Inked Wings

First Event: The Catalyst

“I will love you as misfortune loves orphans, as fire loves innocence and as justice loves to sit and watch everything go wrong.”

Angel knocks on Noel’s door. No response meets him, so he proceeds to open it.

A heavy pressure knocks him out of breath, then his vision clears on the floor. A box of wires, plugs and used batteries.

‘What the fuck?!’ Angel deliberately exclaims.

One other quick glance inside. Into his face breaks a ball of synthetic powder.

The room has a two-person bed, and game posters are plastered all over the walls.

Angel takes in the room, now noticing the launcher set on the window counter. He is rubbing the colorful substance off his scrunched face, his teeth slipping through the fall of his jaw: ‘I’m not a threat!’

‘Your dad sent me to get you. I’m with the rebellion - the good guys, so please…’ Angel pleads. ‘Kid?’ He steps farther inside.

‘Ah!’ Noel lands behind him, facing the open doorway. He, himself, shows surprise at his skilled landing.

‘Hey!’ Angel seizes him before he can sprint past the bedroom door.

‘Shit!’ Noel squirms in his hold. ‘Slick reflexes, ya funking creep!’ Shaky words involuntarily slip through his sarcastic tone.

‘Where were you -’ Angel now gains a proper look of the limited, out of place, balcony above the door. Very small and high. ‘Why?’

‘I mean you could have jumped off that less high shelf million times faster and escaped.’

Noel growls, still struggling.

‘…And probably wouldn’t have inflicted damage on your fucking feet, are you insane, kid?’

Angel picks Noel up, carrying him by the waist, wrapped in his right arm.

Noel lifts up his feet and tries punches at Angel’s arm but to no avail. Meanwhile, his so-called aggressor steps into the hallway, two feet from the window. Angel peeks through.

M.E.A representatives have surrounded the entrance. Familiar faces approach Ade.

Angel backs away, his hand covering Noel’s mouth despite the boy’s attempt to bite him.

A loud booming sound startles Noel.

Angel’s head flips the sound’s way. He shows a grimace.

‘What you doing?’ Noel feels Angel’s feet pick up pace and his arm tighten the hold.

Angel flops him into a different stance, now carrying Noel from under the armpits. He tries to get him through the room’s window first.

He tries.

Noel blabbers in frustration. He clutches at the edges of the window, trying his best not to fall face first into the alley where the unwelcome intruder is forcing him to go.

‘Lay off!’

Eventually, Angel manages to get both himself and the kid down into the alley. ‘Huh, so it was a mask. Your mansion ain’t that big.’ He holds Noel’s backpack, keeping him in place.

A symbol is embroidered on that, its loop representing the sun rising above the horizon.

Noel tries to go towards the entrance, his feet slipping onto the dirt. ‘Abi,’ he breathes.

The entrance lights lit the humid alley in white, pale hues. It spills on Noel’s child face.

Angel brings out his screen, entering a control panel linked to it.

Out the entrance door steps a sturdy man, M.E.A patch on his chest. ‘Clear.’

Ade is sitting on his knees. Hovering in front of him; a thin, tall lady with long white braids hanging at her calves.

‘Now, where did all your data go?’ Her masked head falls on him.

A huff puffs out Ade’s mouth.

Her voice sounds firm and rather deep. ‘Is it with you child, isn’t it? He is the only other link to your work…where did you hide him?’

‘You won’t lay a finger over my son.’ Ade’s smile lingers, soft and earnest.

‘Don’t be cocky now. If you don’t want to leave your son fatherless, that is. One last time - where did you transfer the data?’ She hauls the gun on his temple.

Ade’s smile still lingers. He laughs.

The woman sighs. ‘Then your son will have to do.’ She powers up her gun.

‘Isn’t that too rash? We should try interrogating him inside the headquarters,’ A companion mentions from behind.

Another woman, the same hair, outfit and mask as the other has stepped into view. Hunching over, she chuckles, then walks to the other. ‘Do not doubt Tales.’

Tales spoke after: ‘I’ve dealt with enough just like him - he won’t talk. They’d rather give away their offspring in favor of terrorism.’

Ade’s smile widens.

‘I’m not favoring any other.’ He glances up. Ade’s eyes hold a tint of amusement inside them, the white light shifting them into an animal’s hungry pupils. ‘All it was and all it is, is for my son.’

Angel focuses on his little activity with the screen. Therefore, his grip loosens, and Noel slips free from his lock. He stumbles for the alley’s exit, towards the entrance.

Angel chases after him.

Noel smiles, recognizing his father’s voice. He was being very close to the edge, almost on the doorstep into the mighty light.

Angel’s hands reach at his waist, right behind, into the dim corner.

Echoes. A sizzling sound echoes.

A dim blue light follows it, quickly jumping off the buildings around. It disappears.

A thump. A hand hits ground.

Noel freezes, taking in the blood swallowing his father’s palm. Undoubtedly, the fumes linger over his burned hairs. The back of his upper body meets the two, allowing both to process the situation. Noel’s mouth drops.

His face tenses, head slightly beginning to shake. He is at loss of words - or sounds.

His eyebrows rise, his nose pulls back. Added to his strain is that his body lowers but his hands remain stuck into the cold air. Fingers twitch.

‘ha….’ The briefest peep leaves him.

Past his trapped body, feathers veil him.

White, gleaming and various feathers surround Noel. Angel stretches his wings which lift his hoodie over his head. He wraps his arms around Noel’s hard waist.

Footsteps interrupt the blazing silence.

Angel picks Noel into a warmer embrace, the boy still being frozen wood, and dashes into the opposite direction. His wings flap quickly and powerfully.

Angel takes off.