gate. On it was an evidently large lever that was engaged towards "off".

"You've fallen directly into my trap…" Michael switched the lever. Following this, the heavy sounds of lights engaging were heard echoing forwards into the tunnel. High-beamed white lights turned on one-by-one, gradually erasing the darkness that crept along its length.

The exit tunnel now radiated a blinding bright white.