Chapter Text
“Alastor!!”
You watch in horror as the flying shark clamps down on his arm and flies away with him. You run, uselessly trying to keep up with the shark, drops of blood- Alastor’s blood raining down from the sky. Vaguely, you register Vox’s maniacal laughter coming from somewhere behind you as he disintegrates buildings and people alike with the weapon of mass destruction. Glancing over your shoulder, you see Vox take aim. For a moment, you think it’s pointed at you, but at the last moment, the weapon shifts upwards. Whatever fear you felt for yourself, is nothing in comparison to the all consuming dread when it clicks that Vox, of course, is going to try to obliterate his worst enemy.
“NO!”
Hot bright white light heats the air around you and blinds you but for a moment.
You hear the angel, Emily, cry out in pain somewhere from above you. The second your vision clears, you frantically search the sky. The shark is gone. And so is Alastor. You nearly collapse to your knees. Your eyes burn with unshed tears. He was the feared Radio Demon. He was never supposed to go out like this. He wasn’t supposed to go out at all. It’s not lost on you that Alastor would scoff at your sentimentality.
Dust and debris surround you, but you make out a shadowy figure running in front of you.
“Emily!!” Charlie cries out. “Are you alright?!”
You rush forward to see if the angel needs help. You wince as you take in the angel. One of her wings is burnt to a crisp, and she’s slumped on the ground, a trail of blood leading towards her. Awake and alert, at least.
“We have to stop the bleeding, Charlie, go find some.. cloth or something!”
Emily winces, trying to flex her wing. “It’s not my blood.” Charlie helps Emily up, as you and Charlie share a strange look. And then, it clicks.
You forget how to breathe. The only people in the sky in that area was the shark and Alastor… Emily wouldn’t have flown into the path of the laser unless she was trying to save somebody. With a gasp, you turn and your eyes follow the trail of blood away from where Emily and Charlie were. Your heart stops in your chest when you see him. He’s on all fours, clutching his torso, and trying to move away.
“Alastor,” you breathe out in relief. He lifts his head and winces, grin still plastered to his face. His eyes give him away though. He’s hurting. Badly. You approach him slowly. He is after all, a wounded animal, and you have no doubt that he bites. He doesn’t say anything as you move closer, even as you crouch down to his level and reach towards him, “I thought-“
“Well my dear,” his voice crackles weakly, “now is not the time for thinking. I’m fine. You need to leave. NOW.”
You rear back. “What?”
Alastor stiffens and his gaze shifts directly behind you.
“Go,” he all but growls, eyes narrowing to slits.
You stand and turn to see what he’s looking at. Your heart, which just recently started beating again, now falls to your stomach. Vox has the weapon pointed directly at you, Alastor, Charlie and Emily.
“Hahahaha four for the price of one!!!” Vox gloats. Despite Carmilla’s warning that everyone will die if he fires off the weapon again, Vox charges it up once more. “As long as I can wipe that stupid FUCKING GRIN off of Alastor’s face, I don’t care what happens! And getting his little girlfriend killed is sure to do the trick.”
You blush in spite of yourself. This is it. You hate that you never got to tell Alastor how you really felt, before Vox outed you seconds before you met your second end. You turn around to tell Alastor what you should have said months ago. Before you even open your mouth to speak, you halt. Alastor wasn’t there. You felt two things at once. Relief that he would live on to fight another day. And extreme hurt that he would leave you behind without a word.
Maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t tell him. Because clearly it would have been a one-sided confessional. Dumbfounded, you stare at the pool of blood that Alastor left behind, as you wait for the laser to strike. To your right, you hear Charlie and Emily gasp. Curiosity getting the best of you, you glance over your shoulder… and see the back of Alastor. He’s standing directly in front of you, though he’s heavily leaning on his still-broken staff.
“What did you say?” Alastor asked with a deadly calm you don’t think you’ve ever heard from him.
You think Vox might be too drunk on his power to realize that Alastor’s shadows were snaking up the sides of the weapon, right towards Vox’s feet.
“Oh don’t tell me,” Vox laughs tears rolling down the screen, “after all these years, you’re finally a team player all for some little bitch-OH FUCK!” Alastor’s shadow gripped Vox’s ankles and yanked him forward, slamming him into the pavement in front of you. Charlie and Emily saw their chance and got out of the way of the still unstable weapon.
Alastor’s shadows slithered back and surrounded him, lifting him into the air as an eerie green glow emanated from him. His antlers grew and voice changed, sounding animalistic and more staticky than usual. He floated over the crater that Vox was just climbing out of.
“She is off limits.” Alastor growled. “And yet, I know you will not heed my warning. This rivalry has been… lackluster, but you’ve crossed the line. Time to die Vox.”
Rage like you’ve never seen influenced each attack of shadows and magic from Alastor. Vox did his best with his cables, to both defend himself, and attack Alastor, but he was in over his head. After all, Alastor was, sans injury, at full strength.
“Come on!” Charlie ushered you over to wear everyone else was pouring out their magic to stop the laser from imploding. You couldn’t concentrate. Especially when you heard Alastor’s voice cry out in pain, followed by Vox’s laughter. One of Vox’s cables had wedged themselves into Alastor’s reopened chest wound and slammed him straight through a building, and then pulled Alastor back through the building as it collapsed.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Instead of watching helplessly, like you have been since this fight started, you choose to act. You pick up Vaggi’s angelic spear off the ground. Charging towards Vox from the side, you slash downwards, disconnecting the cable lodged into Alastors’ chest from Vox.
“You’re a fucking maniac Vox,” you spit out. “Look around you!! Vox tech is going to be reduced to rubble. Velvette and Valentino likely won’t survive the blast if the rest of them can’t contain it. For what!? Destroying your legacy because of one demon.”
Vox only faltered at the mention of his legacy. Apparently that slight misstep on Vox’s part was all it took for Alastor to burst past you, and smash the tv screen that was Vox’s face. All the other cables that were squirming around like tentacles abruptly stopped and fell to the ground, limp.
Alastor stood there, breathing heavily, still surrounded by shadows and glowing with the green light. You took a single step forward and he whipped around, as if he were to attack you next. You tensed up, and dropped the angels spear. You didn’t want to fight him. His eyes tracked the falling weapon, slowly moved back to your face. He seemed… unfocused, until his eyes met yours. Recognition flickered through his.
The shadows disappeared, the green light blinked out, and his antlers shrunk back down to nothing. His voice crackles with static.
“Sweetheart.”
Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he pitches forward.